New Zealand
Hollyford Valley
A valley so remote a bush airstrip is the only alternative to three days on foot.
The only alternative to walking three days back is a bush airstrip and a light aircraft. Hollyford Valley in Fiordland is one of New Zealand's most remote accessible valleys — the track leads to Martins Bay, the most isolated beach on the mainland.
The Hollyford Track follows the Hollyford River through lowland bush where tree ferns form a canopy overhead. Martins Bay, at the valley's end, is the most remote beach on the New Zealand mainland — no road has ever reached it. Lake McKerrow fills a drowned valley where fur seals haul out at the junction of lake and sea. The guided Hollyford Track walk includes a jet-boat ride on Lake McKerrow and a light-aircraft return flight from the grass strip at Martins Bay. Independent walkers face a three-day return journey on the same track.
Solo
The independent walk to Martins Bay is a three-day commitment to solitude. The remoteness here is not symbolic — there is genuinely no one else for the length of the valley.
- The only way out besides walking three days back is a bush airstrip and a light aircraft.
- Martins Bay at the valley's end is the most remote beach on the New Zealand mainland — no road reaches it.
- The track follows the Hollyford River through dense lowland bush where tree ferns form a canopy overhead.
- Lake McKerrow fills a drowned valley where fur seals haul out at the lake-sea junction.
Hut-cooked meals by kerosene lamp — dehydrated curry never tasted better than after forty kilometres.
Hollyford Track guided walks serve venison and South Island wine at Martins Bay lodge.
Parque Nacional Yendegaia
Chile
A national park with no trails and no visitors — just fjords and lenga forest.
Wood Buffalo National Park
Canada
Canada's largest park — bigger than Switzerland — where the only wild whooping cranes nest.
Aubrac Plateau
France
Treeless basalt plateau where granite crosses mark ancient pilgrim paths through wind and mist.
Muddus National Park
Sweden
A bog wilderness so untouched the wooden boardwalks feel like an intrusion on time.
Mount Sunday
New Zealand
A solitary hill standing guard over a braided river plain — Tolkien's Rohan made viscerally real.
Cape Palliser
New Zealand
Fishing boats launched by bulldozer into wild surf beneath a red-and-white striped lighthouse.
Wharariki Beach
New Zealand
Archway islands rise from the surf behind dunes where fur seal pups play in rock pools.
Tunnel Beach
New Zealand
A hand-carved tunnel through a cliff opens onto a beach hidden below sandstone arches.