Notes

This series describes the historical events which took place during the early years of New Zealand's colonisation. The initial story in the series, Wairau 1843, vividly illustrates the first large-scale engagement between British and Maori; infamously known as the Wairau Affray. In a small clearing of land nestled within the Wairau Valley two peoples met; the recently established settlers of Nelson, and the governing tribe of that region - the renowned Ngati-Toa. When they marched, both sides were prepared for confrontation ... yet they weren't expecting that their actions would drastically alter the future of the nation. Shaking both native Maori and settler populations alike, what occurred at Wairau made it clear throughout the Empire that not all was well within Britain's infant colony.