All language subtitles for Travels.With.Agatha.Christie.and.Sir.David.Suchet.S01E03.1080p.WEB.H264-JAVLAR

♪♪

Suchet: In July 1922,

a 31-year-old Agatha Christie
found herself here,

travelling up a steep hillside,
taking in the view.

It was somewhere
she'd never been before --

a landscape of crystal waters,
blue skies,

and a stunningly picturesque
harbour,

all seen from the vantage point
of this 120-year-old cable car.

[ Cable car bell buzzes ]

It was wintertime,

but no amount of chilly weather

could have prevented
Agatha from revelling

in this
astonishingly lovely place.

And the place where
she found herself was here,

Wellington, New Zealand.

♪♪

She was blown away by it,
and I can see why.

It's absolutely stunning.

♪♪

Before Agatha became famous,

she set off on an epic world
tour with her husband Archie

to promote the forthcoming
British Empire Exhibition.

To be held in London in 1924,

the exhibition was
being designed to boost trade

and strengthen bonds
between nations.

Now, a century later,
I'm following in her footsteps.

I'm David Suchet,

and I played Agatha Christie's
Hercule Poirot for 25 years.

Armed with my trusty camera,

I'm recreating her incredible
journey through Southern Africa,

Australia, New Zealand...

-Welcome.
-Thank you.

...and Canada.

And I'm even following her
on holiday to Hawaii.

I want to understand
the history and legacy

of Britain's Empire...

We want that which belongs to
Africa to return back to Africa.

Suchet: ...and discover
how this journey

influenced Agatha
and her writing.

And then here, they suggest
that Poirot was a creation

to rival Sherlock Holmes.

Unbelievable.

And through seeing
what she saw...

But this is extraordinary.

I've never seen anything
like this.

...and what she experienced...

Just standing here,
it makes me realise

how volatile the earth is.

...I'll learn more
about the woman

who played such
a pivotal role in my own career.

She embraced life
for all it was worth.

Wow, what a discovery.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Bell dings ]

Wellington was settled
by British colonists in 1840

and became an important port.

Though, the view in Agatha's day

would have been
somewhat different.

Yeah, now I'm looking at
a photograph

that was taken around
about the time

Agatha Christie
would have been here.

And, uh, yeah,

I think it was probably taken
from about where I'm standing.

And looking at that photograph,

and then looking at the harbour,
I can see how much has changed.

I mean, very much built up
over there with high-rises.

I think there would
have been much more trade then.

But, I mean,
the photograph is beautiful,

and the view I'm looking at
is still absolutely stunning.

It really is.

♪♪

I'm gonna take a photo myself.

♪♪

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Got it.

♪♪

In the 1920s,
Wellington was a busy port,

with ships loading
and unloading goods

before travelling
across the Empire.

Agatha, Archie, and the
mission's leader, Major Belcher,

would set off from here

to see what New Zealand might
offer the Empire Exhibition.

♪♪

And this was quite
the responsibility.

The exhibition was
a huge investment...

and over two years would draw
crowds of 27 million people.

♪♪

But how
did New Zealand feel about

Agatha and Archie's mission?

What did they gain, if anything,

from being
a dominion of Britain?

I'm meeting historian
Dr. Felicity Barnes to find out.

So, at that time that Agatha
was visiting in 1922,

what was the relationship
between New Zealand

and Great Britain?

Well, very strong.

If we stick with trade,
for example,

um, Britain was New Zealand's

biggest virtually sole customer

for its butter,

for its, uh, frozen meat.

The British imported
so much of their food.

Oh, because they didn't produce
enough of their own.

Because they'd had
this astonishing growth

of population,
particularly in London, right?

And it grows on the back
of imported food.

-Yes.
-Barnes: A lot of
that imported food

is coming from New Zealand.

And hence their enthusiasm
for wanting to appear

-in the 1924 exhibition.
-Exactly.

Suchet: Britain also relied on
New Zealand wool.

♪♪

Sheep farming was one of
the country's major industries.

And when Agatha visited, she
would have seen a lot of sheep.

Wool was
an incredibly important export,

and it was one of
our very first exports

because, of course,
it didn't spoil.

So, in the years
before refrigeration,

wool was a key staple export
for New Zealand.

And into this period, we've got
these new competing products

like butter and meat
that we can now safely send

-all the way across
the world to Britain.
-Suchet: Yes.

So, I've got, um,

-the official guide...
-Yeah.

Suchet: ...to
the British Empire Exhibition.

-Barnes: There it is.
-Suchet: 1924.

