I’ve just uploaded a brand new gallery of images taken on a recent roadtrip from Queenstown to Moeraki on the eastern New Zealand coast. The trip was certainly a very colourful one with stunning scenery aplenty. Check out the gallery here.

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Heliworks pilot John Haora took me up in a R44, flying low over Lake Wakatipu and the Kawarau river to photograph the new Hilton resort complex. The key to the shot was getting in just the right position to include the lakefront, river and Remarkables mountain range to show off just how stunning the hotel’s location really is.

A group of us then took a tour in a larger Eurocopter Squirrel, piloted by Jason Laing who took us around The Remarkables, Lochy River, Cecil Peak and Earnslaw Burn with some jaw dropping views and mountain top precision landings that were just unbelievable. My hat goes off to Jason who displayed some amazing skills when controlling the chopper, at one point landing right at the top of one peak on a seemingly impossible ledge.

Mount Earnslaw and it’s glacier was very impressive the last time I visited by foot, but flying directly over the ice and down to the base of the valley was a whole new experience. I loved the hike, but in future I know which mode of transport I’ll be taking!

I cannot recommend Heliworks highly enough to anyone visiting Queenstown, check out their website here: www.heliworks.co.nz and for more images from this set see the Heliworks Facebook page.

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While on the subject you should give this video of last year’s eruption a watch. Some really nice camera work accompanied by music from one of my favourite artists Jonsi.

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I have to say Hoi An was probably one of my favourite spots in Vietnam. It had a perfect mix of old versus new; traditional streets and market stalls, boats flowing up and down the river and clubs on the beach for when you feel like going wild.

A highlight for me was hiring scooters with a few mates and driving out of town to explore the coast. Motorbikes are the favourite mode of transport in Vietnam, you simply can’t avoid them. They’re great fun to drive around too, dodging people, traffic and the odd farm animal while doing your best to avoid some pretty serious pot holes in the road!

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So far I’ve only really touched on my travels through Asia on the way to New Zealand. Finally catching up with myself I hope to start posting more images from various places I’ve visited in no particular order. For starters see if you can spot the two Scottish lads in the photo above!

Koh Phi Phi was made world famous in the movie The Beach which featured one of the many stunning beaches found on the island. Tourists flock here to check out the secret beaches and coves, which are now of course not so secret. They still remain some of the most beautiful strips of sand in the world, enclosed by vertical cliffs and tropical rainforest.

The island is home to the odd troop of Macaques who decend from the forest to be photographed by the tourists and every now and then try and question our position on the evolutionary ladder. One such instance being when I found myself quite suddenly completely surrounded by at least five monkeys, two trying to steal my camera bag, one playing with my lens cap, another my snorkel and the remaining fast approaching for a square go. Luck for me all my fellow humans decided to form a big semi circle to laugh and watch the proceedings. I attempted to shout “please excuse me” in my best monkey voice, which only seemed to anger the little beasts, so resorted to scampering around wildly, grabbing my belongings and horsing it down the beach to safety. Luckily I escaped without any bite marks.

Sunset at sea, Koh Phi Phi

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About an hour’s drive outside Wanaka the Rob Roy Glacier is reached by a pretty breezy hour and a half walk through native Beech forest. The trail ends at the base of the glacier with truly stunning views of the ice which sits high on the mountain. Large waterfalls and many other small streams cascade down the hillside and the sound of rushing water echoes through the valley.

My first visit in February was on a dull, overcast and rainy day, which in my eyes was the most dramatic even though most of the glacier was shrouded in cloud. I made the journey again recently on a blue sky day and was amazed at how much of the mountain and its glacier I had missed the first time around.

The glacier viewpoint is a popular spot with hikers, a fact well known to the local Keas which often decend from the trees in small groups of five or six to harass people for food. They’re clever wee buggers too and will try and get into your backpack or jacket pockets if they can smell anything of their liking. The plus side means that they’ll happily pose for the odd photograph.

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