Mount Grey / Maukatere | |
Photo Alt: | Image a mountain from a nearby hill on an overcast day, with a view over the city of Christchurch in the background |
Elevation M: | 933 |
Etymology: | Named for George Grey, and from Ngāi Tahu Māori for floating mountain[1] |
Translation: | Floating mountain |
Authority: | New Zealand Geographic Board |
Country: | New Zealand |
Region: | Canterbury |
Map: | New Zealand |
Label Position: | top |
Coordinates: | -43.1173°N 172.5476°W |
Access: | Mt Grey Track, Red Beach Track |
Mount Grey (officially Mount Grey / Maukatere) is a 934m (3,064feet) mountain 15km (09miles) west of Amberley in New Zealand.[2] It is named after Sir George Grey who was governor of New Zealand when English surveyors climbed it in 1849. In Te Reo Māori, the mountain is called Maukatere, 'floating mountain', from where the spirits of the dead leave on the long journey to Cape Reinga.[1]
Maukatere is a significant mountain for the Kaiapoi-based Ngāi Tūāhuriri, a hapū (subtribe) of Ngāi Tahu.[3] Maukatere marked the inland boundary of the Crown purchase of the Canterbury and Otago area recorded in "Kemp's Deed" in 1848.[4]
In 1998, the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 changed the official name of the mountain to Mount Grey / Maukatere.[5]