dead ends and false leads, but we all carry a key that can unlock a history long lost to us. It's our DNA. 12 New Zealanders have had their DNA tested, and that's going to help them to solve old family mysteries, uncover ancient forbearers and even find a fortune or two. Stay tuned for a fascinating ride. Copyright Able 2017 Hello. I'm Richard O'Brien. Now, the DNA Detectives are primed to bring 12 New Zealanders face-to-face with a history that's been long lost to them. Now, it's easy for families to lose touch and for stories to be forgotten, but with the wonder of DNA testing it allows us to reintroduce people to the colour, cultures and places that are part of their genetic make-up. Sir John Kirwan is a rugby icon who helped win New Zealand the world cup. And actress Miriama Smith, who gets to play at being Filthy Rich, is really just a girl next door from Tawa college. I'm trying to tell myself I'm excited, but I'm actually really nervous. It's driving me crazy! Why you'd risk your life to climb a mountain, and then seeing it, wow. Can't imagine, sort of, you know, spending a lifetime and then... just not getting there. First up is Sir John. He's a living legend, a butcher's son from Mangere. He's travelled the world with the All Blacks, the Warriors, and with a coaching career that's allowed him to call both Italy and New Zealand home. Apart from English, he speaks Italian and Japanese, but how fluent is he with his own history? I know my mum's side from a rugby point of view. My mother's brother Teddy, he was one of the first Barbarians All Blacks triallist, played for Otahuhu. Dad's side ` a little bit different. Kirwan's Irish. Apparently, we're related to the Kennedy family in the States. There was a song 'Wherever you Lay your Hat', and I'm a little bit like that. You know, I love New Zealand. It's my home, I feel connected here, but I also love Italy, and I love Japan. I've lived in Japan on and off for 10 years and love that as well, so I don't know whether it's my character or whether I was a gypsy in my DNA maybe. John, come in, sit down, make yourself at home. Thank you It's a great pleasure to have you here. Your career in sport, of course, is well-known. You must have had some wonderful, wonderful memories of your life in football? Great time. What would you say topped them all? Probably Italy. So rugby taking me from New Zealand as a young man, 20-year-old,... Yes ...went and played overseas in Italy, so going from this whole New Zealand world of meat and three veggies, and arrived in Italy, and there was red wine and pasta, and I thought, 'Whoa, I had died and gone to heaven.' Are you from an academic background? No, went to school to eat my lunch and play footy, really. OK. Yeah. You're non-academic and yet you speak three languages ` English, Japanese and Italian. Yeah. I wouldn't say I'm fluent in Japanese, though. I can get a beer and a feed. Right, we've got some of your results, and if we look at the screen over there, and see what we've discovered so far. Right, your DNA isn't quite as colourful as your life, because your 100% European. Whoa. Yeah there's a tiny bit of French and German there, but 93% is British and Irish. Yes, you would have liked to have seen some Italian, kind of, ancestry there, but it doesn't exist. I'm going to give you this little device here. I want you to keep that with you 24/7. OK. And I shall be in touch with you in about 24 hours, so thank you so much for coming in. It has been a great pleasure. My pleasure. And, uh, bon voyage. Grazie. John's known the heights of success and the depths of despair, but he's about to learn he isn't the only one in his family to have endured the ups and downs of being an extraordinary sportsman. I have absolutely no idea. I'm really excited about this wee journey, cos I don't really have a clue. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Welcome aboard the DNA express, Sir John. I do hope you enjoy the ride. Now take a look at the man in this photo. Does he look familiar? Nah, never seen him before. Decent moustache, though. Nah, I've never seen this man before. He was a relative on your father's side. His name Alexander Mitchell Kellas, and he had a very epic life story. To learn more about him, you're off to the small hamlet of Innisfail in Queensland, Australia, where the lab has located a DNA relative who can perhaps tell you a little more. I didn't think that I'd be going in that direction, that's for sure. I've bagged the Aussies all my life, so it will be interesting going to see relatives in Australia. Well, it looks as though John is going to have to eat humble pie, because his first DNA relative, Jeanette, is Australian. Well, we've finally got here, and uh, a little bit apprehensive, a little bit weird, meeting Jeanette, who's a cuzzie bro of ours, so it's going to be interesting. Here we go. Oh, hey. John? Lovely to meet you Yeah, I don't know` That's right. I don't know whether to hug or kiss or whatever, but we are family, so, yeah. Oh, certainly. Cousins hug. Come on in. You look like my auntie Morvin, actually Really? Yeah, I'll text my sisters, and