GNS Science announced in April of that year that a plaque had been placed in the Tararua Ranges, 11 kilometres northwest of Greytown, marking what it claimed to be the real Centre of New Zealand. Botanical Hill has long been considered the nub of the nation because it was a central survey point in the 1870s. Until then, there were surveys of various parts of New Zealand, but none of the nation as a whole. The powers that were decided to combine these surveys into a single geodetic version which took the curvature of the Earth into account, and Nelson’s chief surveyor, John Spence Browning, was considered the only man for the job.
Centre of New Zealand from above.
Promotional material aimed at domestic and international tourists says the centre of New Zealand is up a hill in the centre of Nelson City with a commanding view of the Nelson Tasman area. It is sort of true, and information on the Nelson City Council’s sites both back and qualify the claims. The country’s main tourist site NewZealand.com says: “The Centre of New Zealand, on Botanical Hill at the start of the Maitai Valley, is an iconic walk in Nelson Tasman. The Centre of New Zealand is so named because it was a central survey point in the 1800s.”