Come Fly With Me - To New Zealand

[Mad Aussie]

My wife and I just returned from a couple of weeks on the North Island of New Zealand.
It was a budget holiday, we needed to get away and de-stress a bit, so the rainforests, rivers, and lakes of beautiful New Zealand were the destination this time.

We flew into the town of Hamilton for a night before hiring a car and driving south to the volcanic plateau region of Taupo where we stayed in a small unit in the town of Turangi.

What follows (as I add photos over the next few days, week or so) is the things we found of interest as we made our hiking boots earn their keep.

So ... after getting up at 2am this morning to catch the plane home, here's a small start to our holiday before I hit the sack and am rendered unconscious.

Our holiday began with a night in the home of a school friend of my wife's. Julie, her husband Wayne, and their two young kids Rose and Anthony were wonderful hosts and after our time in Turangi we would return here for a few days before heading home.

A quick walk took us through some bush until we found a lovely garden ... complete with big Bumble Bee's.
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I'd never seen this type of pine cone before ...
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The next morning we awoke to noises from the nearby school. Slowly but surely Skippy was taking shape. Rose and Anthony wanted to remember the occasion.
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[Mad Aussie]

With some excitement we arrived in the Taupo region that evening ... world famous for it's Trout fishing and beautiful rivers.

First order of business was unpack and see if there was a sunset over the huge lake. Lake Taupo is the crater of the largest volcanic eruption in the world in the past 5000 years.
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That's all I have for tonight, but coming up are stunning rivers, geothermal scenes, geographic formations, volcanoes, alpine environments, native birds, amazing river views, and more.

[celksy]

Gorgeous shots and I love the surreal quality of the balloon over the houses. That # 3 flower shot is a beauty.

[Lungelarry]

Evening on the Lake...super shot

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Celsky and Larry

One last one of the first evening at the lake ...
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Our first morning in the Turangi/Taupo region and we put on our boots and went for an early walk around the Tongariro River. This is a famous river for the Trout fishing. We saw many trout ourselves.

One of several walk bridges across the river ...
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I liked the lichen colours on the timber ...
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View from the bridge ...
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Starling
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Finch
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[Runmonty]

Great set MA - Love the colours in the first few. Those pine cones are pretty cool.

Lake Taupo is beautiful and you have captured in nicely. I was there a few years ago for work, and enjoyed walking around it (part of the way at least).

The shots of the balloon are fun, but I cant help but feel the location of the basket is unfortunate, hanging where it does under the tail :) As for that flag, I wont even start to think about smart comments about a kangaroo with a Brazilian.

Looking forward to seeing more of your trip

[Mad Aussie]

The shots of the balloon are fun, but I cant help but feel the location of the basket is unfortunate, hanging where it does under the tail :) As for that flag, I wont even start to think about smart comments about a kangaroo with a Brazilian.
:) :) :) Hilarious! You know Iggy found the photo on Flickr and made a comment about the basket but he wasn't nearly as eloquent as you were ;)
'Brazilian' ... I missed that thought at the time ... very clever :)

[Runmonty]

:) :) :) Hilarious! You know Iggy found the photo on Flickr and made a comment about the basket but he wasn't nearly as eloquent as you were ;)
'Brazilian' ... I missed that thought at the time ... very clever :)

Just read it - Very funny

[Mad Aussie]

I found this web hanging off the bridge as we crossed.
New Zealand has 2500 species of spider, only 3 are considered dangerous to humans. 1 is the White Tailed Spider but recent Australian research has shown these spiders to not be responsible for the necrosis it was being blamed for. The native spider of concern is the Katapo which is very closely related to the American Black Widow. The last one is the Australian Redback which is found only in two small areas in NZ. The Redback is also closely related to the Black Widow but a bit more robust.
NZ also has a few larger spiders in remote areas that can cause a lot of pain if bitten.
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A cool tree by the river
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My wife Leanne walking through a section of trail guarded by 'Toi Toi' .... a plant with sharp grass that can easily cut you open. As a kid we used to through the Toi Toi stalks around as spears, rockets or whatever our imaginations came up with. We'd even jam them on the back of our bikes so the small bits of Toi Toi would float away as we rode along.
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We saw loads of trout in the river and there was no shortage of men chasing them with their fly rods.
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[kat]

Wonderful wonderful set!

