Motuareronui / Adele Island facts for kids
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, New Zealand |
| Adjacent bodies of water | Tasman Bay |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Length | 1.5 km (0.93 mi) |
| Width | 1.1 km (0.68 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 119 m (390 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Department of Conservation | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Motuareronui / Adele Island is a small island off the coast of New Zealand. It is contained within Abel Tasman National Park. The navigator and botanist Dumont d'Urville charted the island in 1827.
In the 1850s, the island and nearby Fisherman Island were purchased by a Nelson custom collectors, but were later confiscated by the government due to misuse of funds. Both islands became scenic reserves in 1895.
These islands shelter the waterway known as the Astrolabe Roadstead from Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, making it popular with kayakers and boaties.
Etymology
Dumont d'Urville named the island after his wife Adele Pepin, and also named the adjacent Fisherman Island, along with the Astrolabe Roadstead, which he named after his ship.
In August 2014, the island name was officially altered to Motuareronui / Adele Island. Motu means island, arero is a tongue and nui is big; hence, Motuareronui literally means the big island shaped like a tongue, which makes Motuareroiei / Fisherman Island the little island shaped like a tongue; however, in his comprehensive book on natural and cultural history of Abel Tasman National Park, Philip Simpson suggests the two islands are incorrectly named, as follows:
Tongues (arero) are important to Māori culture... the islands are not, however, noticeable tongue shaped. A recent official change as a result of the Treaty settlement is that Tasman Bay is shared with Te Tai o Aorere. This supports the suggestion that the two islands are incorrectly named and should be Motuaorerenui and Motuaorereiti..
