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Story: European discovery of New Zealand

Golden Bay

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Golden Bay

Tasman named Moordenaers Baij (Murderers Bay) after an incident of bloodshed there. The name was later changed to Golden Bay, associating the place with the discovery of gold in 1857 rather than its bloody past. A memorial to Abel Tasman stands on a headland not far from the anchorage where Europeans and Māori first met.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by Jock Phillips

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, European discovery of New Zealand – Abel Tasman, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1408/golden-bay (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 May 2016.