Route 52 – A Big Lump of Country Unknown

‘The garage has a car on one hoist, a tractor on the other, and a quad bike waiting . . . There’s salt in the air and tūī in the trees. This is about as Kiwi as it gets.’

Wairarapa writer Simon Burt, prompted by curiosity, hooked up his caravan, chucked Meg the foxie in the back seat, and set off to find what makes Route 52, the tortuous back road between Masterton and Waipukurau, tick. The hula parties in ‘Coconut Grove’; Akitio, where James K. Baxter wrote a cautionary poem; folk hero fugitive George Wilder’s hideout and protectors in Herbertville; and the salesman and the musician who bonded over wily trout in the Mākurī River.

He shared beers, cuppas and scones with the people of these places. People informed by their obstacles, and the isolation they face—and largely prefer.

This book is what he found.