New website showcases the best of Aotearoa

Media release                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    September 25 2009

All eyeballs on New Zealand!

New website showcases the best of Aotearoa

Fifteen months on the road, 95 hours aboard a Polish Wilga 35a plane and 16,000 photos later, eyeballnz.com has been launched, an innovative new website showcasing New Zealand to the world.

For two years, an adventurous couple has been flying, motorhoming and photographing the length of New Zealand, capturing the best of Aotearoa with their two dogs, a professional digital camera and a hefty dose of determination.

Penny and Steve Bicknell have launched www.eyeballnz.com profiling their extraordinary journey.  They’re now appealing to all New Zealanders and overseas visitors to contribute their photos and stories to help capture every corner of New Zealand and create a leading resource for travellers.

“The site allows browsers to explore New Zealand in a whole new way,” says Steve, whose incredible photos are the basis for the website.  “It’s an online photographic atlas. We’ve endeavoured to capture New Zealand without the stock standard shots of bungy jumping, mud pools, and Milford Sound.  This is heartland.  This is New Zealand off the tourist track.”

“Now we want to get the whole of New Zealand involved,” he adds. “We have showcased 90% of New Zealand towns but there are a few gaps.  We encourage anyone who wants to contribute to upload their favourite photos straight to the site.”

Penny and Steve now call New Zealand home after moving here from the UK 16 years ago.  They’ve always felt inspired to share their adopted country.  “We’re still surprised by how many New Zealanders haven’t explored this amazing country,” says pilot and site co-founder, Penny. “We’re hoping eyeballnz.com will provide inspiration for international travellers and kiwis alike.”

To date, Penny and Steve have clocked up over 40,000km in their Daihatsu Terios, 11,000km in their 10.3m motorhome and have spent over $450,000 on their ambitious project.  But for the Bicknells it’s not about the money.

“Yes we’ve spent a fortune”, adds Penny. “But the world loves New Zealand and so do we.  Kiwis love sharing their photos, love sharing their country.  It’s been worth every cent if it touches the hearts of locals and inspires travellers to experience our country.”

While visitors are on the site they can also plan a journey, build an itinerary through New Zealand and find travel information.   Travel industry operators can contribute to the site by uploading their property profiles and adding photos and information about their local area to the community pages.

“This is a project incredibly close to our hearts,” she continues.  “The original plan was to publish a photographic book but midway through the project we realised we had too many photos for a book – the project had grown enormously – but the book might still come later.”

Penny and Steve’s aerial shots of New Zealand have been taken from the front of their 4-seater Wilga 35a aircraft – a Polish plane with a Russian radial engine, manufactured in 1980.

New Zealanders wanting to put their town on the map can visit www.eyeballnz.com

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