Raw & Natural New Zealand
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Even before it shot to fame as the setting for The Lord of the Rings, New Zealand has been known for its magnificent natural landscapes.
Home to the snow-capped Southern Alps, New Zealand offers spectacular glaciers, picturesque fiords and crystal clear lakes. Not to mention sandy beaches, volcanic plateaus, vast farmlands and numerous mountain ranges.
With such a sheer variety of landforms within just a few hundred kilometres, New Zealand is a photographer’s dream and a complete life-sized geography textbook.
Auckland as seen from Mount Victoria, the highest volcano along the North Shore.
A third of New Zealand’s 4 million-plus people live in Auckland, known as the City of Sails for its many sailing yachts. This peaceful city consistently ranks among the top ten most livable cities in the world.
“Four Seasons In One Day” is a hit song by one of New Zealand’s most popular bands, Crowded House, and for good reason.
This island in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean can often catch you off guard with its fickle and sometimes extreme weather patterns.
Here, a sudden shower sends Aucklanders scrambling for cover. Check out the city’s 300m-plus Sky Tower, which is the tallest such building in the Southern Hemisphere.
The famous view of Auckland’s CBD from Mount Eden, a volcano with a bowl-like crater on top.
Hot air balloon rides are a popular way to see spectacular views of New Zealand. This flight from Hamilton starts early in the morning to allow passengers to catch a glimpse of the sun’s first rays as they fall on a distant mountain range. You can also take a balloon from Christchurch, the main air gateway to South Island.
The windiest city in the Southern Hemisphere, “Windy Wellington” is New Zealand’s capital city (but not the biggest city as Auckland has by far the largest population). Wellington has a beautiful harbor and well-structured town belts to create green reserves encircling the city.
Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont, also known as the “Fuji Mountain” in New Zealand for its similarity to its more famous stratovolcanic brother in distant Japan. This mountain is possibly the most dangerous to climb in New Zealand, with a reputation for the highest annual fatalities, mostly due to rapid changes in weather conditions
Step into the Shire, home of the Hobbits in the Lord of The Rings, in this filming set that was preserved after movie shooting ended.
A lone surfer at the Bay of Plenty in winter. This historic region was named for its abundant natural resources and its located on the northern coast of North Island, near to Auckland.
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An hour’s walk in Papamoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park allows you to enjoy the colorful sunset over Mount Maunganui.
A New Zealand (Hooker’s) sea lion on Sandfly Bay, a sandy bay with large dunes at Otago Peninsula. There are wooden hides for the public to view yellow-eyed penguin from afar at the end of the bay.
The yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho (Megadyptes antipodes) is named for its yellow iris and distinctive yellow headband, and is a penguin native to New Zealand only. One can only watch this rare species of penguin at certain beaches in South Island.
Say “baaa” to the true owners of New Zealand. With just over 4 million people to 30 million sheep, humans are outnumbered by their wooly friends 7 to 1. But that’s nothing to the history books – in the sheep heyday of the 80s, there were a whopping 70 million specimens of the four-legged critter wandering around the hills and fields. Pretty impressive for an animal that isn’t even native to New Zealand (it was introduced by Europeans).
Enjoy the sight of pretty horses prancing across the countryside, but watch out for the ‘organic land mines’ that they leave in their wake!
Fox Glacier is one of New Zealand’s most famous glaciers. Besides the usual half-day or full-day glacier tour, visitors can also choose to take a thrilling helicopter’s flight with a superb view of New Zealand’s highest peaks.
The terminal face of Tasman Glacier as seen from a glacier explorer boat in the Mount Cook region. In recent years the Tasman Glacier has changed from a 'melting' to a 'calving and melting' terminus, resulting in a lake that is rapidly increasing in size
The highest mountain in New Zealand, Aoraki Mount Cook (3,754m)is seen with Lake Pukaki, a turquoise colored moraine-dammed lake. The photo was taken after the first snow in Mount Cook region in winter.
Aoraki is the name from this majestic peak given by the Maori people, who lived in New Zealand centuries before European first discovered the islands. Later, the mountain was named after Captain James Cook, the British explorer who mapped most of New Zealand’s coastline in the 18th century.
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what a beautiful country...god has made this place like a heaven
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The most famous day trek in Mount Cook region. The trekker gets a magnificent view of the Hooker Glacier terminal lake after crossing a pair of swing-bridges.
Sunrise after an early morning rain brought a rainbow to Mount Cook Village
At night in the Mount Cook valley, a strong wind creates a mystical movement of clouds under the full moon.
Lake Tekapo was crowned as the World’s Largest International Dark Sky Reserve in 2012 – in other words, one of the best places in the world for stargazing.
One can easily spot Milky Way at night, with the famous Church of the Good Shepherd standing still by the lakeside.
A spectacular morning as the dawn breaks over Lake Tekapo.
Sheep at Hawke’s Bay share their territory with vineyards, as the region is world-famous for its award-winning wines.
Sheep are shy by nature. They will turn away whenever they sense an approach by any big moving object
A guy trying his luck on Ninety-Mile Beach, which is the site of the world's biggest snapper surf-fishing contest.
Tongariro Alpine Crossing is said to be the best and most popular one-day hike in New Zealand. This 19.4-km track passes over the volcanic terrain of multi-cratered active volcanoes.
Mount Ruapehu is the highest mountain in North Island at 2,797m. It houses the largest ski field in New Zealand with more than 65 trails across 1050 hectares.
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Lake Matheson is famous for its reflection of the two highest mountains in New Zealand – Mount Cook (3,754m) on the right and Mount Tasman (3,497m) on the left.
One can only get the perfect reflection early in the morning when there aren’t many ripples on the lake surface.
Wanaka is situated in a dramatic glacier-carved basin on the shores of the lake and is the gateway to Mt Aspiring National Park.
Queenstown is a favorite city for many for her stunning landscape and vibrant lifestyle. One will be spoilt with adrenaline-rush activities like the world first’s commercial Bungy Jump at the Kawarau River, canyoning, mountain biking and skiing.
The Remarkables are a mountain range that form a nice backdrop for Queenstown’s scenic beauty.
The historic gold-mining town is famous for the beautiful red and gold leaves seen throughout the streets and surrounding hillsides in autumn.
Twizel-Omarama Road at the end of autumn
Milford Sound was judged the world's top travel destination in the 2008 Travelers' Choice Destinations Awards by TripAdvisor and is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination.
The famous cruise tour allows visitors to see towering cliffs and peaks – including the much photographed and iconic Mitre Peak.
This photo was taken to showcase the magnificent nightscape of Mitre Peak with star trails.
The Milky Way over Lake Wakatipu on the way to Glenorchy.
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Originally posted by waterful:
what a beautiful country...god has made this place like a heaven
Better than heaven
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yep, i can die without regrets after i tour this heavenly place
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Originally posted by waterful:
yep, i can die without regrets after i tour this heavenly place
.....make up your mind, you wanna go to this heaven or that heaven?
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Originally posted by NeverSayGoodBye:
.....make up your mind, you wanna go to this heaven or that heaven?
i wanna enjoy both heavens -
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Knocking on Heaven's door: Bon Jovi
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Nice pictures. :D
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the only country i knew...........................that had a blonde ang mo girl blushing until her face was red..........and another one making friends with me across bridge.
too bad i was brain dead...........too much army stuff that pulp[ed me until that time.
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sometimes i hate myself.
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I can't wait to return in October.
