Abel Tasman Coast track
Abel Tasman National Park.
Keep reading for just $1
$1 trial for two weeks, thereafter $8.50 every two months, cancel any time
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Signed in as . Sign out
Spring in Haast
While all of Westland tends to be damp, southern Westland is moister than elsewhere. Haast receives a healthy 3500 mm of rain a year, but it is more than local precipitation that makes this area wet. A series of major rivers, their headwaters draining the Main Divide from Mt Cook down to west of Mt Aspiring, converge here to empty into the Pacific along only 50 km of coast. Over the last 6000 years, the debris they have carried has built the country's largest wetland plain. Lake Moeraki provides a foretaste of the area to those arriving from the north.
Blue duck: the white-water champion
At home in waters which would test a world-class kayaker, the blue duck is an icon of New Zealand wilderness. Yet its future is uncertain. Forest clearance has led to the sullying of much of the bird's habitat, and now only the remotest rivers echo to its plaintive whio . . . whio.
Island of dreams
Raoul Island is a bewitched Pacific paradise which has lured to its shores a long line of would-be settlers over the past 1000 years.
Earth, fire and water
New Zealand's geothermal areas are world renowned for their spectacular displays of colour, texture and raw power. In a new book photographer Craig Potton focuses on the jewels in our geothermal crown.
