The Old Guard by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)

A Side 7 exclusive! The Three Kings Islands (Manawatāwhi) are an island chain 55 kilometres northwest of Cape Reinga. Zircon crystals present in the sandstone are dated to over a billion years old, making them some of the oldest minerals dated in New Zealand. Part of the King Bank, they were separated from the mainland about 15 million years ago, with sea level fall during the Last Glacial Maximum narrowing the gap to around 14km and joining the islands together. They were settled by the Maori but were never fortified, and remained inhabited until resource exhaustion prompted the last remaining family to relocate to the mainland in the mid-1800s. The islands were purchased by the New Zealand government in 1908, declared an animal sanctuary in 1930, and a nature preserve in 1956.

The islands were named by Abel Tasman in honour of the Biblical Magi during passage in 1643: the ship anchored 6 January, the twelfth night of the Epiphany. In 1769, both Captain Cook and Jean-François de Surville passed through the cape, but due to bad weather neither ship sighted the other.

From left to right: Ōhau / West Island, The Princes Islands, Moekawa / South West Island, Manawatāwhi / Great Island, Oromaki / North East Island.

Original photo taken May 2014.