If we didn’t have guidelines, names could be duplicated. This could cause great confusion for emergency services trying to determine where someone is.

--Wendy Shaw, secretary to the New Zealand Geographic Board

In fact, the Marlborough region has three Pinnacles...

--Shaun Barnett, prolific chronicler of NZ hiking

The pinnacles upon pinnacles of Marlborough have cousins in other regions. From north to south, here are the pinnacles I've heard of people visiting:

North Island

• Matai Bay Pinnacles, a scuba diving site off the Karikari Peninsula, Northland. (Thanks to Kelly for telling me about these; I've never dove.)

• Coromandel Peninsula Pinnacles, a popular weekend trip from Auckland on the Kauaeranga Kauri Trail

• the other Coromandel Peninsula Pinnacles, a few small islands off the coast of the peninsula, viewed from a short hike east of Fletcher’s Bay

• Putangirua Pinnacles, Wairarapa (a Lord of the Rings film site, “Dimholt Road”)

South Island

• Pinnacle Peak, 2120m, Marlborough (the western Pinnacle in the above map)

• Harper River Pinnacles beyond Lake Coleridge, Canterbury

• Mt Somers Pinnacles, Canterbury

Below are more hiking attractions that share, or nearly share, names.

North Island

within Waikato

• Maungakawa Scenic Reserve (site of defunct sanatorium near Cambridge) vs Maungakawa (hill near Matamata) vs Maungakawa (hill in the Hapuakohe Range)

East Coast (Te Tairāwhiti) and Hawke’s Bay

• Hikurangi (highest mountain in the Raukumara Range) vs Hikurangi Range (part of the Ruahine Range)

  • Hikurangi means 'skyline'

South Island

Tasman and Canterbury and Otago

• Mt Arthur (Tablelands circuit) vs Arthur's Pass (village) vs Arthur’s Point (village)

Tasman and Canterbury

• Mt Peel (Cobb Reservoir) vs Mt Peel (Peel Forest)

Tasman and Otago

• Ben Nevis (Mt Richmond Forest Park, near Wakefield) vs Ben Nevis (mountain and homestead/area in Nevis Valley, Otago)

Nelson and Otago

• Sentinel Hill (Cable Bay) vs Sentinel Peak (Lake Hwea)

Marlborough and Canterbury

• Red Hill (Mt Richmond Forest Park, near St Arnaud) vs Red Hill (Korowai-Torlesse, near Castle Hill)

West Coast and Canterbury

• Mt Mueller (Lewis Pass) vs Mueller Hut, Mt Ollivier (near Aoraki Mt Cook)

within Canterbury

• Bealey Spur vs the nearby Mt Bealey

• Castle Hill (rock formation and high-country station near Craigieburn Forest Park) vs the nearby Castle Hill (hill north of Lake Coleridge, not a known hiking destination)

• Black Hill (mountain in the Palmer Range near the Rakaia River) vs Black Mountain (in the Black Mountain Range, near Mt Potts and the Hakatere River)

• Ohau Peak (Ohau Range) vs Ben Ohau, which is east across Lake Ohau

Canterbury and Otago

• Mt Ida near Lake Coleridge vs Mt Ida of Ida Range (Hawkdun escarpment)

within Otago

• Black Peak near Glenorchy vs Black Peak near Wānaka

  • see also Black Hill and Black Mountain in Canterbury, above

• McIntyre Hut vs McIntosh Hut, both on Mt McIntosh (which is attached to Black Peak near Glenorchy)

• Dunstan Range (seen in my photos taken from Double Peak at Lindis Pass) vs Dunstan Mountains [e.g. Devil’s Creek] (between Lake Cromwell and the Manuherikia Valley)

  • These ranges are nearby, separated only by the Chain Hills. Is this the peak of confusion for NZ place names?

• Devil's Creek (near Coronet Peak and Mt Dewar) vs Devil's Creek (Dunstan Mountains, near Bendigo Conservation Area)

• on a ridge east of Lake Hāwea, Breast Hill is around 5km north of Breast Peak

  • Breast Hill is higher and a destination in itself. Breast Peak would be crossed when traversing south from the Te Araroa trail (also the Breast Hill access track) to Deep Gully, or vice versa. And what track does that traverse take place on? See below:

• Grandview Ridge Track (north to south; from the Te Araroa trail to Deep Gully, not passing over Grandview Mountain Peak) vs Grandview Mountain Track (west to east; from Hāwea township - over Grandview Mountain peak - to the Lindis River)

  • Did that make sense? Good. The tracks also appear to overlap for around 2.5km, east of Grandview Mountain peak.

  • The main (northwestern) branch of Grandview Mountain Track, which ascends to the peak alongside Grandview Creek, is sometimes called Grandview Creek Track. This distinguishes it from the southwestern branch, which ascends to the peak near Cameron Gully.

Those last two entries are a disaster. Please check a map.

Canterbury and Stewart Island

• Og, Gog, and Magog (scroll to p.6) near Castle Hill, Craigieburn Range vs Gog and Magog, Stewart Island/Rakiura

  • If the two Gogs and the two Magogs cancel each other out, is the whole apocalypse postponed? Of course not. Nothing can stop Og.