New Zealand Geographic - No.96 (March/April 2009)

Each bimonthly issue of New Zealand Geographic is packed with fascinating articles and stunning photographs, illustrations and maps. New Zealand Geographic magazines build into a fantastic reference library, covering flora and fauna, science and technology, travel, history and exploration.

Editorial
Letters
Trust
Viewfinder: Kim Westerskov
Geo News: Weta, Gannet, Waste
Artefact: Recollection
Weekend Tramps: MtOwen
Weather: Benjamin Franklin
Profile: Kat Holstad
The Mind: Memory
Books: Zealandia, Survive, Baxter
Flashback: Chimp Tea ferty
Longview: Alkitross Point
In the Field: Rod Morris
Parting Shot: Cricket Geography

FEATURES
Skull: Last year a European skull turned up in the Ruamahunga River. Around 296 years old, the skull pre-dates any knowledge of Europeans in New Zealand.
Kakariki: Our parakeets evolved in the tropics and migrated en masse to New Zealand 500,000 years ago, occupying habitats as far south as the subantarctic.
Hokianga: The far-north harbour of Hokianga remains a community largely immune to the tribulations of modernity.
Spirit of New Zealand: Each year the Spirit of New Zealand takes more than 1000 young New Zealanders on the adventure of a lifetime.
Secret Life of Slime: A world of tiny animals, fractions of millimetres in
size, exists in slime within our freshwater ecosystems and household plumbing.

Were Europeans living in New Zealand before Cook's arrival?
It seems implausible, but a skull exposed after flooding in the Ruamahanga River demands a re-examination of our earliest history (see page 36).