It seems no matter where you turn in New Zealand there's something beautiful. Snow-capped mountains, pristine lakes, long white clouds streaking the sky and capturing the golden-red rays of the setting sun, aqua-green rivers as clear as crystal, rugged gorse-covered slopes, dense wooded forests, waterfalls, snow fields... It's all there.
As an Australian I'm not too far from Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand, although it took me many years to finally reach it and now I have - Well, I regret not going there sooner.
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There seems to be a stigma with many Australian's when it comes to travelling to New Zealand and now, after going there, I can't for the life of me imagine why. It is simply stunning. Sure, it's not the cheapest place to holiday, however certainly holds everything Faith and I could ask for in a vacation, certainly in respect of nature and adventure. If you haven't been you'll not understand; If you haven't been, you should!
We were on the way to Milford Sound from Te Anau where we were staying for a few days. Te Anau is a sleepy town right on the edge of a huge lake with an amazing view of the mountains and surrounded by lush farming land which the locals put to good use.
It's a beautiful drive, a very winding and narrow road in places though. We checked the road conditions early as it closes due to snow, ice and landslides sometimes, and then took off, snow chains packed away but ready to go if we needed to fit them.
Along the way there is plenty to see, all beautiful. As we went deeper into the Fiordland National Park the landscape changed often, but it was always spectacular. Of course, as the driver I needed to pay close attention to the road; This is not a place one wants to loose concentration as the implications of doing so would probably be catastrophic. So, we pulled over a lot so we could both enjoy the scenery and take some walks.
One of the spots we pulled into was by pure fluke. I saw a sign to a campsite and a nice little track leading away off the bitumen into the forest. We didn't have a 4x4, just a 2x4 Toyota Rav4, but when has that ever stopped the G-dog from hitting the dirt! We turned down the track to find some adventure. (The road wasn't a 4x4 only road).
A few minutes down the little track we came to Cascade Creek campsite and it looked simply amazing. A wide creek, very shallow, ran along side and the mountains rose up all around. It was perfect, even despite me always saying perfect doesn't exist. Maybe I should call it, almost perfect instead.
We pulled over as we saw a little walk, the Lake Gunn Nature Walk, which started just along side the track. Perfect, great, let's go!
As you can see in the images it was lush. I mean, everything was green! It was all wet too, with little ponds and rivulets of water snaking here and there and dew on the plants. The deeper we went the quieter it got and it almost felt that we had entered another world, the lost world. I don't think I would have been surprised if a dinosaur popped its head out to say hello.
There were fallen trees everywhere, one of which you can see Faith standing on in that top image. They were soft, slowly decaying and being taken back into the earth to nourish the new growth; And there was plenty of that! Everywhere we looked something was growing, sprouting, creeping or hanging.
The trees were mostly Red Beech, a tree that can grow to forty metres and 2 metres in girth. Red Beech forests didn't provide as much food-gathering opportunities to the Maori as other treed forests although there's a little insect that sucks the sap from them, and produces honeydue; This attracts the tui, kaka and bellbird which the Maori would snare for food.
In later times the trees were sought after for railway sleepers, piles, mine timbers, wharves and and bridges.
We wandered through aimlessly breathing the fresh but earthy air until we popped out onto the shore of the lake itself.
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We had arrived quite early in the morning and the clouds hadn't burned off yet however it was still beautiful. You can see the low cloud in this image above. It would be spectacular on a blue-skied day.
As usual I can't come across water without testing it's temperature and taste, it's a survivalist thing...Cold and bloody tasty was the result of my extensive testing - It was almost sweet in taste. You can see Faith here posing at the edge of the lake...I think she didn't take that beanie off for days, but it was kind of cold! I called it the tea cosy, but don't tell her that.
The walk is only about 45 minutes although we took about 75 minutes as we stopped a lot to look at things, and to simply sit in silence, but before long we were back in the Rav4 hire car and on our way north towards Milford Sound and the cruise we were taking that day.
Little stop-offs like this broke that drive up, a fairly slow one, and gave us the chance to engage with what is a truly spectacular part of the world. We didn't hike as much as we would have liked on this New Zealand trip although we know we will be back again, and look forward to exploring some more.
