Ghosts of Gondwana

The history of Life in New Zealand
Author George Gibbs
Craig Potton Publishing  2006
Price  $49.99

Reviewed by John Kennedy, Programme Coordinator Certificate in Ecotourism.
Oddly enough I doubt that George Gibbs realised that by creating Ghosts of Gondwana he was writing a book that looks as if it is designed to go hand in hand with the course content of the Certificate in Ecotourism.

The book could be classed as “popular science” and in it Gibbs works hard to make difficult subjects readable to the average non-scientist amongst us. For example in the introduction to chapter two, Gibbs writes:

A few New Zealand organisms would qualify as outlandish freaks on the world stage. They just do not seem to belong amongst their relatives.

By writing in this way, Gibbs immediately engages the reader. In addition, he highlights well known species such as the kakapo and draws comparisons with lesser know species, and by so doing, helps keep the reader engaged and informed.

Another feature of the book which encourages interest is the use of many pictures and diagrams, which add another dimension to and moves the book from the merely technical to the fascinating.

New Zealand’s biodiversity and geological history is a fascinating story and is the basis for providing the subject matter of a good New Zealand Ecotour. Gibbs should be congratulated for bringing all the various component natural histories together. We have interesting endemic species not just because of our isolation but also the various orgeony’s that h have taken place over the past 80 million years.

Previously, students in Ecotourism needed books on geology, fauna, flora, and meteorology to adequately described New Zealand’s bio-geo makeup. Gibbs has incorporated information from all these disciplines into one volume that presents us with a vast amount of knowledge in easy to read language.

In Search of Ancient New Zealand – Hamish Campbell & Gerard Hutching

Publisher: Penguin Books

Reviewed by Geoff Button - Programme Coordinator Diploma in Ecotourism at Tai Poutini Polytechnic

This book has been a revelation to me as a person who has a strong interest in the geological stories of New Zealand but find it very difficult to wade through the jargon associated with so many academic texts.

This book explains the geological history of New Zealand or more specifically the Zealandia continent which is half the size of Australia. It explains some geological principles which help the reader to give context to why certain events take place and how they took place.

It takes time to focus on the important rock groups and events specific to New Zealand such as Greywacke and the Taupo eruption (Oruanui).

The book is broken into three time phases of New Zealand’s development with Gondwanaland or when we were still attached to Australia and Antarctica, Zealandia which was when we became our own entity and the Tasman Sea formed. New Zealand is the next time phase which details the most recent mountain building phase of the last 23 million years.

With a lot of discussion around fossils and specific sites where evidence exists of our tumultuous geological history, the book has a lot of credibility which is bolstered by being co-published with GNS Science New Zealand where Hamish Campbell is a senior scientist. Gerard Hutching is the former editor of Forest and Bird magazine and he has written books including “Naturewatch New Zealand, Back from the Brink” and the “Natural World of New Zealand”. Gerard Hutching also writes for the “teara” website which is a New Zealand online encyclopaedia ( www.teara.co.nz )