General Subjects > Travel / Places to Visit

Top of the West Coast New Zealand.

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t00lie:
As i mentioned on another thread my wife and i travelled last week from the bottom of the South island, up through the the center ,across to the West Coast.The following are mainly scenery shots with a bit of local mining history thrown in.

The first pic is an example of a typical forested valley as we headed away from the dry Central Otago area into the Southern Alps.

Our weather of the last month or two has resulted in a good covering of snow on the 'tops' with the resultant snow melt colouring the rivers and waterfalls in full splendour.

Once you cross the main divide and reach South Westland the road generally hugs the coast allowing spectacular vistas especially where the mountain ranges reach right to the sea.

Hilda and i were based further up country in the township of Westport some 70 odd ks. south of where the West Coast road ends ,(the only access north from the road end is a 4 or 5 day tramp --coastal then inland to reach civilisation.).

Westport is coal country and while we were unable to tour the large Stockton Mine where basically a whole mountain is slowly being reduced in height ,we had a look around the small community of Millerton on a plateau some 900 mtres above the sea.

I'm a bit scratchy on the full details,( i should have listened more to our guides  :-[)however i understand this was the site of a once thriving mine evidenced by aging machinery and buildings .

Hopefully some of the pics give you an idea of the vegetation .The most prominent feature for me being the size and health of the Tree ferns which were everywhere.

Cheers Dave.




 

Ian Y:
Thanks for sharing these pictures Dave, it is fascinating to see how nature takes back what belongs to her, and how quickly it can happen. It is a beautiful country.

I love the tree fern - it is so good to see it growing happily where it belongs. I get upset by the number that have been appearing for sale in the UK. There are so many that they are even in the plant sections of the big DIY chains, you can choose little ones or big ones. Leave them where they belong I say.

Anthony Darby:
Difficult to get an idea of distances. How long did it take you to drive through the centre of the South Island? I can get to the south coast of England in less than 10 hours and no part of the UK is further than 57 miles from the coast.

It is interesting that tree ferns seem to be very abundant in UK stores. They are still not cheap, but being put to better use than in the past when they were used as ships' ballast and then dumped. But then are they being dug up for the purpose of sale or a by-product of deforestation? At a growth rate of a foot every ten years (for Dicksonia antarctica, D. squarrosa grows a foot a year) it is easy to work out how old each tree fern could be.

Paddy Tobin:
Dave,

Wonderful photographs, many thanks. They really give a feel of the countryside. From this side of the globe it all looks so lush, tropical almost, and so very interesting.

Enjoyed, many thanks.

Paddy

Thomas Huber:
Thanks for the photos, Dave!
But why do you only show Hilda's backside?
Show us her beautiful smile!

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