12 Photos for 12 Months

‘In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.’ – Abraham Lincoln.

One Year Already!

It’s been nearly a year since I landed in New Zealand and what a year it has been!! Although there’s been a few lows, I’m thankful that most of my year I’ve been on a high and I’m extremely pleased that my working holiday visa has now been extended for a further 11 months. It’s great knowing that I have so much more time in this wonderful country.

I’m extremely excited for the year that lies ahead. Not only am I heading to the Philippines for two and a half weeks in December, I’m also heading home for three weeks to see my wonderful family and friends before coming back to New Zealand to carry on saving money. I have a major trip planned for 2016 and I’ll be in the UK again in June for one of my best friend’s weddings.

Needless to say, my future is looking fantastic, but right now I want to reflect on my wonderful year in New Zealand and share one favourite photo from each month I’ve been here – from October 2014 to September 2015, with a bonus photo thrown in for good measure. I hope you like them!!

October 2014

I stayed with the wonderful J and R during my very first week in New Zealand, as part of a Help Exchange I set up over Labour Weekend. By the time I left, I felt like part of their family and was really sad to say goodbye.

They own a beautiful home in Oke Bay, which is about 50km out of Paihia, right in the heart of the Bay of Islands. This region is a beautiful part of New Zealand and I’d recommend to everyone that they explore further than Russell and Paihia and get off the beaten track.

I spent several happy evenings enjoying the solitude I found on the beaches here and getting to grips with the fact I’d just left everyone and everything I knew back in the UK and I had a whole year in New Zealand. It was both terrifying and amazing, and I am eternally grateful to J and R for taking me in, looking after me and giving me the best possible introduction to this truly awesome country.

November 2014

November saw me flying to the South Island to get my first taste of the truly awe-inspiring scenery New Zealand has to offer. Aoraki / Mt Cook was the first stop on my Stray tour out of Queenstown and I couldn’t have been happier to be finally among the mountains. We were really lucky with the weather and had excellent views of Aoraki / Mt Cook throughout the day, including this one, taken from the Hooker Valley track.

December 2014

I arrived in Wellington at the beginning of December, having spent six weeks travelling around the South Island. I was on my ass broke and the first couple of weeks in Wellington really tested me. It was one of the few low points of my time in New Zealand. I’m happy to admit that for a while, I wondered what on earth I was doing with my life!!

However, there were good things that happened. I moved into the Dwellington, the hostel that would become my home and I had my first Southern Hemisphere Christmas and New Years. It was quite a novelty eating BBQ food and swimming in the ocean during the festive season… I took this photo on December 31st 2014, as the sun set on the old year, and I got ready to welcome a new one with everything that was to come!

January 2015

This sunset photo was taken on January 1st 2015. I couldn’t have felt more relaxed. I’d had a great day with friends swimming, eating, playing board games, watching films and generally chilling out. We ended up staying an extra night at the bach because we were enjoying ourselves so much. January brought with it a new job for me and a move. I left the hostel and moved into a flat with four others. Planning for my trip around the South Island, scheduled for May, also began in earnest!

February 2015

Over Waitangi weekend, myself, L and S drove up to Tongariro to tackle the famous Alpine Crossing. We struck gold with perfect weather and had a great day hiking the trail. I was in my element in the volcanic environment and despite the tough climbs, I enjoyed almost every minute of the seven hour hike. On a whim, S and I booked to do a skydive over Taupo the following day, and I ticked off a life bucket list item when I jumped out of a plane at 12,000ft.

March 2015

This photo was taken outside Victoria University, where I’m based for work. March was a quiet month for me. It was a bit of a difficult time for me, if I’m honest. I had some bad homesickness during this period and spent a lot of time considering my future and mulling over what was best for me to do.

In the end, I decided that I should move back to the Dwellington and live there instead of with my flatmates, so at the end of March I moved again, back to the hostel. I was also busy saving for my trip in May. That didn’t stop me heading to Martinborough with a group of friends near the end of the month for a wine tasting tour. With $20 each in the kitty, we had a great wine soaked Sunday. It was the perfect end to the week!

April 2015

I planned a trip to Napier over Easter weekend and headed there for two nights to explore the Art Deco and enjoy a bit of time by the sea. It was great to travel alone again and enjoy some time to myself. This is my favourite photo from that trip!

