Gisborne

Sister cities

• Wenzhou

Geography

Gisborne is on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, in the southern part of the Gisborne District and on the north side of Poverty Bay. The Poverty Bay flats encompass Gisborne city as well as surrounding areas Mākaraka, Matawhero and Ormond, where vineyards and farms predominate. Gisborne is flat towards the shoreline, but hilly and forested inland. Gisborne boasts a large stretch of coastline encompassing the Waikanae and Midway, Kaiti, Sponge Bay, Wainui and Makorori white sand beaches, which are popular for swimming and surfing. Sometimes referred to as the 'City of Rivers', Gisborne sits at the convergence of the Waimata, Taruheru and Tūranganui rivers. The Tūranganui, only 1.2 kilometres long, is the shortest river in New Zealand. Kaiti Hill (Titirangi), which sits directly above Cook's landing site, provides expansive views over the city and wider Poverty Bay. Many archaeological sites have been identified on Titirangi, including burial grounds, terraces, and middens. Titirangi Pā sits near the summit. In the wider area surrounding Gisborne are two arboreta, Eastwoodhill, the National Arboretum of New Zealand at Ngatapa which spans over 130 hectares, and the smaller 50 hectare Hackfalls Arboretum at Tiniroto. Until Samoa and Tokelau's dateline shift in December 2011, Gisborne claimed to be the first city on Earth to see the sun rise each day. However, this is now only accurate in New Zealand's summer months. Sunrise in Gisborne ranges from 5:36 am in early December to 7:26 am in late June. The region is sheltered by high country to the west. Gisborne enjoys a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb – Köppen climate classification) with warm summers and cool winters, temperatures rarely drop below 0 °C (32 °F) and occasionally rise above…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  739
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  688
• Kelp Gull

  Larus dominicanus M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  663
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  488
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  472
• Tui

  Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae (J.F.Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  444
• Welcome Swallow

  Hirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 · Aves
  442
• New Zealand Fantail

  Rhipidura fuliginosa (Sparrman, 1787) · Aves
  406

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2026-03-22
  70 km ESE of Wainui, New Zealand
• M 4.9 — 2025-07-25
  58 km NE of Wainui, New Zealand
• M 4.4 — 2025-07-18
  30 km WNW of Tiniroto, New Zealand
• M 4.4 — 2025-07-12
  70 km ENE of Wainui, New Zealand
• M 5.2 — 2024-12-14
  43 km ENE of Wainui, New Zealand
• M 4.8 — 2024-09-10
  65 km ENE of Wainui, New Zealand