Tapuae-o-Uenuku

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Tapuae-o-Uenuku, formerly Mount Tapuaenuku, is the highest peak in the northeast of New Zealand's South Island. The name translates from Māori as "footprint of the rainbow", though is usually regarded as being named after Chief Tapuaenuku. At 2,885 metres (9, 465 ft) it is the highest mountain in New Zealand outside the main ranges of the Southern Alps, and over 80 metres taller than Mount Ruapehu, the tallest peak in the North Island. It had its beginnings as a magma chamber 3–4 km below the South Island's Torlesse rocks, which in turn had been buried by a 2 km geological layer over the last 100 million years. It has thus been uplifted almost 9 km over the last 4–5 million years, and without substantial erosion would be taller than the Himalayas. Tapuae-o-Uenuku dominates the Inland Kaikōura Range, rising high above the valleys of the Waiau Toa / Clarence and Awatere Rivers. It can be seen from as far away as Mount Ruapehu in the North Island, more than 340 km away, and is a prominent point on the horizon for travellers on the interisland ferries that ply Cook Strait. The first European to sight the mountain was James Cook, who called it Mount Odin, but later nicknamed it "The Watcher" since his ship seemed to be visible from it at so many points along the coast. The first Europeans to attempt to climb the mountain were Edward John Eyre, Lieutenant-Governor of New Munster, an

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.