Whatuwhiwhi

Whatuwhiwhi is a settlement at the northern end of Tokerau Beach, on the Karikari Peninsula of Northland, New Zealand. To the south is Doubtless Bay. Kaitaia is about 39 km away.There are three shaded and sandy coves. Swimming is safe, but it is not a good anchorage because it is exposed to the south-east.de SurvilleFrench explorer Jean-François-Marie de Surville and his crew in the ship St Jean Baptiste were the first Europeans to enter Doubtless Bay, just 8 days after James Cook had named it. They anchored off Rangiawhia Pa, just north east of Whatuwhiwhi, on 17 December 1769, and gathered cresses and green plants gathered by the shores. Here Father Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix (chaplain on the St Jean Baptiste) conducted the first Christian service in New Zealand waters when he celebrated Mass on Christmas Day 1769. A storm on 27 December stranded a party of men on shore at Whatuwhiwhi, where they were treated hospitably by the local Maori. In the same storm, the ship dragged her anchors, which had to be cut. The ship's yawl, which was in tow, struck rocks and was also cut free.After the storm, and the stranded party had returned to the ship, on 31 December 1769, the yawl was spotted ashore on Tokerau Beach surrounded by Maori, and an armed party set off to retrieve it. They found a group of Maori carrying spears, and the chief, Ranginui, approached de Surville carrying a twig of green leaves as a sign of peace. De Surville arrested Ranginui for the theft of his boat. His party burned about 30 huts, destroyed one canoe filled with nets, and confiscated another. They brought Ranginui back to their ship, where the crew members who had been stranded during the storm identified him as the chief who had been hospitable to them. De Surville was determined to keep his captive, and St Jean Baptiste sailed for Peru the same day. Ranginui died in captivity, of scurvy, 12 weeks later.