[Barefoot]

Some amazing stuff in there. You found a wonderful web.

[Mad Aussie]

Wonderful wonderful set! Thanks Kat ... I'm just getting started ;)


Some amazing stuff in there. You found a wonderful web. Cheers Barefoot

[theantiquetiger]

The image of the balloon over the houses is awesome and very thought provoking. I didn't realize what it was until the following image. It is just something very strange looking. Nice capture!!!

[Mad Aussie]

The image of the balloon over the houses is awesome and very thought provoking. I didn't realize what it was until the following image. It is just something very strange looking. Nice capture!!!
Cheers Tiger :)

[Mad Aussie]

As we walked on the far bank of the river we encountered more feathered friends. This is a very common little bird in New Zealand called the Silvereye, and sometimes called Waxeye. We have them here too but they are far less often seen.
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We came upon a stretch of trail with a heap of these plants
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It was still early and cool this morning. We found this Bumble Bee sleeping on a thistle.
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Finch species have established themselves well in NZ too ...
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[Marko]

Wow what a lovely and varied set MA! really dig the fishing images, the spider web images and the flying kangaroo butt.

[Mad Aussie]

Wow what a lovely and varied set MA! really dig the fishing images, the spider web images and the flying kangaroo butt.
Glad you like :)

So much to come yet ...

[AntZ]

Fantastic shots MA. Can't wait to see the rest.

[Mad Aussie]

Ok as our walk continued the trail climbed up and we could look down on the river and the main bridge into Turangi. We'll walk across that shortly and watch some fly fishermen.
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On the bridge and the walk is almost over
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A big Rainbow Trout that welcomes you as you drive into town
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[Mad Aussie]

Fantastic shots MA. Can't wait to see the rest.
Thanks AntZ :)

[Hillbillygirl]

Absolutely beautiful scenes and memories you have captured and shared with us MA. A big thanks for doing so again. Love seeing this part of the world as you present it so well in your work.

[Iguanasan]

Great set... I think the fellows fishing back on page 1... the first in the set of "Fly Fishing" is my favourite shot but that cool spider web is a close second.

[Doug L]

Really enjoy the composition of last fly fishing shot.

[Mad Aussie]

Absolutely beautiful scenes and memories you have captured and shared with us MA. A big thanks for doing so again. Love seeing this part of the world as you present it so well in your work.
Thank you very much for saying so HBG. Stay tuned for so much more and much of it much prettier yet :)


Great set... I think the fellows fishing back on page 1... the first in the set of "Fly Fishing" is my favourite shot but that cool spider web is a close second.
Cheers Iggy. I found and shot some more webs later in the holiday ... you'll see those later :)


Really enjoy the composition of last fly fishing shot.
Thanks Doug!

[Gremlich]

I'm just gonna give up and sell my gear.....

[Mad Aussie]

I'm just gonna give up and sell my gear.....
Nooooooooooooooooo :eek:

[Mad Aussie]

Another day and another adventure. We headed off and drove up to a nearby lookout that over looked Lake Taupo.
Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand.
Lake Taupo lies in a caldera created by a supervolcanic eruption which occurred approximately 26,500 years ago. According to geological records, the volcano has erupted 28 times in the last 27,000 years. Taupo eruptions are rated as the largest in the world in the past 5000 years.
With a surface area of 616 square kilometres (238 sq mi), it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray (Papua New Guinea).

