Rotorua City Walk, NZ, 2/25/17

 Walking tour of Rotorua, the geothermal capital of NZ. As we walked up to the Rotorua Museum, a spa from 1908 to 1966, with its imposing Tudor style, I commented to Jim, "I hope this beautiful building will not be damaged by an earthquake." To our surprise, we found the museum closed. Damage already done!

The whole city smells of sulphur and steam can be seen escaping from vents and crevasses all around town.

Next, our walk took us to beautiful Rotorua lake and up to a Maori meeting house. Across from the meeting house is St Faith's Anglican Church that mixes Christian and Maori beliefs with ease. Note the beautiful Maori side chapel and the Maori Jesus walking on water. If only all faith's could be more accepting of each other ...







Walk of Rotorua, continued. Next we walked to Kuirua park, the local city park. No ordinary park though! It has a crater lake, mud pool and steaming vents everywhere Latest eruption was in 2003! Right next to all this geothermal activity was the farmers market. Finished the walk with lunch: a Japanese pancake and Kiwi milkshake.

+2

Hemi Matenga Reserve hike, Waikanae, NZ, 2/21/17

Hemi MatengaScenic Reserve in Waikanae. Trailhead start just in back of our host's home. Walked a bit past lookout (see bolow), ~4.5 miles round trip. Heard and even saw some of the coastal rain forest birds.

Kapiti Maritine Reserve walk, Waikanae, NZ, 2/24/17

Second beach walk: from the estuary and Kapiti Maritime Reserve to Waikanae beach where we started yesterday. Note Kapiti island in the background. The island is a bird sanctuary without predators where ground-dwelling birds live once plentiful in New Zealand. Once a day, a ferry takes visitors for a 4-hour visit and only about 60 at a time are allowed. Reservations are needed well in advance and we missed out.

A walk on Waikanae beach, North Island, NZ, 2/23/17

Walk on Waikanae beach, a wonderland of shells and birds. Also, for me, an ideal running beach: an endless stretch of wet sand!

Hooker Valley Glacier hike, Mount Cook, NZ, 2/18/17

 Hooker Valley hike to the glacier descending from Mount Cook. 

 Picture above shows the white snow/ice of the glacier and the black debris covered section ending in a sheet cliff of ice at the lake. 

 

Mount Cook lily or buttercup, native to the South Island. 

Large pieces of ice break off and form icebergs in the lake, a process called called "calfing."

Majestic Mount Cook, highest mountain in New Zealand, named Aoraki or Cloud Piercer by the Maori. 

Queenstown to Mount Cook, NZ, 2/17/17

 Pictures taken from the minivan, driving from Queenstown to Mount Cook.

Lord of the Rings landscape?  Yes, the trilogy was filmed in the Crown Range region, not too far away.

Ben Lomond Mountain, Queenstown, NZ, 2/17/17

Ben Lomond Track above Queenstown, starting with a Gondola ride. Pine trees are not native to New Zealand. They grow fast and push out native plants. The name tag below indicates an area this person keeps free of invasive plants by periodically pulling non-native seedlings. Community groups, organizations, schools and families commit to doing their part. The picture with the dead pine trees shows a section of trees that have been sprayed. We saw this all over the South Island. By the way, the hike was spectacular

Milford Sound, NZ, 2/14-15/17

Milford Sound overnite cruise.  My first nite on a ship.

In a spectacular place and on Valentine's day!

Kepler Track, NZ, 2/14/17

Kepler Track, a world heritage site. One of the great tracks of New Zealand with the Milford and Routeburn tracks.  Walked a portion of the track with almost no elevation, about 10 km. And, managed to escape the rain that was in the forecast. 

 South Island robin.  A friendly and curious little one. 

Wanaka Rocky Mountain hike, NZ, 2/12/17

 Summit of Wanaka Rocky Mountain. All 11 of us and our guide, Bas.  

 Crossed the island's main divide and suddenly found ourselves in glorious weather.  Hiked 4-5 miles round-trip, with a ~1500 ft elevations. 

Pictures speak for themselves!