From the tail end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, my partner and I spent five weeks traveling North to South and back in New Zealand. I brought along two film cameras (a Pentax K1000 and a Fujica GS645), hoping that it would keep me from taking a million images that I would later need to edit (and that it would be fun, too, of course).  It was a great time, everything was pristine and blue and green. We got sunburns from the lack of a protective layer of air pollution between us and the sun. We only did a couple of ill-advised things and I can’t wait to go back.

North Island landscapes; blue water near Taupo, steam in Rotorua and around. We had a great time in Napier, then drove south to Wellington to catch the ferry. I forgot to take photos in Auckland.

Nelson and the Kahurangi. Golden-orange sand at Kaiteriteri, a bowl of water and mountains in Abel Tasman. The turquoise pools at Te Waikoropupu Springs and pancake rocks at Punakaiki.

Scenes from a road trip from Franz Josef to Queenstown. Glacier tops, mountain valleys, suspension bridges, a retreating ice sheet. Sheep. Insanely blue pools. Lake views from a magical New Year’s Eve in Queenstown where I felt drunk on the beauty of the sunset and the landscape — and the equally impressive view from a mountaintop above town the next day.

One time I forgot to roll the film back up all the way. I’m ok with it.

Landscapes in the sound and on the way back. We spent a few days on the beach in Dunedin, with the Pacific light playing tricks on us in a town with a Scottish namesake. On to Tekapo for lupines, stargazing, and three violently blue lakes. And finally Christchurch, where we saw more impossible water, caught a movie, and had some fun before heading home.