And I've just marked
the page here because it says,

and it bears out
what you said, uh,

"There's to be seen
an attractive display

of New Zealand butter
and cheese,

which today forms
the largest item

of the dominions export trade."

And when we say attractive,
they really meant it

because it wasn't
just blocks of butter piled up.

These were butter sculptures.

-Butter sculptures?
-Right. So --

-Really?
-Yeah. There was one of, uh,

a New Zealand farmhouse.

There were sculpted cows
at life size in butter

in these vast
refrigerated cabinets.

Suchet: Really?

So, when they say attractive
display, yeah, they really were.

They really went to town, then.

They did,
but they had to compete

because the Australians
also had butter sculptures,

and they had cricketers
moulded out of butter.

And, of course, famously,

the Canadians
had the Prince of Wales

-moulded in butter.
-[ Chuckles ]

So, really, you know,

you had to be on your game.

♪♪

Suchet: The 1924 exhibition
offered a theme park-style trip

around the British Empire.

As well as an amusement park,
a replica coal mine,

and an ornamental lake,

each dominion or colony
built their own grand pavilion

where they showcased their way
of life and their best products.

And, actually, you can see when
you look at the New Zealand...

-Yes.
-This is a map of

the New Zealand pavilion --
that virtually the entire thing

is dominated by these products.

So, here on this side,
that's the wool mountain here.

-Yes.
-At the centre of this side

-of the pavilion.
-Yes.

Barnes: You can see
a picture of it here.

Suchet: Oh, my goodness me,
like a pyramid.

-A pyramid, yes,
with a top for the sheep.
-Is that all wool?

-All wool, yes.
-All with the sheep

standing on the top.

-Barnes: Yes.
-Suchet: My goodness.

♪♪

Agatha's party had three weeks

to explore New Zealand's
trade and industries.

And not surprisingly,
one of their first ports of call

was a woollen mill.

The establishment they visited
has long since vanished,

but here at Stansborough,

they're keeping
old traditions alive.

-Hello.
-Hello, how are you?

-Pleased to meet you.
-I'm very pleased to meet you.

-And this is Richard.
-Richard?

Richard's my mill manager.

Suchet: Even though this looks
like an industrial museum,

Cheryl Eldridge
runs Stansborough

as a commercial business,

using the same machinery
that Agatha would have seen.

This is extraordinary.

I've never seen anything
like this.

-Oh.
-How old is this machine?

Well, they date back
to the 1890s.

And that particular time,

when the wool industry
was in its prime,

all the towns in New Zealand
actually had a woollen mill,

um, employed a lot
of New Zealanders,

um, and often they had 100
of these looms in each city.

-100?
-Anything from 50
to a 100 looms.

♪♪

Because we produce good wool

and they did wonderful things
with it,

all the best designers in Europe

used to use New Zealand wool
for all their garments.

-Suchet: Yes.
-Um, definitely for

all the Paris fashion houses
and everything,

-really, in those days.
-I know this from...

-Eldridge: Yeah.
-...from my own profession,

and personally -- when you wear
something like pure wool...

-Mm-hmm.
-...and top-grade pure wool,

it actually becomes part of you.

I am, of course,
speaking for myself and Poirot,

who was a great lover
of a quality woollen suit.

♪♪

Wool and weaving are no longer
the powerhouse industries

they once were in New Zealand,

but Cheryl has found herself
a new market for her textiles,

working with
the movie business here.

In fact, this mill made costumes

for a certain
Hollywood franchise.

Are you making another Gandalf?

Yes, another robe.

Gosh, the detail.

It's phenomenal, isn't it?

Uh, at a guess,
how many Gandalfs have you made?

The Gandalf cloaks?
Oh, I don't know.

We've probably sold a few
hundred of them, haven't we?

-Yeah.
-A few hundred?

Yeah, over the years.

So, are you saying that, uh,

individuals actually order
these replica costumes from...

Yes, they do,
because they want

the authentic garment
that was made,

and we've got the original
designs of the textiles.

-Yes.
-So, they want --

they know
if we make the textiles

and we make the garment,

they're getting what was
actually used in the movie...

-Yeah.
-...or as close to

as what was used
in the movie, so...

Well, I -- I have a --
a little knowledge of that,

because I get the fan mail
asking for my bow ties.

-Oh, really?
-Yes, but we don't make copies.

No, we don't. We'll have to
recreate his bow tie for him.

[ Laughs ] Yes, my Poirot
bow tie is made of pure wool.

Cheryl, Marie,
thank you so much.

I've -- I've had the
most wonderful time here.

Well, thank you for coming.

