Meretoto / Ship Cove

Meretoto / Ship Cove
View of Motuara island from Ship Cove in 2004
View across the sound to Motuara Island from Ship Cove in 2004
Location within the Marlborough Sounds
Location within the Marlborough Sounds
Meretoto / Ship Cove
Location of Meretoto / Ship Cove within the Marlborough Sounds
LocationMarlborough Sounds
Coordinates41°05′35″S 174°14′20″E / 41.09306°S 174.23889°E / -41.09306; 174.23889
EtymologyNamed for the location where James Cook anchored his ship. 'Meretoto' has unclear origins

Meretoto / Ship Cove is a small bay in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand, renowned as the first place of prolonged contact between Māori and Europeans.[1] It is located near the entrance of Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui, west of nearby Motuara Island and Long Island.

Explorer James Cook anchored his ships here and hence named it Ship Cove; however, in 2014 the official name was altered to "Meretoto / Ship Cove", to reflect its original Māori name.[2] While Ship Cove is a descriptive name, little is known about the origin of the name Meretoto. One possible translation is "bloody mere".[3][4]

Approximately 1,700 acres (6.9 km2) of land at the cove was declared a scenic reserve in administered by the Ship Cove Scenic Reserves Board.[5] In 1987, responsibility for the Ship Cove Historic Reserve passed to the Department of Conservation (New Zealand).[6] The site is a Category 1 listed historic place.[7]

  1. ^ "Dual heritage / shared future". Tuia 250 Totaranui Marlborough Trust. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  2. ^ "NZGB decisions". Land Information New Zealand. August 2014. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Tuia - Encounters 250: Cook's place names around New Zealand - Meretoto / Ship Cove". Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  4. ^ "NZGB Gazetteer | linz.govt.nz". gazetteer.linz.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  5. ^ A.H. McLintock, ed. (1966). "Ship Cove". An Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage/Te Manatū Taonga, Government of New Zealand. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  6. ^ Celebrating Ship Cove (Interpretation panels adjacent to the Cook Monument). Ship Cove Reserve: Department of Conservation. 2006.
  7. ^ "Search the List | Meretoto/Ship Cove | Heritage New Zealand". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 30 May 2020.