antichthones

January 2019 - Puhinui Reserve, Auckland

I went to upload these photos on Facebook -- as I have my past few ventures outdoors -- and suddenly had the strange compulsion to put them on Tumblr instead.  I’m not certain of my blogging future on Tumblr.  So many of my friends have left the platform in the past few years.  Also, that last purge seems to have erroneously censored some of my landscape photos as not work safe, so -- that gives one confidence in Tumblr’s algorithm.

Waiatarua Wetland Reserve, Auckland 

June 2018

Auckland still looking pretty in winter. This was a few weeks after the really bad storm this year that left half the city without power for a week and uprooted trees -- a friend of mine had this incredible picture of her tiny person standing in front of one of the ginormous oaks in One Tree Hill with its roots up in the air. Would link if the photo was publicly available.  

Titirangi Beach Reserve, Auckland

October 2016

It was a cold and blustery day (see: grey sky). On dreary days, I typically head into the bush as the seaside is never quite fun when it’s cold. I punched in the GPS coordinates for a forest near Waikowhai... and stumbled out of my car at a beach. (”Where are the trees?” I said to my friend, confused.) Not wanting to drive around lost, we shrugged and headed up the beach.

Mangemangeroa Valley, Auckland

December 2016

And now for something cheerier. The Mangemangeroa Valley was a hidden gem I discovered after artfully googling ‘nice walks in Auckland?’. The signs are a bit confusing and there’s not a lot of shade on a hot day, but for something that is so tranquil and remote, it’s well worth the trip out to Howick (yes, Howick). 

Arataki, Waitakere Ranges

May 2017

A year ago I took part in the Red Cross Journey, a walking fundraiser to support the work of the Red Cross in NZ. They provide community rebuilding support in the wake of disasters and help refugees to resettle. My first weekend, I took a hike around the Arataki. It’s one of the main entrances to the Waitakere, and is set out like a proper tourist spot -- visitors’ centre and all. 

Now, the Waitakere is closed. Native kauri trees that have been here for hundreds of years are irrevocably dying. Kauri dieback disease has been eating away at the roots of kauri trees, preventing access to nutrients and water and effectively starving these trees. There’s no cure. Once a forest is infected it’s irreversible, and the prime carrier of the disease have been people who fail to disinfect their footwear and gear and stray from the marked tracks. We’ve known for a decade that this was happening and failed to act. When local iwi imposed a rāhui (temporary restriction) over the area to protect the kauri, angry pākehā shot back that they weren’t going to be told what to do by Māori. The Council weren’t much help. Our forests are dying, and this is a loss that will be carried forward for generations to come.

Throughout the year I’ve also had the chance to speak to people working inside the Australian-run Manus and Nauru detention centres. It’s one thing knowing on an intellectual level that Australia’s treatment of refugees is bad -- so bad that the Australian government has made it illegal to report on the human rights abuses going on inside these facilities. But what got to me was seeing young children who had sewn their mouths shut. A friend who used to work for the Aus govt said that at first they felt like they could do something, fight against the govt from the inside and know that they at least were making humane decisions. But when you see your approved cases backlogged, with no progress or chance of relocation for these people to the Australian mainland; when you’re interviewing people who have spent so long in detention that the determination process has caused irrevocable harm to their psychology, you realise staying breeds only complicity. Did you know the Australian government pays to plaster their human rights abuses on billboards in asylum seeking countries? Inhumanity is good for PR purposes.

Auckland Botanic Gardens

October 2016

A belated flower post. :) So I went back to check which photos I’d uploaded and which I hadn't, and realised, oh, I haven’t really updated since the South Island trip in 2016 (2016?!). The odd post here and there, but not really -- I made a joke last post that I’d finally ventured outside my house this weekend, and I’m like, shit, what if people actually think I haven’t been outside in six months. So. Still alive. Trying this no guilt thing with my online presence! I’ll probably upload a mix of old and more recent photos over the next... year? random periodic period? 

Orangihina, Auckland

June 2018

We’ve had a series of rather miserable winter weekends -- torrential rain, bone-chilling cold, poorly insulated housing sort of miserable. Aucklanders are weak creatures not designed to survive anything colder than a freezing 15 degrees. I’ve been spending my past weekends catching up on films I’ve always meant to watch but was never in the right depressing mood for (Mulholland Drive, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Se7en...). 

Anyway. I thought it was about time I ventured again into the outside world. Today’s new place to explore in Auckland was Orangihina in Te Atatu. A part of me just wants to give an ordinary recount of like, ‘walks in the wild’, but to be honest a really strange, somewhat disturbing thing happened, which I will now forever associate with Orangihina.

Muriwai, Auckland

25 December 2017

Meri Kirihimete friends! ☀ I thought about using the ⛄ symbol, but to be honest, Christmas falls in the summertime in New Zealand so that would just be an odd representation. ;)

I had a low key Christmas day at Muriwai. What makes Muriwai Beach special is that it’s a short walk to the Gannet colony. Apparently, about 1,200 birds show up each year between August and March to take advantage of the lovely weather in NZ while the northern bits of the world freeze their assess off. Even more special, there appeared to be new hatchling chicks! A parent and chick pair ended up really close to me and I got to watch up close as the parent brushed off its chick’s fluffy down.

