Motutapu Island (or simply Motutapu) is a 1,509 ha (3,730 acres) island in the Hauraki Gulf to the northeast of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. The island is part of the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park.
Its full name, rarely used, is Te Motutapu a Taikehu, "The sacred island of Taikehu", Taikehu having been a tohunga (tribal priest) of the Tainui iwi. 'Motutapu', meaning "sacred" or "sanctuary" island, is a term used for various islands in a number of Polynesian cultures.
Coordinates: 36°45′S 174°55′E / 36.75°S 174.917°E / -36.75; 174.917
Read more about Motutapu Island: Geography, History, Landscape, Ecological Restoration
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“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)