Captain Cook commemorations to leave a legacy on Picton foreshore

Thursday, 20 September 2018

Totaranui Trust general manager Alice Taylor with a Captain Cook marker on Picton's foreshore.

A permanent celebration of New Zealand's dual heritage could be erected on Picton's foreshore as part of the 250th Captain Cook commemorations.

A new installation is one of several items that could be left behind as a 'legacy' after the 2020 event marking 250 years since Cook visited the Marlborough Sounds.

A bell bird or tui statue would be better than a Cook statue, says Mike Jacomb.

Cook made five visits to Ship Cove, in the Queen Charlotte Sound, the first one on January 15, 1770, and he spent a total of 105 days there, more than anywhere else in New Zealand.

Totaranui Trust general manager Alice Taylor said she hoped the proposed foreshore installation would help continue the legacy of Captain Cook's first landing site in Marlborough, Ship Cove.

The Endeavour replica, bound for Picton in November 2019.

Picton resident Pene Gregro wants to see an installation depicting the meeting between the Māori and European cultures.

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Ship Cove was the explorer's favourite anchorage in New Zealand.

'Meretoto (Ship Cove) is not easily accessible to many, and we are really [aware] that some people will never get there in their lifetime,' Taylor said.

'We want this to be a commemoration that is accessible for people, so we've looked at how we can make that connection easier for people, and the connection for us at that point is the pouwhenua (land marker post) out at Meretoto.

Long-time Picton resident Mike Jacomb says a bird statue could be coupled with a plaque or information board.

'We're trying to link that to some sort of installation sculpture on the Picton foreshore, which can maybe talk to that interpretation and make that connection [to the pouwhenua].'

The installation idea was still in its 'idea forming stage' as the trust first needed to develop a design brief to show the public what the installation hoped to achieve, and what it might look like, Taylor said.

The Picton foreshore, with views of the Marlborough Sounds.

'Nothing is set in stone yet, it's just something as a trust we'd like to see happen,' Taylor said. 'There's a lot of consultation work needed before it becomes a reality.'

Taylor presented the plans as part of a Totaranui 250 Trust update at a planning, finance and community committee meeting last week.

Lisa Grant, who grew up near Ship Cove, says a 'nice big wood carving' of a native bird would look great on the Picton foreshore.

Picton resident Pene Gregro said she would like to see an installation depicting the meeting between the Māori and European cultures.

'If I had to pick something, I would do something based around a waka, and show the blending of culture,' Gregro said.

Waikawa resident Trevor Brooks says an 'eye-catching' mural of Captain Cook standing with the Endeavour would make a great addition to Picton's foreshore.

'[The meeting] changed the nature of our society. Captain Cook was the beginning of the influx of people from Europe.'

Waikawa resident Trevor Brooks said an 'eye-catching' mural of Captain Cook standing with the Endeavour would make a great addition to Picton's foreshore.

'It needs to be a colourful and beautiful mural on a wall, up high, so everyone can see it,' Brooks said.

'It should be bigger and more colourful than the ones already there [on the foreshore]. Those ones, they're dowry.'

Long-time Picton resident Mike Jacomb said it was 'difficult' to choose what to put on the foreshore, as people were 'not into statues anymore'.

'They're more of a colonial times commemoration,' Jacomb said. 'But it would be good if we did something with birds, like a tui or bell bird, welcoming Captain Cook.'

Jacomb said the bird statue could be coupled with a plaque or information board, which told the story of Ship Cove.

Lisa Grant, who grew up near Ship Cove, agreed, said a 'nice big wood carving' of a native bird would look great on the Picton foreshore.

'A big fantail, or pīwakawaka, would be very welcoming and pretty to look at,' Grant said. 'It could be a wooden sculpture, with the word 'welcome' underneath it, if need be.'

A native bird would also be the protagonist in an e-book on the careening of the Endeavour at Ship Cove, Taylor said.

It would be one of three stories from the Ship Cove region to feed into the Ministry of Education's national education programme, which was set to commence in 2019.

Other legacies to be left behind could include a track to Cook's Lookout and a reference to Ship Cove's significance on the Queen Charlotte Track.

The trust also hoped to map Totaranui/Queen Charlotte Sound in both Māori and English.

'I think it's critical that we leave something to remind people of the importance of the commemorations and the reasons why we are having those,' Taylor said.

'We have to generate things that live beyond the flotilla arriving next year.'

Commemorations in Marlborough would begin with a visit from a replica of The Endeavour in late November 2019, as it was not available on January 15, 2020, which was when Cook landed in Ship Cove 250 years ago.

Accompanying The Endeavour would be two waka, a vaka from Tahiti, the New Zealand navy and a range of other boats.

The Endeavour replica would hopefully spend two or three days in Picton, where people could go aboard, as well as spending time at Ship Cove in the Marlborough Sounds.

The trust had budgeted $250,000 for the Picton event.

Nationally, the commemorations would 'commemorate voyaging and navigational feats of both Polynesian, Māori and European navigators', Taylor said.