Whakarewarewa Village is a living Maori village located in the thermal region of Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand. Its doors have been open to tourists since more than a century ago when an 1886 volcanic eruption destroyed the historic pink and white terraces at Lake Tarawera, New Zealand’s first tourist attraction. Whakarewarewa Village today is inhabited by 25 families who go about their daily lives but allow visitors to move amongst them and learn about their customs and culture.

Willie Gordon is likely simply to ask a traveller on one of his Guurrbi Tours “When was the Beginning for you?” I’ve yet to hear someone able to answer him. It is quite humbling to be in the presence of someone who is still in touch with his Beginning. I’ve seen rock paintings of animals that have been extinct for thousands of years, but in far too many magnificent rock art sites, the full story has been lost. Willie, however, learned what he knows directly from elders and grandparents.

In 1974, the flooding Brisbane River of Queensland, Australia, peaked at 5.4 metres. It has been etched in local memory as the worst inundation the city and surrounding areas faced in the 20th century. Although the Brisbane River peaked just below the 1974 level on 13 January 2011, the damage has been far more targic and it is now the new point of reference for flood devastation.