During my last NZ visit, I took some time off from lying around my mum's house playing Pokemon to visit my friend Melissa in Whakatāne. We did a trip out to White Island (photos to come later) and she also showed me around some of the scenic spots in and near the town she's (grudgingly) called home for the past couple of years. In classic NZ style, this called for beach visits despite the late-autumn chill, and finding the highest point from which to survey the environs. Luckily, being in the Bay of Plenty meant that we had plenty of sunshine to keep us (vaguely) warm(ish).
Even after two years in Sydney, I'm still not used to the lack of proper hills here. I read somewhere once that the appreciation of aesthetic landscapes may have evolved from the survival advantage conferred by being able to see predators from a height and better strategise your attack or retreat using your view. It's certainly true that I'm never entirely comfortable with my whereabouts in Sydney because I can't climb up the nearest hill to see which way all the roads run like I used to do in New Zealand. Maybe this evolutionary advantage works better for the geographically challenged like myself.
And now here's a dude lying down, just chillaxing in the water, as you do.
Photos taken around the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand in May 2015.
