Paperback, 240pages, new excellent condition

"Karekare is not for those who prefer safe landscapes. There's an overpowering sense of place here. The moment you arrive, you know this is a special place. You either like it instantly, or you're out of here fast, never to return. Stay, and your senses start picking up a myriad of sensations. At the carpark, you can hear the booming surf. It comes at you like rolling thunder, echoing off the valley walls and pushing into your ears. The great, gnarled face of the Watchman keens the sound and sends it hurling towards you as you jump the creek before heading towards the beach. Do this at night, and the beach amplifies pure sound, picking up bass chords from the collision of waves against Paratahi Island and sampling the shoreline surf action on the way in."

"Beyond the headland,, the wide, wild spaces of the coastline to the Manukau Heads open out before you. People become specks against the horizon along these reaches. Karekare and its stretch of coast offers up to me unexpected gifts. One day a seahorse skeleton, another, a lost doll. A lone leopard seal in winter, perhaps sick or old. And the tragic surprise of a beached whale. Here, I never feel like a visitor; I know that I belong to this place and time. Everything seems to fit here in my life, and probably it's the same for other Karekare people. These days, I may have quietened down a little, but I refuse to snuff out the spark this place has given me. It burns within me, part of the universe of fiery stars and comets. This place demands homage and participation. Karekare is not for the passive."

Generously illustrated with works by leading artists including Gretchen Albrecht, Dean Buchanan, Peter Siddell and Stanley Palmer, this book also presents a selection of work from leading photographers, from the 19th century to the present day.