Over the Wide and Trackless SeaOver the Wide and Trackless Sea

New Zealand's European pioneer women made the long voyage, in the words of Eliza White, over a "wide and trackless sea", to lead lives they could have barely imagined. Some may be familiar - Lady Barker wrote about her time in New Zealand, and Betty Guard, captured by Taranaki Maori, has been the subject of a novel. Amey Daldy was a reknowned suffragist and Kirstine Nielsen a founding member of the Country Women's Institute, while others are, at best, remembered only by their families. Their stories paint a picture of a new country, from mission stations and Dalmatian gum-diggers in the north to South Island whaling stations and the landed gentry of Canterbury.