And I'm an absolute Poirot fan,

so here's a slight token
of a gift,

which probably is
very fitting for the 1920s.

It's a very 1920s design,
so, um, enjoy.

-Are you serious?
-I'm serious.

It feels beautiful,
but looking at the pattern,

it's perfectly symmetrical.

So, Monsieur Poirot would be
thrilled to bits, as am I.

Thank you so very much.
This will be a...

-Thank you, I'm delighted.
-...real treasure.

There we go.

And look at the costume.
That's lovely.

Perfect.

♪♪

When Agatha Christie came
to Wellington in 1922...

...she was only just emerging
onto the literary scene,

and she would have wandered
through the city incognito.

-Oh, hello, David.
-Suchet: Hello.

Lovely to meet you.
Welcome.

Very nice to meet you, too.

It's a stark contrast to today,

when readers and viewers
can't get enough of her

or her creations.

What drew you to the role
of Poirot initially,

yeah, way back in 1989?

Yes, uh, that's
when I started shooting

and got very attracted
by this little man.

Today, I'm combining
filming with a chat to Andre,

a local journalist.

I got to know the character
very well,

but never knew

that there would be a quarter
of a century ahead of me.

-Yeah.
-And also...

I'm amazed at how very popular
Agatha Christie still is.

And, yeah, I stopped filming,
what, 11 years ago now?

And here in Wellington,
I get stopped in the street.

Although I'm very flattered,

the plaudits really ought to go
to Hercule Poirot's creator,

Agatha Christie herself.

Well, thank you so much,
David, for your time.

-Thank you.
-Enjoy the rest of your travels.

Thank you very much.
Thank you.

Although not yet famous,

Agatha was just beginning
to make waves.

And as had happened
in Australia,

some of the local papers here
in New Zealand

realised that they had a
published writer in their midst.

I've made some notes, if you
don't mind me just using this.

In 1922,
when she came to Wellington,

she suddenly gets "British
authoress in Wellington."

And, uh, the article goes on to
explain that her second novel,

"The Secret Adversary," has been
having a good run in Australia,

and rather excitingly stated
she's now at work

on her third book.

But very soon
after her tour finished,

her short stories
were published.

Now, what's interesting to me
about that

is that when did she write
these short stories?

We're not quite sure.

I can't help thinking
that she must have written

at least some of them
during her time on the mission,

which begs the question,
what inspired her here?

Whatever Antipodean magic
it was,

the stories became
a roaring success.

And when the stories
were published in "The Sketch,"

the magazine really
went to town.

There's a fantastic photograph,
and then the headline here,

they called Agatha Christie,
her second novel,

"the most brilliant
detective novel of the day."

They also suggest
that Poirot was a creation

to rival Sherlock Holmes.

Unbelievable.

♪♪

It's time to leave Wellington

and follow Agatha
on the next stage of her trip.

♪♪

This is
the Interislander Ferry...

♪♪

...that's going to take me
from New Zealand's North Island

to the South Island
across the Cook Strait.

It's been described as one

of the roughest ferry crossings
in the world.

♪♪

This ferry is named Kaiarahi,

which is a Te Reo Maori word
meaning "guardian."

So, I'm hoping it will keep
us safe.

Though I might just go and have
a quick word with the captain

for some extra reassurance.

-Hello.
-Oh, hello.

-Suchet: And you're Rowan?
-Rowan, yes.

And you are the captain?

Rowan: Yes, I'm the captain,
for my sins, yes.

How long have you been captain?

Um, about eight years
for Interislander, yeah.

-Well, on this vessel?
-Yup.

And is it true
that this Cook Strait

can be the most choppy
in the world?

-Uh, it can get
pretty nasty out here.
-Suchet: Yes?

You've got the Southern Ocean
down there,

and basically the next stop
down that way is Antarctica.

The maximum we go out in

is a significant wave height
of six metres.

-But that's -- that's still...
-That's, like, still hitting

-a three-storey building.
-Mm-hmm. Ooh.

But as soon as it starts
going up above about

three to four metres, you start
really feeling it then.

Yeah.

♪♪

Luckily for me, it's calm today.

Calm enough to venture
out on deck

and get an Agatha's-eye view
of the spectacular scenery.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

♪♪

Agatha said that New Zealand was

the most beautiful country
she'd ever visited,

and, uh, well...

you certainly can't argue
with that.

♪♪

Agatha would have spent a lot
of time at sea on her tour.

Most journeys lasted for weeks.

Even the relatively short trip
from Australia

to New Zealand
took her five days.

And unfortunately for Agatha,
she wasn't a good sailor.

