In the land of the long white cloud with Graeme Wynn, Professor Emeritus Geography
Channel: UBC Emeritus College
Date: 08/11/2023

Aotearoa/ New Zealand has been something of a second home for me. I taught there in the mid-1970s and have made innumerable visits of varying duration since, the most recent of which was in April-May of this year. My original plan was to centre this talk on these recent travels, but as the weather was less co-operative than it might have been, I will also dig into my library of digital images (from the last twenty years) to display something of the New Zealand landscape, reflect on the devastating effects of the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence, ponder the challenges and results of (the ongoing) rebuild of Christchurch, and reveal some of the roots of my fascination, as an historical geographer and environmental historian, with this strikingly diverse and dynamic land.