THE BEAUTY OF NEW ZEALAND

Can there be a greener, more gorgeous country?!  On our trip up to Hamilton and back, we kept stopping at one beautiful site after another...so, first, here are some of the "water" sites!

Waikato River...calm in some areas, raging waterfalls in other areas, is the longest river in New Zealand. Below this same river forms the Huka Falls as it empties out of Lake Taupo (pictured below).   Waikato is Maori for "flowing water".

Huka Falls

...empties about 200,000 litres

 of water per second

Beautiful blue
Lake Taupo, 

largest lake in
New Zealand

Mount Ruapehu (active volcano) seen across Lake Taupo

Government Gardens in Rotarua

Now, some of the green, lush countryside scenes...hard to capture the real beauty with just a little camera, but hopefully, you'll get a fair idea...and why a lot of rain can produce a country like NZ.

One rolling green hill after another

Thick "native bush" along the highways

Brilliant, dazzling wildflowers

Peaceful fields with livestock, so commonly seen in every town