Arapawa - Once Upon An Island by Betty Rowe.

Arapawa - Once Upon An Island by Betty Rowe.

Publisher: The Halcyon Press, 1988, First Edition. Very good softback, no inscriptions, some shelfwear. 186 pages, illustrated.

Here is the fascinating story of an American family, who leaving all the comforts of suburban life in America came to New Zealand in search of a better lifestyle. In Southland Betty struggled with rural living while her husband Walt tried to become a shepherd - with highly amusing results for both. Eventually they found their way to what they hoped would be their dream home - "Aotea" on Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds, but it was not all paradise as the book tells. Betty was drawn to the wildlife of Arapawa, the uniqueness of the sheep and goats she found there led her, and others, to seek protection for them. Unwittingly she drew attention to the wildlife of Arapawa, and its presence to the bureaucratic machine that existed to exterminate the so called noxious animals. It was to become a battle that went well beyond words as she and her suppporters rallied to defend the goats against the men who came to shoot them. This is a true, touching and factual account of the battle to save the Arapawa wildlife, and of the family at the centre of the conflict. A battle that still goes on today.