Thanks for coming along today, and whilst you're here you may like to take a look at a another stop-off we made called The Chasm.
Looking for somewhere to travel? You need to put New Zealand on your list. You will not regret it...But you better like green.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209
Dang! G-dog has been going around! I've been going around as well lately.
I've heard about how amazing New Zealand is.
I just wanted to ask something since I know you have more experience on this; I had a very difficult time posting and commenting with my phone while volunteering and traveling. Do you think buying a laptop can help me out with this?
Hey big guy! I wondered where you were! Welcome back.
Yep, I generally use a laptop. I only use my phone to reply quickly to replies. I have posted here and there from my phone but as my posts tend to be long it becomes very annoying. I don't know if I would buy a laptop just for hive, but if you have other reasons to have one then I'd go for it.
New Zealand is awesome. When you come to Australia you need to also go there. So different to what you'd be used to.
!ENGAGE 25
I mean since I'm traveling and all, I thought it would be a good idea to have a steady station for my online work.
I teach English as well, so I think I should give it a go.
Yeah man Australia and New Zealand are on my list once I get out of Iran. :) <3
I'd go for it then to be honest. It will save you time over trying to post for your phone which is super-annoying. If it's a device you can use for multi-purposes then do it for sure.
You got your military papers through yet?
It keeps getting postponed due to the virus and some family requests.
My family is trying to get me stationed somewhere near to our place. Since I've been away for 10 years, they want me close to them and honestly talking, I don't wanna be too far from them either. My parents are not getting any younger and I have missed 10 years of interacting with them.
I'll be sending papers again next week and the date will probably be a month or two from now.
Thank you for asking though man! :)
I get it. Best to be stationed close to home if you can. It will be good to get it done, out the way, and to clear out and get on with your life I suppose. They can call you back though, in the advent of war. Hopefully that wouldn't happen as we'd be on opposing sides as we would side with America. It's all stupid huh?
Anyway, keep me in the loop.
Seems like you're travelling around having a good-old time huh? Good for you. I'll look out for some posts.
None of them are in the position to start a war. But yeah, I'll get it out of the way.
For sure man! I'll keep you posted.
ENGAGEtokens.Beautiful scenery! When visiting a place such as this, you have to stop to take in the nature, it's so peaceful. I'm not a survivalist and I always have to check the water temperature and sometimes taste it if it's safe to do so, can't help it! Sounds like you had a great trip to New- Zealand! Thanks for sharing :)
All these water tasters are coming out of the woodwork! Lol...We should start a Community!
One of the most valuable things in my life is the ability to connect with nature, get away from the city and people, and just immerse myself in nature. I find it centres me, allows me to hear myself better. It revives me.
Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it.
!ENGAGE 25
Thanks for the tokens! YESSS Water-tasters of the world unite...who has the best water! lol (I like glacier water)
I agree with connecting with nature, I love the city but I need to energize from time to time. I'm glad it brings you joy, more people need to reconnect to the land, maybe as a society we would appreciate our world a little more.
I live near-ish the Canadian Rockies (just a few hours drive) and I make a point to go and unleash several times a year in all seasons, even when it's stupid cold!
Now you're just making me jealous! The Rockies? So cool. I have plans to get there one day, not too far off I hope! Australia has some amazing places, but nothing like the Rockies. I can't wait to get there...And taste some water.
#watertastersrule
You have to go, it's absolutely amazing, you might not want to come back, well maybe when winter hits you will lol. Actually it's a huge landscape full of surprises. Any specific area of interest? Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Ice Fields have some fine water to taste this time of year, as cold as it gets!
I hope to make it to Australia and New-Zealand one day, I have always been intrigued. One of my friends lives there on and off and she loves it there and her stories on the beach sound so fun. #watertastersrule I like very much hehe!
I can see you're a highly experienced water taster, and you have great taste in hats!
Hmm, no real target areas other than Canada in general really. Probably more remote or wilderness areas than cities although I'd watt to get a taste for the cities also. I'd like to do a month or so, just sort of get a taste for it and determine where I'd like to go back to. It's so difficult to see a place to its full extent in so short a time. A change of seasons and the place is completely different again! That's certainly the case here in Aus. It's a vast country and is difficult for a tourist to really cover.
