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A hill near the coastal settlement of Pōrangahau is believed to have the longest place name in the world. The name is sung at the start of this waiata (song) and is followed by an account – in Māori – of the story behind it of the explorer Tamatea, who climbed the hill and played his flute to his beloved. Waiata performed by Tamatea Ariki Nui. Sound file from Radio Kahungunu. This sound file may not be reused without permission.

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The 1931 earthquake was a disaster for Napier because it resulted in serious loss of life and property. But, as this film clip from 1950 shows, it allowed the previously water-bound town to grow – the inner harbour was lifted above sea level and was soon built upon.

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The Vulcan (formerly Ballarat) Hotel at St Bathans was built of mud brick in 1882, two decades after the district’s first gold rush but while mining was still taking place.

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Some of New Zealand’s coldest temperatures have been recorded in Ophir in Central Otago. At 3 p.m. on 13 July 2007, it was just 6ºC, and Blacks Hotel was still surrounded by frost.

In New Zealand it is a criminal offence to challenge or provoke another person to fight a duel. If two people deliberately fight a duel in which one is killed, the survivor is guilty of murder. Consequently the full facts concerning a duel are often not recorded.

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Girls in Welsh national costume

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Girls in Welsh national costume

The Welsh are Britain’s ‘stay-at-homes’ – only a few emigrated to New Zealand, mostly to mine for gold or coal. Those who did come soon lost their language, but through the community’s great love of choral singing, poetry and cooking competitions, Welsh culture remains alive.

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Upolu and Savai‘i are the two major inhabited islands of Samoa. Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa, lies 80 km south-east.

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County Down, Ireland

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County Down, Ireland

‘My great-grandfather Mick Scannell came out on a boat from Cork. The story goes that he had never seen a tomato till he arrived in Lyttelton.’

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Some have speculated that Spanish or Portuguese ships reached New Zealand, or became wrecked on its coast, before Abel Tasman’s arrival in 1642. This ‘Spanish helmet’, allegedly fished out of Wellington Harbour, is seen by some as proof that the Spanish did reach New Zealand. But there is no record of the helmet before it was noted in the national museum in 1904, and the theory that it was dropped from an early Spanish vessel is not convincing.

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On 10 July 1967 New Zealand abandoned pounds, shillings and pence and adopted decimal currency. This jingle was used to promote the new currency. The move, radical as it was, was quickly accepted by New Zealanders. But at the same time the economy faced a major decline in agricultural prices. It took much longer for the country to come to grips with that change.