In Wild Journeys Bruce Ansley retraces the path of doomed surveyor John Whitcombe across the Southern Alps, follows the raiding party of northern chief Te Puoho along the West Coast, sails around New Zealand’s North and South capes, walks through the valley under the Two Thumb Range to mythical Mesopotamia, drives from Waiheke to Wanaka (in a hurry), sets off on a hunt for the South Island’s ‘Grey Ghost’, looks deep into the heart of volcanic New Zealand and tracks the escape route of our most unlikely hero, jail-breaker George Wilder. These are stories about New Zealand, of wild journeys and strange ones, of exhilaration, joy, frailty and fear.