Sailing east from there, Tasman sights the west coast of yet another unknown land on 13 December 1642. It’s the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, somewhere in the vicinity of Hokitika and Perpendicular Point (“a large, high-flying land” 171oE, 42oS). Tasman sails north along the
For an officially atheist nation, the Chinese seem to be about the most superstitious folk on the face of the planet. Maybe it’s not the “sorcerers stole our penises” craziness that periodically leads to dozens of lynchings by angry (presumably penis-less – or did they get better?) mobs in Africa,
Mark How is it that people throughout history have allowed themselves to be conned into following ideas that have devastated their nations? Let’s have a look at one way that can happen. Imagine I am a high school social studies teacher (or whatever it is called now), and I
Stuff, yesterday morning, congratulated us all on getting through and advised us, for posterity, “It may pay to jot down a few notes – send yourself an email…because memory fades.” It certainly does, especially when left-wash is happening right in front of our eyes. They are rewriting everything ‘Dear Leader’
During lockdown, we’ve all had to find new ways to keep ourselves amused and entertained. I have to admit that the daily commute between bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and lounge started to lose its appeal after about three days though it’s a relief knowing I can leave the bar
In October 1347, three ships arrived in the Italian port of Genoa. One chronicler wrote ominously, “it was as if they had brought evil spirits with them”. The Bubonic plague had arrived in Europe. Within just a few years, a quarter to half of the European population had died. But
THE DUTCH IN NEW ZEALAND The first people to come to New Zealand after the Maori, and the first people to put the location of New Zealand on a map, record its existence in writing, and give it its name; are the Dutch. Yet the Dutch never stepped foot on
Anzac Day is one of the most important national occasions for both Australians and New Zealanders. In 2020, for the first time in history, Anzac Day Services across New Zealand have been cancelled due to COVID-19. Even though public Anzac Services are unable to go ahead, it does not mean
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Richard Dawkins, Greta Thunberg, President Trump, Jacinda Ardern, Martin Luther King, the Beatles. What does the disparate group above have in common? They are Christians, all. Everyone born in the West inherits and in most cases embraces moral and ethical precepts that are unquestionably Christian in origin. They are so
Taiwan has had a challenging history. Having been colonised by the Dutch and Spanish the island nation, located 81 miles off the coast of China, was ruled by the Chinese Fujian province under the Qing dynasty until sovereignty was ceded to Japan in 1895. Following the end of World War
Battles with enemy tribes were conducted at fixed times, under a strict code of warfare, and were melees of stabbing spears and swinging clubs. The object was to kill more of them than they killed of you; and seize the dead bodies of the killed enemy, or the live bodies
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Somehow, sometime and from somewhere, the Maori (who didn’t have their name yet), came to New Zealand. And stayed. If they came from the Cook Islands or the Society Islands, it was a voyage of over 2,000 miles by outrigger canoe and sails in all kinds of weather.
