Congratulations on the publication of your recent book,泭Take Me With You 3!: Engineering Heritage of Coastal and Central Otago.泭Tell us, what can readers expect to find in this book?
Im so pleased to have Take Me With You 3! making its way into the world and to readers at last. This book includes a stand-alone set of 40 stories, and it also dovetails with TMWY2 Dunedin in so many ways. For readers who are unfamiliar, Otagos earliest colonial settlers, including the engineers who established the regions roads, bridges, lighthouses, water systems, dams , mostly arrived (and sometimes left) via Dunedin at either the town wharves or Port Chalmers.
TMWY3! includes stories from Oamaru to Balclutha to Queenstown many relating engineering adventures from the gold rushes (tunnels, dams, water races, the foolhardy but successful hydraulic elevating at St Bathans and the dredging of the Clutha/Mata-Au the latter both international firsts). There are also the usual suspects bridges, mills (in this case flour, wool) and kilns (chicory and pottery) and what I like to call future-heritage stories such as the terrifying-thrilling construction of the gondola at Queenstown (also an international first).
Otago is a fantastic place to get out in and explore, and I hope my latest book adds both the incentive and the salt for people to find out more about the fascinating technical heritage of this region.
This isnt the first book youve written, your Take Me With You series also explores Whanganui and Dunedin. What led to your decision to write about these places?泭
I began writing seriously after I lost my job when our youngest child was due in 2004. Ive always been fascinated by how things work, and I began writing about engineering because I could see that while engineers do important work in and for our communities, theyre often not so good at telling others about it.泭
My first book evolved from newspaper articles writing the stories behind local features in the landscape. It took me a while to figure out how to put a book together I had wonderful support from the editor at Canterbury University Press, and from the people at Dunedins Robert Lord Cottage Residency who took a chance on me when I was just starting out.泭
In the end, my time in Dunedin provided the breakthrough being able to write without interruption. I finished my Whanganui book in Dunedin, and I also was able to focus on researching and beginning to write the next ones.泭
With three泭Take Me With You!泭self-drive guides now under your belt, do you have plans to look into any other areas?
Short answer yes! Though not immediately. Ive drawn up lists for a couple of other regions, have taken some photography and begun a bit of initial research. But right now Im focused on an exciting new project called Blooming Impossible about pioneering NZ hybridiser Jean Stevens. I received an NZ History Grant which allowed me to research Jeans story on the ground in Florence, Australia, Oregon and the UK last year, and later this year were opening the Jean Stevens Iris Garden at Whanganuis Bason Botanic Gardens in her honour. Im currently on a residency at Caselberg House in Otago to begin pulling all my threads of research together to write her sciency-biography.
There will undoubtedly be more Take Me With You! books in due course theres definitely no end of stories and places to write about. But for now it has to wait its turn.
What was it that initially inspired you to become a technical storyteller?
Ive always been a writer, and Ive always been interested in ideas and technology and innovation. Theyre not a combination of skills and interests that has been easy to weave into a career. We tend to silo sciences and arts into quite separate fields of enquiry, but in my view we shouldnt. We often miss out on the greater good that comes from connecting disparate parts of human endeavour.泭
If we go back far enough, you find that the best minds were engaged with both of these interests Leonardo da Vinci is a classic example, but there are many others. They used to be called polymaths. Even here in New 厙ぴ勛圖in the early days, many of our engineers designed technical solutions that were beautiful as much as they were practical. The iconic, vernacular Daniel OConnell Bridge near Ophir in Central Otago is just one example.
How do you juggle writing with your career and raising a family?泭
It hasnt been easy! But Ive learnt over time that you have to integrate what you want to do with what you have to do, not wait until the hypothetical perfect time to begin. Often its not until you take the first step that doors open. For example, everyone used to think you had to go to Hollywood to make it in the movie industry but look what Peter Jacksons done. Hes gotten so good that Hollywood now comes to him. So, focus on your own path and dont worry about the so-called right way of doing things.泭
With my writing, my process is simply to try to touch on it in some way most days. That doesnt necessarily have to be actual writing. Just keeping your hand in counts, especially when life is on max you know, the kids need your attention, youre juggling a job, your mothers sick When lifes like that I focus on the living of it. Youve got to feel the feels to be able to write well, after all. Living with your eyes wide open is an essential part of any creative process.泭
Any fond memories of your time here at UC?泭
The world has changed a great deal since I was at university. Even the Christchurch I knew as a student has gone because of the earthquakes such a strange feeling now when I visit the city. But there are still some familiar places, like the funky Antigua Boat Sheds, the fabulous Ilam Gardens, Bush Inn and Church Corner.泭
I tend to think of the city in layers. Theres the city I remember visiting a couple of times before I lived there. Then theres the city I knew as a student Il Felice with its divine home-made pasta, Strawberry Fares infamous Death by Chocolate. The Soho Bar, the Vines. There were numerous movie theatres around Cathedral Square and an arthouse one in Worcester Street , some showing the occasional red-eye special of cult classic flicks. A highlight was visiting the Arts Centre before it was flashed up the ethnic food stalls, the candle shop, the treasure troves in the prefabs out front.泭
What advice would you give to a new student starting at UC?泭
Be excited about stepping into the world of opportunity that university offers, and enjoy the challenges and privileges that come as an integral part of that package.泭
It might be the best chance you get to explore new ideas, challenge your preconceptions, meet new people (some youll love, some you might not like so much or at all!). Be open to whatever life throws at you, not too fixed on what you think will be your path. The best things in hindsight are often the smallest things at the time, things you barely notice in the moment. Just embrace it all!
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