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John Breen, author of River of Blood: Tales of the Waiatoto, records the epic adventures, disasters, tragedies and courageous stories of those who have taken on ‘the final frontier’, our very own ‘Wild West’. The Waiatoto is situated deep in South Westland on New Zealand’s wild West Coast. With an introduction from poet and environmentalist Brian Turner, here is a compelling story of unique people in a unique place — probably a frontier that will never be tamed. John is a professional quantity surveyor who has worked in the family construction business since 1966, acting as manager from 1978 to 2003. He has taken on construction contracts in many of New Zealand’s wild and difficult places; where extreme, some dangerous conditions are a given. He has also published I Was Going Home This Arvo! – 70 years of building in the towns, valleys and backblocks of southern New Zealand, an illustrated account of his family’s four-generation involvement in the construction industry.A keen hunter, fisherman, climber and skier, he was introduced to the incomparable wilds of the Waiatoto by Kerry Eggeling in 1977.

Books by John Breen

River of Blood

Epic adventure. survival and tragedy in New Zealand's own 'Wild West' frontier, the Waiatoto Valley.

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