More than three decades ago a group of women pushed their prams from Whakatane to Gisborne in a peaceful protest against nuclear weapons.
They were part of a people's movement that aimed to put an end to nuclear testing in the Pacific and led to the New Zealand Nuclear Free legislation of 1987.
This year the story of the Pramazons has been made into a book, He Mihi ki te Tai Rawhiti, to commemorate 30 years of nuclear-free legislation in New Zealand.
Luise Brandt was a member of the Pramazons and says at the time the threat of nuclear war hung heavy.
“In those days it [nuclear war] was really in the news about the threat of the nuclear catastrophe - and it is again now.”
Luise had been an anti-war campaigner in the UK and when she came home wanted to continue her activism.
“I’d come from London with a big anti-nuclear marching band, I came back to New Zealand and thought we’ve got to keep going on with this here, so we developed the Pacific Peace Band.”
That led to the idea of a march.
“We went to peace in the same way that soldiers go to war.”
And the big old prams they used came in handy too, Luise says.
“They were the big, old-fashioned kind of pram that could fit a lot of gear, so we had all of our food in one of them, we had a cello, cow bells and ukeleles and our sleeping bags.”
Along the way they performed street songs, told stories and gave puppet shows.
Luise says the people of Te Tai Rawhiti in the East Cape were generous and it was a life-changing time for the group.
“They shared with us their lives, their stories, their kai, and their homes.”
