IN MY SPARE TIME

I enjoy

Travel

You could say I “caught the bug” in my final year of high school, when I joined my best friend on a month-long trip to the States. We were two 17-year-olds eager for new experiences and adventure, and we found exactly that. From California to her home island of Martha’s Vineyard, we made new friends, reconnected with familiar ones, and got our first taste of what it meant to explore the world on our own terms.

We came home hooked and quickly devised a plan: get qualified, travel as much as possible along the way, and eventually move overseas to explore greater opportunities.

Cooking

I am unfortunately burdened with an intolerance to both lactose and gluten. I discovered this when I was around 16 and it led to a lot of trial and error figuring out what I could actually eat.

Unexpectedly, it sparked a huge love for cooking. I’ve even started developing a “recipe book” that is a collection of my favourite gluten and lactose free recipes, including some of my own!

Snowboarding

My friend and I woke up one day, adamant that we were going to learn how to snowboard. Our closest ski field was four hours away, so we thought it was perfectly logical to wake up at 4am, drive to the mountain, teach ourselves (our method was to just “figure it out”), and return home that evening bruised and exhausted.

After one season of this, we actually did figure it out - and it’s since become something we’re both incredibly passionate about. The day trips never stopped, and now it’s something we plan our travels around, too.

Hunting

Growing up in New Zealand with incredible nature and easy access to the outdoors, alongside my South African heritage, my childhood involved of a lot of camping, hunting and fishing.

My most memorable birthday was when I turned seven. My parents took a group of friends and I to spend a night in a rural hut on the Wairarapa coast. We spent the day four-wheel driving, target shooting, and looking for wild goats. That’s a pretty tough birthday party to beat, if you ask me.

& Capturing it on Camera

A long, straight road runs through a desert landscape with red rock formations on both sides, under a partly cloudy sky with some blue showing.
A dog running along the shoreline of a beach with waves crashing in the background and rocky cliffs on the horizon.
A woman with long blonde hair standing on a mountain road in front of red rock formations, wearing a beige jacket, black pants, brown shoes, and a light-colored cap, with her hands in her pockets and looking up.
A coastal scene with a sandy beach filled with people, palm trees, and colorful umbrellas in the foreground. Several boats are floating on calm water near the shore. In the background, there are rocky hills and a mix of modern buildings and houses on the hillside, under a pastel-colored sky.
Snow-covered mountains at sunset with orange glow on peaks, winding road blocked by signs, snow-covered hills, and leafless trees in foreground.
A man and woman overlook the ocean from a grassy cliffside path under a cloudy sky with mountains in the background.
Outdoor patio with wooden picnic table set for wine, shaded by a large umbrella, surrounded by green grapevines and trees, with a vineyard in the background.
Snow-covered mountain range reflected in a calm lake, seen from a wooden deck with metal railing.
View of a coastal landscape with a sandy beach, green bushes and trees in the foreground, calm water, islands in the distance, and a partly cloudy sky.
People gathering outdoors on a wooden deck with a background of trees. One woman in a white tank top and shorts is standing and holding a spray bottle, while a shirtless man is kneeling in front of her. Two other men are seated; one with a beard and dark clothing sitting on the deck, and another with glasses behind the woman. There are bottles, cups, and food items on the deck table.
A couple relaxing on dark rocks near a small waterfall along a rugged coast with lush green cliffs and blue ocean under a partly cloudy sky.
A person lying on rocks near a waterfall on a cliff edge overlooking the ocean with a woman sitting nearby, surrounded by lush green vegetation and a blue sky with some clouds.
Snow-covered mountain slope with sparse trees and tracks in the snow, under a cloudy sky.
A person in outdoor clothing is kneeling next to a large, dead deer with prominent antlers, in a grassy, rocky outdoor setting.
A scenic beach view with a large tree in the foreground, a few people walking along the sandy shore, rolling waves in the ocean, green hills in the background, and a blue sky overhead.