Doubtless Bay is a bay on the east coast of the Northland Region, north-east of Kaitaia, in New Zealand. It extends from Knuckle Point on

Karikari Peninsula The Karikari Peninsula on the east coast of the far north of Northland, New Zealand, is between Rangaunu Harbour to the west, and Doubtless Bay to the southeast. It is a right-angled land mass of two relatively distinct parts. The rocky northe ...

in the north to Berghan Point at Hihi in the south. There are rocky headlands, backed by many extensive beaches, such as Tokerau Beach, Taipa, Cable Bay, Coopers Beach, and Mangonui Harbour."Doubtless Bay", An Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966, ''Te Ara''
(retrieved 12 December 2011)

Māori discovery

Kupe, the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

discoverer of New Zealand, is said to have made his initial landfall at Taipa, in Doubtless Bay.Diana and Jeremy Pope, ''Mobile New Zealand Travel Guide: North Island'', 7th edition revised, Reed, Wellington, 1991, p. 69.

European contact

Doubtless Bay was named by Captain James Cook during his first voyage of Pacific exploration in 1769. When Cook sailed past the entrance to the area, he recorded in his journal "doubtless a bay", hence the name. Poor weather prevented Cook from entering the bay proper, though a number of Māori longboats put out from shore to come alongside Cook's ship ''

Endeavour Endeavour or endeavor may refer to: People Fictional characters * Endeavour Morse, central character of the ''Inspector Morse'' novels by Colin Dexter * Endeavor, the hero name for the character Enji Todoroki from the anime series ''My Hero A ...

'' and sell fish to her crew. Less than two weeks later, Jean-François-Marie de Surville anchored his ship the ''Saint Jean Baptiste'' in the bay. In retaliation for the theft of a longboat which had gone adrift after his ship had dragged her anchor in a storm and narrowly escaped destruction, he carried off a Māori chief and set his village on fire. While at Doubtless Bay at Christmas 1769, de Surville's chaplain Father

Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix OP (born 1728 - 1780John Dunmore, "From Nieuw-Zeeland to Nouvelle-Zélande", ''Marist messenger'', February 2020, p. 16) was a French Dominican priest. He conducted the first Christian service in New Zealand. He ...

OP conducted the first Christian service in New Zealand. Doubtless Bay became the first location in New Zealand where a whaling ship visited, when in 1792 the '' William and Ann'' visited the bay. Whaling stations operated on the shores of the bay in the 19th century. The area was a centre of kauri gum extraction.

References

Citations

* {{Coord, -34.928164, 173.442821, display=title, format=dms Far North District Bays of the Northland Region Whaling stations in New Zealand Kauri gum