#new-zealand-history — Public Fediverse posts

A Brief History of Auckland’s 53 Volatile Volcanoes

There are approximately 53 volcanoes in Auckland, which have over thousands of years produced an array of interesting lagoons, tuft rings and lava flows in Auckland city. The biggest, most active and most visible volcano – Rangitoto sits on an island of the same name in Auckland harbour.

This has erupted repeatedly over the past thousand years, with ash clouds and lava flows lasting for several weeks to years. It’s the only volcanic eruption here witnessed by humans. This exciting and dynamic landscape lends Auckland its unique features including mound like hills all over the place which provides ample places for nice picnics, photo-ops and so on.

Fast Facts about Auckland’s Volcanoes

• The volcanic field is currently dormant but could become active again at any time.
• The field is vast and consists of Lake Pupuke and Rangitoto Island in the north, Wiri Mountain in the south, Mt Albert in the west and Mt Wellington in the east.
• The first eruption occurred approximately 248,000 years ago in Onepoto
• The most recent eruption occurred about 600 years ago in Rangitoto Island, local Maori iwi in Auckland retell stories of the eruption which predates European settlement. 2.3 cubic kilometers of lava was spilled into Auckland harbour coating what is now Auckland CBD.

• Each volcano is pretty small with an average of 150 metres in height.
• Orakei volcano is an explosion crater which spilled out and formed what is now Orakei basin and a picturesque lake. The same can be said of Lake Pupuke which is a crater now a beautiful lake.

Maungakiekie or One Tree Hill which sits inside of Cornwall Park features a long 270 metre lava tube (a cavernous length of basalt rock carved out of the earth by volcanic eruptions. This lava tube has the auspicious name “The Cave of a Thousand Press-ups”.

During the last Glacial Maximum when most of the water was locked up in ice, both of Auckland’s harbours – Waitemata and Manukau were dry land and that is when there were many eruptions in Auckland. Except for Rangitoto which exploded recently, around 600 years ago.

Before Europeans came, Māori pā or settlements were popular on the sides and peaks of these volcanoes because it provided scoria to use as building materials and also provided a vantage point to set up hill forts to see other tribes approaching or attacking from afar.

Since 2007 the Volcanic field in Auckland has been a World Heritage site.

• Contrary to popular belief, the volcanic field is not extinct and there may be new volcanic events happen at any time.
• Volcanic events have the potential to be spectacularly destructive.
  • Pyroclastic surges
  • Earthquakes
  • Lava bombs
  • Ash fall
  • Closure of the Port of Auckland, State highway network, Auckland Airport.
• There is substantial evidence that several volcanoes could go off all at once.
• Auckland Museum, itself built on the crater of Puwekawa volcano has an immersive exhibition where you can experience what it’s like to be inside of a volcanic eruption and earthquake.
• Auckland Council has a Volcanic Field Contingency Plan for emergency services, evacuation and so on, should the worst happen.

Read more

New Zealand Ministry for Culture & Heritage: Ngā Tapuwae Trails content to be preserved in NZ’s national digital archive. “Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage confirms it will preserve its website ‘Ngā Tapuwae Trails’, which presents First World War trails and location-based stories, after Anzac Day.”

#OnThisDay, 11 July 1877, Kate Edger becomes the first woman in the British Empire to earn a BA (and the first woman in New Zealand to gain any uni degree).

#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #NewZealandHistory #Histodons

Flickr Blog: Welcome Auckland War Memorial Museum to Flickr Commons!. “The Flickr Foundation is thrilled to welcome Auckland War Memorial Museum to Flickr Commons, the home for publicly shared archival photography. Their first contribution is a knockout collection of images by Tudor Washington Collins, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated early 20th-century photographers.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/05/21/flickr-blog-welcome-auckland-war-memorial-museum-to-flickr-commons/

Ancient moa, towering flightless giants, once ruled New Zealand’s landscapes—until humans arrived and changed everything. #Moa #NewZealandHistory #newzealand #extinction

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKqQ7nlsu4c

#OnThisDay, 29 June 1990, Dr Penny Jamieson was consecrated in Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. She was the first woman to be a diocesan Bishop in the Anglican Church.

#WomenInHistory #OTD #NewZealandHistory

Men born in New Zealand that are known to have been present at the Battle of Jutland are being added to the list referenced below when found. It is hoped that this will prove to be a useful resource for those with an interest in genealogy generally or who are specifically researching their New Zealand family trees.

#familyhistory #greatwar #genealogy #royalnavy #ww1 #battleofjutland #NewZealandHistory

https://battleofjutlandcrewlists.miraheze.org/wiki/Men_From_New_Zealand

@nzJayZee We work by hashtags! So let’s find you a few: #NewZealand #NewZealandHistory #NewZealandNews #KiwiMusic #Kiwis #NewZealander If you click on the hashtag you’ll see the posts on it. If you like the hashtag click on “Follow” and those posts will show up in your time line. You can follow individuals by clicking on their profile link, and then the “follow” button. Have fun!

#OnThisDay, 28 July 1893, Kate Sheppard's “monster petition”, signed by over 25,000 women and calling for the vote, is presented to the New Zealand (Aotearoa) parliament.

You can search a digitised copy online at https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage/petition

#WomenInHistory #VotesForWomen #NewZealand #NewZealandHistory #FlashbackFriday

#OnThisDay, 29 June 1990, Dr Penny Jamieson was consecrated in Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. She was the first woman to be a diocesan Bishop in the Anglican Church.

#WomenInHistory #Histodons #NewZealandHistory

#OnThisDay, 8 Dec 1972, Whetu Tirikātene-Sullivan is sworn in as Minister of Tourism in New Zealand / Aotearoa.

She's the first Māori woman Cabinet minister.

#WomenInHistory #NewZealandHistory #histodons

Photo marked as sensitive as it includes a Māori person who has passed on.

"I was the first unmarried woman…to climb in New Zealand, and in consequence I received all the hard knocks until one day when I awoke more or less famous in the mountaineering world, after which I could and did do exactly as seemed to me best."

#OnThisDay, 3 Dec 1910, Emmeline Freda Du Faur becomes the first white woman to climb Aoraki (Mount Cook) in New Zealand.

If other women climbed it earlier, the climbs were not recorded.

#WomenInHistory #NewZealandHistory #histodons

Some of my interests
#Tauranga
#TaurangaMoana
#AntiRacism
#TeTiritiOWaitangi
#libraries
#AcademicLibraries
#PublicLibraries
#SchoolLibraries
#VocationalEducation
#NewZealandHistory
#Cooking
#Reading
#NewZealandBooks
#ChildrensLiterature
#ChildrensBooks
#AllyShip (as a Cis white woman learning how to be an ally)
#Environment
#Avocados
#Menopause

The paperback of 'Foundations' is now available for pre-order! The release date is 15 June so pre-ordered Epub or Kindle versions will now arrive on the 15th. RRP $33 NZD ($20 USD). The paperback is currently available on Amazon and will be in other online retailers very soon! #memoir #history #colonialhistory #Frenchempire #foundations #newbook #author #writing #literarynonfiction #NewZealandHistory #AustralianHistory #colonialism #Auckland #familyhistory #oralhistories https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0473636891?tag=books2read02-20