A hike in the forest, amidst fascinating countless shades of green
The thought of the countless shades of green came up to my mind short after I arrived in  New Zealand. Together with the rugged coastline, the unique greenery of New Zealand caught my eyes at fist sight.
Green is New Zealand dominant colour
From the iconic silver fern to the giant kauri trees of North Island or the sparse greenery of Central Otago, in South Island, green is New Zealand dominant color.
In the course of my journey, I made several hikes in beautiful places, during which I took many photos of the forests. The best occasion, however, came a few days ago, back from a glorious day in Milford Sounds, one of the most famous spots in New Zealand.
Along the route leading back to Te Anau, our Stray Bus driver Pinky stopped for a walk along the Routeburn Track, amidst a superb mountain scenery unfortunately mostly hidden by the clouds.
Despite two different layers of insect repellent my feet had undergone a massive attack by sand flies the evening before and were rather sore thus, I wanted to keep it cool and walk at a very slow pace, taking the time to look at the small things.
It didn’t take me long to be fully immersed in the nature surrounding me, fascinated by the countless shades of green and the wonderful shapes, none of which is the same, ever-changing in their perfection.
Green grass forming a lovely natural lace, soft moss dancing under the breeze, curvy branches forming graceful shapes.
And then the colours. Bright light green, darker green, or beautifully mixed with white, yellow, orange, red.
At times, it was like looking at an artist’s color palette, with shades perfectly matching. It made me think at the Impressionist artists and their ‘en plein air‘ technique, to reproduce the effects of natural light in their paintings.
Countless shades of green, the wonderful shapes created by nature, that’s one of the reason why I like walking. No matter if I reach the summit. I’d rather take my time and stop to fill my eyes of all little things filled with sheer beauty.
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Note: Warm thanks to Tourism New Zealand, which kindly provided me with an Explore NZ Card entitling me to a number of free or discounted activities. More thanks to Stray Travel for the awesome comprehensive Stray Everywhere pass to travel across North and South Island on their hop-on-hop-off buses.  Although blessed by complimentary offers, the enchantment in front on the amazing beauty of New Zealand nature was all mine.
More reading:Â Wild and Remote Northland, Pure New Zealand Beauty
In the DR as well there is not so much diversity of color, but the greens are phenomenal, and the light is amazing. Just like the eskimos have so many words for different variations of snow, there should be more words for green. 🙂
Beautiful photos!
Amazing photos and article! I hope I will have a chance to visit New Zealand!
Gorgeous photos, thank you! The ferns and the lush greenery reminds me a lot of Hawaii, while in general I’ve heard NZ is remarkably close to Canada in landscapes, especially where I’m from- the Banff region. I guess I’ll have to trek down under some time soon to compare for myself 🙂
Stunningly beautiful photos Simon that bring back in vivid colour memories of this beautiful land 🙂
Beautiful photos Simon!
Thanks, Isa. I had so much pleasure in taking and sharing them!
Lovely, lush photos of a beautiful place. Too bad it’s so isolated from most of the rest of the world. But maybe someday…
Thank you, Greg. Well… True that NZ is faraway and isolated. But in the end, ALthough living at the opposite side of the world, I found that the trip was not as long and bad and tiring as I was expecting. We’ll see how I feel when going back home 🙂
I hope your feet are doing better, Simon! What stunning photos of the vegetation. New Zealand certainly is green and I hope to see it one day soon.
LOL! Feet are doing better but I can still walk only with flip flops and it’s sooo cold these days! 🙂 The greenery in NZ is really amazing, Jennifer. I’m sure you’d love the country.
Hey Simon,
These are beautiful photos and I enjoy your sense of nature and being outdoors. It is indeed a good place and we need to appreciate it more.
Thanks for taking us on a walk with you!
~Josie
Thanks for stopping and commenting, Josie. I like how you say that ‘I took you on the walk with me’. I couldn’t have hoped for anything better when I chose the photos and wrote the post. Hope you’ll come back soon for more stories and pictures.
This is a side of New Zealand I have rarely seen and looks very lush and beautiful. I am a big fan of rainforests.
I was stoked by how lush New Zealand is, Ted. What’s strange is that usually I’m not a big fan of rainforest, as I often feel a little oppressed by all this greenery. In NZ, it’s different. I guess because the greenery is thick but not to the point of making me feel overwhelmed (I’m a little claustrophobic…)
Looks to me like you’re loving NZ – and what a great set of green photos. Looking at the small things can be very rewarding.
I’m indeed loving NZ, Leigh. As for the small things, colours and shapes, they’re part of the joy of hiking to me.