Wairaka Point is a gripping narrative based around actual events The subjects and settings are diverse New Zealand legal investigation rabies fathers US Marines heroic women Maori ambiguity possum trapping advertising Zimbabwe families World War II adolescence Melbourne military coups rugby Afrikaans history literature Ghana infidelity rescue missions British colonial crimes rural life trading commodities The Acadians Wellington racism forgotten islands travel memories secrets death love However these are just the subjects and settings The plot and theme are a profound discovery as to the nature of truth and destiny Stella Rees is beautiful smart and pragmatic but still a romantic who is willing to risk her life travelling across a war torn continent for a man she barely knows It s 1979 and her homeland of Africa is filled with racism violence and uncertainty yet she is determined that her love for New Zealander Nick James isworth it Little does she know Nick and his family harbor a deep secret leaving her to wonder if she truly knows the man she was destined for Spanning half a century and five countries delving deep into how family history shapes who we are Wairaka Point is a story about the truth and what it is to believe in something beyond doubt Wairaka Point site_link post a comment Wairaka Point is proof that you can take a completely plot driven narrative and make up for anything that is lacking in style and polish with a compelling story There is nothing wrong with Trevor Watkin s style it is factual and sparse It is a plain digestive and not a dark chocolate hobnob No bells and whistles. Wairaka Point kindle cloud The book is the bringing together of two personal stories Nick James grew up on the coast north of Wellington where his father came home from the war and married his young Maori mother Nick drops out of a university law course and then moves to Melbourne to set up his own import export company In central Africa Stella Rees comes from Zimbabwe and is half Welsh and half Afrikaans She too leaves the country of her birth and heads to Melbourne. EBook Wairaka pointclickcare login The first meeting of Stella and Nick actually takes place in Ghana in West Africa Nick is there working on an export deal while Stella has taken a teaching post There is an instant spark between them but a few days later civil war erupts in Ghana and Nick finds himself on a wanted list He risks an escape by ship and a few weeks later is abandoned on an island in the Gulf of Guinea Stella believes she has found the man of her dreams and decides to embark upon a daring rescue with her uncles driving overland from Zimbabwe through war torn Angola and finally charting a plane to fly into the remote island I love this part of the story it is all action and would translate wonderfully onto the screen. Wairaka Point pdf reader I wonder why I am drawn to this story I wonder if it is because I have travelled to a number of these African countries Ghana Zimbabwe Zambia and Angola I can vividly picture what is being described the scenes in my own head do not need lots of description to bring them to life. Wairaka Point booking Once back in New Zealand Nick and Stella have some family history to unravel and a wartime story to solve The answer to many of the questions lies in a sealed letter which is left to Nick by his father In the end the reader is left to make the decision whether or not to read the letter as it is contained in a sealed section at the end of the book I don t recall ever being given a choice like that by a novel Hardcover