Anapai & Little Anapai

The granite outcrops of the Separation Point Suite were formed between 109 and 121 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous just prior to the New Zealand continent rifting away from the coast of Gondwana. The granite represents a large batholith (a series of magma chambers) generated by the melting of mafic (iron and magnesium rich - silica poor) lithosphere (crust and upper mantle). It is rich in biotite with minor amounts of muscovite and occasionally garnets. The batholith has cut up through the older basement rocks of the Takaka terrane (Paleozoic), Riwaka Intrusives (Late Devonian) and Rotoroa Complex (Late Jurassic).It is a late product of the subduction beneath Gondwana that resulted in the assembly of the various terranes.

Coastal erosion has eroded out caves, sea stacks and arches into the granite headlands where joints and faults in the solid rock provide areas of weakness that concentrate weathering. The process of coastal erosion is caused mainly by wave action in the surf zone, along with tides and currents. As waves are mostly an effect of wind, it is the top five or ten metres of the sea that is the most turbulent. This means that most coastal erosion occurs at or just below water level.

Anapai and Little Anapai beaches are a lovely walk out with the family and a nice way to 'get away from it all', being on one of the quieter northern beaches.
The rocky outcrop between Anapai and Little Anapai is known locally as "Photographers Rock" and is therefore quite well known as a great place for photographs! It's a spectacular place at sunrise if you are staying at the Anapai Campground on the Great Walk.
The entire coastline in Abel Tasman National Park exposes the distinctive biotite granite rocks of the Separation Point Suite, forming numerous striking headlands and quiet bays. The granite is typically quite weathered and crumbly, producing a coarse sand. Due to the biotite and some other iron containing minerals, black iron sand patches can be found concentrated on some of the beaches. The striking orange sands of the beaches reflect the chemical oxidation (rusting) of the iron containing minerals. The high feldspar content also produces clay minerals upon weathering in water, such as are present in the local tidal estuaries.