In this Pukapuka Talks, Samantha Gee from Radio New Zealand quizzes Naomi Arnold about her 2026 Ockham NZ Book Award longlisted book, Northbound, and Rebecca Hayter about High Heels & Gumboots, her hilarious and heartwarming memoir set in Golden Bay,.
When award-winning journalist and author Naomi Arnold set off to walk from Bluff to Cape Reinga she soon discovered that heading north meant she would spend long periods completely on her own.
Yachting enthusiast Rebecca Hayter – also an award-winning journalist – initially planned a seachange with her partner but found herself the ‘accidental’ sole owner of a 10-acre beachfront ‘lifestyle’ property in Golden Bay.
While these two award-winning journalists and authors embarked on two very different journeys, they were both yearning to reconnect with the landscape of Aotearoa and themselves.