Peter Laurenson reviews Fire & Ice by Hazel Phillips for Backcountry magazine:
‘Having lived in the North Island for most of my life, Tongariro National Park was a natural choice for tramping and climbing. I made many trips there over decades and felt that I knew that magnificent volcanic wonderland quite well. Reading Hazel Phillips' take on the area reminded me that climbing all the high points was really just scratching the surface.
As the subtitle suggests, Fire & Ice explores much more than mountaineering exploits. The book is divided into five sections: earth, air, fire, water and aether. This seems a sensible basis to approach the subject, given that nature is the dominant force in Tongariro National Park. Each section also included a variety of other accounts spanning historic, cultural, political, environmental and even mythical events and perspectives.
The further I got into Fire & Ice the more impressed I was by the extent of Phillips' investigative tenacity. Through official information requests, visits to information troves such as the National Archives and DOC, personal interviews, copious amounts of online research and many fact-finding forays into the national park itself, she left no scoria rock unturned in her quest to reveal all about Tongariro National Park and the communities living in close proximity to the volcanoes.’
Read the rest of the review here.