get them to send me a photo, but, Interesting. Yeah, but this is a photo that I was given. He's a very interesting relative of ours. Really? OK there you go. Interesting little mo going on there. Yes. Do you recognize the name Kellas from your family? Yeah, yeah, auntie Kellas. I had an auntie Kellas. So we're west of Aberdeen. Is that where we're from? That's where we're from. Yeah. Yep. And up in the edge of the Cairngorm mountains there. Yeah. Supposing you don't mind a whiskey then, obviously? (CLICKS TONGUE) (BOTH LAUGH) My dad didn't mind a whiskey either. Nothing wrong with whiskey. Exactly. This is where they make it. Excellent, so tell me a little bit about... Alexander Mitchell Kellas. Alexander Mitchell Kellas. Alexander Mitchell Kellas, he went to Edinburgh, to a college there, where he did science. Well, I didn't take after him ` science. (LAUGHS) He does look a bit of a` like a bit of a scholar, doesn't he? Yes, but what made him famous was his hobby OK, my hobby made me famous too, actually. That's right. Yeah, what was his hobby? Tell me. Well, he'd come from the mountains, and he'd kept on going back to the mountains, for his holidays. He climbed. Well, I know that face. Well, yes, this is about the 50th anniversary of the climbing of Everest. Yep, yep. Have a look at this little bit. No way. No way! He took that photo! That's the earliest photo they've got of that area. That is amazing, in this photo both Scottish chemist Alexander Mitchell Kellas ` cuzzie bro as of now ` one of the first to study the effects of altitude on the body. Kellas learns that Sherpas are people from the high valley south of Everest function well at high altitude. And at that time, he was the only person that climbed Chomiomo, yes. Wow! Good on you, fella. I'm scared of heights. (BOTH LAUGH) (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Oh dear, well, where you're headed, you're going to need to conquer that fear of heights, because we're sending you to walk in Alexander's footsteps in the Himalaya. Your next destination is Kathmandu. And you're like, 'Wow, I'm really enjoying the chaos of, you know,...' Kathmandu, it's a developing nation. I've been to Sri Lanka before, but this is... This is a new level. It's really, really cool. So, you know when you get excited and nervous? You know, we're off to somewhere that I've probably don't really know what I'm up against, don't know if I've done enough training, don't know what I'm about to encounter. It's not something that I've ever done, so, yeah, can't wait, really. Can't wait. Big cousin Alexander Kellas is, you know, pretty legendary where we're going, so I'm just... got that little bit of nerves in the tummy and can't wait to get amongst it, actually. Later on, John Kirwan heads to new heights as he learns about his family history, and we meet our next recruit ` actor Miriama Smith. I'm referred to as Maori, but I've also got this European heritage, and I'm really, really interested in finding out my tipuna from that side as much as my Maori side. . Hello. Welcome to the lab. Now, one thing we're learning on this adventure is that a DNA test can reveal a lot about what our ancestors got up to, old family stories can lead everyone up the garden path, but a simple spit test can tell us where the truth really lies. Now on the series 'Filthy Rich', actress Miriama Smith plays a matriarch who didn't think about the past but looked to the future and how she could control it. However, Miriama's much more interested in investigating her own past to see how it might inform her future, so let's see what she knows already. So, my mother's side, Isabella, her father Ralph ` his mother was Spanish from the Basque region, but they fled the Basque region and went to Scotland, and I know Moira, my mother's mother, she's got English and Irish in her as well. I'm referred to as Maori, but I've also got this European heritage, and I'm really, really interested in finding out my tipuna from that side as much as my Maori side. I think I'm going to find quite a creative flair through my family genes. A writer maybe ` somewhere along those lines. Miriama, come on in. Thank you. And welcome. Kia ora, Richard. Sit yourself down, and let's learn a bit about you. You were born in New Zealand? Yes, born in Rotorua. And you decided to become an actor, why? Um, well I kind of fell into it, because I was dancing, and... I can see the dancer. I was going to ask you. You can see that? I was going to ask you if there was any dance in your background. Yeah, it's running through my veins, actually, so I couldn't help myself. I loved to perform and dance, and then my mum was kind of living vicariously through me and wanted me to be a model, but the agent said, 'Hmm, she doesn't seem to be taking to it very well, but she loves to perform, 'so maybe she should be an actor,' and that's kind of how I got into it. OK, now, there was something about your mother changing her name to honour an ancestor, is that right? Yeah, Isabella. Isabella. Yes. Tell me about Isabella. Isabella is my grandad Ralph's mother. That's as far as I know. I have not seen any photos of her, but what my mother thought was that she fled the Basque region and that she had Spanish ancestry, and so I've always thought that I've got Spanish ancestry and` Mm-hm, that's interesting. Hmm. Now, we've got some of your results in. Would you care to look over there at the screen, and we'll see what we've got so far. Right, 46.9% of your DNA is from the UK and Ireland. 