Gisborne

Gisborne, New Zealand

Gisborne is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne Region. It has a population of 34,300. The district council has its headquarters in the city. Gisborne is named after an early Colonial Secretary William Gisborne. It is often referred to as Gisborne City; but technically it is a town as it is governed by a District Council. The city of Gisborne is located at the north end of Poverty Bay. The white cliff headland of Young Nick's Head at the other end of the bay is visible from the city. The cliffs can be seen in the left hand side of the sat photo. The Māori name for the cliffs is Te Kurī-a-Pāoa,[3] meaning The Dog of Pāoa, as this was what it was originally said to look like.

Climate

The region is sheltered by high country to the west and has a dry, sunny climate with high sunshine hours. The region has a yearly average of 2,200 sunshine hours. The annual rainfall varies from about 1000mm near the coast to over 2500mm in higher inland country.

Economy

The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped from here. Now the harbour is the home of many smaller fishing boats as well as ships loading logs for export. The city maintains a rural charm and is a popular holiday spot. Local industries include agriculture, horticulture, farming and forestry. Wine production is also valuable to the local economy.

Education

Gisborne City has four main high (secondary) schools: Gisborne Boys' High, Gisborne Girls' High, Lytton High and Campion College. Campion College is a Catholic co-educational school.

Culture

Two major annual events are the Dawn Raid Beach Day Out, which is an outdoor concert featuring many of the Dawn Raid hip-hop stars held in January, and Rhythm & Vines, a 3-day New Year's music festival, featuring well-known New Zealand and international bands performing in the vineyard setting of Waiohika Estate.

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