New Zealand | willfulintent

NEW ZEALAND 2015

After our great trip to Iceland in 2012, Andrew and I wanted another exciting hiking trip, so we settled on New Zealand. Turned out to be a great decision.

The Milford Track, which at points reminded me of the Forest Moon of Endor	Our first night in New Zealand we rescued a Paradise duckling that had been trapped in thorns. Paradise ducks are protected species endemic to NZ. We made a friend who worked for the Department of Conservation, and she found him a home.	Setting off along the Milford Track
The gateway to the Milford Track	Clinton Valley, Milford Track	When in New Zealand #AllBlacksEverything
Endor...I mean Clinton Valley, Milford Track	Andrew + waterfall = good pic	The Hidden Lake along the Milford Track
Waterfalls, because I love them	Clinton Valley, Milford Track	Clinton Valley, Milford Track
Monument at Mackinnon Pass	Atop Mackinnon pass, and enjoying the view of the valley from whence we came	It's all downhill from Mackinnon Pass. Literally
The Mackinnon Pass along the Milford Track	Mackinnon Pass	Sutherland Falls cascades down three tiers over 580 meters
Sutherland Falls, New Zealand's biggest waterfall	Hiking Milford	Completed the Milford Track. Andrew and I and the awesome Kiwi couple, James and Lisa, had the entire track to ourselves!
The Blue Lake on the Tongariro Track	One of the Emerald Lakes along the Tongariro Track	The Blue Lake
Andrew at one of the Emerald Lakes	I found the dark greens of the Emerald Lakes strikingly beautiful	The Emerald Lakes from above
Another pic of the Emerald Lakes	Emerald Lakes	Posing in front of Mt. Doom. All you need is photoshop to remove the snow
The Red Crater on the Tongariro Track	The Red Crater, complete with strong smell of sulphur	The mountain over my left shoulder is nearly 200K away
Mount Taranaki	Another shot of Taranaki	Mt. Doom, or, as they call it in New Zealand, Mt. Ruapehu
Hard to beat some of these views of the coast	Andrew at the Pancake Rocks	Shaped by eons of geological activity, these rocks are stacked like pancakes
Geology is cool	The Pancake Rocks	It was too cold for a dip, but a nice day to sit on the beach and let your mind wander
Enjoying a view of the ocean	New Zealand's beautiful coastline	Too cold to swim, but not to sunbathe
Hiking along the Abel Tasman Track	Peacock. Very, very random	The only place with more sheep than Iceland is New Zealand
They stare right at you, but then run away as soon as you're within 10 feet or so	Everywhere	Sheep.for.days.
Meadow hiking	The northern tip of New Zealand's south island	#scenic
Just pulled over on the side of the road. That's how pretty a country New Zealand is	Overlooking a valley	Franz Joseph Glacier. New Zealand's glaciers are not as impressive as Iceland's
Fox Glacier	The world's only non-tropical parrot	Exotic local wildlife
New Zealand is scenic, but not known for its fauna. Except the birds. They have some cool birds	The problem is, I can't remember the names of all the birds	Gollum at the Wellington Airport
Gandalf swoops in to rescue delayed passengers

NEW ZEALAND 2015

The Milford Track, which at points reminded me of the Forest Moon of Endor

Our first night in New Zealand we rescued a Paradise duckling that had been trapped in thorns. Paradise ducks are protected species endemic to NZ. We made a friend who worked for the Department of Conservation, and she found him a home.

Setting off along the Milford Track

The gateway to the Milford Track

Clinton Valley, Milford Track

When in New Zealand #AllBlacksEverything

Endor...I mean Clinton Valley, Milford Track

Andrew + waterfall = good pic

The Hidden Lake along the Milford Track

Waterfalls, because I love them

Clinton Valley, Milford Track

Clinton Valley, Milford Track

Monument at Mackinnon Pass

Atop Mackinnon pass, and enjoying the view of the valley from whence we came

It's all downhill from Mackinnon Pass. Literally

The Mackinnon Pass along the Milford Track

Mackinnon Pass

Sutherland Falls cascades down three tiers over 580 meters

Sutherland Falls, New Zealand's biggest waterfall

Hiking Milford

Completed the Milford Track. Andrew and I and the awesome Kiwi couple, James and Lisa, had the entire track to ourselves!

The Blue Lake on the Tongariro Track

One of the Emerald Lakes along the Tongariro Track

The Blue Lake

Andrew at one of the Emerald Lakes

I found the dark greens of the Emerald Lakes strikingly beautiful

The Emerald Lakes from above

Another pic of the Emerald Lakes

Emerald Lakes

Posing in front of Mt. Doom. All you need is photoshop to remove the snow

The Red Crater on the Tongariro Track

The Red Crater, complete with strong smell of sulphur

The mountain over my left shoulder is nearly 200K away

Mount Taranaki

Another shot of Taranaki

Mt. Doom, or, as they call it in New Zealand, Mt. Ruapehu

Hard to beat some of these views of the coast

Andrew at the Pancake Rocks

Shaped by eons of geological activity, these rocks are stacked like pancakes

Geology is cool

The Pancake Rocks

It was too cold for a dip, but a nice day to sit on the beach and let your mind wander

Enjoying a view of the ocean

New Zealand's beautiful coastline

Too cold to swim, but not to sunbathe

Hiking along the Abel Tasman Track

Peacock. Very, very random

The only place with more sheep than Iceland is New Zealand

They stare right at you, but then run away as soon as you're within 10 feet or so

Everywhere

Sheep.for.days.

Meadow hiking

The northern tip of New Zealand's south island

#scenic

Just pulled over on the side of the road. That's how pretty a country New Zealand is

Overlooking a valley

Franz Joseph Glacier. New Zealand's glaciers are not as impressive as Iceland's

Fox Glacier

The world's only non-tropical parrot

Exotic local wildlife

New Zealand is scenic, but not known for its fauna. Except the birds. They have some cool birds

The problem is, I can't remember the names of all the birds

Gollum at the Wellington Airport

Gandalf swoops in to rescue delayed passengers