What better to do on All Souls Day than wander around an ancient pa site?Otatara Pa is on the outskirts of Napier, approximately 13km from the centre of town. It’s one of the largest pa in New Zealand. The site is jointly managed by the Department of Conservation […]
Nearly all the reviews of The Narrow Road To The Deep North by Australian Richard Flanagan, this year’s Man Booker winner, have been effusive. And I can see why. I came across one that isn’t. And, again I can see why.
Adventures of a Kiwi AFS exchange student. I knew from the tele that school in 1975 America was different from school in New Zealand. But there’s nothing like being there, living it, to bring those differences home. I left New Zealand, swearing that at school in America I’d […]
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I’ve discovered two new book blogs. They’re good. Very good. And not just because they’re both fans of Neil Gaiman. You didn’t know I was? Well, neither did I until the beginning of this year. Son number two is responsible for that development. I’m sure I’ll be talking […]
I picked the wrong winner. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves didn’t win the Man Booker. The good news is that for the second year in a row the prize has come down here, to the bottom of the world. New Zealand’s very own Eleanor Catton won in […]
Tuesday is a big day in the book world. It’s the day the Man Booker Prize for 2014 will be announced. Which means I’ll probably hear the news sometime on Wednesday morning (New Zealand time). As it happens, early yesterday morning I finished American writer, Karen Joy Fowler’s […]
Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, is the friendliest and prettiest capital city in the world. It’s true I could be biased – some of my favourite people live there. (You know who you are don’t you – all of you.) Wellington is famous for its cultural life. I’ve attended […]
“You know, I once heard that your life is defined by what you do when presented with the need for a Plan-B.” As said to my blogging buddy, Dan, by his driver. If my father was a ghost this is where he’d hang out. It’s the Napier Soundshell […]
Here in New Zealand, the sap has risen – trees everywhere are bursting in to leaf . The short, grey days of July are consigned to memory – until next year. The blue skies and warm winds of spring invite skiving off. One day last week we did just […]
During the summer of ’75 my AFS host family showed me around Minnesota. One memorable trip was to Itasca State Park and the source of the Mississippi River. Mississippi was famous to me as the word guaranteed to trip you up in any spelling test until you remembered […]
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