Auckland, New Zealand.

Hello, mate!

My trip to NZ/Australia marks my accomplishment of traveling to six of the six (inhabitable) continents – yay, travel goals! We will see if anything ever pops off with Antarctica.

Being from Chicago, mid-west America, there are certain landscapes I am accustomed to seeing: city buildings, flat plains, trees, and cornfields. Traveling across America, there are landscapes I grew familiar with seeing: like mountains, red rock, desserts, and more plains. Then, there are unfamiliar landscapes that legitimately feel like a movie, painting, or storybook. I had this feeling in Iceland, Scotland, and New Zealand.

New Zealand was always this mystical, wondrous place to me, and I was so excited to visit based on photos I had seen on social media and movies. The thing about these places is, as breathtaking as they look on media, they are inexplicably more beautiful live, in person. The forestry, the hills, the trees, the vineyards and the beaches. Despite the fact that media cannot adequately display it all, I gave my very best attempt to capture the feeling and visuals at the time.

We landed in Auckland, had dinner with delicious local wine in Mount Eden with a Kiwi friend. The next morning we caught a ferry to Waiheke Island for a day trip. We took a scenic walk to Cable Bay Vineyard and Mudbrick Vineyard for wine tasting and fine dining. (All dining is “fine” when you are not footing the bill.) The weather was perfection, which was lucky, because there was rain in the forecast for the whole day. The following day, we had brunch at Rad Café in Mount Eden, and the guys went surfing in Raglan in the 57-degree-weather. Needless to say, I did not; however, I did enjoy the rich, black sand and a furry friend that joined me. We had locally-caught fish with chips, which is top contender for the best I’ve ever had (sorry, UK). Our last day in NZ, we walked the city streets of Mount Eden and went atop Maungawhau, the inactive volcano peak to see the Auckland city view. The entire experience was a great mix of awe-inspiring nature and city life.

My next visit to New Zealand, I’ll have to hit Queenstown on the South Island.

All photos taken with Nikon D5100.