european

The first European to sight New Zealand

was Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. He was on an expedition to discover a great Southern continent ‘Great South Land’ that was believed to be rich in minerals. In 1642, while searching for this continent, Tasman sighted a ‘large high-lying land’ off the West Coast of the South Island. They came in a waka. Captain James Cook, who reached New Zealand in October 1769 on the first of his three voyages, was the first European explorer to circumnavigate and map New Zealand They got here in 1642.  They found a big turtle on the way to nz. When people colonise a place it means that they settle and establish a colony on that territory.