World famous in New Zealand: The Kauri Museum, Matakohe

Just a 90 minute drive north of Auckland, this place is in another dimension, space/time-wise, because it's much bigger inside than it looks from outside, and time spent there zips by in a flash.

It's also fascinatingly comprehensive for a museum whose name suggests that it simply records the history of the timber industry: there are intimate glimpses into the harshness, and niceties, of colonial life, domestic, educational, spiritual and commercial, presented with a winning combination of professionalism and enthusiasm.

There are 10 galleries and three heritage buildings — church, post office and school — to explore.

Mataatua Wharenui: ‘The story of that whare is the story of the people’

The remarkable story of a precious meeting house returned after more than a century is told in a new book co-authored by the prominent Māori academic who played a major part in its return.

Writer, commentator and anthropologist Sir Hirini Moko Mead is one of the authors of Mataatua Wharenui - Te Whare i Hoki Mai, which relates the journey of one of New Zealand's foremost meeting houses.

Starting a Wellington tourism business

Tourism is currently New Zealand’s number one export earner. News about growing visitor numbers and the visibility of cruise ship passengers around Wellington means WREDA often talks to passionate people thinking about starting a tourism business. Especially when the first cruise ship appears in October!

Passion will go a long way - and so will a good idea. WREDA ran a ‘Start Up Workshop’ for new tourism businesses recently - here are some key out-takes.

Māori place names highlighted in interactive map of New Zealand

From Kaitaia to the Bluff, there are all kinds of places to see and cities to visit in little old New Zealand - and a host of wonderful place names.

Now an interactive map appears to show a marked difference between the South and North islands in terms of the number of Māori place names they carry.

A place marked in red shows it holds a Māori name. Those marked blue show an English place name.

In the map, the North Island is significantly red, save for clusters of blue in and around the Auckland and Wellington areas.