Hurricane Tim: The Story Of Sir Tim Wallis

Neville Peat

Dec 2013 · Sold by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited

About this ebook

The gripping biography of one of New Zealand's most distinguished farmers, entreprenuers and aviation heroes. When Sir Tim Wallis’s Spitfire crashed at Wanaka airfield in 1996, his accident was reported around the world. This lion-hearted Central Otago man, a legendary figure in the aviation, deer farming and business worlds, was suddenly fighting for his life. Sir Tim Wallis is known as the helicopter pilot and entrepreneur who pioneered New Zealand’s deer industry. A multi-millionaire, he is also the man behind the successful Warbirds Over Wanaka air pageant. For decades he’s had a passion for collecting, restoring and flying vintage fighter planes. Tim’s adventurous life story is told here by writer Neville Peat, who shares his great love of the South: Fiordland, South Westland, Central Otago and the Southern Alps. Hurricane Tim is an absorbing account of the adventures of Tim Wallis that equally extends to faraway places where he applied his business instincts – southern Siberia, tropical Vanuatu and Canada. After Sir Tim’s 1996 crash, he was given just a slim chance of survival. But survive he did. With astounding determination he has learned to speak and walk again, albeit slowly. Undoubtedly Tim inspires all who meet him; his story is equally inspiring. What drove this extraordinary character to live at the edge throughout his life? Author Neville Peat draws us into the hurricane that is Sir Tim Wallis.

About the author

Neville Peat is an award-winning author and photographer of over 30 books, covering themes of geography, biography, natural history and the environment. His biographies include the bestselling Hurricane Tim: The Story of Sir Tim Wallis. In the late 1970s he spent two summers at Scott Base, New Zealand’s Antarctica station on Ross Island, as a journalist and photographer, and has written five books on Antarctic themes. In 2007 he was awarded New Zealand’s most valuable literary prize, the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship for a book about the Tasman Sea (The Tasman: Biography of an ocean). Wild Dunedin: Enjoying the natural history of New Zealand’s wildlife capital (with Brian Patrick) won the 1996 Natural Heritage category of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, and their Wild Fiordland was shortlisted in 1997. Shackleton's Whiskey was published in 2013. In 1994 he was named Dunedin Citizen of the Year, in acknowledgement of his books on the region and his work in establishing the Dunedin Environmental Business Network. Neville has served as a councillor and as deputy chair on the Otago Regional Council, and has chaired it Environment and Science Committee. Neville’s other books include: Snow Dogs: The huskies of Antarctica; Detours; The Incredible Kiwi; Land Aspiring: The story of Mount Aspiring National Park; Coasting: The sea lion and the lark; Subantarctic New Zealand: A rare heritage; Antarctic Partners: 50 years of New Zealand and United States Cooperation in Antarctica, 1957–2007; High Country Lark; and Seabird Genius: The Story of L. E. Richdale, the royal albatross and the yellow-eyed penguin. He has undertaken commissioned work for Otago Museum, and his comprehensive report on the sub-Antarctic islands earned World Heritage Area status for five groups of the islands. Neville is a fifth-generation descendant of Scottish pioneers in Otago. He lives at Broad Bay, Otago Peninsula; the family home fittingly near populations of royal albatross, yellow-eyed penguin, New Zealand (Hooker’s) sea lion and New Zealand fur seal, about which Neville has written many times. See www.nevillepeatsnewzealand.com.