♪♪

I do know that she suffered
acute seasickness.

I mean, acute for days
at a time.

And although awful for her
personally,

her readers have benefited,

as she skilfully turned
her own suffering

into her exceptional
inventive writing.

It's interesting
because in the Poirot stories,

uh, there were one
or two characters

that suffered from seasickness
and, uh,

nobody more so
than Hercule Poirot himself.

And in my research,

I learnt that
Agatha Christie gives Poirot

a particular method
of dealing with his seasickness.

The Laverguier method.

I think it's
a wonderful invention.

Poirot describes the method
of Laverguier.

"You breathe in and out slowly,

turning the head from the left

and then to the right,

and counting six
between each breath."

I think Poirot,

if he was offered
to go on the Empire tour,

would not have accepted.

♪♪

After landing
on the South Island,

the Empire mission
travelled by car

down New Zealand's wild, rugged,

and wonderfully scenic
West Coast...

♪♪

...where they would explore
its rich resources.

On Friday, July 14, 1922,

they arrived
in the remote town of Hokitika

to learn about New Zealand's
extraordinary gold reserves.

And I'm here
with local historian

Paul Madgwick to do the same.

When Agatha came here
with the mission,

what -- what would she
have learnt?

Well, I think she would have
been really intrigued to find

that this town had sprung up
from nothing,

literally carved out of
the bush, simply for the gold.

This really was
the last frontier in New Zealand

that was, um, only populated
by the local Maori,

um, Poutini Ngai Tahu,

who lived in pockets up and down
the coastline until 1864, um,

and the first gold
was discovered.

People came from
all over the world.

Over the first three years of,

I think, of the --
of the gold rush,

something like 30,000 to 40,000
people sailed into Hokitika,

including my family,
who were gold miners.

Suchet: By the time
Agatha visited 50 years later,

the gold rush had slowed.

With her keen powers
of observation

and customary frankness,

Agatha painted
a wonderfully vivid,

if less than glowing, picture of
what Hokitika was like in 1922.

"The beach is awful.

You look out to sea
and then turn round.

All the backs of houses

and everybody's rubbish
dumped on the sand."

These are some great photos
of that era.

Oh, my goodness.

Madgwick: They show the
buildings almost on the beach.

The town very much
was showing its age,

and, um, it wasn't a --
a booming town at that stage.

Suchet: It might have looked
a little worse for wear,

but one of the reasons
the mission had come to the area

was to see a new invention that
promised more gold than ever,

the Rimu Gold Dredge.

Madgwick: The dredge
was brand-new at the time,

and this was the industrial
revolution of gold mining.

It was the biggest in the world.

-Wow.
-Madgwick: It was run

by electricity,
financed by Americans.

These were giant things.
They were 3,500 tonnes of steel,

and each of those buckets
weighed 2 tonne,

and there were 100 of them
on a continuous belt

that chewed into the ground.

Just massive,
three, four stories high.

It was such a wonder
of the mechanical world,

and it was
a New Zealand innovation

mounted on a --
on a floating pontoon.

It's huge.
On a floating pontoon?

-Floating pontoon, yes.
-Oh.

-That sank once.
-[ Chuckles ] Oh, did it?

Um, but they managed
to refloat it

and, uh,
dried out the electrics,

and away it went again.

And over the course of its life,

it dredged something
like 10 tonnes of gold.

Really?

Incredibly, just over 100 years
after Agatha's trip,

they're still mining gold
in the area.

Paul and I are taking
a tour with mine manager, Jimmy.

So, there's quite
an active gold industry here?

There's quite another modern-day
boom going on at the moment.

-Right.
-Especially with
the price of gold.

If you consider
that at this stage,

it's in excess of $4,000
for every 31 grams.

And where are we going now?

This is the original
Adairs Road.

Oh, this is the original road
that we're on?

-Yes, that went to
the Rimu Gold Dredge.
-Yes.

Madgwick: So this is the road
that Agatha would have followed.

-Suchet: Oh,
that's so interesting.
-Madgwick: Yup.

Cory: So, we are now entering
the mine complex.

Essentially, this is where
mining started five years ago.

Gosh. Well, I have to tell you,
Jimmy, I've been in coal mines,

and I've been in quarry pits,

and this is the first time
in my life

that I have ever visited
a gold mine.

It's -- I'm just --
It's very exciting.

That's good to hear.

Suchet: Yeah!

♪♪

Man: Yeah,
turn on your right, Jim.

Copy.

♪♪

Whoops. There we go.
She's a big one, alright.

Whoa.

♪♪

Fairly busy.

