In 1983 I traveled to New Zealand for over 6 months, including stops in Hawaii and Australia. While in New Zealand, I was caught in a flash flood while backpacking alone in the Fiordlands of the South Island. This book is about my near-death experience alone 15 miles from the nearest person. At one point, while swimming through the forest to find high ground, I went under and drowned...saw my life pass before my eyes and the white light at the end of the tunnel. Somehow I made it back to the surface. It is also about my personal exploration as to what was important to me at that time and what continues to be important to me to this day. Things like family, the outdoors, learning about other cultures, reading, writing, and more. Join me on my adventure to New Zealand and into myself.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Polly Evans was a woman with a mission. Before the traditional New Zealand male hung up his sheep shears for good, Polly wanted to see this vanishing species with her own eyes. Venturing into the land of giant kauri trees and smaller kiwi birds, she explores the country once inhabited by fierce Maori who carved their enemies’ bones into cutlery, bushwhacking pioneers, and gold miners who lit their pipes with banknotes—and comes face-to-face with their surprisingly tame descendants. So what had become of the mighty Kiwi warrior? As Polly tears through the countryside at seventy-five miles an hour, she attempts to solve this mystery while pub-crawling in Hokitika, scaling the Southern Alps, and enduring a hair-raising stay in a mining town where the earth has been known to swallow houses whole. And as she chronicles the thrills and travails of her extraordinary odyssey, Polly’s search for the elusive Kiwi comes full circle—teaching her some hilarious and surprising lessons about motorcycles, modern civilization, and men.

Craving change and lacking logic, at 26, Jamie, a cute and quirky Californian, impulsively moves to New Zealand to avoid dating after reading that the country's population has 100,000 fewer men. In her journal, she captures a hysterically honest look at herself, her past and her new wonderfully weird world filled with curious characters and slapstick situations in unbelievably bizarre jobs. It takes a zany jaunt to the end of the Earth and a serendipitous meeting with a fellow traveler before Jamie learns what it really means to get rooted.

A one woman kayaking odyssey when she sets off to voyage around NZ , it tests her limits and what solo means. Her journey doesnt always go to plan. Yes she discovered that one person can achieve monumental things by herself. But she learnt something else too - the power of connection to others. Ultimately, her story is about discovering the god and the bad of being SOLO, in life as well as on the water. An extraordinary woman. An incredible story. But beware: going on this jouney with Red might just change your life.

"A multilayered, highly informative and insightful book that blends memoir, historical and travel narrative-vivid and meticulously researched."--San Francisco Chronicle

Everyone needs to be rescued sometimes. Everyone but Hannah Montgomery, that is. She just needs a vacation. Three weeks Down Under, a vacation in New Zealand to sort out her life, figure out what she wants, seems just right. Oh, and to relax. She should definitely put that on the agenda. She certainly isn't looking for a sexy fling with a professional rugby player, no matter how attractive he is. Hannah doesn't do casual. But maybe just this once ... As much as he's shared with Hannah, Drew Callahan has kept one very big secret. He's the captain of New Zealand's All Blacks rugby team, and the most famous rugby player on earth. And learning the truth, now that she's back home again, has made Hannah warier than ever. Drew knows that she's right for him. But how can he convince her to let down her guard enough to explore what they could have together? Go Down Under in this steamy New Zealand sports romance. Fans of Jill Shalvis, Catherine Bybee, and Kristin Higgins will enjoy this book.

"When I ran, I ran for pleasure. I didn't run for times, to win, to impress: I ran for me. When I ran my bum cheeks rubbed together, so much so that if I was going on a long run I'd have to 'lube up'. I maintained that I was not a 'real' runner - I just liked to run so that I could eat cake." Anna was never anything like those 'real' runners on telly - all spindly limbs, tiny shorts and split times - but when she read about New Zealand's 3,000-kilometre-long Te Araroa Trail, she began to wonder... perhaps being a 'real' runner was overrated. Maybe she could just run it anyway? Travelling alone through New Zealand's backcountry for 148 days, she scrambled through forests, along ridge-lines, over mountain passes, along beaches and across swollen rivers. Running up to 52 kilometres in a day, she slept wild most nights, and was taken into the homes and hearts of the kiwi people in between. The Pants of Perspective is a witty, colourful and at times painfully raw account of a journey to the edge of what a woman believes herself to be capable of. It is a coming-of-age story which will lead you on a roller coaster ride through fear, vulnerability courage and failure. For anyone who has ever dreamt of taking on a great challenge, but felt too afraid to begin - this story is for you.