A step too far

One of the best signs I’ve ever seen was one that told me that I was now entering the wilderness – as if this didn’t somehow negate the effect or the reality. We gathered our wits, braced ourselves, and stepped beyond the sign.

Of course Britain doesn’t even pretend to have such a thing as wilderness – this was in New Zealand – and I think the only other time I’ve experienced wilderness (this time for real and identifiable by the very fact that it was unlabelled) was in North America. And on this occasion, because I genuinely didn’t know where I was, civilisation suddenly became the one thing I truly cared about. I wanted evidence of it in any shape or form – a road, a hut, a telegraph pole; in fact, anything to show that humans had been here before.

I’m sure the likes of Scott and Cook would have got over the fear of being in uncharted territory pretty quickly, but then this was their business. For me (and I doubt I’m alone in this), there’s something comforting about being in the company of others, happily positioned somewhere in a long line of human beings – who happen to be far enough away that they neither get in the way nor obscure the view.

So I’m all for following in the footsteps of others, at least metaphorically. But labelling wilderness is surely going a step too far.