Read Around the World April 2021 – New Zealand

Map Link

Fun facts about New Zealand from this site:

• New Zealand is the first place on earth that receives the first ray of light. It specifically glints first on the small town of Rangitukia in North Island.
• New Zealand established a state-run tourism department in 1901 – the first in the world.
• The world’s smallest marine dolphin and the rarest sea lion thrive only in New Zealand’s waters.
• The heights of Mount Everest were first conquered by Sir Edmund Hillary, a New Zealander.
• The first Rugby World Cup in 1987 was won by the New Zealand All-Blacks.
• Vineyards located in the southernmost tip of the world belong to New Zealand’s Central Otago region.
• Wellington’s old Government Building is the biggest wooden structure in the southern hemisphere.
• In 1893, New Zealand gave women the right to vote. It was the first country to do so.
• Only three countries in the world have two official national anthems – Denmark, Croatia, and New Zealand.
• New Zealand has a ratio of 400 golf courses for every four million people. It has the greatest number of golf courses in the world.

For my visit to New Zealand I chose to read The Rehearsals by Eleanor Catton. 4 Stars Boy this book messed with my mind it is hard to believe this is a debut novel. There are two intertwined story lines the first features the scandal of a school girl having an affair with her teacher and the impact this has on her sister, her parents, her friends and the wider community. The second story line is about an exclusive acting school where the pupils are allowed to decided their own end of school performance and this year they decide to make the performance about scandals and (yes you guessed it) this particular scandal is the main theme of the play.

I really enjoyed this book but I am not sure I understood it. There are several narrators and I have no clue if any of them are reliable or not or if the whole book was just a play about morality. Whatever the truth of the book is it worked for me, this is not like anything I have read before and that earns it major points.

If you want a read that is totally different and will challenge your perspective on things I would highly recommend this.

Other readers visited New Zealand in the following ways:

Simona from Litsy – Tikanga Maori by Hirini Moko Mead a book about the daily lives of Maori people and the rules that govern then. This was a pick.

Currey from Litsy – Grace: Potki by Patricia Grace a book that reads like oral storytelling. This was a pcik.

Currey from Litsy – The Color by Rose Tremain a story about the gold rush. This was a pick.

Did you join us for this trip? Let us know how you visited.

Up next Bahrain how will you be visiting? Any recommendations?