The Czech tramper who survived a month trapped in remote South Island bush after witnessing her partner fall to his death has penned heartfelt thank-you letters to her rescuers.
Pavlina Pizova was with partner Ondrej Petr, 27, when he slipped and died on the Routeburn Track on about July 27.
She spent three freezing nights sleeping in the open before traipsing through waist-deep snow to a Department of Conservation (DoC) warden's hut where she sheltered for almost a month.
Pizova, in her 30s, was finally rescued last Wednesday.
Yesterday, she made a substantial four-figure donation to Queenstown Police, Wakatipu Land Search and Rescue [SAR] and DoC, according to Vladka Kennett, Consul for the Czech Republic, who has been helping Pizova recuperate after her ordeal.