This final installment of Peter Hayden’s traverse across latitude 45 finds him in the ice-sculpted isolation of Fiordland. He travels through diverse flora (lush and verdant, thanks to astonishingly high rainfall), and joins botanist Brian Molloy to follow in the footsteps of early bird conservationist Richard Henry. Takahē, weka, yellowhead (mōhua), and tiny rock wrens feature. When Hayden reaches the sea, he discovers that the underworld depths of George Sound house a world teeming with abundant life.