2024 The Year That Was: Bat tip to the half-century.
With over 25 years of writing these annual updates, it’s been interesting to look back at life having hit “50 official trips around the sun” and reflecting on the highs, lows and challenges of this ongoing journey. At 24, I left New Zealand on an EAP scholarship to finish my Law Honours Degree at US Davis in California, with no other specific plan but a one year working visa in my pocket to make the most of whatever opportunities presented themselves post studies. I had no conception of how life would essentially unfold.
I secured my first positions post-grad doing legal and policy work for the local Chamorron government in Saipan and at the Alaskan law firm Perkins Coie to get office work experience and save some money before launching into a freelance adventure journalism career. The weaves and turns of this phase of life led me to explore the social and geopolitical intricacies of over 85 countries. It included coverage of historic events, some great, such as the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and three soccer world cups in Brazil, South Africa and South Korea; and some where I witnessed the devastating impacts placed upon humanity from the Boxing Day Tsunami in Thailand in 2004 and Cyclone Ondoy in the Philippines in 2009.
These experiences led to over 150 articles published for media outlets including National Geographic, Hollywood’s locations magazine P3 Update, TNT UK, New Zealand’s Stuff and Tu Mai Magazine. This was also a time when email was in its infancy, and given nobody was writing blogs then, most of my mass emails were picked up by the popular press because so few people were doing this in the late 90s. Furthermore, the internet was incredibly hard to come by - especially overseas. I’d find myself in a random internet café in a backstreet alley in Beirut, or near a game park in the Okavango Delta trying to meet a Magazine deadline. If my editors only knew, I swear they would never have hired me again!
The global journeys also provided material for my 7 books as illustrated in my publishing catalogue here:
https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/hoturoa/
None of this would have been possible without the foundation I received from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand where I attained my International Relations / Politics and Law (Honours) Degree qualifications. It was a privilege to have them showcase my career since leaving their hallowed hallways in 1998.
As the article shows, it’s been an adventurous and professionally fulfilling quarter century and 2024 was certainly no exception.
For many of us, it has been a long climb towards “normal” since the Covid-19 pandemic. We were no exception. In March 2020, our on-site students in the Conservation Medicine in New Zealand Program were evacuated just days before the border closings. After 4 long years, we were finally able to welcome back university students to Aotearoa. 13 exceptional students from Michigan State University entered our fair shores for two months of academic adventuring exploring the geothermal wonderland of Rotorua and researching at our field camp site in Resolution Bay in the Marlborough Sounds. They were tasked with continuing our soil sample research and starting a new project evaluating biodiversity using eDNA.
The team also spent a month in the Wellington region doing lab research at Victoria University, visiting parliament and the Ministry of Environment to get insight into the legal and policy making behind New Zealand’s conservation processes, and working with Predator Free NZ in Pukerua Bay to assess the effectiveness of their mammalian trapping regimes, as well as the environmental impact of their incredibly successful coastal marine reserve. Indeed there is an ongoing need to keep the pressure on governments and private enterprise to help curb or at least balance the ongoing full-frontal attack of our ecological systems for primarily corporate based gains.
We finished out the program in the stunning South Island exploring Queenstown, Wanaka, Aoraki Mount Cook, and Fiordland National Park. It is a unique privilege to witness the beauty and power of a glacier up close especially when we visited the Tasman Glacier by boat watching huge chunks of ice calve from the front, and later by heli-hike to see the melt in the crevasses. It certainly drives home the issues of glacial melt occurring due to climate change and it is estimated that almost all of New Zealand’s 900 glaciers will disappear by the end of the century.
For more photos and academic insight from our students’ brilliant blogs about their experiences see:
https://nathanspictorials0.wordpress.com/
Books in Homes
One of my life goals upon reaching 50 has been to get around the schools of every region in New Zealand speaking about my experiences trekking the length of the Great Wall of China and inspiring the next generation to follow their dreams no matter the challenge. I started this work back in 2004 creating my own company Great Wall Talks to start covering the Wellington based schools and colleges while my Penguin best-seller ‘First Pass Under Heaven’ was being published. I was later picked up by the Kapiti Kids Motivational Trust and Te Kiko Maori Role Models Trust to expand that work through the Kapiti and Manawatu regions around Paraparaumu and Palmerston North. In 2013, I received an email from James Cameron’s personal assistant Grant Roa that the Alan Duff Books in Homes Charitable Trust were looking for role models and this commenced a working relationship and epic speaking circuit odyssey to all corners of Aotearoa over the next decade.
