1.
2011 in New Zealand
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A general election was held on 26 November to elect the 50th Parliament, which saw the Fifth National Government elected for a second term. 23 February – Prime Minister John Key declares a state of emergency following the Christchurch earthquake. 5 March – A by-election is held in the Botany electorate,8 March – Five-yearly New Zealand Census was scheduled but cancelled due to the effects of the Christchurch earthquake. 18 March – A memorial service for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake is held at Hagley Park, attended by Prince William on behalf of the Queen of New Zealand. 24 March – New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy, The Marine and Coastal Area Bill,30 April – The national state of emergency put into place after the 22 February Christchurch earthquake is lifted. 3 May – A tornado hits the suburb of Albany in northern Auckland, killing one,19 May – Minister of Finance Bill English delivers the Zero Budget, an atypical election year government budget which plans $1. 2b worth of spending cuts over the next four years. 13 June – A magnitude 6.3 earthquake aftershock strikes Christchurch, 16–26 June – Ash from the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano in Chile causes widespread disruption to flights across New Zealand. 21 June – An emperor penguin, later nicknamed Happy Feet after the 2006 film, is washed up on the Kapiti Coast. 25 June – A by-election is held in the Te Tai Tokerau electorate,31 August – Lieutenant General Sir Jerry Mateparae is sworn in as New Zealands 20th Governor-General, replacing Sir Anand Satyanand. 9 September – The Rugby World Cup begins, the first time the event has held in New Zealand since 1987. 28 September – A New Zealand Special Air Service soldier dies fighting in Afghanistan,23 October – The Rugby World Cup concludes, with the New Zealand All Blacks winning the tournament and the Webb Ellis Cup after defeating France 8–7 in the final at Eden Park, Auckland. 10 November – Pike River Mine disaster, The Department of Labour files 25 criminal charges in relation to the disaster, on advance vote counts, the existing Mixed Member Proportional voting system gains the majority of the vote, and will be kept to elect the Parliament. 10 December – Official results for the 26 November general election and voting system referendum are released, The National Party is confirmed to hold a plurality of the votes and seats. Full results of the referendum on the voting system confirm that the Mixed Member Proportional voting system, with 57. 8% of the vote, will be kept, the First Past the Post voting system gains the most votes for the preferred alternative voting system. 11 December – The National Party signs a confidence and supply agreement with the Maori Party, electricity is gradually restored to customers as reserve generation comes online to replace Huntly. 14 December – A state of emergency is declared in the Nelson region after nearly 200mm of rain falls on the region in 24 hours, causing widespread flooding. 20–21 December – The 50th New Zealand Parliament is opened, with members elected at the 26 November general election being sworn in,23 December – A magnitude 5.8 and a magnitude 6. C4 to be renamed FOUR3 October – The New Zealand Warriors are defeated 10–24 in the 2011 NRL grand final against the Manly Sea Eagles in Sydney
2.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
3.
South Island
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The South Island or Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, the South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres and has a temperate climate. In the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population, in prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article. Charcoal drawings can be found on rock shelters in the centre of the South Island. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles, some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haasts eagles. They were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Mamoe in the 16th century, Kāti Mamoe were in turn largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Mamoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Mamoe links in their whakapapa and, a notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu, a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island, There they and Kāti Mamoe fought Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley. Ngāti Māmoe then ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Kāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled in Canterbury, including Banks Peninsula, from there they spread further south and into the West Coast. In 1827-1828 Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha successfully attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikoura, Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade. When they attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha, Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. After destroying Te Maiharanuis village they took their captives to Kapiti, John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. In the summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā, Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men successfully sapped the pā. They then attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe, in 1832-33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere. Kāi Tahu prevailed, and killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped, fighting continued for a year or so, with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made an incursion into Kāi Tahu territory
4.
Auckland
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Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the most populous area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,495,000, which constitutes 32 percent of New Zealands population, a diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. It has also been called Ākarana, the Māori pronunciation of Auckland, the Auckland urban area ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous, the section from Waiwera to Whangaparāoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay, the surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two major bodies of water. The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich, Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson and he named the area Auckland for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It was replaced as the capital in 1865, but immigration to the new city stayed strong, today, Aucklands Central Business District is the major financial centre of New Zealand. Auckland is classified as a Beta World City because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism. Aucklands landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, the isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks, Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when European settlement of New Zealand began, there is, however, nothing to suggest that this was the result of a deliberate European policy. Auckland was officially declared New Zealands capital in 1841 and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson was seen as a choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads
5.
