Gisborne (Maori: Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa) is a town on the eastern coast of North Island, New Zealand. It is the main town in in Gisborne Region, and has a population of 34,000 people (2011 estimate). The city is located on the northern end of Poverty Bay, across from Young Nick's Head, a promontory jutting into the ocean.
Gisborne was the part of New Zealand that was first sighted by the crew of Captain James Cook's ship Endeavour. It was named after Colonial Secretary William Gisborne. Today a memorial marks the spot where Cook landed in New Zealand for the first time, on 8 October, 1769. Young Nick's Head commemorates Nicholas Young, the boy on Cook's ship who was the first person to sight New Zealand.
A largely farming community, Gisborne today maintains its small-town feel. The economy of the town is supporting by agricultural activities such as farming, gardening and forestry. The town experiences a temperate maritime climate. The warmest month is January, with average high temperature of 24.9°C (76.8°F). July is the coldest month, when average low temperature drops to 4.5°C (40.3°F). June is the wettest month in Gisborne, receiving 125 mm (4.92 in) of rain.
View of Young Nick's Head from Kaiti Beach, Gisborne Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Young_Nick%27s_Head_from_Kaiti_Beach.jpg Author: Hoihogizzel
Visiting Gisborne
There are long-distance buses connecting Gisborne with main towns on the North Island. Driving there from Auckland or Wellington takes a whole day.
Sights & Attractions to visit in Gisborne
Captain Cook Memorial Monument commemorating the landing of Captain Cook in New Zealand.
Eastwoodhill Arboretum Center with an outstanding collection of exotic trees and shrubs.
Gisborne Museum and Arts Centre Museum displaying excellent examples of Maori artifacts.
Morere Hot Springs Springs with both hot and cold pools, located 60 km to the south of Gisborne.
Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.
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Captain Cook Memorial, Gisborne
View of Young Nick's Head from Kaiti Beach, Gisborne
