Come Fly With Me - To New Zealand

I'm really enjoying this vacation! thanks for taking me along. :)

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Originally Posted by Bambi

I'm really enjoying this vacation! thanks for taking me along. :)

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Cool. I haven't had time to add any in the past day or so but I figured people needed time to browse through the ones I've done so far. LOADS more to come of some very different stuff too.

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Originally Posted by Mad Aussie

Nature is the best craftsman alright!

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Ha! Don't sell yourself short there, bro. These are some of your best yet. Got any Kiwi(what's the plural)yet?

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Originally Posted by Barefoot

Ha! Don't sell yourself short there, bro. These are some of your best yet. Got any Kiwi(what's the plural)yet?

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Noooo .... interesting yes ... best ... nah. No Kiwi's ... most people will never see a Kiwi in the wild. Way too elusive.

Finally had time to put up a few more shots.

On this day we got up early and travelled out to the coastal city of New Plymouth. The online mapping told us about 2hr 17 mins drive ... yeh right. With 37 km of gravel, loads of hills and valleys ... it was nearer 4 hrs drive.
We were meeting someone I knew for a climb up a rock ... sounded easy enough seeing as he was bringing his 5 young girls with him.

Here's New Plymouth ... in a pano. You can see the extinct volcano Mt Taranaki (Mt Egmont) in the background.
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This is Paritutu Rock ...
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It's a steep climb! Matt's girls ranged from the age of 5 yrs to 11 yrs old ... and they climbed this without issue or complaint!
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Looking down from the top of the rock ...
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This is Back Beach which is below the Paritutu Rock. We walked down there and let the girls play for awhile. Seals are often seen here as they live out on the islands in these photos. We didn't see any though.

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This view from the top of Paritutu Rock shows a view down the coastline to Mt Taranaki. We've walked up this mountain on a visit here many years ago but we wouldn't have the opportunity this time.
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This mountain was used in the movie 'The Lost Samurai' (and others) as Mt Fuji in Japan due to the similar shape and look when snow covered.

This view from Lake Mangamahoe which lies a few km's out of New Plymouth of Mt Taranaki.
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Pano from the lake
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Full Size Version here

Before we left the region for our 4 hr drive home, we visited Dawson Falls on the side of Mt Taranaki

Here's Leanne on the trail into the falls ... this walk reminded me of some of the Tasmanian trails with all the moss and lichen around.
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A typical tree environment on this walk ...
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And the falls themselves ...
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Coming up next time .... twilight shots from this day ... a walk around Lake Taupo where you'll see some cool birds ... and even me ... close enough to see how ugly I really am!!

Wow! Very interesting MA! couldn't wait..

Thanks Yisehaq :)


As the day ended we were 90% of the way back to Turangi and our holiday home as the sun started going down. I couldn't help jumping out of the car with the camera a few times.

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A new day dawned and yet again it was a beautiful day. Great day for a walk ... so out we went.
We drove around to Pukawa Bay where we did the lakeside walk around to Omori Bay.

So peaceful by this lake on a still day
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I liked this tree with the lichen on it
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After several years here at Ph.ca ... here's a shot of me! Look beside me ... a Rufous Fantail had decided to follow us on our walk. He stayed with us for about 45 mins!
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Here's the little guy flying around Leanne as well
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And here's the star up close and personal ...
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I liked this scene ... the Heron on the lichen spotted rock
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Quite often on these walks we saw the curious Tomtits as well ...
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As a kid in New Zealand we learned about the Tui ... a native bird that appears on the New Zealand currency.

I don't ever remember seeing one as a kid at all. Many years later when I returned there for a holiday I saw one in a bird sanctuary but only got a glimpse of it.

This day, on our walk around the lake we saw many of them, and would see many more on other walks in the forests of the region.

They are well known due to the two tuffs of feathers under their chin ...

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Last ones for today ...

New Zealand has it's own native pigeon ... and it's a beauty. HUGE ... these things are the size of a decent sized duck!
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A not so native edition is the Californian Quails ... pretty though ...
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These are super shots and interesting subjects, MA! I like them all!