That's $900,000 right there.

[ Chuckles ] It's quite
a significant investment.

There's money in gold, David.

♪♪

-[ Camera shutter clicks ]
-Thank you.

Historically, the gold dredge
of the 1920s were fitted with,

um, these huge conveyor belts
of, um, of buckets.

These days, uh,

instead of using the buckets
to dredge into a pit,

uh, they use excavators, um,

which drops the pay dirt
and material into a truck.

And from there,
it's taken for processing.

More than I ever dreamt goes on.

Huge.

♪♪

Can you drop
your window down?

See if I can get anything
at all.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

You can see all
the machines doing like

-a synchronised kind of dance.
-Suchet: Yeah.

Everybody knows exactly
where they need to go.

-There's a shaker deck screen.
-Oh, yes.

And you can see it --
it shakes and it vibrates.

All the big rocks is expelled
over the top.

-And expel the rocks...
-Oh, yes, I can see, yes.

Cory: ...down the bottom.

And the gold material
comes down on the tables.

-So, it's sifting?
-Yes, exactly.

-Like a giant sieve.
-Suchet: Yes.

So, this is just
to show you a little example

of some of the gold
that's retrieved.

-Yes.
-In the bottom there.

-Yes.
-Here we go.

♪♪

Oh, wow.

-Cory: Even better. Even better.
-Suchet: That's fantastic.

Look at that.
That's gold in my hand.

Thank you so much.

And do you know what?
I feel like a kid again.

[ Chuckles ]

Go on, take it. Take it, though.

That's my year's salary.

-[ Laughter ]
-Not quite. Not quite.

You're a -- You're a very,
very accomplished actor.

[ Waves crashing ]

♪♪

Suchet: Gold wasn't the only
precious material

that the mission
would have encountered

while journeying
along this coast.

♪♪

When Agatha was here
with the delegation,

Major Belcher seems
to have been very impressed

with the abundance of
a certain gemstone in the area,

which he said could feature
in the New Zealand Pavilion

in the exhibition itself,

and he referred to it
as a type of jade or greenstone.

The gemstone Belcher
was describing

was found around Hokitika.

It has spiritual significance
for the local Maori people,

who collect it
and call it pounamu.

I've come to the marae,

the Maori meeting house
just north of Hokitika...

Wow.

...where local guide,
Te Rua Mason,

has offered to tell me more
about this precious stone.

-Kia ora. So, you're David?
-Te Rua?

-Yes.
-Hello.

Kia ora. Would you
like to have a hongi?

-I beg your pardon?
-A hongi.

It's just the touching
of our noses together

and just a slight inhale,

just acknowledging
the breath of life.

-Alright. I think we should.
-Kia ora.

♪♪

Oh, tena koe. Nau mai.
Welcome.

-Thank you.
-This is my daughter,

-Te Whetu Marama.
-Hello.

And this is my son,
Te Ngawari.

-Hello.
-Hello.

-Please.
-Thank you.

-Mason: Come onto our marae.
-Thank you.

Mason:
So, this is our wharenui here,

or our meeting house
or our carved house,

which capsulates all of our
stories and histories within.

-Suchet: It's very vibrant.
-Mason: Yeah, very vibrant.

At the very, very top up there,

he's carved out a pounamu,
he is.

Can you explain what the figures

either side of the building
represent?

Yeah, so these two whakairo, uh,

that we have
on either side here,

they talk about our
creation story of the pounamu.

So, on the far side over here,
uh, we have Waitaiki.

Um, and on the side here,
we have, uh, Poutini.

Um, he was the kaitiaki,

he was the guardian, um,
of the pounamu.

He spotted Waitaiki,
the beautiful lady,

walking across the sand, going
down for her morning bathe.

And so, he cast her
deep into this blue pool

where she sank
through the layers of the water,

until eventually become

and rested on the bottom
of the riverbed

where she had turned
into pounamu.

And that's our little bit
of a story

of the creation of the pounamu.

Suchet:
So, is what you're saying,

that the lady that we're talking
about almost becomes the stone,

and her --
her spirit is within the stone?

Yes, definitely.

And we like to think
that when we all receive,

or we all find a piece
of pounamu,

we too will, say, receive
a little bit of that mana,

a little bit of
that wairua and spirit as well.

Oh, that's lovely.
I like that so much.

So, each stone a -- is
a very precious thing, isn't it?

-It's very precious.
-It's not just,

"Oh, there's a piece of stone"?

-Mason: No, no.
-It has a soul?

Yes, it has a soul,
just like all of us.

♪♪

Suchet: Pounamu is only found
on the West Coast

and in riverbeds
of the South Island.

