Summer Summer Summer! Oh my it has been fun. The red burn on my skin, the New Years fireworks, and the 5am wake up calls from my one-year-old niece and nephew. Yip, it’s been a fun family holiday in Whitianga.

We had the most chilled-out yet adventurous time together. One such venture was when my mother and I kayaked from Hahei to the absolutely stunning Cathedral Cove. At first, all I could think about was the beautiful coromandel surroundings…but then the burn started to set in. My arms were killing me! I was then very aware of how unfit I was. Mum was kayaking faster than me!

When we arrived at the iconic Cathedral Cove, we were welcomed by good ol’ adventurous kiwi’s jumping of rocks, boaties anchoring for a day visit, and tourists stopping every 5 seconds to capture the beauty of this place that I am proud to call home. At one point I was able to grab my risk-taking brothers’-in-law and go jumping off cliffs and swimming inside caves. You’ve gotta seize every moment you can to have an adventure!

Another highlight was Hot Water Beach. To line up with the tides (and to avoid the daytime crowds), we decided to go right before dark. We grabbed our spades (that we’d bought from The Warehouse hours earlier), piled the family into 2 vehicles and headed to another incredible and iconic part of New Zealand. We arrived just in time to pick the first (and best!) spot, and it was even light enough to still see what we were doing. I must say, i’m pretty sure we dug the biggest and HOTTEST pool ever! (I’m not biased – but ours was the best). All the tourists were envious of our glorious pool.

As it got darker, I took some time to soak the environment in and capture the moment. I grabbed my cammy and took some time out to satisfy my creative urge took by taking a few slow shutter speed shots in the twilight – you’ll see some of these photo’s above in the blog. This one in particular I took with ISO800 f/3.5 with 25sec of exposure:

I also got to take some shots of a cute holidaying couple. I guess that’s what comes with carrying a DSLR camera around – people will ask you to take photo’s of them, and they will ask you to email them:

Haha, photographers are never really on holiday! To be honest, it was such a pleasure. My holiday was the best – and I loved that I could capture some of it to share with you all. I LOVE my job!

– Abigail