| Meretoto / Ship Cove | |
|---|---|
 View across the sound toMotuara Island from Ship Cove in 2004 | |
  Meretoto / Ship Cove Location of Meretoto / Ship Cove within the Marlborough Sounds | |
| Location | Marlborough Sounds |
| Coordinates | 41°05′35″S174°14′20″E / 41.09306°S 174.23889°E /-41.09306; 174.23889 |
| Etymology | Named for the location whereJames Cook anchored his ship. 'Meretoto' has unclear origins |
Meretoto / Ship Cove is a small bay in theMarlborough Sounds inNew Zealand. It is located near the entrance ofQueen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui, west of nearbyMotuara Island andLong Island.
ExplorerJames Cook anchored his ships here and hencenamed it Ship Cove; however, in 2014 the official name was altered to "Meretoto / Ship Cove", to reflect its original Māori name.[1] While Ship Cove is a descriptive name, little is known about the origin of the nameMeretoto. One possible translation is "bloodymere".[2][3]
The site is a Category 1 listed historic place and is managed by theDepartment of Conservation.[4]
Māori oral tradition holds the belief that the first person to visit Tōtaranui[clarification needed] was the legendary Polynesian explorer,Kupe.[5] The entrance to the sound was a jumping-off point between the North Island and the South Island. The cove was valued by Māori as a place of shelter before crossing theCook Strait and as a place to rest up after the trip.[6]
In the late 1770s, people did not live permanently at the cove. They came to fish and gather seasonal foods in the summer.[5]
On 15 January 1770, Cook anchoredHMS Endeavour in the cove, and used it as a base to replenish supplies of food, water and wood after his long Pacific voyage.[7] While his ship was overhauled at anchor, Cook made a headquarters on the shore, ordering the planting of vegetable gardens and construction of an enclosure for pigs.[8] Cook would return to the cove a further five times over the course of hisfirst,second andthird voyages to thePacific Ocean,[8][5] In other parts of New Zealand the contact was brief, but here it was sustained.[9]
The publication of Cook’s First Voyage put Ship Cove on the world map, drawing whalers and other explorers to it. By 1810, whalers had called in there. People from Anaho, a bay just to the north, were in close contact with whalers.[5] They helped the visitors and some would convert to Christianity.[10] and learned to read and write.[5]
In May 1820, the Russian shipsVostok andMirny under the command ofFabien von Bellingshausen sailed into the bay, using a chart based on one made on Cook’s first voyage, and anchored in the shelter ofMotuara Island, whereHMSResolution had anchored in May 1773. He and his men had cautious but friendly contact with the local Māori, trading knives and axes for fish and curios, many of which are now held by museums inSt Petersburg andKazan.[5] ColonelWilliam Wakefield, one of the founders ofWellington, also anchored his shipTory in the cove in 1839.[8]
Māori chiefs from the area signed theTreaty of Waitangi on 4 and 5 May, and 17 June 1840.[citation needed]
In 1896, approximately 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land around the cove was declared a scenic reserve in honour of Captain Cook.[11] In 1987, responsibility for the Ship Cove Historic Reserve passed to theDepartment of Conservation (New Zealand).[5] In 1906 the Blenheim Rifle Company held a summer picnic at the cove with over 500 in attendance. At the picnic plans for a memorial to Captain Cook were discussed and on 11 February 1913, 2,000 people gathered at the cove for the unveiling of the monument by the GovernorArthur Foljambe. In 1970 a re-enactment of Cook's landing was staged forQueen Elizabeth's visit.[11]