In 1886, fourteen-year old James Collier is excited to be accompanying his father who has been commissioned by the New Zealand Herald to paint the Pink and White Terraces. While his father researches and makes sketches James gets to know the people and places around the township and makes friends with Wiremu, (known as 'Will'). Through Will, James gets to meet the local Maori people and the boys are together when they see the ghostly waka floating on the lake - the image that will later be reported by many as a premonition of the disaster to follow. James and his father camp out on an area near the terraces while his father makes coloured sketches for reference, but luckily they have returned to the township when Mt Tarawera erupts. James and his father are apart as the horror unfolds and James must fight his fear and the obvious danger to find his father. Throughout the ordea James keeps notes of what he sees and hears and through his eyes we experience the devastation and tragedy that is the largest eruption in New Zealand's recorded history.