New Zealand

Whakaari (White Island)

Whakaari (White Island) is NZ’s most active volcano, 50km off the coast from Whakatane. It is 324ha in size and was formed by three separate volcanic cones. The volcano is estimated to be between 100,000 and 200,000 years old. The small portion of the island that is visible above sea level has been in its present form for an estimated 16,000 years.

Vulcanologist in training: I've got my hard hat on and gas mask ready for action...

Above and below: Giant mounds, remnants of the 1914 Great Landslide, dwarf visitors as they wind their way up to the Main Crater. Venturing to the edge, they are greeted by an amazing sight - an immense crater, with towering walls shielding its spectacular lake and punctuated by steamy vents from which the power of the inner earth constantly belches forth.

Virtually no vegetation survives the harsh acidic environment inside the crater walls. Instead, lush beds of yellow and white sulphur crystals grow among hissing, steaming, bubbling fumaroles.

Whakatane

Whakatane located on a harbour at the mouth of the Whakatane River, on the eastern Bay of Plenty on the North Island.

Sunset over the Whakatane River, after 4 days of heavy rain. Above: A statue of Wairaka, in commemoration of her brave deed when she brought a waka (canoe) safely to shore when it started to drift out to sea after the men had disembarked, leaving the women and children on board. It was a traditional Maori tapu that women could not steer waka.

Napier

Napier, located in the Hawkes Bay area on the North Island, is known for its Art Deco architecture, built after the 1931 earthquake. Above: Pania of the Reef statue, a figure from Maori folklore. Below: The Sunken Gardens.

Te Mata Peak

Te Mata Peak, 399m, part of a 98ha Te Mata Park Trust, near Napier. In Maori folklore, the giant Mata o Rongokako fell in love with a chief’s daughter, who set him impossible tasks to prove his love for her. One of them was to eat his way through the hill, but he choked on a large rock and now lies sleeping here (above).

The view from Te Mata Peak.

Hari x 2

Seeing double: The little village of Hari Hari is located between the Glaciers and Hokitika on the west coast of the South Island.

Hokitika Gorge

We discovered this stunning gorge on the drive out from the town of Hokitika on the west coast of the South Island. The Gorge, 33km from the town, is filled with the glacial, turquoise waters of the Hokitika River.

Fox Glacier

Above: Hari and Sharon squeeze into one of the many ice caves found on Fox Glacier.

Above: Hari the explorer.... luckily the pick axe wielding was left to the more experienced Sherpa guide who took us on a wonderful tromp over this amazing glacier. Below: One of the many incredibly beautiful ice caves.

Fox Glacier is the larger of New Zealand's two temperate rain forest zone glaciers of which there are only 10 worldwide. Fox Glacier falls 2600m over 13km to a terminal face just under 300m above sea level. It is fed by 4 other glaciers and shares a common neve with Franz Josef Glacier. Since 1985 it has been advancing at an average rate of a metre a day. The heavy precipitation from the Tasman Sea falls as snow at the higher levels of the Southern Alps to be compacted as ice. Glacial speed down the steep incline is around 80 years for the full trip.

Above: Hari and Sharon....from Dancing Queens to ice queens.

Below: the group was air-lifted onto the glacier for our hike on the ice. The morning was crystal clear, despite the previous day's downpour.

Above: A rainbow over the terminal face (edge) of Fox Glacier, the day before our heli hike adventure.

Gillespies Beach

Gillespies Beach, located 21km from Fox Glacier village, was formed about 14,000 years ago from moraine dumped by Fox Glacier. Despite the wet weather at the glacier, the sun was shining at the beach.

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound, 170km from Queenstown, is in the heart of a World Heritage Area. It is the second largest of the 14 fiords in Fiordland’s National Park which covers 1.25 million hectares. It has a surface area about 10 times larger than Milford Sound. It was named by Captain Cook in 1770, noting that he was doubtful that he would be able to sail out of the Sound if he ventured in. Above: One of many rainbows which appeared during our cruise.

Above: The view from the road heading towards Doubtful Sound in the rain. Below: Lake Manapouri, where we based ourselves for the visit to Doubtful Sound.

Scenic views

Above: The spectacular scenery as our backdrop as Sharon, Aphrodite and Hari continue their drive around the South Island.

Above: On the road from Queenstown, heading north to Glacier country. Hari and Sharon stop to admire the view (and be pictured with it).

A lone sea lion

Is it a log or a sea lion? As we came out onto Allan's Beach in the Otago Peninsula we could see something on the sand, but could not make out what it was. We discovered it was a sea lion, but was it alive? Sharon and Aphrodite strode closer to it as it appeared this creature was not breathing or moving...... they were going to give it a prod (brave souls), but then the sea lion's stomach took a deep breath, opened its eyes and yawned! Humpf tourists, it probably thought, then snuggled back into the sand and went back to sleep.

Queenstown

Above and below: Queenstown, on the northern shore of Lake Wakatipu, after a ride in the Skyline Gondola to the top of a hill overlooking the town. A chairlift takes you further up to the luge (our first "extreme" activity in NZ) and walking tracks.

Above: The view from Skippers Canyone Road, on the way to our second "extreme" sport of jet boating (below).

Below: New Zealand's first bungy jump location....it is no longer used for this sport as it is now considered not high enough! Why on earth would anyone want to throw themselves off a bridge...?? This was one extreme sport neither of us was tempted to attempt.

Dunedin

Baldwin St is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s steepest streets, with a gradient of 1 in 1.266. An annual Gutbuster race is held in February, with the winner running up and back in about 2 minutes. The view from the top after walking (and puffing) up the incline in well over two minutes.... We then drove up in the car and Sharon gave us a joy ride back down!