New Zealand Awaits

New Zealand has long been a bucket list item for me as it fit so many criteria; it was another continent, it was an island, it had opposite seasons, my favorite people I met traveling were from here, and it was supposedly a photographer and adventure-seeker dream. Well, it certainly delivered!  

This island really has the greatest hits of Europe and Hawaii all within a short drive over the hills. The topography goes from lava mars moonscapes, to lush meadows that remind me of Ireland, to wine country of Tuscany, to fiordland and tastes of Norway, to Swiss-like adventure towns, to beach towns of Costa Rica.  Now, for the record, it would be like the JV version but still incredible flavors none-the-less. My good friend had been living abroad studying organic farming and learning things like "woofing" and "tramping" had me curious to visit and see this lush green world that movies like Lord of the Rings helped make world-famous.  I was semi-dared by my photographer friends to bring my camera and some rolls of film and grab some images for displaying at art fairs in Minnesota.

I started on the North Island for the first week where highlights included active volcanos and fly fishing for our Thanksgiving feast of brown trout to prepare for new friends around the communal table. Valleys lush with streams and lupins were abundant, as was the energy of small-town commerce in lively Wellington.

The South Island is claimed by many as the extreme adventure capital of the world. I would say it is the ideal place if you wanted to live a healthy and daring life for a few weeks. Heli tours of the Milford fjords were too hard to pass up, and it was hard to pick from skydiving, scuba and surfing the breaks off shore, spelunking in the vast caves and canyons, bungee jumping from tropical jungles, hang gliding above the mountains, or parasailing over the sea. The wine region of Hawks Bay was a must where I biked from vineyard to vineyard often having to flag down the farmer/winemaker to sample their two wines they had proudly produced for generations. After every day of adventure, good food, and fellowship, we all swapped stories from the day and added to my bucket list once again. I suspect that list may never actually get shorter and I am grateful to keep checking the list and soaking life up through my lens.