Beaches, lakes & coastline
Bruce Bay
About
Bruce Bay - or Mahitahi - is a small coastal settlement with stunning sea vistas and a wonderfully wild windswept beach, 40km south of Fox Glacier and 80 km from Haast.
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It is where rimu rainforest meets the sea, a great place to take a walk along the beach.
The beach was previously the highway for the first Maori inhabitants in New Zealand. The area is significant for its Maori history.
Maui, the great Polynesian explorer, first landed at Mahitahi (Bruce Bay). Hence the local Marae is named Te Tauraka Waka a Maui (the landing place of Maui’s waka).
Bruce Bay is named after the PS Bruce, a paddle steamer that travelled the coast bringing the early goldminers and explorers to these shores.
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