Lake Taupo has a perimeter of approximately 193 kilometres, a deepest point of 186 metres. It is drained by the Waikato River (New Zealand's longest river), while its main tributaries are the Waitahanui River, the Tongariro River, and the Tauranga Taupo River. It is a noted trout fishery with stocks of introduced brown trout and rainbow trout.
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In the previous photo we look over the small area of Tokaanu and then off towards the western shores of lake Taupo.
This shot is of a small stream that runs through a small geothermal area ...
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Next we drove up and around to the western shores of the lake where we visited two beautiful little bays with crystal clear water ...
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[AcadieLibre]

Some stunning photos and trip is always a trip and glad you got away for one.

[Mad Aussie]

After enjoying the lake (we'd return to that in a few days), we headed off for a look at the Tongariro National Park on the volcanic plateau. There are 3 main mountains here, Mt Tongariro (pron. ton ga rir o) which still steams away as you'll see in the photos below, Mt Ruapehu (pron. roo a pay oo) which has erupted significantly a few times in recent years, and the cone shaped Mt Ngauruhoe (pron. nar a ho ee) which erupted last in the 60's and was used as Mt Doom for the Lord of the Rings movies.
Mt Ruapehu has several ski fields.

Mt Tongariro comes into view and the smoking crater on it's side is active today
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Lord of the Rings' Mt Doom is really Mt Ngauruhoe. Here we see it jutting up off the lower slopes of Mt Tongariro
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A lone hiker (hiking is called 'tramping' in New Zealand) sets off on the 7 hr walk over Mt Tongariro. This walk is called the Tongariro Crossing.
The man in this photo is a fella who was hitchhiking to get here and we picked him up at the turn to the mountain. He turned out to be a Taiwanese man who called himself Cyrus. He was all smiles, very upbeat, and so very grateful that we had picked him up.
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This is New Zealand ... and we are in the mountains ... there must be some cool rivers and waterfalls around here somewhere ;)

[Mad Aussie]

Some stunning photos and trip is always a trip and glad you got away for one.
I'm glad you enjoying the trip A.L ... keep checking in ... plenty more coming, plenty more to see ... plenty of room in New Zealand for us all :)

[XPWizard]

Thanks for sharing MA. I'm having a great time, can't wait to see where we go next!

[Mad Aussie]

A few k's down the road I turned down a tiny road I'd seen on a previous visit to NZ where I knew a cool view of Mt Doom awaited.
This is a small waterfall I found first ...
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Mt Ngauruhoe (an active volcano and Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings) provides a dramatic backdrop over an alpine plateau stream ...
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[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for sharing MA. I'm having a great time, can't wait to see where we go next!
We went somehwere and did something every day pretty much ... cool you are coming along for the ride ;)

[Mad Aussie]

As the river flows downstream we come back to the turn off where a very cool little section lies.

Looking from the roadside we see this view ... the river has cutit's way through the rock to form a narrow channel ...
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I thought I'd climb down and we could all have a closer look at this ...
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Looking downstream now we now how it forms a mini gorge
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Finally the water exits the little gorge and flows under the road and away. Again, Lord of the Rings star, Mt Doom (Mt Ngauruhoe) stars in the background.
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Next we'll hike down to a nice waterfall that flows off the side of Mt Ruapehu ...

[Barefoot]

I don't know what else to say but, amazing. Very fine craftsmanship.

[Mad Aussie]

I don't know what else to say but, amazing. Very fine craftsmanship.
Nature is the best craftsman alright!

[Mad Aussie]

Before heading home for the day we took a short walk to the Tawhai (pron. Tar Fy) falls. This waterfall lies on a stream that runs off the side of Mt Ruapehu.

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And ... this is me shooting the falls while my wife shoots me :)
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The nocturnal, flightless Kiwi can become roadkill if we don't watch out for them and drive carefully
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With that he headed home ready for an early rise and a big day driving to the coastal town of New Plymouth and the other major volcano on the North Island.

