The French Connection
FRENCH EXPLORATION took place in the South Pacific at the same time their English rivals were also looking at colonial expansion. Given only slight changes in the historical winds, New Zealand could well have been a French colony. Here are five places where they first landed.
1.Whatuwhiwhi Beach Walk, Northland
10min return
In an unlikely happening, unbeknown to both Captain James Cook and Jean François Marie de Surville, their boats passed in a storm off the northern headlands of New Zealand.
In December 1769, de Surville rested, to drag anchors and it drifted towards a reef. The ship avoided damage, but the yawl was stranded on Tokerau Beach. A curious party of Māori inspected it and took it to their village.
