Storylines South Island tour: November 2019: Day One

Thanks to Storylines for a most amazing week! Before I went on tour last week, someone who had recently been on a Storylines tour around the East Coast told me it would be "exhausting but exhilarating". Or maybe he said "exhilarating but exhausting". Either way, he was right!

We visited 30 schools down the East Coast of the South Island, starting in Blenheim and ending up in Timaru. Thanks also to my lovely companions Vasanti Unka (picture book writer), Paula Green (poet), and Eileen Merriman (YA novelist), and to Libby Limbrick (Storylines rep) and our wonderful driver Anne Dickson.

The Taylor River Writers' Walk in Blenheim made for a lovely place to start our journey.

First stop for me on Monday morning was Seddon School, home of the Snazziest Class ever for 2018, and also temporary home of a week-old pukeko chick!

I've never talked before to the background cheeping of a baby pukeko. It was very cute and after my talk I stayed a while to watch it exploring the classroom. 

Second stop was Kaikoura Suburban School. We thought that the definition of "suburbia" in Kaikoura must be quite different from elsewhere! Like many other schools we visited, this was a delightful small country school with a warm and welcoming family atmosphere.

Roll of Honour, Kaikoura Suburban School. Such a lot of names from one small area. 

Meanwhile Paula, Vasanti and Eileen also visited Ward School, Kaikoura  High School, Kaikoura Primary School and St Joseph's School before we stopped for the day and enjoyed a walk around Kaikoura in the afternoon.

Vasanti Unka and Eileen Merriman in Kaikoura