Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Podcast

Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he recounts the story of RMS Niagara, from her maiden voyage in 1912 through to her sinking at the hands of a German sea mine near Whangārei during the Second World War.

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Join John O'Hare as he recounts the story of SS Erlangen, a German cargo vessel that escaped Dunedin at the start of the Second World War.

This story first featured in the Otago Daily Times as "The Great Escape".

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads also feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Sign up here.

Join our Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he recounts the remarkable story of HMS New Zealand, a Indefatigable class battlecruiser that took part in the largest naval battle of the First World War.

This story first featured in the August-September 2025 issue of New Zealand Memories magazine.

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads also feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Sign up here.

The personal recollections of a US Navy sailor who was stationed in Northland during the early years of World War II have revealed the human face of the thousands of US servicemen who trained here prior to fighting in the Pacific.

Join our Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his recent article.

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads feature in Heritage this Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here.

An edited live recording of the Open Christchurch 2024 event where four panelists discuss what it's like to live in and care for a mid-century home. Hosted in partnership by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture & City Making. 

Join Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch as she reads her story examining conservation work undertaken at St Faith's Anglican Church.

St Faith’s is built on land gifted by Ngāti Whakaue at Ōhinemutu on the shore of Lake Rotorua. Its rich Māori interior style is attributed to Frederick Augustus Bennett, the first Māori Bishop of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Sign up here.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you paid for electricity by the number of appliances you own rather than usage? (It's just as chaotic as you're imagining!)

Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his article on the wild world of do-it-yourself electricity in 1930s Kerikeri.

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here.

Join Outreach Advisor Dr Rosemary Baird as she reads her article on the experience of collecting oral history memories at the Ōtira Tunnel centenary celebrations.

Ōtira Tunnel

The Ōtira Tunnel was commissioned to link Ōtautahi Christchurch to Māwhera Greymouth in 1907. This 8,529 metre tunnel was the longest in the British Empire at the time of its construction. Five years were allowed for the project but in fact the tunnel took 15 years to complete, opening in 1923. 

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here.

Join Senior Communications Advisor John O'Hare as he reads his recent article on the boom-and-bust world of tung nut oil in 1930s Northland.

Tung Nuts in Aotearoa New Zealand

The economic potential of the tung tree, whose seeds produce an oil that has been used by the Chinese as a natural varnish for 2,500 years, was identified and promoted in parts of the North Island in the 1930s as a sure-fire investment.  

Its future, however, appears to have been cut short by climate, mismanagement, and the dire impacts of the Great Depression.  

For Kerikeri resident, Jack Kemp, the tung nut collapse in the 1930s is personal. One of his great aunts – Daisy Herd – invested in the fledgling tung oil industry and felt firsthand the ‘tung lashing’ that happened when the whole scheme collapsed.

Reporter Reads

Reporter Reads feature in Heritage This Month, our regular digital newsletter with the latest heritage news, events, photo essays and more from throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more here.

 

For our 2023 Matariki podcast join Kaitohutohu Whanake Niki Partsch, as she interviews two of our Māori Heritage Team staff.

Dean Whiting and Nitika Erueti-Satish reflect on past Matariki celebrations, and share mātauranga, waiata, and their plans for Matariki this year.