In the late 19th century, news of a strange antipodean bird with beautiful tail feathers, orange wattles, and a long curved beak spread around the British Empire. To Māori, it was a tapu bird—a sacred ...

In the opening chapter of his first, remarkable book, Wellington lawyer and journalist Asher Emanuel shows us the gap he is writing into. “No account of statistics or arms-length analysis of policy ...

There was no avoiding war when I was at primary school. Every morning, we entered the playground through ornate memorial gates, on either side of which were brass plaques bearing the names of old boys ...

Plantations of exotic timber trees, especially pines, are looked on with disdain by many as alien monocultures, an unpleasant accommodation necessary to protect precious indigenous forests from the ...

A cave beneath Mt Albert, was found to have become a dumping ground for rubbish. One hundred kilometres below Auckland, a vast reservoir of magma seethes, still testing the crust that keeps it captive ...

In a letter to his wife from Nigeria in 1942, Christopher Johnson looked back on all the climbing he had done. A fighter pilot, he was en route from Britain to Egypt, and the long, circuitous journey ...

“Forever chemicals” linked to serious health effects in humans are finding their way into our freshwater fish, a new study has found. PFAS are oil- and water-resistant chemicals used in the ...

Last century, firearms flooded into New Zealand with returning servicemen, and during peacetime guns became synonymous with an honest, healthy way of life in the hills. Now, there are thought to be ...

New Zealand’s largest earthquake in European times struck the centre of the country almost 150 years ago. Although the later Murchison and Napier earthquakes claimed more lives, neither created the ...

In 1834, the Englishman William Swainson was at the height of his scientific career. Aged 45, loaded with honours from the scientific academies and institutions of Paris, Quebec, South Africa, ...

The 1855 celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of the young Wellington settlement had gone off splendidly under dazzling skies—the only shortcoming being a want of wind for events on the water.

Decades ago, red admiral butterflies all but abandoned Auckland city. Now, united by two retirees and a tolerance for ...