Access

From Westport head 12 km south on SH6 past the cement factory. 4 km after crossing the quarry road, the road leads to Tauranga Bay. Turn right at the signpost along Coast Road to the large parking area with toilets and picnic tables.

Track

The well-formed track skirts the headland with viewpoints over Tauranga Bay and then the seal colony. There’s a huge wooden viewing platform above the action.

Return via the same track.

The walkway continues another 1 hour to Cape Foulwind.

Fauna

Seals are known as pinnipeds (wing footed) because of the webbed flippers instead of paws or feet. Streamlined bodies and blubber keep them warm (hence their hunting for fur). Their ears, nose flaps close when diving. They feed on squid, octopus and hoki.

This is a permanent colony. Males arrive in November and December to stake out territories. This is a battlesome affair, with huge chunks of blubber being removed from their thick skins by sharp teeth. Darwin all the way. Females who occupy their domain are theirs for the taking. The poor females have only recently given birth to last year’s pups and receive the males, who impregnate as many as possible during the breeding season. They then leave, kick back for the rest of the year and go fishing. Females then nurture their young, suckling and conducting courses in swimming. Nurseries of pups are often witnessed trying to avoid being pulverised on the rocks by the crashing breakers. Once weaned, they must then avoid being eaten by orca or sharks and the cycle repeats again.

European History

The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman passed here in 1642 and named it Rocky Cape.

Captain Cook gave it the welcoming name used today.

Feature

Famed New Zealand poet, James K. Baxter, likened the seals to boulders on the boulders.