34% of your DNA is from south-east Asia and Oceania, which is what we'd expect from someone with a Maori heritage. We have 66% European. We do have a little more information about your European DNA, but we'll get to that when you're on your travels. And now I'm going to give you this device, which I'd like you to keep about your person all the time. There's lots of things you're going to discover. You've got people to meet and places to go. It's going to be exciting. Excited. It is. Thank you so much for coming in. Thank you. It's been a great pleasure. Likewise. Bon voyage. Right, while Miriama's character in 'Filthy Rich' may have reinvented herself, we're about to sought out the fact from the fiction in Miriama's own past, and it's going to be quite a ride. I'm nervous! I hate being nervous. I'm trying to tell myself I'm excited, but I'm actually really nervous, and I'm not sure why, and I think it's actually because I don't know, and I kind of` There's a sense of, like, I know I've got to let go and just kind of throw caution to the wind, but deeply, I'd really really like to know. It's driving me crazy! (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Hello, Miriama. Let's see if we can confirm that Spanish ancestry you're so convinced of. Where you're headed, some Spanish would definitely come in handy, because you're off to Argentina. More about your connections there when you land in Buenos Aires. Yes! Buenos Aires. I've always wanted to go to Buenos Aires. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Buenos dias, Miriama. I'm sure you're wondering if that Spanish connection to your great-great grandmother Isabella brings you here. Well, Isabella did have a connection to Argentina, because in 1858 she met her future husband Thomas MacGibbon, and Thomas liked adventure, and he decided to join the pioneering Scottish settlers heading out to Argentina to seek their fortunes. Now, the rough plains were no place for his Isabella, so Thomas left her behind in Scotland, and he promised to send for her once he was established. The Scots set up branches like 'Estancia El Venado', and that's where you're staying tonight. Uh, well, so it is a surprise to find that my grandfather's grandfather, Thomas MacGibbon, came here from Scotland. And I don't even know if my grandparents knew. I don't even know` like I know my mother didn't know that side when I was asking her about this side of her family. Grandad Ralph never talked about the past. It's just not something we ever did. We never sat around. I think we're all too busy. We never had the time, never made the time. 100,000 Argentinians claim Scottish ancestry, and your host Michelle is part of one of those pioneering families. I just found out my great-great grandfather on my mother's side is from Scotland, but in the 1800s, he came here. Well, my husband's family is originally from Scotland. They came, I guess, the mid-1800s. They came to an area about an hour south of Buenos Aires, and they settled there with a big Scottish group, and after that they moved to this estancia down here, and they focused on sheep, because there was still trouble with the local natives. So there was raids and things like that, and the cattle would just run and run and run, but the sheep would lay down when they got tired, so they couldn't be stolen. And why do you think they left Scotland? What was the driving force, do you think? I would imagine they left because of the conditions there. There probably wasn't enough land for everybody who needed it, and it's an adventure ` can you imagine coming to a place nobody else that you know has been to before and starting a whole new life? So, yeah, I think they came for land. They brought their sheep; they brought the things that they knew; they brought furniture. And they started families here, but it must have been difficult. Those settlers knew nothing about their adopted country's environment, and wealthy Scots might have flourished, but Thomas came from modest means, and trying to establish a farm on rough plains meant crop failures and also the hostile reception of the indigenous people. Being here on this estancia in the outer skirts of Buenos Aires, it makes me really appreciate how vast it really is, and for my great-great grandfather Thomas MacGibbon to have travelled all the way from Scotland to Buenos Aires, really with blind faith, wanting to search for a better life ` man, it makes me really appreciate the balls it took to do it, because I was moaning after the 11-hour flight. Salut. Salut. Mauri ora. Mauri ora? Mm, to the unknown. