A Very Special Award

Real-time

I thought I'd better do this blog post before it becomes old news (if it isn't already).

Just before the world went crazy I received a phone call from one of NZMCA's head office team members (NZ Motor Caravan Association) to see if I might be going to the National Rally & AGM in Oamaru in early March.

Unfortunately I had to say we wouldn't be there as we were in Napier after an unscheduled quick trip to Tauranga from Twizel in mid January and we were not due back in the South Island until later in the month. 'There's no way you could make it?' the team member persisted.  I thought they might have wanted me to take some photos or do a write up on the rally for the magazine. 

I didn't think any more of it until a week later when I received another call (while I was in the local New World supermarket) from the NZMCA President Bruce Stanger to inform and congratulate me on receiving Life Membership of the Association. The award had been announced at the AGM. To say I was shocked is an understatement, my fellow shoppers must have wondered what on earth was happening when I let out an exclamation of surprise. But I am thrilled with the recognition and very pleased that it also includes David. After all, out of sight in many of my photos sits my ever patient husband waiting for me to shoot 'just one more' photo. 

Chris (the magazine's editor) also called to congratulate me just as I got home with the groceries. After another round of excitement and exclamations, Mum came out to see what all the noise was about. She them wanted to know if we were going to receive special purple wings! Now there's an idea........   (For my non member readers 'wings' are the red decals and membership number that we stick on the front of our RVs, they look like a set of wings.)

We were going to call into Christchurch to meet with Bruce and receive our award on our way back to Twizel but as we all know the world as we knew it changed in the meantime, so that'll be on the back burner for the time being.

Here's the article that is in the latest magazine which was released March 31st, 2020. Click on the photo to enlarge and if you still can't read it I've posted a larger version of it further down the page (although it's a little blurry).

The icing on the cake was that one of my photos was also the cover shot for the latest magazine; a very fitting photo during Alert Level 4 Lockdown, of a lone camper at Mavora Lakes.

Take care everyone, we're doing great! 

The Lady Behind The Lens

Real-time

I know many of you are NZMCA members and will have already read the following article but for those that aren't members, here's the write-up that appeared in the latest Motor Caravanner magazine.

At first I was a little reluctant to come out from behind my camera when Katrina (a friend and fellow 5th-wheeler) asked if I'd mind if she wrote a item about me and our lifestyle. It didn't take too long for her and David to convince me that people would be interested in reading a 'behind the scenes' article. Katrina sent me 101 questions to answer and I was away typing- you know me, I can't stop my fingers once I start typing (and she didn't really send 101 questions, just sufficient to glean enough relevant information).

It was a lovely surprise to find out that Chris (editor) had also chosen one of my photos for the cover of the latest magazine- Autumn in Bannockburn, Central Otago. This is my 6th cover and because I've now run out of room on our lounge's tiny wall space, I'm now having to hang the older framed covers in the toilet! Framing them is not something I'd normally do but it just seems to fit in with our nomadic lifestyle (and cover some crappy wallpaper).

And here's the article- the first two pages were a double spread of the sunrise photo from Hinahina in the Catlins. I've increased the size of the other pages so you'll be able to read the article a little better, remember to click on the photo to enlarge. But if you're still struggling to read it, there's a link to a PDF at the bottom of the page.

Enjoy! And a big thankyou to Katrina, who did an awesome job in gathering it altogether and asking the right questions.

The Lady Behind The Lens- PDF

Cover Photo

It was with great excitement to find out that I'd managed to score the front cover of the latest NZMCA magazine once again; I needed one more to fill a spare gap on the van's wall. Anymore and I'll have to hang them in the loo!

This was taken in Wanaka while I was out and about doing my own personal tiki-tour, capturing the autumn colours while David was fishing. 

The blurb (which I have to supply) reads- Autumn at Albert Town Camping Ground. Located on the banks of the mighty Clutha River just downstream from the river's Lake Wanaka outlet. The camp ground is surrounded by many walking and cycle tracks along both sides of the river, south to Luggate and into Wanaka township.

Hey, I like these short blogs (I bet you do too)!

Travel Directory Kudos

If you belong to the NZMCA you’ll likely recognise this book, it should have arrived in your mail box sometime during the last few weeks. This is the Association’s ‘bible’, the Travel Directory. It contains thousands of parking sites for members covering every region in New Zealand and every type of camping site from freedom camping, DOC & commercial campgrounds to NZMCA’s own parks, POPs (park over properties) and CAPs (costs apply parking) the last three being available exclusively to members only. It also lists all the dump station sites around the country.

If you’ve been following my blog you might recognise the photo too. The view is looking from Mt John out over Lake Tekapo towards the Southern Alps. It was a lovely surprise to find out just a couple of weeks before the directory went to print that one of my photos had been selected for the cover. This is a great honour as the directory is only printed every two years which means that 50,000 plus books will be in a prominent spot in every member's mobile home until the next print.

