Cooks Cove Walkway
Alert/Important notice
No mountain biking is permitted on this track.
Track category
Walking track
Time:
2 hr 30 min return
Distance:
5.8 km
Description
The walkway commences by crossing a small, open paddock. It then makes a climb through light bush and across open grassland, then keeps mainly to a farm track just below the cliff tops.
After some 20 minutes walking a lookout point is reached (120 metres above sea level). This spot gives the first views of Cooks Cove itself. It consists of a sheltered inlet with the weather-beaten Mitre Rocks standing to the left of the entrance and Pourewa Island rising up to the right.
The track winds down through regenerating bush to the cove. After 200 metres the track passes by a small pond and then out onto the coastal flats of the cove. Here you can explore the Hole-in-the-Wall (Te Kotere o te Whenua) and inspect the New Zealand Historic Places Trust 1966 memorial, commemorating Cook's visit. This is a good place for a picnic lunch.
Getting there
Viewing platform on Cooks Cove Walkway
Cooks Cove Walkway is situated at the southern end of Tolaga Bay, 52 kilometres north of Gisborne. On State Highway 35 take the Wharf Road turnoff from the highway, 2 km south of Tolaga Bay township.
There is a small carpark available adjacent to the walkway entrance. It is also possible to park at the larger beach carpark adjacent to the motor camp 200 metres beyond the entrance.
About the area
The walkway climbs through light bush and open grassland to the clifftops that lead down into Cooks Cove. It is suitable for medium levels of fitness as there is some hill climbing required. Good, comfortable walking shoes are recommended.
History
The walkway is named after the Cove and the English sailor and explorer, Captain James Cook. He visited the area in 1769 as part of his circumnavigation of New Zealand.
At that time the Tolaga Bay area had already been inhabited by Maori for many centuries. The main iwi (tribe) living at the Bay and using Cooks Cove for fishing and gathering other seafood was Te Aitanga a Hauiti who made their homes around the rich, coastal land of Tolaga Bay and the alluvial flats of the Uawa and Mangaheia Rivers.
There were large cultivations on the flats surrounding the low hills, and pa (fortified villages) on prominent ridges and high points, both inland and along the coast itself. Estimates of the early population of Tolaga Bay gives figures of around 1,200 people, a significant number at that time.
When James Cook's vessel, the Endeavour, first approached Tolaga Bay, he had already spent 2.5 weeks exploring the New Zealand coastline. He reached Poverty Bay in early October 1769, after a journey of just under 6 weeks, from Plymouth Sound, England, via Tahiti.
Along with this crew (including able seamen, officers and gentlemen) he made a number of records of what he saw at Tolaga, providing an interesting picture of the past.
As the Endeavour anchored in Tolaga Bay, a number of canoes came alongside bringing crew fish and kumara. It seems that there was a great deal of contact between the locals and the visitors during the time that they were anchored in the bay.
One of the crew (Sydney Parkinson) described the country as "agreeable beyond description" and Banks, the botanist on board, collected 20 new plant species, some of which the crew sampled.
The Tahitian high priest Tupaia, who travelled on board the Endeavour, spend time in discussions with local priests (tohunga) and appears to have made a deep impression. Various places were named after him.
The crew of the Endeavour spent some time at the place now known as Cooks Cove (Opoutama) where they dug a well for a spring to collect fresh water. They were also much taken with the Hole-in-the-Wall rock formation.
The visitors were received with warm and friendly support and the crew's overall impressions of the bay were extremely positive. Banks wrote:
"Throughout all this District the people seem free from apprehension and as in a state of Profound Peace; their Cultivations were far more numerous and larger than we saw them anywhere else, and they had a far greater quantity of fine Boats, fine Cloaths, fine carved work; in short the People were far more numerous, and lived in much greater affluence than any others we saw".
Cook weighed anchor and left Tolaga Bay in the early hours of the morning of Sunday 29 October 1769, after taking on supplies of wood, water and food.
The Endeavour visit was well remembered by the different hapu (sub-tribes) of Te Aitanga a Hauiti, and there are various accounts describing the kinds of goods that the local people acquired from Cook and the effect that they had on the local economy.
Plan and prepare
Toilets are available near the wharf, and there is one near the cove. There is no drinkable water on the walk, please provide your own.
Use of this walkway has been made possible through the generous permission of the landowners, Hauiti Incorporation. Please respect the property, do not disturb or approach farm animals and leave gates as you find them.
Please remain on the track at all times. The coastal bluffs are extremely steep and for safety reasons should not be approached.
This walkway is closed for the lambing season each year from 1st August until the start of Labour Weekend. The walkway may not be used to gain fishing access to Pourewa Island or to fishing grounds (fishing equipment and firearms are prohibited).
No camping, lighting of fires or dogs are allowed on the walkway.
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