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt dinner, Miriama, but I have a little more information about Thomas MacGibbon. Thomas was frustrated with life in Argentina and the political situation, so he gave up the search for land to search for love instead. (LAUGHS) Yes, well, he had left Isabella in Scotland, and he decided to return to sweep her off her feet, and to find out what happened next, you're going to need to go to (SCOTTISH ACCENT) Glasgow. Wow, so this is awesome, because I was kind of on the right path. I'm going tomorrow to Glasgow! After the break, Miriama is going to be in Scotland, where the rug gets pulled out from under a family legend. Wow! And John Kirwan faces his fears one step at a time. Take a little look down. Oh shit, good courage, JK. Keep it going, son. . For actress Miriama Smith, following her DNA trail has led her to Argentina. So, it is a surprise to find that my grandfather's grandfather, Thomas MacGibbon, came here from Scotland. Her family believe that Thomas's wife, Isabella, fled from Spain to Scotland, and that's when Miriama is heading now. I'm really interested in learning more about my European heritage. I can remember my mum's parents, but they never talked to me, that I can remember, about their parents and about my heritage on this side. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Hello, Miriama. You should be feeling right at home, because your DNA has resided in Scotland for hundreds of years. Thomas MacGibbon was born in Glasgow, and after spending some time in New Zealand, then the Argentine, he returned with the intention to propose to the 19-year-old Isabella Nairn, your great-great grandmother. So, you head for the war monument in the park for more information. Wow, that's Isabella and Thomas. Well, this is the first time I've seen Isabella ` very handsome couple. She was Isabella Nairn, second daughter of a well-off family. A family understanding is that the Nairn's had considered that their daughter was marrying down to the rude colonial. None the less, they must have been convinced of Thomas's prospects to release their 19-year-old daughter, wow, to his marriage bed and a new life on the other side of the world. They didn't really know each other, but they got married fairly quickly and jumped on a ship and went to New Zealand, so it's kind of amazing to think that back in the days, there was a lot of faith involved in` and I don't know, maybe it was just because we are so lucky in this day and age to have so many options and so many choices. I'm sitting here in Glasgow; you know, a week ago I was in New Zealand. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Miriama, your DNA results have raised questions about Isabella's connection to the Basque region, because your DNA shows it's absolutely impossible for her to be Spanish. I'm so sorry to dispel the family myth that Isabella's from southern Europe, because she was clearly Scottish, but her own life stories ` every bit as epic. More on that a little later on. Um... Yeah, I... there must be some hopeless romantics in my family who really desperately wanted us to have Spanish roots, (CHUCKLES) but, no, Scottish through and through, and I'm kind of stoked because I love Scotland. I know my mum will be disappointed because she's actually taken Isabella's name. I guess the legend was that Isabella had fled from the Basque region of Spain, and there was kind of this gypsy notion in the family, and I get mistaken for being Spanish. I am really really intrigued to hear more about Isabella, because she's a bit of a mystery woman. Rugby great John Kirwan's DNA has uncovered a remarkable relative ` pioneering chemist and mountaineer Alexander Kellas. My second cousin, a bit removed, Alexander Kellas, was one of the greatest mountaineers of his time. He's now en route to Lukla in the Everest valley to find out more. Whoo! Getting off the plane, I was thinking, 'Wow I'm actually in history. I'm here, part of it,' and I get a real kick out of that, being where other people have walked. John is in Nepal to follow in the footsteps of his distant cousin, pioneering Himalayan mountaineer Alexander Kellas. Kellas, a Scottish chemist, established the need for climbers to use oxygen at high altitudes and forged the links between British mountaineers and Sherpa people. Unlike his ancestor, John has no head for heights, so experts John Gully and Chapelle Dorga Sherpa are going to assist him on his mission. This is the only trail to Mt Everest base camp, and so it accommodates the axe and the porters carrying gear up-valley. This is the only highway. This is the route for every expedition to this side of the mountain. Biggest change, I guess, over the last 50, 60 years has been the swing bridges. This is my first real challenge. Here I am following the way of great-great second uncle cuzzie bro. He was a mountain climber, and I'm scared of heights ` a bit ironic wasn't it? So, this is a bit of a challenge for me, but what I learnt to do was breathe, try and say some positive things to myself, like there's already been 1000 people across. Um... take a little look down, oh shit. Nah, won't be doing that again. I'm freaking a bit at the moment. It's always been a fear that I've had, and I've tried to conquer it