The Abel Tasman Monument is a memorial to the first recorded contact between Europeans—led by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman—and Māori in New Zealand's Golden Bay on 18 and 19 December 1642. It was unveiled 300 years later on the tercentenary of the encounter by the prime minister, several government ministers, and a Dutch delegation. Originally referred to as the Abel Tasman Memorial and designed by the architect Ernst Plischke, the centrepiece of the monument is a concrete monolith painted white and symbolising a sail. Located on a bluff at Tarakohe just east of the popular holiday resort of Pōhara, the land for the monument was gifted by the Golden Bay Cement Company. The dignitaries opened the Abel Tasman National Park the following day and the area holding the monument is part of the