| Gisborne Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa (Māori) |
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|---|---|
| — Main urban area — | |
| Central and northeastern Gisborne viewed from Kaiti Hill | |
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Gisborne
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Gisborne Region |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Meng Foon[1] |
| Population (June 2011 estimate)[2] | |
| • Total | 34,300 |
| Time zone | NZST (UTC+12) |
| • Summer (DST) | NZDT (UTC+13) |
| Area code(s) | 06 |
| Website | http://www.gdc.govt.nz/ |
Gisborne (Māori: Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa, "The place where Kiwa - of the Tākitimu waka - stood") is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne Region. It has a population of 34,300[2]. The district council has its headquarters in the city. Gisborne is named after an early Colonial Secretary William Gisborne.
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The city of Gisborne is located at the north end of Poverty Bay. The white cliff headland of Young Nick's Head at the other end of the bay is visible from the city. The cliffs can be seen in the left hand side of the sat photo. The Māori name for the cliffs is Te Kurī-a-Pāoa,[3] meaning The Dog of Pāoa, as this was what it was originally said to look like.
This prominence was the first part of New Zealand sighted by the crew of Captain James Cook's ship Endeavour, and was named for the crew member who first saw it. A memorial to Cook stands on the foreshore, marking the point where he first stepped ashore in New Zealand on 8 October 1769.
On the right hand side of the sat photo at the other end of the bay, known as Poverty Bay, is Kaiti Hill. This hill overlooks the city and magnificent views can be obtained by driving or walking to the summit.
It is sometimes known as the City of Rivers as the centre of the city is the convergence of three different rivers, one of which is the shortest river in the country at 1200m long.[4]
Gisborne boasts being the first city in the world to greet the sun each day. Technically, however, this is only true for part of the year. Both Suva, Fiji, and Nukuʻalofa, Tonga, are closer to the International Date Line and therefore would seem more likely candidates for this title. Due to the Earth's tilt on its axis, however, Gisborne does overtake their claim as New Zealand summer days grow longer. In the longest days of summer, though, it again loses the title to the hillier suburbs of Dunedin in the South Island.
The city has the benefit of being very close to the white sand beaches of Waikanae and Midway. A short distance from the city is the surf beach of Wainui.
The region is sheltered by high country to the west and has a dry, sunny climate with high sunshine hours. The region has a yearly average of 2,200 sunshine hours. The annual rainfall varies from about 1000mm near the coast to over 2500mm in higher inland country.[5]
| Climate data for Gisborne | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 24.9 (76.8) |
24.2 (75.6) |
22.6 (72.7) |
19.9 (67.8) |
17.1 (62.8) |
14.7 (58.5) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.9 (58.8) |
16.8 (62.2) |
19.0 (66.2) |
21.3 (70.3) |
23.3 (73.9) |
19.5 (67.1) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 13.6 (56.5) |
13.6 (56.5) |
12.2 (54.0) |
9.6 (49.3) |
6.9 (44.4) |
5.3 (41.5) |
4.6 (40.3) |
5.4 (41.7) |
6.8 (44.2) |
8.6 (47.5) |
10.5 (50.9) |
12.3 (54.1) |
9.1 (48.4) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 54 (2.13) |
78 (3.07) |
99 (3.9) |
103 (4.06) |
97 (3.82) |
125 (4.92) |
119 (4.69) |
93 (3.66) |
101 (3.98) |
63 (2.48) |
65 (2.56) |
67 (2.64) |
1,050 (41.34) |
| Source: NIWA Climate Data[6] | |||||||||||||
The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped from here. Now the harbour is the home of many smaller fishing boats as well as ships loading logs for export.
The city maintains a rural charm and is a popular holiday spot. Local industries include agriculture, horticulture, farming and forestry. Wine production is also valuable to the local economy.
Gisborne City has four main high (secondary) schools: Gisborne Boys' High, Gisborne Girls' High, Lytton High and Campion College. Campion College is a Catholic co-educational school.
Two major annual events are the Dawn Raid Beach Day Out, which is an outdoor concert featuring many of the Dawn Raid hip-hop stars held in January, and Rhythm & Vines, a 3-day New Year's music festival, featuring well-known New Zealand and international bands performing in the vineyard setting of Waiohika Estate.
Gisborne is home to a botanical garden, the Gisborne Botanical Gardens.
In the surroundings are two arboreta:
State Highway 35 (part of the Pacific Coast Highway network) passes through Gisborne city while State Highway 2 passes through Makaraka, a suburb on the outer fringes of Gisborne city. Gladstone Road is the city's main road, which becomes Wainui Road and State Highway 35 to the east and north, and becomes Main Road Makaraka, and State Highway 2 to the west and south.
Gisborne is the northern terminus of the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line railway, which opened in 1942. Passenger services were provided until 1988, when the Endeavour express was cancelled north of Napier. Today, the railway carries solely freight. There is currently ongoing debate as to whether the line should be retained.[7][8]
Gisborne Airport provides a link in and out of the Gisborne region, with multiple Air New Zealand flights operating to and from Auckland and Wellington, seven days a week.
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Gisborne had three sister cities in the Sister Cities International Program, two are in the United Kingdom (one in Wales and Scotland), the third being Palm Desert, California in the US.