[Mad Aussie]

This morning we left the Lake Taupo early, braced for a long day. Wises.co.nz had shown us our route out to the coastal town of New Plymouth was about a 2hr 17 min drive. <cough bull> <cough ****e> ... more like 4 hrs!
New Zealand is a very hilly country. And what they call hills, Aussie's call mountains!
The drive was interesting enough, scenery wise but a stretch of gravel road that lasted 37 k's through tight, winding terrain sure slowed us up.

As we climbed away to the west over the lake we had a couple of beautiful views of the low cloud blanketing the lake district
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A farm scene I liked due to the fog hanging over the hill and the unusual light
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Can't aways drive over or around the hills ...
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Before we lost all sight of our temporary home in NZ, we stopped at a lookout and looked back over the Waikato region and the Tongariro National Park and the 3 volcanoes that dominate it's landscape ...
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With limited time on our hands, we were going to be late in rendezvousing with a friend, so no more photos until we reached New Plymouth with it's interesting beaches, isolated volcano (used as Mt Fugi in the Lost Samurai) and big rock we climbed.

[Runmonty]

Really enjoying this trip MA. The stand outs for me so far are the fly fishing and the cows above (love the light)

[Mad Aussie]

Really enjoying this trip MA. The stand outs for me so far are the fly fishing and the cows above (love the light)
Thanks Runmonty. As I'm doing this in the correct timeline the best may be yet to come. Well I think they definitely are :)

[Bambi]

I'm really enjoying this vacation! thanks for taking me along. :)

[Mad Aussie]

I'm really enjoying this vacation! thanks for taking me along. :)
Cool. I haven't had time to add any in the past day or so but I figured people needed time to browse through the ones I've done so far. LOADS more to come of some very different stuff too.

[Barefoot]

Nature is the best craftsman alright!

Ha! Don't sell yourself short there, bro. These are some of your best yet. Got any Kiwi(what's the plural)yet?

[Mad Aussie]

Ha! Don't sell yourself short there, bro. These are some of your best yet. Got any Kiwi(what's the plural)yet?
Noooo .... interesting yes ... best ... nah. No Kiwi's ... most people will never see a Kiwi in the wild. Way too elusive.

[Mad Aussie]

Finally had time to put up a few more shots.

On this day we got up early and travelled out to the coastal city of New Plymouth. The online mapping told us about 2hr 17 mins drive ... yeh right. With 37 km of gravel, loads of hills and valleys ... it was nearer 4 hrs drive.
We were meeting someone I knew for a climb up a rock ... sounded easy enough seeing as he was bringing his 5 young girls with him.

Here's New Plymouth ... in a pano. You can see the extinct volcano Mt Taranaki (Mt Egmont) in the background.
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Full size here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/6968330466/sizes/o/in/photostream/)

This is Paritutu Rock ...
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It's a steep climb! Matt's girls ranged from the age of 5 yrs to 11 yrs old ... and they climbed this without issue or complaint!
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Looking down from the top of the rock ...
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[Mad Aussie]

This is Back Beach which is below the Paritutu Rock. We walked down there and let the girls play for awhile. Seals are often seen here as they live out on the islands in these photos. We didn't see any though.

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This view from the top of Paritutu Rock shows a view down the coastline to Mt Taranaki. We've walked up this mountain on a visit here many years ago but we wouldn't have the opportunity this time.
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This mountain was used in the movie 'The Lost Samurai' (and others) as Mt Fuji in Japan due to the similar shape and look when snow covered.

This view from Lake Mangamahoe which lies a few km's out of New Plymouth of Mt Taranaki.
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Pano from the lake
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Full Size Version here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrovisual/6968332914/sizes/o/in/photostream/)

[Mad Aussie]

Before we left the region for our 4 hr drive home, we visited Dawson Falls on the side of Mt Taranaki

Here's Leanne on the trail into the falls ... this walk reminded me of some of the Tasmanian trails with all the moss and lichen around.
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A typical tree environment on this walk ...
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And the falls themselves ...
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Coming up next time .... twilight shots from this day ... a walk around Lake Taupo where you'll see some cool birds ... and even me ... close enough to see how ugly I really am!!