I off-road and camp a lot and have seen the vast majority of the country, but even after living here all my life there's still parts I haven't been. I think it would be difficult to truly appreciate Canada for the same reason.
P.s. That water looks amazing. #watertasterenvy
Typical Aussie beach. Not to far from my place.
Wow I will never leave that beach if I get my feet in that warm sand and turquoise water! I can almost feel it on my feet already! So amazing. You are lucky to live by that beach, I would be there every day! I can Imagine a country the size of Australia would be overwhelming to visit in a short time, same here if I go it's for a month or two until they kick me out hehe. One thing I noticed with the rockies and probably the same with aus, there are so many little features that are unique to the land, unless traveling with a local it's easy to miss some of them.
Canada is pretty massive, even a month you will really have to pick and choose your moments. I'm from the east coast and moved to the west, there is so much to experience at different times of year all over the country. There is a lot I have yet to see in my own country and I like visiting all kinds of things and festivals. For optimal wilderness, the west and Rockies is definitely the place to go especially if you like huge wilderbeast that want to eat or trample you. If you like backpacking, they have several back-country campgrounds with advance bookings but they fill up fast as soon as they start taking reservations. Many amazing trails in the Rockies. My mission in life to discover and journal them all on my blog. I don't know about aus but here it's hard to get good online info for free attractions and trail details, everyone trying to sell some tour (they are nice too but it gets costly).
Yes, well trained water taster, I keep my water bottles from hikes and bottle my own when I can, I usually carry a few. On a technicality, the picture from the glacier is the water I drink everyday, it's where our watershed begins(but it taste so much better strait from the source), I have a slight obsession with mapping local hydrology. Kananaskis Country has killer water too (near Banff National Park but less touristy, where the locals hangout during high season).
And the hat, haha thanks, we end up the tourist attraction with them, especially Asians! Everyone gets excited to meet a real Albertan on their vacation.
ENGAGEtokens.WOW. A trip to New Zealand. that would be a perfect dream. because it's too far from me ... i had a little mountain trip last weekend. We headed towards the mountain for an hour and a half by car. then 50 minutes walk and finally we reached a waterfall. After explaining some bumpy roads, everything was perfect. The mountain roads that I continue with the car worry me. the only kinship is narrow roads ... and the cliffs on the sides ... after all this tension, everything is fine. man is cleansed of all his worries in untouched nature. Thank you for sharing your extraordinary trip with us. and congratulations for great photos..
I sounds like you had a nice little adventure to the mountains. I prefer remote places to populated areas so being in the wilderness suits me fine.
Yes, New Zealand is a great place to visit and we're looking forward to going back.
!ENGAGE 25
ENGAGEtokens.Most people I know who went to New Zealand enjoyed themselves. I bet it makes the people from original Zealand jealous.
I also know a few New Zealanders and for the most part, they are of good character.
The original zealand people are in the Netherlands. An area that has water everywhere and most of all, lot’s of seashore. Real Zeelanders have a deep love for being out on the sea or at least living close to it. As a result they care a bit less about the green stuff I think.
I thought it was related to the dutch. They had some interesting rolles in colonialism, but mostly stayed to the north in the dutch east indies.
True and I don’t know how they got to New-Zealand, but the name suggests they did.
All of Western Europe was involved in colonialism and slave trade, but my country did far more than was to be expected of such a small country.
We had more ships than England, Germany and France combined and used a lot of it to ship slaves from Ghana to the slave market in Curaçao.
Yep, most Kiwi's are good folk. Us Aussies and the Kiwi's have a close affinity, but a nice (friendly) rivalry which often spills over as funny and inappropriate name calling and phrases. We are fiercely loyal to each other though and have a long history of standing side by side in adversity.
We found them to be really easy-going and friendly, much like Australian's.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.This definetely looks like a dinosaur friendly place lol. So so green! I think that it is indeed great to visit the nearest places and to enjoy time in nature. That cloud was really close, it looks amazing, on a foggy day this would have been so cool!
New Zealand looks like a good place to visit for those who love nature and a quiet time far from the urban city.
Oh I think I would like to live there...
It's a nice spot for sure. The South island only holds 25% of the population so is quite sparsely populated which is cool. Certainly a nice pace to visit, so different to Australia.
