| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Gisborne Region |
| Country | |
Pourewa Island lies in Tolaga Bay, just offshore from Cook’s Cove in New Zealand.
It was formerly known as Spöring Island, named by Lt. James Cook after the Finnish draughtsman Herman Spöring, a member of the scientific detachment aboard HM Bark Endeavour, and in 1990 a rock was taken from Pourewa Island to Spöring’s birthplace in Turku (Åbo), Finland, where it forms part of a monument which was erected there[1] to commemorate the first Finn to land in New Zealand, in 1769.
It is also sometimes known as Loisel's Island, after Henri Loisel who took up a sheep farm at Waihau Bay to the south, and is said to have kept a yacht moored there, but is again officially known by its original Māori name, Pourewa.