My Year in Photos - 2025
A quick summary of 2025: Moved to the South Island from Wellington in July. Went on so many photo missions in my first couple of months. Tripped in a rabbit hole at Lake Sarah and broke my camera. Two months later I had my camera back and then had a flare-up of my achilles which slowed me down for the remainder of the year. I’m also more of a fan of autumn and winter, hiking in summer is too energy-sapping for me.
These are the locations for all of the photos below:
Lake Wairarapa aurora
Castle Hill
Arthur’s Pass
Trig M
Lake Selfe
Lake Sarah
West Coast, South Island
Oxford, Canterbury
Woolshed Creek
Tekapo
Saint Bathans
Ashley Gorge - bird photos
Moving to the South Island
It’s long been a dream of mine to move to the South Island. My wife, Rosie, and I spent the last two years taking short trips to areas of the South Island we thought we’d enjoy living in. We visited Takaka, Southland (Riverton, Tuatapere, Te Anau, and Manapouri), Alexandra, Christchurch and a couple of other towns. We settled on Canterbury but didn’t want to live in Christchurch City so started looking in the Waimakariri District. We loved a couple of houses in Coalgate/Glentunnel but it was just a bit too far from the city, so Oxford won out in the end. It’s about 40 minutes from the city and the same to Castle Hill the other way. It’s in the foothills of the Southern Alps and really is a great spot to launch adventures from.
Goals for 2026
The first and most important goal for me is to get my body right. I’ve had so many injuries over the last few years that have kept me from doing the hikes I really want to do. I have all the hiking and photography gear I need, I live so close to so many epic adventures but I’ve been hindered for too long by tendon weakness mostly. I will create a body that is built for hiking and then I’ll hit the trails again with confidence. A lot of work will be focused on lower body, core and back as well as general fitness. It feels crazy that I can’t even go on long walks..walks! It’s not like I’m playing explosive sports anymore but such is life, just gonna get on with it :)
Secondary goals include some long hikes to epic mountain landscapes, post regularly to this blog, and make sure I chase interesting events like auroras. Astro is on the menu this year too.
Previous Years
