VW T5 Camper Conversion with EcoFlow

Well. What a journey. I can’t believe I’m finally putting together this completed van conversion blog. For a more detailed visual journey of what we got up to during this camper conversion, keep your eyes peeled for the YouTube video coming soon! I’ve tried to cover off as much info as possible without making this blog insanely long (even though that is my specialty), but naturally there are so many little steps and elements that have gone into this camper build. So if you have any questions on something that hasn’t been covered here, you can find me on Instagram here or email me here. I also have a story highlight on my Instagram @lola.photography where I share a lot of the journey and run through some things in more detail. Links to everything is listed at the end of this blog!

We started this journey over 1 year ago when we began our hunt for a 4 motion Volkswagen Transporter T5 with diff lock. I can now tell you with confidence that this was no easy feat. As it turns out, these vehicles do not pop up second hand in New Zealand very often. We spent a good 6-8 months looking every day until our T5 got listed in little ol Nelson.

We were originally on the hunt for a long wheel base (LWB), but when this short wheel base (SWB) popped up, we knew we had to take our chance and grab it. Not only did she have 4WD with diff lock, but she also had a factory lift. Bloody glorious! Here she is in all of her original glory.

While we compromised on some space, we were rewarded with a very manoeuvrable van that still fits in your average car park. The difference between a SWB and LWB is 40cm. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, it definitely see’s a sacrifice in a bit of storage room. But in enlisting the help of the best vehicle outfitters in the country - Judge & Company - we were able to make the best use of the space we had. More on that later.

The whole project took us about 9 months, however it’s important to note I don’t think a build like this would typically this long. There were a few things that impacted our timeline such as overseas trips, selling our house & moving towns, seat install/certification logistics and having a toddler. Seriously try do anything with power tools with a toddler around. The toddler always wants a turn *lordgivemestrength*. So often it was usually just one of us chipping away at things while the other had parenting duties under control. Another huge factor was we didn’t have a designated space to work on the van. We were just doing it in our driveway outside a little townhouse and had to pack everything away every time we were finished using it. It meant that we were impacted by the weather too. Having a garage were you could leave the van and all your tools to just pick up where you left off would be ideal. Being able to fit in an additional hour here and there after bedtime would have accelerated our progress massively. So I’d say more realistically a build like this should take more like 3-4months. Even quicker with the help of a vehicle outfitter. But we chose to DIY as much as we could on the count of ✨cost of living crisis✨ and went for a custom fit out for the cabinetry.

A really key element of our van for us was seating. We needed to find a way that we could fit 2 adults and one toddler in, all with seatbelts. So we were faced with our first challenge (and turns out, most time consuming and most expensive challenge.) Our first thoughts were a bench seat in the front. This wasn’t the safest option as putting a 3 year old in the front seat is not ideal, and it didn’t support the opportunity for our family to grow one day. Putting in additional seats in the back meant a huge sacrifice on space and wouldn’t allow us space for a decent sized bed or cabinetry.

Upon a bit of research into how a T5 camper is traditionally decked out in the UK, we discovered the “Rusty Lee Rock and Roll Bed”. A custom built, fully crash tested bench seat with seatbelts that doubles as a bed. Two birds one stone, ideal! We of course already had our Feldon Shelter Hawkes nest, but it was of utmost importance to be forward thinking in the event our family could grow. Meaning we would need sleeping space for 4 people. Luckily for us, a supplier in Christchurch had one Rock and Roll seat left in exactly the size we were looking for - 3/4 width. After a spot of due diligence to ensure we could easily get the seat certified for New Zealand roads, we made our first big purchase for our van conversion. Spoiler: getting the seat certified was not as easy or as affordable as we were told. But in the interest of chronological story telling, I shall digress and revisit this conundrum later in the blog. Said seat in it’s factory form:

Disclaimer - any links to products/materials used are not sponsored unless specified! The links are for anyone following this blog as a guide for their very own camper build. A full summary of all links is included at the end of this blog.

First order of business was to rip up the old flooring, replace it with some sound deadening, nice new fresh ply and get the side panels off to prep for insulation. As far as we know, this VW Transporter was originally purchased by a company that was collecting rock and soil samples - something to do with Geotechnical ground engineering. So as a result, it was absolutely caked with soil and dirt in every nook and cranny. As soon as we lifted the old flooring, we got a big wiff of Punga smell. So I imagine this van had spend a bit of time around the New Zealand bush!

We were lucky the van already had ply down as we could use this as our template.

It was so satisfying finally seeing this thing gutted so we could start insulating. We used some sound deadening that doubled as insulation on parts of the wall, ceiling and all over the floor before we fixed the ply down. It was easy peel & stick we found on Aliexpress. We also picked up a huge roll of thick, cosy NZ wool insulation from https://www.woolinsulation.kiwi/ for inside the walls. Insulation is essential for not only warmth on those cooler nights, but actually helps keep the van cool on super hot days and nights too.

Just as we felt like we were making some good headway, bam, first spanner in the works. After some heavy rain, we discovered a leak coming down under the front passenger seat. This meant we couldn’t fix down the floor until we solved the leak mystery. We of course didn’t want to go to the lengths of fixing everything down and laying the lino flooring over the top only to have to rip it up later due to the ply swelling and rotting. We got some mates involved to speed up the process and lucky for us, it was an easy fix and none of the electrical was affected. Turns out this is a common leak in a VW T5 so google was able to shed some light on the issue. For years the drainage holes under the windscreen had been blocked up with leaves and muck, so as a result the water couldn’t drain out as it was meant to. This was causing an overflow that would trickle down under the seat and our beautiful new ply was soaking it aaalll up. So with a wee clean out and long test blast from the garden hose, we were happily screwing down our new floor and gluing on the wood-laminate.

Next on the agenda was carpeting the wheel arches, wall panelling and any exposed metal that we didn’t want to see. I wanted to make the interior of the van as little like a van as possible. Which meant hiding any traces of van structure. I really wanted it to feel like a little home away from home cabin when you were inside. Our original thought was to carpet all in behind the cabinets so that when any cupboards were open, it had a tidy clean finish in behind. Turns out all my efforts were wasted as Judge & Co were just too good with the cabinetry that we didn’t end up seeing any of the wall behind. Later down the track we also ended up lining the opposite wall, so really only one wheel arch ended up being somewhat visible (under the seat). However it only took me a few hours once I figured out the 4 way stretch of the wall carpet, so not too bad!

In the meantime while all this was going on, some very exciting purchases had gone down: the sink and the all important fridge. I was keen on a nice big deep sink with a foldable tap and a cover to give the ability to hide it away and increase bench space went it wasn’t in use. All my local online searches resulted in small, expensive options that were quite frankly, fugly. After a lot of internet hours, I finally landed on this bad boy from Aliexpress (B set). Which I’m sure I found the exact same sink on a trendy NZ site for $1200. So going straight to the supplier saved us about $800.

There was no question in our minds that we wanted a Dometic fridge. They have a fantastic reputation and we were able to nab our fridge model from Marine Deals. We were really set on having a proper fridge and not a drawer or tilting system where things easily get lost in the bottom and don’t actually fit much at all. This 45L jobbie easily fits a long weekend of food for our little fam and for longer trips away we will also take our 105L Yeti.

This is when it started getting really exciting as we could collect our epic Power Kit from EcoFlow (sponsored! Eee!) and begin a more realistic mapping out of our space with the actual items and painters tape. A refreshing change from just sketching random ideas on paper and sitting inside an empty van staring at the barren walls. EcoFlow hooked us up with enough juice to power us off grid for several days, so you can imagine how excited we were to get our hands on this kit. We had a general plan in mind for how we might fit everything in, but Reuben from Judge & Company came to our rescue later in the game to show us how it should really be done. The whole system had a super easy install as it’s all just plug and play (again big thanks to Reuben for rigging it all up for us as part of the cabinetry fit out!) I’ll cover off some more detail on the EcoFlow system later in the blog.

MEANWHILE, our seat had been getting upholstered and I am so stoked how it came out! We were super lucky to have a friend’s dad complete an absolute high-class job (he’s a boat upholsterer by trade), and for an epic price too. This meant we were finally all set for install, being an integral part of the whole fit out this was huge progress. Which as previously mentioned, turned into a bit of a schnitzel. Not much else could go ahead until the seat was in. The guidance we were given by a certifier did not end up being enough for certification. Rusty Lee provide paperwork for certification as their seats are thoroughly crash tested in Germany so we were assured that install would be relatively straight forward here. Fraser Cars were highly recommended to us as they work with classic cars and often deal with seat installs. Upon taking it to them, it was quickly realised the certification standards in the UK were a lot looser than here in New Zealand. This resulted in some extra custom steel brackets being made and a few more extra materials required than what was provided with the seat. Anyone taking on a camper build will know any custom work comes at a juicy price - for good reason, but woooof. Lucky for us, the Fraser Cars crew were super understanding and worked with us on this conundrum really well.

For context, there is a huge steel plate that sits under the chassis and the seat framing gets screwed into this - the seat is then to be bolted through the floor into the steel plate. While I am definitely stoked with the level of safety required in New Zealand, the certifier advising the boys at Fraser Cars kept coming back with additional things to remedy such as adding crush tubes into the voids of the van floor to give extra strength in the case of a crash. As a result, the extra custom work meant the bill just kept going up and up. I mean, totally fair as you don’t want to be the certifier on the wrong side of a seat flying off during an accident and running the risk of being responsible for a serious injury or death. At the end of the day, we are grateful to have a very safe, secure seat. Especially considering we are strapping the most precious cargo known to man to it (aka our child). But if you are embarking on a journey similar to ours, beware that you’ll need a healthy budget before you’ve even thought about cabinets, fridges and cute little roll up blinds. It pains me to even recall how much the seat cost, so if you really want to know, just email or DM me and I can give you the details. However, the value of the seat has made it all worth it in the long run. Now having a safe AF seat that doubles as a bed has already bought us so much joy on the adventures we’ve had so far.

Our last task before getting the van over to Judge & Company for cabinetry & electrical goodness, was the ceiling. And mates, the fight that I fought to have a tongue & groove ceiling was foughted with passion. My husband is the more sensible one out of the two of us and for budgeting reasons (thanks seat install) really wanted to either leave the ceiling as is, or carpet it. But my daydreams I had for our little home on wheels were relentless and I wasn’t letting go of my vision. Long story short, we have a tongue & groove ceiling now. This was achieved by screwing some battens in to the celling and then fastening our tongue & groove timber onto that. This process also included drilling out our LED light holes down the middle plank and getting some pre-wiring sorted. Guess who’s husband is super stoked with the result now.

Ok now for the most exciting part. After a couple of layout/design consultations with Reuben at Judge & Company, it was time to get stuck into the gooooods. I’m blessed to have known Reuben for many laps of the sun so can vouch for him being a most excellent egg. So I’ve been lucky enough to partner with Judge & Co before - the team fitted our kitchen drawer system in our Land Cruiser so knew from experience that they operate to a very high-standard and work quickly and efficiently. While we had a general idea on layout, we also gave Reuben some creative freedom to come up with some awesome storage and functional features. And he did not disappoint. After the van being with the crew for just a couple of days, I couldn’t believe how much progress they had made, the infinitely better plan of fitting in our EcoFlow power kit and the f*ckin cool little design features that Reuben was coming up with on the fly. A wee pull out desk, perfectly appointed water storage, under-seat drawers, the insanely cool pull out table and storage out the back complete with decor shelves and discrete hidden cable storage. My expectations had already been seriously surpassed and we were still only at the carcass stage of the whole process. Judge & Co have an in-house CNC machine which means they are able to absolutely rip through work, but also ensure they are creating top of the line product.

Because the Judge & Company crew are also trained and super knowledgable with the electrical/wiring side of things, we were happy to turn this job over to them too. Here’s a few words from Reuben about installing the EcoFlow system from their own blog write up here: https://judgeandco.nz/blogs/news/bts-judge-and-co-campaign-shoot

“This system has 12v and 230v power supply and has AC, DC and solar charging capabilities. All controlled by a nice touch screen panel or from a phone app. Some would say this is overkill for NZ touring, but man was the install and integration straightforward. Also, having plenty of head room, should it be required in the future, is always nice.”
— Reuben, Judge & Company New Zealand

The whole renewable energy system is modular and really scalable by just adding additional batteries, which means we can transfer it all to a bigger camper in the future or even a tiny home. The dual voltage option means we could add in a standard New Zealand wall plug above the bench, resulting in easy charging of phones, camera batteries, laptops and even running a blender or air fryer for some boujee glamping. It’s all charged up by either our EcoFlow solar panel or the alternator via the van running. So when we aren’t harnessing the sun for eco-friendly power then the batteries are getting juiced up while we travel around. You can read about all the specs here: https://ecoflowtech.co.nz/pages/power-kits

Here’s what went down in picture-story form… (a more in-depth YouTube video to come, even with some commentary from the legend himself - Reuben of Judge & Co)

Before I knew it, we were at the cupboard fronts stage. The Judge & Co crew got the CNC machine to work, perfectly cutting out the cupboard shapes from a beautiful blonde wood sealed ply. From the beginning I had the vision of rattan fronts for not only the look it provides, but to also minimise weight where possible in the van and break up the look of all the wood grain. I bought some gorge handmade rattan from Vietnam on Etsy. It arrived with a lovely had-written note from the makers about how the rattan was made by elderly members of their community and how the purchase allows them to continue to be creative and be contributing members of their society, which they were super grateful for.

