Book 3 of my New Zealand travel adventure trilogy Cry of the Kiwi: A Family’s New Zealand Adventure, is now available! In Tang of the Tasman Sea, my husband, two sons and I return to South Island for more adventures. Join us as we backpack Abel Tasman Coast Track, climb Little Mount Peel, hike more wild South Island tracks and visit Australia.

 

Celebration time! The release of Tang of the Tasman Sea completes my New Zealand trilogy.

 

When I chose to independently publish Cry of the Kiwi: A Family’s New Zealand Adventure, I knew I had a monumental task ahead of me in both senses of “monumental”: 1) great in importance, extent or size, and 2) of or serving as a monument. 

The trilogy is of great importance to me. I’ve worked at it on and off for fourteen years, ever since my husband, two sons and I spent ten-and-a-half months in the spectacularly beautiful country of New Zealand. We immersed ourselves in New Zealand history, culture and nature. We conducted scientific research and hiked hundreds of kilometres of tracks, some leading us over volcanoes, others, to glaciers and still others, to the peaks of mountains that offered long views over plain or ocean.

Cry of the Kiwi is also the largest writing project I’ve ever completed: three 6″ x 9″ books with a combined thickness of 4.5 centimetres (1.75 inches) and a total word count exceeding 165,000 words. The books contains 130 photographs and more than 200 references, plus a map, glossary and index for each book. Somewhat amazingly, I was able to handle every aspect of the publication of these books, with the help of my techie husband.

This trilogy is also monumental in the sense that it’s a monument to or celebration of a very special interlude in my life and the lives of my husband and sons. The tagline says it best: One family. Ten months. Living a dream. 

Just before midnight yesterday, I approved the release of the trilogy’s third book, Tang of the Tasman Sea, which chronicles my family’s final five months on New Zealand’s South Island. With that approval came a wonderful feeling of freedom – freedom in the sense of having accomplished, to the best of my ability, a large goal I’d set for myself. It also means that I’m now free to move on to new projects.

I learned some important lessons during the indie publishing process. I learned to be disciplined, to set and meet deadlines, to become a student of the industry, to seek advice from other writers pursuing the indie publishing path, to not be too proud to heed much of my editor’s advice and most importantly, I learned to believe in myself and my ability to learn a completely new set of skills (manuscript formatting, book interior design, cover design) in order to turn my dream into reality.

The world is full of beauty, challenge, and adventure. May it always be so. At the end of this month, Vilis and I are off to South Africa to research big cat movements and explore the most southern country on the African continent for six months. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on South Africa!

Now, breathe in the Tang of the Tasman Sea:

Description of Tang of the Tasman Sea

Tang of the Tasman Sea is the third volume of Cry of the Kiwi: A Family’s New Zealand Adventure, a captivating chronicle of a Canadian family’s travel dream fulfilled in a land of volcanoes, giant trees and endangered flightless birds. Back on South Island after the excitement of tracking and live-trapping stoats on North Island, the Nams battle adventure inertia and homeschool tensions. They rebound to explore a honeydew ecosystem, backpack Abel Tasman Coast Track (one of New Zealand’s Great Walks) and climb to the summit of Little Mount Peel, where the Aurora Australis displays an awe-inspiring light show in the night.

After an Easter vacation in New South Wales, Australia, the family hikes to brooding Cave Creek, with its history of disaster, follows flashlights deep into Fox River Cave and kayaks a tidal river that empties into the Tasman Sea. Between winter storms, the Nams walk a rain-drenched West Coast beach at Ōkārito and hike through dank rainforest and over icy bedrock to a lookoff over Franz Josef Glacier. Along the way, author Magi Nams reflects on her family’s growing immersion in Kiwi life, on lessons learned and on the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems. As the foursome’s adventure of a lifetime draws to a close, it becomes clear that the heart of New Zealand lies in its people, as well as its riveting landscapes and intriguing flora and fauna.

For more information about Tang of the Tasman Sea and the Cry of the Kiwi: A Family’s New Zealand Adventure trilogy, click here.

South Island, New Zealand, Photo Gallery