Upper Clutha River Shenanigans

The life of a photographer can find you on the road quite a bit. Luckily road trips are one of my favourite things to do, especially on the beautiful South Island of New Zealand. It's such a beautiful thing to watch all of the landscapes of the south island change over the season. The stark contrast between city life in Dunedin to the mountainous towns of Wanaka and Queenstown is so breathtaking. Far removed from each other, yet each feels like a sort of home to me. It's winter here in the southern hemisphere, and while I'm a warm weather Southern California girl, there is a magical charm about this season that is quite stunning. The frosty mornings, the moody weather, fog licking over the hillsides, the white capped mountains and the crisp bone chilling temperatures.... it all feels so, fresh! The drive from Dunedin to Wanaka is only a few hours and each trip I make out this way, I always find little dirt roads or different routes to get to where I'm going. This past weekend, I made a little trip out to Wanaka to catch up with some friends and take a little time out from entrepreneur life. Aside from being a photographer full time, I also own a wellness centre in Dunedin by the name of Benessere Studios... You'd think being a cultivator of wellness in my community, that I would be a stress free, well balanced individual. Although posts on Facebook and Instagram might portray this healthy balance we all strive for, this is simply not the case, life still stresses me out all the time and things get really tough... It's always a struggle to find a work and life balance especially when your work is your passion, your art, your creative force. I think it will always bleed into your personal life at times, and is important to find a healthy relationship with this so that you don't feel like you are a slave to your work, your passions etc. So I decided to take a couple days out to be out in nature with my dog, Luna and some good friends. We explored a new track that none of us had been on along the Upper Clutha River just off of Halliday Road outside of Wanaka. It was a beautiful day for it on Sunday, glorious sunshine peeking through the creepy pine forests and woods that we meandered through. The dogs, Copper and Luna, instant best friends raced together chasing rabbits on the hillside and feigning interest in the sticks that we'd throw for them along the river's edge. We even found some wooden Tipi's made by locals surely that made us feel like we were stumbling into the Blair Witch Project. It was a most excellent outing! Hope you enjoy the photos of our shenanigans :)