Funding boost welcomed by Mercury 250 Trust

A further $5 million has been committed by Government over the next two years for the First Encounters 250 commemoration which will include a focus on Captain Cook’s landing at Mercury Bay on the Coromandel, it was announced this week.
The Ministry of Culture and Heritage - through the Government’s Major Events Development Fund – has previously had a commitment of $3.5 million towards a commemorative voyage around New Zealand by a flotilla including a replica of the ship Endeavour.
This week’s announcement of $5 million came as part of the Government’s Budget released on Thursday.
Although it is not yet known how this additional funding may be applied, it was welcomed by the Mercury 250 Trust, which is overseeing the co-ordination of events for the commemoration on the Coromandel.
“The Mercury 250 Trust are extremely pleased to receive this news and are endeavouring to put forward a quality programme for the Commemorations,” says Chair of the Trust, Paul Kelly.
Trustees include Joe Davis as the representative for Ngati Hei, Mr Kelly who is also Chair of the Mercury Bay Community Board, historian Richard Gates and MBAS Principal John Wright. Sir Michael Fay is the Honorary Patron of the trust, and Tony Fox and Murray McLean are the representatives as TCDC Councillors.
The Ministry of Culture and Heritage has a team working on the commemoration and acknowledged the huge amount of energy and work the Trusts have put in so far.
Exciting initiatives are under way including a focus by Mr Wright and other educators from around the nation’s original landing sites on educational initiatives to capture and tell the stories of first encounters in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Mercury Bay is historically significant because it is one of the first areas of Maori landfall and subsequent settlement in Aotearoa and was also the location of one of the first amicable meetings between Maori and Europeans much later, in 1769.
Ngati Hei - descended from the ancestor Hei, the brother of Tamatekapua and captain of the Te Arawa waka - welcomed James Cook and his crew. This includes the Tahitian navigator Tupaia who was aboard the Endeavour’s first voyage around Aotearoa. The visitors were hosted by Ngati Hei over 12 days and observed the transit of Mercury.
Ahuahu (Great Mercury) Island is also a significant site of early Maori settlement.
The additional funding allocation will be discussed at a meeting in July of the National Coordinating Committee for First Encounters 250. This Committee is overseeing the development and delivery of a programme of events at a national level, at the Endeavour’s original landing sites at Mercury Bay, Bay of Islands, Gisborne and Marlborough.
Chair of this committee, Former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley, recently toured original landing sites for Cook’s ship in the Mercury Bay as part of a positive meeting with members of the MB250 Trust.
Mayor Sandra Goudie said the visit by Dame Shipley was of great assistance to those planning events for 2019, since it gave ideas and direction to members of the Trust and showcased Mercury Bay.

“The involvement of Dame Jenny Shipley has been inspirational to ourselves and to the Mercury 250 Trust. It enables more drive and encouragement for us to deliver quality events to commemorate this significant occasion.
“It is a special moment in history that we will not be able to see again, allowing us the opportunity
to provide legacy projects to commemorate. This is fantastic.”

Read more about local events and how you can contribute

Earlier in the year we announced that events that celebrate the November 2019 anniversary of Captain James Cook’s visit to Te Whanganui a Hei are gaining momentum locally, at the same time that the Government is ramping up co-ordination of events nationally to mark the 250th anniversary of the first encounters between Māori and Europeans.
Mercury Bay 250 Trust hosted a workshop to bring together individuals, community groups, event organisers and businesses willing to have input on legacy projects and events for the 2019 commemoration that will mark 250 years since Cook visited on his first Great Voyage (1768–1771) aboard The Endeavour.
The Trust has developed three main themes of exploration and discovery, Mercury Bay as a first meeting place and scientific discovery. The themes are showcased on a new website www.thecoromandel.com/cooksjourney that was created as the platform for promoting the commemoration in 2019.
Ideas being considered include a storytelling venue in Whitianga and projects that enhance the indigenous marine and land habitats that were impacted following these first connections between two cultures.
Mercury Bay is one of four original landing sites for Cook and is significant in Cook’s journey because it was the first amicable contact between Europeans and Maori.
Cook stayed for 12 days with Ngati Hei and named the area Mercury Bay. Cook was preceded many centuries earlier by the Polynesian voyagers and first settlers in Aotearoa including Hei – ancestor of the Ngati Hei people of today.
Ngati Hei are active partners in the commemoration, which will celebrate the exchanges that took place with Cook’s visit and the foundations that were laid for two cultures to share their knowledge, food and customs. During Cook’s visit the local tribes were left with potatoes, which were planted and distributed among the tribes of Hauraki.
Read more on this journey and sign up for updates on the Cook Journey website on www.thecoromandel/cooksjourney under its heritage section.

Whitianga town upgrade in time for Cook 250 celebrations
An upgrade to the Whitianga town centre will feature a navigation theme based on the Kupe and Cook link to the heritage of our area.
The majority of work will be completed by 2019 to tie in with the 250 year commemorations at Mercury Bay.

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