N ew Zealand's colourful history commences from the time when the Rangitata Land mass separates from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana 80 million years ago, evolving to become modern New Zealand.

As Polynesians discover and settle New Zealand, thought to be sometime between 950 and 1130 AD, the Moriori people are settling, possibly around the same time, the Chatham Islands, or Rekohu, a small group of islands off the coast of New Zealand. In 1642 the first of the European explorers, Abel Janszoon Tasman from Holland, sails into New Zealand waters.

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