A common refrain heard around work these past few weeks was, “Going away for the holidays?” No, I’d reply. Are you? No, they’d respond. (And silence.) It got to a point where every conversation seemed a bit predictable and I briefly wondered why we kept bothering. Clearly the people who were going anywhere on a plane had left by now. I think seeing the “classic” Christmas films each year -- Home Alone, Love Actually, Die Hard (yes! I firmly fall on the side of those who count Die Hard as a Christmas film) -- makes those of us in the Southern Hemisphere a bit wistful for winter Christmases. But ever since my time in the Netherlands where I realised oh, it’s just cold and dark, I don’t have that longing anymore! I love Christmas in the summertime! I didn’t realise how much I would miss it until I was away. 

All of my fondest Christmas memories involve ice-cream on the beach; a picnic at the park. Outdoor barbecues and wine under the sun. I love how New Zealand gets at this time of year. Did you know Christmas is my favourite holiday? I like people being nice to each other. But there’s something particularly lovely about this time of year in New Zealand. The pace slows down. Large swaths of the country shut down for two weeks. And the weather is so nice outside that it feels like you’re on a proper holiday. 

Duder Regional Park, Auckland

October 2016

Duder Regional Park: One of those mythical places in Auckland that I’ve often heard much about but never quite knew where it existed. So. One day, with my realisation that the internet is a thing, I finally decided to set out and find the place.

My internet search informed me that Duder was a place of “pastoral farmland with sea views”. Oh, my mind went, grass. Okay. I can swap out my hiking boots and finally just go in some regular sports shoes. Alas, I was not observant enough to remember that recently it had been raining, and rain + grass = a muddy mess. These photos seem bright and cheerful. Do not be mislead! It was one of the most unintentionally painful walks I’ve been on. The first step onto the grass was accompanied with a squelch, soft sinking mud, and the inklings that I might have made a dire miscalculation. Nevertheless, I persisted. Rationalising that perhaps with the sun out and it being such a lovely day, surely the grass would have a chance to dry out. Ha.

It was mainly just wet and slippery, but altogether manageable. About half an hour into this two hour loop walk I gave up trying to stop the mud from seeping into my shoes. I was here already, didn’t have proper shoes, and would just have to put up. Unfortunately, NZ also has this habit of letting farm animals loose in public parks. So after I came face to face with the sheep and cows, my concern over the mud turned into a deeper concern over stepping in fresh dung. You can guess how successful I was at this task. 

There’s a path off the main Duder farm loop that takes you to this narrow slip of land, literally probably just ten metres wide, and you can see the water on both sides. I almost got there. What stood between me and this interesting geographical landmark was a herd of giant cows. I had been failing miserably at avoiding the odd scattered cow leading up to this point, and seeing just the sheer number of cows still ahead of me + the uneven ground + plus the mud, I decided I would have to leave something to explore for next time.

Back on the farm loop, the sea views were gorgeous and I was temporarily forgetting the state of my shoes when I heard this rumbling in the distance. A farmer on a giant tractor appeared out of nowhere. Is she going to run me over?! I thought, as the tractor edged closer to me on the path. There was a steep drop on one side and a steep hill on my other. There was nowhere to go and the path was far too narrow to let both of us pass. The farmer seemed oblivious to my plight. I ended up backtracking, and then scrambling up the hill.  “What a lovely day!” the farmer yelled at me over the sound of her engine. Her tractor plodded on past. 

Almost at the end, the car park in sight, my one last obstacle was right before the cloud of sheep pictured above. A part of the path was entirely destroyed by mud. Deep, uneven. I attempted to go straight through it at first, but ended up getting my shoe stuck. I had this awful moment where I couldn’t go forward and had no clue how I was going to go back. I wondered if I should just step out in my bare feet at this point. I can’t actually remember what happened now. Somehow, I scrambled up the bank. I was incredibly lost off the path, and ended up just setting off in the position of the car park, hoping I’d get there and there wouldn’t be some final boss/cavernous hole right before I reached it. Well, there wasn’t a hole. Just a massive final hill. But with my belief that if you put one foot in front of the other, you’d eventually get to the other side, it wasn’t the worst thing to come upon.

Gemmayze St, Auckland

August 2017

It was raining something awful. We parked in an industrial area off K Road, a rare spot of free parking in the CBD, and trudged up a steep hill to civilization.

Kennedy Park and Takapuna Beach, Auckland

August 2017

I used to think the beach held nothing of interest for me. I can’t swim. I failed abysmally at volleyball. I never quite understood the appeal of lying in the sand, staring at the sun. There’s a part of me that’s felt I was living in the wrong country, and I could never quite relate to the enthusiasm of people who would willingly choose to spend their hard-earned holidays lying on the beach. 

