Episode 061

Moving to New Zealand and Travelling with Photographer Scott Howes

2 November 2023 40 min

Episode 061

0:00 / 40:31

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Scott is a travel photographer and videographer from England, and when we recorded, he was chatting to me from Indonesia, partway through a big trip before heading back to Aotearoa. He came here on a working holiday, fell in love with the country (again), and now calls it home.

I wanted to hear how someone new to New Zealand sees it, because Scott has explored the North Island with a toothpick, as he puts it. Weekends in the van from Wellington, sunsets on a Hawke's Bay ridgeline, and so so many hut photos. And he's very honest about how different his life looks now from the one he had in London.

So we cover the move, going full-time with his photography, his top spots in the North and South Islands, the underrated places he can't stop talking about, his favourite hidden gem (Kaweka J), how he finds locations, and his advice if you're thinking of making the move yourself.

In this episode

From London to Wellington
Going full-time with photography
Weekend adventures from Wellington
Taranaki, Tongariro and Fiordland favourites
Underrated: Nelson Lakes, Arthur's Pass and the Tararua
Kaweka J, a Hawke's Bay hidden gem
Finding locations and putting the camera down
What's next and Scott's advice for moving here

From London to Wellington

Scott grew up in England, and his childhood holidays looked very different to his life now. Summers were two weeks at an all-inclusive resort in Spain or Tenerife, with the kids in the swimming pool or at the kids' club. He did travel a lot later, with work, but it was city breaks: fly in, have beers and dinner, and leave without really seeing the place.

His family weren't outdoorsy. Living in London, camping wasn't really on the cards, and he says moving to New Zealand has made him appreciate that kind of thing far more.

A year of backpacking

For a few years before that, Scott and his wife used their four weeks of holiday every year to travel: a month in Australia, a month in New Zealand, a month in Asia. After three years of that, with 30 coming up, they decided to bite the bullet and travel full time. At 29, he left England for a year of backpacking through South America, Asia, the Middle East and Australia.

Near the end of that year, in late 2019, they still had some money left. They'd been to New Zealand on holiday and loved it, and some friends said, why not go back to New Zealand on a working holiday and see what happens?

Wellington and the pandemic

They landed in Auckland and travelled down to Wellington. Coming from London, they didn't want to live in Auckland, and they'd spent some time in Wellington before and thought it was a cool place. Then 2020 happened.

They were very lucky to be in New Zealand at that time. Once they came out of the lockdowns and could roam around a bit, what they saw was special, like going to Aoraki Mount Cook with nobody there. Scott still gets goosebumps thinking about it.

They spent the next few years in Wellington. When we recorded, they'd packed their whole life into storage and were living on the road, with plans to come back to New Zealand in January and relocate to the South Island.

Going full-time with photography

Those pandemic years are probably what made Scott take the leap into doing photography and video full time. He calls it a midlife crisis: he quit everything to give it a go.

It was a struggle at first. You put in so much work, you don't get paid for some of it, and you think it's never going to happen. Then something happens, and you think, all right, we can do this.

His advice, as cliche as it sounds: if you're working full time and already freelancing on the side, with regular clients and enough coming in to pay your bills, make the jump. He wouldn't do it otherwise. He was lucky to have a safety net while he got started, and he knows that everyone's circumstances are different. Someone with kids in his position probably couldn't have done it the same way.

Weekend adventures from Wellington

Scott has been to most of New Zealand. The places he hasn't been yet are Great Barrier Island and the Chatham Islands (he was looking at the Chathams before this trip, and it just didn't happen in time).

On his first holiday here, it was Mount Cook, Queenstown, Milford, then a flight back to England before he knew it. Living here, it was every weekend. They had a camper van and would escape reality: Taranaki on a Friday night and back on the Sunday, Tongariro, a couple of weeks up in Northland, and cheap flights and ferries down south. Wellington isn't the easiest place to get around from, but they made it happen.

He met some of his best friends during that time, people with a lot more mountaineering experience and some alpine skills, and he'd tag along on their trips. Being new to New Zealand, he was hungry to see everywhere.

"if my 20 year old self could see me now. They'd probably be like, who is that guy"

Back then, he says, it was partying and smart clothes. Now he wants to be outside, enjoying nature.

Taranaki, Tongariro and Fiordland favourites

Taranaki

Scott's top spot in the North Island is Taranaki. He'd seen photos of it even before he came to New Zealand, and the mountain is so aesthetically pleasing, especially from the Pouakai Tarns.

The first time they went, Scott was working on a building site. They drove up in the van on Friday night in horrendous weather and went up to the tarns on Saturday afternoon anyway. It was a complete whiteout. They decided to sit it out, and all of a sudden the clouds disappeared and the wind stopped. He's got goosebumps thinking about it, and it's special every time he goes back.

The mountain looks so different from different angles: quite square from one side and very triangular from the tarns. Apart from Mount Fuji in Japan, Scott can't think of anywhere quite like it. And there are lots of little gems around the wider New Plymouth region and Egmont National Park.

