What do you think?
Rate this book
Explore! Aotearoa
Explore! Aotearoa features the thrilling true stories of New Zealand explorers Kupe, Thomas Brunner, Freda du Faur, Kieran McKay, and Kelly Tarlton. Follow these adventure pioneers on a journey across the oceans, over the land, up the mountains, beneath the earth, and under the ocean.
- GenresNonfiction
135 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2017
7 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 14, 2021
The use of maps, drawings, photos, illustrations and timelines, added dramatically to this engaging collection of explorers. Those men and women who as navigators, mountaineers, trampers, cavers, and divers discovered marvels of Aotearoa and their fascinating stories make compelling reading.
A must-have for every school library.
A must-have for every school library.
April 7, 2020
1260: Kehu, drawn by the promise of a new land, sets out in a double-hulled waka from an over-populated Polynesia, and discovers Aotearoa. 1846: Thomas Brunner, searching for fresh country to farm, makes an arduous 550-day journey down the Buller River and West Coast. 1910: young Australian Freda Du Faur sets her sights on becoming the first woman to scale Aoraki Mt Cook. 1965: Underwater adventurers Kelly Tarlton and Wade Doak set off to the Three King Islands to find sunken treasure in the Elingamite wreck. 2011: Caver Kieren Mckay explores the immense caverns beneath the marble mountains of Kahurangi National Park.
In the five chapters of Explore! Aotearoa, Wellington writer Bronwen Wall brings to life some of our most exhilarating stories of exploration. Aimed at a younger audience, the book is packed with fascinating information, told in a compelling narrative.
Wall has skilfully distilled her thorough research into engaging, well paced stories, which will appeal to teenagers, but with enough depth for even well read adults. I knew the story of Du Faur guides’ Alex and Peter Graham, but loved reading about their childhood walk home from school, which involved a five-kilometre scramble around the cliffs south of Ōkarito. There was a safer high route, which the boys promised their mother they would use when the tide was high, but never did. Such are the seeds of adventure.
Pullout quotes, used large, provide effective avenues into the stories. For example Freda Du Faur wrote that, after seeing the high mountains for the first time, all she wanted was ‘to reach the snow and bury my hands in its wonderful whiteness, and dig and dig till my snow-starved Australian soul was satisfied …’
Perhaps nothing measures an author’s skill more than their ability to engage you in something you’re initially less interested in. For me this was the underwater story of Tarlton and Doak. Tarlton began his adventures as a mountaineer, but nearly died on Mt Avalanche. After watching Jacques Cousteau’s documentary The Silent World, he turned his focus underwater. Although both he and Doak were initially drawn by the lure of sunken treasure, both developed into committed advocates for protecting the marine world. In the end, I thought it was one of the strongest chapters. The extraordinary navigation techniques of Kupe and other Polynesian navigators make for an absorbing read too.
While focussing on these five explorers, Wall introduces a range of other people too with good choices of back-story. The mountaineering chapter, for example, covers the early efforts of William Green, Guy Mannering and Jack Clarke to climb Aoraki. The caving story tells the origins of the Ruakuri Cave at Waitomo, and how guide Tāne Tinorau first started tourism there.
What started as an idea for a simple book about Brunner grew into a much broader and more ambitious project after Wall had discussions with well known bookseller and children’s book expert John McIntyre (who died last year after battling a long-term illness). The book is dedicated to him.
Illustrations comprise an effective mix of historic photographs and paintings, paired with the artwork Kimberley Andrews (see the picture of Thomas Brunner and his Māori guides). A creative and appealing design, the nice balance of text and illustrations, historical timelines and the detailed reference list give this book real class and depth. The cover is a bit busy, but I appreciate it had to show all the book’s many elements.
Explore! Aotearoa inspires. And while we might think of exploration as the past, the caving chapter shows exploration is alive and well. As Wall writes in her final paragraph: ‘Every time you go somewhere you’ve never been before; every time you return to a favourite place, at a different time of year, in a different season, in different weather, with different people, you are an explorer. Anyone can do it. Get out there and give it a go!’
In the five chapters of Explore! Aotearoa, Wellington writer Bronwen Wall brings to life some of our most exhilarating stories of exploration. Aimed at a younger audience, the book is packed with fascinating information, told in a compelling narrative.
