Punaruawhiti / Endeavour Inlet lies at the outer reaches of Queen Charlotte Sound and is renowned for its sheltered waterways and diverse native forests. Dominating the inlet is Puhikererū (Mount Furneaux), a mountain of significance in Māori tradition, whose name is linked to the legendary navigator Kupe and the kererū that found refuge there.A

Ruihana Lewis Smith (Ngati Kuia)

European settlement began in the 1860s with pastoral farming, but the greatest changes came during the antimony mining boom of the 1880s. Large quantities of native timber were harvested to build mining infrastructure and fuel furnaces, and when the mines failed in the 1890s extensive areas of forest were burned. As a result, much of the original lowland forest was lost.remarkable exception is Howden’s Bush, an untouched valley of original coastal forest preserved through a gift to the Crown by the Howden family. Today it is recognised as one of the finest remaining examples of lowland podocarp–broadleaved forest in the Marlborough Sounds and is classified by the Department of Conservation as high-value conservation land. Protecting and restoring the native forests and wildlife of Punaruawhiti is the continuation of this landscape’s long natural and cultural history.