Picturesque Sheep

Hey Ya'll!

It's been a busy couple of weeks of working and preparing for Christmas.  The time has just flown by and it doesn't help that it is summer so for me it really did not feel like Christmas. Maybe that's why I didn't do my shopping until the 23rd... Christmas just snuck up on me. However now that some of the festivities have stopped I have some free time to relax and edit away.  Plus I think I'm still in a food coma from all the amazing food I ate..... so editing pictures is just about all I have the energy for :)

I am really grateful to all my friends who have spent time with me over the Christmas season ya'll have definitely made it a really great Kiwi Christmas. It was also neat to experience how a different culture celebrates Christmas. I am definitely going to take away some of the food traditions :)

Anywho the drive back was breathtaking, naturally.  This time we pulled over to see the sheep.  Sheep and New Zealand are just synonymous. And man oh man the backdrop could not be more picturesque :) I also manage to get some out of the window shots.... yeah I do that a lot here.

On a side note lamb is really amazing, I have eaten it way more here than ever before.  Oh and lamb on Christmas is especially yum!!!

I hope ya'll enjoyed!

End of the Road

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After driving down the beautiful winding road, through woods and streams we arrived at the end of the road.  Awaiting us was the magnificent field enclosed by mountains. Yeah that was pretty amazing.  It was great to just wander around and absorb all the little and big features of the terrain. I am a sucker for the mountains and flowers in New Zealand and this site had both *insert big grin*

I hope ya'll enjoyed!

Not So Wild Horses Dragged Me Away.....

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As we continued to travel along the Glenorchy-Paradise Road there were stellar views all around. However, when we came across these horses grazing surrounded by amazing views that took the cake.  And if ya'll know me I am a sucker for animals.  So naturally I just had to pop out of the car and say hello to my new friends :)

The best part for me was that they did not run away #score. A few actually came up to say hello, pretty much made my day. After my mini shoot with the horses we continued on. The back roads of New Zealand are just breathtaking. The mountain views get me every time! It's just absolutely stunning!! So thankful I was able to capture this side of the road shot. This is what the dive out is like, amazing views everywhere! I just hope I didn't get drool on the windows :p Just kidding ;)

The South Island has some really spectacular scenery and I am so grateful I was able to soak some of it in! Until next time!

Diamond Lake

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The South Island scenery continues! My lovely host family took another boarder and myself for a drive out to Glenorchy.  In order to get there you travel along this winding road that parallels Lake Wakatipu and I cannot say it enough how absolutely stunning the scenery is! Thankfully there are safe places to pull over and snap some photographs, like this first one :)

We actually went past Glenorchy to Otago first and took in the views from Diamond Lake.  It was pretty amazing, the sand flies are not so amazing so have spray on you.  Another tip, when driving out there the road is not exactly "finished" so you go through some creeks.  So watch the water level and maybe don't go after a big rain.  For the record we did great and had no issues. Anywho I loved taking in this view! And get this we were the only people there #score! Yeah I really enjoyed that part, especially not having to fight for a view :) 

Searching for skipping stones

Perfecting the art of skipping rocks/I made them keep going till I got a picture :)

So thankful I was able to get some pictures of myself amongst this beautiful creation! Hope ya'll enjoyed more to come :)

Arrowtown Round 2

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My adventure on the South Island continues:) After the wonderful day long excursion to Milford Sounds I continued my site seeing back at Arrowtown.  What can I say it is just so pretty I had to go twice and I had to geek out again over the filming locations again :)

One of my favourite parts of visiting Arrowtown was walking along the trail next to the river.  It is just so calming and stunning.  On this visit I took the trail further down from town and walked back up towards town, it was a lovely little walk.

It was lovely to take in some more of the fall colours in Arrowtown.  Fall here is a bit different than in the States.  Where I'm from there's heaps of vibrate red, orange, and yellow trees.  Where as as in New Zealand it's mostly yellow with speckles of other colours.  Still God's handiwork is amazing no matter the colour scheme.  Hope ya'll enjoyed! 

The Last Stops - Milford Sound Excursion

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I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Mine was filled with lots of relaxing. I'm gearing up to see a bit more of the west coast on the North Island :) I do love road trips and all the scenery along the way! Hopefully I will get some shots I can share with ya'll!

Well we are at the finale of the Milford Sounds experience. Once we left Milford Sounds there were a few stops left. There was a quick stop at the Homer Tunnel then a beautiful open field. When we drove past the field in the morning the mist and fog were pouring over the mountains onto it.  Yeah that was pretty amazing, unfortunately we were not on the schedule to stop at the time :(  Reasons why when you are a photographer you should drive. However when we did stop in the afternoon the clouds and sky could not have been more perfect.  Ya'll know how I love blue skies with clouds :)

After taking in the field in all it's golden beauty. We were back onto the bus and heading back to Queenstown.  The final stop was the devil's staircase just outside of Queenstown. Thankfully there are pull off areas so you can safely take it all in.  Lake Wakatipu is lovely and the mountains coming up from it are just majestic. It was really breathtaking at sunrise when we drove through, unfortunately my iPhone pictures do not do it justice!

The final stop for me was after I got off the bus.  Ya'll know I cannot resist a sunset :)

All in all it was a nice little day trip adventure! I wish I could have extended the trip and tramped around a bit, one day I will :) Well I hope ya'll enjoyed! What was ya'll favourite part?

Milford Sounds

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Well it has been quite the busy week for me. My computer charger died earlier this week so I had to live without it for a bit.  That was quite tuff!! Although in hind sight it was really good for me to unplug because I was able to catch up on some reading I had been neglecting. Anywho the weather here has been a bit wonky, which I do not appreciate! Over the past couple weeks there have been beautifully warm days then it suddenly drops to cold a rainy days.... the joys of spring!  I am looking forward to a nice warm/hot summer! On the warmer days I try to get out more and over the weekend I went on a little walk through some wetlands. Gotta soak in that Hawke's Bay Sunshine. I also spent some time in the mornings after a run outside cleaning the windows, it was lovely. My friends know how much I love to clean :) So I'm finally bunkering down to write a post since you know it's cold and rainy today.

Today's cold and rainy weather reminds me of my Milford Sounds excursion (but I think it was colder then). Apparently it's quite the challenge to see the sounds when it's sunny, contrary to all the pictures. The nice part about going after a good rain is that there are heaps of gushing waterfalls.

It was quite the experience trying to capture all the landscape. I was on the top deck of the boat with no cover wiping my lens every few clicks of the shutter. At the same time trying to keep my camera as dry as possible and trying to not to fall over onto the wet deck. After a bit the rain stopped which was really great. Then everyone else came up top which was not so great.  Very thankful I already had my spot :) It definitely paid to stand out in the rain!!

Part of the excursion included getting really personal with this waterfall. The captain steered the boat right up to this waterfall. It was pretty cool. I snapped away for as long as I could, but there comes a point where my camera could become drenched so I stopped. Then I brought out the iPhone with the life proof case and got a few more shots #score :) 

I cannot tell you enough how breath taking this landscape is.  I just kept staring at all of the rugged cliffs, the gushing water, seals, and the open seas. I wish I could have kayaked around Milford Sounds, but that will have to be for another time. 

It's pretty spectacular scenery if I do say so. I cannot wait to share the rest of my South Island adventures with ya'll.  Well I hope ya'll enjoy the rest of the week! It's Friday here so my weekend has begun :)