2013 has been a different kind of year for me so far. But it started off in classic me fashion, with insane amounts of travelling, catching up with friends, eating & drinking, and weddings!

Having seen in the New Year in Wellington with Jamie, Claire, Siobhán, Shona and some friends of friends, I then spent a few days enjoying the city. One highlight was going to Peter Jackson's own art deco cinema, the Roxy, to see The Hobbit in 3D. But actually the 3Dness of it was slightly disappointing: the incredible sense of depth in the foreground made the backgrounds look really flat and fake!

A few days later I flew on to Christchurch to visit Bernard & Amanda and their gorgeous gorgeous kids Erin & Tom. Christchurch is still in a whole lot of a mess, after two earthquakes that have caused the city to reevaluate its whole architectural approach. Lots of holes in the ground, lots of messed-up buildings, lots of people STILL with nowhere to call home.

Heading back to the North Island, I flew to Auckland and popped in on Roz for a night, before catching a bus up into the Bay of Islands for Kate & Simon's stupendous wedding. I got to stay with Lionel & Rob in their delightful boutique hotel in Kerikeri, Moon Gate Villa - and I had an amazing Indian meal with them one night too. Who'd have thought you could find a decent curry in NZ?

The wedding itself was absolutely spectacular, held in the beautiful garden of relatives of Simon's. As one of the two official photographers, I managed to hit the shutter release 2000 times in a day! Ouchy fingers - but it was worth it; a small selection of the photos will be on my site soon.

And then I just had one last night in Auckland - and just enough time to catch up with my mate Juan Ignacio, who (handily!) works at the airport. The next morning I was back on a plane to Melbourne, then back on another plane to Hong Kong. There I spent some more time with Wai Chung & Antoinette and their little angels Darren & Louise, and also caught up again with Billy.

But alas! Soon it was time to head back to wintry Europe. So it was with a heavy heart that I got on my plane back to Munich, arriving home on Sunday 13th January, after a good five weeks of wall-to-wall warmth, fun & amazingness.