Out of the Wild: 7 Years in the New Zealand Wilderness is a nonfiction adventure memoir written by Charlie Paterson. In 1995, Paterson embarked on a grand plan to build a lakefront tourist retreat in Fiordland National Park, a designated World Heritage Park. He gave up the modern conveniences most take for granted and lived an austere life in a remote and relatively inaccessible location. Getting the land and permits to build upon it was no mean feat. The land in question was originally envisioned to become the West Coast Port. It would provide a stopping point for the gold being mined in Central Otrago during the late nineteenth century. A surveyor was sent out to establish a township that would encompass 124 sites with streets connecting them, but those promoting the development of Jamestown had not reckoned with the realities of the natural environment. Paterson was able to acquire several of those sites. Out of the Wild details his experiences building that retreat and living on his own in the wilderness.

Out of the Wild is a well-written and engaging account of the author’s time spent in Fiordland National Park. I was fascinated to hear about the validity of those sites that had been established so long ago and awed by the magnitude of the challenge Paterson took on in floating his construction materials to his site and building his home. He includes photographs throughout his work which show his early campsite and chart each aspect of his building experience. The author’s nature writing is especially impressive, particularly his discussions of the different bird species that are native to the area, and the seasonal changes that affect life in that part of the world. While I understand his passion about the destruction caused by introduced animals, particularly the deer, brush-tailed possum and stoats, I was not entirely comfortable with those pictures where he brandishes aloft a deer’s severed head nor did I really appreciate his enthusiastic instructions on how to kill a possum. That aside, I had a marvelous time vicariously spending time in the wilderness as I read this book. Out of the Wild: 7 Years in the New Zealand Wilderness is most highly recommended.

Out of the Wild: 7 Years in the New Zealand Wilderness by Charlie Paterson tells the story of the author’s disillusionment with his work as manager of a salmon farm, and his determination to fulfill and live his dream. That dream was to build a home in a remote rainforest in New Zealand. The book tells the story almost in the form of a journal, detailing the forest and wildlife around him, his ongoing struggles with bureaucracy in building his home, the effects of loneliness despite being surrounded by the beauty of creation, his clear love for the area, and his developing spiritual awareness and relationship with God. The author lived in the rainforest for seven years, and the book details each part of his journey, as well as delving into historical facts not only about the area, but also of previous pioneers to the land who had not fared as well.

As the author, Charlie Paterson, rightly points out at the beginning of his book, this is not a wilderness survival tale. Rather, it catalogues his battles with the authorities, but the story is interspersed with snippets of the way of life, of standing naked on a remote shore to watch spectacular storms, of sitting at a window with priceless views while writing his innermost thoughts, and his love of the bay that captured his heart. His descriptions of the negatives, the sand flies, the incessant rain, the loneliness, and the struggle for mere existence on little income are all an example of the author’s determination to make his dream a reality.