Nau Mai Town

If you say it out loud, the word Kurow sounds a lot like Te Kohurau. That's because the latter is the original name of a small South Canterbury town named after a tupuna (ancestor).

Kurow is a small rural town in the Waitaki District of South Canterbury.

It's popular for its cycle trails, good fishing spots and is the hometown of former All Black captain and 110-test veteran Richie McCaw.

What is perhaps less known about the town...

Paraparaumu is a beautiful town on the Kāpiti Coast so why would you want to call the town 'Pram'? Justine Murray finds out the story behind the name.

'Pram' and 'Paraparam' are two abbreviations of a Kāpiti coast that have stuck.

The proper name of the town - Paraparaumu - refers to an event that happened over 200 years ago.

As significant as the official name is, cultural advisor Kahu Ropata says the town's...

There was a mix-up of words when James Cook came up with the name 'Tolaga' for the small east coast town of Tolaga Bay, but the locals choose to call it Uawa.

'Tolaga Bay' - the name given to a small town on the east coast of the North Island - came about due to a misinterpretation.

In mid-October 1769, Captain James Cook sailed into the harbour and ask questions of local Māori.

Wayne Ngata (Nō Te Aitanga a Hauiti) lives in ...

Such was the respect that Māori explorer Ihenga had for his uncle and father-in-law Kahumatamomoe, he named two lakes in his honour. That's just part of the story behind the name Rotorua.

Such was the respect that Māori explorer Ihenga had for his uncle and father-in-law Kahumatamomoe, he named two lakes in his honour.

That's just part of the story behind the name Rotorua.

The first is Lake Rotoiti - an abbreviation of Te Rotoit...

A once-thriving sawmilling industry on the outskirts of Tauranga would inspire the naming of the Tauranga suburb 'Tauriko'. Listen now.

A once-thriving local sawmilling industry inspired the naming of the Tauranga suburb 'Tauriko'.

The business name 'Tauranga Rimu Timber Company' seemed a bit long-winded so sawmill operators, the Gamman brothers shortened the name to Tau-Ri-Co.

The letter 'C' is not a con...

Nau Mai Town is back with host Justine Murray to find out the stories and meaning of place names around Aotearoa.

Rino Wilkinson remembers filling up glass bottles at the mineral water pump in and on school trips watching the factory in full swing at the Innes Tartan factory in Paeroa. But he never knew that the long name of his hometown is Te Paeroa a Toitehuatahi, find out more on Nau Mai Town with host Justine Murray.

Go to this ...

Paeroa is world-famous in Aotearoa for its mineral water, but do you know the Coromandel town's longer name?

Walking around the Coromandel town of Paeroa, history lies at your feet.

Downtown, you'll see cast-iron pumps that once sucked Paeroa's prized spring water from the ground.

Not far away is the vacant Innes tartan factory where the classic Kiwiana drink Lemon & Paeroa was produced after 1963.

Rino Wilkinson (Ngāti T...

Petone is a seaside town in Lower Hutt known for harbour views and niche shopping. Its proper name 'Pito-One' relates to a special area on the beach.

It's a small quaint seaside town and for many who boarded ships in Britain back in the 1840s, it was the first bit of land they saw and stepped onto after months at sea: Petone.

This area was also the pa site of Te Puni, a 19th-century chief from the local iwi Te Ati Awa. Today his...

Lady on the Rock is a bronze statue depicting one of the first women to arrive in the Bay of Plenty. Justine Murray visits Whakatāne to learn about the town's history - and scores some delicious drive-thru hāngī on the way.

A drive-thru hāngī with creamed paua and raw fish was probably the best lunch I've ever had on the job... I even took some home for my husband.

The delicious meal was courtesy of a family fundraiser in Whakat...

Timaru is a small town in South Canterbury which has two lesser-known names - Te Maru and Te Tihi o Maru. Justine Murray finds out more.

Timaru in South Canterbury is home to the little blue penguin, a young volcano and picturesque Caroline Bay.

It's also spawned famous people like Mika X and painter Colin McCahon.

But the name of the town has a couple of variations to it, Te Maru is the preferred name of local iwi Kati Huira...

Rāhui Pōkeka is the original name of Huntly and it's based on the story of a rangatira who placed a rāhui on the rivers in order to replenish the tuna.

Rāhui Pōkeka is the original name of Huntly and it's based on the story of a rangatira who placed a rāhui on the rivers in order to replenish the tuna.

Postmaster James Henry missed his hometown of Huntly in Scotland so much that he named a small Northern Waikato town 'Huntl...

It was thanks to the marketing genius of a land agent that resulted in a small Kāpiti Coast town being called Raumati, which means summer but does the town live up to that name?

On the Kapiti Coast a small coastal town was given a name that conjures up images of beaches, surf and sand.

Back in 1911 the name came about thanks to a clever marketing plan and it worked.

Raumati is a town and is a translation of the Engish word 'Summe...

Nau Mai Town is back with another haerenga around Aotearoa to find out more about Māori place names.

Nau Mai Town is back with a bunch of stories about Māori place names. Justine Murray hits the road and heads to Wānaka, a place inspired by schools of higher learning. Paihia has pretty good pies, but the name came about after a scouting trip by christian missionaries, and the name Taumarunui harks back to hundreds of years ago durin...

Wānaka is a resort town, an ideal movie location and was the backdrop to this years Matariki Celebrations. The name of this town is inspired by the teachings of the whare wānanga.

Read more about the Wānaka episode of Nau Mai Town here

From Treble Cone Ski Area in Wānaka, Kai Tahu heralded in the Māori New Year with the RNZ National's coverage of the Matariki Celebrations.

The name Wānaka in the Kai Tahu dialect has the same mean...

Have you assumed Paihia was a te reo word? It's actually a mash-up of Māori & English. But who said it and why?

Every year hundreds of people make the annual hikoi to Waitangi to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and the man who translated the Treaty has a bit to do with the naming of the town of Paihia.

This story begins seventeen years before the treaty was signed, when Henry Williams was scouting for a pla...

There's the main trunk line, a thriving timber industry and friendly folk. But is the story behind the name Taumarunui about a shelter or a fallen warrior?

One story about the name Taumarunui is that it was the last words of Te Peehi Turoa, a dying chief who wished to be shelterd by the sun. But according to local hapū Ngāti Rangatahi, Taumarunui was also the name of a warrior killed by a chief, Tama-aio.

Justine Murray is in the Ki...

A moment of anxiousness and the abundance of bird life, two similar names but two very different stories.

There are two names associated with the Manukau harbour.

One name has to do with a waka trying to launch into the dangerous Manukau heads, the other name is about the abundance of bird life wading in the water.

Justine Murray is in Waiuku with Roimata Minhinnick (Ngāti Te Ata Waikohua) and Robbie Paora (Ngāti Whatua ki Orākei) t...