It's been a while since I've been to Taranaki. The last time I had awful weather, wind and way too many people, so I'd almost forgotten how much I love it. I still haven't done Syme Hut, and I'm writing it down for this summer.

Tongariro

Scott has also spent a lot of time in Tongariro, climbing Ruapehu a silly number of times in winter, starting at 1am. It will always have a special place for him.

Fiordland

For the South Island, it has to be Fiordland. You can see why people call Milford the eighth wonder of the world: Scott has been lucky to see a lot of the world's wonders, and it's a magical place. We're very lucky to have it on our doorstep. He and his wife walked the Milford Track, where a big family of grandparents, kids, grandkids and babies adopted them by the end.

Underrated: Nelson Lakes, Arthur's Pass and the Tararua

Scott didn't want to give away too many hidden gems (he's going to gatekeep a little), so he picked a few underrated places instead.

Nelson Lakes

He hasn't explored much of Nelson Lakes yet, but he's been up to Angelus Hut and would love to explore more. He'd listened to my chat with Dylan Arthur about Angelus Hut, too.

It's a tough region to get to as a tourist, with a long drive or a flight into Nelson and a rental car. From what he's seen of the Te Araroa walkers' trips through there and down into Lewis Pass, it's absolute wilderness. That's part of why he wants to move to the South Island: he's explored the North Island with a toothpick, and he wants that same feeling of exploring somewhere new.

Arthur's Pass

Scott always bangs on about Arthur's Pass, because a lot of people skip it. He thinks it's probably because it's so close to Christchurch. Foggy Peak is a good one: he wouldn't call it easy, but it's accessible.

He once planned a trip up past the Devil's Punchbowl on his own, but it looked pretty sketchy, so he gave it a skip (mainly because his wife said probably don't).

I'm one of the people who passes through Arthur's Pass. I've done Castle Hill and Devil's Punchbowl Falls, and that's about it.

The Tararua

He's spent hours at home looking through topo maps, spotting places and thinking, you can get to this place? He did that a lot with the Tararua, the closest mountain region to Wellington, and has loads of places pinned. But the weather up there is so gnarly that if you plan three days, you might get one with good weather and two in the wet or the cloud.

Kaweka J, a Hawke's Bay hidden gem

Scott's favourite North Island hidden gem is Kaweka J, in Kaweka Forest Park in Hawke's Bay. On a clear day you can see Ruapehu and Ngāuruhoe, with layers and layers of mountains in between.

He and his wife went up on a whim one weekend while they were in Hawke's Bay in the van, after he'd seen photos of the spot. It's a sketchy drive in, especially in their 1998 Toyota Hiace (fine if you have a four-wheel drive). The walk up is steep in parts, with lots of slips over the years.

They went up for sunset, and it's one of his favourite photos he's ever taken in the North Island: the endless peaks, with Ngāuruhoe in the background. There are lots of bivvies and huts up there, and you could explore the place for ages. They had their tent in the van but couldn't be bothered to walk back down for it, so they've always planned to go back and camp up there for sunrise and sunset.

The Kawekas have so many huts on topo maps, and that's another danger of topo for Scott: he got really into going to huts and photographing them. Some of them are bright orange, sitting on ridgelines all over the place.

Finding locations and putting the camera down

One thing Scott has learnt over the last two years is to leave the camera behind a bit and enjoy it. Then again, it's always the one time you leave it that the conditions are epic, so he's a sucker: he always has it with him. He loves documenting, including the moments in between the bangers.

When he first moved here, it was camera in hand, shooting the bangers. Now he's spent so much time here that it's about finding places people haven't been, getting lost and wondering what's in a region. He admits the photography probably does come first, because he'll always bring the camera, and getting outside with a good crew is the most important thing.

My own motivation to get outdoors was always to get the photo, a couple of years ago. Then I'd have such a good time on the hike that I'd almost forget about the camera. If it takes a camera to get you out there, whatever works.

Appreciating what's on your doorstep

Being on the road has made Scott appreciate New Zealand even more. In Indonesia, he can't even go for a walk without getting on a motorbike first. Even in Wellington, it got him down some days when he saw friends in the South Island up the ski fields. Then he'd remind himself:

"You're living in paradise man like you come from London and now you're living in New Zealand"

From Wellington, he could drive a short way and be up in the hills without seeing another human.

What's next and Scott's advice for moving here

When he's back in New Zealand, Scott wants to head into the hills and the alpine, and let that obsession fester. He wants to spend longer down south than a two-week trip allows, get some elevation and get away from everybody. He's done a little with his mates, and he knows he needs to do an alpine course to learn about being roped up and dealing with crevasses. He'd like to do that in the next year or so.

His advice for anyone thinking of moving to New Zealand on a working holiday: just do it. It's the best decision he and his wife have ever made. It's far away, and that makes it even more special.

He felt a stigma around age at first, and at 34 he sometimes wonders whether he should really be doing this for a living. As he sees it: