Cape Kidnappers, known in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

as , and officially named Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Māui, is a headland at the southern extremity of

Hawke Bay Hawke Bay (), formerly named ''Hawke's Bay'', is a large bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, surrounded by the Hawke's Bay region. It stretches from Māhia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Mā ...

on the east coast of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. It is at the end of an peninsula that protrudes into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, and south-east of the city of Napier. The cliffs towards the cape are made up of sandstone, conglomerate, mudstone, river gravel, pumice and silt. The cape is a breeding site for over 6,500 pairs of

Australasian gannet The Australasian gannet (''Morus serrator''), also known as the Australian gannet or tākapu, is a large seabird of the booby and gannet family, Sulidae. Adults are mostly white, with black flight feathers at the wingtips and lining the trailing ...

s, the largest and most accessible mainland gannet colony in the world. Road access ends at Clifton, which is the departure point for many tourists visiting the colony. The Cape Kidnappers Golf Course lies between the nearby coastal community of Te Awanga and the headland. The land surrounding the cape and the gannet colony comprises large working farms grazing sheep and cattle. The peninsula, including farm land and the bird colony locations, is enclosed in a predator-proof fence built in 2007 to prevent introduced predators such stoats, ferrets, and feral cats re-invading the headland after a successful and still ongoing pest-control programme.

History

The headland was named after an attempt by local

to, according to

Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

, abduct a member of Cook's crew aboard HMS ''Endeavour'', during a landfall there on 15 October 1769. The crew member was Taiata, the 12 year old nephew or servant of Tupaia, the

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

arioi The Arioi or Areoi were a secret religious order of the Society Islands, particularly the island of Tahiti, with a hierarchical structure, esoteric salvation doctrine and cultish and cultural functions. They included both men and women of all soc ...

who served as the ''Endeavours interpreter and guide. Cook's journal states that Taiata was over the side of the ship when a Maori fishing vessel approached the ''Endeavour'' offering to trade fish, before seizing the boy and attempting to flee with him. Sailors from ''Endeavour''′s deck immediately opened fire on the fishing boat, killing two Māori and wounding a third.

Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti, Ngāti Te Whatu-i-āpiti or Ngāi Te Whatuiāpiti is a Māori hapū (subtribe or branch) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. The hapū were descended from Te Whatuiāpiti, who was a great-grandson o ...

's perspective is that the

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary) of a (subtribe or clan). Ideally, were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land ( ...

Te Rangikoianake and his son Hawea led a rescue party to free what they thought was a young Māori boy being held captive on the ship. This history was acknowledged in the 2015 Heretaunga Tamatea Deed of Settlement with the Crown. Taiata promptly jumped overboard and swam back to ''Endeavour'', while the remaining Māori paddled their craft back to shore. A 4-pounder cannon was fired after them from ''Endeavour''′s quarterdeck, but the Māori boat was soon out of range. Cook described the cape as having steep white cliffs on either side, with two large rocks resembling hay stacks near the headland. Following the passage of the Heretaunga Tamatea Claims Settlement Act 2018, the name of the headland was officially altered to Cape Kidnappers / Te Kauwae-a-Māui. The Māori portion of the name refers to 'the fish hook of Māui', referring to a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

in which the North Island is a large fish which was caught by the demigod

Māui Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...

Important Bird Area

The cape has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it is a breeding site for over 6,500 pairs of

s (''Morus serrator''). The numbers have steadily increased in the past two decades, making this gannet colony the largest and most accessible mainland colony in the world. The gannet nesting season is from mid-September to mid-December, with the juvenile chicks staying as late as May, before migrating to Australia. Tourists can reach the cape and gannet colony either by walking along the coast or by private minibus tours via an inland road that was built to service the golf course and resort. A tour along the coast on passenger trailers pulled by tractors operated for more than 70 years before closing in 2023. This came after the beach track was closed and the tours suspended for two years following a landslide in 2019 that injured two tourists. Cape Kidnappers, NZ.jpg, Cliffs showing 2019 landslide File:Main gannet colony on plateau.jpg, Colony on plateau in spring with nesting adults File:Gannet feeding chick in main colony.jpg, Colony on plateau in summer with older chicks File:Black Reef gannet colony.jpg, Black Reef colony File:Gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers.jpg, Colony further out on the cape File:Overflow gannet colony on the shore below.jpg, Overflow colony on the shore below

Climate

References

Bibliography

External links