Notes

When Peter Cotterill begins his diary in 1953, little does he realise that something is happening elsewhere in New Zealand that is going to have a huge impact on his life.
As he tells of his day-to-day life in Napier - school, paper round, Scouts, as well as the lasting effects of World War II on his friends and family - the forces of nature are at work, culminating in an event so tragic that it will shock a whole nation.