Aerial Nudes by John Crawford

When I saw this series by John Crawford, I was immediately drawn to them. I love the bold, graphic shapes of aerial photographs, and I enjoyed the humor in spotting the nude in each photo. Each one gives the viewer a little aha! moment of incongruousness.

Souvenirs from New Zealand

Retro Funk Vintage shop in Oamaru

New Zealand and Australia are loaded with souvenir shops. There are good ones and there are bad ones, and my least favorite ones are the ones packed with cheesy, cheaply made imported junk. If I could only bring back one thing from New Zealand, why would it be made somewhere else? Because someone stamped New Zealand on it? Because it's in the shape of a kiwifruit?

My idea of a good souvenir is something made in the country, preferably by an artisan or a local factory. In New Zealand, all sorts of things used to be made domestically, before it was easier and cheaper to import. During many of my thrift store wanderings, I have come across many vintage garments, homewares and toys made in New Zealand. Here are a few of the great things Sam and I have collected in New Zealand.

Neil Dawson's Large Scale Sculptures

Horizons appears as a giant, Lichtenstein-esque falling sheet on a green hillside in New Zealand.
Photo: David Hartley, from Neil Dawson's website

Thanks to my friend Jane, I recently came across this photo of Neil Dawson's sculpture Horizons, but as it turns out I've been admiring his work in situ for quite a while.

Farewell, Nelson!

Nelson has become a second home, and with it we found a second family. The long-termers and fellow workers we met at Tasman Bay Backpackers were great, and we ended our time with them by having a rowdy and joyful party full of hugs, music, funkyball, late night breakfast and a little bit of braiding each other's hair.

Nelson Lakes Day Trip

We took a spontaneous day trip to the Nelson Lakes National Park with a few friends this week. The views were typical New Zealand stunners, and the sunshine made the chilly winter breeze very pleasant.

The Three Amigos (+ many more)

Sam has been playing a lot of music lately with Jeremias and Teppo, our fellow guests at Tasman Bay Backpackers. After serenading the hostel guests all week, the guys decided to try their hand at busking at the Nelson Market.

Flight of the Conchords

For those of you who aren't a fan of keads on facebook, you might not have heard we entered a competition to win tickets to see Flight of the Conchords play in Nelson. I've been a FotC fan for years, so I really wanted to win these tickets. When I met Sam, one of the first things we did together was watch Season 1 of the FotC show. They have a dry, awkward sense of humor that we appreciate, and their musical parodies are genius.

Putting New Zealand on Standby

On our last night in Nelson, we joined Bill and a few others for a movie night at his house in the hills. Under the supermoon we watched an Australian film, Samson & Delilah, ate homemade mussel fritters and roast veggies courtesy of two of Bill's French helpers, and soaked up the warmth of a glowing bonfire. In fact, the movie has a few bonfires in it, so it had a nice effect.

Good Times in Nelson

We've been in Nelson for a month, and it's gone by so quickly! We've been living in a caravan at Tasman Bay Backpackers, where I've been painting and renovating the hostel in exchange for our accommodation while Sam works with Bill the joiner, our host in Nelson the last time we were here.

This is only the second hostel we've stayed in during our trip, and while it lacks some of the quality family time we're used to with homestays, we have been able to make so many nice friends from all over the world. Plus, as far as hostels go, this one is pretty homey with a fireplace, no TV, a big kitchen and chocolate pudding every night.

The "Centre of NZ" overlooking Nelson

Sam and my homemade shortbread cookies

Pancake Rocks to Nelson

Our last leg of driving up the West Coast, from Greymouth to Westport, transported me to a landscape I've always associated with Central America. The blinding sun illuminated the misty humidity hanging in the air, and palm trees flanked the narrow, winding coastal road. Eventually we reached the much-anticipated pancake rocks of Punakaiki.

A Tale of Two Passes

Mr. Kea gives a little flash of his red underwings.

Our route has been mostly coastal, but we decided to cut across the middle of the South Island and back again for a few reasons. First, we wanted to see Arthur's Pass, second, we thought it would be nice to visit our friends in Christchurch again, and third, we needed a jalapeño refill!

We had another kea encounter when we stopped to overlook a bridge. There he was, eating crackers someone had left, completely undisturbed by our presence. By the way he gobbled up the crackers greedily, he must have thought we were more of a threat to his snack than to his life.

Camping on the West Coast

On the road from Arrowtown to Haast, we saw the landscape transform from rugged, dry mountains one might see in West Texas to a lush rainforest. Gillespie's Beach is one of the few free DOC campsites, and therefore very crowded. When we mounted a small hill to pitch our tent, we were struck with stunning views of the Southern Alps, pastel pink and purple with the light of the setting sun.

Arrowtown to Haast

Fog & hot air balloons over Michael Hill's golf course.

Our ten days in Arrowtown flew by. We worked hard painting the house and enjoyed delicious meals and comfortable living in exchange.

Our hosts Paula & Bede were very nice, and one particularly memorable afternoon was spent driving up the river in search of gold. I felt like we were in a truck commercial when Bede told us to roll up the windows and plunged the ute into a deep ford, water sloshing up around the cab as we bounced over rocks in the riverbed. We zigzagged our way down the river, eventually finding a good spot to pan.

Fiordlands

When you hear someone mention New Zealand, you might recall the epic scenery from Lord of the Rings. While the entire country is full of beauty, little else can match the scale of the Fiordlands and the Southern Alps.

 See Harry frolicking in the valley here.

Taking the scenic route

From Invercargill we drove to Lumsden, a journey that can be made in 80 kilometers. We did it in about 280 kilometers, stopping along the way to enjoy the scenery as far west as we could go.

Invercargill to Orepuki

If you've ever seen the film The World's Fastest Indian, you will have heard about Burt Munro and his customized motorcycle that crossed the world to set speed records that still stand today. Burt built his masterpiece in his shed in Invercargill, New Zealand, and some of his bikes and parts are on display in the local hardware store.

The Lost Gypsy of Papatowai

Just off the scenic road through the Catlins, there is a dummy holding a Curios sign, pointing to a big green caravan that looks like it could belong to the Weasleys. This was my favorite stop in the Catlins, the Lost Gypsy Caravan. We first heard of this eccentric treasure from a DVD called South.

Milton & the Catlins

We stayed two nights with Kerry in Milton, with grand plans of gold panning that didn't quite materialize after a night of fun and poor morning weather. Instead we visited a local beach, Toko Mouth, and an old train tunnel where we saw our first glowworms. Kerry's backyard kittens gave us an adorable sendoff, and on our way out of town I saw a sign advising us to "be happy." Will do!

Collecting Cockles

Beach covered in cockles at low tide

Our last day in Dunedin was a fine one, and we made the most of it by collecting cockles and heading out to Long Beach. Cockles, or clams as we call them in the US, are not part of my normal diet, but I'm always keen to try new things.

Otago Peninsula & Dunedin

We CouchSurfed in Dunedin with a nice but very busy girl named Annabelle. She wouldn't be able to let us in at night until 10 or 11 pm, so we found other CouchSurfers to hang out with in the meantime. A sweet girl named Tarsh invited us over for dinner when we arrived, and we made veggie burgers with her and a few of her friends.