I still don’t get it. This isn’t a post where I’ve found the error of my ways and am repenting. Instead, I think my relationship to the beach is best maintained from a distance -- from the top of a cliff, from the window of a plane -- and I’ve reached a peace with that. The ocean, on the other hand, I’ve always loved. And I’ve felt if the only way I could see the ocean was to march myself over to the beach, then so be it. There’s nothing quite like the infinite blueness on a bright sunny day. 

John F Kennedy Park is a WWII memorial site. There are still gun emplacements, underground tunnels, and disguised barracks you can explore. I don’t know why it’s named after an American president. Off in the distance, like a permanent place marker in Auckland, sits Rangitoto Island. I took a walk around the cliff edge of Kennedy Park and then down to nearby Takapuna Beach. 

South Island Road Trip 

October 2016

I’ve long held a romanticism for the idea of the road trip holiday. Driving through the country with good friends, keeping to no one’s schedule and detouring when you feel like. It’s the sort of experience that feels like you have to have while you’re young -- which is a silly young person thought; as I get older I find that the desire to have fun adventures never quite dissipates. But still, in this moment, without the obligations of children, a mortgage, and only my mild anxiety regarding the future as company, this felt like the perfect moment to finally have my road trip holiday.

I will remember driving down the state highway between Springs Junction and Arthur’s Pass and marveling at how gorgeous the New Zealand mountains are. When I travel around the world and tell people I’m from NZ, they always remark on the beauty of this country. But it’s hard living in the middle of it all to notice what’s so special about a place on a day-to-day basis. This was one of those times when I really understood what the rest of the world sees in NZ. That effortless natural beauty; scenery that preens with each traveller's admiring gaze.  

Later, we would drive past Hokitika in the late afternoon, sun finally shinning for a sustained period, and I would find it incredibly funny that the theme music for this trip alternated between death metal and Christian pop. I learnt the careful balance of tact required to keep the peace between my friend who listens to death metal and the friends of my other friend who were dedicated to Hillsong. My own contribution to the car’s entertainment was a special episode on gay sex (which one?) from the Two Dope Queens podcast, so you can guess where I fell on that spectrum.

I will remember standing on the side of the road with my friend’s friend, waiting for the others to pick us up. I remember taking a series of Instagram photos for her, while she looked off into the distance and played with her hair. I remember her telling me that she doesn’t have a problem with gay people as people really, she just can’t support their immoral lifestyle. And I remember thinking, what is it about me that makes a near stranger feel comfortable enough to say that? 

Never again will I want to drive through the twisting, unpredictable mountains to Te Anau late at night, with only our car headlights and the overcast moon for guidance. Milford Sound was as beautiful as always, but the rain set in just as we reached Glenorchy and onward to Queenstown. I gained an appreciation for chardonnay and have started switching out my usual sauv order. I learnt I need to be more fit to survive an all day hike, and miraculously I have actually been much more active since. I will remember the ghost chicken, who ran into our car in a cloud of feathers -- me and death metal friend screamed in fright on impact, while the Hillsong enthusiasts slept soundly in the backseat. That chicken was missing when we drove back and death metal friend was optimistic that it limped away (I was far less so). 

I’ve had a number of realisations since the last time I posted (about 5 months ago). The most important being:

I enjoy photography,

I still want to share what I’m up to.

I had to stop last time because it was feeling like too much work. In life news, I was starting a new job around that time and that took priority. I’ve still been going places, but I found myself without the time to sort through my photos or write about my experiences. And somewhere along the way, it felt like it had turned into an obligation. Like, I had to show up every week with new photos and say something about them.

What I really want is for this place to be a record of my memories. This means impressions that are subjective. Sometimes I’ll have a lot to say, sometimes I won’t. Sometimes the most important thing to me about a location is that I managed to walk the entire track and hadn’t thought I’d be able to. Sometimes it’s finding somewhere beautiful and feeling extraordinarily sad. I’d like these posts to reflect my experiences. This might also mean sociopolitical thoughts that seem disconnected from the scenery -- but isn’t the best time to think when you’re alone and somewhere peaceful?

I thought about deleting this Tumblr and starting again. But there seemed to be too much history. Let’s just draw an imaginary line in this imaginary sand and call this a reset. So, new layout, new header pic, and expect more personal reflections in the future. 

I actually stopped rather abruptly last time, in the middle of my South Island road trip. I’m going to finish that, but redo it in the way I wanted to talk about the trip in the first place: I’ll choose a selection of my favourite images and talk about the things that made an impression on me. It’s been almost a year (oh time!) so the things that I remember have really made an impression on me.

20160929 - Hokitika Gorge, Hokitika, New Zealand

This place is beautiful. Easily one of my favourite spots of the trip. We came across many blue water pools in the South Island, but none were as stunning as the Hokitika Gorge. I think the water is so blue because it comes from a glacier. 

This is NZ so you can walk right up to the edge of the rocks without any fencing -- see the large rock right above the bridge in the last pic, that’s the main observation area. A lot of sand flies and you’re pretty much being eaten alive once you get there. But worth it. I even went down to the edge and we’ve already established my inability to balance on things. It was just too beautiful to pass up. 

20160929 - Lake Kaniere, Hokitika, New Zealand

20160929 - Hokitika, New Zealand