Ambury Regional Park is located in Auckland, and it is surprising what a beautiful nature you can see in just  ten minutes drive from the city center. You can also have a close encounter with farm animals at the park and even milk a cow (from July to November) if you want the experience. Though some people might thing that regional parks in New Zealand are not as beautiful as national parks, I strongly disagree with them and as a proof bring this photograph.

This is a view of Lake Waikaremoana from the third day of the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk on the North Island of New Zealand. This is a relatively easy 4 day trek, which easily can be done in three days. The most difficult part of it is right in the beginning when you climb up the hill for approximately five hours. But this climb is greatly rewarded with magnificent views of the Lake from the top.

This is the original Ring that was made by Jens Hansen for the famous “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Actually this is the prototype made by Jens, from which about 40 (!) variations were made for filming purposes. You can see this ring in a nice little jewelery store in Nelson, and there is also a much bigger variation of it.

It was raining when we came to small town named Stratford. It is a small and peaceful town on the North Island of New Zealand. We came to the YHA hostel there, and as always asked for a tent site. They didn’t have dedicated tent sites, but showed a great generosity and let us put up our tent in their back yard on the grass. It was one of the best places I have stayed on the North Island. The YHA house in Stratford is very nice and its garden is full of beautiful flowers. When it stopped raining I came out to take a couple of photographs of flowers and this is one of the photos. Please leave a comment if you like it.

Don’t be surprised that there are no seals on this photo. In my opinion the magnificent views that are revealed at Westport Seal Colony are the main attraction there. Seals can be seen in many places across New Zealand.