Kapiti

The Whitcombe Press, 2000. Signed by the author.

Heading north from Wellington, travellers come to Pukerua Bay and there, across the water, is Kapiti Island, remote and alluring. In the morning light its contours and its forest stand out; by afternoon it is a dark, brooding shape. Today, Kapiti gives its name to the mainland opposite and the island appears on almost every local sign and logo, but this association is surprisingly new. In the past, Kapiti was best known as the stronghold of the great Ngati Toa chief, Te Rauparaha; more recently it has become renowned as a refuge for endangered birds that have not survived on the mainland.