Over 110 events, 46 towns and 40 days, it was said three out of every four New Zealanders saw the Queen on her first official state visit as monarch.
That's a tough number to reconcile or fact-check today, but what's undeniable is the patriotic fervour with which the nation was gripped for the visit.
Her Majesty, accompanied by her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, arrived in New Zealand on December 23, 1953 - exactly 70 years tomorrow.
That meant Her Majesty spent Christmas in Auckland, and on the 25th she attended a Divine Service at St Mary's Cathedral, before giving her second annual Christmas address.
In her speech, she addressed the Tangiwai disaster, which had occurred the night before, in which 151 people died.
It remains New Zealand's worst railway disaster.
It was the beginning of a trip that would see her and the Duke travel the length and breadth of New Zealand, and in return, New Zealand would turn out in droves just to see her.
In the small Waikato town of Tīrau, which numbered some 600 residents at the time, a crowd of around 10,000 turned up.
The Queen's visit to New Zealand was extensive, but although it was her first royal visit here in an official capacity, it was far from the first time British royalty had visited.
In the late 1800s, Queen Victoria's fourth child Prince Alfred travelled to New Zealand three times.
George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Prince Henry would all pay subsequent visits in the first half of the 20th century, before Elizabeth II acceded the throne in 1952.
It was the first of 10 royal visits by Queen Elizabeth II, the most recent being in 2002.
Watch the coverage of the first leg of the journey by Pictorial Parade for the New Zealand National Film Unit in this week's instalment of From the Archive.
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