At Wharehunga Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, 10 men serving on the ship accompanying James Cook's Resolution died at the hands of Ngāti Kuia and Rangitāne.
European Discovery
Events In History
24 March 1770
Ranginui was a Ngāti Kahu chief from Doubtless Bay who was kidnapped by the French explorer Jean François Marie de Surville.
9 February 1770
The Endeavour's arrival at Cape Turnagain confirmed that the North Island was indeed an island, not part of a fabled great southern continent.
9 November 1769
James Cook helped his astronomer Charles Green observe the transit of Mercury at Te Whanganui-o-Hei (Mercury Bay), Coromandel Peninsula.
6 October 1769
Ship’s boy Nicholas Young received a gallon of rum and had a headland named after him for being the first aboard HMS Endeavour to spot land in the south-west Pacific.
18 December 1642
Abel Tasman’s Dutch East India Company expedition had the first known European contact with Māori. It did not go well.
13 December 1642
Towards noon the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted 'a large land, uplifted high', possibly the peaks of the Paparoa Range behind Punakaiki.
Articles
A frontier of chaos?
In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, relations between Māori and Europeans were marred by a number of high-profile incidents. Read the full article
Page 2 - Overview
The experiences of the explorers Abel Tasman, James Cook and Marion du Fresne convinced many Europeans that New Zealand was a dangerous
Exploring New Zealand's interior
After charting the coastline, European surveying and exploration of the interior were a fundamental part of the settlement process, defining the boundaries of ownership and identifying resources, useable land and access routes. Read the full article
Page 1 - Exploring New Zealand's interior
After charting the coastline, European surveying and exploration of the interior were a fundamental part of the settlement process, defining the boundaries of ownership and
Biographies
The dutch explorer Abel Tasman is officially recognised as the first European to ‘discover’ New Zealand in 1642. His men were the first Europeans to have a confirmed encounter with Māori.
Captain James Cook, the first European to define the outline of New Zealand, has left a permanent imprint on the consciousness of New Zealanders.
Thomas Brunner’s exploits in the north and west of the South Island between 1846 and 1848 were the greatest single piece of overland exploration in New Zealand's European history.
Main image: James Cook stamp
James Cook features in The A to Z of New Zealand stamp series produced by New Zealand Post in 2008.
