The short-lived and underwhelming gold rush accounts for why colonialists call Golden Bay ‘Golden Bay‘. Importantly to the story, Collingwood ( Aorere) is near historic gold mining sites. There weren’t many stories set in New Zealand when I was growing up, let alone stories set at the top of the South Island. It is, however, a nostalgic return to my homeland. I never did read Maurice Gee as a kid, so delving into these books is not a return to my childhood fantasy world. I am left with excellent memories despite all that. Tramping the Heaphy Track was a memorable experience, to be sure. I was also stupid for accidentally leaving my two dry sets of clothing at one of the huts. I was carrying a pack which was a third of my weight. The Christmas/New Year period is a notoriously unsettled weather period in New Zealand so it rained every day of our tramp except the first day, which is straight up hill.ĭue to wet tramping boots which hadn’t been properly broken in, I lost the skin off the soles of my feet. We started at the Collingwood end, where this story is set. The Heaphy Track is one of New Zealand’s great walks (and also the longest). Years after moving to Christchurch, over the New Year of 2001-2002, I walked the Heaphy Track with friends. During the 1980s my family lived 1 hour 20 minutes along the SH60, first in Motueka, later in Nelson. I was three years old when the first book came out. The real-world setting of The Halfmen of O is familiar to me.
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