first thing that gobsmacks an aussie is their mountains and rivers.

their trees, forests, fungi and ferns are pretty good as well

pepe said:

first thing that gobsmacks an aussie is their mountains and rivers.

Wouldn’t Mind going there myself, Wonder if they have any Wyandotte clubs over there. Any Rapids on these rivers?

like this one Pepe

Veg gardener said:

pepe said:

first thing that gobsmacks an aussie is their mountains and rivers.

Wouldn’t Mind going there myself, Wonder if they have any Wyandotte clubs over there. Any Rapids on these rivers?

yep – plenty of rapids. you would love it.
they have a lot of poultry in the canterbury plains near christchurch so i’m sure you could write to some poultry clubs before you go.

Thee said:

like this one Pepe

thanks – it’s easy to see why ‘lord of the rings’ was filmed in nz.

pepe said:

Veg gardener said:

pepe said:

first thing that gobsmacks an aussie is their mountains and rivers.

Wouldn’t Mind going there myself, Wonder if they have any Wyandotte clubs over there. Any Rapids on these rivers?

yep – plenty of rapids. you would love it.
they have a lot of poultry in the canterbury plains near christchurch so i’m sure you could write to some poultry clubs before you go.

Thanks Pepe, might be worth looking into it a bit more, for one Im a bit more Older.

pepe said:

their trees, forests, fungi and ferns are pretty good as well

Lovely photos pepe. Lovely and lush.

nz did miss out on indigenous wild life tho’. no roos, no snakes, about 4 lizards in total and practically nothing bigger than a bird.
can you pick which two of these is native to nz?
(the first photo is a bee)

Nice kea :) Seeing keas was one of my favourite things when I went to NZ years and years ago. Going to go back with Mr Bon one day.

we went on a very enjoyable cave tour.
that first photo is ….. glo-worms. i watched as a moth got caught in these sticky dangling threads (webs) and a worm came climbing down to eat it – very liike a spider.

pepe said:

we went on a very enjoyable cave tour.
that first photo is ….. glo-worms. i watched as a moth got caught in these sticky dangling threads (webs) and a worm came climbing down to eat it – very liike a spider.

Cool photos. Love the second one

bon008 said:

Nice kea :) Seeing keas was one of my favourite things when I went to NZ years and years ago. Going to go back with Mr Bon one day.

it’s very nice of those kiwis to keep the islands in such good nick for us LOL.
i could live there i think.
…and you would know that the last photo is the nuisance kea – the one next to it is the indigenous weka. the weka is a nice bird that looks a lot like the kiwi without the long beak.

AnneS said:

pepe said:

we went on a very enjoyable cave tour.
that first photo is ….. glo-worms. i watched as a moth got caught in these sticky dangling threads (webs) and a worm came climbing down to eat it – very liike a spider.

Cool photos. Love the second one

ta anneS – the soft curving limestone folds of the last photo are my fav.

christchurch’s botanic gardens is very british

the architecture and rural scenes are also very european (american).

pepe said:

nz did miss out on indigenous wild life tho’. no roos, no snakes, about 4 lizards in total and practically nothing bigger than a bird.
can you pick which two of these is native to nz?
(the first photo is a bee)

I’m guessing the last two.

1. akaroa – an old volcan with an inlet to the sea -
2. the beaches are no sand – all river washed pebbles
3. scenery everywhere
4. sunset at birdling flat

pepe said:

1. akaroa – an old volcan with an inlet to the sea -
2. the beaches are no sand – all river washed pebbles
3. scenery everywhere
4. sunset at birdling flat

Wow – stunning shots!

pepe said:

AnneS said:

pepe said:

we went on a very enjoyable cave tour.
that first photo is ….. glo-worms. i watched as a moth got caught in these sticky dangling threads (webs) and a worm came climbing down to eat it – very liike a spider.

Cool photos. Love the second one

ta anneS – the soft curving limestone folds of the last photo are my fav.

they’re all great.

pepe said:

christchurch’s botanic gardens is very british

Was there much damage from the earthquake?

Love the photos Pepe. Afraid I don’t look too closely at other people’s holiday snaps, makes me green-eyed ;)

Older son (the uni student) and his mate booked flights to north island NZ for uni break next July, reckon they’re gonna try snow skiing! Got cheap flights $360 return.

AnneS said:

pepe said:

christchurch’s botanic gardens is very british

Was there much damage from the earthquake?

it was well hidden – well – demolished and removed actually – historic buildings are being restored – slowly.
nz envies australia’s economy – so the quake has hurt them because they have an unacceptably high national debt.
it isn’t bad so you notice any disruption – and they get a lot of quakes so they are used to it.

Yeehah said:

Love the photos Pepe. Afraid I don’t look too closely at other people’s holiday snaps, makes me green-eyed ;)

Older son (the uni student) and his mate booked flights to north island NZ for uni break next July, reckon they’re gonna try snow skiing! Got cheap flights $360 return.

that is cheap
- and backpacking – YHA type living is very normal among the young over there. it is the home of old cars and daggy dressing.

hey – i photographed Fred Dagg !
hang on a minute.