The fewer the better. I dislike crowded places
Yep, I hear you.
I wish I have the opportunity one day to go there. Such a beautiful place. And by the way, who doesn't like green?! :D
Green is lovely isn't it? A differing green to Finland in this particular spot, more yellow-green compared with your deep greens. Lovely spot though. I highly recommend a trip to NZ! How are you by the way, been a while. I hope you're still insane because it works. Lol.
That yellow green is quite weird, but I'm not that picky, I'll take any green offered.
Here I am, still Insane in the membrane. :)
Days and weeks just went by, nothing particular happened, I just haven't gotten around to write anything. Post or comment. And I have no idea what I've done. I've been busy doing nothing, anything and everything.
Green is nice...Along with blue it's my fave! This is 15 minutes from my house...Where I go shooting 2-3 times a month. Sometimes I just go and hike. It goes brown in summer but now...Looks like this. I took this last week.
Sometimes you need a break I guess. Write and comment when you want to. You're always welcome to drop int my posts. :)
!ENGAGE 50
That is really nice! The colors are awesome and the scenery, but you also have a great photo there. I like the lines the sky and the grass makes.
Gosh what I would do for a scenery like that right now.
I thought it was warm in Finland at the moment?
It's not warm, it's hot. Over 30°C. Is that hot by your standards? And as I live in the middle of the city, there are not that many parks or forests near me. 15 minutes walking distance at least from the nearest forest. I see only buildings and concrete and asphalt and dull grey things from my window. That I think makes the hot weather even hotter. Some little green would certainly be nice.
This looks surreal.
It was a bit to be honest. It was really quiet, even our footsteps were silent as the ground was cushioned with moss and leaves, creepers and little plants. It was really peaceful to be honest.
ENGAGEtokens.This sounds like such an exciting adventure. I suspect you're tasting the water out of curiosity and blaming it on "survival" 😄
Lol...Yeah the water thing is simple curiosity. I do it wherever bI go...If the water looks clean enough. I don't drink it, just taste it. It's like when I go to a new city. I have to orient myself with the points of the compass. Faith thinks it is funny, but for me it's essential or I feel lost. 😁
lol that's some funny shit, can't lie but it is your thing. What if there's like micro organisms and shit(both literally and figuratively) in the water? I reckon you've had a few of those
Yep, that's what my immune system is for. 😂
I don't drink the water, that would be dumb. Just sort of taste it a bit. Faith thinks I'm mental, but she knows I'm going to do it and just let's me go. Lol.
I'm a bit of a survivalist to be honest. Pretty skilled in the wilderness, so I wouldn't do anything too stupid.
I'll be honest, using the ATM to withdraw money, pressing elevator buttons, door handles, video game controllers, or touching money probably carries more shit (human shit) than some lake water in the middle of nowhere. It's called the trail of shit and starts when people don't wash their hands. Fucking pigs. So, I feel pretty safe in the wilderness.
You make a compelling point with the shit trail analogy. Ah well, I was having a conversation with @acesontop earlier today and he talked about the idea of living in the Wilderness, away from humans and the shit trail. Although he was focusing more on the figurative shit but then again, what's the difference?
Good point. Very little difference between emotional shit and physical; Each just targets a different aspect of the human being, both are negative.
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that is a lot of green
Sure is. In real life the effect was really beautiful. Serene.
i always thought that New Zealand is beautiful (from what i seen), it is just to far and i would probably get birth before i get visa for it :D
It is a very amazing place, so beautiful, primal almost.
Oh I would certainly want to visit New-zealand. It’s literally on the other side of the globe for someone from the Netherlands, but totally worth it. Countless stories of people who went there and loved it.
Yes, it's a long way from you, as is the Netherlands from me! We were almost going to go this year but decided to fly into Denmark instead, on our way to Finland. Our flights were just cancelled due to the virus though. Hopefully next year we'll get back there.
I hope so too. It would mean that travel works again and that the virus didn’t come back.
In the Netherlands things are starting to get back to normal, but soon I think we’ll start hearing about business restructuring, people loosing their jobs and such. The economy is not in a good shape right now.
I agree and only had this conversation with someone today, that we haven't started to see the pain of COVID yet, financially and from a business/financial perspective. Smart people are repositioning and preparing for it, most aren't though.