By this stage the boys had made huge progress in just one week (on the run up to Christmas with other fit outs going on at the same time might I add!) So it was time to take the van home for the weekend, paint up the ceiling and get the opposite wall all lined up. We didn’t use a traditional ceiling paint as it can get scuffed up pretty easily, so we went for a semi-gloss door paint. This means it will be much easier to wipe clean any marks or sticky fingerprints.

I was also introduced to the difficulty of templating a van wall. Thanks to the ever changing lines and the wheel arch, it proved to be a challenge. Nothing a bit of No More Gaps and a lick of paint couldn’t fix in the end!

It was then back to the Judge & Co workshop for the under seat drawer systems, Reubens sick as shelving/pullout table storage situation at the back and the finishing touches on plumbing & electrical.

Meanwhile I had been on the hunt for some small tiles for a backsplash above the bench. I wanted to give a homely kitchen feel, but also felt like the ply needed to be broken up a bit. We went for a small black tile to match the under-seat drawers and black framing of the seat.

Reuben had also sourced some epic bamboo for the bench top which I instantly set out on a mission to find the perfect stain for. Any stain or oil I tried just wasn’t right (often too dark) so we ended up getting some beeswax from Bunnings which was perfect. It sealed the bamboo, gave the bamboo just the right colour and is super easy to re-apply when needed. These are the types of things during a camper build that you won’t realise rack up your final bill. I would have easily spent over $120 on stains and oils before finding the right look. It all stacks up!

At the time we were living in Mangawhai so enlisted the help of a very talented Tiler - Louis Morrow from Simply Splashbacks. I highly recommend working with Louis if you live in the Northland area and need a Tiler. My usual experience with tradies is they often don’t communicate the extent of the work well enough, why it costs what it does and where additional costs may apply. Louis’ communication was bang on from the start - transparent pricing and a full run down of what he would be doing at each stage. This was a specialised job as he was tiling into a space that would be moving (6 months in so far and no issues!) He absolutely nailed a flawless finish and I’m so stoked we went for this addition to the van. (I paid full price for this service, we are just so stoked with it he deserved a shout out!)

It was then time for some final touches: leather handle pulls, DIY blind (using my Grandmas Husqvarna 1950s sewing machine) tea towel rail, mozzie net test, in-cupboard storage and finally putting all my little purchases I’ve mad along the way into place.
- Cups, bowls and food went into the overhead cupboards
- Cleaning stuff, gas bottle, spare tea towels etc in cupboard under the sink
- Kitchen drawer turned into a bit of a miscellaneous storage for first aid, film, toothbrushes (we have a Front Runner Utensil set that lives in the back drawer so didn’t need this space for cutlery)
_ Sliding door cupboard contains the power system on the lower shelf and the remaining 2 shelves is our wardrobe. We use packing cells to ensure it doesn’t become a mess of clothes in there. I love the sliding doors (again Reubens idea as I had always assumed they would swing out) because it means we can still access this cupboard regardless of the seat being up or down.
- Under seat drawer in the cabin area is our pantry.
- Drawer out the back is for the gas cooker, pots & pans, cutlery and utensils
- Shelving out the back is for special decor tings we find on our travels, plus solar panel cable storage in a little hidden cubby hole.
- Epic pull out table/drawer has space in underneath for all of our cooking oils, herbs & spices and condiments for ease when cooking.

Blind plans came from Surf Bus Project - https://surfbusproject.com/product/roll-up-blinds/. Thanks guys, worked a treat!

Finally we were finished! And just in time for the vans maiden voyage to Port Jackson, Coromandel. Check out the finished product and a few little adventures we’ve been on already!

See above for how our car seat looks when we are in travel mode. It’s secured via the seat belt and the safety strap at the back is looped around the steel framing of the Rock n Roll seat. (which is very expensively secured via steel plates into the cassis of the van). Another option for a carseat with this Rock n Roll seat would be one with a stability bar that sits on the floor at the front - either option just prevents the seat from flying forward if you have to break suddenly. We just pop the carseat into the drivers or passenger seat once we are all set up so we can easily go from seat to bed mode. Our bedding also gets popped in the front when not in use. I searched high and low for an example of someone using a carseat with this setup for peace of mind before pulling trigger on the purchase, but only found one photo in the depths of Instagram. So hopefully this info is useful to someone!

What I absolutely love about this set up with the EcoFlow, not only does it provide epic off-grid camping, but it offers the option for a mint day tripper. Because we have 4WD with diflock, this whole set-up is a breeze to get on and off the beach. Even with all the extra weight. You should see the looks we get when we roll this beauty onto the beach - people assume we are being a bit reckless and we will never get it off the beach again. I’m sure the 4WD truck owners start fantasising out getting out the strops and saving the day, but look at her goooooo.

We love loading up the fridge with drinks and food for a day or afternoon at the beach. Even just for dinner somewhere more local just to get out of the house and enjoy the summer daylight hours. To have everything we need in our little house on wheels takes away so much admin and our boy loves it.

There are still a few upgrades we will make to the van as time goes by. So far the list entails a side opening window above the sink, a swivel seat base for the passenger seat, Apple Car play, a 4WD storage trailer and a facelift for the front of the van using parts from a T6. But for now we are absolutely stoked with our little adventure mobile.

Before I sign off, I’ll leave a list of links all the products used below (in the rough order we executed everything). We extend our deepest thanks to EcoFlow and Judge & Company for making this build possible. It definitely would not be what it is without your support and input. Here’s to summer 24/25!

And of course not forgetting our OG adventuring items: Feldon Shelter Hawkes Nest (wide), Rhino Rack Sunseeker Awning and my beloved Nikon gear that allows me to capture all the fun times!

Mountain Time 2022

All this chilly weather has had me reminiscing on our South Island trip last August, so I thought it was high time these snaps saw the light of day. Get settled in - she’s a long one. We were down there for a few weeks and had epic weather, so resulted in heaps of opportunities to get the camera out. Everything you see in this blog was shot on my Nikon Z6ii paired with either the Nikkor Z FX 24-70mm f/2.8 or the Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 - using the F To Z Lens Adapter. This adapter has been so epic for my transition into a mirrorless body. It’s meant I can still use all my F-mount lenses while I slowly upgrade to the mirrorless Z models. So much kinder on the savings. And so much kinder on the weight of my camera bag. My back thanks you, Nikon.

First up, we hung out in Queenstown for a couple of weeks. We were lucky enough to arrive with a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains - not forgetting how unlucky we were that the snow storm that resulted in said dusting, was actually responsible for cancelling our flight the day before. But what followed was 10 days straight of clear blue skies and light winds. It was our mini’s second time to the South Island, but we wanted to do things a bit differently this time and actually have our Toyota Land Cruiser with us. So I flew down with the offspring, while Jord did the hard yards and drove the truck all the way down from Whangaparāoa to Tahuna. The petrol costs and Cook Strait ferry actually worked out cheaper than renting a car for that whole time, and we really wanted the benefit of having a 4WD. This really came in handy when we explored Paradise out in Glenorchy and the Mount Cook National Park. Even the road out to Moke Lake has seen better days and made me wonder how any of the wee 2 wheel drive Toyota rentals were making it out there.

Any who, let’s get into it. Stay tuned for some of my fave images I’ve ever taken, way above the mountain tops.

Man this place never gets old.

Next came the best morning of the trip - a sunrise flight with Glenorchy Air. I had been watching the weather like a mad woman for a week leading up to this scenic flight as Sophie Piearcey had sung its praises and her images from previous flights looked incred. We were so lucky to have perfect flying conditions. This flight flies all the way to Mount Aspiring, showcasing breathtaking rivers and glaciers along the way. I also accidentally timed the flight with the full moon being directly over Mount Aspiring which rarely lines up with perfect weather! Froth factor was high and this experience did not disappoint. It was so epic and I snapped one of my new favourite prints “Oh Hey Skippers” over the lower area of Skippers Canyon. If you’d like any of these shots added to my print shop, just flick me an email or DM on the gram.

As you can tell, my trigger finger got a real workout…

No trip to Queenstown is complete without a trip out to Glenorchy. To of course visit the famous jetty, but more importantly if you have a 4WD - driving the road to Paradise. Note that you will most definitely not make it very far along this road if your vehicle does not have off-roading capabilities. There are reasonably deep fords and some hectic chunks of the road missing. The easiest way to access this place without a 4WD is to book a tour. But it’s seriously worth it. Especially if you’re a Lord Of The Rings fan. We had a cruisey explore while our little mate snoozed away for his nap, had the whole jetty to ourselves and then had a little lakeside picnic dinner on the way home.

Making the most of even more sunshine, we hit the Bobs Cove hike. An easy walk that overlooks the stunning blue glacial waters of Lake Wakatipu. We were treated to some amazing low cloud hanging over the headland of Bobs Cove and countless Kereru dive bombing all over the show (see if you can spot one in the pics below)

Unsurprisingly this adventure saw lots more rock throwing by the miniature human and heaps more rock skimming by the big humans. Out of all the grandeur of the South, my favourite pastime is flinging tiny little smooth rocks at a high spin rate with horizontal velocity over glassy waters. It really is the most underrated yet meditative sport. (Yes it’s a sport).

One afternoon we wanted to gain some vertical metres without flying to enjoy sunset views of the lake. Enter Deer Park Heights. An absolutely incredible private property with some of the best views you can access with a vehicle in Queenstown. This was such a cool experience for both us and our sprog. There are so many animals to see on the way up including, deer, goats, donkeys, pigs & alpaca. All of which you can feed by hand (provided pellets are $2) - super exciting for kids. It’s $55 per vehicle to access the land, which is amazing value for the views you get. Not to mention the fact we only saw one other vehicle the whole time. So it felt like we had the entire place to ourselves. There is also a cool interactive map on their website that showcases some of the filming sites of Lord Of The Rings. I loved revisiting my LOTR fan days and seeing where some of my favourite scenes had been shot. But of course the main event was golden hour and watching the fading light over the mountains and a cheeky little pop of colour. Trigger happy Lola was once again in full force.

The next day saw the end of our fine weather streak. However I’m never mad about a bit of moody cloud in the mountains.

It was then time to say goodbye to Queenstown and head to the spectacular Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. I had seen that Hooker Hut had recently been re-located to probably the most scenic yet accessible location you could ever imagine for a DOC hut. It was fully booked already, but we hiked in to enjoy lunch with the best view in town, with the occasional avalanche as our soundtrack.

On the final night of our adventure I wanted to head back to Hooker Hut for a solo sunset mish. I arrived at the hut, expecting to be greeted by the residents for the night (as it was booked on the DOC site) but found no one in sight. I sat and had my snacks expecting people to arrive at any moment, but as the light faded, no one came. To pass the time and stay warm, I sat inside the hut and began to read the visitors book. It had entries from years ago when the hut was positioned further up in the mountains. I was happily reading along when my eyes met a word that made my heart stop. “Ghost”. I honestly didn’t read another word, snapped the book shut, and chucked on my camera bag before I even took another breath. Screw the sunset, I’m out. Marched my ass right out of there like someone had paid me to gtfo. I’m not a huge believer in spirits, but honestly when you’re alone in the middle of nowhere in hut that was built in 1910 that has ghost stories - I don’t fuck with that shit. So if you ever stay in Hooker Hut and that kind of thing gives you the heebie-jeebies, don’t read the visitors book k.

FIN.

Shout out to our buds Em & Mike who hosted us in Queenstown at their incredible abode at the bottom of the Remarks! Can’t wait to be back again soon!

Bali 2023

After nearly 4 years of no overseas travel, I was one wee excited photog to be headed off to Bali for 2 whole weeks of holidaying. My sister-in-law was hosting her wedding celebrations in Sanur, so we had a week of family fun at a resort - I wasn’t used to this kind of holiday and it took me a few days to relax into doing literally nothing lol. And you know what. That ended up sticking for the rest of the trip.

Being a photographer, I usually have adventures and shooting ideas from dawn til dusk when travelling. I had big plans in my head for a big juicy Bali blog, taking my camera with me everywhere I went. Making the absolute most having not been overseas in so long. Banking content for socials and my print shop. Then quite honestly, once I slipped into “pool, eat, sleep, repeat” I couldn’t pull myself out of it. And nor did I want to. I even had big plans to hit a waterfall in the early hours of one morning, and I just couldn’t be arsed. I only saw one sunrise (and that’s because of the jet lag). This is so very unlike me, and I think my husband was pretty happy about it haha.

So the below is my account of the most relaxing overseas holiday I’ve had in, I don’t know how long. I only took my camera out when it felt right, or I was inspired by something I had seen on a previous outing. In my mind I had taken sweet F all photos, but turns out I have enough to give you a sweet little taster of our trip.

We begin at Auckland airport with a very excited boy about the planes and find ourselves in Sanur approx 12 hours later. Where I got my camera out only twice…

After a very fun and relaxing week at Puri Santrian, it was time to say goodbye to the fam and head down to Bingin in Uluwatu. When we had been here in 2018, we really loved it, so wanted to give it another shot with a toddler in tow. Aside from the 200 steps down to the beach in 30 degrees 1-2 times a day, we loved it all the same as the first time. (As hot as it was, we actually didn’t mind the exercise. We have longer and steeper tracks down to the beach in NZ for sure.) We stayed at Rasasvada Cottages just a short walk away from the beach. We didn’t want to stay down on the beach as the thought of hauling our bags down and up the cliff with a toddler was a big ol no. We also had plans to surf Padang Padang and do some shopping too, so made more sense to stay slightly inland. Stoked with our choice, as Rasasvada was reasonably priced, clean, super cute and did an amazing brekkie (included).

