19 January 2024

A Cosy Spot

WRITER and Photography: Francine Boer

Kei te Taiao. Back Roads.

At the end of Mullet Road, you’ll find Mullet Bay. Originally named after Ngāi Tahu Chief Pahi, it had one of the oldest and largest Māori villages in coastal Murihiku Southland in the 1820s. Captain George Thomson gave the area the name it’s commonly known as today – Cosy Nook. It’s a picturesque, sheltered cove with a wee fishing village that’s popular in the summer for swimming and holidaymaking, featuring views across the water towards Cathedral Rock and, further in the distance, Rakiura Stewart Island. It’s the perfect place to slow down, breathe in the bracing sea air and decompress from the breakneck pace of daily life.

Rustic, wind-weathered cribs at the shores of Mullet Bay. Crayfish, blue cod, pāua, kina and mussels are plentiful in nearby waters. Just offshore is Matariki Island, one of two small landmasses that keep the cove protected. The 1997 Ngāi Tahu Deed of Settlement returned Matariki Island and the small rocky islet to the Ngāi Tahu.

The local cows also appear distinctly relaxed.

Cosy Nook – to the left. Watch out for ducks crossing.

The Snipe 7519 is an old wooden working boat berthed permanently at Cosy Nook – supported by wooden pylons, it hasn’t been wet for some years. Photos of the boat from decades ago, when it sailed the around the Southland coast, still hang on the walls at the pub in nearby Kaka Point.

Francine Boer Photography - SouthCoast031

Another view of Cosy Nook. Many visitors tuck away a rock from the beach as a keepsake. To the left is the distinctive square-hewn visage of Cathedral Rock.

It appeared in the Raumati Summer 2023/24 Edition of Shepherdess.

Find your copy at one of our stockists or order one here.