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Loading kiore bait

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

This helicopter is loading poison bait to eradicate kiore from Little Barrier Island (Hauturu), in 2004. Because kiore eat native plants and animals, the Department of Conservation has worked to eradicate the rats from Crown-owned islands. Listen to ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The Earnslaw is a steamer that was built in Dunedin in the early 1900s, and launched on Lake Wakatipu in 1912. For over 50 years the boat carried people and freight to and from remote communities around the lake, but since the 1970s it has been mainly used for scenic cruises. ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Open Bay Island

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

In the early 19th century, sealers were often dropped at islands to hunt for their prey. In 1810 a group of 10 sealers were taken to Open Bay Island in South Westland, but their ship, under Captain John Bedar, was lost at sea. The men were stranded on the ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Pōhā (kelp)

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Traditional pōhā (kelp bags encased in tōtara bark) are used to store the harvested tītī chicks. Bob Whaitiri talks about pōhā. Sound file from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Chico the cockatoo

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Although there is now a population of wild sulphur-crested cockatoos, they were originally brought to New Zealand as caged birds and some, such as Chico, are tethered pets. Chico perched on owner Robert Nelson’s shoulder while he cycled around Lower Hutt ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Little owl

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Originally introduced from Germany, little owls are now established in the South Island. They are found mainly in flat pastoral country, especially on the east coast, while the native morepork is found more commonly on the west coast.

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Myxomatosis experiment

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Myxomatosis is caused by the myxoma virus, and was first identified killing rabbits in Uruguay in 1896. Trials of the disease began in Australia in 1938, and in 1950 it was released into the wild rabbit population with remarkable success. It was introduced ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Ruru (morepork)

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The Māori and English names of the ruru (morepork) both echo the sound of its haunting cry. Listen to Ruka Broughton discuss the significance of the ruru’s call. Sound file from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Any ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Kārearea call

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The call of the kārearea (New Zealand falcon) was said to foretell the weather. If the bird screamed on a fine day, there would be rain the day after – if it screamed in wet weather, the next day would be clear. Listen to a kārearea’s cry. Sound file from

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Tūī drinking nectar

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The tūī reaches the nectar in a flax flower with its curved beak, extending its brush-tipped tongue. Its fine feathers above the bill become coated with yellow pollen, and the tūī then transfers pollen from one flower to another. Sound file from Birds of New Zealand. Compact ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Charles Fleming, paleontologist

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Scientist Charles Fleming looks over a collection of fossils. A versatile scientist, Fleming became chief paleontologist of the Geological Survey in Wellington in 1952 and specialised in studying living and fossil molluscs. Listen to Fleming explain why ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Sealing song

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

In February 1810 a gang of 10 sealers were left here, at Open Bay Island, near Jackson Bay in Westland, by the brig Active. The ship was lost and the men were stranded on the island for almost four years, living on seal meat and fern root before they were rescued. This song tells of ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Eastern rosella

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The eastern rosella has a distinctive red head, which contrasts with its yellow underbelly, and its blue and green wings and tail. Rosellas are often seen in pairs or in small flocks. Sound file from the ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo)

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Listen to the pīpīwharauroa. This migratory bird’s call was a welcome signal that spring had arrived. Sound file from Birds of New Zealand. Compact disc. © Viking Sevenseas NZ (P O Box 152, Paraparaumu), 1980. All rights reserved.

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Riroriro (grey warbler) and nest

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The position of the riroriro’s nest was said to indicate the prevailing wind – the bird always placed the entrance away from the wind. Listen to the riroriro’s call. Like the pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo), the riroriro’s call signalled the ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Complaints about the food

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

The quality of food provided for the crew often depended as much on the cleanliness of the vessel as the skill of the cook. Listen to Wally Caldwell describe the inadequate diet he endured on pre-war coal-burning vessels. Sound file from Radio New...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Swearing-in of Sir Guy Powles

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Sir Guy Powles (left) was photographed at his swearing-in as ombudsman in 1962 with Leader of the Opposition Walter Nash, Minister of Justice Ralph Hanan and another guest. The presence of both National and Labour party politicians emphasised the bipartisan support for the office when it was ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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The revolutionary Southern Cross

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Shaw Savill & Albion’s 20,204-ton Southern Cross was the glamour cruiser of the post-war liners. Everything about her was revolutionary. Until then the liners on the New Zealand run had carried a mixture of passengers and cargo. They looked like the Gothic-class ship seen ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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Power cuts

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

Power cuts, common after the Second World War, made New Zealanders return to old habits and take on new ones. This photograph shows people queuing to buy kerosene lamps during power restrictions in 1956. The lamps had been the standard source of light in New Zealand homes until the early 20th ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage
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The romance of the sea

Ministry for Culture and Heritage

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, old salts such as this man, photographed at Wynyard Pier in Auckland around 1910, would have known the words to a few sea shanties. These work songs, sung to help lighten the hard physical labour on board, also ...

Ministry for Culture and Heritage