A Strategic Base in the South Pacific
Cook first anchored HMB Endeavour in Ship Cove on 15 January 1770 during his first voyage.1 He recognised its strategic value: a safe, deep-water anchorage with calm seas, sheltered from the winds of Cook Strait, and abundant with fresh water and timber for ship repairs.2 It was here his crew careened the Endeavour to clean the hull of marine growth and recaulk its timbers, a crucial maintenance task for long voyages.3 During these early interactions, Tupaia, a Tahitian navigator aboard the vessel, facilitated communication with local Māori.7 Because the Tahitian language shared ancestral ties with te reo Māori, Tupaia translated conversations effortlessly during initial encounters.8
On nearby Motuara Island, Cook raised the Union Jack and declared British possession on 6 February 1770.4 Earlier, on 23 January 1770, Cook climbed an elevated ridge on Arapaoa Island alongside Tupaia.7 Reaching the summit, he observed an open ocean horizon to the east, confirming that a navigable sea passage separated the North and South Islands and disproving theories of a vast southern continent.5
Life, Science, and Survival at Ship Cove
Across his later voyages with the Resolution, Adventure, and Discovery, Ship Cove served as an operational base.6 On each visit, the crew established a temporary station on shore to repair sails and casks, gather provisions, and forge metalwork.12 Cook had his men brew spruce beer using the leaves of rimu and mānuka, alongside harvesting wild celery and scurvy grass (Nau / Lepidium oleraceum), as a preventative against scurvy.7,8
The cove also served as a site for scientific research. Botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on the first voyage, and Anders Sparrman with Johann and Georg Forster on the second, collected and documented plant and animal specimens.9 Observatories were established on shore to make astronomical readings essential for calculating longitude.10 Artists Sydney Parkinson and William Hodges created visual records of the landscape and flora.11 Cook's crew also established a garden at Te Toretore, planting European vegetables and releasing livestock in the region.3
Sustained Māori-European Interaction
Cook's time in Tōtaranui was defined by sustained interaction with local Māori, including Ngāti Kuia and Rangitāne.3 These encounters were based on trade, with Māori acquiring iron nails for tools in exchange for fish and provisions.7 The Tōtaranui Māori chief, Topaa, and his people became familiar figures to Cook and his men.3 Cook's journals provided detailed observations of local customs, social structures, and fortified pā.1
However, cultural misunderstandings and conflicts occurred. In December 1773, ten crew members from Captain Tobias Furneaux's consort ship, HMS Adventure, were killed in a violent trade dispute at Wharehunga Bay.11,12 When Cook returned in February 1777, local informants identified the rangatira Kahura as the commander of the attack. Surprising both his crew and local iwi, Cook refused to execute Kahura or demand utu following the Wharehunga Bay incident.11,12
A Lasting and Complex Legacy
Cook's mapping of New Zealand's coastline defined the geography of the country for European cartography.2 On his third voyage, after departing Ship Cove in February 1777, Cook sailed to the North Pacific seeking the Northwest Passage.3 He was killed in an altercation at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, on 14 February 1779.4 In 2019, the British Government expressed formal regret for Māori killed during early encounters with Cook's crew.5
Cook's legacy remains active and debated across New Zealand and Marlborough. In July 2026, the Government announced that New Zealand's two replacement Cook Strait rail ferries would be named Kupe and Cook, acknowledging both Polynesian and European seafaring traditions across Te Moana o Raukawa / Cook Strait.13 This decision highlighted how Cook remains a central, front-of-mind figure in contemporary maritime and cultural discussions.13