Monstrous Media!

It’s hard to imagine topping the events of the last post but sure enough, New Zealand delivered. Here’s what’s been going on.

Video! The shots of me on the small boat are from a crayfish venture in the east Bay, the shots from the big boat are from my SCUBA trip out to The Poor Knights islands. The beach shots are all from Cathedral Cove. The drivng footage was taken on the Coromandel Peninsula driving northward. The song is “Knotty Pine” by The Dirty Projectors.

So the rumors were true. Hot Water Beach is exactly as it sounds and twice as amazing. You get there and there is just steam rising from the sand. You just fucking dig and behold; a fucking natural hot tub on the beach. Unreal. Unfortunately the lowest tide was at 3am so it was dark and I was all sandy so I didn’t bring my camera out there. But the above shot was taken through my shades to give you all the most extreme point of view show ever. That’s what I saw the next morning while I had my eggs and toast out the back of Gerty… It’s a different beach close by, not the magic one… well it was still magical… umm but, you know what I mean.

These three were all taken at the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. Hands down. It’s called Cathedral Cove, just about 5km north of Hot Water Beach. It’s named as such because of an outstanding rock archway that stands on the beach but it has a million other ideal features. It’s very compact, about 1 km in total length and a good 45 minute hike from the parking lot. It has a little waterfall that pours onto the beach and overhanging cabana trees for shade. That crazy rock formation sits dead center begging for photographs to be taken of it. I had originally intended on only staying here for a minute or two but i was so entranced by the beach I stayed all afternoon until it got too cold to enjoy.

That night me and Gerty drove south to Wairere falls where I camped in the parking lot. I’ve been messing around with elongated exposures to try and capture the stars well. This is one that captures the mood nicely.

The epic Wairere falls themselves after a lengthy early early early morning hike. I listened to Do Make Say Think as I walked through the jungle at 7 am. Good shit.

That day I drove about 4 hours east across the Bay of Plenty to a small hostel that came reccomended to me called the Maraehako Bay Retreat. It was a paradise. Nestled in a private bay this little hut os like a tree house with free sea kayak to borrow and a hot tub. The owner, Pihi is a Maori local with a passion for crayfishing. He took me out on his boat to help him haul in some pots and the boiled our catch up for dinner that night. This shot was of a break in the clouds seen whilst riding out to fetch the crays from their cages. HAHAHA!, you suckers have jobs.

Happy me wit dem crays.

Here’s what I’ve been listening to:

Murder By Death – Spring Break 1899

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Bowerbirds – Bur Oak

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I know, pretty tame, introspective stuff. I’ll put up some dancy-er tunes next time for sure.