Völkner Rocks
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Te Paepae o Aotea, also known the Volkner Rocks (named after Carl Sylvius Völkner), are a group of
andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...
rock
stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...
s and pinnacles located northwest of
Whakaari / White Island Whakaari / White Island (, , lit. "the dramatic volcano"), also known as White Island or Whakaari, is an active andesite stratovolcano situated from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty. The island covers a ...
in New Zealand's
Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...
. They reach 113 metres above sea level from 400 metres below the sea floor, while the saddle separating them from Whakaari / White Island is over 200 metres deep. Te Paepae o Aotea Marine Reserve was established around them in 2006. The area is popular with divers due to good visibility (35–40 m), spectacular scenery and colourful marine life. The rocks and marine reserve are accessible by boat. There are several boat ramps, boating facilities and charter boat services in Eastern Bay of Plenty.


History

According to oral history, Te Paepae o Aotea was used as a landmark to show land was close. The rocks became culturally significant to
Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...
and other
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
descending from the
Mātaatua ''Mātaatua'' was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand, according to Māori tradition. Māori traditions say that the ''Mātaatua'' was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori ...
waka, as the departure place for the spirits of all their people. Spirits linger here, leaving the physical world and reuniting with the souls of the departed. The marine reserve was established on 9 October 2006.


See also

*
Marine reserves of New Zealand New Zealand has 44 marine reserves (as of August 2020) that are spread around the North Island, North, the South Island, South Island, and neighbouring islands, and on outlying island groups. They are governed by the Marine Reserves Act 1971 and ...
*
List of islands of New Zealand New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of Zealandia, a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the List of island countries#UN member states and states with limited recognition, sixth-largest island ...
*
Desert island An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes ...


References


External links


Te Paepae o Aotea Marine Reserve
at the Department of Conservation
Press release about reserve
Minister of Conservation {{Whakatāne District Volcanoes of the Bay of Plenty Region Islands of the Bay of Plenty Region Taupō Volcanic Zone Rock formations of New Zealand Uninhabited islands of New Zealand