The plant hunter
William Colenso was a poor specimen of the clergy, but he found redemption in botany.
Odd man out
At the 1960 Olympic Games, the runners lining up for the 800-metre final all wore Adidas shoes—except one.
Hoodwinked
A sunfish with a big secret.
Bait and switch
To catch an octopus, pretend to be a rat.
Garden remedy
Mother Aubert’s homemade medicine.
Guiding light
Cavers of yesteryear used carbide lamps for illumination—occasionally with explosive results.
Disposable cutlery
Scientists believed they had found an ancient civilisation, but it was more like plastic forks.
Glass half full
Waikato’s eponymous brewery was rescued from the edge of financial ruin—twice. Then it burned down, and the chief brewer died.
Guns for everyone
Enemy weapons captured during World War I were distributed to towns, community groups and schools around the country.
The murder house
New Zealand’s free dental health programme for schoolchildren was the first of its kind in the world.
X marks the spot
Charlie Douglas original treasure maps of the West Coast were lost for decades
Echoes of the past
The long-lost huia, imitated by a man now long dead, is rediscovered in an early recording.
Kings of the road
A handmade icon of holidays past.
Maketh the man
Captain James Cook appeared to have left a trail of waistcoats around the southern hemisphere.
Masterpiece theatre
After a 40-year saga involving art theft, kidnapping, ransom and negotiation, a unique set of five carved panels have been returned to a Taranaki iwi.
Pearly whites
A toothsome adornment from the natural world.
One family’s trash
The detritus of 19th-century family life accumulated underneath a Wellington cottage and came to light more than a century later.
A long shot
Digging history from the cliffs in Awhitu
Property values
New Zealand’s first state houses came in more than 400 designs that caught the sunlight, maximised views and were sturdy enough to outlast their inhabitants.
Burden of proof
How do you identify minerals in the field?
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