Tree of Tranquility

Things are definitely picking up in the semester at Uni, but everyday when I see this tree I am reminded how incredible life really is. It may only be for a moment, but it's a moment that brings a bit of tranquility to my day.

"Beauty is nature's tool for survival because we protect what we fall in love with. It opens our hearts and makes us realize that we are apart of nature and we're not separate from it. When we see ourselves in nature it also connects us to everyone of us, because its clear it is all connected in one."-Louie Schwartzberg.

Otara Market

The Otara Market takes place every Saturday in South Auckland and is a collection of stalls, fresh produce, and music. It brings in a lot of people and I can see why because the prices are so good! Both the vendors and market-goers were very diverse, which made the market seem very vibrant and slightly overwhelming (in a good way) to me. I found it interesting that there were t-shirts with the Chicago Bulls logo on it and hats with Miami Heat. I learned that the NBA is actually quite popular in South Auckland, but I'm always surprised when I see someone walking around in a Bulls hat. Loved the market, and I would definitely go back!

Back Home in Auckland

The South Island is gorgeous, but I'm happy to be back in Auckland! 

Pictures Around Auckland: Auckland

Mt Cook and Rangitata

Mt Cook and Rangitata are the last stops of my 2 week south island tour! Unfortunately it was really foggy and rainy so we weren't able to see New Zealand's highest mountain, Mt Cook. On our drive to Rangitata we stopped at Lake Tekapo to do some snow tubing and see the gorgeous Good Shepherd Church, which was built in 1935. It offers such a fantastic view that there is a 5 year waiting list to get married there! Rangitata is famous for its Lord of the Rings landscape so we decided to watch Lord of the Rings that night as a group after going for a short hike. Tomorrow it's off to Christchurch and then flying back to Auckland.

Stray Bus

Church of the Good Shepherd (5 year waiting list to get married here!)

Lake Tekapo

Rangitata

Snow Tubing

Milford Sound

Words cannot describe the Milford Sound.

More Pictures: Milford Sound

Kea

Wanaka/Queenstown

Great nights out in a beautiful place!

Franz Joseph (Fox Glacier)

Our first helicopter hike to the Fox Glacier was rained out, but we were fortunate to get to top the next morning. I had never been in a helicopter before and I absolutely loved it! Flying over the glacier and waterfalls was absolutely breathtaking! The glacier had a lot of blue ice and pumping waterfalls from all of the rain. I could write forever about how pretty it was, but it's best if you just check out the pics!

Pictures from Franz Joseph: Franz Joseph

West Coast Travel!

Traveling along the West Coast is absolutely magnificent (I can understand why the drive we were on was ranked in the top 7 most scenic drives by Lonely Planet)! The west coast ocean is really powerful and I loved trying to capture that power through my camera lens. We stopped at Punakaki (Pancake rocks) which have been formed over the past 35 million years and were spectacular! At night we played a rather competitive game of monopoly (the NZ edition of course), which of course I didn't win. The next day we continued travel to Franz Joseph and made some stops at areas where Lord of the Rings was filmed and spent the night at Monsoon hostel, which was located in the middle of a rainforest. The bar's motto? It rains, we pour. =)

West Coast travel pictures: West Coast Travel

Punkaki