♪♪

We're heading for
the Arahura River,

where Te Rua's family
have been hunting for pounamu

for generations,

and where he now brings
his children to do the same.

In this area,
the pounamu are not just green,

but a variety of colours.

I've seen a lot of stone
that have come

out of this particular place,

and it's just
absolutely stunning.

And can anybody hunt
for these stones?

Today, uh, the rule of thumb
is the majority of the rivers

are tribally owned.

♪♪

Alright, there's us, folks.
That's it.

♪♪

Oh, well, let's go for a
little bit of a walk down here.

-Okay.
-And we'll try our luck.

♪♪

♪♪

So, your children are
now searching in the riverbed.

Now, what are they
actually doing?

So basically,
is what they're doing now is,

they're looking for
high coloured greens.

The pounamu, you know,

that's why the South Island
carries this name,

Te Wahipounamu,
or the Greenstone Waters.

-Yes.
-And particularly here

on the West Coast, um,

you know, is famed, um, for --
what can I call that word?

I'm gonna call it
the different shades of green

that we have here.

Suchet:
For hundreds of years before
modern tools were invented,

the Maori shaped pounamu
into axes and knives.

Mason:
There's a saying that goes,

"Ka rere te maramara,
Ka huaki ki waho,

Ka tipu mai i uta, Ka takoto
mai i waho, E hura ki te ata,

Ko te ata o Tane."

And it talks about that,

when that pounamu chisel
hit the tree,

the chips and the bark
started flying off

at a great rate of knots,

that told the Ngai Tahu carvers

that not only
was the stone of beauty,

but it also held
a paramount edge.

Always, um, were weapons.

Obviously, when the musket
and everything come out here,

then the pounamu transitioned
into other sorts of things.

They become heirlooms

where they were worn
adornedly by, uh, earrings.

-Yes.
-Um, hairdo, as hair knot,

you know, tying up the hair.

But, um, I've got
a few pieces in my bag here...

-Suchet: Have you?
-Mason: ...if you're keen
to have a bit of a look.

Suchet: Yes, I'd like to,
very much.

This is what we call
the kokopu.

The kokopu.

Looking through this stone now,

as you say, with the
other stones in the background,

they all
sort of merge in together.

-Yes. Yeah.
-Suchet: So, how would you know

that that was a pounamu,
and they weren't?

Uh, well, it's probably not
until you actually roll it over.

-I've just taken the skin away.
-Suchet: Oh, my goodness.

Mason: And then you can really,
really see the kokopu.

And then why it carries the name
the kokopu is

because it's
the native mountain trout

that is found in particular
creeks in the brown water.

You know what you're doing?

You're making me look at what
I would think an ordinary stone

in quite a different way.

And, uh, I'm gonna go to
the River Thames when I go back.

And I'm gonna --
I won't find the pounamu,

but I may have
a different viewpoint

-to what I'm looking at.
-Mason: Yeah, kia ora.

That's lovely.

And then --
And then we also have, uh,

-another particular piece here.
-Yes.

-Mason: But it's got a...
-[ Clattering ]

got a very,
very high ring to it.

-Yes.
-Mason: Again, you can just see

on the outside of it there,

you can just see those
high blues coming through there.

Suchet:
Yes, you can. Yes, look at that.

Mason: And I've done --
I've done exactly the same

on the other side there.

I've just taken off
just a little bit of a thin...

Suchet: Oh, my goodness me.

Mason: Just a little bit
of a thin layer there.

-Suchet: That's extraordinary.
-Mason: Just to sort it out.

-And that's the blue?
-Yeah, and that's the blue.

That's beautiful.

♪♪

They're like little friends,
sort of, in a way.

You sort of can sit there
and sort of rub them.

Absolutely.

Well, that's what you told me,
they become people.

♪♪

I find all this so interesting.
Really, I do.

And it -- And it appeals to me
very much.

♪♪

Yeah, and we have a little bit
of a saying amongst our people,

um, you know, the song
of the pounamu is to be carried.

It's to continue.

Um, so I've got
a little piece here for you.

-Um...
-Wow.

We can see that -- that
beautiful litmus green colour

-coming through there.
-Beautiful.

Mason: And then we've also
then got that nice white skin

-sort of running through there.
-Yeah. Oh, it's beautiful.

Um, so, um, if you wouldn't mind
accepting this here on --

on behalf of our family,
and, uh, may this keep you safe.

And every time you touch it,

you know, I hope your thoughts
return to the West Coast here,

and particularly here
at Te Arahura and...