Bingin itself was actually not super busy and we easily got front row seats multiple times at Kellys Warung (HIGHLY recommend). We ended up eating here for most of our time as it was so fresh, delicious and quick to the table. We couldn’t fault a single thing we ordered and the fresh cold juices were out of this world good in the heat.

Padang Padang was a whole other story though. So.fucking.busy. The tiny beach was absolutely PACKED. My last couple of times to Padang Padang were so mellow and had the funnest surf of my life there (at Baby Padang). This time: sardines. Beach umbrellas packed in side by side. Rammed right next to a bunch of expats having a passive aggressive pissing contest on who was the most knowledgable expat on the ins and outs of Bali life. I didn’t want to surf because with every wave came a massive “crunch” sound of multiple long boards smashing together. Not a fun party wave. Jord gave it a nudge though and managed to squeeze in a few between the surf schools.

We were in Uluwatu on our wedding anniversary, so we treated ourselves to a day at Sunday’s Beach Club. Again, this is somewhere we had been last time (and again when I travelled back here with Carmen Huter) and I loved it both times. It’s a little less pretentious than the other beach clubs around. More down to earth and family friendly. We arrived at high tide, which meant there wasn’t any space on the beach to set up the umbrellas and bean bags. But I would actually recommend actually doing this on purpose if the tides line up right. It meant we could sit and have some lunch and have a frolic on the beach while our names were first on the list for when a spot opened up. This place didn’t disappoint again. The food and service is incredible and they even made us a cute little anniversary dessert on the house.

Things to note:

  • It is expensive on Bali standards at 500k per person (about $50NZD) but 300k of that is a food & beverage credit. Kids under 5 are free. A beach towel, access to water sports and fast wifi are all included in the price. So not bad at all for a day out at a fancy beach club really!

  • The ocean can be a bit “sucky” on the high tide when the waves are crashing over the reef, so make sure you stay between the flags and keep a keen eye on your kiddies.

  • The chicken burger is bomb AF.

  • There is an adults only area so you can be away from the fams if that’s your preference. Although there weren’t many kids there at all when we were there.

  • You get access to the pool at the top that belongs to The Ungasan Clifftop Resort.

  • There is a little cable car that takes you down, but you can choose to walk it if you are crazy and don’t feel heat like the average person.

  • The sun starts disappearing behind the cliff around 3pm, but makes for beautiful light in the seaspray.

Then it was back to Bingin’ for sunset & a feed at our fave, Kelly’s. Speaking of feeds - A super handy travel hint: get yourself a Wise card. This was so handy as most eateries accept card now. Also saves you carrying a huge stack of cash around Bali. It saved us so much money that would have usually been wasted on exchange rates and bank fees. We saved about $300 alone on the exchange rate compared to Travelex. We loaded it up with IDR and used it to get cash out and cover the bills where card were accepted. Which is actually most places now, as Bali is becoming more and more streamlined in the tech world thanks to their ever booming tourism. Loading it with more money from our bank account only took up to a couple of hours, but often was in less than 30 minutes.

This isn’t sponsored for Wise, we just thought it was really epic and would save people so much money. And we can all benefit from a nice little discount these days right, so if you’re interested, here’s our referral link - https://wise.com/invite/u/jordang90.

There was a perfect little spot at the top of the cliff walkway that I could shoot the surf from (with my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 of course). So I snuck in some shots before the sun disappeared behind a stubborn band of cloud that was dominating the horizon line every night.

Our last stop was Canggu. Well technically Berawa Beach. We found a beautiful Air Bnb that was walking distance to the beach and away from the craziness of Canggu. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we walked into this place. I’ve always dreamed of staying in a trendy Bali Air Bnb like this, and man it did not disappoint. The main strip was only a 15-20 minute walk away, but we mainly stuck to the Berawa area with heaps of great eateries nearby. So there was a lot of “Grab” orders being made to maximise pool time (grab is like Uber eats). This was an epic base to get out for a surf every morning and enjoy all that Canggu had to offer, without being in the thick of it all. Although, holy cow, that Canggu shortcut still gets choocccaaaa.

We didn’t get so lucky on the sunset front, but got very lucky with the swell. It was a bit too big for this Mumma, so while Jord surfed, I shot some snaps. I mean, I did try surf one day in waves that were fully out of my comfort zone and took a set wave to the head. So that was fun. Thankfully I live to tell the tale and did not swallow any of the water (if you’ve ever smelt the state of those waterways pouring out into that beach, you’ll know what I mean. Ick.)

And with that, I put my camera back in my bag and didn’t pull it out again. Everything you see here was shot on my trusty Nikon Z6ii. That little mirrorless beauty has truly been a huge service to my photography progressing the way it has over the past couple of years. Going back to the ol D750 DSLR is so jarring now! Still love it, but so hard going back from the ease of a super intuitive mirrorless!

Thanks for coming. Appreciate your time and support as always. Any questions, just holler.

Lacey & Zac

I had the absolute pleasure of being photographer and chief secret keeper for this gorgeous couple. They booked their wedding photo’s with me under the guise of a family and engagement shoot to help keep their big secret - that they would actually be tying the knot at their engagement party in just over a months time. LOVE me a surprise wedding!

These two were so beautifully comfortable and natural with each other. Not to mention super hilarious. We had so much fun attempting to wrangle a wild toddler into sitting still for a few seconds at a time - just enough for me to snap as many pics as possible before she ran away again. Meanwhile her cute little bewildered brother was just happy to be there in amongst all the chaos.

The babies were then sent home with their grandparents and we were left to enjoy all the beautiful golden light - a lovely treat after a summer of mostly rain. Check out my fave shots below. Obsessed.

Far North Roadie

Well golly. It has been some time since I blogged anything. My last blog was in December 2019! Then of course the world imploded in 2020, then I became a mum in November 2020 and anything Lola Photography magically became lesser of a priority to raising a teenie tiny human. But here I am, 3 years later (farrrkk bit of a slap in the face typing that - time really does speed the hell up when you procreate) with a new refreshed energy to showcase my work outside of the ol gram.

The weather has well and truely been less than favourable this summer, so naturally I went and reflected on the glory of March 2022. Light winds and clear skies. Let’s hope March 2023 delivers the same.

Since we were headed to the FFN with a toddler in tow, we took a half way stop at Whangarei Falls to show our little mate his first waterfall! It’s an easy sub-5 minute walk down from the carpark, so it was a do-able mini adventure for our mini.

Our first camping location was Tauranga Bay. Proper beach front living. Naturally I’ve always loved camping right on the beach, but it’s even more essential with a toddler. Having instant access to the ocean means sunrise and sunset sessions are easy as, and we could enjoy the beach while our little dude napped in the tent. Speaking of tents - this was our first adventure out in the Feldon Shelter Hawkes Nest and it has added so much ease to our camping set up. It pops up in less than 30 seconds and packs away in less than a minute because the whole pop top is on gas struts. We went for the wide model to fit all three of us in, and opted for 2 roof racks on the top. That means we can have our surfboards secured and not even have to take them off to pop the tent. Pre-Hawkes Nest days it was always a juggle with where to keep the boards. In the truck was a pain because they just got in the way of the rest of our setup and under the truck just felt sketchy at night sometimes.

I cosied up the mattress with a couple of foam mattress toppers and the whole thing epically closes up with all of our bedding in it. So it literally is just a matter of rolling up to your spot and popping it up. It takes more time to chuck out our awning than to set up our tent!

Another piece of equipment we have been so stoked to add to our kit is the EcoFlow River - a portable power station teamed with some solar panels. This has been insanely good for us running the white noise machine to drown out campsite noise and keeping all my gear charged up on the road. It can even power a hairdryer or electric kettle if you are feeling boujee with your camping setup. The solar panels fully charge the power station back up to 100% in about an hour and a half in full sun. It’s also an epic backup to have at home if the power goes out.

So we beached, explored, fished and yarned with all the Tauranga Bay camper van regulars for a couple of nights before we hit the road further north.

The above walk is the Mahinepua Peninsula Walking Track. It’s a relatively easy 3km walk (intensity points added with a toddler on your back). Heads up there are about 200 steps. But you will be rewarded with some stunner views. Even on a grey day!

We then mosied our way up to the Karikari Peninsula and based ourselves at the Whatuwhiwhi TOP 10 Holiday Park. This was a great base to explore the peninsula. I rated that the park had different levels and nooks & crannys so you could actually get a pretty private spot. We even got a little ocean view from up in the roof tent and it was an easy wander to Parakerake Beach. We then spent our days exploring the pristine white sand beaches and even scored some waves.

Our Judge & Co kitchen drawer set up was pretty new to our adventure set up and has been sooo damn good to cook a feed anywhere. One drawer is the “kitchen” with all of our cooking equipment, including gas cooker. And the other drawer is basically our pantry with all of our dry foods, plates & cups etc. So first thing, we closed up the tent, rolled out to our beach of choice and cooked up some brekkie!

Once again, the magic of the rooftop tent means we could spend the whole day at the beach and not feel like we had to be back at a campsite for nap time. So our little friend snoozed away while ma & pa soaked up some rays and enquired about a few Tarakihi.

We were then back again at sparrows fart so I could have a little sunrise paddle with camera in hand. Something that has been few and far between since becoming a mumma. I always get asked what my in-water set up is, so see below:

  • Nikon D750

  • Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8

  • Aquatech Waterhousing (with zoom gearing)

A super fun sesh ensued. The water was so warm and winds were perfectly light. It felt so good to be back in my element. Sing out if you love any of the shots enough to hang them on your walls and I’ll add them to my print shop for you lickety-split.

After some breakfast we scored some fun little waves and had a fam swim. The water was as clear and warm as the tropics. Who need the islands when you’ve got the Far North!

We weren’t so lucky on the fishing front but some lads at the campground gave us some snapper, so we whipped up some snapper burgers out the back of the truck and shared a look with Jord that plainly said “this is what life is all about.”

Then we were off again. This time over to the West Coast to Ahipara. Theres yet another epic low-cost, beach-front campground right on Shipwreck Bay.

If you head west around the rocks from Shipwreck Bay (yep you can drive around there, 4WD recommended) you’ll be spoilt with surf break after surf break. We hit Mukie1 - a fun little left hand point break that is essentially like a wave pool it’s so consistent and friendly.

As the swell died down we even took our little human out for his first ever “surf” and he was the most excited we had ever seen him. A wee ocean lover just like mum & dad.

With that, the limit of chasing a 15 month old to stop him running straight into the ocean every day had been well and truely met. Now I’m just hoping and praying that the remainder of summer is a vast improvement on what we’ve already had so we can get out for some more of this action!

Thanks for stopping by. More blogs to come soon. A bit sooner than 3 years this time, hehe. Toodles.

Hawaii

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In March this year, I was insanely lucky to team up with Hawaii Tourism on a campaign for American Express! Carmen Huter and I packed our bags with dreams of playful dolphins, epic sunsets and mind blowing coastlines. We were far from disappointed. Hawaii is one of the most beautiful and adventurous places I’ve ever been to. We ticked every box we came for in the 10 days we spent exploring just a mere slice of what Hawaii has to offer. Volcanoes, waterfalls, crystal clear turquoise waters, whales, dolphins, turtles, golden sunsets, clear starry skies, helicopter rides, poke bowls, rainbows and unreal coastline. All housed in a landscape that holds so much mana it’s hard to ignore. Check out what we got up to on Maui, Hawaii Island, Kauai and Oahu.

MAUI

Our trip begins in a slightly different landscape than you’d expect from a trip to Hawaii. One would imagine blue waters and palm trees when thinking of Hawaii, but our first stop found us standing in an environment that could easily have been mistaken for Mars.

Sadly the weather gods were not on our side when we visited Maui, so we didn’t get out as much as we’d hoped. However, we read that Haleakalā is often up out of the weather due to its altitude. Haleakalā is a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui and its name translates to "house of the sun" in Hawaiian. As legend has it, the demigod Māui (the same Māui that appears in Māori legend) lassoed the sun from its journey across the sky as he stood on the volcano’s summit, slowing its descent to make the day last longer. #cheersm8

We set out in the hopes that we would pop up above the clouds and see the sunset at the top, and wow, we were completely blown away. We were met with a terracotta coloured landscape, and epic inversion layer and a cracker sunset.

If you are going to visit here, do bear in mind it gets REALLY cold. Like below 5 degrees cold, so you will need warm gear (so not something you associate with Hawaii haha!) It can also be windy and rainy intermittently - a bit like the Tongariro crossing. So be prepared!

We also randomly happened to be on Maui at the same time as the amazing Christy Prior so met up to explore this place together!

Sadly that’s all we had time for here, but would love to go back and explore the Hana Highway one day!

HAWAII ISLAND (BIG ISLAND)

Honestly, I didn’t know much about Hawaii Island before visiting here, so wasn’t really sure what to expect. It ended up being one of our favourite islands - you’ll soon see why!

We arrived in the afternoon so we were able to head out and find a little sunset spot before our big adventure the next day. Here’s a handful of my favourite shots from a little float session. All available for purchase if you think one might look nice as a print on your wall. Just screenshot the one you like and email me over on hello@lolaphotography.co.nz!

