A unique New Zealand story is hitting the big screen this weekend – Caroline Fitzgerald’s film ‘The Drowning Country’ tells the amazing story of how her great-grandmother revolutionised life jacket designs in the wake of the sinking of the Titanic. Orpheus Beaumont always had a close connection with […]
Last week I talked about the giant water chute that was a star attraction at the 1906/7 N.Z. Exhibition in Hagley Park, Christchurch. This is a follow-up post of sorts, but mostly just an excuse to share some seriously awesome photos of one of the Exhibition towers being […]
There is something about Edwardians that makes me smile. It doesn’t help that their world is one that is far too easy to romanticise – a world filled with pageantry, fancy hats, brass bands in rotundas, pocket watches, amusing moustaches and in Christchurch they even had a giant […]
I’ve recently enjoyed reading the latest New Zealand history book to hit the shelves, Matthew Wright’s ‘Bateman Illustrated History of New Zealand’. You should grab it too! Here is why… In the twenty-first century information on topics like history is more accessible than ever before but what is […]
I’ve previously posted battlefield guides for two of the most famous battlefields in Europe; Omaha Beach and Waterloo. Today’s guide is for a lesser known battlefield, but one that is a lot closer to home – at the top of the North Island of New Zealand. Known today […]
At the start of the year I posted this series of summer snapshots taken by English tourists passing through sunny Nelson in 1933. Here are a few more snapshots from their New Zealand holiday, this time showing what they got up to that winter. Eighty years ago the […]
Last night I attended a screening of ‘Utu: Redux’ as part of the 2013 New Zealand International Film Festival, and what better place to experience a classic Kiwi film than in Dunedin’s beautiful Regent Theatre. As a semi-obsessive aficionado of historical costume drama it would be wrong for […]
This week two television documentaries I worked on premiered in the United States as part of Discovery Channel’s high-profile ‘Shark Week’. My job on these shows was to track down and get permission to use any video footage or photographs that we wanted to include. I don’t blog […]
Today I have another couple of envelopes and another story, this time from wartime Wellington – a city that has had a bit of a shaky time lately. I came across this pair of covers (fancy philately term for used envelopes) back when I was a teenager. At […]
Today marks one hundred and fifty years since the first skirmishes of the Waikato Invasion were fought. I’m not an expert on the subject but it feels wrong to not acknowledge such an important date in New Zealand’s history. It isn’t about celebrating; it is about commemorating and […]
History Geek 