Kirsten Oliver Photography

21/07/2025

22/09/2023

In the early hours of today, 22 September 2023, I couldn't sleep. To distract my busy mind from its constant flitting through the endless lists of things that need attention, I put on some quiet music and grabbed the dot-to-dot book sitting on my pedestal and proceeded to join the sequential dots to discover the creature hidden there. The feet appeared first and I figured this was probably another dinosaur. As the ears popped out and then the horns and I widened my focus I realised this was no ordinary prehistoric heavyweight. I quickly joined the last few numbers and then the few letters that make up its eye and behold the humble Rhinocerous!

Imagine my surprise when I realised, while marveling at the sight that today is, in fact, World Rhino Day.

Sad to think there are some who have never seen such a creature in the real world and even sadder to imagine a world where they only survive on the pages of books about prehistoric animals. Raise your heart if you have seen one 💓, and raise your hand if you intend to contribute in whatever small way you can to ensuring that Rhino's remain forever more than just a dot-to-dot sketch. 🖐

08/09/2023

Running 21km tomorrow in these majestic mountains where the rivers run clear and beautiful and the Eland roam free. What a privilege. Wildseries Mont-aux-Sources trail - the oldest real trail run in South Africa. Good luck to all those running the real one- 50km to the top, past the source of the Mighty uThukela River and Tugela Falls. Pictured here are Cascades Falls behind the race village, where Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 21st birthday.

17/08/2023

NIAR 2023 - the winners are in but many teams are still out on course for the next two days. It's been a tough course but still every team we meet have huge smiles and content on how incredible the course and the views are. Here is a small sample of what they've been seeing.


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15/08/2023

Visiting the Faroe Islands and shooting for Nordic Islands Adventure Race (NIAR) and the views are simply exceptional. The race is two days in, with teams all over the Islands running, cycling, pack rafting and even cliff jumping. Follow the team progress with live tracking on www.niar.io and .io for pics and content.

12/08/2023

From Southern Right Whales playing in the Indian Ocean off South Africa last weekend at Merrell Whale of Trail , to Pilot Whales dancing in Atlantic off the Faroe Islands at the Nordic Islands Adventure Race this weekend. I'm feeling pretty privileged!

NIAR starts tomorrow at 9am local time. Follow along .io as teams navigate across the Islands.

31/07/2023

When we think of field rangers, it is often in the context of safeguarding big animals like elephants and rhino. This World Ranger Day it is important to acknowledge that there are many different types of Rangers- from those wielding rifles to protect our precious wildlife from poachers, to those planting seeds and bottle feeding baby orphans to ensure the survival of species on the brink of extinction - we salute you and the incredible work you do!.

Here is a Cycad Ranger- Cycad pants are protected in South Africa and may not be removed from the wild. Cycad poachers will ruthlessly hack out 100+ year old Cycads to sell on the black market. These Rangers not only monitor the reserves for potential poaching threats, but also care for the cycads- helping nurture hacked, displaced ancient Cycad plants that have been rescued and growing new plants from seed to plant back into the wild.

14/07/2023

So recently I celebrated another 365 days around the great big fiery ball in the sky and so was reflecting (as one does) about time and purpose and value blah blah! It has been a rather odd year to be honest, maybe not as bizarre as other recent years but in my little sphere of influence it feels like it's been quite ordinary- which anyone who knows me will understand is rather extraordinary in itself.

So what do I do when I'm feeling particularly unremarkable- I go and look at photos- I've included a random bunch from my last 12 months. At it turns out, it's been a pretty remarkable year!! 🤣

Just a few totally ordinary adventures...1. A stolen kiss beneath a hidden gem of waterfall in Shongweni, 2. The magnificent tarn (mountain wetland) on the Sani Stagger Trail route, 3. Spending time with my some of my most wonderful peeps on the wild coast at Mtentu. 4. The mountain community that is the home of my current work project, and the backdrop for some extraordinary work in catchment conservation, 5. Rhino- a whole bunch, 6. Accompanying two of the bravest young gentlemen I know into remote Lesotho to tackle a source to sea kayak adventure of the Mighty Orange River, 7. Photographing some of our spectacular coastline in the Whale of Trail. 8. Floods in KZN where the Umgeni River has burst is banks. 9. Sunset walks on the North Coast- and fishing (me fishing- umm no! I had to get a stand in for this one) - turns out I may have been fishing after all 😉. 10. Taking my 'fish' to see this Incredible waterfall- Kadishi Tufu- a rare feature where the calcifying minerals in the water result in the waterfall actually building itself up rather than eroding the substrate it flows through.

Too much fun!! Thank you to everyone who has been in any way part of my last 365 days, thanks for the birthday messages, the smiles, laughs and crazy adventures. I can't wait to see you all again!!

26/06/2023

It was a privilege and a pleasure to once again take to the road at the 2023 Comrades Marathon and capture these incredible men and women on their journey from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. A journey that started differently for all- some as a dare in a late night pub episode, some as a childhood dream etched on the same road as a young spectator cheering from the sidelines, some as a committed mission to win gold. Whatever the stakes, this race is unlike any other. I admire and salute you all!

21/06/2023

Happy Winter Solstice to all you southern hemisphere dwellers. While the winter snuggles are glorious and the sunsets are magnificent... here's to longer days and warmer nights! Technically the solstice marks the first day of winter and by the significant drop in temperature this week, I'd say it's right on the mark.