Early Voyagers

Over four hundred years before Christopher Columbus and the rest of Europe worried about falling off the edge of the world, the first New Zealanders, the Maori, voyaged thousands of miles across the vast unknown Pacific Ocean in small ocean-going canoes. In order to reach New Zealand, these brave adventurers developed their own navigation system using the stars and the currents.

Pioneers Rugged

New Zealand's European pioneers were also brave, rugged and independent. Before establishing farms and settlements, they had to first clear the land - a painstaking and sometimes dangerous activity.

Their isolation and exposure to the elements forced these early New Zealanders to become hardy and multi-skilled. This resourcefulness and ingenuity has greatly contributed to the New Zealand character.

The same qualities can be seen today in the new pioneers - a generation of young Kiwi business executives, computer software builders, film-makers, fashion designers, and sportspeople making waves around the world.

Backyard Genius

Since before Sir Ernest Rutherford 'split' the atom early in the twentieth century, Kiwis have been discovering and inventing things. Many of these inventions have literally been created in a backyard.

While frozen meat, the Hamilton Jet boat, and the bungy jump are probably our most famous Kiwi inventions, there are many others. New Zealanders are also responsible for the tranquillizer gun, seismic 'base' isolators (rubber and lead blocks which minimize earthquake damage), electric fences, the fastest motorbike in the world, freezer vacuum pumps, stamp vending machines, wide-toothed shearing combs, and the electronic petrol pump--to name a few!

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