Lorna Schmidt from Central Otago enjoyed Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed The World and Salt: A World History, both by Mark Kurlansky.

In the late 19th century Papawai marae, outside Greytown, was the focus of the Kotahitanga, the Maori parliament movement, which sought to unify Maori tribes. With 3,000 residents, Papawai was known as 'the Maori capital'.

Gabrielle Hogg recently won the 2011 Attitude Award in the youth category for her work in raising awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder with the community at large.

The army camp established outside Featherston for training First World War recruits took on a very different nature in the Second World War when it was used as a Japanese POW camp.

We drop in on a long established Wellington book club where New Zealand author Eleanor Catton's novel 'The Rehearsal' made quite an impression.

A selection of creative entries to our daily competition.

Ally Mullord blogs about an array of personal mishaps and comedic moments in her life, at terriblyexciting.blogspot.com

Lynn talks with Matt Claridge from Water Safety New Zealand.

Cook Strait's dangerous waters

We explore early cartography and maps in this pocket history with the help of Melanie Lovell- Smith, who studied the subject for the Te Ara online encyclopaedia.