A view from the summit of Mount Victoria, Wellington - Cook Strait stretches to the right (west).

The Cook Strait ferry Arahura in the Marlborough Sounds.

Location of Cook Strait

Cook Strait lies between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Twenty kilometres wide (twelve miles) at its narrowest point [1], its north side stands the city of Wellington; on the south side lie the Marlborough Sounds and Cloudy Bay. source: Photo taken by User:Roisterer ) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... source: Photo taken by User:Roisterer ) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Cook Strait ferry Arahura plying the waters of the Marlborough Sounds. ... The Cook Strait ferry Arahura plying the waters of the Marlborough Sounds. ... The MV Arahura is a roll-on roll-off train ferry in service for the Interisland Line in New Zealand. ... Image File history File links NZ-Cook_St. ... Image File history File links NZ-Cook_St. ... Over-Simplified diagram A strait is a narrow channel of water that connects two larger bodies of water, and thus lies between two land masses. ... North Island The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. ... The South Island The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. ... Alternative meanings at Wellington (disambiguation) A view of Wellington from the top of Mount Victoria. ... Sea kayakers in the Marlborough Sounds. ... Location of Cloudy Bay Cloudy Bay is located at the northeast of New Zealands South Island, to the south of the Marlborough Sounds. ...

Two large bays, Golden Bay and Tasman Bay, flank the South Island coast immediately to its west, and the North Island coast to the west recedes towards the giant curve of the Kapiti Coast and the South Taranaki Bight. To its east the South Island recedes, the coast running south-west after reaching the headland of Cape Campbell. The North Island's short south coast stretches along Palliser Bay, terminating at Cape Palliser. The Wellington suburbs of Owhiro Bay, Island Bay, Houghton Bay, Lyall Bay, Rongotai, Moa Point and Breaker Bay face the strait. Golden Bay is the name of a bay and a district at the northern end of New Zealands South Island. ... Tasman Bay is a large V-shaped bay at the north end of New Zealands South Island. ... Kapiti Island seen from Waikanae Beach, Kapiti Coast. ... The South Taranaki Bight is the name given to the large bay which extends south and east from the south coast of Taranaki in New Zealands North Island. ... Cape Campbell is located in Marlborough, New Zealand, on the northeastern coast of the South Island. ... Location of Palliser Bay Palliser Bay is located at the southern end of the North Island of New Zealand, to the southeast of Wellington. ... Location of Cape Palliser Cape Palliser is a promontory on the southern coast of New Zealands North Island. ... For the first Duke of Wellington, see Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. ... Island Bay is one of the southernmost suburbs of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. ... Houghton Bay is one of the southern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. ... Lyall Bay is one of the southern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. ... Rongotai is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, located southeast of the city centre. ... Breaker Bay is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. ...

In good weather one can clearly see across Cook Strait. At its narrowest point only 23 km separate Cape Terawhiti in the North Island from Perano Head on Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds). Counter-intuitively, at this point the South Island's coast lies further north than that of the North Island. Categories: New Zealand geography stubs | Wellington-Kapiti | Headlands of New Zealand ... Arapawa Island is a small island located in the Marlborough Sounds, at the north east tip of the South Island of New Zealand. ... Sea kayakers in the Marlborough Sounds. ...

Regular ferry services run between Picton in the Sounds and Wellington. The strait often experiences rough water and heavy swells due to strong winds, especially from the south. New Zealand's position directly athwart the Roaring Forties means that the strait funnels westerly winds and deflects them into northerlies. The ferryboat Dongan Hills, filled with commuters, about to dock at a New York City pier, circa 1945. ... A view of the harbour in Picton. ... For the first Duke of Wellington, see Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. ... The Roaring Forties is a name given, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40° and 50°, so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds. ...

The strait has an average depth of 128 metres.

Naming

The strait takes its name from Captain James Cook, the first European commander to sail through it, in January - February 1770. In Māori it has the name Raukawa or Raukawa Moana. Raukawa may mean "bitter leaves". ^[1] This article is about the British explorer. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Māori or Te Reo Māori,[1] commonly shortened to Te Reo (literally the language) functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. ...

European History

When Dutch explorer Abel Tasman first saw New Zealand in 1642, he interpreted the area of Cook Strait as a bight closed to the east. He named it Zeehaen's Bight, after the Zeehaen, one of the two ships in his expedition. In 1769 James Cook found that the strait formed a navigable waterway. Portrait of Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 - October 10, 1659), was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant. ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Cook Strait attracted European settlers in the early 19th century. Because of its use as a whale migration route, whalers established bases in the Marlborough Sounds and in the Kapiti area. From 1840 more permanent settlements sprang up, first at Wellington, then at Nelson and at Wanganui (Petre). At this period the settlers saw Cook Strait in a broader sense than today's ferry-oriented New Zealanders: for them the strait stretched from Taranaki to Cape Campbell, so these early towns all clustered around "Cook Strait" (or "Cook's Strait", in the pre-Geographic Board parlance of the times) as the central feature and central waterway of the new colony. By the same token, traffic on the Strait resulted in a number of shipwrecks. This article is about the animal. ... A whaler (or whale catcher) is a specialized kind of ship, designed for catching whales. ... Sea kayakers in the Marlborough Sounds. ... Kapiti Island seen from Waikanae Beach, Kapiti Coast. ... The City of Nelson is situated very close to the centre of New Zealand. ... Wanganui   is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. ... View of Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont from Stratford, facing west. ... Cape Campbell is located in Marlborough, New Zealand, on the northeastern coast of the South Island. ...

Swimming the Strait

Māori accounts tell of at least one swimmer who conquered the strait in 1831. Following the crossing by Barrie Devenport on 20 November 1962, many successful swims across the strait have taken place. One of these successful swimmers were Lynne Cox. She swam it in 1975.

External links

• Encyclopaedia of New Zealand link

Citations

1. ^ A. W Reed, The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names, Reed: 2002, page 99

http://www.lynnecox.org/aboutlynne.htm

Coordinates: 41°13′46″S, 174°28′59″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

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