2006 WINTER TRIP NEW ZEALAND

2006 WINTER Trip to New Zealand which was part of a six month Pacific trip. New Zealand; especially the south island is very scenic and the country as a whole has a nice year around climate and the people are very friendly.

If you are interested in the Travelogues we e-mail to our friends on our trips you may contact us for the New Zealand ones. The e-mail address is on this web site but with the spam problems now days I would suggest an e-mail subject like your New Zealand Traveloge so I notice it in our Spam Filter.

If you click on a picture you will get a full size picture. Just hit the back arrow on your browser to get from the large picture back to the page to continue

This is the famous Southern Cross which you can only see in the southern hemisphere. The two stars on the right are the two pointer stars to the southern cross. The larger picture shows it a lot better

This iS typical of the landscape north of Auckland where we seen lots of sheep. As we went north we seen more cattle.

This is where we spent our first night in NZ on the west coast of the North Island.

This is a view from a fire lookout at the old Kauri forests in NZ which are protected.

This is the biggest Kauri Tree in New Zealand called Tane Mahuta and stands in the Waipona Forest south of the Hokianga Harbour. It is 169 feet tall and 45 feet in diameter and 2500 to 3000 years old.

This is a large bench made out of Kauri Wood. There is a lot on nice things available but they are very expensive. There are from Kauri trees that were burined in the ice age and now have been dug up and dried out. Live, growing trees are protected.

This is a bus on the 90 mile beach. In the early history the beach was the highway when roads were very limited. Today there are tour buses that make the historic journey

Lots of sand dunes in this area right down to the ocean. I made for some good sand sleding. A lot of reclaimation has been done from the over grazing days when wind erosion and sand dunes became major problems.

Cape Reinga while not the northern most point of New Zealand it is generally considered the end of the road

This Bay of Islands area on the East coast is the most popular water recreation on the North Island and is very pretty.

Auckland New Zealand where we started our trip north and are now returning. It was quite and experience driving on the other side of the road. For us the best way to know what side to drive on was with the steering wheel on the right side of the car that meant the driver needs to be at the middle of the road and the passenger by the ditch. It still can be tricky on drive ways and parking lot entrances and exits.

Rotorua the famous thermal area in the North Island SE of Auckland. It is similiar to the Yellowstone but I think there is only one geyser. It is very popular because thermal activity is very rare in the southern hemisphere and this is the only significant area I know of.

A mud pot in Rotorua.

This is the East coast of New Zealand southeast of Auckland and not many tourist go here but it is a very pretty area with a very low population and many quiet bays and beaches. We were very glad we took the time to explore the east coast where we seen view after view like this.

Bob ZL1AMI an amateur radio operator who hosted us for several days in the Wellington, NZ area which is the capital and at the south tip of the north island. WIth Bob's hospitality we really did experience NZ as a local. We met many Radio Amateurs on this trip and visited with them and they were all so kind, helpful, friendly and showed us what it is like to live in NZ.

Bob and Edith at the cannon site over looking Wellington. The cannon was shot at noon so the ships in the harbor could set there clocks. NZ is quite a young country and you do not have to go back far in Bob's family history to find he was related to the person named on the cannon who was in charge of harbor affairs.

A view of Wellington and the harbor.

A shell display where we eat dinner in Wellington.

Operating ZL6QH for two days. This station was originally a listening post to collect news from around the world. Today the Quartz Hill group of the Wellington Amateur Radio club operates this station and Edith and I were able to operate from there as guests. It is a fabulous location and station. We also met many other amateurs here at a barbeque. It was a fantastic experience and we thank Bob ZL2AMI for setting it up and for so many others that made the visit such a highlight. If you want to see pictures of this fantastic staion just do a search for ZL6QH.

This was our home almost every night in NZ. This is a famous hot springs resort area called Hammer Springs where we spent our first night in the south island. We took our rented car across on the ferry from Wellington to the south island. It is about a half day trip by the time you load and unload. The scenery is quite varied in the south island and there is far less traffic and people so we found it very relaxing and one of the prettiest places we have been outside North America.