Sizing and pricing info here: https://lolaphotography.co.nz/shop

The next morning we went for a quick swim before our VERY exciting day-time activity. A beautiful warm morning with Manu Kea looking down at us and massive schools of baitfish swirling beneath our feet!

Then came one of the most INCREDIBLE afternoons of my entire life. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have learnt of my obsession with dolphins. While we were hoping to swim with dolphins during this trip, the following encounter was actually a bit unexpected. We were pretty positive that Kauai was going to provide us with the dolphin treats, but it turns out Big Island had a massive surprise in store for us.

We were booked in with Fair Wind Cruises for a snorkelling cruise at Kealakekua Bay, which is praised as the best snorkelling site in Hawaii. It’s also where Captain James Cook was violently killed in 1779. #happyfacts. Carmen and I jumped into the water and swam away from the main snorkelling sight/all the people to get creative. No more than 20 minutes later a pod of dolphins swam into the bay and swam right through us! Carmen and I were both shaking and laughing we were both full of so much adrenaline. We stayed with the dolphins for the entire duration of our time at Kealakekua Bay. We were in the water for about 2 hours straight and they would just loop around and around and do tricks for everyone watching. One dolphin even split off from the pod and swam right up to me to check out me and my camera! Such an amazing experience that I will never forget.

The next day we stood on arguably the tallest mountain in the world - Mauna Kea. When measured from its base, it would tower above Mount Everest! When driving up this absolute giant, the dramatic climb in altitude in such a short space of time (14,000 feet in less than 2 hours) often means that people experience altitude sickness. Thankfully we got away scot free there. We did however experience a 26 degree temperature change from base to summit and a BANGER of a sunset!

KAUAI

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better. Enter Kauai. We did both have high expectations of this island, but those were completely blown out of the water (pun absolutely intended). THIS is Hawaii people. The kind of Hawaii you see in all the picture perfect Instagram and Pinterest photos. I was in awe the whole time. It’s grand, it’s pretty, it’s diverse and I could spend months exploring it all.

Na Pali Coast. Bless you. Now the next part of our adventure is hands down one of the best days I’ve ever had in my entire life. You are going to spend money on a tour in Hawaii, do it with Capt Andy’s. We took the Na Pali Raft Day Expedition and had our minds completely blown.

During our 6 hours with our Capt Andy’s crew, we saw 10 whales (including several insanely close breaches!) a pod of approximately 100 dolphins and 3 turtles. All beneath the dramatic peaks Na Pali Coast, darting in and out of sea caves and plunging under cascading waterfalls. We even got to land on a remote beach, Nu’alolo Kai which used to be home to an ancient Hawaiian village. Nu’alolo Kai translates to “crazy about the ocean” and that is just so damn relatable, so I felt right at home.

Once we had finished seeing it from the sea, it was time to get a birds-eye view. We were beyond fortunate to experience TWO helicopter rides over the Na Pali Coast in one day. The first included a landing at the waterfall you see at the beginning of the original Jurassic Park movie - Island Helicopters are the only company on Kauai that have permission to land here and it’s pretty damn magic.

The second flight was a doors-off heli with Mauna Loa Helicopters- something I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of. I’ve only been lucky enough to do this once before over Phillip Island in Australia, but the Na Pali Coast is praised as one of the best locations in the world to do this. It did not disappoint.

Just before our flight to Oahu, we wanted to take one last look at the Na Pali Coast from above. So we went and sat on a ridge while the clouds swept around us, revealing the incredible view and then taking it away again. And giving us the odd little rainbow.

This was the final resting place for my GoPro, RIP.

OAHU

To end our massive trip, we had one day on Oahu to squeeze out a little more fun just to ensure our adventure tanks were nice and full. We were based in Waikiki which can be just madnessss. It was a definite change of pace from the other islands and instantly made me miss Kauai. (Hello tourists in matching tow piece outfits and homeless people yelling in the streets). To make the most of it, we had smoothie bowls on the beach then hunted down an empty beach on the West Coast for snorkel. Special mention to Carmen for saving my life when I got a cramp in my calf after being in the water for like 3 hours. Photog life once again. Snapping away with no concept of time or my bodies general need for water and sustenance. #lessonlearnt. #jokesineverlearn.

On our last night, we couldn’t resist one last swim for a famous Waikiki Beach sunset with the surfers. What a send off.

Thanks for coming on my little Hawaii journey. Snaps of me are of course by the talented Carmen Huter. Check her out, she amaze. If you’re keen on any more tips to help with your Hawaiian adventures, just sing out!

Northland Summer

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HAPPY SPRING!

The first day of Spring always gets me right excited for summer time action. I know we have a long way to go in terms of weather, but hey, nothing like a little taste of last summer to keep the excitement alive. Here’s a little visual journal of a little Northland roadie in the height of summer, January 2019. Can’t wait for shorts, jandals and swims every day again!

First up was a special little spot in the Bay Of Islands. We are truly so lucky to know some beautiful people with a slice of paradise here. Situated above a little idilic bay, they have the perfect gateway to heaps of islands with stunning beaches, epic fishing, walks with incredible views and DOLPHINS! - will get into this later. Let’s begin…

P.s just quickly. Spike Ball = epic. Get amongst that shit.

This next bit was one of the coolest experiences ever. One afternoon we were chilling on the deck and we could see the dolphin tour boats out in the water and people were jumping in. Jord was like “let’s go out there!” and I was all like “fak yas batch” so we whizzed out there on the Teh Goose. We slowly cruised around as a pod of dolphins swum around. Making sure to keep our distance we could see they were heading towards a bay full of people. As we arrived at the bay they started totally performing for everyone. I jumped in with my camera with the intent to take photos, but got fully lost in the moment. I just completely forgot I was holding my camera. Everyone was cheering and clapping as the dolphins swam back and forward, jumping and making extremely loud squeaks while they were up in the air. I was in about 2 meters of water and they swam the length of the bay over and over again passing within centimetres of me each time.

I managed to fire off a few frames and a quick vid in the end, but was mainly just so stoked to have experienced New Zealand just being bloody awesome yet again. It was just such a cool scene. Beautiful sunny weather, clear blue water, kids on kayaks grinning from ear to ear. We are so so lucky in New Zealand. Dolphins still holding my favourite animal spot for 25 years strong. Being able to swim with them in my home country was a ridiculously special thing.

A++ would swim again.

Cheers to that. Back to regular programming.

The remainder of our time in the Bay Of Islands consisted of more islands, lagoons, rock pools and lots more beersies.

Oh and also some great boatman x drone work at a sweet little sand bar.

The time came for a a few members of our crew to head back to work, but Jord and I had some time up our sleeves to head further north and meet up with some road trippin’ mates.

First up was Doubtless Bay. Stunner of a sunrise spot. You’ll see my obsession with Bunnies Tails in full effect here. (Aka Lagurus ovatus - those little fluffy plants you see on sand dunes here in NZ). I’ve added some of these to my print shop here.

We then shot across to Ahipara. A sick spot where you can (or used to be able to if I’ve been informed correctly) drive around the rocks to epic swells that wrap around the peninsula. The first time we drove around I was a little sketched out and voiced quietly to Jord “are you sure this is legit?” “Fuck yeah, cattle trucks literally drive around here” he laughed back. Although I didn’t see any cattle trucks, I saw aaalll types of other cars ripping around. Mostly two-wheel drives and a couple of caravans (although would not recommend driving either around there!) Once around the rocks you’ll find a sweet adventure playground. Four-wheel driving, dirt bikes, surf and huuuuge sand dunes you can rip down on a boogie board (terrifyingly fun).

With that we started our journey back to Dorkland. Not without a couple of cheeky stops along the way of course. Dropped in to visit Tāne Mahuta and had a refreshing dip at Kai Iwi Lakes.

Fun fact:
Tāne Mahuta is the largest known living kauri tree and supports a 200 tonne ecosystem in it’s canopy. Including a Pohutakawa tree and a Totara tree.

SO excited to get back to the beautiful North this year.

91 days til summer people!

Check out a little edit I put together of it all below:

Bali

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Finally got our asses to Bali! As some of you would have seen, Jord and I eloped last April (just in little ol NZ) so figured we deserved ourselves a little a honeymoon! Direct flights from Auckland are between a sweet $700- $900, and it’s cheap as chips when you get there, so it’s easy to see why so many kiwis are flocking to the Island of the Gods.

Bali truly is a beautiful place that has a slice of everything I love. Beaches, clear waters, amazing sunsets, mountains, forests, and some of the BEST waterfalls I have ever seen. A bit of a photographers dream really. It’s no wonder so many of us photogs head there and you can now barely scroll through your gram without seeing a pic of this place pop up.

There is of course a very apparent dark side to Bali due to their rubbish issue. It really is everywhere. While it is widely believed that tourists are to blame here (I mean, they do contribute) it really boils down to an in-effective/non-existent rubbish collection system. This means that most rubbish created on the island, stays on the island. It’s disposed in rivers, buried in the ground, but mostly ends up in the sea. It’s not even an exclusive problem to Bali - it could be due to the number of tourists that visit that it gets a little more attention. And worthwhile attention at that. We saw so many businesses doing their best to tackle their waste problem. It has a long way to go, but the people there mostly spread a very strong a positive message to the locals and tourists.

Anyway, little dose of awareness there. You all know how I feel about the ocean, so just be mindful if you go and visit! Story time now. We spend two weeks experiencing, tasting and relaxing our way around Bali. Because it was our first time, we didn’t mind hopping around a little bit to see a slice of everything. Bingin Beach, Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan, Ubud and Canggu were our hits for this trip. Read on to see what we got up to!

BINGIN BEACH

We absolutely loved this spot. Easily the favourite of the trip. Super chilled, great waves and not too many people around. It also meant we were close to Uluwatu so we could hit Single Fin (epic to watch the sunset and surfers with a beer in hand) and Sundays Beach Club. A pretty trendy ‘treat yo self’ kind of spot that can only be accessed by cable car. While this spot is a little more expensive than the rest of Bali, it was so worth the luxury. Similar pricing to going to a nice bar in Auckland really. The food was A++, would eat again. Perfect swimming spot too. A day well spent if you can get down there for sure! Also do yourself a favour a get a Nalu Smoothie Bowl in Uluwatu. Thank me later. Throw in heaps of Bintangs and sunsets and you’ve got yourself a good time.

NUSA LEMBONGAN & NUSA CENINGAN

This was a seriously beautiful place, but man did we pick a seriously wrong time to visit. When we went to check-in for our ferry ride, we were told there weren’t going to be any boats run on the day we planned to come back to the mainland. In fact, no boats would be allowed on the water at all that day due to the name of a holiday I don’t remember. Not a worry, we can just come back a day earlier and have an extra day in Ubud - a blessing in disguise. Fast forward to that day earlier saw us on the beach at low tide with hundreds of other people trying to get off the island a day earlier. Low tide also meant that the ferry couldn’t come right in, so everyone had to be transferred on much smaller boats back and forth to the big boat. Including all of the luggage. These tiny little boats had so many bags piled on top of each other, I was convinced all my belongings were destined for the bottom of the ocean.

Communication was at an all time low and we couldn’t even figure out how the staff even knew how to get our bags onto the right boat. Due to the madness of it all, I think everyone was thinking along the same lines as us “how are all these people going to get transported across in time, how are we going to all fit, pretty sure they have overbooked the ferry.” This resulted in the classic pushy frantic nature you see in so many travellers in the world. If we weren’t stressed before, all that energy from everyone else panicking definitely put fuel on that fire.

Fast forward to now, we clearly made it off the island, didn’t sink and somehow collected all of our belongings. One of those fun travel days. We loved these islands, but the travel logistics alone made me feel like I’ve ticked that box and may never return. What made it all worth it was swimming with our first ever Manta Ray. Also insert frantic tourists here. Never seen so many people in one body of water in my life. Chasing one poor Manta Ray. I observed the pattern the Manta Ray was swimming in and hung around the back of the group and just waited while it came my way. This resulted in a really cool moment where I dove down and swum along side it for a few seconds. That was the “worth it” moment.

UBUD

Sekumpul waterfall

So we didn’t actually do a lot in Ubud, but more used it as a bit of a gateway to some of the things we wanted to further north. Hey hey waterfalls and rice terraces! First mission was Gerombong & Sekumpul waterfalls. About a 2 hour drive from central Ubud you’ll find 7 waterfalls in one area. We started our journey at about 5am to get there before the crowds and had the whole place to ourselves! Falling from a height of nearly 100m, Sekumpul is one of the coolest waterfalls I’ve ever seen. And I’m big on falling water.

I wrote a little caption on this a few weeks ago, but basically: water in motion produces abundant negative ions. It’s believed that negatively charged ions produce biochemical reactions that increase serotonin levels, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress and boost our energy. ⁣
⁣
The air around a waterfall can contain anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 negative ions per cubic centimetre. An office or car can contain zero to just a few hundred. They are literally nature’s anti-depressant. So as you can imagine, surrounded by 7 waterfalls makes ya feel pretty damn good.

The road on the way into the waterfall has a bunch of stalls/stops that have signs saying that’s where you need to buy admission. These are fake. Just keep driving until you get to the entrance. You pay the fee on the walk down. You’ll also be told that the only way to get down the path is with a guide. You absolutely do not need a guide. The walk is not hard to navigate. It’s just got some steep as shit stairs on the way back up. However, it’s cheap, supports the locals, they know some cool stuff and can handle a camera. Handy if you need someone to take some snaps for you. There’s a cool drinks shack on the way along the track - well worth a stop for an ice cold coconut on the way back up!

