Pou Whenua at Meretoto (Ships Cove)

This carving is situated close to the James Cook monument on Motuara , Queen Chatlotte Sound, and celebrates the story of Kupe and his fight with a huge octopus. Kupe was a Polynesian navigator attributed as one of the founders of New Zealand. If you look carefully at the carving you can see the stylised octopus. Queen Charlotte Sound was named by James Cook after Queen Charlotte, wife of King George 3.