Story: European discovery of New Zealand

Some have speculated that Spanish or Portuguese ships reached New Zealand, or became wrecked on its coast, before Abel Tasman’s arrival in 1642. This ‘Spanish helmet’, allegedly fished out of Wellington Harbour, is seen by some as proof that the Spanish did reach New Zealand. But there is no record of the helmet before it was noted in the national museum in 1904, and the theory that it was dropped from an early Spanish vessel is not convincing. In this sound file, historian Phyllis Herda discusses the likelihood that Spanish explorer Juan Fernandez visited New Zealand around 1576.