Wairarapa - The Place and Its People

Pete Nikolaison, 2010
A stunning collection of photographs and stories, capturing Wairarapa ?the place and its people The Wairarapa region has drawn people to its natural splendour for over a thousand years. From Haunui-a-nanaia who first said ? ?Wairarapa? ? as the sight of the Wairarapa made his eyes glisten, through the descendants of the Takitimu and Kurahaupo waka who followed him, and the sheep owners and small farmers who were the first Pakeha settlers, to successive waves of those seeking to find their own place in the sun, generations have been drawn to the dramatic beaches, imposing mountains, and chattering rivers and streams of the region. Over time these people have sought to innovate and draw inspiration from the wide variety of landscapes to create a better region, a better world. As Pete has journeyed he has captured the essence of the district he was born and raised in, with its sublime natural beauty, its sometimes ferocious winds and always the wide expanse of the Wairarapa sky. But he has also recorded the lives of those who chose to live there ? many of them Wairarapa born and bred, but also those who found their way over the Rimutaka Hill or through the Manawatu Gorge to find a place where they can make their mark on the world, by creating fine art pieces, growing new and exciting crops, or finding room for innovation in the wide scope of agricultural practice...