South Pacific History
Contributing Articles in South Pacific History
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Easter Island After its Discovery by Europeans
The collapse of the ecosystem on Easter Island, followed by famine, inter-tribal war, and forced labor abroad hastened the decline of Rapa Nui culture.
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Easter Island Before the Europeans Arrived
The history of Easter Island before the Europeans first visited there is much like the land itself: remote, difficult, and mysterious.
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The Tangiwai Disaster - a Christmas Eve Tragedy
At 10:21pm on December 24th 1953, the Wellington to Auckland express plunged without warning into the lahar swollen Whangaehu River at Tangiwai killing 151 people.
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New Zealand's First Frozen Meat Export
The combination of entrepreneurship and refrigeration technology led to the establishment of the export meat industry in New Zealand.
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Gold Rush and The Life and Death of Mafeking
In 1900 two brothers discovered gold, founding Mafeking, Ladysmith and Spion Cop in the Gampian mountains of Australia. Now all that remains is a commemorative cairn.
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Captain Cook Explores the Pacific
Until the late 18th century, most of the Pacific Ocean and the southern seas were mysteries to Europeans. In 1768, Captain James Cook set out to unlock their secrets.
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When Did New Zealand Gain Sovereignty?
Today, New Zealand exists has a sovereign state, yet the date when it became a sovereign nation has long me disputed between 1857, 1907, 1947 and 1987.
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Gatton Murders, 1898, Queensland, Australia
On Boxing Day 1898, one of Queensland's infamous murders took place near the small town of Gatton. A young man and his two sisters were brutally slain in a paddock.
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Polish Children's 65th Reunion, Wellington, NZ
In 1944, 733 Polish children disembarked in Wellington. Some were accompanied by a parent; most left families behind in unmarked graves across Siberia and Central Asia.
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History of Bungee Jumping
The first bungee jumpers, Pentecost Land Divers, used vines tied to their ankles and dived off towers made of sticks wearing nothing but a penis sheath called a nambus.
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History of Moreton Island Whaling, Queensland
Whaling in Brisbane in 1950's was done from the Tangalooma Whaling Station on Moreton Island and ended in 1962. The whaling station is now the Tangalooma Island Resort.
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European History of Queensland's Moreton Island
Moreton Island is a 200 square kilometre sand island that, with Stradbroke Island, is the protective buffer that forms Moreton Bay, in southern Queensland, Australia.
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Tattoo Origins in the South Pacific
The practice of tattooing started with a myth, became a rite of passage, fell out of favor after the arrival of Christian missionaries and has been revived today.
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Origins of the New Zealand Haka – Ka Mate
As with any highly regarded relic, the origins of the Haka lay in a confusing past of smoky fact and conflicting legend
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History St Helena Island, Queensland, Australia
St Helena, a small island in Moreton Bay, was a prison during early European settlement in Brisbane, Queensland. Its convict ruins are now a tourist attraction.
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