Christchurch
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Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Islands east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula and it is home to 389,700 residents, making it New Zealands third most-populous urban area behind Auckland and Wellington. The city was named by the Canterbury Association, which settled the province of Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848 and it was suggested by John Robert Godley, who had attended Christ Church, Oxford. Some early writers called the town Christ Church, but it was recorded as Christchurch in the minutes of the management committee of the association, Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Avon River flows through the centre of the city, with a park located along its banks. At the request of the Deans brothers, the river was named after the River Avon in Scotland, the usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi. This was originally the name of a site by the Avon River near present-day Kilmore Street. The site was a dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi. The Ōtautahi name was adopted in the 1930s, prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian. The citys name is abbreviated by New Zealanders to Chch. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is the fingerspelled letter C signed twice, with the second to the right of the first. Archaeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE. These first inhabitants were thought to have followed by the Waitaha tribe. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe and they were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers. Their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed, the First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour. These sailing vessels were the Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, the Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, the name Christ Church was decided prior to the ships arrival, at the Associations first meeting, on 27 March 1848
6.
Dunedin
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Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. It is named for the capital of Scotland, generally Anglicised as Edinburgh, Dunedin was the largest New Zealand city by territorial land area until superseded by Auckland on the creation of the Auckland Council in November 2010. Dunedin was the largest city in New Zealand by population from the 1860s until about 1900, the city population at 5 March 2013 was 120,246. The Dunedin urban area lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, the harbour and hills around Dunedin represent the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbour. The citys most important activity in economic terms centres around tertiary education – Dunedin is home to the University of Otago, New Zealands first university, and the Otago Polytechnic. Students account for a proportion of the population,21.6 percent of the citys population was aged between 15 and 24 at the 2006 census, compared to the New Zealand average of 14.2 percent. In 2014 Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature, archaeological evidence shows the first human occupation of New Zealand occurred between AD 1250–1300, with population concentrated along the southeast coast. A camp site at Kaikai Beach, near Long Beach, has dated from about that time. There are numerous sites in what is now Dunedin, several of them large and permanently occupied. The population contracted but expanded again with the evolution of the Classic culture which saw the building of several pā, fortified settlements, notably Pukekura at, there was a settlement in what is now central Dunedin occupied as late as about 1785 but abandoned by 1826. Maori tradition tells first of a people called Kahui Tipua living in the area, then Te Rapuwai, semi-legendary, the next arrivals were Waitaha followed by Kāti Mamoe late in the 16th century and then Kai Tahu who arrived in the mid 17th century. These migration waves have often represented as invasions in European accounts. They were probably migrations like those of the European which incidentally resulted in bloodshed, the sealer John Boultbee recorded in the 1820s that the Kaika Otargo were the oldest and largest in the south. Lieutenant James Cook stood off what is now the coast of Dunedin between 25 February 1770 and 5 March 1770, naming Cape Saunders and Saddle Hill and he reported penguins and seals in the vicinity, which led sealers to visit from the beginning of the 19th century. Permanent European occupation dates from 1831, when the Weller brothers founded their whaling station at Otago, modern Otakou, epidemics badly reduced the Maori population. By the late 1830s the Harbour had become an international whaling port, johnny Jones established a farming settlement and a mission station, the South Islands first, at Waikouaiti in 1840. After inspecting several areas around the eastern coast of the south island, the name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland
7.
