Abel Tasman memorial, Golden Bay
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- 13 December 1642 First recorded European sighting of New Zealand
- 18 December 1642 First contact between Māori and Europeans
Abel Tasman was the Dutch navigator whose expedition made the first European sighting of New Zealand in 1642. An easy five-minute walking track leads to a viewing platform and the memorial which stands on a limestone outcrop above the sea. Built in 1942 to commemorate the centenary of Tasman's visit, the memorial was 'reopened' in 1992 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Information from the Department of Conservation website. Read more here.
Credit
Margaret Marks, 2006
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TwitterThe memorial was designed by Ernst Plischke. The text was composed by JC Beaglehole and the typography by Janet Wilkinson (later Dame Janet Paul). Its stark modernist form was deliberately chosen to symbolise both NZ's international linkages and its emergence from "dominion" status; it is therefore significant as a cultural as well as historical icon.
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