Closest I'll come to the moon.

These dramatic clouds swept in as we reached the top of the Tongariro Crossing. Surrounded by solidified lava flows, empty lake beds and sleeping volcanoes it was easy to believe you'd entered the Mesozoic Era by accident.

This is actually a lake bed, not the site of a dinosaur-extinguishing meteor strike. I like to imagine the surface of the moon looks like this, but in greyscale. That's Mt Ngauruhoe vanishing into the cloud on the left. He's still resting after his recent cinematic appearance as Mt Doom.

If dinosaurs drank from this lake, they would probably die.

Take one step backwards and you, too, could become ancient history!

The 19km Tongariro Crossing trail passes between two active volcanoes, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. There are helpful signs advising you when you're standing in the pathway of a former pyroclastic flow, as well as what to do in the event of an eruption ("Run").

It's easily the best day walk in New Zealand. The scenery changes dramatically every few kilometres and you can clearly see how massive (and recent) seismic forces have shaped the landscape.  

If you ever do the walk, take warm things, even if it's a blisteringly hot day. It's very chilly on the moon plateau and the weather can change almost instantaneously. I made a top mountain walking mistake and forgot my first aid kit at the bach. Of course I ended up needing it. Loose scoria, it tricks us.

And our favourite sport is mountain walking.

That's me.

It's raining. I did buy freedom pants for rain but they're stashed in that pack along with my other essentials: pinot noir, mosquito repellant and dehydrated food.

This is the Routeburn Track. National Geographic called it one of the best hikes in the world. It's only 32km long, so you don't have to cover a lot of distance on each of the three days. This turned out to be a very good thing as we spent a lot more time staring in awe at the view than we did walking.

Beach house.

I ended up on Waiheke Island last weekend when my friend invited me to stay at her dreamy new beach house. Her family had just upgraded the land her great-grandparents originally bought with a sleek new place (the word 'bach' just doesn't cover it).

My favourite part is the giant macrocarpa dining table. When I finally acquire one of my own, plus a room big enough to put it in, I'll have dinner parties constantly. 

Creating a summer.

It ain't a summer without camping. When I was little that involved pitching a tent at Matai Bay or Tawharanui, but this time around my camping trip was a fake.

We were shooting a story on glamping in New Zealand, so we stuffed our cars with all the accoutrements a ridiculously stylish (if high-maintenance) couple might take along and set up camp.

At the end of a very long day of pictures, we made a bonfire. (Okay, Jim made a bonfire.)

You never know exactly what you'll end up needing for a shoot, and by the end of the day I'd exhausted all the clothing options I'd brought for our models, Kelsey and Pepe. Esther and I were surprise additions to the shot above so she's wearing a skirt as a scarf (split second improvisation) while I've just got what I'd been running around all day in. Striped jumpers: suitable for every occasion!

Luckily it doesn't take long to get into character for marshmallow-toasting.

These pictures are by the talented Amanda Reelick & we all want to go glamping for real at Wainamu Safari Tents.

Hi.

I'm Rebekah. I live on an island, I work for a magazine, I read an awful lot. I really like Hopper, speculative fiction, turtles and being outdoors. Sometimes I run long distances.