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Originally Posted by Yisehaq

These are super shots and interesting subjects, MA! I like them all!

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Thanks man ... I appreciate you coming back to enjoy the holiday :)

nice bird shots! that native bird is quite interesting!

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Originally Posted by Bambi

nice bird shots! that native bird is quite interesting!

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Thanks Bambi

On this trip we headed up the Huka Falls. This is a waterfalls that generated by the longest river in NZ being squeezed into a 15 metre wide and 10 metre deep rock channel resulting in 40 cubic metres of water per second launched over the falls.

Right in the top right corner is the Huka Falls Lodge ... we'll have a slightly closer look at that shortly.
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Jet boats are very popular in New Zealand. Not surprising seeing as they were invented there.
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While enjoying the Huka Falls we went for a short walk along a nearby trail. The beautiful Waikato River has diverse environments along it's length. In this region, it looks a bit like this ...

One of many lodges along the banks of the Waikato here ...
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Most of the Waikato River has deep banks to keep you back from the water, but here it gently laps the forest ...
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I liked the size of this tree and the forest light
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Returning to the falls we crossed the bridge and ended our walk at the Huka Falls.
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On the bridge I looked downstream ...
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And upstream
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Just catching back up with this thread. Lots on wonderful bird shots. The heron on the rock, the pigeon are standouts for me. The landscapes are fabulous too.

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Originally Posted by AntZ

Just catching back up with this thread. Lots on wonderful bird shots. The heron on the rock, the pigeon are standouts for me. The landscapes are fabulous too.

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Thanks AntZ! So much more to come yet :)

Another terrible day dawned in New Zealand's central plateau region of Taupo with the forecast of 100 kph winds and driving rain.
I tell ya ... the best weather man is your bedroom window in the morning!!
Instead of huddling up in the holiday house we ventured out for a walk in and around the town of Taupo itself. We followed the course of the river and ended up way above the river looking down into it's emerald coloured waters in the early morning light.

NZ's longest river starts right here at the boat harbour at the head of the lake
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Great stuff as always MA! The scenery is just gorgeous! The colour of the water is just amazing!!!

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Originally Posted by aubintbay

Great stuff as always MA! The scenery is just gorgeous! The colour of the water is just amazing!!!

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thanks AB :)

Love the Autumn tree, mushroom.

Lovely additions... Autumn Glow is my favourite from this recent post. :thumbup:

Thanks guys

Thanks so much MA, for sharing your vacation with us. Beatiful images, all. I suspect many have now put New Zealand high on their list for 'must see' locations.

Thanks for coming in and watching Doug. Hopefully I'll find time to put more up soon ... still the most amazing river I've ever seen, trout, cool alpine environments etc to come.

The walk along the banks of the Waikato River on the township side continued ...

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Taupo Bungy is a very high water-dunk bungy. Here they were still setting up for the day as we walked by ...
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The Coolest Toilet block I've ever seen ...
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Very nice MA! couldn't wait for the next destination. As always, I very much like the colors in photos.

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Originally Posted by Yisehaq

Very nice MA! couldn't wait for the next destination. As always, I very much like the colors in photos.

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Thanks Yisehag. It's nice to know you are watching and enjoying :)

How about swim in a natural hot water spa folks?

These shots are of a section of the Waikato River where a hot water, geothermal stream flows in creating a very warm bathing sensation

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Next we went to the opposite side of the river for a look ... the clear water and green weed is just stunning. Yet later in the holiday we found a small river that made this one look boring!

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This duck let me creep right up but when I got close enough ... he let me know!
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Ok ... you GOTTA be bored with all the river shots by now I'd think, so on our home this day we detoured to the Pureora Forest which is recognised as some of the best rainforest in the country. We only had time for a quick walk down a short trail.
Every tree was dripping with some flora life ...

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wow what a great place. All of these shots are terrific. I particularly like this one:
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Thanks Bambi ... I like that one also :)

At the end of the day we sat out on the balcony and enjoyed a cup of coffee with the birds ...

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Nice additions, MA! Very enjoyable!

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Originally Posted by Yisehaq

Nice additions, MA! Very enjoyable!

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Thanks mate :)