New Zealand Geography and Nature

Geography And Nature

163 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 163 questions

  1. Complete the sentence about Auckland with the correct year: The Auckland isthmus was first settled c. ______ and was valued for its rich and fertile land.
  2. Complete the sentence about Auckland with the correct year: After a British colony was established in New Zealand in ______, William Hobson, then Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, chose Auckland as…
  3. Complete the sentence about Wellington with the correct year: Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zea…
  4. Complete the sentence about Christchurch with the correct year: The First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the Canterbury Pilgrims from Britain to Lyttelton Harbour…
  5. Complete the sentence about Christchurch with the correct year: Christchurch has hosted numerous international sporting events, notably the ______ British Commonwealth Games at the purpose-built Queen…
  6. Complete the sentence about Hamilton, New Zealand with the correct year: In December ______,, several rua, or food storage pits, were found near the Waikato River bank, close to the Waikato Museum.
  7. Complete the sentence about Hamilton, New Zealand with the correct year: In ______, Kirikiriroa Pa was briefly abandoned to escape the Musket Wars.
  8. Complete the sentence about Tauranga with the correct year: At 9 am on Friday, 23 June ______, Herald was the first European ship to enter Tauranga Harbour.
  9. Complete the sentence about Tauranga with the correct year: In ______ a Church Missionary Society mission station was established at Tauranga by William Wade.
  10. Complete the sentence about Dunedin with the correct year: Sealer and ex-convict William Tucker was the first European to settle in the region, building a house at Murderers Beach in ______.
  11. Complete the sentence about Dunedin with the correct year: The Union Company, which became the biggest shipping line in the Southern Hemisphere, was founded in Dunedin in ______.
  12. Complete the sentence about Palmerston North with the correct year: The suffix North was added in ______ to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island.
  13. Complete the sentence about Palmerston North with the correct year: The west coast railway was built in ______, linking the town to Wellington, and Palmerston North benefited from a booming pastoral f…
  14. Complete the sentence about Palmerston North with the correct year: Colonel Wakefield heard of the potential that the Manawatu had for development and visited in ______.
  15. Complete the sentence about Palmerston North with the correct year: In ______, the Government began negotiations with local iwi to purchase land in Manawatu.
  16. Complete the sentence about Napier, New Zealand with the correct year: Captain James Cook and his crew were the first Europeans to see the future site of Napier when they sailed down the east coast in…
  17. Complete the sentence about Napier, New Zealand with the correct year: After ______, the site was visited and later settled by European traders, whalers and missionaries.
  18. Complete the sentence about Nelson, New Zealand with the correct year: Nelson was named in honour of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who defeated both the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar…
  19. Complete the sentence about Nelson, New Zealand with the correct year: In an article to The Colonist newspaper on 16 July ______, Francis Stevens described Nelson as "The Naples of the Southern Hemisp…
  20. Complete the sentence about Rotorua with the correct year: Ohinemutu was invaded by a Ngāpuhi-led coalition in ______, commanded by Hongi Hika and Pōmare I.
  21. Complete the sentence about New Plymouth with the correct year: The city was in ______ chosen as one of two walking & cycling "Model Communities" by the government.
  22. Complete the sentence about New Plymouth with the correct year: From about ______, the Māori began having contact with European whalers as well as traders who arrived by schooner to buy flax.
  23. Complete the sentence about New Plymouth with the correct year: The first of the town's settlers arrived on the William Bryan, which anchored off the coast on 31 March ______.
  24. Complete the sentence about New Plymouth with the correct year: On 15 August ______ it snowed in New Plymouth, a rare event which has been described as a once in a generation occurrence.
  25. Complete the sentence about New Plymouth with the correct year: The New Zealand Constitution Act ______ created the New Plymouth Province, with a Provincial Council given jurisdiction over an area of…
  26. Complete the sentence about Whangārei with the correct year: The first European settler was William Carruth, a Scotsman and trader, who arrived in ______ and was joined six years later by Gilbert Mair…
  27. Complete the sentence about Invercargill with the correct year: In ______, Walter Mantell purchased Murihiku from local Māori iwi, claiming the land for European settlement.
  28. Complete the sentence about Invercargill with the correct year: In ______, a petition was put forward to Thomas Gore Browne, the Governor of New Zealand, for a port at Bluff.
  29. Complete the sentence about Whanganui with the correct year: The New Zealand Company began to settle the area in ______, establishing its second settlement after Wellington.
  30. Complete the sentence about Whanganui with the correct year: Like several New Zealand urban areas, it was officially designated a city until an administrative reorganisation in ______, and is now run…
  31. Complete the sentence about Whanganui with the correct year: In ______, the New Zealand Geographic Board considered demands from some local Māori to change the name of the river to Whanganui.
  32. Complete the sentence about Gisborne, New Zealand with the correct year: Cook had earlier set off from Plymouth, England, in August ______ on a mission bound for Tahiti.
  33. Complete the sentence about Queenstown, New Zealand with the correct year: On 5 January ______ the name Queenstown was adopted, likely after Queenstown, Ireland, which had been recently renamed follow…
  34. Complete the sentence about Queenstown, New Zealand with the correct year: By the start of ______ Queenstown had multiple shops, several bars, a post office, a local newspaper, both an Anglican and Ca…
  35. Complete the sentence about Queenstown, New Zealand with the correct year: Prior to ______ it was not possible to purchase freehold farmland and settlers were required to lease from the Crown.
  36. Complete the sentence about Queenstown, New Zealand with the correct year: In ______, William Price McDonald took over the lease from the crown and the family held the property for the following two d…
  37. Complete the sentence about Timaru with the correct year: European settlement began with the construction of a whaling station in ______ by the Weller brothers of Otago at Patiti Point, close to the p…
  38. Complete the sentence about Blenheim, New Zealand with the correct year: In ______, nineteen years after the original Nelson settlement, the request of Marlborough settlers was granted, and Marlboroug…
  39. Complete the sentence about Hastings, New Zealand with the correct year: The offer was accepted and in ______ Francis Hicks subdivided 100 acres into residential and suburban sections.
  40. Complete the sentence about Hastings, New Zealand with the correct year: On 7 June ______, the Hawke's Bay Herald reported: "The name of the new town is to be Hastings.
  41. Complete the sentence about Sky Tower with the correct year: Since its completion in ______, the Sky Tower has become an iconic landmark in Auckland's skyline, due to its height and design.
  42. Complete the sentence about Sky Tower with the correct year: Taking two years and nine months to construct, the tower opened on 3 August ______.
  43. Complete the sentence about Te Papa with the correct year: The first predecessor to Te Papa was the Colonial Museum, founded in ______ with Sir James Hector as founding director.
  44. Complete the sentence about Te Papa with the correct year: In ______, the Colonial Museum was renamed the Dominion Museum and took on a broader focus.
  45. Complete the sentence about Te Papa with the correct year: Following the passing of the National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum Act in ______, the two institutions shared a single board of trustees.
  46. Complete the sentence about Te Papa with the correct year: In ______, a new Dominion Museum building to house both collections opened in Buckle Street as a part of the newly built National War Memoria…
  47. Complete the sentence about Te Papa with the correct year: In ______ a temporary exhibition space venue was added to the National Art Gallery.
  48. Complete the sentence about Auckland Harbour Bridge with the correct year: Proposals for a harbour crossing date back to at least ______, when North Shore farmers sought for more convenient way to tra…
  49. Complete the sentence about Milford Sound with the correct year: The fiord was given its European name in ______, when the sealer John Grono named it Milford Sound after Milford Haven in his birthplac…
  50. Complete the sentence about Milford Sound with the correct year: The fiord remained unnoticed by Europeans until Captain John Grono discovered it c. ______ and named it Milford Haven after his homelan…
  51. Complete the sentence about Milford Sound with the correct year: Following the passage of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act ______, the name of the fiord was officially altered to Milford Sound / Pi…
  52. Complete the sentence about Fiordland National Park with the correct year: Captain James Cook, a British explorer, circumnavigated the South Island with his crew of HMS Endeavour in March ______.
  53. Complete the sentence about Tongariro National Park with the correct year: Around ______, Te Rangihiroa, son of local chief Pakaurangi, was said to have explored the area around the volcanoes in the p…
  54. Complete the sentence about Tongariro National Park with the correct year: John Bidwill is thought to be the first European to climb Mount Ngauruhoe, in March ______.
  55. Complete the sentence with the correct year: In ______, Mananui's remains were reinterred in a tomb at Waihī.
  56. Complete the sentence with the correct year: In ______, the park was included in the area designated as the Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Site.
  57. Complete the sentence about Mount Ruapehu with the correct year: The ______ lahar was the cause of the Tangiwai disaster, a railway accident in which 151 people died.
  58. Complete the sentence about Mount Taranaki with the correct year: When the French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne saw the mountain on 25 March ______ he named it Pic Mascarin.
  59. Complete the sentence about Mount Taranaki with the correct year: The settlement was initialled on 31 March ______, and ratified by the iwi of Taranaki.
  60. Complete the sentence about Mount Tarawera with the correct year: Located 24 kilometres southeast of Rotorua, it consists of a series of rhyolitic lava domes that were fissured down the middle by an e…
  61. Complete the sentence about Mount Tarawera with the correct year: In ______, the mountain was ceded to the Ngāti Rangitihi sub-tribe of Te Arawa.
  62. Complete the sentence about Lake Taupō with the correct year: The area was uninhabited by humans at the time of the eruption, as New Zealand was not settled by Māori until about ______.
  63. Complete the sentence about Lake Wakatipu with the correct year: More men made the rough trip to see the lake and this led to settlement of the Wakatipu District with the Staircase and Nokomai Station…
  64. Complete the sentence about Lake Wakatipu with the correct year: William Gilbert Rees and Nicholas von Tunzelmann visited the lake in ______ and were later granted run holdings surrounding the lake.
  65. Complete the sentence about Lake Wakatipu with the correct year: In ______ gold was found at Dunstan leading to the start of the Otago gold rush.
  66. Complete the sentence about Lake Wakatipu with the correct year: Lake Wakatipu doubled as the Scottish Loch Ness in the ______ film The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.
  67. Complete the sentence about Lake Tekapo with the correct year: Lake Tekapo and the surrounding district were designated in ______ as the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve.
  68. Complete the sentence about Waitomo Caves with the correct year: One of the first two explorers of the Waitomo Glowworm Cave in ______ was Tane Tinorau, who lived nearby and knew the entrance to the c…
  69. Complete the sentence about Franz Josef Glacier with the correct year: The glacier was later named after Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria by the German geologist Julius von Haast in ______.
  70. Complete the sentence about Franz Josef Glacier with the correct year: Following the passage of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act ______, the name of the glacier was officially altered to Franz Jose…
  71. Complete the sentence about Franz Josef Glacier with the correct year: Lake Wombat is a kettle lake created by ice left in a moraine 9000 years ago, while Peters Pool close to the glacier's face was c…
  72. Complete the sentence about Fox Glacier with the correct year: In ______ local Māori led Pākehā Leonard Harper and Edwin Fox to both glaciers, the first Europeans to see them.
  73. Complete the sentence about Fox Glacier with the correct year: The Victoria Glacier kept its name, but the lower part of the Albert Glacier was renamed in ______ after a visit by then Premier of New Z…
  74. Complete the sentence about Abel Tasman National Park with the correct year: Historical records indicate a pā was established at Auckland Point by Pohea, who travelled there around ______ from the Wha…
  75. Complete the sentence about Abel Tasman National Park with the correct year: Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri were present when Abel Tasman reached Golden Bay / Mohua in ______.