Gisborne, New Zealand
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Gisborne is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne District. It has a population of 36,100, the district council has its headquarters in Whataupoko, in the central city. The settlement was known as Turanga and renamed Gisborne in 1870 in honour of New Zealand Colonial Secretary William Gisborne. The Gisborne region has been settled for over 700 years, for centuries the region has been inhabited by the tribes of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti. Their people descend from the voyagers of the Te Ikaroa-a-Rauru, Horouta, East Coast oral traditions offer differing versions of Gisbornes establishment by Māori. According to one legend, Kiwa waited so long for the Horouta canoe to arrive that he called its final landing place Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, however, a more popular version of events is that Horouta preceded Takitimu. In 1931, Sir Āpirana Ngata stated that Horouta was the canoe that brought the people to the East Coast. Māori historian Rongowhakaata Halbert affirmed this account, stating that Paoas crew on the Horouta were the first inhabitants of the East Coast after migrating from Ahuahu or Great Mercury Island, paoa gave his name to various places across the region, most notably the Waipāoa River. During the 14th century, Māori tribes built fishing villages close to the sea, Gisbornes Kaiti Beach is the place where British navigator Captain James Cook made his first landing in New Zealand upon the Endeavour. Cook had earlier set off from Plymouth, England in August 1768 on a bound for Tahiti. Once he had concluded his duties in Tahiti, Cook continued south to look for a large landmass or continent. Young Nicks Head was thought to be the first piece of New Zealand land sighted by Cooks party, on 9 October, Cook came ashore on the eastern bank of the Tūranganui River, accompanied by a party of men. Their arrival was marred by misunderstanding and resulted in the death and it was also on the banks of the Tūranganui River that first the township of Tūranga, then the city of Gisborne, grew as European traders and whalers began to settle in the river and port area. The landing site was commemorated by a monument in 1906, on the 137th anniversary of Cooks arrival. Starting in the early 1830s, traders such as Captain John Harris, over the next 30 years, many more European traders and missionaries migrated to the region. In 1868 the government bought 300 hectares of land for a town site, the town was laid out in 1870 and the name changed from Tūranga to Gisborne, after the then colonial secretary, and to avoid confusion with Tauranga. In 1872, Gisbornes first public school was opened and its first newspaper, a town council was formed in 1877. Gisborne is a city located on the east cape of New Zealands North Island
8.
Invercargill
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Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff. Many streets in the city, especially in the centre and main shopping district, are named after rivers in Great Britain, mainly Scotland. These include the main streets Dee and Tay, as well as named after the Forth, Tyne, Esk, Don, Thames, Mersey, Ness, Yarrow, Spey. The 2013 census showed the population was 51,696, up 2. 7% on the 2006 census number, Southland was a scene of early extended contact between Europeans and Maori, notably whalers and missionaries – Wohlers at Ruapuke. In 1853, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Maori iwi, Otago, of which Southland was itself part, was the subject of planned settlement by the Free Church, an offshoot of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Settlement broadened with the discovery of gold in Central Otago in the 1860s, today, traces of Scottish speech persist in Southland voices, with R often pronounced with a rolling burr. This is more noticeable among country people, in 1856, a petition was put forward to Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of New Zealand, for a port at Bluff. Due to the Otago gold rush, the population grew during the 1860s with the settlement of Bluff. Browne agreed to the petition and gave the name Invercargill to the settlement north of the port, the settlements chief surveyor was John Turnbull Thomson, a British civil engineer. Under the influence of James Menzies, Southland Province seceded from Otago in 1861 following the escalation of political tensions, however, rising debt forced Southland to rejoin Otago in 1870 and the provincial system, and with it the province of Otago, was abolished entirely in 1876. This debt was caused by a population decline stemming from poor returns from pastoral farming, in 1874, Invercargills population was less than 2,500 which reflected the drift north to large centres. In the 1880s, the development of an industry based on butter. In December 1905, Invercargill voted in local prohibition of alcohol sales and this lasted for 40 years until voted out by returning servicemen in the Second World War. When prohibition ended, a committee of citizens persuaded the Government to give the monopoly on sales in Invercargill to the specially formed Invercargill Licensing Trust. Based on a scheme in Carlisle, England, it returns profits to city amenities, even today, alcohol is not sold in supermarkets. In recent years, publicity has been brought to the city by the election of Tim Shadbolt
9.