a few times, and I conquer it, I guess, but it doesn't mean that I'm not really scared. Good courage, JK. Keep it going, son. Keep moving, boy. Nearly there! Breathe. Few deep breaths then. (EXHALES) (CHUCKLES) (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Hey, mate. Phew! So glad you conquered your anxiety, John. Now, while Alexander Kellas didn't have a fear of heights, he did have other anxieties, and he was plagued by mental illness ` something that he only found relief from in the solitude of the mountains. If I met Alexander Kellas, I would ask him what his fascination was with climbing mountains that can kill you. I don't understand it. I played a high-performance sport, but it wasn't life or death. There's so many people that have died in those mountains. So, Alexander Kellas had the Sherpas, a few trusted guys, and he said, 'You cannot climb these mountains without these men. 'They're better than us physically. Their work rate's amazing,' so now I'm with you and I'm seeing these people walk past with fridges, with, you know, wood, with groceries, I saw one guy walk with a leg of pork on his back, you know, and our gear, to be fair. How does all that work? There are two porters. There is one porter that carries from Lukla to Everest base camp, and carries supplies, all day supplies for lodges and things, above base camp, you've got high-altitude porters who carry food, tents, oxygen for clients, who arrive at camps two, three, four ` everything's laid out and done for them. Then you've got the climbing Sherpas, who fix the route, because they're better at it than we are. It suits their temperament. It suits their physiology. Alexander Kellas could have come with 20 other foreigners, but what he decided to do was stay with the Sherpas and really gain knowledge from them. At one stage he goes, 'These people are 30% better than us in the mountains,' and he's trialling this over 20,000 feet, but in the long run, he became the most successful Himalayan climber before 1930` well, probably after as well, and that's why he's such an interesting character. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Oh, how are the knees holding up, JK? Yeah, mate, the knees made it. Well, we need to rest up and acclimatize, because we've got quite a mission for you. Your guide's, Chapelle and John, are preparing to take you to Everest so that you can see the mountain that captivated your cousin so much. Cool! (EXHALES) Coming up ` Miriama discovers fine art in her genes. And John takes tea on the top of the world. Mmm, good! How is it? Very good. . Actor Miriama Smith is in her ancestral homeland of Scotland, and she's just dispelled a famous family myth about her great-great grandmother's origins. Well, so my great-great grandmother Isabella is not from Spain, not from the Basque region, like my family originally thought. I think my mum might be disappointed. She's taken Isabella's name. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Miriama, we know that you are very keen to learn of any family achievements in the arts. Well, here's a little something, because while Isabella and Thomas were forging a new life in New Zealand, her younger brother, James, was attending the Glasgow school of arts and making a name for himself as one of the country's leading artists. Roger is at the Billcliffe gallery, waiting to tell you more about James and his life and his career. I just found out that my great-great uncle on my mother's father's side was a famous artist here in Glasgow ` James Nairn. Well, he was. He was part of a group of painters who we now call the 'Glasgow Boys', who were young men who wanted to upset the sort of conservative stranglehold on painting in Scotland. And at the end of the 1880s, he was one of the most promising painters in the group. There you go. That's two of his pictures, and as you can see, it's just daily life. There's a woman hanging out her washing, and that's not the sort of picture that they would have hung at the Royal Scottish Academy, because it would be too down-market, but all of the Glasgow Boys painted like that; they painted goose girls and cow herds. James Nairn is recorded as leaving for New Zealand in the Autumn of 1889, but expects to be back soon. He never came back, but he obviously had an incredibly positive reaction to the light he saw in New Zealand, because his pictures, you know, as he left ` these are 1888, 1889 ` are quite dark in tone. Hmm. And some of the paintings that I've seen images of, that he painted in New Zealand, are bright impressionist pictures, and that's possibly why he never came back, because New Zealand gave him a completely different vocabulary. And now we know he had a sister there. Yes, I heard recently that his sister was there. I didn't know that his sister was there at all. Yeah. Do you know if he married or had kids? I know nothing about his family life, but I do know that he was asked to advise on setting up an art school in the South Island, and in fact became advisor to the government on setting up art education in New Zealand and was quite important in that role. Wow, do you think I'll be able to find some of his art in New Zealand? Yes, oh, I'm sure you'll find a lot, and New Zealand regularly has examples of Nairn's work, and it's all brightly coloured; it's all impressionist; it's all like Gogan and Van Gogh, and I think you'll like it. Watch out, Trade Me. (LAUGHS) Rugby legend John Kirwan is at a high altitude in Nepal following in the footsteps of his distant cousin Alexander Kellas. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Morning to you, John. You're now 3500 meters, so you're possibly feeling the effects of altitude on your body. Now, that's what Alexander Kellas studied, so we know it's important for you to rest and let your system adjust. Chapelle has relatives who are high altitude Sherpas with the British, and he's going to take you to meet them while you acclimatise. So, when you walk...? When I walk with the tourist, like you. Yeah No, because we walk very slow, but when I walk by myself, yes, because I walk very fast. So, like I'm feeling it a bit this morning, and I... (BREATHES HEAVILY) Yes. You don't ever feel that? Nah. Nah, because I was born in 4000 meter height and raised there. Yeah. Uh, yes, so I'm used to with altitude. So, when you walk with us, we're going real slow for you, eh? Very slow for me, and I never puff. Never puff. Yes, slow is comfortable, but for me fast is good. Yeah, fast is not good. I'm not going to be doing that well. (CHUCKLES) Where are you taking me, Chapelle? I'm taking you to the traditional Sherpa house. (BOTH SAY SHERPA GREETING) Thank you. (CHUCKLES) Thank you for letting me into your home. So, this is a traditional yak butter Sherpa tea. It's salty. Mmm! It's good. How is it? Very good. Very good. I believe you were a climber, yeah? I was a 1973. Italian expedition, Everest. Oh, the Italian? Very big expedition. Really? That time I was went up to South Col. Wow, that's` (CHUCKLES) Two times. Really? Carrying load. Wow. Second cousin, going back a few generations, was one of the first European people to come to the Himalayan area to climb, and he had huge respect for the Sherpas. He has no name? Alexander Kellas. (SPEAKS SHERPA) He is saying that he also heard the story. Oh OK. About your great-great-great uncle. Yeah. I heard about from the expedition. Yeah. Yeah, I sort of understand now what Alexander Kellas saw in the Sherpas, which is what I'm seeing ` happy, huge work ethic, incredible athletes, very spiritual, and just this peace around them, that nothing seems to be too much of a bother, you know. Coming up ` Miriama heads south to visit the seat of her family dynasty. I kind of like that he wasn't born into anything. And they made it. Yeah. And John Kirwan makes a final toast to his legendary relative. Here, looking over Everest, Alexander Kellas into the whanau, and my dad who was a great man. Cheers. . Miriama Smith's DNA adventure has taken her from the plains of Argentina to the mean streets of Glasgow, following the lives of her pioneering great-great grandparents, Thomas MacGibbon and Isabella Nairn. She's now bound for the place where they forged an empire, and that's going to lead her all the way back home to Mataura. The curator of the Mataura museum, David Luoni, has researched their story. Welcome. Thank you. Wow, so I didn't know Isabella and Thomas came to Mataura. Yeah, come and check out what it was like for them. This is the MacGibbon store 1920s. So was that Thomas and Isabella's store? Yeah. What do you reckon? Well, I'm pretty sure Isabella's family would be happy because they thought she was marrying under herself, so her name's in bright lights. And it's that, you know, department store on the corner. Yeah. It's the real deal. Better than Smith & Caughey. Would Isabella have worked in the store? I'm not sure about that. We know that they had 11 children. (CHUCKLES) (CHUCKLES) Probably not, then. So best guess is that the focus would have been on the home. When they first arrived, Thomas would have cast himself as a farmer, and Isabela is 19. Right. So I'm thinking ` what would it have been like for a 19-year-old coming to the other side of the world? So going to... Glasgow. ...this small fledgling community. Yeah. What do you make of that part of it? I wonder if Isabella knew about Mataura or knew where they were going, because I don't know if Thomas was upfront about that. That's what I kind of question is ` did she know she was coming to the middle of, you know, Mataura ` this isolated little- What, New Zealand's wild west? Yeah, wild west. Well, Isabella ended up as the Mayoress of Mataura. The mayoress!? So, that would have been a good thing to write home. That's awesome. Ha! That would have a nice postcard to Scotland. 