Editing Nelson, New Zealand (section)

==="Centre of New Zealand" monument===
[[File:Geographical centre nelson.jpg|thumb|The marker at the "Centre of New Zealand"]]
Nelson has a monument on Botanical Hill, near the centre of the city. The walk to this is called the "''Centre of New Zealand walk''". Despite the name, this monument does not mark the actual geographic centre of New Zealand.

Instead, the monument marks the "zero, zero" point to which the first geodetic surveys of New Zealand were referenced. These surveys were started in the 1870s by John Spence Browning, the Chief Surveyor for Nelson. From this 360-degree viewpoint, survey marks in neighbouring regions (including Wellington in the North Island) could be [[Triangulation|triangulated]] and the local surveys connected.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.nelson.govt.nz/recreation/recreation/parks-and-reserves/centre-of-nz/
 |title        = Nelson City Council – Centre of New Zealand Walk
 |access-date   = 23 August 2019
|url-status   = dead
 |df           = dmy
 |archive-date = 22 August 2019
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20190822231014/http://www.nelson.govt.nz/recreation/recreation/parks-and-reserves/centre-of-nz/
}}</ref>

In 1962, Ian Reilly from the now defunct [[Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (New Zealand)|Department of Scientific and Industrial Research]] calculated the geographic centre of New Zealand (including Stewart Island and some smaller islands in addition to the North and South Island, but excluding the [[Chatham Islands|Chathams]]) to be in a forest in [[Spooner's Range, New Zealand|Spooners Range]] {{convert|35|mi|0|abbr=in}} southwest of Nelson at  {{Coord|41|30|S|172|50|E|region:NZ_type:landmark|name=Geographical Centre of New Zealand}}.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = https://drive.google.com/file/d/1giLDfmjydEA8HMARufmWodgdSZ1zbI9D/view
 |title        = Clipping from Nelson Mail, 27 June 1962 edition, sourced from GNS library
 |access-date   = 12 March 2019
|url-status   = dead
 |df           = dmy
 |archive-date = 22 August 2019
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20190822221830/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1giLDfmjydEA8HMARufmWodgdSZ1zbI9D/view
}}</ref>

Owing to the coarse nature of the underlying data (use of rectangular areas of 7.5 minutes of arc on each side), the centre calculated by Reilly has quite large error margins. Recalculating the result with more modern and accurate data shows the geographic centre of New Zealand is approximately 60&nbsp;km southwest of Nelson, in the Big Bush Conservation Area north of [[Saint Arnaud, New Zealand]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-press/20190424/281629601675627
 |title         = Centre of NZ debate fires Up
 |date         = 24 April 2019
 |df         = dmy
 |access-date         = 1 October 2019
 |archive-date         = 1 October 2019
 |archive-url         = https://web.archive.org/web/20191001225721/https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-press/20190424/281629601675627
 |url-status         = live
 }}</ref>