Gday gday,
Hope everybody is well. In New Zealand we are enjoying the Kiwi winter – some stormy fronts and a lot of rain but also some crackerjack bluebird days like we have had today. A couple of trips to spectacular Pouto (see previous post), a fishing trip (resulting in a 15lb Snapper – see previous post), paintballing for a mate’s birthday, catching up with old friends and some family days around the beautiful parks we have here in the Auckland Region have been keeping me busy in the weekend. Tawharanui and Shakespear Regional Parks are stunning and both now have predator proof fences and Tawharanui has released endangered Kiwi. It is awesome to see community catalysed projects from the likes of TOSSI and SOSSI come into fruition. Going for a walk or run in these places or chilling on the beach, especially with the sun shining, makes you realise what an awesome place New Zealand is.
Did I mention watching some great All Black test matches and some classic Super 15 games? Come on the Kiwi teams for the final week! It’s hard to support them all when the Chiefs are playing the Canes but I wouldn’t mind the Canes winning this weekend, just to see them through. I think the Chiefs will be too strong though.
So, I was recently interviewed by broadcasting legend, Jim Mora on Radio New Zealand as part of the ‘Best song ever written’ segment. Jim is a great guy, made it easy and it went really well. Also afterwards, I received a flood of mails from bookstores, to newspapers, to interested members of the public to old friends, all interested in ‘A Flame Flickers in the Darkness,’ a book or novel based during the New Zealand Wars or Maori Wars of the 1860s.
So thank you Jim and Radio New Zealand. ;)
You can have a listen to the interview here.
My song choice was ‘Welcome to my world’ by Jim Reeves, and for those Kiwis out there – it is the song used in the New Zealand Toyota adverts of the late 1980s and 90s. The images in those ads of the Southern Alps and the antics of Barry Crump and Scotty stuck with me and whenever I hear that song, it evokes images of New Zealand. The song, whilst written by the American Reeves, also has some pertinent lines that most Kiwis can relate to, particularly:
‘Knock and the door will open,
Seek and you will find,
Ask and you’ll be given,
The key to this world of mine.’
The message here is a kiwi one I reckon, of ‘Get out and have a crack,’ much like I’m doing with my book, ‘A Flame Flickers in the Darkness.’
Also, keep an eye out in New Zealand Lawyer magazine and the Herald on Sunday in the coming weeks…
And you can now get a copy of A Flame Flickers in the Darkness at the following:
- Take Note Wairoa, Hawkes Bay; and
- Timeout Bookstore, Mt Eden, Auckland.
As well as:
Whitcoulls Auckland
- Albany Westfield
- Botany Downs
- Downtown
- Henderson
- Manukau
- New Lynn
- Newmarket
- Pakuranga
- Papakura
- Queens Street – The Corner
- Royal Oak
- St Lukes
- Sylvia Park
Whitcoulls North Shore
- Browns Bay
- Glenfield
- Milford
- Takapuna Galleria
- Whangaparaoa
Whitcoulls Palmerston North
- Palmerston North Plaza
- Bennetts on Broadway
Whitcoulls Hamilton
- Centreplace
- Te Rapa
Whitcoulls Taranaki
- New Plymouth
Other Independent Bookstores
- The Village Bookshop, Matakana; and
- Benny’s Books, New Plymouth.
Online
- Fishpond New Zealand (Online); and
- PublishMe Online Bookstore.
Also, remember The Flying Doctors? My mate, Nick Maister is now part of a group called The Surfing Doctors who do some fantastic medical community service work in surf destinations around the world, both for the local community and any surfers that come a bit close to the reef. Nick and a group of The Surfing Doctors are soon to embark on a trip to Gland, Indonesia. Great work fellas and fellesses, combining work with pleasure, with community – I look forward to hearing all about it!
You can check out Nick, The Surf Doctor’s profile, here:
One of the key quotes in it:
“I took a tally of the number of times I surfed last year, I got to 212 in the year.”
Good on ya mate.
Ka Kite all.
Winston Cowie (Winnie)
Winston Cowie 