Many of us dream of escaping from everyday life, tossing a few possessions in a backpack and travelling light in far-off lands. Stevenson did more than dream: he packed his rucksack and went.

His destination was New Zealand, the island nation famous for its pristine wilderness, from sandy beaches and fast-flowing rivers to glacial mountains and primeval forests. In a hiker's heaven, he treks along the Milford Track, the Kepler Track, the Abel Tasman Track and other famous walking routes. Along the way he gets caught in a blizzard on a mountain path, spends time in a Maori settlement and tries hugging a tree.

With insight and a gentle humor, he explores the spirit of this spectacular land at the southern end of the Pacific, its indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, and provides an illuminating view of his fellow backpackers and twilight world they inhabit, forever between destinations. He also reveals that, however much or little you may have in you rucksack, the heaviest baggage is what you carry inside.