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Kahurangi National Park gathers in a huge area of wilderness in the top northwest corner of the South Island, stretching west from Nelson in an endless maze of forested mountains and valleys to the rugged and wild West Coast, running out from Golden Bay down to Karamea. This area has an astonishing ecological complexity, so it is perhaps not surprising that this landscape has also generated a wonderfully rich and colourful human history
For well over 20 years Golden Bay author Gerard Hindmarsh has been collecting stories from Kahurangi and in Kahurangi Calling he has woven the best of them into a fascinating blend of natural and social history. In Kahurangi Calling he describes many of the ecological treasures that are found in Kahurangi, but also tells the stories about the fascinating characters that have travelled and lived here: explorers, miners, graziers, trampers and other adventurers, eelers, hermits and many others.
This is a highly readable and engaging book about a remarkable corner of New Zealand. Anyone with a love of our backcountry and the colourful people that are drawn to these places will treasure Kahurangi Calling.
Born in Wellington in 1957, Gerard Hindmarsh trained first as a cartographer before shifting to Golden Bay in 1976. Long-haul truck driving, fertiliser spreading, forestry, building a house and setting up a cinema all preceded his move into journalism in 1991. His award-winning feature writing has appeared in a variety of publications both here and overseas, and he also served for many years as National Radio's Asian Correspondent on Kim Hill's Nine to Noon show. He has five children and still lives on his land at Tukurua, near Colllingwood in Golden Bay, on the edge of Kahurangi National Park. His previous books include Angelina: From Stromboli to D'Urville Island, a fictionalised account of his grandparents' lives, and Swamp Fever, a memoir of his time as an alternative lifestyler in Golden Bay.