'I made good, Mum.' Oh, FYI, I'm also the mayor's wife. That moved to assuming public office, setting up infrastructure for our district, setting out the things that we now take for granted, and that leads later on to being appointed to the legislative council, which was New Zealand's upper house in parliament. And that was pretty prestigious. This is really nice for me, because it redeems Thomas, because when we were in Glasgow, the family of Isabella seemed to think she was marrying down, but what I've learnt from him is that he's an extremely hard-working opportunist who wanted more. He went to Buenos Aires. He always kept Isabella in the back of his mind, so he's a man who kind of really did have a plan and did know what he wants, so he never, sort of, accepted his lot. I kind of like that he wasn't born in to anything. And they made it. Yeah. Together. Pretty proud of that. Yeah. Yeah. In later years, Thomas was active in government, and the couple moved to Dunedin. Finding out about my ancestry, I definitely think it's going to travel with me. I definitely think I can't leave having explored this without it affecting me somewhere deep down, and I also think it's my duty to hand that on to my son, and know that with that heritage and those stories becomes a richness that he can then pass on as well, because somewhere along the way we lost that oral history that we all had, whether we're Maori, English, Spanish, French, whatever. We used to all sit around and talk, and now we don't even talk to each other. When I first had my DNA tested, I knew a little bit about my Maori heritage because it was close to home, and I had some idea that I had some Spanish blood in me. I knew Scottish, Irish. who would have thought that I would actually find both Thomas and Isabella's resting place in the deep south of New Zealand? The Mayor and Mayoress of Mataura. Both Thomas and Isabella were extremely hard-working and extremely dedicated people, so I'm pretty proud of that. Former All Black John Kirwan is in Nepal on the final day of his DNA adventure. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) So, John, at this stage of the trek most people would be feeling the effects of the thinner air, but as a sportsman, maybe you're a little used to being out of breath. I certainly noticed the altitude. You know, I had a slight headache. It was sort of like a little vice being screwed to your temples, so, yeah, it wasn't pleasant. (SIGHS) I'm certainly feeling this a wee bit, you know. Um, you know the old cuzzie? He was big on studying physiology at the highest levels ` talked about the Sherpas being naturally better than us, so what am I actually feeling? There is 25% less oxygen than at sea level, but it's why you're feeling fatigued. And in butcher's terms, that means I've just got less oxygen so everything's got to work harder just to keep me moving? Your hyperventilating. Your body is trying to move the oxygen around. You can die from it? Can be fatal. Some people just can't go high. They just don't have a physiology that will allow them to go beyond this point here, which is only a entry level altitude. Some people ` this is it. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) Wake up, John. Come on, John, you'll need to get a move on if you want to catch the sunrise over Everest. In 1921 Alexander joined George Mallory's reconnaissance mission to find possible routes to the summit. Sadly, just two months into the expedition, Alexander suffered from a heart attack, and he died only just a few hours before actually seeing Everest for the very first time. It's amazing, yeah. (SIGHS) When I first saw Everest, it was really emotional for me. The whole psychology of trying to understand why you'd risk your life to climb a mountain. Maybe now I get it. Maybe it's just a draw, a magnet that you can't resist. Can't imagine, sort of,... you know, spending a lifetime, and then... just not getting there. I wish you were all here with me. A little while ago, I got asked to take a DNA test, and then they looked back into my family history, and they found a man called Alexander Kellas. Knew nothing about him, and then I started learning about him and he was` First thing that I noticed ` we had mental health issues in common. My dad died of a heart attack. He died of a heart attack, but he died of a heart attack a day before getting to where I'm standing today. He was an amazing mountaineer. He was an amazing chemist. He loved the Sherpa people. He'd spend five months here by himself with Sherpas, climbing mountains and looking into the physiological side of it. Amazing man. But he didn't make it to Everest, and I know he liked a wee toddy, so I'm here, and my dad used to come home from work and have a wee whiskey, so... I'm going to celebrate both of those men here looking over Everest, and I can't think of a nicer way to salute Alexander Kellas into the whanau, and my dad, who was a great man. There's a beautiful Maori saying that says 'If you want to have hope and faith in the future, you first must stand on the shoulders of the past', and I really love that saying because if you take that into today, you know, we must continue to look back, and that will give us hope and faith in the future. Our DNA contains tiny hints that tell us how our forbearers travelled. It shows us where to look to uncover traces of their lives and the stories we find to help bring them back to life. I wonder who's going to be brave enough to take the test next week. Why don't you join me to find out? Copyright Able 2017