EDITORIAL

Travel through time this summer

There are many ways to understand history. We are very pleased to be able to offer opportunities to experience and learn about the history and heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand. This edition of Heritage Quarterly is set to entice you and others to many of these stories and places of heritage in the ‘near’ future – please make time to visit, read and learn about our heritage.

WORDS: Andrew Coleman

Māngungu, Northland. Photo: Mark Russell

As the proud owner of 45 heritage properties, of which 25 are ‘visitor ready’, we at Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga claim that a visit to a heritage place and the guided tours, where available, are a fantastic way of experiencing heritage and listening or reading about the history of place. You’ll discover that these places are first about people, and their rich stories build connections across time.

In this edition of Heritage Quarterly we can read about where Pompallier established himself in Russell. This place, and the important role that the French missionaries played, informed a part of our history. If you want to know about the ingenuity of printing and publishing, the book binding of bibles written in te reo Māori, then Pompallier Mission and Printery is certainly the place worthy of a visit. Visitors are guided through this rich history of place and people by fantastic heritage visitor hosts. The tours are ‘brilliant’ according to visitor feedback, with the coffee and croissants a ‘must try’. We could offer 44 other stories of places and people – but the place of an editorial is to entice you. From the south to the north, the east to the west, there are opportunities to visit a heritage place, either near or far from your home. For those who are are members of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga please take your member card with you this summer for free entry, and for others please think about joining up as members – there are newsletters, discounts and adventures on offer.

To bring our places alive and entice visitation, we invest in a number of promotional endeavours. Tohu Whenua is a nationwide visitor programme connecting people to heritage places that tell the journey of our nationhood. Many of the places cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga are also recognised as Tohu Whenua, and you may see them promoted as part of their beautiful advertising. Having recently launched our own springsummer promotional campaign, you may find yourself rubbing shoulders with first-time visitors to our places, who have been invited to ‘Become Time Travellers’. This time-spanning campaign hints at the fascinating stories and people waiting to be discovered at our places around the country. Following quieter years during the Covid-19 pandemic, we know New Zealanders and visitors are eager to get out and about again, and parents and grandparents are looking for high quality experiences for children. Will you become a time traveller with us? This edition of Heritage Quarterly also has an industrial theme to it – a hidden hydro dam, a factory specialising in old glass, and one of New Zealand’s original marketing campaigns on the side of wool bales. There is a lot to learn about each of these themes and again the importance of place and people is emphasised. Of course, we would like you to visit a heritage place, but you don’t have to be at the place, you can also read about it. Heritage Quarterly itself is a publication, along with the Heritage New Zealand magazine, that brings heritage directly to your place. Subscribing to our monthly email updates, and finding us on social media, is also encouraged. We hope you enjoy this edition of both publications – we enjoy bringing them to you. n

Andrew Coleman Chief Executive