Arrow Rock (New Zealand)

Arrow Rock (also Fifeshire Rock or Urenui in te reo Māori)[1] is a small island in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, off the coast of Nelson, New Zealand. There is a narrow channel between the rock and Haulashore Island.[2] Situated within Nelson Harbour,[3] Arrow Rock was site of the Fifeshire wreck in 1842, which gave the rock is secondary name.[4] There are a number of spotted shags who live on the rock.[5]

Not to be confused with Arrow Rocks.
Waterpainting of Port Nelson, with the small Arrow Rock on the far right.

The rock is named after the first ship to sail into Nelson harbour, the Arrow. She was a 212-ton brig chartered by the New Zealand Company and used as store ship on the companies expedition to set up a settlement in Tasman Bay. She sailed into Nelson harbour on 2 November 1841 and was followed the next day by the surveyors barques Whitby and Will Watch.

Fifeshire wreck

The barque Fifeshire totally wrecked on Arrow Rock on Sunday, February 27, 1842. It had brought out for a party of settlers for Nelson. After discharging her cargo, she got under weigh with a pilot on board. When she reached the narrows opposite Arrow Rock, the wind suddenly died away, and the tide drifted her upon the rocks.[3] Other ships to be wrecked after hitting the rock include the schooner Three Sisters on 15 September 1866.[6]

References
  1. "A rock by another name sounds wrong". Nelson Mail. 31 August 2013.
  2. "Fifeshire Rock". Nelson Historical Society Journal. Victoria University of Wellington. 2 (5). November 1971.
  3. Sherrin, Richard Arundell Augur; Wallace, J. H. (1890). Early history of New Zealand: from earliest times to 1840 (Public domain ed.). H. Brett. pp. 600–. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  4. Reed, Alexander Wyclif (1975). Place names of New Zealand. A. H. & A. W. Reed. ISBN 978-0-589-00933-5. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  5. Booz, Elizabeth B.; Simmons, Ben; Hempstead, Andrew (1 October 2002). New Zealand. Odyssey Publications, Limited. p. 175. ISBN 978-962-217-700-0. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  6. Ingram, C. W. N., and Wheatley, P. O., (1936) Shipwrecks: New Zealand disasters 1795–1936. Dunedin, NZ: Dunedin Book Publishing Association. p. 137.

41.2682°S 173.2401°E / -41.2682; 173.2401


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