Yes and the same goes for 3rd world countries
Oh, my... New Zealand! s2
Yes, an apt phrase. It is a spectacular place.
So great to explore and to find new heavens isn't it?
I love it and we also do it at every opportunity.
Nature has some mindblowing places and one only needs to get of the beaten trail to get to them.
Led by instinct to take the turn off, you really scored big time as that place is really lovely!
Sometimes it's the places one finds by accident that become the most memorable.
Hello dear friend @galenkp good night
This is a place that I would love to visit, in Argentina there is a lot of talk about New Zealand, now seeing the images that you show us I understand why.
Those places are unique, they are loaded with natural beauty, I even perceive the fresh breeze from the lake.
I really appreciate that you gave us this virtual tour of that paradise.
May you enjoy many, have a happy rest
Seems like a nice walk you had. I also try and touch water I come across. Not sure why, but I like water so that may be it.
Lol, the tasting water thing is something many of my mates do also. There's no real logic to it, I mean it's not like we're going to have to rely on it...Just curiosity. Maybe a deep-seated ingrained instinct from our cave man days?
Perhaps the old survival instincts kicking in a bit with water being important for life.
This might not be in context to this post but thanks for the support 😊
The context works. A thank you is always welcome, wherever it is placed. 😊
🤗🤗🤗
Good lord, it looks like you're in another world. I've never been anywhere close to New Zealand, but if the videos and photos are anything to go by, it looks like pure heaven. I can just imagine settling down here, and just relax to the sights and sounds of nature. Wasn't most of the scenery in Lord of the Rings was shot there?
It's a good thing I like green. Green is a good colour, and I champion a #MakeGreenGreatAgain movement,because the world is just too bland right now. Everything green is welcomed, except vegetables. I'd feed that to the livestock, not humans. Don't let anyone else convince you otherwise, not even yourself, but your shots - both with a camera, and a gun - are pretty great :-D
What's the stigma? As it turns out I'm still completely clueless about a lot of local things XD
I'm used to green, I come from somewhere very green XD My parents and I think my sister have been to NZ, they said it was amazing. Wouldn't mind going but money keeps being a thing and the plagueing brain issues also don't seem to be going away -_-
So many people I know say they have no desire to go there because they can't stand the NZ accent. It's not the most pleasant of course, but certainly not a reason not to go. I didn't think that way, but it's weird how many do.
It is a spectacular place and well worth the effort to get there. I hope you do someday.
I can kind of understand that but I think it's a dumb reason.
Sure is. I don't care though...Means there's fewer ass holes there when I'm there!
Green is life, green is health, green is a way of living!
It's one of my two favourite colours along with blue. This was such a lovely spot. So peaceful.
Absolutely stunning just the sort of places i love to see and you would never get me out of there would have loved to seen more photos though , you were just getting the appetizer going then it ended all of a sudden...lol..but awesome anyways 👍
It was amazing and a place I'd like to go back to. I have more photos, but it all looks the same and they have me and my wife in them so there's only so much of that a person wants to see I guess.
I'd like to go back and camp, do some hiking. Super-nice spot.
Not a problem you got my hunger going i really need to get NZ myself i would feel right at home there by the camp fire and hiking 👍
Yeah, you gotta mate. It blew my mind and we will be back no doubt.
Will be looking at traveling early next year and this might be our first choice as Europe will be still very sketchy 👍
I've been to both, more to Europe, and I can say honestly that New Zealand has so much to offer. Sure, the history isn't there, which personally I love, but as someone who also loves the outdoors, it's simply a stunning place to visit. Certainly a good option over EU as it may be unlikely EU will be even open.
I heard it could be two years before Qantas gets back to normal, and I think it will be the same for many others.
Do some research, see what you find...I think you'll be satisfied.
You are right Europe is out of the question for quite awhile give me NZ any day rather be amongst clean air and beautiful nature at the moment also Thailand and Vietnam will be on the cards for me many beautiful islands you can escape to in these countries.
Take a look at Koh Mook and Koh Kradan in Phuket , Thailand on the Andaman sea real paradises and it will be safer then Europe also be open for traveling early next year if not sooner.