Tōtaranui is a 1 km long beach and the site of a large campsite in the

Tasman Region Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council, ...

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 ...

administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC). It is located in

Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a national park at the north end of New Zealand's South Island. It covers of land between Golden Bay / Mohua and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, making it the smallest of National parks of New Zealand, New Zealand's ...

toward the northern end of the Abel Tasman Track and is often used as a starting or finishing point for the walk. Tōtaranui is noted for the golden colour of its sand, more intense than other beaches in the Park, the result of a high content of

orthoclase Orthoclase, or orthoclase feldspar ( endmember formula K Al Si3 O8), is an important tectosilicate mineral which forms igneous rock. The name is from the Ancient Greek for "straight fracture", because its two cleavage planes are at right angles ...

minerals in the eroded granite sands of the vicinity. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the Creative New Zealand, arts, Culture of New Zealand, culture, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, built heritage, Sport Ne ...

gives a translation of "many trees" for .

History

The

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� ...

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. ...

, having been forced out of

Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui is the easternmost of the main sounds of the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand's South Island. Its original Māori name is after the local tōtara trees. In 2014, the sound was given the official name of Quee ...

Ngāti Kurī Ngāti Kurī is a Māori people, Māori iwi from Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kurī trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Pōhurihanga, the ca ...

, settled north of the sounds along the coast and may have brought the name Tōtaranui with them. Once a farming settlement, the only permanent residents now are DOC staff. During summer, the population swells by up to 1000 campers plus hikers on the track. Water taxi services from

Mārahau Mārahau is a village in the Tasman District of the South Island of New Zealand, approximately north of Motueka. Its location on Tasman Bay and at the southern entrance of the Abel Tasman National Park makes it a popular holiday destination for ...

link Tōtaranui with other localities around the Park coastline, while a road links Tōtaranui with

Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay / Mohua, Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 (New Zealand), State Highway 60 r ...

via Pigeon Saddle. Farming ceased after the foundation of the Abel Tasman National Park in 1942 and forest has been allowed to naturally regenerate through mānuka and

kānuka ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka or white tea-tree, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from its ...

to its original mix of

southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

and lowland podocarp.

Climate

References

{{Tasman District Beaches of the Tasman District Abel Tasman National Park Tasman Bay