Source: Radio New Zealand
Supplied to RNZ
A podcast that led to the discovery of one of New Zealand’s oldest European artefacts has been named Podcast of the Year at the NZ Podcast Awards.
Kelly Tarlton’s Final Treasure Hunt, produced by RNZ and the Motuihe Group, tells the story of famous entrepreneur and underwater adventurer Kelly Tarlton.
It traverses the story behind his life as a treasure and shipwreck hunter and the development of his aquarium on Auckland’s waterfront, while also re-igniting the search for a 256 year-old anchor off the Northland coast that Tarlton had been hunting for before he died.
Thanks to the podcast the anchor, lost by the French ship Saint Jean Baptiste in 1769, was rediscovered at the bottom of Doubtless Bay.
The podcast was the most decorated at this year’s podcast awards, winning gold in both the Best Documentary and Best History categories and silver in Best Factual, as well as the top honour.
The NZ Podcast Awards organisers said “its success is recognition for locally grounded storytelling that connects New Zealanders with our history”.
The podcast’s host and producer Hamish Williams said he was delighted with the win and immensely grateful to the Tarlton family for sharing their stories.
Kelly’s daughter Fiona Tarlton said on Facebook that “Dad would be thrilled” and thanked Williams for his dedication and talent in creating such a fascinating podcast.
She added: “My family and I are extremely grateful to RNZ and every team member involved for bringing this adventurous idea to reality.”
Tarlton was hunting for the anchor in 1982 and wrote down its coordinates, but his papers were lost for 40 years before they were rediscovered as part of the six-part podcast’s production.
The Saint Jean Baptiste was sailing in New Zealand waters at the same time as James Cook’s first expedition. It lost three anchors in a storm. Two had been found over the years and are on display at Te Papa and Te Ahu Museum in Kaitaia, but the location of the third anchor, described by Heritage New Zealand as “one of the oldest relics of early European contact with New Zealand”, remained a mystery until this year.
Marine engineer Brendan Wade, the partner of one of the other producers of the podcast Ellie Callahan, found the French anchor in a stunning conclusion to the series.
Heritage New Zealand has recommended it remain on the sea floor until tangata whenua have been consulted and archaeologists can properly survey the area.
RNZ’s daily news podcast The Detail, produced by Newsroom, won Current Affairs Podcast of the Year, while season two of Did Titanic Sink? by comedians Tim Batt and Carlo Ritchie silver in the Best Comedy and Best Fiction categories.
Earlier in the week, RNZ’s interview podcast Kim Hill Wants to Know was named by Apple Podcasts as New Zealand’s top new show of 2025, with cult podcast The Lodge in fourth.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