-My goodness.
-...and our family in Hokitika.

Oh, they certainly will.

I can't tell you, this is
such a special thing to receive.

Thank you so, so very much.

Thank you.

-Mason: Yeah.
-Oh, yes.

♪♪

Bless you. Thank you.

Wow.

What a gift.

♪♪

♪♪

In the last few days
of their stay in New Zealand,

while Archie and Belcher
were engaged on Empire business,

Agatha decided to take
herself off on a solo trip.

♪♪

Displaying a sense of adventure

that I'm becoming familiar
with on this Empire tour,

Agatha travelled to a remote
and otherworldly landscape --

a place that must have been
unlike anything

she had ever seen before.

♪♪

She came to Rotorua, about
300 miles north of Wellington --

a town nestled amongst
a belt of active volcanoes

and geothermal activity.

♪♪

It's also one of
the most important

Maori settlements
in New Zealand.

The sacred Maori meeting house
is right next

to the Anglican church, built
by British colonial settlers.

[ Choir singing in Maori ]

♪♪

Now, this is
quite extraordinary.

I've never been
in any church quite like this,

let alone an Anglican church.

There is the pulpit
being held up

by what I can only assume
to be Maori gods,

and above the pulpit
is a crucifix.

In the 1800s,

the local Maori chief
invited missionaries

to hold a service here,

and today's church is clearly
influenced by both cultures.

It's absolutely wonderful.

It's -- It's
as if Maori spirituality

and Christian spirituality
have all come together,

embraced each other, accepted
each other's differences,

and all can worship,
Maori, Christians,

in this Anglican church.

Today, this fusion is captured
in a window depicting Jesus

in a tasselled cloak worn
by Maori chiefs.

You know,
looking at that wonderful window

reminds me of
how devout Agatha Christie was.

She was a
very committed Christian.

And in her mid-60s,

she wanted to donate a window,

the east window in her local
church in Churston Ferrers.

And knowing that Agatha Christie
came here to Rotorua,

and being a committed Anglican,
I just wonder, I can't be sure,

but I wonder if she
actually came to this church,

which was very active in 1922.

I'd like to think she did.

♪♪

Rotorua has
a fascinating history.

Ever since European visitors
first arrived here,

they were drawn
to the health benefits

of the geothermal hot springs.

♪♪

The local Maori realised
the area's potential for tourism

and became guides.

But by the time Agatha was here,

colonial expansion
across the rest of New Zealand

had stripped many Maori
of their land and language.

♪♪

It happened to an extent
in Rotorua too,

but tourism allowed
the Maori here

to hold onto their culture
and share it.

♪♪

Agatha was herself shown
around by a Maori guide,

a tradition that still exists.

And my guide for today
is Justin.

Justin, we know that Agatha
Christie came here on her own.

Uh, is this what she
would have seen?

Yeah, absolutely.

Um, the geothermal wonders
of Rotorua,

at that time when she visited,

my great-great-grandmother
was actually her guide.

-No, was she?
-Yeah, she was.

Do you know, in that time
when somebody

as a stature of Agatha Christie
was to visit,

um, you know, you would assign
your best guide that you had.

In that time, um, the tourism
bureau, they wanted us to,

um, certificate the guides.

And so,
my great-great-grandmother,

our guide Bella,
became guide number one.

♪♪

I think that gives me some
royalty, but it doesn't really.

-Yeah, yeah.
-You've inherited?

Yeah, yeah. I've in--

I think I'm guide 1,500
or something like that.

Come along this way, David.

Look, you can see
this pool down here.

This is one of
the many hot springs we have.

This is Pua Pua,

which once upon a time
used to be a geyser.

-Suchet: Really?
-Te Hau: Yeah.

-Suchet: Where it
used to really spout?
-Te Hau: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Suchet: Geysers are caused
by the pressure of steam

building up underground

and can throw
jets of boiling water

tens of metres into the air.

Te Hau: Back in that time
in the 1920s,

there would have been
20 active geysers.

-Suchet: 20?
-Te Hau: So, when we say active,

we mean erupting geysers.

Because today we have
dormant geysers...

-Yes.
-Te Hau: ...but water's still

bubbling from them,
like this one just behind us.

-Yes.
-Te Hau: We have crystal-clear

-alkaline waters.
-Suchet: My goodness.

You know, our people use
these pools for cooking.

-Do they?
-Yeah, so they'll go out

to the lakes
and gather freshwater crayfish.

-Yes.
-Put them in there for

a few minutes
until they turn red.

Suchet: Justin, what --
what is that then?

It's what we call a hangi.

