The Adventure Life with Steve Casimiro Digging Out from Down Under

Glacier plane landing in the shadow of Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak.

Text and picture by West Coast Editor Steve Casimiro

The National Geographic ADVENTURE fall apparel guide shoot wrapped Sunday afternoon on the southeast coast of New Zealand’s South Island. Thanks to Air New Zealand and the International Date Line, I was home by Sunday evening and experienced my longest Father’s Day ever.

Now the second wave of fun begins. Today is Boxing Day–all the clothes get cleaned, sorted, packaged, and returned. Then comes weed whacking the nearly 11,000 images we shot over 11 days. Despite our best intentions, we had almost no time for in-depth editing on location–that’s the downside of a two-person crew.

The hardest part is holding back the pictures until they run in the October issue. New Zealand was on its best behavior for us, with stunning weather at every turn. By traveling in late fall, we had almost every park, location, and lodge to ourselves. Kris, Linus, and Gabe couldn’t have been better models nor traveling companions. They (and New Zealand) did their jobs impeccably–now let’s hope I did mine.