Queenstown - Gondola - Views from the top - a tourist asked to take his picture so I thought what the heck and had him take mine. I was sure glad I did. This was another of my crazing hiking adventures that goes amuck. Anyway it turned out well in the end.

Skyline Gondola Walk - Queenstown, NZ - I should catch the clue when the hike says "skyline" I better not take it. But ever the intrepid tramper I got over my skill level and was more afraid to go down than to keep on going UP. I kept telling myself that once I got to the gondola I could cheat and take it down. Lucky for me that the trail turned into a road and the fear factor disappeared and I didn't need to take gondola down.

Queenstown - South Island - NZ - does this look surprisingly like Switzerland? There were hang gliders everywhere. It looked so easy but I wasn't tempted.

Mt. Baker - South Island - NZ - Not to be deterred by being seated on the wrong side of the plane for pictures and beside someone soundly sleeping, I found an empty seat on the right side and clicked away the NZ alps from the plane window. The water is that lovely blue green colour we're so familiar with in Banff.

Upper Hutt - Swing Bridge - I wasn't a bit apprehensive about crossing over a deep gorge at the end of tramp. You can see the swing bridge in profile and then as I saw it crossing over. The other bridges are just foot path bridges over streams to give you a glimpse of the deeper canopy portions of the tramp.

Upper Hutt - Parting Shots of Valley- its hard to leave Nirvana. I wanted to work in a train trip to Wellington to see Te Papa so I had to tear myself away.

Upper Hutt - Birch Vale Dam Valley- it was so beautiful and serene in this valley. The birds would fly from the canopy on one side to the canopy on the other and their songs would echo off the valley walls and the lake below. You just had to stop and listen and take in the moment.

Birch Vale Dam Upper Hutt - this is the view from below the dam where it is a mossy world. The first image gives me a "Lord of the Rings" feeling.

It was such a place of tranquility and peace.

Birch Vale Dam Upper Hutt - this is the reward after 3 or 4 hours of tramping on the Cannon Trail. You get to this serene lake caused by a dam on one of the tributaries of the Hutt River. The dam looks to be from the 1930s and it causes the water to cascade over and then generates mist which promotes moss.

Upper Hutt - Loved the creative letter box made out of one solid piece of wood and with the number for the house cleverly chiseled into the wood. The elephant ears plant also known as spoon lily is in a protected alcove because they do get frosts in Upper Hutt. To go south in New Zealand is to get colder which is the opposite to North America.

Upper Hutt - Zen gardens and chickens - The chicken came out to greet me and carried on a conversation with me. The garden had Zen features and a bonsai tree plus a water feature and a stone wall made out of round rocks. It really captured my imagination.

Upper Hutt - Sweet Cottages - You just know people have invested their hopes and dreams and bought a little spot beside the river on the hillside and hope to watch the world pass by from Camelot.