I’ve been inactive a while. Apologies. (Life and work!) What would people like to see on this page? Or should I sell it? (I had a low ball offer.) Kia pai te rā! / Have a good day! 👋

Meri Kirihimete! / Merry Christmas! 🎄 Whether you celebrate or not, I wish you and your loved ones health and happiness. ❤️💚

Tokangawhā / Split Apple Rock Approx. 50 metres off the coast between Kaiteriteri and Mārahau, Māori legend says the rock was split by two gods arguing over ownership. Geologists say it was a naturally occurring joint in the granite which water, waves and ice weakened over time. 📸 Pablo Heimplatz

The UK’s Online Safety Act is genuinely draconian. The internet in one of the most powerful tools in history. Access to it should, frankly, be a right. In some places it is. The UK government, past and present, is hiding behind the disingenuous “won’t someone please think of the children” argument.

Perhaps not the most popular of takes but I loved seeing the King open the Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Carney and Canada are showing that patriotism, tradition, and constitutional heritage can be centrist principles and don’t have to be the preserve of the right. New Zealand next, please!

Lake Rotoiti in the Tasman District in the northwest of South Island. Surrounded by beech forests, the lake has a maximum depth of 82 metres and is popular for tramping and trout fishing. It is, unsurprisingly, a popular photo destination. 📸 Tim Foster

Canada’s closest ally shouldn’t be the US (especially now). It should the UK and the Commonwealth. I know it’s not very popular or trendy to think it, and there are all manner of political and economic implications and ramifications nowadays, but I wholly support #CANZUK. 🇨🇦🇦🇺🇳🇿🇬🇧🤝

Two lambs in a field in Rosewill. Sheep farming is a major industry and in its early days NZ built itself on the wool and lamb trades. With approximately 24 million, NZ has the highest density of sheep for any country in the world and were the world’s leading exporter of lamb. 📸 Tim Marshall

Lest we forget. #ANZACDay #ANZAC

New Zealand@aotearoa.bsky.social · 2y ago

𝟮𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 — 𝗔𝗻𝘇𝗮𝗰 𝗗𝗮𝘆 🇦🇺🇳🇿 Each year on Anzac Day, New Zealanders and Australians mark the anniversary of the Gallipoli landings of 25 April 1915. On that day, thousands of young men, far from their homes, landed on the beaches of the Gallipoli Peninsula, in what is now Türkiye.

“𝘒𝘢𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘢 𝘪 𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘪: 𝙠𝙪𝙖 𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝙠𝙚, 𝘬𝘶𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘪 𝘮𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘪.” “He is not here: for 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧, as He said.” Believer or not, wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and hopeful Easter! ✝️🙏🕊️ (Apologies for late post!)

Kia pai tō whakatā Aranga! Hope you have a good Easter! ✝️🐣

Rainbow Falls (Māori: Waianiwaniwa; lit. “Waters of the Rainbow), a single-drop waterfall on the Kerikeri River. The 27 metre waterfall is popular with tourists and located along a 3.5 km track. The river passes through kiwi habitat, regenerating native trees such as kauri and tōtara. 📸 Marc St

The Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of Lake Tekapo. The iconic Anglican church was built in 1935 to commemorate early settlers. One of the most photographed places in NZ, in recent years its grounds have been damaged & services interrupted by est. 600,000 annual tourists. 📸 Peter Hammer

So I recreated the account from X in this post 👇 on BlueSky and within 12hrs it’s been labelled “spam” and all posts hidden 🙃 I only made 2 posts and they were pictures from a game I play (which X account was about) Apparently that counts as “spam posting/interaction churn” (what even is that??) 🙄

25 March was the day the One Ring was destroyed in Lord of the Rings canon. The site of Hobbiton, a farm west of Hinuera, was chosen by Peter Jackson because it “looked like a slice of ancient England”. Originally temporary, it was eventually kept and, of course, can be visited. 📸 Nate Johnston

Golden fields and mountains of Lindis Pass (Māori: Ōmakō). Crossed by State Highway 8, it is the highest point on the South Island's highway network. It is surrounded by snow tussock (Māori: wī kura) which grows up to 2 metres high. Some specimens are estimated to be centuries old. 📸 Eugene Quek

Why do people – sorry, but it’s mainly Americans – think this is an official Government of New Zealand account? One glance at my bio or what I post should spell it out, surely? 👀 So strange to log on and be tagged in unhinged rants from non-Kiwis… 🙃😅

@aotearoa.bsky.social Koru outside the Manse on Stewart Island, Nikon D3500 (I THINK THATS MY MODEL?) - 2018. :3 Thought i'd share.

Hooker Valley Track with Aoraki / Mount Cook in the distance. At only 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long and gaining only about 100 m (330 ft) in height, the well formed track is the most popular walk for tourists in the Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park in central-west South Island. 📸 We Are Travellers

Taranaki Maunga, formerly Mount Taranaki/Egmont. North Island’s second highest peak at 2,518m was made a “legal person” by Parliament in 2025. It is the third geographic feature granted personhood in Aotearoa, officially recognising it as sacred to—and an ancestor of—local iwi. 📸 Sophie Turner

The Shotover River (Māori: Kimiākau) in Otago, South Island. The 75 km river is fast flowing, cutting a path through Skippers Canyon before joining the Kawarau River east of Queenstown. Once a rich source of gold, today it’s a tourist spot for whitewater rapids and jet boating. 📸 Werner Sevenster

The sun rises over Wharariki Beach near Pūponga, the northernmost settlement of South Island / Te Waipounamu. 📸 Boon Panthalany

Maungawhau / Mount Eden overlooking Auckland. Mount Eden—whose Māori name means “whau tree mountain”—is the remnant of a long dormant volcano, one of—and the highest—of many on the Auckland isthmus. It was also once the site of the main pā (fort) of Tāmaki Māori. Today is the rohe of Ngāti Whātua.

I am amazed.🤯 I passed 2K followers – or as I prefer to call you all, friends (Māori: “hoa”)!🙂 I began posting lesser known tidbits from our wonderful home NZ in the hope some may find it a little interesting. The engagement regularly floors me and I thank you all for it. Kia ora! (“Be well!”) ❤️

On this day in 1842, Auckland held its first Anniversary Day Regatta. Auckland’s Anniversary Day commemorates Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson’s arrival in the Bay of Islands in 1840. Today it is best known for a regatta on Waitematā Harbour that is possibly the largest such event in the world.

Lupins at Lake Tekapo. In hues of purple, blue and pink, lupins belong to the bean family and are not native to NZ. Planted by some farmers to lock nitrogen into the soil of the merino sheep stations in the high country, they outcompete native species and clog riverbeds. Problematic. But pretty.

Lake Wānaka and its famous tree at sunset. Wānaka is NZ’s 4th largest lake covering 192 km². “That Wānaka Tree”—as it’s often named—is a willow tree that is around 80-years-old. Sadly, the tree is increasingly under threat from over zealous tourists and vandals who sawed branches off in 2020.

19 January 1845 – Hōne Heke cuts down the British flagstaff… again The first Māori to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, Ngāpuhi chief Hōne Heke Pōkai soon became disenchanted with colonisation. He expressed his outrage by repeatedly attacking the flagstaff on the hill above Russell / Kororāreka.

Apologies for the radio silence everyone – having issues with kidney stones. Again. 🤕🤒 Be back at it soon enough! 🙂