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Occasional writings by Miraz Jordan

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Archives for February 2007

Two new faces

Just a quick post: as of this afternoon we have two new family members… a female black (and white) and a male sable and white puppy: Lhasa Apso crossed with Shih Tzu, aged 9 weeks. There are several photos in the photo album.

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Up, down and away

From Franz Josef Glacier it was time to head home, though with one more stop on the way. We travelled north again, to Hokitika and then turned east to travel over the Otira Viaduct, through Arthur’s Pass and north Canterbury to reach Christchurch. With a day in hand, we elected to stay overnight in the […]

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Franz Josef Glacier

Fox Glacier is actually only a few kilometres from Aoraki (Mt Cook, 3,754 metres high). When it’s not cloudy there are apparently some excellent views of the mountain from the Glacier Country. We were lucky enough to grab a quick photo while driving to an official viewing spot down the road from the village. After […]

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Low cloud outfoxed us

New Zealand has two readily accessible glaciers: Franz Josef, and half an hour’s drive south, Fox. As is the way of such things, these glaciers had perfectly good names before the Europeans arrived and renamed them: Kā Roimata o Hinehukatere — the tears of Hinehukatere (Franz) and Te Moeka o Tuawe — the bed of […]

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Kereru and kea

Down at Lake Matheson, near Fox Glacier in south Westland I spotted a pretty tame Kereru, or native wood pigeon. These gorgeous birds have a very distinctive flight, with slow-beating wings. · · Round the glacier carparks, and up in the mountains at the top of Otira Gorge were Kea. These cheeky parrots are very […]

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Textured forests

New Zealand has a lot of trees, especially pine forests. All over the country the European settlers cut down native forest, either clearing the land and using the timber for building and so on, or replanting with forests of exotics. I was living in Canterbury in August 1975 when the great storm came through. I […]

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Kotuku by the road

As we drove south we saw various signs for wildlife tours where one could see rare and endangered birds, such as the white heron or Kotuku. But we didn’t need a sanctuary visit, or a wildlife tour, as Deb spotted a white bird on a tree top beside the road. She stopped the car and […]

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Lake Ianthe rest stop

Once we got back on the road we decided to head for the glaciers, rather than exploring Hokitika. While the whole of the West Coast is lovely, with lush rainforests and bush, the Glacier Country is even more so. It was warm, but rainy, with low cloud and mist clinging to the hills. These three […]

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West Coast roads

West Coast roads

It was a delight to drive down the West Coast. For the last 17 years I’ve been living in Wellington, but before that I spent most of my life in Canterbury, where roads are generally long, straight, and flat. In the back country you can drive quite a way without seeing another car. In and […]

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Aptly named – Greymouth

Perhaps it was the rain, perhaps tiredness, perhaps it was just the place, or that it was Saturday, but Greymouth is aptly named. It just seemed grey and miserable. It’s an odd little place, with weird streets and funny little cafes. We had an unappetising lunch (the ‘homemade’ pies weren’t, in fact, homemade), looked at […]

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