THE BLUFFThe headland (270m) on the western side of the entrance to Bluff Harbour. From the top of the hill there is an exellent view of the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai Point on the other side of the harbour entrance. A norite (a kind of granite) quarry was once sited here. At the foot of the headland, on the eastern side, is Stirling Point with its international sign postgiving distances and directions to places throughout the world.
The promontory is alluded to in old writings as "Old Man Bluff" and occaisionally as "The Old Man". Other sources use the name Bluff Hill but local and more popular usage refers to it simply as The Bluff.
LOCATIONThe Port of Bluff is on the south coast of the South Island, its geographical position is 47deg South Latitude. A range of hills running in a south-easterly direction for nine miles, from the New River Heads to Lookout Point. Bluff, shelters Bluff Harbour from the prevailing winds which blows from the south-west. This range of hills is a gigantic breakwater and its highest point is Bluff Hill 870 ft, and the lowest and narrowest point is at Ocean Beach.
Email: blufforn@e3.net.nz
