Category: New Zealand

Postcards from around the world

For my final postcards I am going to revisit New Zealand. An all too brief visit almost 10 years ago and one which I had hoped to repeat, but my enthusiasm for long haul travel has very much diminished over the years. My overall impressions were the colours of green and blue, rounded hills in the Waikato region, wonderful trees often bent out of shape by the winds, black sand, tree ferns, the long white clouds and excellent coffee. No words this time, just pictures.

New Zealand Part 2

Fabulous trees
And more sea views from our accommodation
Sheep. Of course
Black sand beaches and surfers. This is Ruapuke Beach about 10.5 km from Raglan
The winding gravel track to Ruapuke Beach

 

Metrosideros excelsa, commonly known as the pōhutukawa, or New Zealand Christmas tree, produces a brilliant display of red flowers around Christmas time.
Distorted tree by the prevailing winds.

This is my last postcard for now. I hope you have enjoyed my catch up with places I have visited but not had time to blog about. And if you want to see more then please look under the destinations or road trips on the menu.

Postcards from around the world

For my final postcards I am going to revisit New Zealand. An all too brief visit almost 10 years ago and one which I had hoped to repeat, but my enthusiasm for long haul travel has very much diminished over the years. My overall impressions were the colours of green and blue, rounded hills in the Waikato region, wonderful trees often bent out of shape by the winds, black sand, tree ferns, the long white clouds and excellent coffee. No words this time, just pictures.

New Zealand Part 1

Ngarunui (sometimes called Ocean Beach, Main Beach or Wainui Beach) is the main sandy swimming beach in Raglan. A magnificent black sand surfing beach. We were staying at the far south-western end of the beach about 6km out of Raglan.
The wonderful rounded hills of the region. This is on the way to Raglan where we stayed.
Mount ⁩⁦Karioi⁩⁦ is an ancient volcano about 8km SW of Raglan
Psoralea pinnata, called fountain bush is an erect shrub or small tree, which grows up to 4 m high, with blue, lilac and white, pea-shaped flowers which bloom in early summer. A south African plant which smells of Kool-Aid!
Taken near the Te Toto Gorge Lookout. A beautiful view from a platform, hanging high on the air at the top of sheer cliff – it’s reached by a narrow winding gravel track so take care.
View from Te Toto Gorge Lookout up the coast towards Auckland. It is a very long way down!
Wonderful greenery provided by the tree ferns
The views from where we were staying situated on a hilltop above Ngarunui Beach
Lots of pretty wild flowers and grasses along the roadside