Nelson, New Zealand
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Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson Region. Nelson is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-oldest settled city in New Zealand, Nelson city is bordered to the west and south-west by the Tasman District Council and the north-east, east and south-east by the Marlborough District Council. The city does not include Richmond, the areas second-largest settlement, Nelson City has a population of around 50,000, making it New Zealands 12th most populous city and the geographical centre of New Zealand. When combined with the town of Richmond which has close to 14,000 residents, Nelson is well known for its thriving local arts and crafts scene, Each year, the city hosts events popular with locals and tourists alike, such as the Nelson Arts Festival. The annual Wearable Art Awards began near Nelson and a local museum, Nelson was named in honour of the Admiral Horatio Nelson who defeated both the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Many roads and public areas around the city are named after people and ships associated with that battle, inhabitants of Nelson are referred to as Nelsonians. Nelsons Māori name, Whakatū, means build, raise, or establish, in an article to The Colonist newspaper on 16 July 1867, Francis Stevens described Nelson as The Naples of the Southern Hemisphere. Today, Nelson has the nicknames of Sunny Nelson due to its high sunshine hours per year or the Top of the South because of its geographic location, settlement of Nelson began about 700 years ago by Māori. There is evidence the earliest settlements in New Zealand are around the Nelson-Marlborough regions, the earliest recorded iwi in the Nelson district are the Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Tumatakokiri, Ngāti Apa and Rangitane tribes. Raids from northern tribes in the 1820s, led by Te Rauparaha and his Ngāti Toa, soon decimated the local population, the New Zealand Company in London planned the settlement of Nelson. They intended to buy cheaply from the Māori some 200,000 acres which they planned to divide into one thousand lots, the Company earmarked future profits to finance the free passage of artisans and labourers and their families, and for the construction of public works. However, by September 1841 only about one third of the lots had sold, despite this the Colony pushed ahead, and land was surveyed by Frederick Tuckett. Three ships sailed from London under the command of Captain Arthur Wakefield, however, after some delay, Hobson allowed the Company to investigate the Tasman Bay area at the north end of the South Island. The Company selected the now occupied by Nelson City because it had the best harbour in the area. The Company secured a vague and undetermined area from the Māori for £800 that included Nelson, Waimea and this allowed the settlement to begin, but the lack of definition would prove the source of much future conflict. The three colony ships sailed into Nelson Haven during the first week of November 1841, within 18 months the Company had sent out 18 ships with 1052 men,872 women and 1384 children. However, fewer than ninety of the settlers had the capital to start as landowners, the early settlement of Nelson province included a proportion of German immigrants, who arrived on the ship Sankt Pauli and formed the nucleus of the villages of Sarau and Neudorf. These were mostly Lutheran Protestants with a number of Bavarian Catholics
10.
New Plymouth
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New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the British city of Plymouth from where the first English settlers migrated, the New Plymouth District includes New Plymouth City and several smaller towns. The New Plymouth District is the 10th largest district in New Zealand, the district has a population of 74,184 – about two-thirds of the total population of the Taranaki Region. This includes New Plymouth City, Waitara, Inglewood, Oakura, Okato, the city itself is a service centre for the regions principal economic activities including intensive pastoral activities as well as oil, natural gas and petrochemical exploration and production. It is also the financial centre as the home of the TSB Bank. As described under awards, New Plymouth won multiple awards in 2008, the city was in 2010 chosen as one of two walking & cycling Model Communities by the government. Based on New Plymouths already positive attitude towards cyclists and pedestrians and it is also noted for being a coastal city with a mountain within 30 minutes drive, where residents and visitors to New Plymouth can snowboard, ski, water ski and surf all in the same day. In 1828 Richard Dicky Barrett set up a trading post at Ngamotu after arriving on the trading vessel Adventure, Barrett traded with the local Māori and helped negotiate the purchase of land from them on behalf of the New Zealand Company. Settlers were selected by the Plymouth Company, which was set up to attract emigrants from the West Country of England, the first of the towns settlers arrived on the William Bryan, which anchored off the coast on 31 March 1841. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 created the New Plymouth Province, with a Provincial Council given jurisdiction over an area of 400, five years later the name of the province changed to Taranaki Province. The province was abolished in 1876, a Town Board was formed in 1863 and in August 1876 the town was constituted as a borough. Its new status did little to overcome some outside perceptions, however, I find a great liking for this slow, old hole. It is a quiet, unassuming place and has not done so much to attract immigrants and settlers by exaggerating reports, as some districts have done. The Fitzroy Town District was merged with New Plymouth borough in August 1911, Vogeltown, Frankleigh Park and Westown were added a year later, by 1913 the town had a population of 7538. New Plymouth was declared a city in 1949, every three years the Mayor,14 councillors and 16 community board members are elected by the New Plymouth Districts enrolled voters. The full council, sub-committees and standing committees meet on a six-weekly cycle, the Policy and Monitoring standing committees have delegated authority from the council to make final decisions on certain matters, and they make recommendations to the council on all others. The four community boards–Clifton, Waitara, Inglewood and Kaitake–as well as the subcommittees, New Plymouth District Councils annual operating revenue for 2008/2009 is more than $188 million. The current Mayor of New Plymouth is Andrew Judd, in May 2016 Judd announced that he will not run for mayor again in the upcoming local government elections
11.