Tegallalang Rice Terraces

Another early start for this one. It’s the best way to skip the crowds and also means you make the most of your day. Mission in the morning, chill in the arvo. Perfection. If you walk yourself up to the back of the terraces (away from the main entrance and over the hill) you’ll find a pretty special spot that sees magical light rays beam through the palm trees as the sun rises. We were there in September and found the light was best between 7-7.30am.

Note there is an old dude there that likely owns the terraces and gates them off. If you give him some money he will let you go explore. Again, not a hard thing to do to support a local. We saw people ignore him and be completely dismissive and rude over what would be about $5-$10NZD. Pretty stink if you ask me. Imagine if you had something beautiful in your backyard and just had people walking all over it and ignoring you for “content”. It did get entertaining when he started throwing rocks at their drone.

Fast forward to about 8.30am and the red dresses started arriving, so we headed on out for a chill day and a little visit to the monkey forest. I’d like to take this opportunity to say: I fucking hate monkeys.

At first I thought they were really cute and had soft little hands. I let them climb all over me and laughed at their grabby curious nature. Until one started biting me. Then it bit me HARD. So I completely panicked (knowing well that the monkeys there don’t have rabies and are regularly tested) and I fuckin’ THREW that monkey. Far away from me. Bad idea. It screamed super loud and suddenly I was surrounded by hissing monkeys. You’re not meant to run in these situations because they chase you. So I’m just standing there freaking out with my bag raised as a soft, shitty, semi-useless weapon. One of these damn monkeys had a dead milky eye which tripled my fear. They eventually left me alone and I power walked the fuck out of there. I will never, ever return.

CANGGU

Last stop was Canggu. A relaxing end to the trip and somewhere to hang for my birthday! Canggu was cool. As in trendy as. And honestly, a little “sceney”. We really loved how Canggu was set up, it’s shopping and all the incredible food. We enjoyed the sunshine, massages, the surf and regular feeds at The Loft. Didn’t take my camera out with me a lot here and just chiiillleddd.

And that therein ends our honeymoon trip to Bali. Funnily enough, I was actually invited along to go back to Bali again with the amazing Carmen Huter… just three days later, lewl. I came home briefly to NZ to celebrate my birthday, do some washing, and then jumped on a plane again! Carmen was on assignment for Marriott Hotels and I was lucky enough to assist for her. Here’s some of what we got up to. In amongst all of our constant rambling. All images of me taken by Carmen - do yourself a favour and go check out her gram!

A super weird experience was visiting the Bali Swing. Carmen had seen images of a swing over a jungle and it looked incredible. So we showed the hotel staff and they said “oh yes Bali Swing!” and sorted us a driver. Upon arrival, we realised that this place was far from what we were expecting. The only way I can describe the phenomenon we saw is “CONTENT FARM”. Holy cannoli there were about 10 swings and a gizzillion gals in pretty flowy dresses swinging back and forward, while their significant other snapped away. Every once and while all the staff would yell in sync “WELCOME TO BALII SWIIINNGGG!” and scare the living shit out of me. Like, you do you boo. Enjoy your holiday whichever way you please. But how bloody interesting that this Instagram culture has created a place that is purely to get an image - there is barely any experience involved! What a spectacle it was.

After standing gob smacked and dumb founded for a little while, we decided to try make the most of being there and had a little swing ourselves. Fun-ish, yet so very odd. Look at us influencing and all. Also, super fun when the skirt you’re wearing flies up on the swing-back and flashes your ass to the line of people waiting behind you (definitely not pictured). What a fine moment during my influencer modelling debut.

We finished our trip at Sundays Beach Club. Hard day at the office that one!

And that’s that. Can’t wait to head back again soon and explore more of the island! If you have any questions about the places we visited, feel free to DM or email me! Ta ta for now!

My Samsung Welcome - West Coast, South Island

This year, I was presented with the honour of joining the Samsung New Zealand family. I had heard all about their famous new Galaxy S9 PRO+ camera settings through the media and the king of froth Mr Logan Dodds. I was on the fence for a while whether or not to switch from ye ol iPhone to a Samsung. I had been attracted to the idea of a smaller camera I could easily take anywhere for a while. For those that know me well, you will know that I'm actually a bit of a lazy photographer at times. In the sense that I find it a bit of a drag taking my camera with me everywhere, but then I HATE missing moments - especially a sunset. The idea that I could add a small tool to my kit that could capture professional quality imagery anywhere and anytime was a really exciting concept to me. So with the launch of their Galaxy S9+ and a push from seasoned Samsung user Logan, my decision to jump ship was too easy.

One of my main concerns with switching was that I would lose everything off my old phone. I had heard Logan talk about "Smart Switch" now and again but didn't realise how "smart" and easy it was going to be. I was actually very surprised I could literally plug in my old phone into my new Samsung and transfer everything over within minutes. Niffttyyy as.

Once I was all set up, Logan and I knew the best place for me to test out my new toy was no other than the South Island of New Zealand. A place both of us can't get enough of. The GS9+ has an incredible low light capability, so I immediately thought of Fox Glacier on the West Coast. I've always wanted to explore and capture ice caves, so I was keen to see how the GS9+ would handle the darker caves and winter light. And hot dang did it handle it or what! I was so so impressed. I even managed to capture one of my favourite images to date on my new phone!

Basically, the Galaxy S9+ has something called Dual Aperture that boasts two aperture modes; f/1.5 and f/2.4. The f/2.4 mode is used mostly for your daylight shots. Then when the sun has dipped a bit low, chucking it into f/1.5 lets in a huge amount of extra light. This aperture setting doesn't have an effect on your depth of field for landscape shots - it's more about additional light. In addition to this feature, you can have control over ISO (again for more or less light), shutter speed, white balance and focus! It's insanity that we can have this kind of control and quality in a phone! Me likey.

So I chucked my new phone in with my kit, plonked Logan and Jordan onto a plane at 7am on a Saturday, and we set out on a road trip from Christchurch to Franz Josef. Four fun days saw us frolicking in frosts, skimming rocks along perfectly still lakes, flying around in helicopters, exploring an ancient glacier, staring in awe at snow-capped mountains, losing our minds over perfect sunsets and eating too many pies. All imagery in this blog is an even mixture of shots taken with my DSLR and my new fave gadget: The Galaxy S9+. Blown away...

How do you end an insane day of natural splendour? MORE NATURAL SPLENDOUR. Lake Matheson round 2 people. Great success. This place is even more beautiful in real life. No photo’s I’ve ever seen have done it justice. We met some cool tourists on the jetty and I confused them by dipping my Galaxy into the lake to get some fresh perspective shots. As Mount Cook and Mount Tasman reflected a perfect sunset orange on the water, I took the opportunity to have a fiddle with all the white balance to help intensify the warm tones I was witnessing in real life. I found that setting it to 6500K (cloudy) helped bring out the sunset colours better. Stunneerrrr. One of the best sunset experiences I’ve had.

After that spectacular day of spleendoouurrr, it was time to head back to Christchurch. So strap in for a foggy start at Lake Mapourika, a little taste of the Hokitika Gorge, a fresh stop at Arthurs Pass and heap of “out the windscreen road” shots. All topped off with a river bed sunset surrounded by mountains. What.is.life.

That my friends, was our little journey to the West Coast of the South Island. As per usual, New Zealand, take a bow. Galaxy S9+, also take a bow. Thanks, Samsung for the opportunity and for becoming an exciting addition to my photography kit. Also churrs to Logan for taking me under his wing and showing me how to get the most out of the phone! Excited for the next adventure! Ta ta for now.

Chitwan, Nepal

Nepal Blog Lola Photography_543.jpg

A welcome dose of nature after a full on 9 days in Kathmandu. We stayed at the beautiful Kasara Resort. It was stunning and included heaps of activities. One of which being an elephant-back safari. Going into this, I knew I was going to be torn whether or not to partake. Elephant tourism obviously involves some strong opinions thanks to countries like Thailand and Bali. It's not something that I want to get into too deeply but would like to quickly explain why I decided not to ride one here. 

Chitwan is one of the only National Parks in the world where elephant, rhino and tiger populations are increasing. While elephant tourism plays a very different role in Nepal, I couldn’t imagine any situation where I would feel good getting on or off one. It is true that elephant tourism actually has a positive effect on the conservation of many animals in Nepal, but I think the main point I learnt is not to confuse government-owned elephants with privately-owned resort elephants.

The government use the elephants to patrol the park for poachers and recording important data, and a small amount of tourism. The park rangers ride them through the park to blend in and be safe from predators. No rhinos have been poached in Chitwan National Park in over 3 years. These elephants are kept mostly unchained in large open fields and make a real positive difference to the increasing populations of endangered animals. I believe there are options to go on government-owned elephants safaris where the profit goes directly back into the park.

Privately owned elephants: These are mainly for tourism purposes. There are resorts that are truly dedicated to giving these elephants the most natural possible life in captivity they can, so just do your research. While I am aware that although the particular elephants I interacted with were rescued from India and were treated with love and care by their Mahouts, I wasn’t satisfied enough to justify climbing onto one. The resort keeps most of the profits from these privately owned elephants. The only amount that went to the park is a small entrance fee. So in my eyes, it was pretty heavily weighted toward financial gain. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is based on my discussions with the resort manager and a lot of my own research, including this article on Responsible Travel. I also went to see where the elephants lived when they weren't interacting with guests to make up my own mind. 

It’s a bit of a grey area really. It helps but it doesn’t. The elephants are cared for and have a better life than they did before and better than they would elsewhere - noting here you can't just introduce an elephant into the wild when it was raised in captivity. It isn’t like most of the abuse you see in Bali or Thailand, but privately owned elephants are still chained up on small concrete pads for long periods when they aren’t being used (otherwise they will literally go on a rampage and mow down the whole village). Moral of it all is to just make your own informed and ethical decision. Not one just for a photo to share with your friends on social media. There are other ways your money can help in the protection of the park and its animals. At the end of the day, it’s every traveller's right to avoid activities that they disagree with, but Chitwan should also be given the credit they deserve for helping with the conservation of several beautiful endangered animals.

(Nowwww I'm scared because I know what it's like to share opinions on the internet these days. I'm keen to hear your views if you have any, but take it easy!)

That aside, I completely loved the village, the river cruise, the jeep safari and the bush walk. Except for the part where the guide said if we see a tiger we were pretty much doomed. Keep an eye out for the snap of a tiger print in the dirt and a monkey print going in the opposite direction.

Next up was a safari which was my absolute favourite part of Chitwan. We saw 7 One-Horned Rhinos (critically endangered), too many Alligators & Crocodiles to count, a Sloth bear and some golden sunset goodness.

For the remainder of our time in Chitwan, I went exploring some of the village. It was amazing interacting with the locals and seeing how they live. Nepalese are such kind, welcoming people and loved having their photo taken!

Last stop of the trip was Pokhara. This lakeside town was accurately described as 'the Queenstown of Nepal" and is the gateway to many incredible hikes. We were only lucky to see the Himalayas for a very brief 15 minutes and it legitimately scared me because of their sheer size! Pokhara was the most incredible place to shop for sterling silver jewellery, precious stones and cashmere. I highly recommend buying your cashmere products from Helping Hand - an organisation that hires deaf and blind staff. We went to visit some huge caves that homed thousands of bats. I thought they were super cute. Why must I always love things with rabies.

And with that, I surgically removed my camera from my hand and couldn't bring myself to pick it up again for the rest of the trip. Instead, I replaced photo-taking with massages, shopping and eating.

Good day.

Kathmandu, Nepal

Back in March of this year, I had the most amazing honour of travelling to Nepal to watch two of my very good friends tie the knot. Full Nepali styles. This involved lots of dumplings and a 4 day wedding celebration!

I really challenged myself on this trip to try to capture the locals. While I have a passion for nature, I love people. But I've always been too afraid to capture strangers. I always feel too intrusive and like I'm taking advantage of them. Thankfully with the help of our personal guide (AKA the bride: Ayesha Giri), I was able to get heeaapps of practice in. So the below might not be what you're used to from me, but some of the included portraits are my most favourite images I've ever taken.

The end of two long-haul flights saw us flying pretty much parallel to the Himalayan Mountains. They are scary big. This turned out to be one of the handful of times we actually got to see them during our stay - #thankssmog. I had no idea what to expect here. I assumed it would be busy, but not on the level of chaos we were met with when we arrived. Bustling, dusty, smoggy and colourful. A complete cultural smack to the face the second we got off the plane. A fun game of bag Tetris in a tiny taxi at the airport was then followed by speeding, dodging and weaving through the bustling streets of Kathmandu. Imagine instant dust to the back of your throat, dust in your eyes, cars, motorbikes and people everywhere. Tangles of power cables, rubble covered streets, toppled buildings, tiny ramshackle shops, cooking in the streets, and in the middle of it all; random cows dotted throughout the chaos. Just chillin' on the road. As with Indian culture, they are sacred in Nepal. So sacred in fact, it's considered rude to shoo them. So they literally just go where they please and the world just whizzes around them.

We were stationed in Thamel during our time in Kathmandu, which is known as the most popular tourist area. As a result, the whole suburb is a car-free zone and very clean in comparison to the rest of the city. Lots of shops and lots of good food. Hit up BK's for the best fries and momo's (Nepali dumplings). I was amazed at how safe I felt in Kathmandu. You trust the people and I never felt uncomfortable once. In a country where they really believe in karma, crime is unsurprisingly quite low!

During our stay here we were super lucky to be part of the Holi Festival. The streets get filled with people throwing brightly coloured powder and water bombs on you every 2 steps. If you don't want to get colour on you, you just don't leave the house. The Nepali believe it to be good luck to put powder on fair skin, so fair to say (lel) we got nailed. Definitely a highlight of my life so far.

The wedding was made up of several days, with the main wedding day being the biggest of them all. My beautiful friend Ayesha (the bride) is a twin and her and her sister were married off on the same day. As a result, there were hundreds of people in attendance. The ceremony itself went on for hours, so you just kind of eat and drink all day while the bride and groom do their thing. Then suddenly they are married and they leave in a horse & carriage. It was a whirlwind of colour and a multitude of traditions that had to be done in an exact order and way. So that was really fun watching my kiwi mate Jack stumble through a few of those while a Nepali priest yelled at him in an ancient language he didn't understand.

Highlights of the wedding included: my mum teaching our Kiwi group how to do the 'bus stop' (an old-school line dance from the 70's) then proceed to perform said dance to "Slice Of Heaven" to a crowd of bewildered Nepali.

"Where do I go from here? I think I may have peaked. Does it get any better than doing The Bus Stop to Slice of Heaven in Kathmandu at a traditional Nepal wedding? I think not!" - My mum.

We also had to also play a sort of crazy rugby game with Jacks wedding shoes. Tradition calls for the grooms' shoes to be stolen by the brides family and stolen back by the grooms family. A hilarious game of this shoe rugby erupted in the middle of the wedding. Needless to say, the kiwi boys nailed this part of the celebrations!

The next series of images are from an ancient city called Bhaktapur. The delicate brickwork of this historic city suffered mercilessly to the earthquakes in April 2015.  Effects of this damage are still very apparent, but a lot of rebuilding and repair has gone on in the past 3 years. This was my favourite place to photograph the people. They are so kind and open. I was really fascinated with their day to day lives and loved capturing it all.

DISCLAIMER: There are graphic images below of a goat being BBQ'd with a blowtorch in a town square. Sorry in advance if you find this offensive.

Then back to Kathmandu for the wedding reception! We had handmade saris to wear which we had to get help putting on because they are so complicated. Then to top off Kathmandu, we visited a couple more stupas including The Monkey Temple - the most ancient religious site in Nepal. True to its name, there were monkeys everywhere!

Again, congrats for getting through another long one! Stay tuned for part 2 of my Nepal trip when we head to Chitwan and Pokhara!

Queenstown Birthday

Jord and I have made it a bit of a tradition to go snowboarding for my birthday every year (bar last year because we had just got back from Europe and were knackered. JK, had no money left.) We hadn't had a good shred in the South Island for a good few years so reckoned it was about time to frolick down for a play. I always froth on the flight down so I made sure I had my camera on me this time...

We arrived in Queenstown first thing on Saturday morning so it was straight to Cardrona for a shred. (That's a lie, we got an Arrowtown bakery pie first). This was probably one of the most fun days I've ever had on my board. I've finally found my holy grail snowboard and I was fizzing all day trying to beat my personal speed records and learning to butter around in the forgiving spring snow.

Ain't no trip to Queenstown complete without a prospect and a Ferg. This was the day NZ was hit with a slight heat wave so it was a perfect 20 degrees for our search for some paydirt with a cold beer in hand (kept chilly by the Shotover River!)

Now, this next part of the trip I was sooo fricken excited for. Shacking up at The Spire Hotel was the best decision to add to the birthday celebrations. Of course, you know I love the adventures where we sleep in the roof tent or under the stars, but every once and a while I think we all deserve some luxury (espesh on ya birthday). This place was SO nice. Just walking through the door you understand why it's earned an epic 5 stars.

Even though my heart lies in the outdoors, one of my favourite things to do on holiday at the end of the day is to watch a movie in bed. And what a bloody bed it was. I thought getting out of bed before was hard, then this comfy ass dream bed came waltzing into my life all like "you didn't know you needed me, but ya do". The kind of bed that it doesn't matter what you endured that day, you get in and it whispers "I gotchu boo." And you just melt into it and become one with the mattress then have one of those dead limp stone sleeps where you don't move AT ALL. That's because you actually temporarily died and went to heaven. Not to mention there was a fricken PILLOW MENU. For those that know me well, know I am all.about.the pillows. The staff were out of this world amazing and the room was perfection. Can I please come live there foreva gaiz?

After a quick relax and reset, I dragged Jord out for a hike up Queenstown Hill! Joookkeess, he dragged me.

Yes, those are little fudgies they put in our room for our return. Can someone just do this for me every day plz? #ahemjordan.

Is it even your birthday if you don’t have breakfast in bed? The weather wasn’t looking so great for sunrise so we had a nice lazy morning in bed and ordered room service from No5 Church Lane downstairs. I’m calling it, this was the best french toast I’ve ever had. It’s set the standard for all other french toast and now all other french toast is RUINED. Upsetting yes, but at least I know where to find the best french toast now. (Please if you can help me reset my french toast expectations here in Auckland, slide into my DM’s and direct me to the noms). There really is something about getting food delivered to you that brings me eternal joy. When it happens while you’re wearing a luxe az robe in your comfy ass bed with the sun streaming in, WAWAWEEWA. I love it.

For the afternoon we took another trip over the Crown Range to visit my mates at CrossFire Wanaka. I visited Criffel Station back in May when they were still in the process of revamping the whole set up so I was awesome to come back and see it all finished. Jord and I were pretty lucky to head up the hill to have a go at the newly launched clay bird shooting. With the best views in Wanaka, we had way too much fun blasting clay birds out of the sky with the incredible backdrop of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea (seriously you can see everything! – One of the only spots in Wanaka you can see both lakes.)

The legend Adam then took us for a quick tour around the rest of the farm to feed some animals and check out their incredible and super unique Wool Shed wedding venue! (Hollah if you’re getting married there and need a photographer – so keen to see it all in action!)

You would have caught on by now that I’m massively obsessed with food, so to keep with the “it don’t count when it’s your birthday” vibe, it was time for some more deliciousness.

The Grille. Come at me.

For those of you that know about The Grille already, it’s pretty much the crème de la crème of dining in Queenstown. It’s right on the waterfront so you get amaaazing views of the lake and surrounding mountains (and of selfie sessions and seagulls attacking drones, A++ dinner entertainment, would dine again). I’ll let the photo’s do most of the talking, but for those that are interested: DEFINITELY order the Charcuterie Board to share & the garlic crumbed oysters. For main, I went for the Crispy Havoc Pork Belly served with scallops. Now, I’m a huge snob when it comes to crackling. Do it right or don’t do it at all, ya know. They absolutely nailed it. Like, outstanding shit people. Jord indulged in the Beef Short Rib (which he wouldn’t let me taste at first because he got all “man” protective over it). The service is second to none and everything came out piping hot. Beeeauuttiiffuul. I approve The Grille. I approve.

On our last day the weather was looking good for another shred up on The Remarkables, so like any responsible adult, we gave ourselves a nutritious breakfast from Eichardt’s Bar. This cozy little spot is also right on the waterfront right next to The Grille, and they do amazing coffee (so says Jordan as I’m a tea drinker myself). After a good few days of heavy eating, I reckoned it was about time for some muesli. How these guys managed to make the simplest of breakfasts incredible, I’ll never know. In saying that, I did have a taste of Jord’s mushroom hollandaise and got instant food envy #THEWOORSSSTTWHHYYY!

Bye bye The Spire Hotel :'(

For any of you headed to The Remarkables Skifield next year for a play, make sure you hit up the lookout above the top of the Shadow Basin chairlift. Providing some of the best views you can get without a heli ride, it is most definitely a #NZMustDo. Best snack stop in the entire world. I mean, just look for yourself…

I honestly think Spring is the best time to visit Queenstown. With the sunny warm weather, cherry blossoms everywhere and the fact that it’s soo much quieter (no lines for the lifts whoop!) makes it such a beautiful and relaxing time to go!

Huge thanks to Air New Zealand for getting us there, LOWA for keeping our feetsies protected and RPM for the threads!

Greece

In June 2017 we set off on our big O.E and Greece was first on the list. Often hailed as the cradle of Western civilisation, this place is so rich in history - something a little ol Kiwi found hard to comprehend considering New Zealand is still so young in comparison. It's hundreds of Islands are filled with charming little towns, alleyways that you won't mind getting lost in and they have GYROS #angelssing - that alone makes it one of my favourite places in the world. For a cheeky €2, you can be indulging on a meat, salad and HOT CHIP (ya, need I say more?) filled flat bread. Euro-bod was going strong after 2-3 of these a day. We spent about a week Island hopping. Santorini, Naxos & Mykonos being the Islands of choice. It was pretty windy when we were on the Islands, which turned out to be a total blessing in disguise due to how fricken hot it was. The following adventures ensued:

SANTORINI

The first stop on our Europe adventure was Santorini. And boy we were not disappointed. We had heard a lot of mixed reviews about this place - a lot of our people we spoke to hadn't really enjoyed it that much due to "too many tourists". I always find this line ironic (ya even when I say it) because we are no different to everyone else visiting, but you still find yourself like "omg fucking tourists"... BITCH, YOU ONE OF THEM. And you damn travelling Europe. They are everywhere. It's madness I tell you.

I honestly think what made this trip so worth it to us, was that we actually stayed on the other side of the island - away from the madness. We rented quad bikes for the time that we were there and had waaaay too much fun blatting over the hill to go do our sight seeing - not to mention there was plenty of that going on along the way too. It took us about 20-30 minutes each way but it was legit our favourite thing to do. One day we drove around the entire island visiting little beaches and screaming "whoooo" a lot. lewl.

Our accommodation was right next to Karami Beach - one of the very few actual beaches on the island... well their version of a beach is made up of lava pebbles, but still, luffly for a sunrise swim nonetheless. It was then off to explore Oia. To say we were absolutely fizzing would be an understatement. We were so excited and blown away. It lived up to all the photos I had ever seen. Well except for the CHAOS that was an Oia sunset. When people said to nab a spot at 3pm and just wait, I didn't understand why. But holy gahd damn there were a lot of people there when we arrived. Still loved it. Didn't love everyone clapping when the sun when it dipped below the horizon line. WHY PEOPLE WHY. (This ended up being a bit of a theme throughout Europe... are people from other countries not used to seeing the sun go down? It wasn't even a real gangster sunset. Pretty as, but not epic by NZ standards! #sorrynotsorry)

After a day of exploring up on the cliffs of Santorini, we made our way down the 200 stairs to Amoudi Bay for a delicious lunch and an afternoon of cliff jumping. (These are the stairs that you may have seen photos of people being carried back up by Donkeys. I personally vetoed this as I think it is so cruel. The poor donkeys are in the sun all day and look seriously depressed. Avoid this unnecessary tourist novelty and just use ya damn legs you egg.)

The bay is tucked underneath Oia, so the heat + stair combo keeps away the massive crowds. If you make your way to the left of all the restaurants, you’ll find a little pathway that leads you to a little hidden paradise. Swim your little adrenaline filled body across to that big old rock you can see and weirdly enough you’ll find a little church on it (known as Ekklisia Agios Nikolaos). Climb up. Jump off. Bruise your tail bone. Laugh. Repeat.

Whilst jumping we met the kool kids from Where It’s ATT – travelling DJ brothers who invited us back to their siiick accomo for water, m&m’s and lols.

NAXOS

Next, we hopped on a ferry and found ourselves on an Island with wonderful people, epic food and ridiculous beaches. We arrived hungus as, so walked two steps out of our Air BnB to be met by a smiling face insisting we come and try the food at his Mummas restaurant. A voice in the back of my head was like “nah gee he gun’ rip you off” but then the other voice was like “FOOOOOD”, so I listened to the second one. Turns out hungry Lola knows best, because WOW. Food dreams. Our waiter was hilarious, ordered the most incredible food for us and brought out traditional Greek treats – on the house! We were happy little travellers that night.

The next day, it was time to adventure to a beach I had heard about; Aliko Bay. Only a 30-minute bus right saw us relaxing in an absolute paradise for the day. We went for a little explore up over the rocks and found ourselves a private sheltered bay to get our tan on. As with many spots in the Mediterranean, you’ve got to be super careful not to stand on sea urchins. Their delicate spikes break off into your feet like nobodies business and it’s pretty tricky to get them out. We all copped it once or twice!

It was then time to head back to the main town for an explore and a sunset at the Temple of Apollo. As you will see, there was a lot of cat and bougainvillea appreciation going on.

 

MYKONOS

No pictures here as we only hit it for the night, got wasted and danced on tables. Weeewwww.

ATHENS

Athens Athens Athens. I’m finding it hard to know where to start describing this city as it was a bit of a mixed bag experience. Athens does have a lot to offer, but perhaps we just got off on the wrong foot. I’ll give you a quick run down of that shitty shitty foot:

  • Just had the most incredible time in Mykonos

  • 3 – 4-hour delay on our Ferry

  • Had a fight with my sister over Eye-Spy during said delay (heat, hunger & a hangover will do that to you)

  • Arrived late afternoon to discover there was a train strike

  • Because there was a train strike the whole damn city was catching buses

  • Fast forward after a very sweaty, squished stressful public transport experience (have to say here though that the locals were so nice helping us get to where we needed to be) we made it to our Air BnB

  • By now it was dark and we figured out we weren’t in the safest part of town pretty quickly

  • No power at Air BnB

  • No food

  • Exhausted

Fuck you wrong foot.

