When completed in 1963, Wairākei was one of just two geothermal power stations in the world. However, it has adversely affected the surrounding thermal area - tourist attractions such as the famous Wairākei geyser and Champagne Pool have come to a halt, and the land is sinking. A nearby prawn farm takes advantage of heat from the power station's waste water. Archival audio: Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, http://www.archives.govt.nz/ People of the Waikato. National Film Unit, 1956.

Geothermal power at Wairākei

A series of audio guides from the major highways and roads around New Zealand. Explore the history and places of New Zealand in this tour of attractions along the roadside. These stories are also available as an iPhone app and on YouTube - see http://www.mch.govt.nz/roadside for more information.

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The famous Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki resemble a layered stack of pancakes, and caves beneath them open into blowholes which emit spectacular bursts of spray. The rocks are made of limestone – a sedimentary rock that is soluble in rainwater and often forms dramatic karst landscapes of caves, sinkholes and underground rivers.

Punakaiki's Pancake Rocks

Many settlers on the West Coast were Irish, and conflict sometimes erupted between Irish Catholics and Protestants. The worst confrontation was at the gold-rush tent town of Addisons Flat, where Protestants and Catholics fought in the streets in 1868.

Conflict at Addisons Flat

Dramatic landslides, rock falls and waterfalls are the legacy of the two massive earthquakes that hit the Buller region in the 20th century. Lives were lost at Murchison in 1929, and again at Īnangahua in 1968. Archival audio sourced from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives, http://www.soundarchives.co.nz/. Sound files may not be reused without permission from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives (Reference number sa-d-01135-04-s01-s02-pm).

Murchison and Īnangahua quakes

In late 1846, with his Māori guides Kehu and Pikewate, surveyor Thomas Brunner set off on an epic journey down the Buller River and to the West Coast. The group battled hunger, illness, injury and terrible weather, and it was 18 months before Brunner encountered another European. Archival audio sourced from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives, http://www.soundarchives.co.nz/. Sound files may not be reused without permission from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives (Reference number sa-d-02422-su01-s02-pm).

Brunner on the Buller

Northland was once covered in magnificent kauri forests – but almost all were logged after Europeans arrived in New Zealand. Felling the giant trees was dangerous work, and dams were built so the logs could be floated down rivers. Today a museum at Matakohe showcases the history of kauri forests and their exploitation. Archival audio sourced from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives, http://www.soundarchives.co.nz/. Sound files may not be reused without permission from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives (Reference number Spectrum 535).

Geothermal power at Wairākei

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