Eastland

Eastland

First Sunrise

Gisborne, the main city in Eastland, is surrounded by fertile river valleys of vineyards, orchards, market gardens and farms.

Sunrise, in a city that’s first to wake each new day, is a unique experience. In another significant first, Kaiti beach was the first landing spot - centuries apart - for both early Māori and European arrivals. A fascinating city walk highlights many places of historical significance.

Away from the city, Eastland's landscape is wild and rural, with forests, national parks, beaches, rivers and lakes. Remote Lake Waikaremoana, in the Urewera mountains, has a four-day walking track that is one of New Zealand’s nine ‘Great Walks’.

Heritage

Māori living in Eastland can trace their ancestry back 24 generations. Oral history tells of the arrival of the Horouta waka - the first migratory canoe to bring Māori to Aotearoa / New Zealand - at Kaiti beach near Gisborne.

Early Māori arrivals settled at Titirangi which they named after a mountain in their original homeland of Hawaiki. Land at Titirangi was fertile and the elevation provided natural defence so it was a prime site for a Māori fortified pa (village).

Early European history goes back to 1769 when British explorer Captain Cook first stepped ashore in New Zealand. Cook's landing at Kaiti beach was close to the spot where the first waka had arrived. Young Nicks Head, the rugged cliffs near Gisborne, is named after crewman Nicholas Young who made the first sighting from the Endeavour.

By the time of Cook’s arrival, the Titirangi pa was no longer occupied but there were still villages around the base of the hill.

Māori Culture

Eastland has a proportionally high Māori population. The tangatawhenua (people of the land) are Ngati Porou in coastal regions, and Tuhoe in the inland Urewera region. Te reo Māori language is often spoken, and the traditional culture and way of life is a defining regional characteristic.

Most towns and smaller settlements have traditional marae (meeting places) and churches.

St Mary’s church at Tikitiki is an architectural example of interwoven Māori and European culture. The church interior, designed in the 1920s by Sir Apirana Ngata, was a response to declining Māori art and craft skills. The church is decorated with carving and tukutuku / woven panels by local Ngati Porou artists, and the pulpit was a gift from neighbouring Te Arawa people. Two years after completion in 1924, the church became a memorial for Ngati Porou soldiers killed in WWI.

Many Eastland places are tapu (sacred) to Māori, requiring local tribal permission for access. Sacred Mt Hikurangi (1754m) is the legendary resting place of the waka Maui used when fishing up the North Island. The mountain has uninterrupted views of the famous Eastland sunrise, but climbers need permission from the local Ngati Porou.

Food and Wine

Gisborne is the chardonnay capital of New Zealand. Newer vines of other varietals, particularly aromatics are now also generating interest from wine lovers.

Planted by missionaries in the early 1800s, Gisborne’s original chardonnay vineyards were the result of a regional mix-up. But, by the time the missionaries realised they were not further south in the Hawkes Bay region, the vines had matured and were beginning to produce great wine.

Vineyard tours in one of New Zealand’s sunniest places are a popular activity. Most wineries offer a café or restaurant for lunch, and almost all have cellar door and tasting facilities.

Kaimoana (seafood) from the ocean doorstep is also plentiful in Eastland. The locals enjoy catching their own either fishing from boats and the beach, or eeling in the rivers. Highlights include crayfish (lobster) or fish and chips from the local shop, both good for a picnic on the beach.

Adventure / Outdoors

Te Urewera National Park’s vast pristine natural environment seems worlds away from civilisation. The four-day hike around Lake Waikaremoana is one of the nine 'Great Walks' of New Zealand. The region also has many rewarding shorter walks.

Dive Tatapouri offers water-based experiences with Māori oral history - from swimming with seals and dolphins to stingray feeding or shark cage diving. Ocean game fishing charters chase hapuka, kingfish, snapper or tarakihi. The region also has good fishing rivers for brown and rainbow trout.

The east coast is renowned for its wild surf beaches. Getting there can be challenging but the rewards are spectacular land and seascapes away from the crowd. Horse-riding tours explore remote beaches, and sea kayaking follows otherwise inaccessible coastal routes. Off-the-beaten-track Rere rockslide is a 60m smooth, natural water-slide.

DID YOU KNOW

• Celebrated New Zealand film Whalerider is set in Eastland, and tells a local legend.
• At 660m, Tolaga Bay has New Zealand’s longest pier.
• According to folklore, Māori witnessing the arrival of Captain Cook’s Endeavour believed the ship was a large beautiful bird, and the long boats bringing sailors ashore were its fledgling babies.