'Travels of Hochstetter and Haast in New Zealand' Invitation to the book launch.......

Auckland Libraries and Nikau Press invite you to the launch of Travels of Hochstetter and Haast in New Zealand by Mike Johnston and Sascha Nolden.

Monday 22 August 2011 6.00pm - 7.00pm Central City Library

Please join us for refreshments at 5.30pm. Please RSVP by contacting (09) 377 0209.

The book tells of the fascinating story of two men of science whose journeys into the wilds of the North Island and the rugged Nelson backcountry 150 years ago resulted in the last great narratives of colonial exploration.

 Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event by Parsons Bookshop Auckland. books@parsons.co.nz  phone 09 303 1557

About the authors

Dr Mike Johnston (Nelson) graduated from Victoria University in 1972 and is a geologist living in Nelson. Much of his professional career has been spent documenting the northern part of the South Island for the New Zealand Geological Survey and its successor, GNS Science. He has also a longstanding interest in history, in particular how geological resources have influenced the settlements of Maori and European. He has written the standard history of the Marlborough goldfields (in two volumes) and the history of the Nelson Mineral Belt, along with two shorter works on Nelson’s Dun Mountain Railway (one of New Zealand’s earliest) and the life of colonial geologist Edward H. Davis. Over the past decade Dr Johnston has been researching the Nelson goldfields.      

Dr Sascha Nolden (Auckland) was born in Pinneberg, Germany, in 1975 and has lived in New Zealand since 1982. A five-time graduate of the University of Auckland, his doctoral thesis was on Hochstetter and his letters to Julius Haast. He has presented numerous papers and lectures on Hochstetter and the Germanic connection with New Zealand.
Dr Nolden was a major force behind the Hochstetter Symposium held at the University of Auckland in 2008; he also curated the anniversary exhibition Ferdinand von Hochstetter: Father of New Zealand Geology, held at Central City Library and Nelson Provincial Museum.