Palmerston North
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Palmerston North, commonly referred to by locals as Palmerston, or colloquially Palmy, is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. Palmerston North is located inland, in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is 35 km from the rivers mouth and 12 km from the end of the Manawatu Gorge. It is about 140 km north of the capital, Wellington, the city covers a land area of 395 square kilometres. The citys location was once more than a clearing in a forest and occupied by small communities of indigenous Māori. In the mid 19th century, it was discovered and settled by Europeans, on foundation, the settlement was bestowed the name Palmerston, in honour of Viscount Palmerston, a former Prime Minister of Great Britain. The suffix North was added in 1871 by the Post Office to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island, the Māori transliteration of Palmerston North, is Pamutana. However, Te Papaioea is the preferred Māori name, Palmerston North is the countrys seventh-largest city and eighth largest urban area, with an urban population of 84,300. Ngāti Rangitāne were the local Māori iwi living in the known as Te Ahu-ā-Tūranga. He came on a ship and explored possibly as far inland as the site of Woodville. He reported his discovery on arrival back to Porirua, colonel Wakefield heard of the potential that the Manawatu had for development and visited in 1840. In 1846 Stephen Charles Hartley, another trader, heard from tangata whenua of a clearing in the Papaioea forest and he proceeded through the bush and forest. In 1858, the Government began negotiations with local iwi to purchase land in Manawatu, there was a dispute at the time between rival iwi Ngāti Rangitāne and Ngāti Raukawa as to who has the right to sell. The dispute is resolved in favour of Rangitāne, in 1864, Te Ahu-a-Turanga Block was sold by Rangitāne to the Government for £12,000, in an effort to open the Manawatu to settlement. Stewart returned in 1866 on behalf of the Wellington Provincial Council and made the original survey, the focal point was an open space of 17 acres subsequently known as The Square. On 3 October 1866, Palmerston was formally endorsed after Isaac Earl Featherston signed a proclamation defining the boundaries of the settlement, the first sections were sold after. Among the first settlers included Scandinavians, who arrived in 1871 and they established settlements at Awapuni and Whakarongo/Stoney Creek. Later the same year, the suffix North was added to distinguish the settlement of the name in the South Island. In 1872 a petition was launched to change the name of the settlement, a public meeting in 1873 ends with no clear decision on the name
12.
Rotorua
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Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealands North Island. It is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing Rotorua, the majority of the Rotorua District is in the Bay of Plenty Region, but a sizeable southern section and a small western section are in the Waikato Region. Rotorua is in the heart of the North Island,60 kilometres south of Tauranga,80 km north of Taupo,105 km east of Hamilton, and 230 km southeast of the nations most populous city, Auckland. Rotorua has a permanent population of 57,800, making it the countrys 10th largest urban area. The Rotorua District has an estimated population of 70,500. Rotorua is a destination for both domestic and international tourists, the tourism industry is by far the largest industry in the district. It is known for its activity, and features geysers – notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa –. This thermal activity is sourced to the Rotorua caldera, on which the town lies, Rotorua is home to the Waiariki Institute of Technology. The Lakes of Rotorua are a collection of many lakes surrounding Rotorua, the name Rotorua comes from Māori, the full name being Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, roto means lake and rua two – Rotorua thus meaning Second lake. Kahumatamomoe was the uncle of the Māori chief Ihenga, the explorer of the Te Arawa. It was the major lake the chief discovered, and he dedicated it to his uncle. It is the largest of a multitude found to the northeast, all connected with the Rotorua Caldera, the name can also mean the equally appropriate crater lake. The area was settled by Māori of the Te Arawa iwi. The first European in the area was probably Phillip Tapsell who was trading from the Bay of Plenty coast at Maketu from 1828 and he later married into Te Arawa and became highly regarded by them. Missionaries Henry Williams and Thomas Chapman visited in 1831 and Chapman and this was abandoned within a year but Chapman returned in 1838 and established a second mission at Mokoia Island. The lakeshore was a prominent site of skirmishes during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s, a special town district was created in the 1883, to promote Rotoruas potential as a spa destination. Rotorua was established as a borough in 1922, elected its first mayor in 1923, the area of Rotorua has a relatively high altitude, measuring up to 290m or 950 ft. The Rotorua region enjoys a temperate climate
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