MT MAUNGANUI, NEW ZEALAND
Haven’t posted anything here for almost a month….. Very embarrassing!
Especially since I haven’t even shown half of our trip to New Zealand yet, and still so many beautiful photos of hot Perth, where I shot a wedding in April, cosy autumn Blue Mountains, just different Sydney…
You want more photos of different beautiful things. :)
The weather in Sydney today is especially nasty – fog and rain. I had a cancelled shoot and a lot of time to sort out the photos, so I expect a new series!
So, I will continue my story about magical New Zealand and its unique nature.
This time, I will tell you about the place where we met in the new year of 2014 :)
Mt Maunganui is an icon of the east coast of North Island. The place itself reminded me a lot of the Gold Coast, especially during schoolies 8))) For those not in the know, this is when thousands of school leavers gather at Surfers Paradise and hang out all three weeks of the holidays. A lot of locals go away from the Gold Coast during this time; you can see why))))
So, during the day on Dec. 31st, this place was like the most ordinary beach, with many young people, but in the evening, they put on stages there and different bands performed. Free buses were organised from the place of action to the caravan parks. That’s what I understand – sErvis).
It was such an incredible feeling in a small provincial resort town where this concert was almost the year’s main event :))). As I call such places – a pleasant backwater))))
The place is lovely, and the beaches there are great, so I advise everyone to visit!
BLUE MOUNTAINS
Unfortunately, I’ve been feeling burned out lately. There are too many shoots, too much processing, too much undone and delayed, too many commercial shoots, and too little time and desire to shoot just for myself. I have to prioritise and realise that I can’t keep up with everything, but as usual, I’m a bit late to catch up, as 2014 is already almost complete. Like many considering the cost of living New Zealand presents, I’m learning from my mistakes, am now wholly changing my work system, and I hope that in winter, I will have a lot of time for self-development and just for myself.
The other day, I had a mini holiday tour in the Blue Mountains – in a cosy cabin with a fireplace and spa.
Body and spirit said thank you and back to work :) By the way if you really want to enjoy the day trip from Sydney it’s a definitely Blue Mountains tour with Autopia tour operator. I been travelling with this company ages and they are amazing! ❤️
So, the Blue Mountains are just a few hours’ drive from Sydney. These mountains got their name from the eucalyptus forests, as they are why they have such a blue haze.
The weather was changing quickly – I wanted to get naked, or at another minute, to cover myself in a warm plaid or bring a mackintosh. But we were lucky with the weather :)
Autumn is when many trees turn bright red and yellow and look beautiful. More than 100 species of eucalyptus grow on the territory of the reserve, and in terms of area occupied, which is huge, they make up 14% of all eucalyptus trees on Earth. Listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, it is carefully protected and preserved.
Despite this, tourism is actively developed here, and there are innumerable routes and trails of various lengths and complexity categories. It is not uncommon for people to be searched for by helicopters after they get lost or something happens to them. Unfortunately, we witnessed such a rescue operation. Having made a break, after overcoming most of the National Pass route (see photos) and after climbing 210m up a steep mountain, we saw ambulances, police and emergency services.
Following them, a rescue team was soon on the track, and a red helicopter started barreling in the air. As it turned out, someone had severely twisted his ankle on the track and could not walk further on his own.
So we decided to take the best National Pass track, in total it takes about half a day with a stop for lunch and photo shoots.
It is considered almost the best route for trained hikers (hard category) and is definitely on the ‘MUST DO’ list in all guidebooks.
But I’ll start with the most popular place in the mountains – the lookout overlooking the ‘Three sisters’ ;)
