Epic: Adventures Across New Zealand
Author:
Ray Salisbury
Publisher:
Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd
ISBN:
9781991001399
Date published:
01 November 2023
Pages:
256
Format:
Hardback
RRP:
$49.99
During the last 50 years, sea kayakers, climbers and alpine trampers have been attempting audacious journeys across New Zealand that last many months. Most of these adventurers have written books on their travels.
In Epic, these tales have been condensed and retold, ready for a new generation to be inspired by these very Kiwi adventures to, as author Ray Salisbury puts it in his introduction, kick their shoes off and “feel the earth beneath our bare feet. The beach and bush beckon …”
Featured adventurers range from Graeme Dingle and Jill Tremain attempting the first traverse of the Southern Alps, to the author’s own tramp across the North Island in 1995, as told in the book’s final chapter.
This book is not intended to be an exhaustive history, but a selective anthology of endurance epics that span a variety of disciplines — from tramping and mountaineering to kayaking or cycling — and that trace a variety of interesting routes around the country. In words, maps and photographs, each of the 12 chapters highlights the resilience of the human spirit when attempting feats of endurance. Both men and women are featured, while their incredible adventures are spread out from Cape to Bluff, encompassing both the North, South and Stewart islands.
About the author:
Ray Salisbury, author and photographer, has had a lifelong love for backcountry NZ. In the 1990s, he completed a solo 80-day traverse of the North Island mountain ranges. He wrote about that epic journey in his book, Cape to Cape. Today, Ray continues to write about epic adventures in New Zealand.
