Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place & home

Posts tagged ‘Te Wahipounamu’

Milford Sound, Piopiotahi, Fiordland National Park, Te Moana o Atawhenua, Southland, South Island, Te Wahipounamu, Te Wai Pounamu, Te Waipounamu, Te Waka a Maui, Te Waka o Aoraki, New Zealand, Aotearoa,

Fotoeins Friday: RTW10, thirty-one

10 years ago, I began an around-the-world (RTW) journey lasting 389 consecutive days, from 24 December 2011 to 15 January 2013 inclusive.

25 July 2012.

Like many before me, I’ve purchased a package for a daytrip on New Zealand’s South Island. After a 5-hour ride from Queenstown on a large comfortable coach/bus, we arrive at Milford Sound (Piopiotahi) and hop onto a 2-hour cruise into the waters of the Fiordland (Te Moana o Atawhenua). Pyramid-shaped frosted mountain peaks, steep cliffs, tall waterfalls, and deep fjords are the common sight; another bonus comes with the arrival of dolphins swimming alongside the boat.

The highlighted geographical feature in this post is located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand”. I made the image on 25 Jul 2012 with a Canon EOS450D (Rebel XSi) and these settings: 1/1600-sec, f/4, ISO200, and 18mm focal length (29mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-mgM.

Aotearoa, Ka Tiritiri o te Moana, Lake Matheson, Maori South Island, Southern Alps, Tai Poutini, Te Ara Kairaumati, Te Wahipounamu, Te Wai Pounamu, Te Waipounamu, Te Waka a Maui, Te Waka o Aoraki, UNESCO, West Coast, Westland Tai Poutini National Park, World Heritage, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: RTW10, thirty

10 years ago, I began an around-the-world (RTW) journey lasting 389 consecutive days, from 24 December 2011 to 15 January 2013 inclusive.

22 July 2012.

After spending the morning and a part of the afternoon walking to and from the Fox Glacier, I arranged for an afternoon shuttle-bus ride from the township to (and back from) Lake Matheson (Te Ara Kairaumati). The walk around the lake is not physically demanding, and at the northwest end of the lake is the viewpoint called “View of Views.” A small clearing through the trees provides a view across the lake and beyond to the nation’s two highest mountains: Mount Tasman (Horokoau) and Mount Cook (Aoraki). As it’s my only day in the area, the timing is excellent at the final light of day.

The highlighted geographical feature in this post is located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand”. I made the image on 22 Jul 2012 with a Canon EOS450D (Rebel XSi) and these settings: 1/160-sec, f/4.5, ISO400, and 34mm focal length (54mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-mgJ.

Franz Josef Glacier, Westland National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Aotearoa, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: RTW10, twenty-nine

10 years ago, I began an around-the-world (RTW) journey lasting 389 consecutive days, from 24 December 2011 to 15 January 2013 inclusive.

20 July 2012.

On New Zealand’s South Island, two glaciers have unusual attributes by comparison to other glaciers around the world: they’re presently located adjacent to a temperate rainforest, and they’re both accessible on foot and with personal vehicle. One of these glaciers has the Māori name “Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere” for “the tears of Hine Hukatere”, after a tragic story passed by oral tradition from one generation to the next. The colonizers’ name is the Franz Josef Glacier, named in 1865 by German geologist Julius von Haast after the Austrian emperor of the time.

In the image here, I’m standing next to a massive terminal moraine just out of frame at right. This is the safe and “nearest” viewpoint, about 0.5 km from the head of the receding glacier. The glacier melt is responsible for the Waiho river, whose initial flow is marked by the diagonal line of rocks towards the lower left. Poor “stick people”! You can read more about my daytrip to the Franz Josef Glacier.

The highlighted geographical feature in this post is located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand”. I made the image on 20 Jul 2012 with a Canon EOS450D (Rebel XSi) and these settings: 1/1600-sec, f/4, ISO100, and 25mm focal length (40mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-mez.

Kea, alpine parrot, Homer Tunnel, Milford Road, South Island, Te Waipounamu, Aotearoa, New Zealand, fotoeins.com

Waitangi Day (6 Feb): 15 images from Aotearoa

Above/featured: The kea is the world’s only alpine parrot and on the endangered list; on Milford Road near Homer Tunnel.

On the 6th of February, I’ll be humming “E Ihowa Atua” and “Pokarekare Ana”.

Waitangi Day is a national holiday in New Zealand to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840. As the founding document of the country, the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is an accord agreed upon by representatives of the Crown (British Empire) and of indigenous Māori iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes). The agreement is named after the name of the location in the Bay of Islands where the Treaty was first signed. Despite continuing disagreements between the two parties about contemporary extent and redress, I think the conversation and interactions between the communities are at a more advanced stage of integration within the nation’s fabric by comparison with Australia and Canada.

For Aotearoa, the New Zealand government approved in October 2013 formal names of the two main islands in Māori and English:

•   Te Ika a Māui (“the fish of Māui”) for the North Island, and
•   Te Wai Pounamu (“the waters of greenstone”) for the South Island.