[Yisehaq]

Wow! Very interesting MA! couldn't wait..

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Yisehaq :)


As the day ended we were 90% of the way back to Turangi and our holiday home as the sun started going down. I couldn't help jumping out of the car with the camera a few times.

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[Mad Aussie]

A new day dawned and yet again it was a beautiful day. Great day for a walk ... so out we went.
We drove around to Pukawa Bay where we did the lakeside walk around to Omori Bay.

So peaceful by this lake on a still day
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I liked this tree with the lichen on it
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After several years here at Ph.ca ... here's a shot of me! Look beside me ... a Rufous Fantail had decided to follow us on our walk. He stayed with us for about 45 mins!
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Here's the little guy flying around Leanne as well
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And here's the star up close and personal ...
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[Mad Aussie]

I liked this scene ... the Heron on the lichen spotted rock
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Quite often on these walks we saw the curious Tomtits as well ...
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[Mad Aussie]

As a kid in New Zealand we learned about the Tui ... a native bird that appears on the New Zealand currency.

I don't ever remember seeing one as a kid at all. Many years later when I returned there for a holiday I saw one in a bird sanctuary but only got a glimpse of it.

This day, on our walk around the lake we saw many of them, and would see many more on other walks in the forests of the region.

They are well known due to the two tuffs of feathers under their chin ...

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[Mad Aussie]

Last ones for today ...

New Zealand has it's own native pigeon ... and it's a beauty. HUGE ... these things are the size of a decent sized duck!
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A not so native edition is the Californian Quails ... pretty though ...
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[Yisehaq]

These are super shots and interesting subjects, MA! I like them all!

[Mad Aussie]

These are super shots and interesting subjects, MA! I like them all!Thanks man ... I appreciate you coming back to enjoy the holiday :)

[Bambi]

nice bird shots! that native bird is quite interesting!

[Mad Aussie]

nice bird shots! that native bird is quite interesting!
Thanks Bambi

[Mad Aussie]

On this trip we headed up the Huka Falls. This is a waterfalls that generated by the longest river in NZ being squeezed into a 15 metre wide and 10 metre deep rock channel resulting in 40 cubic metres of water per second launched over the falls.

Right in the top right corner is the Huka Falls Lodge ... we'll have a slightly closer look at that shortly.
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Jet boats are very popular in New Zealand. Not surprising seeing as they were invented there.
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[Mad Aussie]

While enjoying the Huka Falls we went for a short walk along a nearby trail. The beautiful Waikato River has diverse environments along it's length. In this region, it looks a bit like this ...

One of many lodges along the banks of the Waikato here ...
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Most of the Waikato River has deep banks to keep you back from the water, but here it gently laps the forest ...
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I liked the size of this tree and the forest light
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[Mad Aussie]

Returning to the falls we crossed the bridge and ended our walk at the Huka Falls.
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On the bridge I looked downstream ...
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And upstream
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[AntZ]

Just catching back up with this thread. Lots on wonderful bird shots. The heron on the rock, the pigeon are standouts for me. The landscapes are fabulous too.

[Mad Aussie]

Just catching back up with this thread. Lots on wonderful bird shots. The heron on the rock, the pigeon are standouts for me. The landscapes are fabulous too.
Thanks AntZ! So much more to come yet :)

[Mad Aussie]

Another terrible day dawned in New Zealand's central plateau region of Taupo with the forecast of 100 kph winds and driving rain.
I tell ya ... the best weather man is your bedroom window in the morning!!
Instead of huddling up in the holiday house we ventured out for a walk in and around the town of Taupo itself. We followed the course of the river and ended up way above the river looking down into it's emerald coloured waters in the early morning light.