You put a lid on top of it,

it then blocks that pressure,
and you can cook in there.

-What?
-We can cook a frozen chicken

in there in 30 minutes.

It's like a pressure cooker?

-Exactly the same. Yeah, yeah.
-Is it really?

Except it's our version.

And there's no danger of this
suddenly spouting?

Uh, I -- I won't say that,

because it can happen,
and it has happened,

but we're living
amongst Mother Nature.

So, we have got areas, uh,

where, you know,
major changes have happened

because the heat has become
so intense

that the area's collapsed.

Suchet: It's -- I mean,
just standing here, Justin,

it makes me realise
how volatile the earth is.

Uh, and we really are standing
on a very thin crust here,

-aren't we?
-Te Hau: Yeah, we are.

♪♪

Suchet: A lot has changed in
Rotorua since Agatha's day.

In the 1920s, it was an enclave

where Maori culture survived
against the odds.

Today, it's a place

where Maori language and
craftsmanship are championed.

♪♪

At the Te Puia
Maori Arts and Crafts Institute,

apprentices are being trained
in traditional wood, whalebone,

and stone carving by acclaimed
sculptor, Stacy Gordine.

Hello, Stacy.

-Stacy? Hi.
-Hey.

What are you actually working
on now?

I'm working
on a hei-tiki pendant.

The first human man
was -- was called Tiki.

And you find Tiki,
Tiki was something we bought,

our ancestors bought
from wider Polynesia.

Um, and then we adopted it
to this -- this wearable format.

-Wow.
-Gordine: And it's a calling

to be able to do this work.

It's a real privilege
to work this material

in this modern environment
with these modern tools.

We'll say, for example,

using diamond
and using technologies

that our ancestors
didn't have access to.

♪♪

And so it enables us to --
to push the art form forward.

♪♪

Every day, we look back
and draw from that tradition.

And we know we're part of it.

We know we're the living face
of it for today.

And -- And it's up to us

to pass it on to the -- to
the future generations

and add -- add
our reflexions of our time,

our day, our inspirations,
our creativity,

and become part of that --
that living tradition.

♪♪

Suchet: Very luckily for me,

Stacy and some
of his staff and pupils

have taken the pounamu
that I was given.

And after revealing
its beautiful colours...

♪♪

...they've carved it
into something for me.

Though what it is...

-Done.
-Suchet: ...is a surprise.

Wow. Goodness me.

♪♪

Now it's adjustable.

Wow.

This is -- Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness me.

Whoa.

That's so special.

There's a piece of a few of us
in this piece.

So, have you got the other half?

-Yes.
-Oh, you've got the other half.

-So, it's set like that.
-Oh, I see.

-Yeah.
-So that joins onto that?

-Yes, so it's like that.
-Like that?

Yeah.

And see how we got it
out of that shape.

Oh, my goodness.

And then we thought the --
the whale tooth,

the whale tooth
form was fitting.

We consider pounamu a fish,
because it's found in rivers.

-Yes.
-The whale was one of the great,

you know, navigator journeys --
journeyer of -- of the world,

travelling the world just
like you're doing

on this particular kaupapa,

-this particular journey.
-Yes.

So, it's putting in that regard.

And then the tooth as well
being a -- a symbol of --

of being able to tell stories
and talk on behalf of others

and share those stories.

So, this goes with all
of our aroha from all of us.

Just place this in here, David.

♪♪

Okay.

Very close to your manawa,
your heart.

Hongi.

♪♪

-Tena koe.
-Thank you so much.

-My pleasure.
-It really, um...

-Hongi?
-I feel so touched.

♪♪

Very touched indeed.

I really do mean that.
Thank you.

-Thank you so much.
-My pleasure.

♪♪

Suchet:
After three weeks on the road,

the Empire Mission's
Major Belcher pronounced

their trip a great success.

The New Zealand Pavilion
would be a wonderful attraction

at the upcoming exhibition.

And as for Agatha,

I sense that this trip brought
out a whole new side to her.

I think at this point in time,

Agatha, in spite of herself,

is maturing.

There's a certain sense
of having fun,

which probably led to
a sense of growing independence.

For example,
where I'm standing now...

being shown around by Bella.

I think travel is
a wonderful educator,

and I think this journey for her

on the Grand Empire Mission

was giving her an outlook
on life and experiences

that she would never
have been party to

without this opportunity.

And I once again agree with her

when she says
New Zealand was possibly

the most beautiful country
she'd ever seen in her life,

with the suggestion
that she would have loved

to have returned.

Uh, well,
I'm standing in her shoes,

and I feel exactly the same.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