The Chatham Islands, "the first to see the sun", lie 800km east of the New Zealand mainland. The Chatham Islands group consists of two inhabited islands - Chatham and Pitt - and many smaller outlying islands within a radius of 40km. Pitt Island lies 17km southeast of Chatham Island.
Chatham Island was formed by volcanic upthrust and is predominantly flat, with several small peaks in the northwest. The most predominant geographical feature is Te Whanga Lagoon, which covers about 20,000 hectares - about one-fifth of the island.
There are walking tracks on four reserves on Chatham Island.
The original inhabitants of the Chatham Islands were the Moriori who are estimated to have arrived about 500 years ago. They named the islands Rekohu (Misty Skies) and adapted their culture and lifestyle to the harsh climatic conditions that can sometimes prevail.
The Chatham Islands are very important to conservation because of the rich biodiversity of plant and bird life that exists there. Twenty percent of New Zealand's threatened bird species, along with 14 percent of threatened plants are found on the Chatham Islands.
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