NZ's longest river starts right here at the boat harbour at the head of the lake
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[aubintbay]

Great stuff as always MA! The scenery is just gorgeous! The colour of the water is just amazing!!!

[Mad Aussie]

Great stuff as always MA! The scenery is just gorgeous! The colour of the water is just amazing!!!
thanks AB :)

[AntZ]

Love the Autumn tree, mushroom.

[Iguanasan]

Lovely additions... Autumn Glow is my favourite from this recent post. :thumbup:

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks guys

[Doug L]

Thanks so much MA, for sharing your vacation with us. Beatiful images, all. I suspect many have now put New Zealand high on their list for 'must see' locations.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for coming in and watching Doug. Hopefully I'll find time to put more up soon ... still the most amazing river I've ever seen, trout, cool alpine environments etc to come.

[Mad Aussie]

The walk along the banks of the Waikato River on the township side continued ...

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Taupo Bungy is a very high water-dunk bungy. Here they were still setting up for the day as we walked by ...
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The Coolest Toilet block I've ever seen ...
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[Yisehaq]

Very nice MA! couldn't wait for the next destination. As always, I very much like the colors in photos.

[Mad Aussie]

Very nice MA! couldn't wait for the next destination. As always, I very much like the colors in photos.
Thanks Yisehag. It's nice to know you are watching and enjoying :)

How about swim in a natural hot water spa folks?

These shots are of a section of the Waikato River where a hot water, geothermal stream flows in creating a very warm bathing sensation

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[Mad Aussie]

Next we went to the opposite side of the river for a look ... the clear water and green weed is just stunning. Yet later in the holiday we found a small river that made this one look boring!

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This duck let me creep right up but when I got close enough ... he let me know!
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[Mad Aussie]

Ok ... you GOTTA be bored with all the river shots by now I'd think, so on our home this day we detoured to the Pureora Forest which is recognised as some of the best rainforest in the country. We only had time for a quick walk down a short trail.
Every tree was dripping with some flora life ...

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[Bambi]

wow what a great place. All of these shots are terrific. I particularly like this one:
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[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Bambi ... I like that one also :)

[Mad Aussie]

At the end of the day we sat out on the balcony and enjoyed a cup of coffee with the birds ...

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[Yisehaq]

Nice additions, MA! Very enjoyable!

[Mad Aussie]

Nice additions, MA! Very enjoyable!Thanks mate :)

[Mad Aussie]

With time still on our side I took these shots around the backyard of the holiday unit we were staying in ...

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[Mad Aussie]

Well looks what little interest I'd generated with this thread has gone so to see the rest just visit my Flickr album, thanks.

[Marko]

Just went through the entire thread just now - Sometimes I think when people (myself included) see a thread title that they've seen and commented in before, and then they see it again bolded, that the bold just means new comments instead of gorgeous new photos.....It's that....because the images are FAB dude and we love fab images!!

So Many of these are stunning actually!! and there was even a pic of you a few pages back - Kewl!
Many gorgeous bird (tomtit, heron, fantail, tui, blackbird) images and incredibly sharp which is bloody hard.
Sharp clear scenic (Tongariro national park, New Plymouth, waikato, Taupo) photographs as well - It was a pleasure to go through this thread again.
Even the sharpness on that yellow flower in the last post is awesome!
I, for one will pay more attention to threads that I've commented in before to see if the new posts are more pix to comment on....Thanks for sharing all these!

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks for taking time Marko. I REALLY do appreciate the comments, and those others made.

I think you are right though. My 'Come Travel With Me' threads used to work well but it seems people get a bit bored with them or simply forget about them before long these days. Too much effort on my part for too little response now I'm afraid.

[celksy]

Hi Mad Aussie,

I know for me, when the threads are pages long I do get a bit lazy. I've checked in with your thread about every couple of days, but it's sometimes hard to remember what pages I've already seen.... and then if I've looked at 20 or 30 photos it's hard to remember the names and qualities of my favorites. If there were a bunch together in different threads it would be easier to comment. Anyway, none of that is your fault... this has been a very enjoyable "journey" for me and you've taken lovely photos.

