Two recurrent themes ebb and flow throughout this highly engaging and informative book — a sense of fun and a sense of dedication. Those themes will be recognised by many in the Marlborough community who have dealt with Peter Anderson and Peter Jerram over some 35 years, and carry into print the very attributes displayed by these larger-than-life characters in their veterinary practice.
These two blokes have successfully struck a balance, both in life and now in print, between these attributes. One is the mix of knowledge, skills, empathy and sensitivity required to successfully operate as dedicated vets servicing both small and large animal veterinary needs. The other is what one passage describes as a ‘larrikin’ approach to life.
The outcome is a series of anecdotes that inform and delight. They also convey realistically, and oft en highly amusingly, the colour and feel of the Marlborough countryside and the people who make a living within it.
The emphasis on sheep and beef farming practices and their associated humour will strike a ready chord with the farming community and those who service that community in provincial towns. But the appeal of this book is broader than that. The humour and the insights into country life will equally intrigue and amuse a wider audience in the cities.
The focus is naturally on Marlborough’s dry country, encompassing major valleys and rugged mountain ranges, and the influence of the Marlborough Sounds complex. The authors’ travel antics and experiences have arisen from the challenge of servicing a far-flung clientele across a large and geographically challenging province. To many, the descriptions of the reliance of the ‘flying vet’ Pete Anderson on a variety of aeroplanes, and his mix of good luck as well as good management in surviving a series of close calls, will add a uniqueness to this book not encountered in any other.
But the book also ranges far beyond those Marlborough settings. Intriguing chapters describe a voyage on a vessel carrying some 100,000 sheep to Saudi Arabia, and an extended advisory stay in war-torn Kosovo.
I highly commend this book to anyone keen to catch a glimpse of veterinary life in a New Zealand provincial setting, while at the same time enjoying the humour and warmth that life naturally provides.
In short it is a cracker.
Ron Crosby
Blenheim
April 2011