I highlight Aotearoa with 15 images of the following locations:

  1. Akaroa
  2. Auckland
  3. Dunedin
  4. Franz Josef Glacier *
  5. Greymouth
  6. Hapuku (Seaward Kaikouras)
  7. Homer Tunnel *
  8. Lake Matheson *
  9. Milford Sound *
  10. Queen Charlotte Sound
  11. Queenstown
  12. Southern Alps *
  13. Waimakariri River
  14. Wellington City
  15. Wellington Harbour

Asterisks identify locations within the Te Wāhipounamu area in South West New Zealand which was inscribed in 1990 as UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes four national parks: Aoraki/Mount Cook, Fiordland, Mount Aspiring, and Westland Tai Poutini.

( Click here for images and more )

Air Safaris, Southern Alps, Westland National Park, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand, fotoeins.com, myRTW

Fotoeins Friday: Aoraki-Horokoau flyby, New Zealand

21 July 2012.

Approximate location: -43.546433, 170.144492 (43°32’47.2″S 170°08’40.2″E)
Approximate altitude: 3000 metres (9850 feet)
View azimuth: 170 to 175 degrees (south-southeast)

We’re up among New Zealand’s Southern Alps as the flight takes us over Westland Tai Poutini National Park and Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. I’ve supplied featured labels to help with orientation in this southeast view. Despite scale, height, and distance, I get the distinct feeling that I can just about leap out of the plane to a soft snow landing or if I could reach out with my hand, I could touch the nation’s two tallest mountains, Aoraki (Mount Cook) and Horokoau (Mount Tasman), sacred to the Māori people.

A visual account of the circular flight over southwest New Zealand can be seen here. The west coast on the nation’s South Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

During my year-long RTW, I made this photo on 21 July 2012 with the Canon 450D, 18-55 kit-lens, and the following settings: 1/3200-sec, f/5, ISO200, and 33mm focal length (53mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-9Zb.

Alhambra, Sierra Nevada, Granada, Andalucia, Spain, fotoeins.com

UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Around the World

Since 1995, I’ve been fortunate to experience significant travel: first as green graduate student on my first (of many) trips to Chile; followed by the opportunity to live and work in 3 countries on 3 continents inside a span of 10 years. I didn’t give much thought about their relative importance at the time, but I’m lucky to have visited a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS).

UNESCO World Heritage logo, Wikimedia CC3 license

( Click here for images and more )

New Zealand: inside Fiordland’s Milford Sound

A trip to New Zealand’s South Island is incomplete without a visit to the Fiordland National Park. A stop at one or both of Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound is also highly recommended, as they are some of the most popular destinations in New Zealand and on the South Island. From Queenstown, I sided with Real Journeys for a daytrip out to Milford Sound: morning coach on the only road access, Milford Sound Highway (State Highway 94), from Queenstown to Milford Sound; a boat into the fiord; and the return to Queenstown by plane. The Maori Ngai Tahu name for the body of water is Piopiotahi (“one piopio bird”). The piopio resembles a thrush but is considered extinct with the last sighting in 1905.

Much of the scenery reminds me of my home province: coastal British Columbia. Carved by glacial activity, Fjords (also spelled “fiords”) are long narrow inlets with steep sides or cliffs. My time in southwest New Zealand reminds me of home along the southwest coast of British Columbia.

( Click here for images and more )

New Zealand: Air Safaris’ Grand Traverse flight over the Southern Alps

The majestic mountain spine along New Zealand’s South Island is known as “The Southern Alps”; the Maori Ngai Tahu name for these mountains is “kā tiritiri o te moana”. For many locations around the South Island, you cannot avoid or ignore the sight of looming towers of rock and snow.

Between visits to the Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier, I’d been thinking about whether or not I should have a look at the mountains from above. It would be beautiful, but it also seemed very expensive. What to do, what to do … it sounds stupid writing it out now, but a unique opportunity had presented itself, and I knew I’d have deep regrets if I didn’t take it.

I bit the proverbial bullet and hopped onto a plane with Air Safaris for a 50-minute “The Grand Traverse” tour including aerial views of various glaciers, Horokoau (Mount Tasman), and Aoraki (Mount Cook).

( Click here for images and more )

Lake Matheson, Westland National Park, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, fotoeins.com

New Zealand: Lake Matheson & the southern Alps at sunset

Rewards go to the patient, especially those on daytime walks through the temperate rainforest to the Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier.

After all, this area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After my visit to Fox Glacier earlier in the day, I arranged for a short 10-minute shuttle from Fox Glacier town to Lake Matheson (Te Ara Kairaumati) before sunset. Even in winter’s low-season, I was surprised by how few people were around to enjoy the view.

The sequence of photos below span a period of just over one hour in time. Appearing in most of the photos are the two grand snow-frosted peaks: Mount Tasman (Horokoau) on the left and Aoraki (Mount Cook) on the right.

( Click here for more )

New Zealand: forest walk to Fox Glacier

With coach services, I’ve been making my way down the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island. I spend a couple of days around Franz Josef town, and I describe the walk from town to the Franz Josef Glacier.

Will a visit to the Fox Glacier be as memorable? To find out, I head south on Highway 6 (Haast Highway) to Fox Glacier town, some 20 kilometres from Franz Josef town. Fox Glacier town was once known as Weheka which is also the original Māori name for Cook river nearby.

( Click here for images and more )

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