So I went through again and wrote down some of my faves: Tongariro River, Mahuia Rapids, Good Moo-ing, Back Beach, Twilight and day shots over the Waikato, the heron, Huka Falls, Spa Park and Autumn Glow.

Thanks again :)

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Celksy ... thanks for the effort.

[Andrew]

I too just went through them all again. Whew!! a bit tired now after all that. A great holiday log not only from a travel perspective to remember it by for you but also from a photographic side for the rest of us. Thanks for the effort you've obviously put in to sharing it with us.

[Mad Aussie]

I too just went through them all again. Whew!! a bit tired now after all that. A great holiday log not only from a travel perspective to remember it by for you but also from a photographic side for the rest of us. Thanks for the effort you've obviously put in to sharing it with us.
Thanks Andrew. Those photos only cover from the 29th Mar til the 3rd of Apr ... we were there until the 10th so many more to be seen on Flickr for those interested.

[Yisehaq]

Saw some more photos on your Flickr! They are very nice MA!

[Mad Aussie]

Saw some more photos on your Flickr! They are very nice MA!Thanks mate

[AntZ]

Thanks for taking time Marko. I REALLY do appreciate the comments, and those others made.

I think you are right though. My 'Come Travel With Me' threads used to work well but it seems people get a bit bored with them or simply forget about them before long these days. Too much effort on my part for too little response now I'm afraid.

I think like any multi picture post its hard to comment on all the pics. My holiday thread is the same, and I appreciate when someone takes the time to comment. I have so many more pics I could have posted, but tried to be selective. I guess we could have posted dozens of individual threads, but I liked the idea of linking it all together.

As for your recent additions, I really like the DOF and colour in the image of the Crocus and the Yellow flower too.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks AntZ.

[Doug L]

It's been enjoyable revisiting this thread every once in a while. One of the things that made it so interesting to me is the wide variety of shots - scenic vistas, closeups of plants and critters, people in action etc. Thanks again for the effort.

[Mad Aussie]

It's been enjoyable revisiting this thread every once in a while. One of the things that made it so interesting to me is the wide variety of shots - scenic vistas, closeups of plants and critters, people in action etc. Thanks again for the effort.
Cheers Doug ... I appreciate your feedback.
Plenty more going up on Flickr daily at present from this holiday.

[Marko]

Tree truck Gorge images - very cool!

[Hillbillygirl]

Loved every one of these shots MA. A big thanks from myself and hubby for the most enjoyable trip from your part of the world. Just some amazing scenery, and wildlife that you have captured so excellently, and shared with us here. This has to be the farthest I have ever travelled, one of the more interesting, and yet the cheapest ever for me.
Beautiful places, and only hope to one day physically visit the area some day.

[Mad Aussie]

Thanks Marko and HBG. Glad you enjoyed the trip HBG.

[Runmonty]

Have been watching this thread and enjoying your trip MA. Sorry for not commenting as often I should have.

I have also been watching your Flickr, and I encourage anyone else who has been enjoying this thread to head on over and check out MA's set over there.

[Bambi]

Have been watching this thread and enjoying your trip MA. Sorry for not commenting as often I should have.

I have also been watching your Flickr, and I encourage anyone else who has been enjoying this thread to head on over and check out MA's set over there.

I agree. i quite like our vicarious vacations!

[Mad Aussie]

Cheers Bambi and Runmonty

[bucket]

These are very jaw-dropping photos. I especially admire the 'Cool Cones'. Thanks for sharing all these Aussie. By the way, ' Evening on the Lake' is also a great set of photos that displays serenity.

[Mad Aussie]

Thank you Bucket.

[Barefoot]

Just bumping to the top for anyone new dropping by.