After a tearful send-off of our students, Jeanette, Oli and I headed off on a 20 school visit through Dunedin and Southland schools to continue our work for the Duffy Books Charitable Trust which has given both the gift of reading and over 15 million books to children throughout New Zealand. The trip enabled me to reach all the way to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island connecting me now with over 500 schools all the way to Cape Reinga. It has been humbling to have the positive responses from all the pupils from my talks and in particular witnessing all the incredibly hard work done by our country’s teachers to provide a safe space for our kids to be educated and grow as well as keep our communities strong. For those that want to support the brilliant work done by this Trust click here:
www.booksinhomes.org.nz/donate
After 20 years of this important work, one wonders what the longer-term impacts of these visits might be. I recently received an email from a parent whose son had seen my speech when he was 8 years old. He is now on his own adventure, starting his music career in New York and mentioned specifically that my speech gave him the impetus and courage to pursue his dream. As I think more about my legacy, knowing that I have in some small part helped inspire the next generation brings me such joy.
Wanganui Hike
2024 brought another milestone. Over the past 5 years we have been making our way slowly from Wellington: Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui (the Head of the Great Fish of Maui) up to the riverside town of Wanganui over 150 kilometres away. Over a series of day-hikes commencing from Red Rocks on Wellington’s South Sea Coast, up along the skyline trail through Mount Kaukau, and onwards to the peaks of Colonial Knob in Porirua, (where Oli started his treks northwards as a two year old), we explored the incredibly remote and sublime coastal beaches of the Plimmerton, Kapiti, Horowhenua and Manawatu regions. Our soul-soaring fitness sojourns were always premised on picking up as much plastic litter as possible and our gradual progress inspired by the volcanic peaks of Ruapehu and Taranaki emerging in the distance. It’s been a very different experience from hiking the length of the Great Wall of China (half a lifetime ago), but so enriching watching our 6-year-old boy grow in confidence and stature as we marked our way mile by mile up the North Island’s spine.
As we reached the shores of where the Whanganui River meets the sea, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect as we arrived on the whanau launch of the documentary ‘Ko au te Awa. Ko te Awa ko au. I am the River. The River is Me.’ The film takes the audience on a full immersion sensory experience down the Whanganui Awa highlighting the ongoing battle by its indigenous guardians to enhance its environmental protection by securing legal personhood for the river - a world first. This superbly shot film is helping to spearhead the movement for enhancing the Rights of Nature worldwide and the stories contained within by the Maori and Aboriginal leaders involved and their oppressive stories of colonisation upon their tribes throughout history make it mandatory viewing. Jeanette, Oli and I were also super privileged to be able to go for a paddle on the Whanganui River with the film makers and the stars of the documentary, (including the Dog Jimmy), after we had completed our hikoi all the way to Whanganui. The film also officially opened the 19th edition of the Doc Edge Festival.
Doc Edge
Doc Edge is one of two Oscar qualifying documentary festivals in the world and it was a treat to have the 19th edition commence in Christchurch for the first time to open up the experience to so many of the South Island film and documentary makers. 66 films were showcased from over 1500 entries with over 30 World Premieres and international guests presenting their films. I’ve sat on their Board now for 3 years and I was able to rub shoulders with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish who has been nominated 5 times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a Palestinian doctor birthing children in Israel. Despite losing his three daughters to an Israeli tank attack in 2009 (and 22 relations in the latest war in Gaza), he still propagates the need for peace on the world stage. The Israeli directed film about his life ‘I Shall Not Hate’ was a must see along with ‘We Shall Dance Again’ which showed live footage from the horrific attacks in Israel on Oct 7, 2023 from both Israeli and Hamas cameras to provide journalistic balance. We were also inspired by the words of 25 times nominated and 6 times Academy Award winning producer Ted Hope whose collaboration on over 100 films places him as one of the most influential Indie-film makers in history. My family even got to meet the actor who plays Yoda in Star Wars to the sheer glee of my six year old.
Stand out films included both ‘Devi’ and ‘Mediha’ which addresses war crime rape in Nepal and enslavement by ISIS troops of Yizidi women in Iraq and Syria. ‘Invisible Nation’ shot by Vanessa Hope about the first female president of Taiwan and the challenges they face as a country to secure political recognition was also informative viewing. ‘Every Little Thing’ took home every New Zealand award with its sublime footage of Hummingbirds and goes in for Academy Award consideration for 2025. Winner of the Best International Short was ‘Girl of Wind’ (about a Chinese woman who climbs skyscrapers) and Best International Feature Documentary ‘Sugarcane’ about uncovering the mass graves of Native Indian children in Canada and seeking an official apology from Justin Trudeau as well as the Pope in the Vatican. It was also a treat to facilitate sessions on ‘Story Sovereignty’ as well as an important session with the Minister of Arts and Broadcasting Hon. Paul Goldsmith to hear the concerns and hopes of the Documentary making industry moving into the future.
