Having moved to New Zealand in 2008 to work in a design agency, I volunteered on the conservation island of Tiritiri Matangi. I was very moved by the beauty of a 950 year old Pohutukawa Tree that lives on Hobbs Beach on the island. I wrote this book, my first, so that I could keep the memory of Tiritiri Matangi alive and so that I could share in the beauty of the island with others.
During that time I volunteered on the conservation island of Tiritiri Matangi. Each day that I was on the island, I would sit on a small rock in front of a 950 year old Pohutukawa Tree that lives on Hobbs Beach. His old roots stretch out as if he is trying to reach the water in front of him. His branches and roots are dry and cracked from the ravages of time. I would ask him "Who lived in that hole in your trunk?" Of course, he couldn't answer me but I knew that over time, hundreds of animals and birds would had made his trunk and branches their home. "What if he could speak" I would say to myself. "Just imagine the stories he could tell." As I was leaving New Zealand to return to the UK, I decided to give him a voice. The Old Man of Tiritiri Matangi is narrated by the 950 year old tree. As you read his story, you will hear how he saw Rangitoto erupt from the sea. You will listen as the Haast's Eagle describes his struggle for survival and how the last Moa on the island made the Old Mans trunk her final resting place. You will laugh as you read how Tipi, the young Tui, tried holding his breath for an hour but lasted less than a minute. There are many wonderful characters to meet and beautiful illustrations to see in my book. Leave me a message if there is anything you would like to know about my book or how it came to be.
