Cape Kidnappers

Cape Kidnappers, a short drive out of Hastings, contains the largest and most accessible gannet colony in the world.

Administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC), this area presents a special, opportunity to observe the Gannet in its natural environment… op close.
Cape Kidnappers features in Maori mythology, and its name immortalises the first visit by Captain Cook in 1770.
The gannet, is a member of the booby family, and is related to the families of shags, pelicans and frigate-birds.
Adult Australasian gannets have a wing span of up to 2 metres and an average weight of 2kgs.
Though ungainly on land, the birds are designed for graceful flying and sudden dives from great heights into the sea to catch fish.
They have inflatable air sacs underneath the skin on the lower neck and breast, which act as shock absorbers when they enter the water.
As the birds are migratory, the first trip for the new chicks is to Australia where they stay for two to three years before they return to New Zealand to live.

The reserve attracts many visitors from both New Zealand and overseas who make the trek around the coast from Te Awanga on foot, sitting on the back of tractors that meander along the beach, overland by 4WD or even on kayaks.
To walk to the Cape, leave you car at Clifton Domain, located 18 km east of Hastings.
The domain has a camping ground, boat-launching area, and is a popular swimming point. The eight kilometre walk takes about two hours and can only be done safely at certain times.
It is important to only set off with the latest information on getting to the colony, which is available from all local visitor information centres.
There are many sights along the way including spectacular views of stratified rock beds featuring gravels, conglomerate and mudstone. The sea and wind have also carved interesting shapes out of the soft sands and shingles of the cliffs.

Alternatives to walking to the Cape include Gannet Safari Overland from Summerlee Station and tractor and trailer tour company, Gannet Beach Adventures along the beach from Te Awanga, or paddling a sit-on kayak on a guided or independent eco-tour with Cape Kayak and Dive.
The best time to go is from early November (hatching time) to late February. The reserve is closed to the public from July to the Wednesday before Labour Day each year.
The saddle and Black Reef colonies are closed at all times.

Cape Kidnappers Golf Course
Voted ‘Best course of the year’ by a travel and leisure magazine in 2004, Cape Kidnappers Golf Course was designed by Tom Doak and has all the trimmings. Situated on Cape Kidnappers Station Ltd, 448 Clifton Road, Te Awanga, visit their website www.capekidnappers.com for more information.

Club House
The clubhouse incorporates sandwiches and drinks, men's and ladies locker rooms, and the golf shop - which has the latest in designer labels including Footjoy, Jeff Rose, EP Pro and Fairway & Greene. A knowledgeable and helpful sales team are on-site to assist with all your golfing needs.

The Course: -
Tom Doak, President of Renaissance Golf Design Inc, designed the course using his minimalist design philosophy - characterized by the utilization of natural topographical features and restraint in earthmoving.
The goal in designing the course was to create interesting holes you wouldn't find anywhere else.
That wasn't hard to do at Cape Kidnappers, because the site is not like anywhere else.
It's an overwhelming experience to stand up on the cliffs, 140 metres above sea level, and look out across the waves far below in Hawke Bay.
Cape Kidnappers is not true links terrain, with the wrinkles of sand dunes; instead the land tilts toward the sea as a series of ridges jutting out toward the edge of the cliffs. Yet, the play is seaside golf at its finest. The surface is firm and fast, the conditions can be windy, and the player who can control his trajectory will be master of the course. You'll hit shots over the tops of the tea trees, and play along the edges of deep ravines. If you stray on your approaches, you'll actually hope to get caught up in bunkers hanging off the green's edge, some of them deeper than you've ever seen before.
At the 12th and 15th holes you'll play right out to land's end, and three times you'll have to make the perilous leap from the end of one ridge to the end of the next. And at the sixth and 15th holes it's possible to pull your approach off the very end of the earth, though it will take nearly ten seconds of hang time for your ball to reach the ocean below.

Maui

Legend tells us that the North Island of New Zealand is actually the world's largest fish. Maui, a Maori hero of ancient times, hooked the enormous fish during an expedition to prove his fishing prowess. If you look at a map of the North Island, you can see that Wellington is the head, Cape Taranaki & East Cape are the fins, and Northland is the tail of the fish - Te Hiku o Te Ika. Near the ninth century AD, Maori arrived in Heretaunga or Hawke's Bay, settling in the river valleys and along the coast where food was plentiful.

Maori believe that they came to Heretaunga by canoe, travelling down the coast from the north, landing at Wairoa, Portland Island, the Ahuriri Lagoon at Westshore, and at Waimarama. Their culture flourished, along with gradual deforestation of the land, making this one of the few regions of New Zealand where sheep could be brought in without felling the bush first.

In the sixteenth century, Taraia, great-grandson of the great and prolific chief Kauhungunu, established the large tribe of Ngati Kahungunu which eventually colonised the eastern side of the North Island from Poverty Bay to Wairarapa.

Captain James Cook

In June 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi arrived in Hawke's Bay for signing.

In 1844 the missionary William Colenso, also botanist, printer and politician, arrived to establish his mission station at Waitangi, south of Napier

In 1851, French Catholic missionaries arrived to settle at Pakowhai, bringing with them the first vines to plant for their communion wine.

The Naming of Cape Kidnappers
The fish hook shape of the Hawke Bay coastline adds to the imaginative legend of Cape Kidnappers origin.

Maui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, a famous mythical hero, was fishing with his brothers, and decided to show them his supernatural powers.

He chanted his prayer, broke his nose and smeared the blood onto a magical jawbone. With it, he fished up the North Island or as the Maori name it, Te-Ika-a-Maui, the Fish of Maui. After Maui departed, his brothers attached the fish with their weapons, hacking it into pieces and helping to form the mountainous terrain of the North Island. The sacred jawbone used as the hook was left to form what is now known as Hawke Bay.
 


The Gannet Colony at Cape Kidnappers.

Bird lovers love Cape Kidnappers. The gannet reserve there is rare in ornithological circles as it contains the largest and most accessible mainland gannet colony in the world. Known to the Maori as Takapu, the gannet is usually an island breeder but has made a notable exception at Cape Kidnappers on the East Coast of the North Island.

Nothing will quite prepare you for the experience that awaits, administered by the Department of Conservation, this area presents a special, up close opportunity to observe the Gannet in its natural environment. The Gannet, a member of the Booby family, is related to the families of shags, pelicans and frigate-birds. Adult Australasian Gannets have a wing span of up to 2 metres and an average weight of 2kgs. Whilst ungainly on land, these birds are designed for graceful flying and diving from great heights into the sea to catch fish. As the birds are migratory, the first trip for the new chicks is to Australia where they stay for 2 - 3 years before they return to New Zealand to live..