Kia ora, welcome to the world of go pūkeko publishing. It’s not so large that it boggles you, rather, a fun and sumptuous size.

How did it come about you may ask? Well, a not so long long time ago, I found myself on one of life’s remote islands, like a castaway. I wasn’t sure which way to swim; I knew it had to be in a new direction after 30 years of running my own business.

After much contemplation, I picked up a pen and started to scribble. The scrawls turned into something that resembled poems. Some of these pieces rambled further down the page into yarns. Next thing, I was back on the mainland at uni studying ‘Creative Writing’. Things had changed since my teenage dropout years – I was now in a modern campus with remote connections, laptops, fibre internet, portals, Zoom, and a lunchbox full of anxiety.

Following that period of tumult, writing has become the recycled version of me – back drawing inspiration from the familiar and rustic shores of Pegasus Bay, Christchurch. Whilst it doesn’t pay the petrol, nor anything actually, it is therapy and empties this sometimes overactive mind. And it is a grand way to spend days since the children left home, inbetween beach walks and finding washed up treasure.

Thanks for joining me; hopefully I still have a lot more words left in me!

Nga mihi … Ben

Contact author at: gopukekonz@gmail.com

Or find Ben at his surf school: newbrightonsurf.co.nz