BOOK REVIEW: WILD JOURNEYS BY BRUCE ANSLEY

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Wild Journeys: New Zealand's Famous & Infamous, Historic & Off-The-Beaten-Path Journeys, Tracks, Routes and Passages
Author: Bruce Ansley
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 288
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

In this book, the author retraces the footsteps of several famous and infamous people on New Zealand and explores different paths and journeys people have taken throughout the years.

Review:

I bought this book in this lovely little bookshop in Auckland a few years back and have great memories of picking it out and taking it home, so I'm glad to have finally read it as well!

In each chapter of this book, we get to explore a different part of New Zealand and learn about why the track, path or part of the country is significant and the people who went on some of these journeys. Some of the chapters are historical, whereas other are more contemporary and in each one, the author goes on the same trek himself.

I very much enjoyed the historical chapters in here, whereas I found the other ones slightly less interesting and a bit forgettable. In some ways it feels like a short story collection, and as with most of those, it's a bit of a mixed bag. I did quite like all of the descriptions of the nature though, and it made me want to travel back to NZ. 

I do think it's a huge missed opportunity that there isn't a single map in this book, or any pictures. I think it would've lifted this from being something good to something great, and it would have made the less fascinating chapters far more enticing. 

Overall though, a nice little read.

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads