Captain Cook's landing place
Captain James Cook arrived on the Endeavour off the East Coast of New Zealand in October 1769, where Nicholas Young was the first on board to sight the coastal hills. Local folklore tells that the Maori of the time perceived the 'Endeavour' as an enormous bird with wings of great size and beauty. Cook and his party made their historic landing just to the east of the Turanganui River mouth. He and some of his men crossed the river and walked along Waikanae Stream. Cook weighed anchor on 12 October and the Endeavour sailed from Poverty Bay, so-named by Cook ‘...as it afforded us no one thing we wanted.’
In 1906, an obelisk and pedestal was erected to mark the site of the landing of Captain Cook. In 1966 the reserve surrounding the monument was declared an historic reserve. In 1987 the Planning Tribunal granted a 'cone of vision' within which development is restricted so that the open sea and Young Nicks Head can always be viewed from the Cook Monument. In October 1990 this area was declared a National Historic Reserve, the first on the New Zealand mainland. It is of great national significance as it is close to the place where Maori and European began to learn about each other.
These topics may also be of interest to you
|