For those that want to support Doc Edge as one of the Kaitiaki / Guardian Supporters as this fantastic charitable trust championing New Zealand and global documentary making enters its 20th year, there is a tiered sponsorship program full of amazing perks such as attending world premieres and meeting the amazing film makers outlined in the link below:
https://docedge.nz/patron/
Back to USA
On route back to our usual stomping grounds of Michigan, we stopped off firstly in Hawaii and then Washington State for a very special visit with Jess Hennessey and Karen Williams who had been on Rotary Ambassadorial exchange with me in South Africa 30 years ago. After exploring the vibrant city of Seattle, we ended up tenting for two nights in the scenically mesmerising Fort Ebey State Park. It was a time of laughs, great meals and stunning sunsets as well as maintaining and forging new life-long friendships. We also explored the lush forests of the Mount Baker region just south of the Canadian border and the Oyster delights of the Puget Sound. This region of the world will always claim a little bit of one’s heart.
For photos of the scenically stunning area click on here:
https://www.facebook.com/nathan.h.gray/photos
Next we flew to Minnesota on our hopscotch journey back to Michigan to spend a few days with Jeanette’s sister Jennifer near the twin cities of St Paul’s and Minneapolis. Herein lies the famous ‘Mall of America’ which houses no less than 4 rollercoasters and an assortment of joyrides which rocked Oliver’s world. We all then drove the 10 hours to Michigan to attend the 50th anniversary of Jeanette’s parents John and Theresa which took place on a riverboat alongside the city of Detroit and an unforgettable moment celebrating such a milestone and what such long term connections can create.
More photos are visible here: https://www.instagram.com/nathanhoturoa/?__pwa=1
Fall Semester on Michigan State University campus kept us all busy as Oliver was enrolled in dance and soccer classes as well as continuing his brilliant NZ correspondence school (Te Kura) with his fantastic teacher Helen whom we are so grateful for. Oli won two academic prizes in maths and reading, (building up his capacity to be comprehending and reading 3 years above his current age.) He loves his sports and adding dance to his life repertoire really rounded off his current passions and talents. One of the semester highlights was visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with the incredible Lienhart family where the immense 150 metre high sand dunes are a site to behold. Navigating one’s way to the top reveals wind swept bluffs with almighty views out over Lake Michigan. Picturesque farmlands, lush forests, lighthouses and cute villages dot the pristine coastline and reveal a rich maritime, agricultural and recreational history. A real treat for all the senses to explore.
For videos and photos from all these times in Michigan and travelling through the USA see:
https://www.tiktok.com/@nathanhoturoagray
US Elections
My final job for the year was covering the US election for Stuff our leading New Zealand newspaper and media outlet with a readership of 2.3 million. Some of my articles are linked below for those interested in having a read during the highly contested electoral showdown between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350417203/harris-v-trump-view-battleground-state
I also had the privilege to write an article showcasing the amazing book: Tiahuia – A Karanga to my Mother written by my sister, Merenia Gray, based on the bicultural relationship of my late parents.
Finally we were all lucky to witness both the Northern and Southern lights throughout the year given that my wife is a big time Aurora Hunting data nerd. With all the mathematical stars in alignment, (as a huge solar flare directed its wares from 92.7 million miles away), we were whisked away after Oli’s soccer practice one night to the forbidden frontier lands where Nature escapes the technological wiles and unrelenting dominance of human civilisation. In the realm where darkness reigns we were soon treated to the seductive delights of the Lady of the Light where the sky erupted into a magical visual display. It was like the vision of the Huntress Diana unleashing heart-warming arrows of celestial magnificence throughout the star-studded heavens. Cloaking us with red, green and white pulses of celestial joy, I sensed my true place in life as a tiny, insignificant mammal, sitting on a rock hurtling through space at over 30 kilometres per second, and providing a unique insight to the sheer privilege of living for 50 years on our precious planet.
2025 also brings the 10 year celebration of Jeanette’s and my relationship, (forged initially from working as colleagues and friends for 5 years on Michigan State University’s study abroad programs). These programs certainly turned out to be a great gauge of how both of us operated under all types of life challenges, in particular corralling groups of seemingly unstoppable 18-24 years olds on their first overseas university sojourns. The “mobile-family” that we create throughout these academic adventures in New Zealand, Hawaii and Switzerland has been wonderful to blend with our own family, Oli picking up an incredible array of extended whanau along with the many other wonderful and amazing people we are lucky enough to have as our supporters and friends.
Wishing you all a rewarding year ahead, and may you take on your challenges into 2025 with grace, fortitude and determination.
Arohanui
Nathan Hoturoa Gray
People & Capability Generalist | Wellbeing | Emotional Culture | Quality | OD | L&D | H&S | Leadership Coaching | Delivering within a Te Āo Māori kaupapa/context
4moThank you for sharing, what an amazing and wonderful story, insights and fabulous jewels to follow up. Brilliant 🙏✨️⚡️