Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit were named by British explorer Captain James Cook, who said “farewell” to the land when he left New Zealand in 1770—it was the last of the islands his crew saw as they departed for Australia on the ship’s homeward voyage. Its Maori name, Onetahua, means “heaped up sand.” Farewell Spit is located at the northwesternmost point of the South Island of New Zealand, and the spit stretches east from Cape Farewell for over 30 kilometers. The Tasman Sea is to the north and west. The spit’s north side is built of sand dunes, and the southern side facing Golden Bay is largely covered with vegetation.