BOOK REVIEWS

New Zealand's Islands

Pamela McGeorge
with photographs by Russell McGeorge
David Bateman
$NZ39.99
Reviewed by Rob Lahood

WHEN friends from abroad come to New Zealand and ask me where to start to explore the country, I've no hesitation in saying get out of the cities and visit the small towns, explore the coast and hop over to some of our glorious islands.

This book by our talented garden writer Pamela McGeorge, and exquisitely photographed by her husband, Russell, surpasses most scenic publications in its coverage of some 130 islands from the Three Kings in the north to the Chatham's to Stewart Island in the south.

It is a celebration of our islands with a collection of more than 180 colour pictures and a fascinating text that this reader couldn't put down over the holidays. It is a journey of diverse beauty and a wonderful tale of the people living in many different conditions and circumstances.

For me, pass on the new-world cities and experience our islands.

Write the authors: "No ruined Celtic castles record the legends of these islands; no timeless whitewashed houses glitter ... But prehistoric lizards crawl across their rocks, unique plants cling to their cliffs and when the Celts were building their castles, Polynesians were establishing fragile footholds on a few of these tiny islands. Make no mistake the story of our islands is a long one."

Recommended with a warning; you'll get itchy feet.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH