City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

My year without matches, escaping the city in search of the wild, Claire Dunn

eng

contains biographical information

platesillustrationsportraits

no index present

non fiction

My year without matches

Claire Dunn

escaping the city in search of the wild

Disillusioned and burnt out by life as a city 'greenocrat', Claire Dunn quit her job, her partner and her comfortable life to embark on a year-long wilderness survival skills program on the mid north coast of NSW. Her new forest home became both ally and enemy as reality, and not just the voracious insects, soon bit. Claire's story unfolds in four parts, structured by the seasons and the order of survival: Shelter, Water, Fire and Food. After arriving at her wilderness location in summer, buoyant with idealistic enthusiasm, Claire struggles with shelter building, matchless fire-making and other physical challenges-the heat, the cold, getting lost and a terror of the dark-until the wilds of her emotional landscape threaten to unravel her. Part adventure tale and part personal quest, this is the story of one woman's search for belonging until an unexpected friendship emerges and the beauty of the bush opens to reveal its wild heart

adult