New Zealand

LAST BITS OF NEW ZEALAND 2017

(From my phone.)

Pre-surf at Maori Bay. 

Pre-surf at Maori Bay. 

New llama friend. 

New llama friend. 

Dowtown from Te Atatu Peninsula.

Dowtown from Te Atatu Peninsula.

Vintage shopping on K Road. 

Vintage shopping on K Road. 

Street art in Ponsonby. 

Street art in Ponsonby. 

Our friends who fed us satay sticks at the Henderson Night Markets every Thursday. 

Our friends who fed us satay sticks at the Henderson Night Markets every Thursday. 

Auckland Sky Tower at night, from below. 

Auckland Sky Tower at night, from below. 

Man and dog. True love. 

Man and dog. True love. 

Art on Waiheke Island. 

Art on Waiheke Island. 

Glorious Waiheke. 

Glorious Waiheke

Mid-run on Waiheke Island. 

Mid-run on Waiheke Island. 

waiheke.jpg
Cleaned up for a Waiheke Wedding. 

Cleaned up for a Waiheke Wedding. 

3/4 of the Stratford Siblings. 

3/4 of the Stratford Siblings. 

Bexee, Scott and I. Practically an ad for Karen Walker. 

Bexee, Scott and I. Practically an ad for Karen Walker. 

Smokey, watching foolish humans. 

Smokey, watching foolish humans. 

Smokey, one with nature. 

Smokey, one with nature. 

Downtown Auckland. 

Downtown Auckland. 

Crater on Mount Eden.

Crater on Mount Eden.

Sunset on the Te Atatu Peninsula. 

Sunset on the Te Atatu Peninsula. 

MERCERY BAY LOOP HIKE

Most of my 3 month stint in New Zealand this year consisted of EditMate work (pitch meetings, editing videos, cursing NZ's archaic wifi when uploading and downloading said videos) but I did make sure to step away from my laptop and get out and enjoy NZ's epic landscape.

Here's a few photos from a day hiking the Mercer Bay Loop:

smokey-rachel
mercery-bay
scott-smokey-hiking
mercer-bay-loop-hike-nz
mercery-bay-nz
mercer-bay-hike
mercer-bay-loop-hike
ocean-mercer-bay
mercer-bay-loop
ocean-mercer-bay-loop
ocean-nz
mercer-bay-loop-hike
mercer-bay-cliff
ocean-mercer-bay-nz

It's one of the oldest settled areas in the Waitakere Ranges and has a tragic past. Maori folklore says a Maori Chief's beautiful daughter drifted off from here after mourning her husband who got swept off to the ocean from a giant wave that hit the cliff.

Since then, multiple women have gone missing from this cliff (one just this past March) only adding to the Bay's haunted legend. 

SHOTS AROUND AUCKLAND

From my phone.

Day at Piha with Smokey. 

Day at Piha with Smokey. 

smokey-piha-beach
Feeding the neighbors last night's salad leftovers. 

Feeding the neighbors last night's salad leftovers. 

Backyard.

Backyard.

Kite festival on the Te Atatu Peninsula.

Kite festival on the Te Atatu Peninsula.

Cricket game, out in the country. Note tiny Smokey in the middle of a game of fetch. 

Cricket game, out in the country. Note tiny Smokey in the middle of a game of fetch. 

Scott and Rangitoto in the distance.  

Scott and Rangitoto in the distance.  

Backyard dinner view. 

Backyard dinner view. 

Fetch at Piha. 

Fetch at Piha. 

Post-swim. 

Post-swim. 

A MORNING AT O'NEILL BAY

I've been all over the map the last few months.

Scott and I left New Zealand to expand EditMate into Australia (and explore along the way), then headed back over the Pacific for a day of swimming in everything that's glorious about America (filtered coffee! right side of the road driving!) in LA before landing in Austin, TX for a week of wedding festivities and taco hangovers. Then, we headed north to Massachusetts where we've settled into my beloved Jamaica Plain, for a TBD amount of time.

More on all of that soon. 

Until then, here's a few photos from a nice morning at O'Neill Bay in New Zealand. It was a perfect morning for a surf, a nap and an expansive game of fetch for Smokey. 

oneilbay-new-zealand
new-zealand-beach
new-zealand-beach
oneil-bay-beach
oneil-bay-nz
scott-surfing
oneil-bay-water
rachel-smokey-beach
smokey-dog

HIKING THE WAITAKERE RANGES

Sometimes I get all eye-roll-y-American at Auckland because it's a small place in a tiny country and everything closes at 3 PM.

Other times, I drive 30 minutes outside the city and arrive at a magnificent landscape that's a cross between Jurassic Park and Eden. And then I'm just... in awe.

Hiking the Waitakere Ranges was one of those times. 

waitakere-ranges-path
waitakere-ranges
A lot of the photos I take end up being back-of-head shots of Scott, which may seems like a creative choice or a way to make Scott look ~mysterious~ but really it's because I'm a slow walker and meander my way through life. 

A lot of the photos I take end up being back-of-head shots of Scott, which may seems like a creative choice or a way to make Scott look ~mysterious~ but really it's because I'm a slow walker and meander my way through life. 

jurassic-park
hiking-waitakere
ocean-view
Hiking. It's just walking! Until there is an ascent involved. 

Hiking. It's just walking! Until there is an ascent involved. 

waitakere-view
waitakere-ranges-view
Repping the alma mater at the top. 

Repping the alma mater at the top. 

waitakere-plant
plants
Almost caught up to him...

Almost caught up to him...

fluffy-plants-new-zealand
waitakere-ranges-aerial
...aaaand he pulls ahead during the descent. 

...aaaand he pulls ahead during the descent.