D'Urville Island (),

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 ...

name ', is the largest island in the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...

, on the northern coast of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It was named after the French explorer

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

. With an area of approximately , it is the eighth-largest island of New Zealand, and has around 52 permanent residents. The local authority is the

Marlborough District Council Marlborough District Council () is the unitary local authority for the Marlborough District of New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island ( ...

History

The original

name of the island is ''Rangitoto'', meaning "blood red sky" (''rangi'' means sky; ''toto'' means blood). It is an ancient name brought from

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

, the ancestral homeland of the Māori in the Pacific. The name was later lengthened to ''Rangitoto ki te Tonga'', the suffix meaning "of the south", to distinguish it from places in the North Island called ''Rangitoto''. The official name of the island is ''Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island''. The island was a traditional source of

argillite Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of Friability, indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and Pelagic sediment, oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. T ...

(''pakohe'') for Māori, used in the production of stone tools such as

adze An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...

s during the Archaic period (1300–1500). From the 1600s until the early 1800s, the island was a part of the

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...

Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand, who arrived on the '' Kurahaupō'' waka. In the 1600s the iwi settled northwestern South Island, becoming a major power in the region until the 1800s. In 1642, members of Ngāti T� ...

. In the present day, the island is within the rohe of

Ngāti Koata Ngāti Koata or Ngāti Kōata is a Māori iwi of New Zealand, originating on the west coast of Waikato, but now mainly at the northern tip of South Island. Ngāti Koata whakapapa back to Koata who lived near Kāwhia in the 17th century. She ha ...

and

Ngāti Kuia Ngāti Kuia is a Māori iwi of the Northern South Island in New Zealand. They first settled in the Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, and later spread to the Marlborough Sounds, Nelson and Tasman districts to Taitapu on the West Coast, and as far sout ...

Geography

The island has a convoluted coastline, as is frequently found with islands formed from peaks between sea-drowned valleys. It extends for some northeast/southwest, and is a little over wide at its widest point. The eastern coast of the island is relatively smooth, marked mainly by the small D'Urville Peninsula, some halfway along its length. In contrast, the west coast is marked by three large inlets: Port Hardy in the north, Greville Harbour in the centre, and Manuhakapakapa in the south. Numerous smaller islands lie off the coast, notably Stephens Island, which lies off D'Urville's northernmost point, Cape Stephens. The island's highest point, Takapōtaka / Attempt Hill () lies close to the centre of the island, due east of Greville Harbour. Most of the island's residents live close to the more sheltered east coast, with the localities of Patuki and Mukahanga being close to the northern tip of the island. The island is separated from the mainland by the dangerous French Pass, known to Māori as Te Aumiti, through which water passes at up to at each tide. Several

vortices In fluid dynamics, a vortex (: vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in th ...

occur near this passage. d'Urville investigated the passage for several days in 1827, and damaged his ship passing through it.

Flora and fauna

There is roughly 6,000ha (60km2) of public conservation land on D'urville Island, mainly through the centre of the island. The conservation land consists of regenerating farmland, coastal broadleaf, and beech forest. D'Urville Island is free of possums, feral goats, ship rats, Norway rats and, weasels making it important ecologically.

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

and

feral pig A feral pig is a domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the g ...

s are present on the Island and a permit can be obtained from the New Zealand Department of Conservation to hunt on the public conservation land. Stoats on the island have caused the local extinction of the

little spotted kiwi The little spotted kiwi or little grey kiwi (''Apteryx owenii'') is a small flightless bird in the kiwi family, Apterygidae. It is the smallest of the five kiwi species, at about , about the size of a bantam. It is endemic to New Zealand, and ...

, South Island kākā and yellow-crowned kākāriki. D'Urville Island Stoat Eradication Charitable Trust started in 2003 to attempt remove stoats from the island. A large scale stoat eradication programme was funded for the Island but after issues with land access the funding was withdrawn. There is a population of the rare South Island long-tailed bat on the island.

Transport

There is a small airstrip at Moawhitu, Greville Harbour, that is maintained by the Department of Conservation. Pelorus Air has flights to D'Urville Island from Picton,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and

Paraparaumu Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. It is also known to residents as Pram or Paraparam. Like other towns in the area, it has a ...

. A

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

service is operated by D'Urville Island Crossings between French Pass village and the settlement of Kapowai. There is also a

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an Urban area, urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a simil ...

operating between the D’Urville Island Wilderness Resort at Catherine Cove and French Pass. Driftwood Eco Tours take small group tours to the island, focusing on its heritage and ecology and meeting with residents to learn about its unique features. Driftwood Eco Tours donate each year to 'DISECT' (D'Urville Island Stoat Eradication Trust). In 2016,

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding district has a numb ...

-based Abel Tasman Sea Shuttles hosted a number of charity cruises around D'Urville Island in conjunction with the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

of Motueka.

References

External links