Harry and Meghan receive traditional Maori welcome in New Zealand

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan came nose-to-nose with Maori tradition during a welcome ceremony in Wellington on Sunday, with the arrival in New Zealand kicking off the final leg of a 16-day tour of the South Pacific.

Elders of New Zealand's indigenous Polynesian people greeted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Government House with a hongi - the clasping of hands and gentle pressing of noses - during the ceremony. The couple also watched a performance of the haka, a powerful war dance made famous by the All Blacks rugby team, by members of the New Zealand Defence Force.

Harry and Meghan had earlier touched down in windy but sunny Wellington in their Air Force Boeing 757 from Sydney, which they shared with several New Zealand Invictus Games competitors. They were greeted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The Duchess was dressed in a black dress by ASOS Maternity and a brown chequered coat by New Zealand designer Karen Walker.

After the reception the couple paid their respects and laid a wreath at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, where several thousand people turned out for Harry and Meghan's only public walk-about in Wellington.

Harry was presented with the Badge in Gold, New Zealand's highest honour giving in recognition of his work with injured veterans.

A later reception at Government House honouring 125 years since women's suffrage was interrupted by a fire alarm. Media reported that dozens of guests were forced onto the lawn by the false alarm that was likely caused by a vegetable steamer.

During a speech there, Meghan hailed New Zealand's for becoming the first country to give women the vote.

"Women's suffrage is about feminism, but feminism is about fairness," she said after greeting the audience in te reo Maori, the Maori language.

"And women's suffrage is not simply about the right to vote for women, but also about what that represents: the basic and fundamental right of all people, including those members of society who've been marginalised, whether for reasons of race, gender, ethnicity or orientation, to be able to participate in the choices for their future and their community," she said.

On Monday, Harry and Meghan are scheduled to visit the stunning beaches of Abel Tasman National Park and meet with young people from different mental health projects.

They will travel to Auckland on Tuesday, where they will dedicate a 20-hectare area of native bush to The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy and join children at a traditional gumboot throwing competition.

On Wednesday, Harry and Meghan will head to Rotorua, nicknamed "Sulphur City" for the distinctive smell of rotten eggs caused by the North Island city's geothermal activity.

They will also have the chance to get close to New Zealand's iconic birds, the kiwi, before heading home on Thursday.

Meghan is expecting her first baby in April - a possible conversation topic when she meets with Ardern, who had her first baby shortly after becoming prime minister and made headlines when she took 3-month-old Neve Te Aroha into the United Nations General Assembly last month.