Cooks Beach and Ferry Landing

This long sandy beach which caught Captain Cook's eye is an ideal place to unwind and explore the beautiful Mercury Bay.  Cooks Beach is flanked by Shakespeare Cliff to the west and the sheltered and picturesque Purangi Estuary to the east. 

The area boasts some of New Zeland's oldest history - Captain James Cook sailed on the HMS Endeavour into Mercury Bay in 1769 and made anchor at Cooks Beach off Purangi.  Strangely enough, he chose the same bay that Kupe, the legendary Polynesian explorer had chosen when he first landed in New Zealand, calling it Aotearoa.

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