New Zealand 2013

In March, 2013 I visited New Zealand. It is a beautiful country with breathtaking landscapes.

This is one of the many bookmarks I bought during my visit.

As you can imagine, I took thousands of pictures while in New Zealand. This is one of them (near Queenstown, South Island):

Two bookmarks from New Zealand

I received these from Cathie today. She tells me this first bookmark was made for the Rugby World Cup :

And the second one shows the Milford Sound, a fjord in the south west of New Zealand’s South Island, judged as the world’s top travel destination and acclaimed as New Zealand’s most famous tourist destination :

It looks better with light behind it :

Thank you ! :-)

Māori

Today I will show you a new bookmark I received from New Zealand:

This bookmark is made of metal. The card it comes with contains a brief description on the back: “The Maori were the first settlers of New Zealand. Maori society on the island eventually became organized into tribes, and warfare between groups may have been frequent“.

Thank you Cathie!

Tui bird

The Tui is an endemic bird of New Zealand. It is one of the largest members of the diverse honeyeater family.

The English name, Parson Bird, has fallen into disuse but came about because at first glance the Tui appears completely black except for a small tuft of white feathers at its neck and a small white wing patch, causing it to resemble a parson in clerical attire.

Tui are considered to be very intelligent, much like parrots. They also resemble parrots in their ability to clearly imitate human speech, and are known for their noisy, unusual call, different for each individual.

Tui bird (Wikipedia.com)

Dive into…

A series of bookmarks from the North Shore Libraries in New Zealand, with book recommendations for children on the back:

Thanks to Cathie for these bookmarks.

Hobbiton

Hobbiton is a village in The Shire, a region of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s fictional Middle-earth, described in many of his works. It refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. Hobbiton is the village where Bag End is located, this is the home of Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins, where both of Tolkien’s works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings begin and end.

Many years ago Peter Jackson decided to turn The Lord of the Rings into movies. The filming took a long time, they started in 1999, and the third and last movie was released in december 2003.

This bookmark comes from Hobbiton’s movie set in Matamata, NZ. Cathie sent 2 postcards along with it, which show some photos. Thank you for everything you’ve sent !!!

Bag End the home of Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy

is the village where Bag End is located, above the lane of Bagshot Row. This is the home of Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, where both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings begin and end.

Pohutukawa flower

New Zealand’s ‘Christmas Tree’, the much loved Pohutukawa erupts in masses of brilliant blood red flowers in the summer months.

In coastal areas the flowering trees, in dense concentration, decorate the shores in a blaze of crimson.

Pohutukawa trees (Wikipedia.com)

 

 

Moonlight boogie ♫ ♪

A hilarious lenticular bookmark, where the skeletons dance rock n’ roll ! Very weird.

(wait a few seconds and you will see this image in normal speed)

Do you think this happens when no one’s watching the graves?

=)

Kiwis

This bookmark is made of plantation timber (wood taken from special plantations to help reduce the environmental impact):

It shows Kiwi birds. The bigger one is made of paua shell, like the one on the ‘Kai Ora’ bookmark from 2 days ago.

Kiwis are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. At around the size of a domestic chicken, Kiwis are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size. There are five recognised species, all of which are endangered.
The Kiwi has become the most well-known national symbol for New Zealand, and Kiwis are prominent in the coat of arms, crests and badges of many New Zealand cities, clubs and organisations.
The New Zealand dollar is often referred to as “the kiwi dollar” and Kiwi is also the nickname used internationally for people from New Zealand.

A North Island brown kiwi (Wikipedia.com)

Kia Ora

This interesting bookmark from Rotorua, New Zealand, is made of rimu wood (rimu is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand, formerly known as “red pine”)

‘Kia Ora‘ is the Maori word for ‘Hello’ (The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand)

The little Kiwi bird on the bookmark is made of paua shell:

 

Paua shell (Wikipedia.com)

Paua, or pāua, is the Māori name given to three species of large edible sea snails, known in the USA as abalone, and in the UK as ormer shells.