Cape Palliser / Mātakitaki-a-Kupe, Maritime lighthouse and seal colony at Cape Palliser, New Zealand

Cape Palliser / Mātakitaki-a-Kupe is a ridge of the Aorangi Range pushing out to the southernmost point of the North Island, at the eastern end of Palliser Bay. An 18 m lighthouse, first lit in 1897, stands on a 58 m spur reached by 258 steps from the coastal road. Fur seals haul out on the rocks below, and red-billed gulls breed here.

Captain James Cook named this headland in 1770 after Admiral Hugh Palliser, establishing the European designation. Māori traditions connect this place to explorer Kupe and his early voyages through these waters.

The dual name reflects this place's meaning to both European settlers and Māori communities who have connections here. This linguistic pairing shows how different cultures view and remember the same land.

Cape Palliser is reached by the Cape Palliser Road, a coastal route along Palliser Bay that branches east from the Lake Ferry Road near Lake Onoke. The lighthouse stands on a 58 m spur and is climbed by 258 steps from the road. The road continues to Ngawi, where bulldozers push fishing boats into the sea.

At Ngawi, the fishing boats have no harbour: bulldozers push them on their trailers straight into the surf, and haul them back up the beach the same way. The catch is mostly crayfish, the southern rock lobster that supports the village.