New Zealand

I spent two weeks touring New Zealand in March 2001 on holiday (vacation). The following are a small fraction of the photos I took. I still have not had time to scan the conventional photos, so these are a few I took on a digital camera - scaled down somewhat. You wouldn't want to wait for a 900K two-megapixel image to download! I'll add the conventional photos as soon as possible. All these pics are from South Island.

Click on a thumbnail for a larger version of the picture. As a rough guide to download time, I have given the approximate file size in Kbytes.

Mitre Point (69K)

I think this is the mountain called Mitre Point (centre). It's certainly convincingly mitre-like and pointed! This was photographed from Liddel Flat on the Milford Sound excursion from Queenstown.

Wanaka (42K)

Lake Wanaka photographed from the town of Wanaka, sometimes called the "poor man's Queenstown". Like Queenstown it is a lakeside resort, although its neighbour across the mountains gets all the limelight (and tourist stops!). Note the brown-ness of the mountains. In New Zealand they say "It only rains on days ending in -y", but it was experiencing serious drought when we visited it - it hadn't rained for six weeks! Hence the absence of the usual greenery.

Haast Visitor Centre (53K)

Haast Visitor Centre is located by the mouth of the River Haast on the West Coast of South Island. The prevailing water-laden westerly winds keep the coastal area moist even when the rest of New Zealand experiences drought. Hence the lush, green vegetation here.

Fox Glacier (73K)

New Zealand has the highest mountains in Australasia, snow-covered all the year round. The Fox Glacier and the neighbouring Franz Josef Glacier are the only glaciers in the world that descend into sub-tropical rain forest. Although the glacier looks near enough to touch, it was 30 minutes' walk from this point to the face of the glacier itself.

Subtropical rainforest at Franz Josef (52K)

This picture was taken in the grounds of the Franz Josef Glacier Hotels. The rain forest comes to the very edge of the hotel campus. Prominent are the tree ferns which are a very emblem of New Zealand.

The Woodman Café, Pukekura (63K)

The New Zealanders have a delightful sense of humour and this is well exemplified in The Woodman Café at Pukekura. A cut-out of a possum patrols the roof above the entrance. Sadly we never saw any of New Zealand's 90 million possums. Introduced for their fur, they are devastating New Zealand's trees and regarded as vermin. A poster in the café read, "Save the Trees - Eat a Possum!". At the front of the café is a huge model of a sandfly - the local biting insect. Our courier assured me it was a real sandfly brought down by anti-aircraft fire. That's Jen in the doorway.

Main street of Hokitika (37K)

Hokitika is a former gold-mining town on the West Coast of South Island, a little south of Greymouth. Its main street still has something of the atmosphere of "the wild west".

A mural in Hokitika (45K)

This fascinating mural depicting the harbour in former times adorns one wall of a shop in Hokitika town centre.

Quadricycle, Hokitika (78K)

You could hire these four-seater four-wheel pedal cycles at the Information Centre in Hokitika. They are certainly an interesting way of exploring the town and only feasible because the town, being on the coastal plain, is level. This stands in contrast with much of the New Zealand which is "steep". It is also an environment-friendly means of transport. There is much environmental concern in New Zealand.

Shantytown (62K)

Shantytown is a theme park just south of Greymouth that seeks to recreate the atmosphere of a mining town during the Gold Rush of the 19^th century. It was indeed built on a former mining site with a railway line on which you can ride a steam train through the sub-tropical rain forest! Most of the buildings, however, were transported to the site from elsewhere. The bird just visible in front of the cart is a weka, one of New Zealand's many flightless birds - a member of the rail family and about the same size as a chicken.

Back to Photos

	Mitre Point (69K) I think this is the mountain called Mitre Point (centre). It's certainly convincingly mitre-like and pointed! This was photographed from Liddel Flat on the Milford Sound excursion from Queenstown.
	Wanaka (42K) Lake Wanaka photographed from the town of Wanaka, sometimes called the "poor man's Queenstown". Like Queenstown it is a lakeside resort, although its neighbour across the mountains gets all the limelight (and tourist stops!). Note the brown-ness of the mountains. In New Zealand they say "It only rains on days ending in -y", but it was experiencing serious drought when we visited it - it hadn't rained for six weeks! Hence the absence of the usual greenery.
	Haast Visitor Centre (53K) Haast Visitor Centre is located by the mouth of the River Haast on the West Coast of South Island. The prevailing water-laden westerly winds keep the coastal area moist even when the rest of New Zealand experiences drought. Hence the lush, green vegetation here.
	Fox Glacier (73K) New Zealand has the highest mountains in Australasia, snow-covered all the year round. The Fox Glacier and the neighbouring Franz Josef Glacier are the only glaciers in the world that descend into sub-tropical rain forest. Although the glacier looks near enough to touch, it was 30 minutes' walk from this point to the face of the glacier itself.
	Subtropical rainforest at Franz Josef (52K) This picture was taken in the grounds of the Franz Josef Glacier Hotels. The rain forest comes to the very edge of the hotel campus. Prominent are the tree ferns which are a very emblem of New Zealand.
	The Woodman Café, Pukekura (63K) The New Zealanders have a delightful sense of humour and this is well exemplified in The Woodman Café at Pukekura. A cut-out of a possum patrols the roof above the entrance. Sadly we never saw any of New Zealand's 90 million possums. Introduced for their fur, they are devastating New Zealand's trees and regarded as vermin. A poster in the café read, "Save the Trees - Eat a Possum!". At the front of the café is a huge model of a sandfly - the local biting insect. Our courier assured me it was a real sandfly brought down by anti-aircraft fire. That's Jen in the doorway.
	Main street of Hokitika (37K) Hokitika is a former gold-mining town on the West Coast of South Island, a little south of Greymouth. Its main street still has something of the atmosphere of "the wild west".
	A mural in Hokitika (45K) This fascinating mural depicting the harbour in former times adorns one wall of a shop in Hokitika town centre.
	Quadricycle, Hokitika (78K) You could hire these four-seater four-wheel pedal cycles at the Information Centre in Hokitika. They are certainly an interesting way of exploring the town and only feasible because the town, being on the coastal plain, is level. This stands in contrast with much of the New Zealand which is "steep". It is also an environment-friendly means of transport. There is much environmental concern in New Zealand.
	Shantytown (62K) Shantytown is a theme park just south of Greymouth that seeks to recreate the atmosphere of a mining town during the Gold Rush of the 19^th century. It was indeed built on a former mining site with a railway line on which you can ride a steam train through the sub-tropical rain forest! Most of the buildings, however, were transported to the site from elsewhere. The bird just visible in front of the cart is a weka, one of New Zealand's many flightless birds - a member of the rail family and about the same size as a chicken.