Kiwi Bird

This is a beach on the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Is. The Coromandel has for the last 40yrs been the alternative life-styler's haven. It's gentrifying now but it retains a slightly hippie ambience. It is also a little wild and very beautiful. About 2hrs drive from Auckland so lots of us weekend there.

Farmland at the base of the Coromandel Penninsula. The NZ climate has been likened to the south of France so we grow great wines, olives, lavender, fruit and veg.

This is Auckland - "The City of Sails". It is one of the largest cities in area in the world - same size as LA but it only has a population of 1 million. So you will figure that we all have large gardens! All houses are detached - even lower end of the range. Apartment living has begun but for students mostly.
You can bungy off the Skytower - the hypodermic needle-shaped thing dominating the skyline - and also off the Harbour Bridge. It's a real rush!

There's more photos on my other blogs too - I seem to be going through a very jingoistic phase!?

This is Frying Pan Lake just outside Rotorua. It's the largest hot lake in the world. The temp is about 50 degs Celsius on the surface and it is 50 metres deep. The area in the middle of the North Is is full of volcanic activity like this - it's wild!

On the Coromandel Peninsula there is a beach called Hot Water Beach - you pick a nice bit of sand and dig a hole for yourself. Hot sea water fills it up from underneath and you sit in it drinking wine and watching the sun set. A natural free hot jacuzzi!

This is called Inferno Crater. It is also in the central North Is. The water is very hot and looks milky because of all the minerals in it. Very good for your skin and any aches and pains. At the bottom of the lake the water is boiling due to volcanic vents, but by the time it reaches the surface it's cooled down a bit. It smells like sulfur.

This is Abel Tasman National Park - a natural wonderland. With lots of little bays and beaches you can camp on and never see another person!

These are the Canterbury Plains with the Southern Alps in the background.

This is one of hundreds of small islands in the Bay of Islands up in the Winterless North of the North Is. You can buy one and live on it if it takes your fancy! Plenty of fish and shellfish to eat, endless sunshine - you can do a Crusoe!

This is Ruapehu erupting. It went on for weeks like this but bigger. The whole sky was filled with rolling grey ash and the land for hundreds of miles around was covered. It was a scary-beautiful sight.

Click on photos to enlarge.........

This is Mt Taranaki - it's a perfect cone - looks like Mt Fuji

Mt Ruapehu - it erupted a few years ago and ruined the skiing season - but what a sight it was!

This is our highest - Aorangi (The Cloud-piercer) Mt Cook. The lake really is that colour!

Aorangi again at sunset.

Sunset at Ninety Mile Beach, Northland, NZ

"Middle Earth" South Is NZ

Milford Sound, South Is, NZ