- Author : Andrew Stevenson
- Binding : Paperback
- Dewey Decimal Number : 919.304
- EAN : 9780864427878
- Edition : 1St Edition
- ISBN : 0864427875
- Label : Lonely Planet Publications
- List Price : $12.95 (USD)
- Manufacturer : Lonely Planet Publications
- Number Of Items : 1
- Number Of Pages : 264
- Package Dimensions : 0.53 inches (Height) x 7.77 inches (Length) x 0.52 pounds (Weight) x 5.03 inches (Width)
- Publication Date : 1999-09
- Publisher : Lonely Planet Publications
- Studio : Lonely Planet Publications
Many of us dream of escaping from everyday life, tossing a few possessions in a backpack and travelling light in far-off lands. Andrew Stevenson did more than dream: he packed his rucksack and went. Andrew's destination was New Zealand, the island nation famous for its pristine wilderness, from sandy beaches and fast-flowing rivers to glacial mountains and primeval forests. In a hiker's heaven, he treks along the Milford Track, the Kepler Track, the Abel Tasman Track and other famous walking routes. Along the way he gets caught in a blizzard on a mountain path, spends time in a Maori settlement and tries hugging a tree. With insight and a gentle humour, he explores the spirit of this spectacular land at the southern end of the Pacific, its indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, and provides an illuminating view of his fellow backpackers and twilight world they inhabit, forever between destinations. He also reveals that, however much or little you may have in you rucksack, the heaviest baggage is what you carry inside.
- Product Description
Customer Reviews:
Customers rated Kiwi Tracks: A New Zealand Journey 3.5 stars out of 5.0 based on 18 reviews:More about NZ culture and values than the actual tramps (hikes)
by Scott Cook (Hood River Oregon) - 2009-05-05
I feel that this book is better to read after you've returned from a trip to NZ than it is to read before you've been there. Kiwi Tracks is an account of the authors hikes on NZ's "Great Walks", but the hikes themselves are not the focus here--the focus is on Kiwi culture and attitudes and values, and I personally feel that if you've yet to visit NZ, then his keen insights and investigations will fall on deaf ears. Before you go you want reviews of tracks and trails and sort of general cultural info and expectations--it's hard to value his learned insights about the Tongariro Crossing until you've walked it with 500 new friends (if you don't get what I mean with this comment, then that's my point--his book is for people who are already acquainted with the ins and outs of NZ travel). After you return from your visit, you'll have seen Maori culture close-up, you'll have seen devastated forest regions,rampant tourism promotion, possum poison traps, sheeped hillsides, and ravenous sand flies...as well as gloriously unspoiled natural wonders and features so unique that your jaw will drop while your heart begins to sing. You may both love and hate NZ/nz tourism and only then will Stevenson's insights ring with wisdom for you. I speak from the perspective of having spent 3 entire summers exploring only half of NZ. Scott Cook, author of "NZ Frenzy"Author should've had a V8
by EKBK (Bainbridge Island, Washington) - 2008-03-30
I have travelled to New Zealand many times. When in bookshops I always take a peek in the section they have for NZ, and enjoy travel literature on the topic. Reading a book on one's journey through this country is like taking a mini trip back there again, a place I am very fond of. I've never had a bad experience there. It's a place I have gone alone for months at a time, and a place I have gone with family and friends. This book however, was so negative! He spends most of the story whining about his recently ended relationship, complaining about the weather, and his health problems. He seems to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder, which results in poor experiences with locals as they don't appreciate his negativity (and sometimes rude demeanor). There are points when he complains about the eco-tourism and the lack of environmentally friendly tourist attractions (jet boats and such), yet fails to have a bigger picture that New Zealand is much more advanced than most countries in limiting this activity thanks to it's citizens voting for preservation and supporting their Department of Conservation. No place is perfect, but in the bigger picture, NZ is far more ahead in this subject than most countries, and I mean MOST. I am saddened that he tends to place himself in situations where he invites negative experiences. Finally, if you are reading this book having little experience in NZ, please keep these things in mind, as it is an amazing place with some of the most kind and interesting people you'll ever meet. Aside from 2-3 tourist towns, which cram the typical stuff down your throat, it's one of few places you can go that is safe and you can get happily lost on a beautiful beach or mountain, all your own.Tramps in New Zealand
by Anthony Smith (Oakdale, CA United States) - 2004-10-24
First off, I loved this book. I have a great desire, if not budget, to see New Zealand. This has only increased my longing to visit this country. Stevenson's writing is very subtle in its humor. I laughed more reading this book than any other travel book I have read before. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in travelling and especially in New Zealand.Where is New Zealand heading?
