Peter Macinnis explains the geological origins of our near neighbour, New Zealand.
Poets seem to like explaining how land is formed out of the sea.
To take just two examples, Andrew Marvell once offered an opinion about the Netherlands and their origin. And Welsh author and broadcaster Wynford Vaughan-Thomas explained New Zealand like this. A Maori fisherman, the legends say, Dredged up New Zealand in a single day. In fact the geological origins of New Zealand, the world s 13th and 15th largest islands, and both bigger than Wales let me add, is a great deal harder to explain. But having been explained, it s certainly not the sort of thing you would throw back, because the true story of New Zealand s origins is a delicious piece of geology and scientific deduction.