Pilgrimage Aotearoa

Pilgrimage Aotearoa / Haerenga Tapu Aotearoa is your essential companion for discovering the spiritual, historical and cultural treasures of Aotearoa New Zealand. Written by Jenny Boyack and John Hornblow, this guidebook takes readers on an inspiring journey through 100 sites across the country, each with its own story of significance. Each site is brought to life with vivid descriptions and historical context, illuminating the deep roots of spirituality and heritage that make Aotearoa unique.

Pilgrimage has always been a feature of human life on this planet and today it is the third most popular reason for travel. Although many Kiwis visit famous overseas pilgrimage sites, it is only fairly recently that they have seen the potential of these islands for transformative pilgrimage experiences. The impetus for this guidebook, a 12-year work of love, was the realisation that no equivalent resource existed for those wanting to explore local pilgrimage sites.

Selecting sites for inclusion in the book was challenging. Some were obvious, others recommended, and some discovered quite by accident. The guidebook does not claim to include all the sites in Aotearoa that have potential to inspire, challenge, disturb, inform or transform pilgrims. It is a selection only and one of its goals is to encourage readers to look with wider vision at sites in their own locations and neighbourhoods.

The sites selected have compelling stories, are accessible to the public (in some cases by arrangement with those who live there), and contribute to a wider understanding of who we are as a diverse and complex nation. Many sites tell of the earliest and enduring Christian presence in the country, while others tell contemporary stories. Some sites record terrible injustice and suffering and are a cause for remorse and repentance. Others are inspiring and heart-warming and reflect foundational values of respect, justice, peace and restoration. Beautiful photographs at each site, the inclusion of biographical information about key people, and poems, prayers and artwork, all add breadth to the work.

For Jenny and John, researching and writing this guidebook has also been a journey of personal growth and discovery. Important themes emerged for them as they met with people who own and live with the stories in the book, including those who continue to feel the effects of colonisation and land loss. Using te reo Māori for place names and for concepts that do not have a clear equivalent in Pākehā culture or the English language was one important way of acknowledging te ao Māori and the centrality of tangata whenua and te Tiriti o Waitangi to our shared life in Aotearoa. The extensive bibliography reflects something of the authors’ journey and is an invitation for readers and pilgrims to discover and understand more about our history.

Aotearoa New Zealand today is grappling with big issues, some of which have the potential to widen division and fuel conflict between different groups in society. We hope that through telling these stories and acknowledging our history, this book can assist with healing, reconciliation, restoration and transformation for individuals, communities, and as a nation. As you explore this beautiful country through the pages of this book, as an armchair pilgrim or one who is able to undertake a physical journey, our prayer is that it will also be an opportunity for inner pilgrimage and discovery.

It has been my privilege to help navigate this important work through its final editing stages. I am awed at the amount of work John and Jenny have put into providing a framework for pilgrimage (haerenga) in Aotearoa with this valuable resource that honours our rich and at times painful Māori and colonial heritage. They have literally walked the talk guiding tours through some of the world’s most sacred spaces and places and delivered thoughtful insights into how we might rediscover and locate some of the obvious and hidden treasures in our own story.
Keith Newman, journalist, poet, author

Jenny and John Hornblow have given Aotearoa a much-needed guide to some of our most significant sites, where people have expressed their sense of the sacred in times past. Each pilgrimage opportunity reminds us of some of our most poignant and powerful roots, as people who have made these islands our home. This timely book will help us find our way to them: to learn from the faith, the hope and the love that flows down from them to us.
Archbishop, Sir David Moxon

I write to endorse your book and your project on sites of significance in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is very admirable. The entry and prayer for Waitangi is excellent. I commend it wholeheartedly.
Bishop Kito

Pilgrimage Aotearoa – a Travellers Guide, is a fantastic resource that could be used by individuals and kura to explore their local history curriculum, faith-based schools and any group or faith community. It offers an extraordinary insight into “our” story, provides information on the history and tapu of each site and reflection exercises to ponder on their meaning for us today.
This Guidebook offers for the first time an opportunity for us in Aotearoa to explore our own taonga and tapu sites which contribute to the fabric of our lives. We are all pilgrims on our life journey, with a yearning for spiritual fulfilment. Creating a personal hikoi to places and sites which help weave and honour the strands of life is so special.
Jenny Gordon, A Director on the Board of the New Zealand Catholic Education Office.

Jenny Boyack and John Hornblow have been involved with pilgrimages for many years and believe that, in a broad sense, we are always ‘on pilgrimage’. For over a decade they have planned and led a range of pilgrimages within Aotearoa New Zealand, and overseas in Israel and Palestine; Italy (Franciscan); England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland (Celtic); and Greece and Turkey. They have also been involved with St George’s College in Jerusalem and the Anglican Centre in Rome, both centres for pilgrimage. In 2015 John spoke at the Second Global Conference on Sacred Journeys held at Mansfield College, Oxford University, England. In 2017 they walked 150km of the Camino Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

John is a retired Priest in All Saints’ Anglican Parish, Palmerston North, a former Deputy Mayor of Palmerston North, and in his working life, director of a human resource company. Jenny is organist and choir director at All Saints, and is now retired from a career in music and teacher education. Jenny and John are married and have seven adult children and twelve grandchildren.

1. It is unique – there is no other book like this
2.  It represents a collaboration between the authors and people connected with the featured sites
3. It gives detailed information and directions about how to access the sites.
4. It identifies 7 walking or driving pilgrimages throughout Aotearoa
5. It includes reflections and prompts for personal growth and contemplation
6. It is perfect for both solo or group pilgrimages
7. It provides guidance and practical tips for schools, and others, to create pilgrimages
   in their own locality.
8. It guides overseas travellers to key sites throughout Aotearoa
9. It gives those who cannot travel the opportunity to engage with each site.

• Soft cover 232pp A5
• ISBN 9781991027535
• Colour photos throughout
• Spiral bound for ease of use
• Compact: Fits in your glove box, backpack or hand bag
• Philip Garside Publishing Ltd (2024)