  76. Complete the sentence about Abel Tasman National Park with the correct year: The park was founded in ______, largely through the efforts of ornithologist and author Pérrine Moncrieff to have land rese…
  77. Complete the sentence about Abel Tasman National Park with the correct year: The park was opened on 18 December ______ to mark the 300th anniversary of Abel Tasman's visit.
  78. Complete the sentence with the correct year: The idea for the park had been under consideration since June ______.
  79. Complete the sentence about Kaikōura with the correct year: Kaikōura was first inhabited by the Māori, with the Ngāi Tahu iwi occupying the area since at least ______.
  80. Complete the sentence about Bay of Islands with the correct year: The bay's English name was given on 27 November ______ by Captain James Cook during his first voyage, when Cook and his crew landed on…
  81. Complete the sentence about Bay of Islands with the correct year: The first European to visit the area was Captain Cook, who named the region in ______.
  82. Complete the sentence about Cape Reinga with the correct year: State Highway 1 extends all the way to the cape, but until ______ was unsealed gravel road for the last 19 km.
  83. Complete the sentence about Cape Reinga with the correct year: In March ______, the works on the visitor facilities were completed.
  84. Complete the sentence about Hobbiton with the correct year: In S.R. ______ the hobbits defeated an invasion of Orcs at the Battle of Greenfields.
  85. Complete the sentence about Stewart Island with the correct year: James Cook saw the insularity of Stewart Island during his first Pacific Voyage in ______.
  86. Complete the sentence about Stewart Island with the correct year: In ______, the island was established as one of the three Provinces of New Zealand and was named New Leinster.
  87. Complete the sentence about Chatham Islands with the correct year: In ______, members of the Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama Māori iwi from the North Island invaded the islands and nearly exterminated th…
  88. Complete the sentence about Chatham Islands with the correct year: In ______ the Moriori were officially released from slavery through a proclamation by the resident magistrate.
  89. Complete the sentence about Banks Peninsula with the correct year: In ______, explorer James Cook became the first European to sight the peninsula, which he mistook for an island, naming it after his…
  90. Complete the sentence about Waikato River with the correct year: From the point where the river meets the Waihohonu Stream, down to Lake Taupō, it has been formally named the Tongariro River since ___…
  91. Complete the sentence about Southern Alps with the correct year: The English explorer James Cook may have bestowed the name Southern Alps on 23 March ______.
  92. Complete the sentence about Southern Alps with the correct year: The Southern Alps had previously been noted by Abel Tasman in ______, whose description of the South Island's west coast is often trans…
  93. Complete the sentence about Southern Alps with the correct year: Following the passage of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act ______, the official name of the range was updated to Southern Alps / Kā T…
  94. Complete the sentence about Cook Strait with the correct year: The strait is named after James Cook, the first European commander to sail through it, in ______.
  95. Complete the sentence about Cook Strait with the correct year: When Dutch explorer Abel Tasman first saw New Zealand in ______, he thought Cook Strait was a bight closed to the east.
  96. Complete the sentence about Cook Strait with the correct year: In ______ James Cook established that it was a strait, which formed a navigable waterway.
  97. Complete the sentence about Foveaux Strait with the correct year: The earliest known chart of the strait was prepared by American sealer, Owen Folger Smith from a whaleboat of the sealing brig Union i…
  98. Complete the sentence about Foveaux Strait with the correct year: The passage was named Foveaux Strait in March ______, after Joseph Foveaux, the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales in Australia.
  99. Complete the sentence about Foveaux Strait with the correct year: Ferry services across Foveaux Strait began in ______ and continue to operate regularly between Bluff Harbour and Oban.
  100. Complete the sentence about Foveaux Strait with the correct year: One of these losses was the wreck of the SS Tararua in ______—the worst maritime disaster for civilian vessels in New Zealand's histor…

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