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Surville Cliffs




The Surville Cliffs () are the northernmost point of the mainland of New Zealand . They are situated on the North Cape of the North Island , 30 kilometres to the east of Cape Reinga , and three kilometres more northerly. In the past the cliffs have sometimes been referred to as Kerr Point but true Kerr Point lies a short distance away at the western end of North Cape.

The first European discovery of the cliffs was made by Jean-François-Marie De Surville in December 1769 , when he sailed his ship 'St Jean Baptiste' to New Zealand to find a safe anchorage to care for sick crew.

The cliffs expose 1.2 square kilometres of Serpentinised Peridotite Mafic rocks. They form a unique environment that supports a number of threatened and endangered plants endemic to the area, including: