South Island, New Zealand.

New Zealand has always been a second home to me.  Having lived there as a child and having, well, most of my family situated there, or thereabouts.  I’ve taken a lot of photos over the years, so am going to put together a series of posts showing some of what I feel to be the photos that capture New Zealand best, the way I know it.

I’m going to start by going back to 1994, when my Brother and I headed out there to catch up with family, and explore a bit of the country.  These are a few of the shots I took travelling around the South Island in a battered old Mitsubishi.  It didn’t let us down, which is good, as there was a lot of distance between stops on a lot of the journey.

These first few were taken just driving between places. The South Island is incredibly  beautiful, with long empty roads flowing through stunning vistas.  Wide shallow rivers with glacial waters running over silver rounded rocks and boulders.  And of course, room to clown around in our Mitsubishi.

To the South West you have the Fiordlands, with Milfors Sound standing out as a place of unparalleled beauty and peace.  Oh yeah, and ferocious Sandflies.

And a bit further North still to the West you find Queenstown, again a town and backdrop of outstanding beauty, but also the Birthplace of A.J. Hackett Bungee Jumping.  From an iron bridge over a deep gully, with a white water river running below.

But to get to ny of the places you have to drive down the West Coast, lined by the mounted lined National Parks, you can travel for an hour without seeing another car or person.

Which also gives you the chance to visit the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers.  Reminders of the raw power of nature.

And there is so much more to see. Interesting cities to visit.  I’ll get to all that I can in time.  I hope you enjoyed.