Ōkiwi Bay

Ōkiwi Bay is a small town in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, within Croisilles Harbour. It has about 200 houses and about 80 permanent residents.[1] The area was noted for its oysters.[2][3]

This article is about Ōkiwi Bay in the Marlborough Sounds. It is not to be confused with Ōkiwi Bay to the south of the Clarence River mouth or Okiwi-iti (now Rona Bay) near Eastbourne, Lower Hutt.

Name

Ōkiwi Bay officially had a macron added to its name on 5 November 2018 by the New Zealand Geographic Board.[4] The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of the kiwi" for Ōkiwi.[5]

About

There were pre-European Maori settlements in this area and the Bay's name dates from those times. The primary Ngāti Koata settlement in the area was at Whangarae, adjacent to Okiwi Bay on the western side of Goat Hill.[6] In 1880 50 acres was leased by the Crown to Alabby Hobbs.[7] A saw mill was opened in the 1890s by Messrs Mace and Holland who had lease 3,200 acres of Maori land.[8][9] A track to the Rai Valley was made in 1895.[10] By 1904 Okiwi Bay had become a popular destination for holiday makers,[11]

In 1957 a unique patu was uncovered while excavating a load of single from a beach in Okiwi Bay. The patu was described as being stone and resembling a medieval mace. The style was more in line with those from the Chatham Islands, but the stone was definitely of local, Okiwi Bay, origin.[12]

It is a base for the Okiwi Bay Voluntary Rural Fire Force and St John's Ambulance. There is a holiday park and the area is predominately a holiday resort.[1] In 2015 when a Dutch aquaculture company, Skretting, proposed setting up a fish farm in the Bay, local residents protested against it, stating that it would ruin the natural resources of the area.[13] The Environment Court granted permission for Skretting's to proceed in 2016.[14] In 2017 the settlement got mobile phone coverage.[15]

References
  1. A quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem, Stuff.co.nz, Selina Powell, published 10:14 Jun 09 2015, retrieved 26 July 2019
  2. Nelson and Marlborough Oyster History, Ken Wright, Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 2, Issue 4, 1990, Nelson Historical Society (Inc.), Nelson
  3. Tracks, Colonist, 31 December 1900, Page 4
  4. Okiwi Bay, National Library of New Zealand
  5. "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.
  6. The Croixelles Maori School, Nelson Evening Mail 14 November 1904 Page 2
  7. Government Notices, Page 2 Advertisements Column 5, Colonist, VOLUME XXIII, ISSUE 2700, 6 May 1880
  8. New mail service, The Colonist, Nelson, Thursday, January 10, 1895, page 2
  9. Tenders, Colonist, page 2, 19 January 1898
  10. Pelorous Guardian and Miners Advocate, 22 January 1895
  11. The contraband of war question, Nelson Evening Mail 28 September 1904 Page 2
  12. Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 68 1959, No. 2, An unrecorded type of patu from western Marlborough Sounds, G. Leslie Adkin, p 86–92
  13. Okiwi Bay residents protest against fish farm, Newshub, 26 March 2016, Emily Cooper, retrievedc 26 July 2019
  14. Skretting Ltd granted permission to establish a finfish research facility at Okiwi Bay in the Marlborough Sounds, Stuff.co.nz, Elena McPhee, 18:14, Jul 11 2016, retrieved 26 July 2019
  15. retrieved 27 July 2019 Okiwi Bay gets coverage for boating season Wednesday, 1 November 2017, 1:37 pm Press Release: Spark NZ

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