Qualla: Sugar Loaf Islands

Sugar Loaf Islands: Introduction

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dave Young from New Zealand, CC BY 2.0. When James Cook sailed past the west coast of the North Island on 11 January 1770, a cluster of rocky islets reminded him of the way Europeans stored sugar in conical heaps. He named them the Sugar Loaf Islands and moved on. But the Ngati Te Whiti iwi had known these rocks as Nga Motu for centuries, and every island, reef, and stack already carried a name. The islands are remnants of the oldest volcanic activity on the Taranaki peninsula, lava plugs dated to 1.75 million years ago. Taranaki Maunga, the snow-capped stratovolcano visible from these shores, is a relative newcomer by comparison, barely 200,000 years old.

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Image: Dave Young from New Zealand | CC BY 2.0

Sugar Loaf Islands: Ancestors in Stone

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Phillip Capper, CC BY 2.0. The geology tells a story of volcanic migration. The Sugar Loaf Islands, along with the onshore pinnacle Paritutu (153 meters), are composed of porphyritic hornblende andesite, volcanic rock formed 1.75 million years ago. After this first phase of volcanism, the activity shifted ...

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Image: Phillip Capper | CC BY 2.0

Sugar Loaf Islands: Oil, Dynamite, and a Power Station

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Human ambition has reshaped these islands repeatedly. In 1865, the Alpha well was drilled near Mikotahi, a tidal island with a historic Maori pa. It was the first oil well in what is now the Commonwealth of Nations and one of the earliest in the world. In the early 20th century, ...

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Image: Public domain

Sugar Loaf Islands: Sanctuary in the Tasman

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand, CC BY 2.0. The islands became a marine park in 1986, and concern over oil exploration led to the Sugar Loaf Islands Marine Protected Area Act of 1991, covering 752.5 hectares of sea and 5.3 hectares of land. Four islands, Moturoa, Motumahanga, Waikaranga, and Whareumu, are classified as san...

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Image: Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand | CC BY 2.0

Sugar Loaf Islands: Islands That Appear and Disappear

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Phillip Capper, CC BY 2.0. The inner islands play tricks with the tide. Mataora, known to settlers as Round Rock, connects to the mainland at low tide via a tombolo, a sand bridge that vanishes as the water rises. Motuotamatea, or Snapper Rock, does the same on very low spring tides. Pararaki, or Seagull R...

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Image: Phillip Capper | CC BY 2.0