New Zealand Landscape Photographer
If there is one place that I call home, one place that I can call my happy place, then up here amongst these hills and surrounded by the Egmont National Park landscape would be it!
Only 30 minutes drive from my hometown of New Plymouth and a short 2 hour hike, you reach one of the wonders of the National Park, the small mountain tarn in the Pouakai ranges. What once was a tiny, obscure, known only to locals small lake with sprawling views over to Mt Taranaki is now an internet sensation and on bucket lists the world over.
I have hiked up here more times than I can remember and no matter how busy it gets, how popular or trendy it becomes, it takes me right back to the essence of what coming here is or should all about, connection. When you get away from the busy-ness of life, put down that cellphone and just stare into the landscape your thoughts come alive and a part in all of us that was born to be in the wild comes alive.
If it hasn't for you or you can't relate to what I am speaking of, I challenge you to get up here, or any hike for that matter, especially one that seperates you from anything that can be seen built by human hand. Only when you are surrounded by the wonder of nature can you truly connect with it.