With the sea beside us, we drove the last leg of our tour on Friday 16 September. The mountain peeked in and out of cloud throughout the day, and the landscape became more volcanic, hillier and rockier, as we drove along Taranaki's Surf Highway. The first stop for Stuart and me was St Joseph's School … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Five

We woke to a bright, blue day on day four of the tour, and at last saw the mountain in all its majesty. It was well worth the wait! My first stop was at the very colourful and friendly Normanby School. The Year 0-3 students there had lots of ideas for playground rescues, from hitching … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Four

We had our first partial glimpse of the maunga as we headed out this morning. It was beautiful, but fleeting, and by the end of our first school visit it had disappeared from view altogether. It amazes me that a feature so dramatic and dominating of the landscape can be hidden so completely! Midhirst School … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Three

We stopped in Inglewood today, where Year 2 and 3 students from St Patrick's School braved the elements to join me in the lovely and very welcoming Inglewood Library. The children did a fantastic job of retelling the story, and of creating their own stuck-in-the-swing rescue scenarios (jaws of life, a fishing rod, butter and … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Two

What fun! This week I'm on tour with Storylines Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa. We are travelling in a loop around Taranaki Maunga, visiting schools and libraries along the way. You can see updates on the Storylines Trust Facebook page, and on Instagram. Also on tour are authors Ben Brown, Cristina Sanders, and … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day One