First impressions were set in pretty quickly with yells and screams being heard right outside Air BnB and I was told I would be a target carrying around my big camera. Coooooool, massively on edge.

Grew tired pretty quickly of men trying to put bracelets on my wrists – for those of you that haven’t experienced this, they attempt to tie it on as quickly as possible and then demand money for it. Anything you take offered to you (yes even just holding it), you will suddenly own. All attempts to give it back will be refused and you will be followed and harassed until you pay them. Athens #1 salesmen rule: disregard the basic human right of choice. It might feel stink, but just ignore everyone that approaches you. Even a flat “no” somehow ends up opening the lines of communication for them. #relleeennttlleeessss

Now there is obviously an undeniable history here and it really was something amazing staring up at craftsmanship still standing at hundreds of thousands of years old. But it’s really hard to have that connection with it all when tourists are literally so frantic to get a selfie (like rushing, pushing, shaking, frustrated frantic) with the added bonus that it’s 32°C. Calm.your.tits.please.I’mdrowninginmyownsweathere.

What really saved this city from being an absolute phuckup, was our amazing Air BnB host Stelios. Had we just visited this place without the help of a local, I don’t think I would ever spend longer than necessary in Athens ever again. Stelios took us to an amazing local restaurant and ordered us all the traditional dishes that he loved, told us what it was like to live in Athens and laughed at our kiwi slang. He then took us to a popular local spot to watch the sunset over the entire city. We all kind of just looked at each other and were like “yep this made Athens worth it”. So thank you to Stelios if you somehow end up reading this!

Congrats you made it to the bottom. Questions, comments, hate mail? – hello@lolaphotography.co.nz. ANTIO SAS.

Samoa

So that dude you see in most of my photos reckoned he was turning 30 this year. Gross. So I figured I'd take him far far away to distract him from his sprouting grey hair and wrinkles. I quickly decided this kid needed to be surfing his way out of his 20's. So after an old (yes Simon you're old) work mate of mine sung high praises of Samoa and a quick google image search, I locked everything in - completely without 29 year old Jordan's knowledge... #lovesasurprise. While I'm a firm believer in every birthday being epic, the big 30 is a little more special, so I set about planning my surprise. Do you know how fucking hard it is to book a tropical holiday for your favourite person and not be able to tell them for monthhhsss!? Turned out to be quite fun. Even when he was being hangry and I'm like "oooo boy if only you knew..." So I chucked together the below package and left it on our bed one day and just about cracked when it took him hours to go into our room. *GOO IINN TTHHEEERREE RRAAAHHH!!!* When he finally discovered it he was pretty confused and asked if I was serious like 20 times. Such fun.

Samoa is by far my favourite tropical island I’ve visited to date. Over the years I’ve checked out Rarotonga, Fiji, and Hawaii. While I loved the time I spent in each & they are all special in their own way, there is something so untouched and raw about Samoa that the other locations just didn’t seem to have. I suppose it really depends on your own personal experience and where you stay, but during our trip we were so amazed at the presence of their culture. Most of the population live in traditional fale’s (A Samoan house with open sides and a thatched roof) and their village/family way of life meant we always felt super safe where ever we went. Samoa is still working on drumming up their tourism after the 2009 Tsunami, so as a result it’s relatively quiet on the traveller front. More often that not, we had surf breaks, waterfalls and beaches all to ourselves.

Leading up to our trip, I was a little gutted to see the forecast promised us thunder storms every single day we were there. Turns out there’s no proper weather station on the island, so it’s just a calculated guess. Instead we were spoilt with hot sunny weather every day, and if it ever rained, it would either be at night or a 30 second passing down pour. So don’t let the weather forecast put you off this visiting this incredible place! (We travelled end of May/early June).

Our driver Tao picked us up from a very hot and crowded airport. Our flight was full with Samoans that had been fruit picking in New Zealand for 7 months and couldn’t wait to get back to their families, so you know how it goes: locals first = long ass wait for bags on one tiny conveyer belt. The ride to our resort ended up being a free tour of the island from the Tao (the man). He was delighted to learn that my Great Great Great Grandfather Leon Götz lived in Samoa managing a rubber farm after the First World War and even knew the family name! I then impressed him with the fact I have 7 siblings (he himself has 15 children) and my added ability to smash a tray of mean road side Samoan BBQ. “You just like Samoan woman!” followed by a classic Samoan crack up. The thing that we learned from Tao that I found the most astounding was how much the Samoans spend on their churches. No word of a lie, these buildings can cost them upwards of $12 million dollars!

After farewelling our new friend, it was onto the first order of business; surf. (Actually had a beer first.) With our new Aussie mates (the cuzzies are fricken everywhere we travel) we jumped on a boat out to Nuusafee island, also known as Devils Island – where I got dropped off to enjoy it’s shores alone. Or so I thought. I think it should be renamed to Hermit Island. Literally yelled “holy fuck” out loud when I noticed the thousands of shells moving across the beach. And climbing trees. Who would have thought.

Next surf spot was Salani right. A fun right hander that works on all tides directly out the front of our resort.

Back to Nuusafee Island for the arvo wave!

Then for a quick visit to Lalomanu Beach for a sunset snorkel and happy hour!

Then foNo trip to Samoa is complete without staying a night at the famous Lalomanu Beach – voted as one of the top  5 “Best Beaches” in the South Pacific, and it’s not hard to see why. We stayed in a cute little closed fale at the Taufua Beach Fales and were stoked to learn our breakfast and lunch were also included in the already super affordable price. A ridiculously stunning and relaxing place to spend a couple of days.

After our stay at Lalomanu, it was time to indulge in our beautiful beach front villa at Saletoga Sands Resort. But just had to take Jord back to Salani for a dawny surf on his birthday first! Huge thanks to Adam & Bj for making Jord’s birthday so epic! #faglegs

So you basically can’t Google Samoa without images of their beautiful Tu Sua Ocean Trench popping up. It is outrageously beautiful, and if you catch it on a good day, it looks exactly like the photos. This magical swimming hole sits on someones land, so it’s $20 tala (approx $10NZD) to enter the grounds and is well worth it. Formed by volcanic activity, the ground collapsed leaving behind this 30 meter deep hole which connects with the ocean through underground canals. You can swim out to the ocean through these passages if you’re game enough. I chose not to because: claustrophobia. Also take it easy on the ladder – it can get a little slippery!

Fuipisia Waterfall – again this is on someones land so it’s $10 tala to go and visit. A beautiful little family greets you and a woman sells beautiful hand printed lavalava’s to all their visitors. Such a cool way to support the locals and leave with a little keepsake.

On our last night we were treated to one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen. Jord and I just floated around laughing the whole time.

A huge shout out to Nikon New Zealand for the lens I took all the surfing shots with. Also to Tigerlily for the beautiful clothing and swimwear! See you again soon Samoa!

Milford Sound, Fiordland

Milford Sound Blog Lola Photography_279.jpg

Back in March we made the spontaneous decision to rock down to Fiordland to finally visit Milford Sound. But in a slightly different way to how most would experience it. With hunting permits to our names and hiking boots on our feet, we went full bush for the weekend. Milford Sound is more well known for tourists on big boats & scenic flights, but this place is well worth a nudge on foot/boat. With an incredible underwater world filled with seals, dolphins and the biggest crayfish you’ll ever lay eyes on, this area is well worth a hearty mission.

Exploring this phenomenal Sound by sea or air will have your eyes popping straight out of your head. I was a little concerned that I would be completely desensitised to it's beauty due to all the stunning photographs I had seen and day dreamed about over the years, but I quickly came to realise not a single image I've ever seen compares to how magnificent it is in real life. As the Māori legend goes, Fiordland was carved out by the demi-god, Tū Te Rakiwhānoa, Milford Sound (Piopiotahi) being his final and most spectacular creation. If you're a kiwi and lived here your whole life and still haven't been to see this ridiculous place, you should probably look at changing that very soon. Italy can wait. Check out your own backyard first. It's actually insane.

Setting up camp in Harrisons Cove, the below adventure ensued. For a place that rains for nearly 200 days of the year, we some how nailed a few days of baller sunshine. We had the fuggggeeenn bessst Paua and Cray I've ever had in my life on this trip. It really makes you appreciate this country when all you need is an ocean/briny deep, some kaimoana and butter & garlic for feed of a life time. I'll never forget eating Paua out of a shell-bowl, surrounded by native NZ bush while laughing away with two of the biggest bitch boys I know. Hollah to the Kiwi-Austrian Fisty, couldn't have done it without ya.

Shout out to these fellas from Real Journeys for the muffins #salty

Aqua Frizzante Exhibition

On the 24th April 2017, I opened the doors to my first ever solo exhibition. A dream I have had ever since I was a teenager. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel massive amounts of pride when I stood in that room alone with huge pieces of my work surrounding me. So I want to thank everyone that helped make it possible one last time. Allpress Espresso for the amazing studio space. It's exactly what I had always imagined and it was such a pleasure to work with you all! Queensberry for the out of this world amazing printing. I was so impressed they quite literally brought a tear to my eye to be able to view my work in the flesh instead of on a tiny screen. The cool kids at BurgerFuel and Long White Vodka for filling everyone's gobs at the opening evening. To Nikon for providing the gear that allows me to do what I do and love every second of it.

Thank you to everyone that came in to see the show and chew the fat with me. I loved meeting every last one of you. Lastly thank you so much to everyone who purchased a piece. It really is so flattering that you guys want to put my work on the walls of your homes. Originally when I set out to putting the exhibition together, I only had a vision of all my friends and family standing in the room with my photographs on the wall. I couldn't give a care if I sold anything. So it really blew me away that so many of you wanted to keep them forever.

Big churrs to my beautiful sister Katherine who wrote the poem on the programme that completely describes through and through how I feel about the ocean:

"The ocean is blue so it takes away mine

Washing away all the troubles that weigh on my mind

When I go to the ocean I dip in both feet

An action I will throughout my life repeat

But each time is different, I sometimes go in all the way

Depends on the weather and how I'm feeling that day

One thing that is certain is that it makes me feel right

To rinse, wash and cleanse all the things from my daily life

How does it have such mystical powers?

In its comforting embrace, I could float for hours

Once I have been I'll always come back

It is my ritual and keeps my soul intact.”

For those of you that didn't make it in, do not fret. You can view all the pieces below and a handful of pics from the opening evening by the talented Brijana Cato Photography & a few memories of my own. For all pricing and purchase enquiries please email me on hello@lolaphotography.co.nz with details of which photograph you are interested in.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

01 Motion Texture - Open Edition

01 Motion Texture - Open Edition

02 Chaplong - Open Edition | 03 Obsidian - Open Edition

02 Chaplong - Open Edition | 03 Obsidian - Open Edition

04 Wet Aqua - Limited Edition 1/5 (3 available)

04 Wet Aqua - Limited Edition 1/5 (3 available)

05 Float Culture - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available)

05 Float Culture - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available)

06 Gossamer - Limited Edition 1/5 (2 available)

06 Gossamer - Limited Edition 1/5 (2 available)

07 Miss West - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available)

07 Miss West - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available)

08 What We Live For - Limited Edition 1/5 (5 available)

08 What We Live For - Limited Edition 1/5 (5 available)

09 Wairua - Limited Edition 1/5 (5 available)

09 Wairua - Limited Edition 1/5 (5 available)

10 Lull - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available) | 14 Kōura - Limited Edition 1/3 (2 available)

10 Lull - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available) | 14 Kōura - Limited Edition 1/3 (2 available)

11 Glass Walls - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available)

11 Glass Walls - Limited Edition 1/5 (4 available)

12 Therapy - Limited Edition 1/3 (2 available)

12 Therapy - Limited Edition 1/3 (2 available)

13 Morning Glow - Limited Edition 1/3 (1 available)

13 Morning Glow - Limited Edition 1/3 (1 available)

15 Always Here - Limited Edition 1/1 (SOLD OUT)

15 Always Here - Limited Edition 1/1 (SOLD OUT)

16 Effervescence - Limited Edition 1/1 (SOLD OUT)

16 Effervescence - Limited Edition 1/1 (SOLD OUT)

OPENING EVENING

LOLA'S MEMORIES:

Our Retreat with Kathmandu

So I made it a bit of a goal this summer to go and visit some epic little spots within an hour of Auckland. With the help of Kathmandu, we found ourselves in a couple of prime beach front locations. I think people forget that it's not hard to pop off on an epic little mission. I often get asked how we manage to get out and do "cool shit" all the time, and I can honestly say it's just what you make of your days. If you want to get out there an live it up in this beautiful country of ours. Do it. Finish work at 5, to the beach by 6, surf, home by 10. Don't wait for the weekend yo, or you'll be waiting your whole damn life.

Our first spot was Pakiri. One of my fave summer spots for a wave and all sorts of summer goodness #somuchroomforactivities. The beach is covered with fine white sand and lined with huge mature Pohutakawa trees; literally perfection to chuck up a hammock and watch the surfers as the sun goes down. This Kathmandu travel hammock has fast become one of my favourite adventure essentials. Always got to double check it's in the back of the truck before we head off somewhere. There is something so relaxing about lightly swinging in a hammock with the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Legit chill goals (seriously check out the photos below to see what I mean. I could sleep in that thing). A feed and a snooze was then followed by one of the craziest sunrises I've ever seen! Clearly one of the benefits of sleeping right by the beach is you don't have to go far to get views like the below! Then we squeezed in a quick surf and toddled off home in time for work!

