Tahuahua Bay / Blackwood Bay is a bay in Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui, New Zealand.[1] The bay has long held its dual name, though the meaning of Tahuahua is a bit of a puzzle.[2] The bay was dubbed Dilmers Cove on Peter Fannin's map from James Cook's second expedition.[3][4]

Tahuahua Bay / Blackwood Bay
View across Tahuahua Bay from
Coordinates: 41°12′42″S 174°05′54″E
Location	Marlborough Sounds

Naming

Tahuahua has a range of possible meanings. The name comes directly from a settlement of the same name, which sat on the eastern side of the bay. The Tahuahua name has been applied to a number of features in and around the bay, notably Tāhuahua,[5] a hill and trig point on the southern point of Mcalister Cove.[6]

One potential meaning, supported by the macron in Tāhuahua hill, is the Te Reo Māori word tāhuahua, meaning "sand hill/dune", or "to be in lumps/hillocks".[7]

Alternative meanings arise from the splitting up of the word into its syllables ta and hua. Huahua can mean "lumps/knobs", or as an adjective can mean "lumpy", expressing the same ideas as Tāhuahua. Tahua can mean "a heap of food", especially at a feast,[8] which in combination with the reduplication[9] of hua could mean "an abundant heap of food".

Macalister's notes give the meaning of Tahuahua as "a place where food is found" or "where food is plentiful", attributing the translation to Mr H.D. Bennett, a Māori man living in Wellington in the early 20th century.[2]

W.H. Sherwood Roberts gives the meaning as "the spot where a fire was kindled and conspicuous on the landscape",[10] though this association with fire was disagreed with by W.J. Elvy, a man knowledgeable on Māori History in Marlborough.[2]

J.K. Matangi, a teacher at a local school, interpreted the name as huahua a term for the "process of preserving and storing tītī and other birds or fish foods for the winter", and ta also being associated with "preparing or cooking food".[2]

The majority of these split syllable translators have association with food, an association that makes sense with the bays history as a favoured spot for Māori to fish, particularly for takeke.[2]

Blackwood is almost certainly a reference to Nothofagus solandri, known in Te Reo Māori as "tawairauriki" or "tawhairauriki",[11] a forest of which grew across large parts of Tōtaranui. Due to this commonality, it is possible that the name referred to a particularly distinct tree.[2]

Tūnoamai

Tūnoamai was the name of a settlement on the western side of the bay.[2] The settlement lends its name to Tūnoamai Point, a point not far from where the settlement once sat and quite central in the bay.[12] W.H. Sherwood Roberts gives the meaning of Tūnoamai as "standing hitherwards in front".[10] The gully north of Tūnoamai Point may be called Whisky Gully.[10]

Pariwhero Point & Parikohikohi Point

Pari means "cliff", while whero means "red" and kohikohi means "to collect, gather together". Together, Pariwhero[13] means "red cliffs", while Parikohikohi[14] means "cliffs collected together", references to the red of the cliffs and the number of cliffs respectively.[10] Pariwhero Point is located just south of Tūnoamai Point, with Parikohikohi Point to its south sitting on the western entrance to the bay.

Hiwhera Point

Hiwhera could mean "big opening/bay" or "large catch". The point sits near the back of the cove on its eastern side.

Macalister Cove

Macalister Cove is named after Sir Robert Lachlan Macalister, Mayor of Wellington from 1950 to 1956 and a long-time resident of the cove.[15] It sits just inside the eastern side of Tahuahua Bay, north of Tauranga Bay.

References