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:
