New Zealand - Franz Josef Glacier

From subtropical to glacial - New Zealand has it all.  Roughly halfway down the west coast of the South Island is Franz Josef Glacier.  An easy and pretty 30 minute hike takes you to the foot of the glacier, which pushes its way out of the majestic Southern Alps range.

The immense scale of the glacier (of which we only see the very bottom) is not apparent even when standing at the base looking up.  It's only when you spot a group of people taking a guided tour onto the glacier that you realise how big it is.  Do you see them?  The first group is in the middle of the lower section of ice (roughly where the lower right Rule of Thirds lines cross) and the second, smaller group is further down, to the right.

Below we have a close up of the glacier.  The ice has cracked and formed crevasses under the immense pressure from further up.  What surprised me most was how astonishingly blue the ice is.

For more in the New Zealand series, click HERE

Newborn Little Angel

This darling little angel has been a popular image and so I'm reposting her in an easily-viewable size.  The shoot from which this photo came was originally posted HERE, where it was part of a larger, enhanced image of this precious little baby girl.  Enjoy!

New Zealand - West Coast Streams and Waterfalls

A lot of rain makes for beautiful rainforests and an abundance of streams, rivers and waterfalls.  The trail out to Franz Josef Glacier leads through native bush and alongside waterways such as this one below.

For more in the New Zealand series, click HERE

New Zealand - Sailing Cook Strait

New Zealand is made up of three main islands: the aptly-named North Island and South Island, and the much smaller (but not forgotten) Stewart Island.  Between the North and South Islands flows Cook Strait, connecting the Tasman Sea from the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east.

At its narrowest point, Cook Strait is only 24km (14.9mi) wide, however the trip between Wellington and Picton is 70km (43.5mi).  The southern leg of this three hour ferry ride is a visual treat through the scenic Marlborough Sounds.

For more in the New Zealand series, click HERE

New Zealand - Rainforest

Say the word 'rainforest' and most likely the kind of places that come to mind are the Amazon and Hawaii.  However, rainforests are not restricted to hot, humid regions.  The US northwest has rainforests and a great deal of New Zealand is covered in rainforest.

The thing about rainforests is that they need a lot of water - hence the name rain-forest.  So it wasn't surprising that we met with rain on the west coast of the South Island.  Lake Ianthe, roughly halfway between Hokitika and Franz Josef Glacier, is a pretty area with plenty of typical New Zealand bush, as shown in these photos:

For more in the New Zealand series, click HERE

New Zealand - Punakaiki: Pancake Rocks

The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki really are a spectacular sight.  The layers were caused by dead marine creatures settling on the seabed 2km (1.25mi) below the ocean surface, along with with mud and clay.  The weight of the water gradually compressed the sediment into hard lime-rich layers and softer mud layers.  

This layering and compressing continued, and the formations were eventually raised above sea level by earthquake activity over a great period of time.  Once exposed, wind, rain and waves eroded the soft layers, leaving the aptly-named pancake stacks.

This shot was taken at the other end of the bay from the Pancake Rocks trail.  The sun peeked through clouds and lit up the cliff face, giving a better idea of the size of the formations.

For more in the New Zealand series, click HERE

New Zealand Weka

Our second day in the South Island saw us heading from St. Arnaud to Westport, hoping to get photos of seals at Cape Foulwind.  Unfortunately it was raining and blowing a gale (go figure) but I was treated with a weka which allowed me to get quite close.  These birds are around 55cm (22in) in length and are one of the many flightless birds native to New Zealand.

For more in the New Zealand series, click HERE