Events

Stories about significant, interesting or unusual events which have occurred in the top of the South Island of New Zealand.

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Stories

  1. Flooding on the Wairau Plain
    Blenheim and the Wairau floodplain have experienced at least one damaging flood every decade since European settlement read more
  2. Abel Tasman and Māori in Golden Bay / Mohua
    When the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman sailed into Golden Bay in 1642, a brief violent encounter with local Maori appears to have resulted from ... read more
  3. Maungatapu Murders
    The trial of the notorious Burgess gang caused a sensation in the small town of Nelson in 1866. Murder was a rare crime and this one involved not just... read more
  4. New Zealand’s first game of rugby
    The crowd of Nelsonians gathered at The Botanics one May day in 1870 had no idea that they were witnessing the birth of a New Zealand tradition, rugby... read more
  5. The Murchison Earthquake
    Nelson and Marlborough's earliest European settlers found the land, which they sought to tame, could produce terrifying tremors. read more
  6. The separation of Nelson and Marlborough
    The separation of Marlborough from Nelson came about when the opinions of two very different groups, were in accord, even though this was for very dif... read more
  7. The Southern Cross at Woodbourne
    The Southern Cross arrived at Woodbourne airport to a tumultuous welcome in September 1928. read more
  8. Wreck of the Queen Bee
    The Queen Bee was one of the earliest vessels to bring immigrants to New Zealand. She had made eleven passages from England, when disaster struck, on ... read more
  9. The Execution of the Maungatapu Murderers
    The Maungatapu Murders, and the subsequent trial and executions of the murderers, were sensational events in Nelson in 1866. read more
  10. The Great Blenheim Flood of 1923
    Blenheim was built at the junction of two rivers close to sea level. Its early history was one of frequent flooding until extensive river works and d... read more