Kupe's Sail ( mi, Ngā Rā-a-Kupe) is a geological formation near the eastern end of

Palliser Bay Palliser Bay is at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand, to the southeast of Wellington. It runs for 40 kilometres along the Cook Strait coast from Turakirae Head at the southern end of the Remutaka Ranges to Cape Palliser, the Nor ...

at the southern end of the North Island of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is composed of sedimentary rock which has been thrust up in an earthquake, resulting in a characteristic flat triangular ridge having the appearance of the kind of sail regularly used by Pacific explorers such as

Kupe Kupe ( ~1180-1320) was a legendary Polynesian explorer, navigator and great rangatira of Hawaiki, who is said to have been the first human to discover New Zealand. Whether Kupe existed historically is likely but difficult to confirm. He is g ...

References

1966 Encyclopedia of New ZealandThe Great New Zealand Maritime Heritage Trail
Rock formations of the Wellington Region {{regional-geology-stub