Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
The Hauraki Gulf was one of the first places in NZ settled by Polynesians. Captain Cook
sighted and named Great Barrier Island (it seemed to bar the entrance to Hauraki Gulf) in
1769. As happened elsewhere in the far north, it was Great Barrier Island's natural riches
that led Europeans to settle there. The first European settlement was a village established by
