They were born minutes apart, they still live only minutes away from each other and few people can tell them apart. So it’s surprising to learn that when Amber and Serena Shine, known as “the Wild Twins”, got married within months of each other, their weddings were very different.
The sisters are known for their extreme endeavours that see them literally fighting for survival in remote locations, often hunting for food amid dangerous wild animals, as documented in the reality show Naked And Afraid, their book The Wild Twins and the new series Ed Stafford: First Man Out.
But for their big days, the 31-year-olds from Waiuku ditched their regular camo-print sportswear for a touch of glamour, albeit in completely different beach weddings on opposite sides of the Pacific.
After a lockdown-related delay, wearing a full-length gown with a train and veil, Amber married her partner Daely Overdevest on a clear, sunny day, on a secluded west coast clifftop overlooking the Auckland-Waikato border, before celebrating with friends and family in the garden of her parents’ farm.
Amber and Daely had a family wedding at home…
More recently, in July, Serena – who was one of Amber’s bridesmaids – spontaneously decided to elope with her partner Atoni Toleafoa while they were on a working holiday in the States.
“It was a beach wedding in Mexico, on white sand, with a real summer vibe,” Serena recalls. “We didn’t plan it when we left New Zealand for three months. What I was wearing was from a flea market and cost about $20.
“Amber was the only one who knew, so on the evening of our elopement, she set up a family barbecue and a surprise Skype with us. We broke the news, and everyone was really excited and happy for us.”
… while Serena eloped to Mexico with Atoni.
From a family of four girls, Serena and Amber have learned to live off the land since they were young, when their father Gavin would take them rabbit shooting, deer hunting and fishing.
They became keen fisherwomen, hunters and explorers, preferring the outdoors to being inside.
After school, they both joined the army and then went on to work in the underground gold mines of Western Australia, where they planned many of their crazy adventures.
New Zealand had just come out of one of its life-saving lockdowns when the twins were invited to take part in the third series of Discovery Channel show First Man Out, which sees English explorer
Ed Stafford take on 12 of the world’s greatest survivalists.
The siblings were raring to go to Kenya after lockdown in NZ.
Viewers will see the Kiwi sisters trekking through Kenya’s unforgiving Great Rift Valley, not knowing if they are ahead or behind the show’s host.
“It was so hot in the desert-like environment,” tells Amber. “We were walking massive distances and exhaustion was always a real battle. The biggest challenge was trying to find food and water, but we had some amazing wildlife encounters, watching elephants crossing rivers and giraffes just walking by.”
Serena adds, “And then there was the night we had to move to a safer hideout to avoid a pride of roaring lions!”
She laughs when thinking about how grateful they were to be able to wear clothes and shoes – a stark contrast to taking part in US series Naked And Afraid, where they were stranded nude in the African wilderness, lived off scorpions, got stalked by leopards and fought off hyenas. They later went back for a second season on a deserted island in the Bermuda Triangle, where their only
food option was to hunt in shark-infested waters.
Amber says the extreme conditions of their latest adventure was “refreshing” after so many months stuck in the house during the pandemic, although she adds, “It really makes you appreciate your normal home comforts!”
The experience fed their love of travel, however, Amber notes that she only had a short honeymoon in the South Island as she and her husband were immersed in building their new home, with the bride making all the house’s benches and even a concrete bath herself.
She tells, “It was interesting because we spent a long year living in the same shed as we were doing all the projects – sleeping on one side and grinding concrete on the other – so we were pretty excited to move into the house, which we’ve been in for about two months now. Everything still smells like fresh paint.”
Amber is now working with her father, building and selling villas near their hometown of Waiuku, while Serena continues to run the glamping side of luxury getaway Castaways Resort with their younger sister Jasmine.
But it’s clear their passion is still to be out in the wild. The bush, the Kiwi sisters say, is their “happy place”.
Amber and Serena star in the third episode of Ed Stafford: First Man Out at 8.30pm Sunday, 1 January, on Discovery Channel.
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