John Thomson's 'Voyages and Wanderings' being in 1861 when at 17 he sets sail from Greenock, Scotland to start a new life on the other side of the world in Port Chalmers, New Zealand.
From his adventures as a 'new chum' on the Otago Goldfields to his philosophical discussions with Te Whiti-o-Rongamai at Parihaka he reports his experiences with insight and humanity.
In 1877 with the crew of the Bencleugh, he is shipwrecked on Macquarie Island. Before their rescue the men spend four winter months in the harsh sub-Antarctic environment where they must work together to ensure their survival, or perish.
We meet sailors, pirates, whalers and sealers as John recounts the beauty and danger of life under sail as he journeys around the Southern Coast of New Zealand and across the world's great oceans.
