Lake Rotoroa (“long lake”) is largest lake in Nelson Lakes NP; water taxi runs from jetty (📷1). View south down lake to Maniniaro/ Angelus Peak 2,075m in the Travers Range to E; Mt Misery 1,601m to R (📷2). On western shore, Braeburn Walk 5km/ 1.5h thru beech/ podocarp forest (📷3) leads to waterfall. Source of Te Kauparenui/ Gowan River (📷), draining lake into Buller River.
Taieri River Track is 4.5km to picnic area, or 3km/ 1h to a seat with views (📷1). Initially only few glimpses of the river (📷2). As it was slippery we stopped at the seat, before a steep descent. View upriver to Māori Leap w/ Pseudopanax ferox in foreground (📷3) & downriver toward sea (📷4). Met 5 large 🐕 (none allowed); must terrify wildlife—when not maiming or killing it.
Chitina, #Alaska was once pretty much a #GhostTown after an earthquake stopped the building of a highway from there to the Kennicott mines. As a joke, someone once painted a ghost on his house when he left for better pastures. Ghost on the house became a tradition and landmark for this pretty much empty town.
Milford Sound | Piopiotahi cruise (6/6), #Fiordland. Perhaps the most enduring memory of a Milford Sound cruise won’t be of specific features, nor anecdotes told to tourists, but of the sheer cliffs. Looking upwards from the foot of a 2,000m wall of rock that disappears into the clouds can’t help but rescale your world. Amazing plants manage to cling to smallest footholds.
#Nelson Market offers street foods, produce & displays of artistic flare, such as the steampunk-inspired creations from the workshop of an “Old Coot” (📷1) & upcycled metal sculptures that Bruce has been forging for 12 years (📷2). In #Māpua, Russel bends spoons into a stunning kōtare form (📷3) & the “Nut Job” ice cream donut at Hamish’s is a work of art in its own way (📷4).
Dawn view of The Watchman, an outcrop jutting deep into Karekare Bch & site of a pā built ~1750 (📷1). Accessed down the hill in Piha by walking up Glenesk Rd (closed to non-resident 🚗), 3-tier 40m Kitekite Falls (📷2). Above the falls youths were manu back slap training in large swimming hole—seeking combo of style, splash size & acoustics (📷3)! Others chilled in infinity-edged smaller pool (📷4).
(2/2) Bannockburn Sluicings, Cromwell #Otago. The loop walk overlooks several vineyards nestled along the flats beside the flooded Kawarau River—part of Lake Dunstan & seen here with purple thyme (📷1) & red sorrel in foreground (📷2). The original ground level of the Carrick (alluvial) Fan indicates just how much gravel was shifted (📷3). An example exploratory dig (📷4).
🚴♂️ Cycled a mix of Te Araroa, Alps 2 Ocean & local cycle trails around Lake Tekapo; see www.tekapotrails.nz. Willow Bay (📷1). 🌲 Pine cones on Takapō Regional Park trails were hard to ride over! Tekapo River & Control Structure/ SH8 bridge (📷2), seen from Cowans Hill Trail. Further up the hill are many tarns (📷3) & good views over the Mackenzie Basin & adjacent ranges (📷4).
After a last look at (fully exposed) Mitre Peak (📷1) in Milford Sound, back to DOC’s Cascade Creek Campsite. A pleasant evening (📷2) was followed by a pleasant morning (📷3); these views from pitch are hard to top. We made a third attempt to find the elusive mohua that lives in the beech forest here; only the NZ robin/ Petroica australis was breakfasting in public (📷4).
Took Adventure Highway nth, again admiring Mt Ruapehu (📷1) & flat-topped Mt Hikurangi. Then onto Forgotten World Highway/ SH43 from the King Country town of Taumarunui. Initially it follows Whanganui River, beside bluffs of alternating coarse sandstone & fine mudstone (papa), former seabed up to 1.3km thick (📷2). Rugged farmland (📷3) gives way to bush in erosion-resistant Tangarakau Gorge (📷4).
Back on the road after 🎄 with family/ T-out for life admin & a bout of 🦠 Covid.
Whangārei Heads owes much of its distinctiveness to the extinct volcanoes that shape its skyline. Mt Aubrey at 216m, seen from McLeod Bay (📷1). Mt Manaia at 420m, seen from Urquharts Bay (📷2). WWII gun emplacement at Home Pt on Busby Head (📷3), w/ mural inside battery observation post (📷4).
Took Thermal Explorer Highway/ SH5 towards Taupō, passing through the remains of Eskdale (📷1)—piles of silt, abandoned homes & banks of wood debris—the road under active repair. Scars from man-made erosion & logging don’t bode well for the next cyclone. Mohaka River nr. Te Haroto (📷2). Waipunga Falls drop the Waipunga Stream by 40m (📷3&4). We left Hawke’s Bay, heading for NZ’s volcanic heartland.
Milford Sound | Piopiotahi cruise (5/6), #Fiordland. Harrison Cove is a safe harbour, flanked by dark shape of 1,302m The Lion (📷1). Some tours call at the underwater observatory here, while others have an overnight option. Mt Pembroke at 2,015m & it’s glacier sit behind (📷2). The steep Mitre Peak at 1,683m is iconic (📷3); we got only a fleeting look at the summit (📷4).
🌳🌲🌳 B last entered the Whirinaki Forest in the early 1980s, on a high school field trip, counting seedlings and making observations with pencil and paper as a junior member of the school’s ecology club. With the aid of digital technology, we can share the 👁️ sights and 🔊 sounds of this ancient forest with you.
Ward Beach on the eastern #Marlborough coast hosts one of our favourite NZMCA park-over properties; there’s no ⛺️ camping in the adjacent reserve (📷1). The sway of NZ bull kelp/ Durvillaea antarctica with the sea swell is mesmerising (📷2). Spring beach & shore decorations include yellow-horned poppies/ Glaucium flavum (📷3) & naturalised bunnytail grass/ Lagurus ovatus (📷4).
(2/2) Peach Cove & Te Whara Tck. Once below the summit enveloped in ☁️ we had hazy views from Bream Head | Te Whara towards Hen & Chickens Is (📷1). After a rough & slippery descent the remains of a wartime radar station can be seen before continuing on towards Ocean Beach (📷2). Lifeguards are on duty here during the summer months (📷3). The 9.3km loop took us 4.5h (📷4).