Cook's Cove

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Cook's Cove, view from the observation deck

Cook's Cove , named after the British navigator and explorer Captain James Cook , is a small bay ( English cove ) on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand .

geography

The bay is around 41 km northwest of Gisborne and south of Tolaga Bay . It is only separated from Tolaga Bay by an approximately 60 meter high cliff and can be reached either by sea or on foot on a well-marked hiking trail from New Zealand State Highway 35 .

history

After Cook's first landing in New Zealand on October 8, 1769 in the Poverty Bay he had named , he then sailed further north with the Endeavor to be able to take in drinking water and food . On October 23, the ship reached Tolaga Bay and anchored in the sheltered bay that the Māori called Opoutama and is now known as Cook's Cove .

At that time, around 1200 Māori of different Iwi (tribe) are said to have lived in fortified Pā (villages) in the area around Tolaga Bay , the Rongowhakaata , the Ngai Tahupo ( Ngai Tamanuhiri ) , the Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and the Te Aitanga -a-Hauiti , who also populated the small Opoutama Bay . The earliest settlement of this area took place around the 14th – 15th centuries. Century, as archaeological finds can prove today.

According to Cook's notes and those of some of his crew , the reception from the local Māori was friendly. They came in canoes and, according to tradition, brought fish and kūmara to greet them. The crew is said to have been impressed by the Māori culture , their carving skills and their up to 20 m long canoes.

The Endeavor's stay in the bay lasted six days, enough time to take fresh water, provisions, wood and exotic plants on board. The botanist Joseph Banks , the Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander , on whose recommendation the Swedish-Finnish draftsman and naturalist Herman Spöring also sailed, and a number of assistants, all of whom represented the interests of the Royal Society on Cook's voyage , collected unknown plants and cataloged them . In recognition of Spöring's achievements, Cook named the island called Pourewa by Māori at the entrance to Cook's Cove Spöring Island . But the name didn't catch on.

In the early morning of October 29th, the Endeavor left the bay and, in addition to Cook's gifts, made a lasting positive impression on the Te Aitanga a Hauiti .

trail

The starting point of the hiking trail to Cook's Cove is 2 km south of Tolaga Bay and is 52 km by road from Gisborne . The well-marked 5.8 km long path leads to a viewing platform at a height of 120 m, and then descends the same height meters, meandering through a small gorge and running out over a plain to the bay. The hiking time including the way back is given as two and a half hours.

literature

  • Elizabeth Pishief : Super Sites for Education - Cook Landing Site National Reserve & Cook's Cove Walkway . Ed .: Department of Conservation . Gisborne 2002, ISBN 0-478-22111-8 (English).

Web links

Commons : Cook's Cove  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ pits - itirangi Station, Main Highway 35, Tolaga Bay . Heritage New Zealand , accessed March 17, 2016 .
  2. ^ Carl Walrond : Scandinavians - 1642-1870: first arrivals . In: Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , July 13, 2012, accessed March 17, 2016 .

Coordinates: 38 ° 21 ′ 0 ″  S , 178 ° 16 ′ 40 ″  E