Wrapping up with an all-too-quick tour of the North Island. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.)

Flying from Christchurch to Napier, we had this view from over Wellington. At the bottom is Kapiti Island; on the horizon you can just make out Mt. Taranaki (subject of the first photo in Part 1):




Unfortunately had all too little free time in Hawkes Bay, but did manage a quick trip up Te Mata Peak:




Returning to Auckland, stopped in at the town of Waihi where there is a large open-pit gold mine:




We had one extra night at the end of the trip and we made a trip to the west coast near Auckland. At Muriwai Beach there's a surf school and lots of kiteboarding going on:




But the main reason we went to Muriwai was to see the Gannet colony, one of my favorite memories from the trip:




One last quick trip on our final day before our evening flight. We took the narrow winding road to Huia:




and continued on to the end at Whatipu. Here I finally got close enough to some Pukekos for some decent shots. They're common enough, but generally very skittish.




Thanks for joining me, and get yourself to NZ if you get the chance!

[davidsyd]

you will enjoy NZ south Island near Lake Tekapo and Queenstown.

[Sailor]

Another delightful series. I particularly like the B&W one and the pic of the Gannet, a revelation to someone who's ornithologically challenged like me.

Jer

[dcmsox2004]

fine series ! looks like another marvelous part of the world i'd like to visit/explore.... dave m

[london.paul1]

Another beautiful set! Thanks so much for sharing all of these. Now, to find someone willing to sit on that long of a flight with me......

[baro-nite]

you will enjoy NZ south Island near Lake Tekapo and Queenstown.

We enjoyed our stop at Lake Tekapo and I'm sorry I didn't get any good photos showing its amazing azure color.

Now, to find someone willing to sit on that long of a flight with me......

Yeah, the flight from LAX to AKL wasn't my favorite part of the trip. One could always break up the trip with a stopover in Hawaii.

Thanks to all for the kind comments!

[Bob Harris]

you sure got some wonderful bird shots and I like the way you photographed the open pit mine. Another enjoyable series to view, thanks for the travel adventure.

[dane.dawg]

Fantastic series!
More fantastic photos on your Flickr.

[slowpez]

I had to hunt this series up again as I didn't have time to comment when I first saw it. Great job on these. Enjoyed the whole set and hated to see the end of them. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Bruce Clark]

Thanks for posting these. Love the Gannet. In my last trip to NZ I missed all of these places. (A good excuse for a second visit, I say)

[baro-nite]

Thanks all! Won't take much of an excuse to get me back there again.