by S. D. Lord (Monrovia CA) - 2004-04-16
I very much recommend Andrew Stevenson's "Kiwi Tracks," equally well for those who do and do not know personally New Zealand's natural and cultural landscape and her Great Walks. I myself fall somewhat in between these categories - having explored the South Island only, during some six visits in the last 20 years, always tramping, always in awe.He tells well how the Great Walks (the term had not existed in my early tramps) have turned from a few persons in lonely huts to nearly hundreds of packed-in campers on solo or guided tours -in just a few short decades. Also his South Island walks were unusually impaired by a massive snow storm and so come across a bit off-putting.Stevenson gave me the best-yet view of what I have been missing in the North Island ("away from the Mainland," as he quips).Overall, his book is a beautiful, honest, and detailed travel narrative (thank goodness for someone taking the time to name by name the many fauna and flora experienced). But it is markedly canted by his own ah, delicate emotional state during the journey. The book's dust jacket warns us: "... whatever you have in your rucksack, the heaviest baggage is what you carry inside." Stevenson's emotional center of mass during his trip clearly is located a bit outside himself and he is prone to tip over emotionally during the journey. His honesty about this both hurts and helps the narrative - it does give the reader a reference point: The author is working hard to discover that which is truly important to himself in his journey, as well as puzzling over that same question for New Zealand - the colonist vs. native Maori views of national politics, natural heritage, and future directions. While relating the pristine and inutterably amazing natural beauty of this land, not the least being the almost inconceivable human innocence and generosity of its citizens, he gives us a tutorial in NZ's basic dilemma. When he asks a fellow tramper to quote the best and worst of his travels: [I paraphrase] "The worst is to see the landscape so corrupted by commercialism so quickly." (You can guess - the bus tours, helicopters, jet boats, egregious mountain re-landscaping.) "The best is that New Zealand is still so unbelievable beautiful." This echoed within me, watching once-quiet towns transformed at the snap of a dollar into teaming Disneylands.Stevenson shows us, by example(s), of how New Zealand transforms and helps its visitors. A German therapist suggests that tramping holds more value than health insurance premiums. I am inclined to agree.Of the highest value to me in the book is that Stevenson gives us some great insight into the NZ national values debate (still-ongoing) contrasting (via his hitchhiker's car-cabin testimonies) the views of the progeny of the more recent Western, rough-hewn pioneers against the natural spiritualism of Maoris, who also gave him rides, and to whom he related more. He shows us that the people of New Zealand must finally listen to the Maori, and strive to preserve their naturalist vision (in the face of adventure bungee-jumping tourism). Between the lines, he shows us that the dialog must go both ways, especially when facing the World's money, foreign buyers and the touristic denizens of the new millennium.I'm not a fan of travel writing, but ...
by Jon M Altbergs (Epping, NH) - 2003-12-30
I found this to be an interesting book. If you want to learn all about New Zealand, its flora and fuana, or great "tramps" (hikes, for you and me), this isn't the book for you. However, it is an enjoyable light read, giving the reader interesting snapshots of life in NZ. Stevenson meets some interesting people along his journey and I found the way in which he shares their stories much more engaging than most of his descriptions of his walks in the woods. Yes, at times the book strains credulity and some of the characters may seem a bit cliche, but I, too, stood in wonder of many of the situations he encounters. Ultimately what comes through is that New Zealand is a land both unlike any other and exactly like home, too.
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