Historic Young Nick's Head
The southern headland of Poverty Bay was named by both Māori and Europeans in honour of early explorers - Te Kuri a Paoa and Young Nick’s Head.
Te Kuri a Paoa
Māori called the southern headland of Poverty Bay ‘Te Kuri a Paoa’ (the dog of Paoa). Paoa was the captain of the Horouta waka (canoe) on its journey from Hawaiki to Aotearoa.
Legend has it that Paoa lost his dog in the Poverty Bay area and he is still there waiting for his master to return. If you look towards the white cliffs at dawn you may be able to see the outline of Paoa’s dog in a crouching position.
Aerial view of Young Nick's Head
The Horouta waka rests in Te Whereowhero lagoon, to the northwest below Young Nick’s Head. With Paoa was Kiwa the chief navigator. Hinekirirangi also came on the Horouta waka and was responsible for bringing the kumara. Her other role was to 'whakanoa' (make ordinary) all those on the Horouta waka. Hinekirirangi lived at the base of Te Kuri a Paoa at 'Papa Te Wai'.
The headland remains one of a number of significant sites for Ngai Tāmanuhiri iwi, the tangata whenua of this area.
Young Nick’s sighting of Aotearoa
James Cook was sailing on the Endeavour in the South Pacific looking for an undiscovered landmass known as ‘Terra Australis Incognita’. He suspected he was near land having seen seals and rock weed floating on the water. To keep his crew alert, he promised a gallon of rum to the first man to see land during the day, and two gallons if he discovered it at night.
On 6 October 1769, it was Nicholas Young, the surgeon's boy sitting on the mast head, who saw land. This sighting was 127 years after the first European sighting of New Zealand by Abel Tasman.
It is now thought likely that the land Nicolas Young first saw was the peak of Mount Arowhana, rather than the southern headland of Poverty Bay, which Cook named Young Nick’s Head.
The life of Nicholas Young
Young Nick's Head
Apart from this one event, very little is known about Nicholas Young’s life. He was approximately 12 years old when he sailed on the Endeavour and was the personal servant of the Endeavour’s surgeon, William Brougham Monkhouse. In 1772, he went with Joseph Banks when he led the first British scientific expedition to Iceland, but there is no record of service past this point.
DOC's work
In 2002 there was public outcry when the headland was sold. As a result the cliffs, a pa site and the peak of the headland were placed in public ownership. Today DOC manages the reserve in association with Ngai Tāmanuhiri.
DOC has completed a conservation plan to guide the future of the site in conjunction with Ngai Tāmanuhiri, the landowner, and Young Nick's Head Charitable Trust.
Getting there
Young Nick’s Head Historic Reserve is located on the southern headland of Poverty Bay. Access to the reserve is through private land. Contact the manager of Nick's Head Station for permission to visit.
For the best views of Young Nick’s Head, go to the Titirangi Domain or Kaiti Hill.
Further reading
Beaglehole, JC. (1968) The Voyage of the Endeavour, 1768 – 1771 (Cambridge University Press).
Gisborne District Council. (1994) Turanganui a Kiwa: Landfall (Logan Print, Gisborne).
Mackay, JG. (1949) Historic Poverty Bay, Gisborne.
Kerekere-Smiler, K. (1996) Historical Address of the Arrival in 1769 of the Endeavour to Turanganui-a-Kiwa.
Salmond, A. (1991) Two Worlds (Penguin).
Salmond, A. (2003) The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Encounters in the South Seas (Penguin).