My trip to New Zealand in April 2024 involved two weeks of sightseeing with my wife. That part of the trip included walking some of Abel Tasman Track with her on the northern part of the South Island. and then driving to various points south with Queenstown as the southernmost destination. After she returned to New York City, I did two weeks of solo hiking the Routeburn and Kepler Tracks in the fjordland and then flew to the North Island to walk part of the Tongariro Crossing. i’ve grouped the photos into Sightseeing and Walks and Trekking. The trekking portion of the trip is in a separate page on the website called New Zealand Trekking.

Abel Tasman Park

World Peace Bell, Christchurch Botanical Garden, gifted by Tokyo in 2006. The bell was cast from melted coins and medals from 103 countries.

Sightseeing and Walks

Queen’s Garden, Nelson

Split Rock, Abel Tasman Park

We walked the Bridal Path Walk—established by settlers who ventured from Lyttleton (on the upper right image) up over the steep hill to get to Christchurch. Now there is a cable car to get to the top of the hill but only from the Christchurch side. There are extensive views of Christchurch from the top (lower right image).

Poster about protecting New Zealand’s native birds from invasive predators. Numerous traps were spotted along the Abel Tasman trail to capture the invasive predators.

Nelson Lakes National Park

View from Summit Road near Akaroa, a community with a French identify.

Maori carving on the Abel Tasman Trail. The carving was based on a real person of the Ngao Turangapeke.

Christ Church Botanical Garden, free to the public

The Twisted Gum – An Alpine Ash, Christchurch Botanical Garden

Kate Sheppard National MemorIal, Christchurch. Women petitioned the right to vote which was granted in 1893. (Women in the U.S. were granted the right to vote in 1920 (19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution)

Mana Motuhake Sculpture (Maori) in Victoria Park, Christchurch. The scupture honors ancestors of the Ngāi Tahu chiefs who signed Kemp's Deed in 1848, which involved the purchase of Canterbury land (8 million acres on the South Island).

Near Arthur’s Pass

Taylor’s Mistake (Te Onepoto) is a bay near Christchurch that’s used for swimming and surfing. The area is named after a Captain Edward Taylor who explored the area but misidentified the bay for another and so the name for his error stuck.

Onawe Peninsula in the center. Akaroa on the rear left. Taken from Summit Road.

Images from The Giant’s House, Akaroa, home of resident ceramic artist Josie Martin. Tea and cake at the end of the visit.

Castle Hill Rocks (Kura Tāwhiti), on the way Arthur’s Pass. The statues on the left honor ancestors who lived in the area.

Arthur’s Pass, where we took several short hikes to nearby waterfalls.

Mt Cook area

Kea parrots at Arthur’s Pass looking to steal food from inattentive tourists. Their population has dwindled significantly and are considered endangered.

Astro Cafe near Lake Tekapo (on the way to Aorak/Mt. Hook).

Mount John, Lake Tekapo area

Queenstown

Views from Ben Lomond (frost/light snow on the tussock plants on the left)

A backcountry toilet on the Ben Lomond trail. The concept was good. A tank on rails under the toilet that can be moved on the short tracks away from the toilet when full and hauled away by a helicopter. But the toilet was filthy. Hopefully it is being better maintained than when I visited it. That situation is in sharp contrast to the very well maintained self-cleaning public toilets in Queenstown.

This is a sign near the top of the Queenstown Hill Walk about invasive plants and the threat they pose to the nature vegetation and habitat of New Zealand. This sign encourages readers to pull out wilding seedlings. This and the traps we saw for invasive animals on the Abel Tasman trail shows the extensive efforts being taken by New Zealand to preserve its natural environment.

The images from my hike on the Kepler and Routeburn Tracks are in a separate page on this website.

Lindi’s Pass, between Mt. Cook and Queenstown