Flotilla set for Gisborne arrival tomorrow, first stop on Tuia 250 journey

October 4, 2019

It’s part of commemorations of the first encounters between Māori and British.


A flotilla of six ships are preparing to land in Gisborne for the Tuia 250 event.

Three Pacific vessels are set to arrive tomorrow, with European ships expected to make landfall on Tuesday.

It's part events to commemorate 250 years since the first encounters between Māori and European.

The maritime journey retraces the path of Captain Cook's Endeavour.

Dame Jenny Shipley says marking this historic arrival is about uniting New Zealanders.

“It’s how do we work together? How do we bind ourselves in a shared future? Which is what Tuia means,” she says.

“Tuia means 'united and bound together'. Not the same, but committed to working together,” Ms Shipley says.

On Wednesday in Gisborne, the British Government expressed "regret" that British explorers killed some of the first indigenous Māori they met 250 years ago.

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