It wasn't exactly a pilgrimmage, but when I was in Gisborne, I found myself drawn to the Captain Cook monuments. The landing monument is quite understated and in the midst of the industrial docks. It seems oddly fitting.
I felt quite melancholy as I went for a drive and came across a second Cook monument on top of Kaiti Hill with the harbour laid out behind him.Dusk was falling so the light was interesting and I played with the camera settings to get some spooky photographs.
The next day I went for a run along the beach and saw the statue in honour of Young Nick who first spotted land from Cook's ship. His hand is outstretched in a yearning manner and the sun lit him up as he reached out to land. 
It began to rain but it was warm and still, and there was a rainbow. I saw the prism of filtered rays ignite Young Nick's Head and I felt a long way from Dover. A small fish was glistening above high tide, so I shunted him back to the sea and watched him shimmy away in the waves.
Captain Cook is again standing sentinel on the waterfront, again looking inland while Young Nick looks out to sea. This seems the wrong way round to me.
I took the photo on the left with the shadow of a telegraph pole because I thought it resembled a cross or a ship's mast and I liked the composition as it nestled between the statue and the tree.
I know that some people consider him persona non grata and blame him for all the evils of colonialism, but his navigational feats are indubitably magnificent and I do think he is a hero, albeit from a bygone era.
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