The Bay of Islands will be one of four main sites around the country in large-scale commemorations marking 250 years since Captain Cook’s first landfall in New Zealand. If all goes to plan, the celebrations will include a voyage around the country by a flotilla of vessels including a replica of Cook’s Endeavour, waka hourua (double-hulled ocean-going canoes) and Navy ships.
New Zealand Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Maggie Barry has announced a national commemoration to mark the 250th anniversary of the first encounters between Māori and Europeans. In October 2019, First Encounters 250 will commemorate the early meeting of Māori and Europeans during James Cook’s 1769 voyage to New Zealand.
THE 250th anniversary of the landing of Captain James Cook is six years away, but Cook Shire Council has already started planning the mammoth event. It will be a six-week-long party in 2020, with lots of celebrations and events to mark the day he landed at the Endeavour River in 1770.
A replica of Captain Cook’s ship the Endeavour will sail to Ship Cove in the Marlborough Sounds, Australia as part of the 250th anniversary celebrations of the 18th century explorer’s landing. The Marlborough District Council has budgeted $100,000 annually over five years in its draft annual plan towards celebrating the locally and nationally significant event.