It’s been a lifelong dream to visit the Kiwi’s. Quick reaction: the most eco-diverse place I’ve ever seen…drive a few hours find yourself in a different biosphere. Mountains, then tropical rainforest, then rolling pastoral landscapes. Plus the sheep! Wall to wall sheep, it’s silly.
And the happy/friendly New Zealanders. People who are willing to stop what their doing and chat it’s err…creepy. Jesus, it’s fricken Shangi La down there. What am I doing living in Illinois?
Having flown into Auckland the normal international starting point (easiest point of entry), we began working our way South. On route, we ran into some paragliders at Muriwai on the North Island and a local doing a fly by.
The real action however is on the South Island which is the place I’d encourage travelers to concentrate their time. The Ocean village of Kaikoura is a great place amazing sunrises and whale watching.
As you work your way around the island you quickly realize that this country survives on ranching (sheep, cattle and ekkk deer) and tourism. I’ve been through Scotland and Wales…they don’t match the mutton per square meter.
Plus, there are mushrooms. A lot of mushrooms. It’s so lush and rainy in many areas (Spring is their rainy season) that these guys go nuts.
Back to our trip. New Zealand sports over 9,000 miles of coast. Incredible views everywhere you look. This shot was taken with a Mavic III drone in Punakaiki. For our photo geeks, I was able to cause the water to look blurred by merging multiple photos together in Photoshop.
Pictured below is a famous NZ view at Lake Matheson in the Franz Joseph region. My ducks are soon to be famous.
This barren moonscape with the lone house is located in the high country just outside of Wedderburn, a very (& I mean very) small town on the South Island. A pretty good fishing spot I’m told.
Ok, you’ve probably heard about NZ’s most famous landmark, Milford Sound (in addition to Mt Cook). Well after a big storm it looks like…err…the gates of hell?
As we continue to the Southernmost part of NZ, we burn our legs climbing the famous Ben Loman, 3,400 ft straight up just outside of Queenstown. The view about 20 minutes from the top.
What kind of birds are these? Hell if I know. They like to hang out at Hayes Lake and don’t move much.
Speaking of which, the lake looks pretty impressive at sunrise.
With all the rain NZ gets (especially the West Coast) moss and other grassy “stuff” grows like crazy…on everything!
Finally, my trusty travel partner Mrs Snitz navigating the 5 bridges trail outside of Arrowtown.
Want to see the full gallery? Click the link. https://www.snitzerphotos.com/Other/Galleries/New-zealand/n-cn4zmz