And the photo?  I had a quiet chuckle when I found out that this was the photo chosen. I took it hanging out the window of the ute as we headed up Mt John. A quick moment in time, with David beside me, telling me to concentrate and keep an eye on the edge. We’d just about been run off the road by the motorhome when it passed us, insisting it had the middle of the road. The driver ignoring or not being able to read the sign that said “give way to uphill traffic”. It’s always the way; the photo you least expect gets all the glory. Here’s the link to the blog post and the photo.

Also waiting for me in the mail when we got back to Tauranga were copies of a few more publications that had purchased my photos awhile ago. Two Tide Times books with one of my photos as their cover and a page in the Tide Time Calendar. It was sheer coincidence that out of the seven regions, the two book covers I scored were for the Bay of Plenty (the province I’d lived in for the past 25+ years) & Hawkes Bay (my home province).

The calendar page was taken of harness horses training on the beach at Waikouaiti just north of Dunedin, the Bay of Plenty photo was taken at the popular Kaituna Cut near Maketu & the Hawkes Bay photo is of the Veronica Sunbay on Napier’s Marine Parade.

Walking on a Dream

As promised, now that the NZMCA Motor Caravanner magazine has been out for a few weeks, here’s a copy of the article I wrote for them. As you know I also managed to have my photo on the cover too! This is the second article I’ve written for the magazine and as it says below, a second part of  this ‘Walking on a dream’ article will appear in the next magazine. Remember to click on the photos for a larger size if you have trouble reading the article.

Once again I enjoyed writing and putting together the article which is made easier because I have the original blog posts to refer to.  I do have to condense them quite a lot though as I had a word limit for each article - hard for someone who talks 'types' so much!

If you'd like to see more photos (and read more) about each of the places in the article here are the links to their original blog posts-

Archway Islands - Golden Bay

Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway - North Canterbury

Diamond Lake - Wanaka


And a footnote- you might wonder why this post appears in the middle of the Lake Brunner posts. Well,  this also happens to be my 400th blog post and it seemed fitting to acknowledge all that writing by posting the magazine article to mark the milestone. 400 blog posts (and especially 400 long blog posts as mine usually are) is quite an achievement if I must say so myself. A big thankyou to all my readers who make it all worthwhile, and to my ever patient husband who tells me he's no longer a golf widower, he a blog widower! Thanks darling, I love you too. 

Cover Girl

It was a great thrill and honour to find out, just a few days before the publication of the latest NZMCA magazine, that our rig, our humble abode on wheels, ‘Out There’ has made the front cover. And after the last cover shot, there is no chance of me not recognising this one!

It is also great to see a fifth-wheel RV make the cover of the magazine; I can’t recall seeing our mode of transport & accommodation on the cover before, at least while we’ve been members anyway.

This shot was taken on the Napier-Taihape Road, at the Springvale Historic Suspension Bridge Reserve. It was taken when we were back in the North Island during December & January.

And inside is another contribution from yours truly; Great Walks- a two-part article on some of the wonderful walks we’ve done on our travels- which of course you'll have read before. Still, I’ll post a blog with links to refresh your memories once the magazine has been out for awhile.

Now I must get back to catching up on the back log of blog posts…..


Tomorrow we will leave Greymouth for Lake Brunner and then continue on through Arthurs Pass where we'll not likely have cell phone reception so this might be the last post for a week or so. I'm not sure how long we'll take to get to Christchurch, it'll depend on the weather. 

The West Coast nearly let me down today. Our drinking supply of fresh rain water ran out. Then, just as I was about to head off to buy some, the heavens opened up again. Drinking water containers are full once again along with the house tank.

One Article, Two Covers

I hit the jackpot!

Not only did I get an article in the latest NZMCA Motor Caravanner magazine (sent to all 56,000+ members) but I also got the front cover. And not only did I get an article and the front cover, I got the front cover of the members handbook too, which was sent out in the same pack!

It was a huge surprise to get the magazine front cover because- what a laugh- I didn’t even recognise the shot until I read the credits! Here’s the original; it was taken on the The Road to Walter Peak Station in Central Otago.

I have been sending photos to NZMCA's IT & Social Media department for quite awhile and when they needed a handbook cover photo I sent a selection to Ryan and 5 of them were chosen as possibles, Ryan put them up on the NZMCA Facebook page where members voted for their favourite. It was nearly an unanimous vote, they chose autumn at Butchers Dam, Alexandra. It just happened that the handbook was sent out with the magazine. And here's that original

And here is the article, hopefully you’ll be able to read the text. Enjoy.

I enjoyed writing and putting together the article, especially as I had the huge benefit of being able to use my blog posts on each of the 'hidden gems' that I had selected. But I had to condense them quite a lot as I had a word limit for each item- hard for someone who talks 'types' so much! 

If you'd like to see more photos (and read more) about each of the places in the article here are the links to their blogs-

Langford Store, Bainham, Golden Bay

Fishing Huts, Lake Onslow, Central Otago

Bullock Creek Hut, Mt Nicholas Station, Southland

Matanaka Historic Farm Buildings, Waikouauiti

Lonley Graves, Millers Flat, Central Otago

Mt Peel Station's Himalayan Lilies, Peel Forest, Geraldine