Gisborne

Few cities in the Gisborne region have a history as closely tied to Captain James Cook’s 1769 arrival as Gisborne. Set on Poverty Bay beside the Pacific, the city gathers around the Taruheru and Waimata rivers, which join to form the Tūranganui River. HMS Endeavour anchored in the bay in 1769; subsequent contact between Cook’s party and local Māori included fatal violence, a past acknowledged in local interpretation. Gisborne is also the centre of Tairāwhiti, a Māori name meaning “the coast where the sun shines across the water”, and of a major New Zealand wine district known especially for chardonnay. Trace Gisborne’s place along the wider Tairāwhiti coast by browsing webcams nearby.

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