Readers’ wildlife photos

Today we have photos of New Zealand by Kiwi reader Keith Cook. Keith’s notes and captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

First is a home shot (Auckland) to get started and the rest are from a winter holiday (South. Is) New Zealand.

Sunrise. this is a shot of the sun rising at its most southern point (taken from home) or is that the southern hemisphere’s most northern point by the tilt of Earth? Anyway, this is the height of summer for us.

Misty river. This was taken like the following from the TranzAlpine heading towards Greymouth from Christchurch. A rail trip from the east to the west coast through the Southern Alps and we chose to come back on the same day. Being a lover of railways I enjoyed every moment of it. I took this shot from an open observation carriage. This shot is the north facing side of the carriage, the rail line and Wiamakariki river are flanked by a gorge.

South Island Bush. Taken facing south after dropping down to sea level from Arthur’s Pass I believe the forest here to be, Dept. of Conservation (DOC): “Dacrycarpus dacrydioides, commonly known as kahikatea and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand’s tallest tree, gaining heights of 60 m over a life span of 600 years.” I wouldn’t be surprised if Kauri, Agathis australis were in the shot but I can’t tell for sure.

Hillside Moon, Snow covered hills, Hillside snow cap. These are taken from the highway leading up to the Lindis Pass. A lovely scenic tour through central Otago heading north.

A restored Chinese miners hut. DOC: “In 1866 fewer than 200 Chinese miners lived in Otago, but Census figures for 1874 show that there were 3564 Chinese in Otago, and most were working on the goldfields. Often victims of harassment and discrimination, they lived on the fringes of European settlements in isolated gullies close to their mining claims.”

Arrowtown, Otago a quaint little town and tourist spot.It wasn’t all about the scenery but I wouldn’t have minded either way, the South Island was empty of all international tourist and to some extent, locals. No buses, no campervans, minimal traffic. We were the tourist! It is winter as you can see and we had just come out of 4 weeks of Covid 19 lock down. My wife and I were supposed to be in the UK visiting our daughter but this was a pretty good alternative…

Arotaki Mt Cook. Our highest peak, and it was just a beautiful day and to finally see this mountain up close and ‘live’ was a real treat.

Hillside Moon, Snow covered hills, Hillside snow cap. These are taken from the highway leading up to the Lindis Pass. A lovely scenic tour through central Otago heading north.

JAC: Here are two maps of the South Island; I’ve noted spots mentioned. “Otago” is a region of the South Island, extending from Queenstown to Dunedin:

Otago is the area encompassed by the red dashes: