Cape Kidnappers

Today (Sunday) was a nice sunny day and the temperature was up to the middle 20's so we decided that we would go for an explore down at Cape Kidnappers which is at the southern end of Hawkes Bay. There is a huge 'Gannet Colony' and various tours run either overland or by the beach to view the colony.

Some info from a Tourist site...

Cape Kidnappers was named by Captain Cook in 1769. But although he and his companions made detailed observations of sea birds in the area, no reference was made about nesting gannets. Cook had reason to remember Kidnappers, for he named it after an incident in which local Maoris unsuccessfully tried to kidnap his Tahitian interpreter. The French explorer Dumont D'Urville passed within a league of the Cape in February 1827. Although he recorded gannets in the sea north of Cape Palliser and again near East Cape, he also made no mention of them at Kidnappers. It wasn't until 1870 that Henry Hill, an early Hawke's Bay naturalist, reported the existence of a gannet colony at the Cape and recorded the population as not exceeding 50. It is believed that this first gannetry was established in the 1850s on a saddle of the promontory. The population of the saddle colony has now stabilised at about 2200 pairs.

This is the Cape, I don't know how to take a panoramic view picture, so have stuck two shots together, just so that you get the idea!



Action of the sea and wind has carved interesting shapes out of the soft sands and shingles of the cliffs. You can see the different layers of the cliffs and the shingle and shells trapped in the layers.



As always, Louise manages to find a friend when we're out!



Marine life.... I don't think it was too healthy! Louise put it back in the water!



The view back from our walk!