View source for Cape Palliser

{{Short description|Promontory on New Zealand's North Island}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
[[Image:NZ-C Palliser.png|thumb|right|160px|Location of Cape Palliser]]
'''Cape Palliser''' is a promontory on the southern coast of New Zealand's [[North Island]] and is the southernmost point of the North Island; it is in fact considerably farther south than [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] or [[Blenheim, New Zealand|Blenheim]] in the [[South Island]].

It is located at the eastern end of [[Palliser Bay]] in the [[Wairarapa]] region, 50 kilometres southeast of [[Wellington]] – 100 kilometres by road.
[[Image:Cape Palliser.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Cape Palliser and Lighthouse]]

A small settlement, [[Ngawi, New Zealand|Ngawi]], is situated near Cape Palliser, where the main income comes from [[Jasus edwardsii|crayfish]] (southern rock lobster) fishing. Fishing boats are pushed into the sea on their trailers by bulldozers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/wairarapa-places/page-10 |title=Page 10. Palliser district |last=Schrader|first=Ben|date=2007|website=Te Ara – Encyclopedia of New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref>

[[Ngā Rā-a-Kupe]], previously known as Kupe's Sail, is a nearby triangular upthrust of sedimentary rock shaped like a sail.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/kupes-sail |title=Kupe's sail|last=Stevens|first=Graeme|date=1966|website=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> Māori history and the [[Kupe]] legend both feature Cape Palliser.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/public/history/lighthouses/Cape-Palliser/#history|title=Cape Palliser|website=Maritime NZ|access-date=2019-05-29|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330150934/https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/public/history/lighthouses/Cape-Palliser/#history|url-status=dead}}</ref> Cape Palliser was named in 1770 by Captain [[James Cook]] in honour of his friend Admiral Sir [[Hugh Palliser]] of the British [[Royal Navy]].<ref name=":1" /> On 7 March 2023, the name of the cape was officially gazetted as Cape Palliser / Mātakitaki-a-Kupe, following the enactment of the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua Claims Settlement Act 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.linz.govt.nz/our-work/new-zealand-geographic-board/recent-place-name-decisions/nzgb-notices-march-2023 |title=NZGB notices – March 2023 |publisher=New Zealand Geographic Board |access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref> The Māori-language portion of the name refers to Kupe gazing out to sea from the location.<ref>{{LINZ|55640}}</ref>

The [[Cape Palliser Lighthouse]] is located here; it was first lit in 1897 but became automated in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/12041/cape-palliser-lighthouse |title=Cape Palliser lighthouse|last=Schrader|first=Ben|date=2015|website=Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref> It flashes twice every 20 seconds.<ref name=":0" />

== Biodiversity ==
[[File:Seal at Cape Palliser.jpg|thumb|Seal at Cape Palliser]]
Cape Palliser is home to a permanent fur seal colony. The rookery was found there in 1991, the first one found in the North Island in the 20th century, indicating that the seals are recovering from previous exploitation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dix|first=Bruce|date=1993 |title=A new record this century of a breeding colony in the North Island for the New Zealand fur seal Arctocephalus forsteri |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=1–4 |doi=10.1080/03036758.1993.10721212 |issn=0303-6758|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

Cape Palliser is also a breeding site for [[red-billed gull]]s. This species has the conservation status of "Nationally at risk" and is "Regionally Vulnerable" in the Wellington region.<ref>{{Cite report |last=McArthur|first=Nikki|last2=Ray|first2=Samantha|last3=Crowe|first3=Patrick|last4=Bell|first4=Mike|date=2019-08-20|title=A baseline survey of the indigenous bird values of the Wellington region coastline|url=https://www.gw.govt.nz/assets/Our-Environment/Environmental-monitoring/Environmental-Reporting/Wellington-coastal-bird-survey-report-July-2019-v4.pdf|language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216065435/http://www.gw.govt.nz/assets/Our-Environment/Environmental-monitoring/Environmental-Reporting/Wellington-coastal-bird-survey-report-July-2019-v4.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2021}}</ref>

{{Coord|41|36|49|S|175|17|25|E|region:NZ-WGN_type:landmark|display=title}}

== References ==
{{Commons category|Cape Palliser}}
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Headlands of the Wellington Region|Palliser]]
[[Category:Cook Strait]]


{{Wellington-geo-stub}}