Wall has skilfully distilled her thorough research into engaging, well paced stories, which will appeal to teenagers, but with enough depth for even well read adults. I knew the story of Du Faur guides’ Alex and Peter Graham, but loved reading about their childhood walk home from school, which involved a five-kilometre scramble around the cliffs south of Ōkarito. There was a safer high route, which the boys promised their mother they would use when the tide was high, but never did. Such are the seeds of adventure.
Pullout quotes, used large, provide effective avenues into the stories. For example Freda Du Faur wrote that, after seeing the high mountains for the first time, all she wanted was ‘to reach the snow and bury my hands in its wonderful whiteness, and dig and dig till my snow-starved Australian soul was satisfied …’
Perhaps nothing measures an author’s skill more than their ability to engage you in something you’re initially less interested in. For me this was the underwater story of Tarlton and Doak. Tarlton began his adventures as a mountaineer, but nearly died on Mt Avalanche. After watching Jacques Cousteau’s documentary The Silent World, he turned his focus underwater. Although both he and Doak were initially drawn by the lure of sunken treasure, both developed into committed advocates for protecting the marine world. In the end, I thought it was one of the strongest chapters. The extraordinary navigation techniques of Kupe and other Polynesian navigators make for an absorbing read too.
While focussing on these five explorers, Wall introduces a range of other people too with good choices of back-story. The mountaineering chapter, for example, covers the early efforts of William Green, Guy Mannering and Jack Clarke to climb Aoraki. The caving story tells the origins of the Ruakuri Cave at Waitomo, and how guide Tāne Tinorau first started tourism there.
What started as an idea for a simple book about Brunner grew into a much broader and more ambitious project after Wall had discussions with well known bookseller and children’s book expert John McIntyre (who died last year after battling a long-term illness). The book is dedicated to him.
Illustrations comprise an effective mix of historic photographs and paintings, paired with the artwork Kimberley Andrews (see the picture of Thomas Brunner and his Māori guides). A creative and appealing design, the nice balance of text and illustrations, historical timelines and the detailed reference list give this book real class and depth. The cover is a bit busy, but I appreciate it had to show all the book’s many elements.
Explore! Aotearoa inspires. And while we might think of exploration as the past, the caving chapter shows exploration is alive and well. As Wall writes in her final paragraph: ‘Every time you go somewhere you’ve never been before; every time you return to a favourite place, at a different time of year, in a different season, in different weather, with different people, you are an explorer. Anyone can do it. Get out there and give it a go!’
April 7, 2018
This book is very clever, well written, and fascinating. It goes into depth on some of New Zealand's most adventurous explorers and gives you a taste into what it must have been like to arrive in a new country where every achievement is yet to be obtained.
It covers Kupe and his initial discovery of New Zealand and his Pacific Ocean crossings; Thomas Brunner and his exploration of the West Coast of the South Island; the early mountaineers of New Zealand who conquered the highest peaks using the crudest equipment; the famous cavers who are even now still discovering some of the most fantastic and expansive caving systems in New Zealand; and the early divers and the rudimentary equipment they used through to more recent divers like Kelly Tarlton - Wall really explores the legacies all these people have left behind.
As a young country there is still much to be explored and this book will give you history and possibly a little fire to get out there and explore for yourself.
It covers Kupe and his initial discovery of New Zealand and his Pacific Ocean crossings; Thomas Brunner and his exploration of the West Coast of the South Island; the early mountaineers of New Zealand who conquered the highest peaks using the crudest equipment; the famous cavers who are even now still discovering some of the most fantastic and expansive caving systems in New Zealand; and the early divers and the rudimentary equipment they used through to more recent divers like Kelly Tarlton - Wall really explores the legacies all these people have left behind.
As a young country there is still much to be explored and this book will give you history and possibly a little fire to get out there and explore for yourself.
February 21, 2021
A very palatable overview of some key exploration right here in little Aotearoa! I haven't come across much of this NZ-outdoor focused writing for children/young adults, so was thrilled to find this. A great little read.
April 11, 2020
Such a fun engaging read plus I learnt loads about NZ history
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews