Author Archive for: ariki-newzealand
Entries by ariki-newzealand
NZ firsts: First Nation to see the Sun
Ever wondered where in the world is the first place to see the sun rise? Well, wonder no longer! North of Gisborne, New Zealand, around the coast to Opotiki and inland to Te Urewera National Park, The East Cape has the honour of witnessing the world’s first sunrise during New Zealand’s summer and spring months. […]
NZ Firsts: First Jet Boat
Jet boating came into being through the inventive genius of New Zealand CWF (Bill) Hamilton, who was looking for a means of boating on the swift, shallow rivers of the South Island high country where he farmed. Bill Hamilton developed the concept of the jet boat when he ruled out as impractical the use of […]
NZ Firsts: first town in Southern hemisphere to get electricity
The old town of Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. The town itself became established about 1870 and immediately became an entrepreneurial and prosperous place. With mining came technology and innovation, and in August 1888 Reefton became […]
NZ Firsts: First powered flight
Karora, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons But wait, wasn’t that the Wright brothers (USA)? They made the first documented flight. However, 8 months earlier Richard Pearse made a flight with a homemade aircraft. But the camera-shy Pearse didn’t want to record it with officials. Popular history has it that the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk […]
NZ firsts: First World Heritage Site…in the sky….
The International Dark Sky Association declared the sky above the Mackenzie region in the South Island as the first International Dark Sky Reserve for its clear skies. Perfect for stargazing! Very limited light pollution means the views of the night sky seem to stretch on as far as the eye can see. The reserve, which […]
