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Eight days ago we left Te Puna which has been home

Eight days ago we left Te Puna which has been home for the past six months, since we came back from South America. Now we're on the road again, by bike of course, and making our way south to Christchurch which will be our base for the summer months. We're following a bit of the Tour Aotearoa route, some Kopiko route and, perhaps predictably, plotting some variations of our own too. So far it's been really nice resuming South America mode, but in our home country. We're looking forward to seeing family and friends on our way down and rediscovering some places by bike that we haven't seen in over 25 years.
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#noplacelikehome #backyard #touraotearoa #waikatorivertrails #bikepack #bikepacking #travelbybike #adventureproof #revelatedesigns #otsocycles #biketocamp #exploretocreate
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@otsocycles @wolf_tooth_comp @we_are_sungod @kathmandugear @hopetech @bigagnes_ @revelatedesigns @biomaxa

Tauhou (waxeye) in the backyard, Te Puna. . . . #

Tauhou (waxeye) in the backyard, Te Puna.
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#tauhou #waxeye #silvereye #closettwitcher #canon70200mm #sonya7rii #sonyalphanz

Lowland mixed podocarp forest, Moerangi Track, Whi

Lowland mixed podocarp forest, Moerangi Track, Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park.
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#forestphotography #moerangitrail #whirinakiforest #podocarp #newzealandadventure #purenewzealand #bikepack #bikepacking #aotearoa #igtravel #ignewzealand #otsocycles #otsovoytek
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@otsocycles @wolf_tooth_comp @revelatedesigns @biomaxa @hopetech

Here's a few more shots from the Moerangi Track ri

Here's a few more shots from the Moerangi Track ride last weekend. After nearly 6 months back here in NZ, laying fairly low, saving money, and doing little that's adventurous, it felt really good to be doing what we've been so accustomed to for the past 4 years on the road: planning, riding, photographing and just generally enjoying soaking up the outdoors. Next week we're hitting the road for 6 weeks to bike south to Christchurch and we are SO looking forward to it.
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#moerangitrail #bikepacker #bikepacking #biketocamp #explorebybike #otsovoytek #revelatedesigns #bigagnes #adventureproof #whirinakiforest #purenewzealand #singletrack #bikepackinglife
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@otsocycles @bigagnes_ @we_are_sungod @kathmandugear @wolf_tooth_comp @biomaxa @revelatedesigns @hopetech

I counted this morning and realised I've ridden my

I counted this morning and realised I've ridden my bike in 29 different countries (that I can remember 🤔), but I'm happy to report that there is no other place like the New Zealand bush, as we call it here. We're very lucky (thanks to conservationists) to have some decent chunks of forest left in this country. Enough to get very very lost in indeed. Covid is giving us the opportunity to refocus and explore a bit more of this treasure and last weekend we headed into the Whirinaki Forest to explore the Moerangi Track as a 2-day loop (68km). What a mega classic single track ride that is!
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#bikepacker #bikepack #biketocamp #bikepacking #explorebybike #singletrack #moerangitrail #whirinakiforest #purenewzealand #revelatedesigns #otsocycles #adventureproof
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@otsocycles @revelatedesigns @we_are_sungod @hopetech @kathmandugear @bigagnes_ @biomaxa

It was really good to get away at the weekend and

It was really good to get away at the weekend and ride the Moerangi Track at the weekend. This 1-2 day ride through amazing mixed podocarp forest in the eastern North Island was only our second overnighter on the bikes since leaving Chile 5 months ago. I'll post more photos soon. It's one of the best singletrack rides in New Zealand and should be high priority on any bikers to-do list!
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#moerangitrail #bikepacker #bikepacking #bikepackher #whirinakiforest #northisland #aotearoa #singletrack #otsovoytek #revelatedesigns #kathmandugear #biketravel #adventureproof
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@we_are_sungod
@revelatedesigns
@otsocycles
@revelatedesigns
@bigagnes_
@biomaxa
@hopetech
@kathmandugear

