Wellington had its Anniversary on Monday but today Jan 22nd is the actual anniversary, for the arrival of the first immigrant ship, the Aurora, to Aotearoa:

Onboard the Aurora was my ancestor James Prebble, a carpenter, & his family…
Forever indebted to Tangata Whenua that the story & my possible existence did not end, right then & there!

So wild that the Aurora made it all the way from the UK to Aotearoa, only to be totally wrecked months later – April 27th 1840 – attempting to leave Kaipara Harbour

Petone 1900 – 60 years later…

I’ll try & reshoot this photo next time I am over that way…

This is what Petone would have look like to the arriving immigrants…
by Charles Heaphy