Goat Island / Rakiriri

Goat Island/Rakiriri is an island in Otago Harbour in Otago, in the southern South Island of New Zealand. It is located between Port Chalmers and Portobello, to the northeast of Dunedin's city centre. It has one of New Zealand's dual placenames. The Maori language portion "Rakiriri" was a significant name brought by the original settlers from their Pacific homelands, a simple translation being "Angry Sky (or Sky-father Rakinui)".[1] The name is also sometimes used to refer to the extinct Dunedin Volcano, of which Otago Harbour is the crater.

For other places with the same name, see Goat Island (disambiguation).
For the extinct volcano sometimes referred to as Rakiriri, see Dunedin Volcano.

Goat Island/Rakiriri
Goat Island/Rakiriri is visible in the centre of this view across Port Chalmers and Otago Harbour. The larger Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua is to its left in this view.
Geography
LocationOtago region
Coordinates45.824463°S 170.625594°E / -45.824463; 170.625594
Area4.5 ha (11 acres)
Administration
New Zealand
Demographics
Population0

The second-largest island in the harbour, Goat Island/Rakiriri covers 4.5 hectares (11 acres), and is located to the northwest of the larger Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua. When the quarantine station was running, single men were quartered in a two storied barrack similar to those on Quarantine Island/Kamau Taurua. Unlike its neighbour, Goat Island/Rakiriri today is uninhabited, and is designated as a scenic reserve[2] and Historic Area.[3] It has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area because it has a breeding colony of bronze shags.[4]

The two islands, along with the Portobello Peninsula, are all part of a ridge (anticline) lying across the centre of the harbour, which was the crater of the long-extinct Dunedin volcano - running from Portobello to Port Chalmers.

See also

References
  1. Reed, A. W. (1975). Place names of New Zealand. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed. ISBN 0-589-00933-8.
  2. "Dunedin City District Plan" (PDF). Dunedin City Council. December 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  3. "Goat Island/Rangiriri Historic Area". Register of Historic Places. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  4. "Goat Island (North Otago)". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2012. Archived from the original on 10 July 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
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