Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language (the official Māori title is Te Hauturu-o-Toi), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the mainland to the west by Jellicoe Channel, and from the larger Great Barrier Island to the east by Cradock Channel. The two aptly named islands shelter the Hauraki Gulf from many of the storms of the Pacific Ocean. It is a nature sanctuary which has been described as "the most intact ecosystem in New Zealand".
The Māori name means "the resting place of lingering breezes". Along with its larger neighbour Great Barrier, it was given its English name by Captain James Cook in 1769.
Read more about Little Barrier Island: Geography, Environment, History, Stonework
Famous quotes containing the words barrier and/or island:
“To say that a thing has never yet been done among men is to erect a barrier stronger than reason, stronger than discussion.”
—Thomas Brackett Reed (1839–1902)
“When the inhabitants of some sequestered island first descry the “big canoe” of the European rolling through the blue waters towards their shores, they rush down to the beach in crowds, and with open arms stand ready to embrace the strangers. Fatal embrace! They fold to their bosoms the vipers whose sting is destined to poison all their joys; and the instinctive feeling of love within their breasts is soon converted into the bitterest hate.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)