Woman in the Wilderness: A Story of Survival, Love and Self-Discovery in New Zealand

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arrival of the woman in the wilderness on the wings of the great eagle, corresponding to the Pilgrims (Christians) landing in the wilderness which was to become America. Miriam Lancewood is a young Dutch woman living a primitive, nomadic life in the heart of New Zealand’s mountains with her New Zealand husband Peter. She lives simply in a tent or hut and survives by hunting wild animals, foraging edible plants and using minimal supplies. For seven years, they lived this way, through all seasons, often cold, hungry and isolated in the bush. She loves her life and feels free, connected to the land and happy. There’s a lot of drama out there in the wilds and Miriam knows how to spin a good yarn with tension, colour and light, making this a gripping and engaging read. Reminiscent of both adventure writing like Wild and nature writing like H is for Hawk this is perfect for those exploring the idea of living an authentic, real life. Q: ‘The unexpected is often the most interesting!’ ‘Marvellous things that might change our entire life could happen to us, but you can’t plan for those things,’ (c)

If you’re going off grid, prepping is key. Miriam and Peter spent months training for that first winter in South Marlborough, New Zealand: long, demanding treks, first-aid courses; reading survival and foraging books – working out by the spoonful exactly how much flour, pulses, tea bags they’d need. They practised seeing in the dark with night walks. Miriam isn’t a conspiracy theorist but she’s proud she has now learned survival skills, in case of Armageddon.Miriam (1983) is geboren in de Achterhoek en werkt als lerares lichamelijke opvoeding. Als ze 20 is, leert ze in India de 30 jaar oudere Peter kennen met wie ze een relatie krijgt. Peter komt uit Nieuw Zeeland en voelt zich opgesloten in de maatschappij en wil daarom een eenvoudig leven gaan leiden in de wildernis van Nieuw Zeeland. Miriam gaat met hem mee! Tot nu toe was ze vegetarier maar hier zal ze zelf moeten jagen wat ze helemaal niet kan. Ook kopen ze af en toe voorraden in winkels (van hun spaargeld) en logeren ze soms bij andere mensen. Gelukkig zijn ze als Peter ernstig ziek wordt op tijd bij een kliniek. Zo zie je maar dat de maatschappij ook best wel een paar voordelen heeft. Hoe dan ook, ze leven dus niet volledig in de wildernis maar gaat het meer om maandelange trektochten While we talked, I realised how, in nature, everything is living: the trees, birds, animals, and even fire and the weather are lively. Everything exists in relation to everything else. A house, on the other hand, with its totally indoors environment, is quite dead by comparison.

In a way, rivers are kinds of beings too,’ he said. ‘Lakes and pools are calm, the river is busy, the ocean endless, yet they are all of the same essence. Water is a symbol of the eternal.’ And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. She looks at Peter: “We met one guy – do you remember him? He said, ‘I can’t wait for my children to be old enough to leave the house.’ And I said, ‘Oh, how old are they?’ And he said, ‘Three and five.’” There was a pilot who told her he had recurring fantasies of pushing his wife out of his helicopter. Peter’s theory is, “Modern civilisation, the suburban life just doesn’t suit men’s nature. It leaves men feeling constantly unchallenged. I’d say a third of the population are seriously unhappy.” He finds it startling that, with the advances in birth control, the majority of women still choose to have children. “I’ve met so many interesting women in their 20s, then along comes 30 and they succumb to the pressure. You think: ‘Why did you do nothing else with your life?’”

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Miriam Lancewood is a young Dutch woman living a primitive, nomadic life in the heart of the mountains with her New Zealand husband. She lives simply in a tent or hut and survives by hunting wild animals, foraging edible plants and using minimal supplies. For the last six years she has lived this way, through all seasons, often cold, hungry and isolated in the bush. She loves her life and feels free, connected to the land and happy. Op den duur wordt het verhaal wel wat langdradig en gaat het in de herhaling. Meer spirituele ervaringen op meer prachtige plekken in Nieuw Zeeland. Bovendien is het ook niet bijzonder goed geschreven. I feel tears well up in my eyes. We are waving at each other, touching each other over a great distance. I am looking at the wilderness and at Peter: the two dearest beings in my heart

Somehow I had forgotten what I looked like, because Peter’s face had become more familiar to me than my own. The sun sank silently behind the mountain, leaving a last red glow along the tops of the mountains. (c) Davidson with Doris Lessing at her 50th birthday party, which Lessing threw for her. Photograph: Handout I spotted a big plant with yellow flowers and when I touched its soft green leaves I felt, intuitively, that these could have a medicinal property for the lungs. When I saw another plant, which Peter recognised as ragwort, I felt that it should not be eaten, but could perhaps have a use for skin treatments. We walked from plant to plant, and each one told us something of interest. I realised that in the past people would have had a sense for the medicinal values of plants, and that this insight was now rendered obsolete by modern science and technology. (c) We’ve got to pay the mortgage or the rent,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘For a house we only see at night’De cover is precies zoals Miriam op jacht ging. Ze leefden voornamelijk van de dieren, die toch maar gedood worden zonder ze op te eten, omdat Nieuw-Zeeland de dieren van vroeger zonder menselijke inbreng terug willen. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place having been prepared there by God, so that they should nourish her there one thousand two hundred sixty days. I had grown up in a household of anthroposophy—a system established by Rudolf Steiner that uses mainly natural means to optimise physical and mental health ... (c) and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. I discovered it was much easier to accumulate things than to discard all the goods I had grown attached to