Gisborne District – Te Tai Rāwhiti, the Coast of the Sunrise
The Māori name Te Tai Rāwhiti means the Coast of the Sunrise, and it fits: this is the first part of the New Zealand mainland to see the sun rise each day. Until the late nineteenth century the area was known as Tūranga, but when the town site was laid out in 1870 the name was changed to Gisborne, after the Colonial Secretary William Gisborne, partly to avoid confusion with Tauranga. The region has gone by several names since, from the East Coast to Eastland, and is commonly divided into the East Cape and Poverty Bay. Ranges shelter it to the west while it faces east onto the Pacific. Share your own memories and photographs here.