Location of the Three Kings Islands

View eastward from West Island to Princes Islands, South West Island,
Great Island and finally in the upper left corner North East Island

part of nautical chart showing Three Kings Islands

NASA Visible Color Image

The Three Kings Islands (Manawa-tawhi or Ngā Motu Karaka in Māori) are a group of 13 islands about 55 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand, where the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge ( 34°09′14″S, 172°8′24″E). They measure about 4.86 km² in area. The islands are situated on a submarine plateau, the Three Kings Bank, and are separated from the New Zealand mainland by an 8 km wide, 200 to 300 m deep submarine trough. Therefore and despite relative proximity to the mainland, the islands are listed with the New Zealand Outlying Islands. The islands are an immediate part of New Zealand, but not part of any region or district, but instead Area Outside Territorial Authority, like all the other outlying islands except Solander Islands. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 433 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (449 × 622 pixel, file size: 116 KB, MIME type: image/png)Location map of the Three Kings Islands, New Zealand File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 433 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (449 × 622 pixel, file size: 116 KB, MIME type: image/png)Location map of the Three Kings Islands, New Zealand File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 430 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (542 × 755 pixel, file size: 112 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 430 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (542 × 755 pixel, file size: 112 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 521 pixelsFull resolution (813 × 529 pixel, file size: 233 KB, MIME type: image/png) NASA World Wind Screenshot, +70 % brightness, +30 % contrast File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 521 pixelsFull resolution (813 × 529 pixel, file size: 233 KB, MIME type: image/png) NASA World Wind Screenshot, +70 % brightness, +30 % contrast File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... This article is about the American space agency. ... Māori or Te Reo Māori, commonly shortened to Te Reo (literally the language) is an official language of New Zealand. ... Cape Reinga Lighthouse Location of Cape Reinga Cape Reinga (or Te Rerenga Wairua in the Māori language) is the northwesternmost tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. ... North Island The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. ... “Pacific” redirects here. ... fuck you Map of the Tasman Sea Satellite photo of the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, some 2000 kilometres (1250 miles) across. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Region is the formal term for the top tier of local government in New Zealand. ... Territorial authorities is the formal term for the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. ... Solander Island from northwest Map of the Solander Islands Overview map The Solander Islands are a small chain of uninhabited volcanic islets lying at , close to the western end of the Foveaux Strait in southern New Zealand. ...

They were named on January 6, 1643 by Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman who three weeks earlier had become the first European known to have seen New Zealand. is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events January 21 - Abel Tasman discovers Tonga February 6 - Abel Tasman discovers the Fiji islands. ... Portrait of Tasman by J. M. Donald (1903) Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 - October 10, 1659), was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant. ...

Tasman anchored at the islands when searching for water. As it was the Twelfth Night feast of the Epiphany, the day the biblical three kings known as the wise men visited Christ the child, he named the islands accordingly. Tasman also named the northern tip of the North Island Cape Maria van Diemen, after the wife of Anthony van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). These are the only two geographic features in New Zealand to retain the names given to them by Abel Tasman. Tasman found the islands to be inhabited by Māori, but since 1840 the islands have been uninhabited. The Māori population probably never exceeded 100. Twelfth Night is a holiday in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany, concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas, and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day... This article is about the Christian feast. ... Cape Maria van Diemen is the westernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand. ... Anthony van Diemen Anthony van Diemen (Culemborg, 1593– Batavia, 19 April 1645), or Antonius, Dutch colonial governor, was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Bartholomeus van Diemen and Elisabeth Hoevenaar. ... The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and the recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1945. ...

In 1945, G. T. S. Baylis made an amazing discovery on Three Kings when he found the last remaining specimen anywhere of a tree which is now called Pennantia baylisiana, a Kaikomako. It was recognised internationally as the world’s rarest and thus most endangered tree. Extremely careful propagation in New Zealand has resulted in the species being reliably established, but it continues to be carefully monitored. The islands were made a wildlife sanctuary in 1995. Other plants endemic to the islands include Tecomanthe speciosa and Elingamita johnsonii. Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Binomial name (W. Oliver) Baylis Pennantia baylisiana is a species of plant in the Icacinaceae family. ... Binomial name W.R.B.Oliv. ... Species Elingamita johnsonii Elingamita is a genus in the Myrsinaceae family of plants. ...

The Three Kings group falls into two subgroups with four main inhospitable islands and a number of smaller rocks on a submarine plateau called King Bank which rises out of extremely deep water. The surrounding sea has very clear visibility and contains teeming fish life, attracting hundreds of divers. Another attraction is the wreck of the Elingamite which foundered there on November 9, 1902. SS Elingamite is well known in New Zealand and Australia and among the international diving fraternity despite sinking more than a century ago, because of the drama associated with it, and wild tales of lost treasure. ... is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

King Group

• With 4.04 km² Great Island or King Island, known to Māori as Ohau or Manawatawhi, is by far the largest. A northeastern peninsula, with an area of about 1 km², is almost cut off by a 200 m wide but more than 80 m high isthmus formed by North West Bay and South East Bay. The island reaches an elevation of 295 m in the western part, while the peninsula is up to 184 m high near its western cliffs. The island plays an important part in the traditional Māori belief that the spirits of dead Māori return to their Pacific homeland of Hawaiki. Near Cape Reinga on the mainland, sometimes translated as the underworld, is a gnarled Pōhutukawa tree reputed to be more than 800 years old. The spirits journey to the tree and down its roots into the sea bed. They surface again on Ohau where they say a last farewell to New Zealand before going on to Hawaiki.
• North East Island, about 1 km northeast of Great Island, is 0.10 km² in size and reaches a height of 111 m.
• Farmers Rocks, 0.8 km east of Great Island, are 5 meters high and just a few hundred square meters in size.

This article is about the Māori people of New Zealand. ... A peninsula in Croatia A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered on three or more sides by water. ... The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America. ... Polynesians give the name Hawaiki to the mythical island to which they trace their origins. ... Binomial name Metrosideros excelsa Gaertn. ...

Southwest Group

• South West Island, with 0.38 km² the second largest of the Three Kings Islands, is 207 m high and is located about 4.5 km southwest of Great island.
• The Princes Islands, about seven small islets and numerous rocks with a total area of about 0.2 km², start 600 m west of Southwest Island and stretch about 1.8 km east-west. The northeastern islet is the highest with 106 m.
• West Island, at 0.16 km² the third largest island, is 500 m southwest of the westernmost of the Princes Islands. It is 177 m high.

References

• Topographic maps of New Zealand
• nautical description on page 211