Abel Tasman memorial, Golden Bay

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.

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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.