Behind The Hill

Where kids ran wild and resilience developed...Behind The Hill is a social history, recording people's lives from interviews, from one end of Golden Bay to the other. Each and every portrayal has something to say about the values and norms of the time.

The book follows the revolutionary changes that affected one of New Zealand's most isolated areas over succeeding decades - with the arrival of hippies, worldly foreigners, IT specialists, retired professionals and bearded environmentalists.Clearly demonstrated is the advantage to children brought up in the pre-digital age, with little money, but with the freedom to run wild and take risks, to develop character and survival skills.

Equally important, life behind the physical and psychological barrier of the Takaka Hill, has forced residents to become resilient and develop leadership ability, that might not, in easier circumstances, and larger populations, have been discovered.