Mokopuna Island
Encyclopedia
Mokopuna Island is a small island
in Wellington Harbour
, New Zealand
. It is about 200 metres (219 yd) on its long axis and about 80 metres (87 yd) across. It lies immediately north of the much larger Matiu/Somes Island
, from which it is separated by a channel about 50 metres (55 yd) wide.
A number of wave-cut arches and caves line the shore. For about 3 months in 1904 one of these caves was the home of one Kim Lee, a Cantonese fruiterer who had been diagnosed (possibly mistakenly) as a leper. Even though Matiu/Somes was the human quarantine
station at the time, Lee was exiled to Mokopuna, where he was supplied with food and water by a flying fox
from Matiu/Somes.
Lee died on Mokopuna on 14 March 1904, and was buried on Matiu/Somes. Today Mokopuna is a bird reserve where gulls and Blue Penguins nest, and no landings are allowed.
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in Wellington Harbour
Wellington Harbour
Wellington Harbour is the large natural harbour at the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. New Zealand's capital, Wellington, is on the western side of Wellington Harbour. The harbour was officially named Port Nicholson until it assumed its current name in the 1980s.In Māori the harbour is...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It is about 200 metres (219 yd) on its long axis and about 80 metres (87 yd) across. It lies immediately north of the much larger Matiu/Somes Island
Matiu/Somes Island
Matiu/Somes Island, at , is the largest of three islands in the northern half of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. It lies south of the suburb of Petone and the mouth of the Hutt River, and about northwest of the much smaller Makaro/Ward Island....
, from which it is separated by a channel about 50 metres (55 yd) wide.
A number of wave-cut arches and caves line the shore. For about 3 months in 1904 one of these caves was the home of one Kim Lee, a Cantonese fruiterer who had been diagnosed (possibly mistakenly) as a leper. Even though Matiu/Somes was the human quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
station at the time, Lee was exiled to Mokopuna, where he was supplied with food and water by a flying fox
Flying fox (cablecar)
A flying fox is a small cable car, often propelled by gravity, and used as an item of children's play equipment and more rarely for other purposes. The term flying fox is Australian English and New Zealand English. In other countries, it can be called a zip-line. Similar toys are known as death...
from Matiu/Somes.
Lee died on Mokopuna on 14 March 1904, and was buried on Matiu/Somes. Today Mokopuna is a bird reserve where gulls and Blue Penguins nest, and no landings are allowed.