Join Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch as she reads her story examining conservation work undertaken at St Faith's Anglican Church. St Faith’s is built on land gifted by Ngāti Whakaue at Ōhinemutu on the shore of Lake Rotorua. Its rich Māori interior style is attributed to Frederick Augustus Bennett, the first Māori Bishop of Aotearoa New Zealand. Reporter Reads Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Sign up here ..read more

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you paid for electricity by the number of appliances you own rather than usage? (It's just as chaotic as you're imagining!) Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his article on the wild world of do-it-yourself electricity in 1930s Kerikeri. Reporter Reads Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here ..read more

Join Outreach Advisor Dr Rosemary Baird as she reads her article on the experience of collecting oral history memories at the Ōtira Tunnel centenary celebrations. Ōtira Tunnel The Ōtira Tunnel was commissioned to link Ōtautahi Christchurch to Māwhera Greymouth in 1907. This 8,529 metre tunnel was the longest in the British Empire at the time of its construction. Five years were allowed for the project but in fact the tunnel took 15 years to complete, opening in 1923.  Reporter Reads Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news ..read more

Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his recent article on the boom-and-bust world of tung nut oil in 1930s Northland. Tung Nuts in Aotearoa New Zealand The economic potential of the tung tree, whose seeds produce an oil that has been used by the Chinese as a natural varnish for 2,500 years, was identified and promoted in parts of the North Island in the 1930s as a sure-fire investment.   Its future, however, appears to have been cut short by climate, mismanagement, and the dire impacts of the Great Depression.   For Kerikeri resident, Jack Kemp, the tung nut co ..read more

For our 2023 Matariki podcast join Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch, as she interviews two of our Māori Heritage Team staff. Dean Whiting and Nitika Erueti-Satish reflect on past Matariki celebrations, and share mātauranga, waiata, and their plans for Matariki this year ..read more

Our first HNZPT Matariki podcast episode features interviews with five Māori Heritage New Zealand staff who share their wide-ranging thoughts and experiences about Matariki.  Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch interviews: Tharron Bloomfield - growing, harvesting and eating taputini; a variety of kumara that were originally cultivated by Māori. Millie Harris - Matariki representing a way of life that she grew up with. Kellee-Rei Harris - Matariki as way to reconnect with her culture and her whakapapa roots in Te Tai Tokerau after an urban upbringing. Nigel Harris – kai gathering and cooking ..read more

This week we talk to Dr Glen Hazelton, Director Organisational Development about Saving the Town, a toolkit that highlights successful experiences and case studies from around Aotearoa, New Zealand that illustrate proactive, contemporary approaches to heritage.    Glen provides insight into the toolkit, the case studies behind it and why it is an invaluable resource on how to facilitate and encourage heritage retention, preservation and reuse in areas, towns and cities of all sizes ..read more

This week we continue our conversation with staff members from different backgrounds across the organisation – asking them the question ‘what does heritage mean to you?’ Our interviewees are Liz Bigwood, Property Lead at the Kerikeri Mission Station, who leads her team to look after the heritage precinct which includes Kemp House, The Stone Store and surrounds; Jim Howden, Visitor Host at Totara Estate near Oamaru, who entertains us with the power of storytelling and performance in bringing heritage to life, particularly with young people, and Dr James Robinson, Northland Regional  Archae ..read more

While in lockdown we have recorded our first episode of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Podcast to take you behind the scenes of the heritage we care for throughout Aotearoa, New Zealand.  In our first episode we ask some of our staff members from different backgrounds the question, ‘What does heritage mean to you?’ Their answers to this question shows the breadth of what we do as an organisation and the role that each New Zealander plays in our shared and individual heritage. This episode features Caroline Toplis, Program Manager of Tohu Whenua, bringing together significant heri ..read more