Experiencing Activism in Thames

Thames was the first stop in New Zealand for American Deborah Swift, author of The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia’s Convict Women. On a three-week book tour of the Antipodes, Swift writes from the Coromandel: “My evening in Thames reminded me that writing about strong women empowers and attracts strong women. I loved meeting Renee Rose Annan, one of the booksellers at the Civic Centre, also an activist whose second job involves working with Maori groups to stop gold mining on the ecologically fragile Coromandel Peninsula. Social and environmental activism, coupled with heavy-duty volunteerism, appears to be alive and well in New Zealand, and the country is reaping its rewards.”