How did early Aucklanders set their clocks and watches? Without today’s radio pips, clocks on every mobile phone and commonplace wristwatches, keeping time was difficult. The “Southern Cross”...
“Open up the North” was the cry from settlers in the 1860s seeking a better transport link between Northland and Auckland. And, in time, they eventually got it: a railway line between Riverhead and...
“Fishmonger” won the first race when racing began at the Avondale track in 1890 and “Verdi’s Opera” tailed the field in the final event on the last day of racing in July 2026: a mere 136 years...
The 1842 Licensing Act, New Zealand’s first, set laws for the sale of fermented and spirituous liquors, gave publicans responsibilities and regulated their hotels. Here’s Clause 23: This provision...
I recently came across an advertisement from the early 1900s for “Storm Queen” waterproof veils. Investigation revealed it was a necessity for ladies of those days who were ‘automobilists’… The...
There was a time when there were several contenders wanting to take over land at the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, the reserve we now know as Pigeon Park. Here’s how proposals...
On 7th November 1867 Aucklanders turned out on droves to see the “Maori Chief” arrive in town… without feathered cloaks, welcoming haka or karakia. The crowds turned out to witness the “Maori Chief”...
The name Karangahape, grammatically corrected to Karanga-a-hape, has been given to the up-town station on the new City Rail Link – CRL. But history tells us it could have been another name...
I see the Route 321 “Hospitals” bus getting along Gillies Avenue in Epsom. And I can’t help thinking it’s a pretender… it’s no match for the number of hospitals served by its predecessor, Route 18...
Those travelling in the hills south-west of Waiuku towards the coast come across a small lake nestled in the folds created over the centuries by sand dunes. There, just as the travellers turn a...