National Geographic Traveler January/February 1997 [antikvár]

editor NOTE Richira Bmch/NGS Dazzling New Zealand It was October 1995, and I was flying over Abel Tasman National Park, on New Zealand's South Island. Below 1 could see lush vegetation and turquoise waters lapping on pristine golden beaches. It looked like some secret, tropical hideaway. A few minutes later we touched down on a grassy landing strip by a lagoon, and I hopped out to meet my contact. "Welcome to paradise!" said Terry Knight, grinning and reaching to shake hands. Terry runs the nearby Awaroa Lodge inside the park. It would be my base of operation for two days of hiking through forests and along the shore, exploring bays and islands by boat, and simply enjoying the sense of peace and relaxation that this place imparts. I could appreciate how Terry felt. The word paradise also describes the way many people feel about New Zealand in gen-Abel Tasman National Park seen from above. ^ere is a land of incredible beauty and variety—mountains, rivers, volcanoes, glaciers, fjords, lakes, forests, beaches, waterfalls—all in a compact country about two-thirds the size of California. One good way to experience the splendors that New Zealand has to offer is to zero in on any (or all) of its 13 national parks. In this issue, beginning on page 48, writer Mel White offers an enticing north-to-south, six-park sampler. His journey begins at Tongariro National Park, on the North Island, best known for its active volcanoes, including Mount Ruapehu, which blew its top in 1995 and is still steaming. At the ethereal Te Urewera National Park, also on the North Island, Mel gets into some serious tramping (local parlance for hiking) and bird-watching. On the larger, wilder, and less populated South Island, he first explores Abel Tasman National Park, then visits Paparoa, whose rocky, wave-blasted shoreline has been carved over eons into a fascinating assortment of caves, towers, arches, and blowholes. From Paparoa, Mel heads inland to Mount Cook—at 12,316 feet, the country's highest peak and centra! focus of its namesake park. A small ski plane carries Mel and fellow passengers up the mountain to the Tasman Glacier, an experience he describes as "the most spectacular hour I've passed in many a year." His last stop is Fiordland, in the Southern Alps— three miUion acres of wilderness with lush valleys, mountains that remind him of the Rockies, countless waterfalls, and glacier-gouged coasts. Wow!" exclaims someone in Mel's group while pausing to take in a scene along Fiordland's famous Milford Track. Which just about says it all. 8 National Geographic Traveler