Herbs are considered pioneers of the Pacific reggae sound. Their 1982 hit 'French letter', questioning French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, expressed the country's anti-nuclear stance.
HMS Britomart arrived at Akaroa, on Banks Peninsula, a week before a shipload of French colonists landed. The ship's captain raised the Union Jack to confirm British sovereignty over the area.
The Catholic mission fuelled fears of French plans to annex New Zealand, but the number of French missionaries and mission stations remained heavily outnumbered by the Protestant faiths.
The rise of coffee houses in the 1940s, 50s and 60s was not a phenomenon confined to Wellington, or indeed to New Zealand. The connection between the history of cafe culture and immigration is significant.
