Hi guys, time for a quick little blog post to let you know what’s been going on down here in Wanaka, New Zealand!
A week ago (thanks to Facebook’s knack for knowing more about my life than I do) I got a little reminder that it had been exactly a year since I arrived in Wanaka! I can’t even believe it! When I think back on how nervous I was leave Wellington and to start over again in totally new place without knowing a single person, and now how I feel like I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, it seems strange. Sometimes things are just meant to be!
Living in Wanaka for a year has taught me to appreciate the amazing raw beauty that surrounds me every day, and I am so grateful for all the wonderful people I’ve met through living here. It finally feels like I am part of the community. It’s the best!
Not to mention I just had one of my biggest Instagram milestones and hit 50,000 followers yesterday! Yipee! I know so much of it has to do with living in the most beautiful place in New Zealand.
And I’ve got some exciting news! On April 11-12, I am hosting with Lake Wanaka Tourism New Zealand’s biggest Instameet. Right here, in the coolest little town in New Zealand! Yay!
It seems like yesterday I was sitting out in the sun with friends talking about how rad it would be if we organized an Instameet in Wanaka.
What’s an Instameet you might ask? Valid question. Get excited. Are you ready?
Basically an Instameet is when a bunch of people get together in a certain place to take pictures together and then share them on Instagram. Easy peasy. So pretty much it’s for us Insta-nerds. Anyone with Instagram can come, and honestly, even if you aren’t on the ‘gram, you can come too. In Wanaka we love everyone!
Queensland, Australia where I’ve done a lot of work this past year and who pretty much are the reigning champs of Instagram have the low-down here on Instameets.
Instagram has been on my mind a lot lately. Over the past 5 years, my blog has been my main source of work and inspiration but this past year Instagram has been catching up. Now I am getting more work through my Instagram channel which has led to some pretty exciting opportunities.
All forms of storytelling get me excited, and while I am pretty sure I’ve got the word stuff down pat by now with my blog, I have really been enjoying dipping my toes into the visual storytelling waters and sharing lots of pictures. Life is about trying new things and challenging yourself.
I love Instagram because it’s easy. Take a picture. Write a caption. Share it with your friends. Boom. Done.
I’ve been in New Zealand for a year and a half, and I think living in what is quite possibly the most beautiful country in the entire world has really gotten me into photography, much more than I was before. You can’t help but take a million shots here.
Only a few months after I moved here Instagram itself featured one of my photos on their channel, boosting my profile and really getting me excited about sharing photos. Since then I have been addicted. I’ve written more here.
The other thing is that there really aren’t a lot of Instagrammers in New Zealand, which I suppose is understandable given that there are only 4 million people here and they have the worst internet on the planet. Fingers crossed that second part changes soon!
But I want that to change! I am hoping that through the Instameet here in Wanaka and all of the amazing Instagram projects that have been happening in New Zealand recently, more and more people will jump on the bandwagon and get excited about sharing their stories online too.
Trust me, New Zealand’s story deserves to be shared worldwide. Literally every corner you turn in this amazing country is a postcard. And it’s time to share the best spot – Wanaka.
I’ve spent a year building relationships with people around New Zealand, working my ass off for little to no return trying to get people more involved in social media and Instagram, so getting the opportunity to both organize and help host such an event in my beloved Wanaka and to get so much love and support from the tourism board here just blows me away!
If you work hard and don’t give up, good things happen! And trust me, we have been working like crazy people to make this happen!
So pretty soon our idea for a little Instameet blew up and everyone wanted to be involved. I can’t believe so many people who have been inspiring me for years will all converge in one place, my favorite in the world! Wanaka!
And we’ve timed it perfectly, April 11 should be peak autumn colors. Yellow and red trees for as far as you can see! It’ll be so pretty to photograph!
