(gentle instrumental music)
- [Warrick] We're four days walk from the nearest road.
The landscape's vast, the wilderness is almost unlimited.
The access is by aircraft, on foot, or on the right day,
you can boat it, but it's a challenge in itself.
Really, we are at the mercy of the weather and the tides
in our day to day life.
It's difficult living out here, but if you do what's needed
and everything comes together,
it's a really rewarding place to be.
- [Narrator] Warrick Mitchell lived in Fiordland,
New Zealand's oldest and largest national park.
It covers over 12,000 square kilometers,
but is home to only a few dozen people.
The park's massive mountain range
isolates Warrick from civilization.
- [Warrick] Living out here,
like everywhere, you need shelter, a good dry camp.
(lively instrumental music)
We have solar panel for power, lighting,
and our satellite communications.
We have a quad bike,
we have two boats for fishing and diving,
and we have the freezer which keeps our food
and our produce cold.
We rely on rainwater for drinking water,
so that's not too hard
with seven meters of rainfall annually.
We largely live off the land.
When you're living off the land,
you're really at the mercy of the weather and the elements,
so there's certain times that will allow you to go out
and harvest a deer or catch a fish, capture the menu.
If you have a down day and the waves are really good,
you're more than likely gonna go surfing.
If the waves aren't good,
but the river's looking nice, you might catch a trout.
If the waves are flat but the ocean's calm,
you might go sea fishing.
If the ocean's stormy, you might go up the river
for a kayak or go through the bush
and see if you can spot a deer.
(gun firing)
Living in the wilderness doesn't mean you're living
in isolation from people.
We certainly couldn't be doing what we do
if it wasn't for the pilots and our neighbors
and our friends.
Whether it's the harshness of the environment
and being so isolated that brings people together
or the fact that the people that are willing
to travel this far have like minded passion
for the environment and the outdoors,
one thing's for sure over the years
is that the community's become really tight knit.
Can you go ahead and turn this main switch on
and we'll just see if she wants to work?
Oh, no.
When things break or things don't go your way,
it's always really important
to remember you're in the green.
The experience is being out here
and enjoying being out here.
Everything else is a bonus, so you can't get too serious
if one thing breaks.
I don't know too many places in the world
where you can stand on a boat looking back
and you can just see ocean leading into forest leading
into massive snow-capped mountains and glacier-shaped bays
with pristine rivers and clear water.
The trees are as they were 200 years ago,
and the people that I bring out here,
they get to experience this nature as it was
and as it should be, and we try to keep the area
and the environment pristine
in this little corner of New Zealand.
(gentle instrumental music)