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Marlborough Coastal Areas

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Marlborough District only represents around 3.9 percent of New Zealand's total land area, however due to the extensive coastline and islands of the Marlborough Sounds, Marlborough has significantly over ten percent of New Zealand's coastline. Coastal areas vary widely from sheltered bush clad hillsides down to the water's edge in the Marlborough Sounds, to exposed, wind swept sandy beaches on the Pacific coast in the south east.

Cape Campbell Lighthouse

Cape Campbell

Te Karaka/Cape Campbell is a remote and windswept corner of Marlborough at the southeastern end of Clifford Bay most notable for its lighthouse.

Te Kakaho (Foreground), and Nukuwaiata (middle) with Moturaka (The Haystack) rock to the left - the Chetwode Islands

Chetwode Islands

The Chetwode Islands are two predator free islands at the northern entrance to Pelorus Sound in northern Marlborough.

Clifford Bay from Marfells Beach

Clifford Bay

Considered but rejected as a possible site for a future inter-island ferry terminal, Clifford Bay is home to a variety of marine species, and some of Marlborough's rarest plants.

Cloudy Bay

Cloudy Bay

Cloudy Bay or Te koko-o-Kupe (Kupe's dredge) is a large bay to the east of the Wairau Plain extending between Rarangi and the Vernon Bluffs.

Arapaoa Island (left) and The Brothers (right)

Islands in Marlborough

Marlborough has a large number of islands, all within the Marlborough Sounds area

Long Island

A significant marine reserve, and site with some of the longest history of fortification in New Zealand

Queen Charlotte Sound

Marlborough Sounds

The Marlborough Sounds are a network of drowned valleys at the north-eastern tip of the South Island of New Zealand.

Maud Island

A predator free island in the Marlborough Sounds that is home to some of the world's rarest species.

Moioio Island

Moioio Island

Moioio Island is a small island in Kura te au / Tory Channel in the Marlborough Sounds.

Ngāwhatu-kai-ponu / The Brothers seen from the Interislander

Ngāwhatu Kai-ponu / The Brothers

Ngawhatu Kai-ponu / The Brothers are a pair of small rocky islands and surrounding rocks in Cook Strait that are the eastern most point in Marlborough.

Oyster Bay

Te Tio/Oyster Bay - Port Underwood

Te Tio/Oyster Bay is a bay in Port Underwood that was the site of both Māori and some of the earliest European settlement in Marlborough.

Port Underwood

Port Underwood

Port Underwood is the southernmost part of the Marlborough Sounds, with a southern entrance from Cloudy Bay.

Tawhitinui (L) and Tarakaipā (R) Islands

Tawhitinui and Tarakaipā Islands

Tawhitinui and Tarakaipā Island are two small islands in Tennyson Inlet in the Marlborough Sounds

Te Parinui o Whiti , Te Taumata O Matahourua, or White Bluffs

Te Parinui o Whiti / White Bluffs

Te Parinui o Whiti, Te Taumata O Matahourua, or White Bluffs are steep cliffs up to about 200 metres high of conglomerate at the eastern boundary of the Wither Hills Ecological District where it meets the sea.

Tōtaranui / Queen Charlotte Sound

Tōtaranui / Queen Charlotte Sound

Tōtaranui / Queen Charlotte Sound is a drowned valley that forms the western most sound in the Marlborough Sounds.

Tukurehu / Mabel Island

Tukurehu / Mabel Island

Tukurehu / Mabel Island is a small, bush covered island in Picton Harbour.

Ward Beach

Ward Beach

Ward Beach is the gateway to Marlborough's limestone coastline, an area of geological and ecological significance in south Marlborough.

Whites Bay

Pukatea / Whites Bay

Whites Bay is a popular camping and swimming area northeast of Blenheim and was the site of the southern end of the first telegraph station across Cook Strait.

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