Paddock Rocks

Paddock Rocks close off the southern end of the bay. These straggle in an area from the shore for nearly two miles and some are nearly 30 m high.

There are various passages through the rocks but none are recommended without local knowledge.

The safest passage into Manuhakapakapa from French Pass is to head first to Chicots and then due north so as to enter between Paddock Rocks and Hapuka Island. 


Tawhi is the name of the rock with a large naturally formed hole in it, big enough for a boat to pass through.1

The rock was named in memory of the high-born Ngati Koata boy, Tawhi, who was captured by fleeing Ngati Kuia during the Battle of Waiorua at Kapiti Island.

The incident had a peaceful resolution but was to ultimately result in Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D’Urville Island being ceded to Ngati Koata by Ngati Kuia in 1824.2


1. Olive Baldwin, Story of New Zealand’s French Pass and d’Urville Island (Plimmerton: Fields Publishing House, 1979) 27, 136.
2. Hilary Mitchell and John Mitchell, Te Tau Ihu O Te Waka: a History of Maori of Nelson and Marlborough: Volume 1: Te Tangata me Te Whenua- the People and the Land (Wellington: Huia, 2004) 113.