Upon my return to Wellington, I joined a group from the Dwellington on an epic boat party in Wellington Harbour. We cruised across the harbour and back in style on a catamaran, with music pumping, the sun going down and lots of alcohol… Bank holiday Sunday’s don’t get much better than that! That was also the weekend when I infamously ate three McDonald’s burgers in a row whilst drunk… Such a part-time vegetarian!! The weekend before I headed off on my May trip, a group of us camped at Cape Palliser and enjoyed a windy night under the stars.

May 2015

May arrived, finally. After months of preparation, I finally headed off on my awesome month long road trip around the North and South Islands. The stop I was most looking forward to en-route was Wanaka. I’d been there for a night back in November with Stray and was dying to explore further.

I have literally hundreds of photos from that month, but this one is my favourite. Sure, it doesn’t show impressive mountains or glacial blue rivers, but it represents what I sought when I arrived in Wanaka. Peace, quiet, solitude, some space to think. I sat on that bench under that tree for about forty minutes the evening before I took this photo, watching the sun sinking behind the mountains in the far distance and enjoying the tranquility of the lake. The fact that everything was autumnal and fantastically coloured only served to make my time in Wanaka even better.

May was a brilliant month. I spent time in some of my favourite places in New Zealand, got to do some really awesome activities and spent time with friends, both old and new. But I remember Wanaka with a particular fondness and a longing in me to return one day in the not too distant future, this time for much longer!

June 2015

June saw a change of pace. My month long trip over, it was time to settle down and get working so I could save my pennies for more trips in the future. That doesn’t mean I stopped my weekend trips entirely. One sunny weekend saw me head back to Waikanae on my own for a walk along the beach and on the Sunday, travel across the harbour with friends to Somes Island.

This protected island is home to tuataras and wetas. It comes complete with an eerie decommissioned animal quarantine facility, a lighthouse and gun emplacements that were built there during WWII. We strolled around the island, enjoyed a picnic and took plenty of photos. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any tuataras, but saw plenty of wetas at the weta hotel!!

July 2015

P and I travelled to Rotorua for a long weekend at the beginning of July. As well as visiting White Island, we went luging, walked around the Redwood Forest and saw plenty of geothermal activity around Rotorua itself. It was a cold weekend, although once again we were lucky with the weather and had bright sunshine for most of the trip.

Back in Wellington, we celebrated the capital’s 150th birthday with a touristy weekend, making the most of the many open house exhibitions. As well as checking out the light show at the Beehive, we also headed to the WWI exhibition at the Hall of Memories and visited the Governor General’s house in Newtown. We also checked out Te Papa’s Gallipoli exhibition.

August 2015

August saw us enjoying a few day trips into the areas around Wellington, including a day out in the Wairarapa region to find the Putangirua Pinnacles. Also known as the Dimholt Road from Lord of the Rings, this film location certainly provided us with an adventure.

Not only did I spot dolphins, but we also waded across streams, experienced a landslide, saw a lady with a hamster in her suitcase (don’t ask!) and witnessed a car accident on our way home. We followed this trip up with a few brunches around Wellington, a trip to Weta Caves and an 18km hike from Eastbourne to Pencarrow Lighthouse. C and I booked our flights to the Philippines and I booked a flight home for Christmas!

September 2015

Another day trip, this time to Castle Point. It was a beautiful sunny day, which meant we enjoyed a lovely walk along the beach here. We took a picnic and walked up to the lighthouse. I made everyone wait for me whilst I scrambled over (very painful) rocks barefoot to capture this image. I was super happy with how moody the sky was, but not so impressed when the salt spray kept fogging up my lens, blurring my photos.

Bonus – Lucky Photo Thirteen!

In November 2014, I did a heli-hike up onto Franz Josef glacier. It was a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to set foot on a glacier, and this one is such a beauty. Unfortunately, I’d decided to get ridiculously drunk the night before and was so hungover I ended up having to have my own personal guide to take me back down to the helipad.

I lucked out though! He showed me around more slowly and I could sit and enjoy the wonder of the glacier. A huge chunk of ice broke away from the main glacier at one point and the noise sounded like thunder rumbling across the sky. It was amazing to witness. This was one of the highlights from my year, despite the killer hangover!!

What an incredible year!

Sorting through my thousands of New Zealand photos to try and find my top thirteen took me on a few trips down memory lane. This year has been a blast!

I hope you like the photos I’ve chosen. They are a true reflection of my time here so far. I hope to make many more wonderful memories of this country in the coming months, and to continue improving my photography so I can share even more pictures and memories with you all in the future.