On a recent southern journey Kennedy Warne met paleoecologist Richard Holdaway at one of the most important and revealing fossil sites, Pyramid Valley, near the wine-growing area of Waipara in North Canterbury, to learn more about ancient Aotearoa as it was before humans arrived. Kennedy looks at the the life of the Cook Strait ferry Arahura.The ferry travelled 13 million kilometres in 32 years, the equivalent of 325 times around the world, and her noblest hour was when she responded to a mayday call from the sinking Mikhail Lermontov cruise liner in 1986. He also talks about the journalist Svetlana Alexievich who won the Nobel prize for literature. Here is an excerpt of her work is taken from Voices From Chernobyl, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Ancient ecosystems expert Richard Holdaway at Pyramid Valley. Photo: RNZ/ Kennedy Warne
