Various companies maintain "IP Geolocation" databases which can be licensed. They attempt to match IPs to locations based on which ISPs the IPs are assigned to. IPs are assigned in blocks called ASN's.

Find your IP here (it will also geolocate you) and copy it here to see info about the ASN your IP is under.

But IP geolocation wouldn't locate you at a small town (typically it points at ISP headquarters). The only other possibility is GPS. Google keeps a location history online and on your Android phone, so perhaps you turned off GPS when you were in Hinakura and the location history last showed you there? Not sure.

You are complaining? My connection in Napier is showing up as being in Christchurch!!  ;)

The short version is "it's a hack". They're using non-geographic data to guess geography. The thing that annoys me is that there doesn't seem to be a way to submit corrections; it should be easy to flag my static IP as being in Whakatane but virtually everything puts me in Auckland...

Different platforms use different technologies. Your smartphone might have GPS. GPS might on or off. It might use cellsite information for a rough location. It may use WiFi around you (even if not connected) for a rough location (smartphones log the WiFi access points they see against GPS coordinates). 

Your laptop might use the IP address lookup on an IP table that roughly has the ISP owner and may or may not been update with the actual location for the IP address (usually not). Hence you are in Napier but your computer thinks you're in Christchurch.

Some Windows versions can use data from your gateway to lookup those tables created by smartphones for a more accurate general location but it's not GPS.

I once sent one of my second hand routers to a friend in Napier and his laptop guessed he was in Johnsonville when connected to that WiFi.

Some websites might guess which country you are in based on which CDN node served some resources.

In other words, it's never exact unless GPS is enabled.

If it's on your smartphone you should really enable GPS and let the app access your exact location. On a laptop, it'll be a rough estimate of location.

freitasm:

If it's on your smartphone you should really enable GPS and let the app access your exact location. On a laptop, it'll be a rough estimate of location.

Behodar:

 

The short version is "it's a hack". They're using non-geographic data to guess geography. The thing that annoys me is that there doesn't seem to be a way to submit corrections; it should be easy to flag my static IP as being in Whakatane but virtually everything puts me in Auckland...

 

Totally: my IP address shows up as at my house, but I swear I'm in San Francisco, Netflix.

Geektastic: I assumed that was just on all the time. I've never seen an on/off option.

There is an option; GPS usage does tend to drain the battery.  There is usually a global setting, and also a per-application setting to allow an individual app access to "location" data.

Geektastic: Can't find one on my Galaxy S8 plus now.

Try these instructions: http://userguide.vodafone.co.nz/web/samsung-galaxy-s8-android-7-0/office-and-leisure/gps-maps-and-navigation/turn-gps-on-or-off

Im in Auckland, And for me it's luck of the draw if Im in Auckland or Timaru according to my IP.