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Abel Tasman memorial, Golden Bay

Abel Tasman monument Abel Tasman monument

Abel Tasman was a Dutch navigator who in 1642 made the first recorded European sighting of New Zealand. 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 tercentenary 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.

Keywords

abel tasman
golden bay
Credit

Margaret Marks, 2006

How to cite this page

'Abel Tasman memorial, Golden Bay', URL: /media/photo/abel-tasman-memorial-golden-bay, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 17-Sep-2014

RELATED TO ABEL TASMAN MEMORIAL, GOLDEN BAY

Events in History

  • 13 December 1642

    First recorded European sighting of New Zealand

  • 18 December 1642

    First contact between Māori and Europeans

Biographies

  • Abel Tasman

Community contributions

1 comment has been posted about Abel Tasman memorial, Golden Bay

What do you know?

Tony Richardson

Posted: 11 Jan 2013

The 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.