This is a glacial lake from Mt. Cook the highest Mt. in NZ. It is a beautiful area. Other than South America and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa this is the only area in the southern hemisphere to have galciers so it as really a big tourist attraction.

Morike Boulders on the east coast which are quite unusual.

Paul ZL4PW who I have spoken to on the radio and his wife were our hosts for a delicious evening meal and Paul gave us a tour of the area and of the Penguins coming in to their young after fishing all day. Again we got a wonderful insight into living in the South Island.

Yellow Eye Penguin which are quite rare. We were so fortunate to get so close.

Blue Penguins which is the smallest penguin coming in from fishing in the ocean. We were able to see them come out of the ocean and go to there young. This was at Pauls town Oamaru.

Nugget Point which is definitely off the normal tourist route as we only found people from NZ here but one of the pretties points in NZ anywhere. It is a long gravel road to it.

Bay at Stewart Island the most southern point we have been to. The south tip of NZ is a major departure point to Antartica. There is warming here due to ocean currents so it does not get as cold as you would think for how close you are to Antartica.

We got amazingly close to this Mollyhawk in the albatross family while fishing by Stewart Island

Blue Cod we caught which we ate for several days.

Milford Sound is a tourist icon in the Fjordlands of the South Island of New Zealand on the west coast and it rains nearly everyday of the year. It is a beautiful drive to the sound and you go through the long Homer Tunnel. You have about a 20 minute wait as it is one way. Milford Sound has high mountains, sheer cliffs, glaciers and many waterfalls and is a beautiful place no matter what the weather as long as it is not so foggy you can't see anything. There is also a nice Glow worm cave in this part of NZ that you can tour from the last town before the dead end road to Milford Sound and back.

Mitre Peak the highest mountain in the Fjordlands with glaciers on it viewed from Milford Sound.

Moss on the way to Doubtful Sound. This type of moss in some areas is harvested. Doubtful Sound is an all day trip and is much more relaxed than Milford Sound tours. You get a bus and boat ride to get there and tour a dam. The sound itself is also nice but maybe not quite as spectacular as Milford but it is a close call.

Famous Shot Over Jet boat on the Shot Over River near Queentown. The ride is a thrill. THis is a pretty area and going west from there to the west coast is a nice drive. This is a very touisty place.

Blue Pools, this is a nice walk in going over a swinging bridge.

One of many beautiful ocean views on the west coast of the south island.

Fox Glacier, Glaciers are very unusual in the SOuthern Hemisphere so they are a big tourist attraction.

Mt. Cook the highest mountain in New Zealand.

Franz Joseph Glacier.

A very common lake scene in New Zealand. Most are deserted probably because of the low population and cold water.

Ppancake Rock a very unusual rock formation.

Iron in the water making it blood red.

Oparara Arch is very isolated so few people go to it. It is the largest arch in the southern hemisphere. Not only is it a long, ways to it but then there is a long, narrow gravel road and then a long hike to it. It was the week end and we met a handful of others all from NZ.

This is a second arch with a beautiful rain forest hike to get to it. You have to go through a tunnel to get to where you can see this natural arch called Moria Gate.

On the way to the north coast and Farewell Spit we seen this huge fresh water spring.

Lawn Bowling and Horse Racing are very popular in NZ.

Three Sisters Rocks. They are hard to get to. We had to pay a small fee to cross private land to get to them. It is possible on the beach but only for an hour at low tide..

A KIWI the New Zealand National Bird. They are only out at night and there' population is declining. We had to go to a KIWI house to see them. This is not a great picture but it is one that I took and they had them in a nice natural setting.

There are many Gardens in NZ both public and private. One nice one is at Hamilton in the North Island and we also met and visited with a number of amateur radio operators here. John ZL1PO took us to one of the business mens clubs which are very common in NZ along with Military clubs which we also ate at and the public is welcome. It was a great NZ experience. John gave us a great tour of the area and again another chance to be a local in New Zealand.

link to To Main Retirement page of Ed and Edith