Carhuaz, Cordillera Blanca, Perú 🇵🇪 . . . #

Carhuaz, Cordillera Blanca, Perú 🇵🇪
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#alaskatopatagonia #alaskatoargentina #traveldeeper #peru #peruvian #cordillerablanca #travel_photo #everydaylatinamerica #travelbybike #burro #exploretheworld #streetphotographylife

Evening on the Peruvian altiplano looking towards

Evening on the Peruvian altiplano looking towards Volcan Misti, above Arequipa.
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#landscape_photo #lifeofadventure #caminodelpuma #alaskatoargentina #alaskatopatagonia #exploretheworld #exploretocreate #perutravel #landscapelovers #peru_volcanoes #peru #arequipa #volcanmisti #latinamerica #peru🇵🇪

Mountain road, Cordillera Apolobamba, Bolivia 🇧

Mountain road, Cordillera Apolobamba, Bolivia 🇧🇴
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#bolivia #lifeontheroad #cordilleraapolobamba #bikepack #lifeofadventure #alaskatoargentina #alaskatopatagonia #biketocamp #bikepacking #latinamerica #forgottenroad #mountainroad
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@otsocycles @hopetech @kathmandugear @revelatedesigns @bigagnes_ @we_are_sungod @biomaxa

Baja Divide, February 2017. With an arid landscape

Baja Divide, February 2017. With an arid landscape and warm, dry evenings the southern Baja peninsula was perfect for nights under the stars, cowboy camping style. As with Peru & Bolivia, wild camping is very easy on the Baja, with few people, no fences and lots of wide open country.
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#bajadivide #cowboycamping #bivi #underthestars #mexico #alaskatopatagonia #alaskatoargentina #bikepacker #bikepacking #biketravel #biketocamp #cycletravel #adventureproof #exploretheworld #adventuretravel #lifeofadventure #revelatedesigns #kathmandugear
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@kathmandugear @revelatedesigns @biomaxa @hopetech @otsocycles @we_are_sungod @bigagnes_

As if from a fairytale? Early evening in San Migue

As if from a fairytale? Early evening in San Miguel de Allende, México. Many of Latin America's towns and cities have an essential 'joie de vivre' that's unlike the culture I grew up with in New Zealand. Over there the town plazas come alive in the evenings - especially Sundays - as families and friends gather to enjoy the evening. Life at its most social.
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#everydaylatinamerica
#mexico #guanajuato #sanmigueldeallende #travel_photo #travelshot #alaskatopatagonia #alaskatoargentina

🙏 Not long ago I finally hit 10k followers on I

🙏 Not long ago I finally hit 10k followers on IG. Thanks to you all for following me and my story, for your comments and reshares. Many of you have come on board during the past four years while @beinghana and I were on our 45,500km bikepacking journey through the Americas, from Alaska to (nearly) Ushuaia. Regular followers will know that (like many other cyclists) we had to return home to NZ early due to Covid-19.
Anyway, I thought this was a good time to share a bit more about me and who @highluxphoto is outside of being a cyclist & photographer.

➡️ 10 things you may not know about Mark Watson:

~In 2015 I hiked New Zealand’s 3000km Te Araroa Trail and published a book of landscape photographs about it. This was my third book.
~During the mid 1990s I was a Greenpeace Activist; I’ve climbed buildings, chimneys, cranes and ships and been arrested in three countries. I spent 12 days in jail in Tokyo.
~I considered myself a climber long before I considered myself a cyclist and still do. Even though I don’t climb as much as I used to, I still think of being a climber as part of my DNA. I relate a lot of things back to climbing.
~I’m more a cat person than a dog person, but Latin America taught me to like dogs too.
~My longest ever job was 7 years working for the NZ Alpine Club as a publications editor and designer.
~It was during those years that I started to get seriously into photography. I’m self taught.
~I first climbed New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki Mount Cook when I was 17.
~My headphones are most likely to be playing tech house or podcasts that fill my brain with knowledge of all kinds.
~I don’t really like peas.
~My first cycle touring trip was in 1987 when I was 16 years old. With three friends I spent 2 weeks cycling around the top of the South Island.

Thanks @beinghana
@jpflexor @thisisbenemac & Chris Fox for photos.

© 2020 Highlux Photography. Mark Watson

Blog
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