Let me introduce the crew of big namers (besides yours truly) who’ll be coming over with Air New Zealand especially, and henceforth shall be known as the Dream Iger Team, patent pending:
Chris Burkard
Folk Magazine
Hello Emilie
Elizabeth Gadd
Matt Glastonbury
Johan Le Backpacker
Steen Jones
Matt Vandeputte
Shaun Jeffers
This crew will be around for a week around the Instameet exploring all of the amazing spots around Wanaka and then leading some awesome activities and workshops over the weekend that you can find more about here. Be sure to register if you can come, enter to win some prizes including an amazing Sony camera kit and sign up for some fun workshops with these guys!
And if you need any more motivation, be sure to check out my 15 best views in Wanaka travel post to give you a mad case of the wanderlust.
I’ll be hosting my own little workshop/chat where I’ll talk about how to quit your job to travel and build your dream job, my area of expertise.
Everyone is invited to come along; it’s free and going to be so awesome! If you can’t make it, don’t worry, be sure to follow along on Instagram using the hashtags #LoveWanaka and #InstameetWanaka, and of course #ThatWanakaTree to see what’s happening.
Wanaka is also launching a new Instawalk in town, where you can go on a tour around to the best view points and spots and tag them on Instagram. To get everyone excited my friend Olya who’s a talented videomaker and I cobbled together a little video to show it off.
I know my mad acting skills have definitely inspired you to visit Wanaka. You’re welcome.
Recognize any of these spots?
If there was ever a time to book a spontaneous flight to New Zealand or hit the road down to Wanaka, it’s now.
See you at #ThatWanakaTree on April 11 at sunset for our Instameet! Bring something that takes pictures!
Are you an Instagrammer? Do you enjoy taking photos? Will I see you at the Instameet? Say yes!
About the author
I love your blog (and photos) but was getting tired of your claim that New Zealand has the worst internet in the world (even if it is an exaggeration!). So I googled “worst internet in the world” and found a number of sites that listed countries by Internet speed, including Wikipedia, with New Zealand squarely in the middle – almost as fast as Spain, and according to one list, slightly faster than Australia, which to many New Zealanders is the only comparison that matters 🙂 (kinda like Canada and the US!).
To be fair, if you want fast internet in NZ, living in a small town in the least populous part of the country is probably not the place to find it.
However, if you ever travel to places like Peru, India, and Kazakhstan and expect faster internet than New Zealand, it looks like you might be sorely disappointed!
(I don’t instagram because it appears it needs a smartphone, is that right? My little phone is good for one thing – or rather two – phoning and texting. The photos I take on it are so blurred they are a waste of time, and it doesn’t do apps, so no Instagram for me. Unless I could take pictures on my camera, upload them to my computer, and then to Instagram? I looked at the website but it seemed as if a phone was necessary.
Enjoy the meeting anyway, I hope you get lots of people.
Haha! I still stand by my claim! It was terrible when I lived in Wellington but you’re right, Wanaka isn’t an ideal choice. There are some places down here that have fiber and hopefully after the success of the Gigatown campaign, it’ll change – I have high hopes. I hate to be controversial, but I have been to soooo many countries and have lived in Spain for years and you can’t compare them. NZ internet is terrible, it really is. I’ve had faster connections in the deserts of the middle east and the middle of nowhere in Africa. It’s definitely the worst I’ve encountered with the exception of Mongolia 🙂
Wah, that looks amazing! Wanaka shall always live in my heart as the place I did a skydive within 30 minutes of arriving. Good times, good times. I only have about 10 instagram followers but if I were in the correct hemisphere (as opposed to rainy old London), I’d be there in a shot! I hope you all have an amazing time!
awesome, glad you enjoyed Wanaka!
Will this become a yearly thing you think? My plan for my trip/move to NZ isn’t for another 8 months, but if this happens again next year I will be there! Can’t wait to follow all the images on instagram next week!
hopefully we’ll have more of them!
Was meant to go to a music festival in Dunedin, but cancelled everything so I could be there. Very looking forward to meet you and everyone else ! I’m just starting in the blogging and photography but is definitely more than just a hobby now, so happy to learn as much as I can from all of you 🙂
wahoo!!! See you there!