Well friends, I’ve been trying to think of ways to share the hoards of images that I took during my trip to New Zealand + Australia.  I mean, how can I share such a beautiful place with you, and make you really feel like you experienced some of my favorite parts?  I’ve decided to break it down into quite a few blog posts… enough for almost the rest of February! Phew! I debated back and forth on how much to share and how to do it, but it only seems fair to let you really experience this beautiful country through my eyes.

Our first full day on the North Island of NZ, we spent at Piha Beach.  It’s a black sand beach full of coves and cliffs.  My attitude for the trip was to make the absolute most of it, so when we arrived, I set off with Meghan to climb along the rocky coves to reach the cliffs that awaited on the other side.  Little by little, we kept saying “just a bit farther” and onward we went… no shoes, no camera strap (now if that isn’t an adventure, what is?), and no idea how far we’d go.  We made it all the way up to the top of the cliff, with a spectacular view of the beach and the people that now appeared as small as ants.  When we got to the top it was with such delight that we took a second to just breathe in the sea air.  This was just the start of the trip, and already it was impressive!

After we scurried down off of the cliff (the rocky climbs were not nearly as satisfying on the way down) to meet our friends at the bottom where the tide had then left a beautiful cave leading to the ocean.  With a bunch of photographers, that obviously meant that it was time to take some portraits!  We finished up just in time to photograph our first of a few shoots that took place while we were there, and that’s where I’ll leave us for today.  Tomorrow, I will be sharing a few of my favorite images from the styled shoot.  Happy Tuesday, friends!