Walk #3, 22nd April 2025

Local legend has it the bay got its name from an escaped monkey who made his home there.

A quick walk up a well built stone staircase leads to a viewing platform overlooking Cloudy Bay and a small shingle cove with a sea cave.

The information boards are interesting. I read about the difficulty in laying the telecommunication and power cables on the Cook Strait sea floor due to the strong currents and tidal flows.

“The land the sea brought in”

I learned this east coast South Island beach is growing, just like a beach we visited in the west coast of the North Island. So much for “sea level rise” because of “climate change.”

Rarangi

There are caves in the area from a time when the sea once reached further inland, evidenced by fish hooks and shellfish remains around the caves. There were stone walled gardens near the hills, evidence of a much earlier people who had lived in the area around 900 years ago.

That’s interesting because there were also stone walled gardens across Cook Strait at Cape Palliser.

According to Maori lore, one of the caves in the bluff, Te Ana Rangomai Papa, housed a taniwha who ate the daughter of a local chief. Another cave, “Daddy Watson’s cave” was hollowed out by a bach owner in the hope of breaking through to Whites Bay. We didn’t know about these caves when we visited the area, it was a reconnaissance trip.

Walk: Blenheim 10