The Chatham Islands
I'm excited about my upcoming trip to my Mum's birthplace! Jackie Gurdens, Tourism Manager, has lined up a host of spectacular sites to visit, and we will be accompanied by Deborah Goomes, a local guide of Moriori, Maori and European descent. It is a chance to meet local historians and writers and mingle with other adventurous writers. Getting there has never been easy or cheap, making the visit even more special. I look forward to producing poetry and writing about my Mum's family 'place'. The tide is pulling me there. Maybe it's why I love the wind (I didn't get that from Mum; she disliked it), and I've never been seasick - perhaps the ancestral influence of my seafaring and island-dwelling ancestors.
