An award-wining writer travels through the New Zealand high country. An unusual summons from an old, itinerant acquaintance — known as the Lark — piques author Neville Peat’s curiosity. The invitation to meet in the mountains around Glenorchy is timely: he’s keen to head into the high country to investigate recent reports of sightings of the near-extinct kokako. The South Island high country has an allure all its own. New Zealand’s equivalent of the Wild West, it’s a rustic, spectacularly beautiful frontier, combining wild alpine beauty, beech forest and mirror-still lakes. The Head of Lake Wakatipu has attracted Maori for the dazzling local pounamu; its sublime beauty has seduced European tourists, artists, writers and farm-holders since the nineteenth century. Author Neville Peat sets off on a fascinating trail that takes him deep into the hills to explore local history, legend and land politics. He skilfully blends the characters and stories of the past — those of Arawata Bill and Joseph Fenn among them — with a powerful sense of place and concerns for the future. In prose as fine as snow-caps reflected in lake water, Peat brings us an extraordinary region – from the laconic humour of the locals, to the last chance we might have to halt the demise of several threatened native species. High Country Lark is the third in Peat’s acclaimed ‘Lark’ series.
One of New Zealand's finest observers of the natural world takes us on a journey from Otago to the subantarctic and follows the life and migration of a sea lion. With the taut and accurate prose of a scientist, and the lyrical sense of an artist, Neville Peat's compelling style lures us into gaining an immense amount of information. In a work that is deeply intimate and wonderfully expansive, Peat takes us well beyond the physical. He delves into the emotional origins of myth, and reveals an impassioned respect and understanding of the close relationship between humans and animals. \While exploring changing coastal habitat - blending ancient beliefs, local history, legend, and the natural sciences - Peat encounters a number of remarkable individuals along the way; sea dogs, old salts, and a mysterious drifter who follows the winds and tides. Here we gain the naturalist's sense of wonder, and the philosopher's contemplation of the mysterious presence we call nature. In Coasting, the second title in ‘the Lark’ series, we gain the naturalist's sense of wonder, and the philosopher's contemplation of the mysterious presence we call nature. 'He combines poetic and descriptive skills with a lightness of touch and a profound understanding of how the natural world interweaves. A captivating work.
With an unerring eye for detail, noted travel and natural history writer Neville Peat has crafted a compelling, visually stunning account of all things Tasman.
Born performers - Penguin family - Look-alikes - Hoiho stands apart - Getting on the map - Feathered swimming machines - Life at sea - Life ashore - Intrepid Emperor - Conserving penguins.
KIWI: NEW ZEALAND'S REMARKABLE BIRD takes a look at this unique creature - its physical characteristics, evolution, life cycle and lifestyle, the hazards it faces and the efforts being made to protect it. Each of the six 'varieties' is described in detail, with photographs and distribution maps. A chapter covers the interaction between kiwi and the people who settled New Zealand, both Maori and Pakeha, and a detailed account of the kiwi recovery programme inspires optimism that this fantastic bird will be around for the new millennium.
Part memoir, part natural history, a journey through Central Otago and encounters with New Zealand's magnificent native falcon. An evocative seasonal journal in which the author explores his roots in the rock-and-tussock country of Central Otago. He uncovers all; that is curious and distinctive there, in a rich blend of autobiography folklore and natural history. Along the way he meets up with a mystical free spirit — the Lark — and together they strike up an engaging friendship. Woven throughout the narrative is an intimate portrait of New Zealan's native falcon, karearea, 'the wildest thing in our skies'. Whether soaring, gliding or attacking, our swiftest bird of prey is sovererign of our skies and yet little known and understood. Neville Peat is one of New Zealand's finest writers, and in this delightful book combines his skill as an essayist and natural historian and his instincts and breadth of knowledge as a conservationist.
Three terrific books in one from one of New Zealand's leading natural-history and adventure writers. A quirky character called The Lark is threaded through three of Neville Peat's most highly acclaimed books: The Falcon and the Lark; Coasting: The Sea- Lion and the Lark, and High Country Lark. Whether they are set in Strath Taieri in Otago, along the Otago coastline or in the high country around the head of Lake Wakatipu, these three books demonstrate Peat's wry humour, keen observational skills, and knowledge of and love for our wilder places and the creatures and people who inhabit them. They are at once affecting ruminations and deft natural-history writing. With Peat, the reader is in masterful hands.
The gripping biography of one of New Zealand's most distinguished farmers, entreprenuers and aviation heroes. When Sir Tim Wallis’s Spitfire crashed at Wanaka airfield in 1996, his accident was reported around the world. This lion-hearted Central Otago man, a legendary figure in the aviation, deer farming and business worlds, was suddenly fighting for his life. Sir Tim Wallis is known as the helicopter pilot and entrepreneur who pioneered New Zealand’s deer industry. A multi-millionaire, he is also the man behind the successful Warbirds Over Wanaka air pageant. For decades he’s had a passion for collecting, restoring and flying vintage fighter planes. Tim’s adventurous life story is told here by writer Neville Peat, who shares his great love of the South: Fiordland, South Westland, Central Otago and the Southern Alps. Hurricane Tim is an absorbing account of the adventures of Tim Wallis that equally extends to faraway places where he applied his business instincts – southern Siberia, tropical Vanuatu and Canada. After Sir Tim’s 1996 crash, he was given just a slim chance of survival. But survive he did. With astounding determination he has learned to speak and walk again, albeit slowly. Undoubtedly Tim inspires all who meet him; his story is equally inspiring. What drove this extraordinary character to live at the edge throughout his life? Author Neville Peat draws us into the hurricane that is Sir Tim Wallis.
Take a wild animal (red deer) in plague numbers, spread them across a remote and rugged terrain, throw in helicopters hell-bent on shooting or recovering them live, then add a daring pilot called Tim Wallis - these are the ingredients of a whirlwind adventure story. This is Tim's story. It's about the way he built a career and a multi-million-dollar business out of a weekend hobby, deer-stalking. It's about how he used helicopters where they'd never been before, and about exploring new frontiers in New Zealand and other parts of the world. Tim - Sir Tim at formal occasions - is a pioneer of the deer industry in New Zealand and that passion has taken him from Canada to Vanuatu and even Siberia. Since the mid-1980s he has ventured into tourism and vintage warplanes. He's collected Second World War fighter aircraft from around the world and every two years the planes can be seen in action at Warbirds Over Wanaka, an event Tim Wallis founded in 1988. Tim has had quite a few accidents in his time; when he was 30 his helicopter hit power lines and crashed. He was told he may never walk again. But he did. In 1996 he crashed a Spitfire and suffered shocking head injuries. This time the doctors said he might not live. But he did. Tim's a survivor. He has a rare kind of fighting spirit, drive and courage. In New Zealand, where heroes are mostly found in sport, he's legendary. An action-packed and inspirational story for young New Zealanders.
Book designed to celebrate Otago Museum's Southern Land, Southern People gallery. It offers a comprehensive insight into the character of the region - its astonishing landforms, lost fauna and fora, fossil record and boisterous climate - and the way people have explored this challenging landscape and utilised its natural resources. Text well supplemented with colour photographs, sketches and maps.
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