Bob Zuur - Places

Here is a selection of photos from some of my favourite places. I have hiked over much of New Zealand and Switzerland and travelled to Russia, Scandinavia, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo and New York. Give me a call if you have a particular photo in mind.

Paekakariki

My home town. Wonderful village and beach and people. See my Bubbles of Paekakariki and Paekakariki Positive Picture galleries for more photos of the village and the people who live here.

View of Paekakariki and Kapiti island from Paekakariki Hill Road.

The Old Ghost Road

In March 2023, Doris and I spent a month hiking in some of our favourite parts of Aotearoa / New Zealand - the West Coast.

In 1886, gold miners planned a route between the Buller River and the Mokihinui River on the South Island's west coast. 130 years later through the foresight and sheer hard work of a bunch of keen hikers and bikers the "Old Ghost Road" was built. The 85km trail is one of the best in New Zealand, enhanced when reading the backstory "Spirit to the Stone" (https://wilderlife.nz/2017/03/spirit-to-the-stone-building-the-old-ghost-road/)

These photos are (mostly) in black and white to enhance the textures of the rugged landscape.

Near Lyell Saddle hut at the end of day 1.

Ambling through the misty rain forest.

Being a dual purpose trail (walking/biking), makes for an easy gradient for hikers, but occasionally scarred the hillsides.

Just before the hailstone struck!

Above Ghost Lake hut.

Dracophyllum in forest near Ghost Lake

Forest art.

Beautiful sunrise from Ghost Lake hut - I just had to keep the colours!

The track out from Ghost Lake hut.

A great walking track, but wouldn't want to ride this section!

Ubiquitous tree fern.

Morning mist out from Stern Valley hut

I presume this is Lake Cheerful - Lake Grim is its twin!

Easter orchid - Earina autumnalis

Mokihinui River gorge - once planned for a hydro dam.

The Paparoa Track

The Paparoa Track is one of New Zealand's newest Great Walks and was built specifically for both hikers and bikers. It crosses the Paparoa Range, through alpine tops, limestone karst landscapes and verdant rainforests.

Gorgeous, verdant rainforest greeted us from the moment we left the carpark. Here is the swingbridge over Smoke Ho creek.

A very easy, well-maintained track

Moonlight Tops hut. Sadly, clouds obscured the stars but...

The clouds retreated revealing a stunning sunrise.

The Paparoa Escarpment from Moonlight Tops hut. We walked along the ridge later that day.

Doris up ahead (while I dawdled with the camera!)

Checked out by a tomtit (ngirungiru).

The Māori name for this mushroom is werewere-kōkako, because its colour is similar to the blue wattle of the kōkako bird. Its the only mushroom featured on money - on the NZ $50 note.

Beech seedlings

Morning mist beyond Pororari Hut.

Pororari Gorge

Crocodile in the river?

We woke up in Punakaiki to threatening storm clouds...

Which delivered a deluge.

And were treated to a stunning sunset.

Raging surf

Milky Way overhead

Heaphy Track

We've walked the Heaphy Track several times, but earlier this year it had been closed by flood damage. So we took advantage of few hikers and walked to Heaphy Hut.

Once over the Kohaihai River, you step into a dreamy tropical world.

From the misty seascape...

Into a luxurious forest of nikau palms.

Heaphy Hut at the mouth of the Heaphy River.

Rock and sand sculptures along the river

A dark, moonless walk was rewarded with a spectacle: the bright Milk Way arching across the sky, the pounding of surf on the beach, the calls of kiwi and weka, and a red glow of the aurora!

Overcast skies the next morning revealed textures in the sand and rock.

Antarctica

Antarctica holds a special place in my heart. I spent three months in a tent on the ice in McMurdo Sound catching fish for my honours thesis. I was manager of WWF's International Antarctic Programme for five years and then an Antarctic consultant for another two. My last trip to Antarctica was in 2012 on the Our Far South trip.