native lands

Following New Zealand's long-awaited reopening, Erin Florio travels the less-explored regions of the country where she was raised to discover the Indigenous traditions and contemporary Kiwi innovations that make Aotearoa a place like no other

- Erin Florio

young Nick's Head isn't the most visually arresting landmark in the verdant region of Gisborne, but it has gone down in history for getting noticed. Edged by white cliff faces, the slim, shrub-covered headland was the first thing Captain Cook's crew saw when the Endeavour arrived at the east coast of New Zealand's North Island in 1769. From my vantage point atop Titirangi Hill, it grabs my attention too, pointing like a bony finger into the same South Pacific seas that carried not only Captain Cook but also thousands of seafaring Polynesians aboard wakas, or traditional canoes, before Cook's arrival. Noticing my gaze, Digby Fraser, owner of nearby villa The Blackhouse and a longtime resident of Gisborne, says, "That's where New Zealand enters Aotearoa's story."