Cape Reinga, Far North

Cape Maria Van Diemen

A title wild and fantastical, 'Cape Maria van Diemen' conjures images of a desolate and inaccessible place, though the name was applied for a lady of European aristocracy who lived four hundred years ago and was never there.

It was Abel Tasman, upon his 1642 mapping visit to Aotearoa, who decided to name the northwestern tip of the North Island after the wife of his friend, Anthony van Diemen, who was Governor General of Batavia, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). And lucky for the lady, it stuck. Of all the names dreamed up and scratched upon Tasmans map, very few are still in use today.

Of course Maori were here first, and they had called the island off to the east 'Motuopao', and visited the area fishing and camping. Haangi stones have been found but it may not have ever been a permanent Kainga or Pa. Another smaller island south of the cape is called Taupiri. The two islands have much in common with the mainland here in that they are all made from sand dunes, sand dunes and more sand dunes. The tiny, and further flung Three Kings Islands are also in the exclusive club of features named by Tasman, this time he was paying homage to the wise men in the bible, the timing of his anchorage there being upon the biblical 12th night.

Even though Captain Cook and French explorers don't mention the island, it was identified in the 1800s as a possible site for a lighthouse, and scoping began in the 1860s. Famed designer of lighthouses for New Zealand environs, John Blackett, was in his zenith when he was asked to plan a light for this location.

He chose a plan identical to the one at Centre Island in Foveaux Strait, and, learning from past social mistakes, there were three separate houses built for the various keepers families. The tower was made from timber, possibly Australian hardwood for framing, and kauri boards, in an octagonal shape, with a state of the art light and internal and external staircases. As with other far flung lighthouses, life here proved hard, and at least three people were drowned in the raging 200m channel between the mainland and the island. A flying fox built in 1886 was supposed to be used for transporting goods but the odd person was photographed making use of the facility.

The provision of a lighthouse could not have prevented the sinking of an Australian steamer just off the island in 1918, because the shipwreck was the result of an act of war upon a civilian boat.

In June 25, 2018, the 100th anniversary of the loss of HMS Wimmera flew by with barely a blink, though it probably should have received some recognition. The Wimmera was a steamer operating between Sydney and various New Zealand ports, and it stumbled upon a mine laid by the German 'Wolf' which had been operating in the Tasman Sea shipping lanes for some weeks.

Of the 151 on board, 25 were presumed drowned after it struck either one or two mines. The rest were fortunate enough to make use of the ship's lifeboats, and found themselves, thanks to calm conditions and local fishermen, beaching upon the broad beaches of Tom Bowling Bay and Mangonui the next day. Captain Kell, who had been warned about German mines and ordered to steer a wider course around the Cape, was not present for the ensuing enquiry as he had gone down with the ship. A memorial for 16 of the deceased, who were Australian merchant seamen, is at the Australian National War Memorial in Canberra.

Australia and New Zealand could never prove the Wolf was there and laid the mines, but they had received intelligence provided by a simple message in a bottle from a prisoner-of-war upon the Wolf, which washed up in a remote part of Indonesia the previous December. The message was from Captain Meadows, a captured British Merchant seaman, and he described how the Wolf had laid mines off Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

In 1941, Motuopao/Maria van Diemen lighthouse was made redundant, and the last keeper left for good. The new lighthouse was up and running at Cape Reinga. Most of the buildings have been removed but the base of the lighthouse is still there, still in good condition and visible from the mainland. The lantern from Motuopao Island was placed upon the highway at Waitiki Landing as a curiosity, but NZPlaces does not know if it is still there.

Motuopao is a NO GO zone. This is for the reason that it is a conservation island and landing is not permitted. NZPlaces reckons you would have to be a bit keen to take the walk to Cape Maria van Diemen, despite the layers of history and layers of sand, there is nothing really there. But it isn't prohibited.

The Department of Conservation has published a Heritage Assessment of this special place with regard to conservation values of the island and the lighthouse.

Image Credits: Benjamin Allcock and T L

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