The year is 1953. Peter Cotterill starts the year writing in a journal given to him by his Great Aunt. We follow him through a year of many changes as his town of Napier struggles through hard times in the aftermath of WWII. He joins the scouts and learns to overlook the small-town class structure. The story culminates in a train ride to Auckland with his fellow scouts on the eve of Christmas. In the night, unbeknownst to the travellers, a lahar washes away a railway bridge.
