Running around Waimapihi Reserve in the dark my headtorch revealed hidden treasures | Ashleigh Young

At first I was full of dread but as I pressed on I noticed things I had never seen in daylightGuardian writers and readers describe their favourite place in New Zealand's wilderness and why it's special to themI'm scared of getting lost in the bush. This is unusual for an essayist. Most of us like to go for a walk in disorienting landscapes and get completely lost so that we can write about it. Rebecca Solnit wrote that getting lost is "a voluptuous surrender" but this sounds to me like walking in increasingly frantic circles, getting cold and hungry as night closes in, until you have no option but to dig yourself a little hole and cover yourself in leaves. Continue reading...