Fred Dagg and his mates put up road blocks anywhere they want so their lambs can cross the road – there’s Fred in his gumboots

pepe said:

Fred Dagg and his mates put up road blocks anywhere they want so their lambs can cross the road – there’s Fred in his gumboots

ROFL!

Terrific pics Pepe.
I will be back later to go through them all :)

Yeehah said:

Love the photos Pepe. Afraid I don’t look too closely at other people’s holiday snaps, makes me green-eyed ;)

Older son (the uni student) and his mate booked flights to north island NZ for uni break next July, reckon they’re gonna try snow skiing! Got cheap flights $360 return.

You’ve lived so long in alpine areas abnd he’s never tried skiing??????

pepe said:

Fred Dagg and his mates put up road blocks anywhere they want so their lambs can cross the road – there’s Fred in his gumboots

We knew a family who’s last name was Dagg. LOL

enjoying the tour, Pepe :)

bluegreen said:

enjoying the tour, Pepe :)

thanks BG – i think all the album is public if you just want a slideshow ?

p1 – nz hedgerows – normally 6m high but up to 18m high and clipped using tractor driven hedging machines
p2 – lovely tree
p3 – water – nz’s big asset

crackin’ stuff pepe, brings back some fantastic memories, although I reckon if you find some boulders on the beach on the east coast of the south isle, you’ll find some sand.

and yeehah, I was always under the impression, the good snow is on the south island, prolly why his tickets are sooo cheap.

pain master said:

and yeehah, I was always under the impression, the good snow is on the south island, prolly why his tickets are sooo cheap.

Well, he’ll figure that out I guess. He’s unflappably optimistic (I fed him fish oil supplements for years) and he’ll be determined to have a good time regardless. I think the mate has a mate whose family might own a house or their cousin’s aunty does or something like that so they might have a free bed for a bit, lol! It’s all good.

pain master said:

crackin’ stuff pepe, brings back some fantastic memories, although I reckon if you find some boulders on the beach on the east coast of the south isle, you’ll find some sand.

and yeehah, I was always under the impression, the good snow is on the south island, prolly why his tickets are sooo cheap.

new brighton – and yes it has white sand. this is a terrific modern building – its a cafe and library by the sea. the library has big comfortable armchairs overlooking the beach.
can anyone ID the tree?

pepe said:

pain master said:

crackin’ stuff pepe, brings back some fantastic memories, although I reckon if you find some boulders on the beach on the east coast of the south isle, you’ll find some sand.

and yeehah, I was always under the impression, the good snow is on the south island, prolly why his tickets are sooo cheap.

new brighton – and yes it has white sand. this is a terrific modern building – its a cafe and library by the sea. the library has big comfortable armchairs overlooking the beach.
can anyone ID the tree?

nah, BIG boulders…. Murake or something like that?

pepe said:

pain master said:

crackin’ stuff pepe, brings back some fantastic memories, although I reckon if you find some boulders on the beach on the east coast of the south isle, you’ll find some sand.

and yeehah, I was always under the impression, the good snow is on the south island, prolly why his tickets are sooo cheap.

new brighton – and yes it has white sand. this is a terrific modern building – its a cafe and library by the sea. the library has big comfortable armchairs overlooking the beach.
can anyone ID the tree?

that tree ain’t a Sequoia gone wrong is it?

Thanks Pepe for the quick look around. Never expected to go to New Zealand just before Christmas.

pomolo said:

Thanks Pepe for the quick look around. Never expected to go to New Zealand just before Christmas.

no probs pomolo.

ps – their pinot gris wine is very fashionable and we did bring a bottle home. in fact we had a lot of good meals and wine over there. their fresh veg is cheaper than ours – particularly due to the dollar conversion rate.

pain master said:

pepe said:

pain master said:

crackin’ stuff pepe, brings back some fantastic memories, although I reckon if you find some boulders on the beach on the east coast of the south isle, you’ll find some sand.

and yeehah, I was always under the impression, the good snow is on the south island, prolly why his tickets are sooo cheap.

new brighton – and yes it has white sand. this is a terrific modern building – its a cafe and library by the sea. the library has big comfortable armchairs overlooking the beach.
can anyone ID the tree?

nah, BIG boulders…. Murake or something like that?

moraine – wash from the glazier that made the valley – altho nz’ers might pronounce it murake LOL.

pain master said:

pepe said:

pain master said:

crackin’ stuff pepe, brings back some fantastic memories, although I reckon if you find some boulders on the beach on the east coast of the south isle, you’ll find some sand.

and yeehah, I was always under the impression, the good snow is on the south island, prolly why his tickets are sooo cheap.

new brighton – and yes it has white sand. this is a terrific modern building – its a cafe and library by the sea. the library has big comfortable armchairs overlooking the beach.
can anyone ID the tree?

that tree ain’t a Sequoia gone wrong is it?

don’t know but they do have native pines – pink, silver, white pines etc.