Then of course a week later we decided the adventure tank was getting a bit low, so piled into the Landy for a mission to Tapapakanga. I used to visit here a bit when I was a kid, so it was so rad to get back there again! This is the spot they completely transform into Splore in February each year! Absolute beach front and straight chilled out bliss. You can book this spot through the Auckland Council website and you honestly feel like you have your own secret retreat down there. It really blows my mind that there are spots this epic so close to home. And thank the lord that tents have come as far as they have. Kathmandu hooked us up with their Retreat 80 tent that has only like 5 bits to pop it together in less than 5 minutes. I remember ye old camping times with heavy canvas tents and massive wooden poles that would take hours putting together in the hot sun and turned into a total bitch if it rained. This one is so super light and compact that we also just keep it in the back of the truck just incase a spontaneous mission pops up. It also states it's a 3 person tent, but I'm fairly certain you could fit in 4 if you didn't mind getting cosy!

Stoked on New Zealand and the inspiration from Kathmandu to get out there and literally "open your world". Any suggestions of your favourite spots close to Auckland, get inside my inbox: hello@lolaphotography.co.nz.

Yes all the above photos were taken within the Auckland region. We're not all flat white drinking, city dwelling whingers up here! Holla if you have any questions about the gear used (listed below!) Or just if you would like to join in on the next one, get at me!

- Retreat 80 3 Person Tent

- Travel Hammock (my personal fave)

- Roamer Chair

All available from http://www.kathmandu.co.nz/ 👌

Venture Taranaki

Today I bring to you; Taranaki. A mad cool region in the North Island of New Zealand that has just been ranked #2 in Lonely Planet's top 10 regions to visit in 2017! And rightly so! For a limited time you can actually view me on Lonely Planet's global Snapchat story "5 Places You Never Knew You Wanted to Visit." #mummawemadeit. Pity no one actually knows it's me. lel. (I'm the one with the long hair and the face.) So a huge congrats to The Naki. #hardcore!

Believe it or not, but during my 27 years on this planet, living in this beautiful country of ours, I had never visited this beautiful place. Until last week. I really can’t think of any good reasons why I hadn’t before. I came away a bit like, “whhaaatttt have I been DOING all this TIME!?” WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS PLACE BEFORE. MUM!? THE HELL!? Waaahhhhyyyy? I’m upset I didn’t get to experience this region in all its nature glory sooner. Why is it heaps cool I hear you ask? Do you like surfing? Yas. Do you like mountains? Yas. Do you like great walks? Yas. Do you like snowboarding? Yaaaassss. Do you like waterfalls? YAS. Do you like stunning sunsets? YAAASSS!! It’s pretty much the best natural adventure playground ever in the history of natural adventure playgrounds.

My frothy froth king mate Logan Dodds and I were lucky enough to be able to explore Taranaki and all it’s epicness for two days last week (not enough time p.s). We were easily able to bust out a section of Pouakai Walkway, Dawson Falls and a bomb ass sunset on the Tongaporutu Coast all in one day. Check it:

Day two we indulged in a hearty dose of NZ art culture at the Len Lye Centre. I’ve got to admit, I actually didn’t know who Len Lye was before I visited The Naki. Now I suddenly have quite the obsession going on. I would actually travel back to New Plymouth just for this exhibition. Which speaks volumes for me because I’m usually all about nature and the outdoors. This place is definitely worth a visit even if you aren’t usually into this type of art. Read about his life and work here: http://www.govettbrewster.com/len-lye/centre. Entry is completely free. And not to mention even just the outside of the gallery is epically cool.

To top off our trip we met up with our mate Talman to road trip along the Surf Highway. Mount Taranaki is visible from every angle around the peninsula, so there are photo ops around every corner. This whole coast line gets heavily stacked with some of the best surf in New Zealand. There is got to be something seriously magic about surfing with a giant volcano as your view.

Cheers Taranaki & 100% Pure New Zealand for hosting us. Can't wait to head back already!

MedSailors Croatia

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Well I can't begin to tell you the pain I felt selecting these photo's for today's blog. I had to keep taking breaks whenever the urge to completely go "f*ck it I'm going back right now" reared it's ugly head. MedSailors was undoubtedly one of our absolute favourite weeks out of 3 months of travel. If you are going to Croatia you honestly need to do a sail. It is the best way to see a large chunk of the Croatian Islands and make amazing new friends.

MedSailors was the absolute bomb (whaaaaat I haven't used that as an adjective since I was like 12 but I'm rolling with it.) What I wouldn't give to be back on our boat Spinoza with our skipper Mike sailing the clear warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Now I'm certainly not here to bag on any of the other sails around Croatia because you would undoubtedly have an amazing time on anything you choose in this beautiful country. But if you're a little like me and want your trip to be more chilled and personal, MedSailors is for you. We had the perfect balance of chilling and partying without being 'far out I can't human anymore' hung over. Seriously, who the shit wants to be hung over on a fricken boat?! Other sailing companies, that's who.  Whilst I can see the allure of a party boat, I can see that it would get old very quickly. Much like my Australian pillow carrying friend I met on the way to the beach in Hvar, who was desperately looking for some shade and quiet to get some sleep away from her cray cray boat. Poor wee dot. Omg do I sound old? Wow I read this back and I sound really old. What happened to meeeeeeeeeeee. Ha who am I kidding. I'm sitting here in my track pants with a glass of wine writing this. Being an adult rules.

We had a total of 8 people on our boat, learnt the basics of sailing and pretty much got to choose what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go each day. It meant that we spent our breakfasts & lunch times sitting in private bays without another boat in sight. I mean who doesn't want a whole lot of this to themselves on a Wednesday morning?

We were then free to explore each town every evening to sample local cuisine, hit the bars and talk shit with our new mates. So without further adieu, please enjoy this visual journey of one of the best weeks of my life, topped off with a traditional Croatian feed at the Hora vineyard in Stari Grad. Wine, amazing food and a whole bunch of farm animals in a warm golden sunset. Dreamy. It's another typically long one from me I'm afraid, so put the kettle on and get settled in.

Victoria, Australia

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be invited as an influencer as part of Tourism Victorias newest campaign promoting the beautiful Victoria Region in Australia. Having never visited before, I was pretty damn excited! Our trip started in the city of Melbourne - an incredibly vibrant city full of culture, passion and AMAZING food. It's not hard to see why it's been voted one of the world's most liveable cities. Just to wander through the labyrinth of graffiti filled laneways and find tucked away secret cafes, quirky bars and designer shops was such a rad time. I was really blown away by the diversity and openness of Melbourne's people; I felt like the city possesses such a energetic yet quiet confidence that leaves it's residents totally free to express themselves without judgement. The cafes, restaurants, bars and galleries are a total feast for the senses and all so easy to access with their impeccable public transport (some may argue with my choice of words here, but if you ever grew up in Auckland you will understand having a long standing love hate relationship with the buses here.)

I'd like to take a moment to now remember all the food I thought was good before. RIP food. Because Melbourne blew that shit out of the water. We had some ridiculous eats during our time there. *Momentary switch from photography blog to food blog*

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Oh.my.lanta. I don't think I've ever been somewhere sah fancyyy! The very modern, award winning menu takes inspiration from 14th Century cook books. Every dish on the menu has the corresponding date from when it originated. Eg: Meat Fruit (c.1500) - an out of this world chicken liver parfait that is shaped to look like a small mandarin. Visually confusing, but proper delicious.

I also had the following:

  • Frumenty (c.1390) - Grilled octopus, spelt, pickled red moss, chervil emulsion & smoked sea broth

  • Powdered Duck Breast (c.1670) - Cooked with Ale and artichokes *cries*

  • Sambocade (c.1390) - Goats milk cheese cake, elderflower & apple, perry poached pear & smoked candied walnuts *cries harder*

I was blown away by the coupling of flavours and textures which resulted in losing my eyes in the back of my head a lot and concerning the other diners by exclaiming "AHMAHGAHD" with most mouth fulls.

That was the first night and I could have toddled back to NZ a changed woman. But Tourism Victoria had other plans for my newly awakened taste buds: Melbourne Food & Wine Festival - World's Longest Lunch. A magic 3 course meal put together by Guy Grossi enjoyed with 1,600 other guests on the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix track at one long ass table! Yet another occasion where I didn't eat until I was comfortably full, instead eating until I hated myself "whhhhyyy neevveerrr agaaiinnn" (Cheers for the extra puddings guys.)

The day was then followed by a Cocktail & Bar Tour hosted by Melbourne Food Experiences with Cocktail Specialist Sebastian Raeburn where we visited Union Electric, Bar Ampere, Heartbreaker and the Boiler Maker House. Union Electric was a real stand out for me, not only did the bar look rad (Bill Murray tributes whhaaatt!) but they served us a supperrr yum cocktail called "The Lola." Chuuurrrr Aussie cuzzies! It was also most enjoyable having Absinthe the correct way at Bar Ampere instead of sipping straight Austrian Mata Hari out of a bottle on a Thursday night and hitting Takapuna with your equally legless mate (hollah to 21 year old Lola and Starsh for that diabolical night. Jeans.)

I will now give you a brief summary of my thoughts on the rest of my actives in Melbourne because I want to get to the Phillip Island and Gippsland part ASAP. Cos FUN. Just coaching you through this part because I know this is long and if you have a short attention span like me and as soon as you see lot's of words, it's like "ugh no." So I'm hoping my photos will keep you captivated in this epic tale. *ahem*

Hidden Secrets Tour of Melbourne: Raddest. Exploring Laneways & discovering all the quirk they have to offer. Thanks so much to Shaun Layh for a wicked morning!

Andy Warhol / Ai Wei Wei Exhibition at National Gallery of Victoria: So so so good. Honoured to have been able to see some of Andy Warhol's work in the flesh and Ai Wei Wei is my spirit animal.

Press Club Projects dinner: Food geeks unite! A 6 course degustation created in front of us in the experimental kitchen of Chef George Calombaris & Chef Reuben Davis to which I can only describe as a flavour and texture adventure. And I love a good adventure. The whole thing is essentially a fun lab for the chefs who use the space to be a creative as they want and you can watch the whole process from prep to plate while they explain all the steps and ingredients as they go! Thanks for having us and putting up with my loud laugh in such a small space.

Crown Metropol: Also worth mentioning here our absolutely insane accommodation! Veddy nice veddy handsome I like it. #softestpillowseva

After that blurr of art, culture, bread, cheese and booze, I was off on my own to Phillip Island and Gippsland! Before this trip, I had never heard of either of these places let alone consider them as a holiday destination, but I'm already planning my return.

Phillip Island brings a multitude of activities and wild life. After a morning of freaking out at the koalas cuteness (and how much they poo. Like wow, so much poop why.) I enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Cape Kitchen with uninterrupted views of the Bass Straight. Followed by an explore of the cliffs to help digest my veggies. The afternoon was then filled with seals (aka water dogs, I luff yew) and an evening at the Penguin Parade. Now the penguins really did blow my mind - literally thousands. THOUSAAAAAAAAAANDS (I put more A's in there to help with the scale of how many I actually mean) of penguins all waddling up out of the water and up the beach at dusk. Unfortunately strictly no photography here, but I can give you a visual: it was my fave when the fat ones fell over because their bellies had absorbed their legs. Legit running full tit up the beach and then like BAM. Penguin down. For animals that spend a lot of their time on the land, they are so very un-agile. I was then lucky enough to have my time end with a scenic helicopter flight around the island which was really the cherry on top of my time on Phillip Island. It was such a buzz to see the entire island I had just explored from above.

Gippsland Gippsland Gippsland. I have this new found love for a place I never knew existed. The only problem I had with this place was I didn't have enough time there! Sitting at the very southern tip of the Australian mainland this place is a lush and vast playground. The rural farm land and a lot of the bush actually reminded me of New Zealand. Highlights of this area had to be lunch and 4WD off roading with Jenny from Gippsland Food Adventures, meeting Spud the farm dog, staying with the beautiful Mary and Peter Riedel at the Church House (a brand new Bed & Breakfast built from a 1887 Anglican church featured on the first episode of Grand Designs Australia!) and of course Tidal River in Wilsons Promontory. My jaw was on the floor the whole drive. Incredible landscapes, white sandy beaches and turquoise water. I really was itching to have more time here as there was so much to explore and unfavourable weather conditions meant I couldn't hike to the summit of Mount Oberon, weehhh. So I will definitely be back to conquer that one! And I'm determined to see a Tiger snake in the bush - plenty of those out there.

To top off all the incredible things I had seen and done during my time in the Victoria Region, we were treated to a VIP evening at the Melbourne Fashion Festival. I have never been the biggest fan of fashion shows, but this one really swayed me. The awesome combination of front row seats, loud music and visually seeing the intricate craftsmanship that goes into the garments was really amazing to see. Not to mention the fab unseasonal heatwave with a comfortable 39 degrees in an old historic building with no air con. Delish.

We did so much in the space of 6 days yet there is still so much more to see. A maaaassive shout out to all of the amazing people that hosted me and welcomed me into their homes and to my new mates Julia & Libby, Art & Matilda, Delaney, Megan and Aimee! Y'all are hilarious and very talented!

If you are after any more info on my trip (as if I didn't give you enough geez.) drop me an email at hello@lolaphotography.co.nz!

Kthnxbi.

JOIN ME ON THE GRAM…

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