New Zealand is an independent member of the Commonwealth. It is remote from other lands, being situated in the South Pacific more than 1,600 kilometres southeast of Australia, its nearest neighbour. The country comprises two main islands, the North and South Islands, and a number of small islands, some of them hundreds of kilometres from the main group. The land area is approximately 268,000 square kilometres, slightly smaller than the state of Colorado and a little larger than the United Kingdom.
Fiordland National Park is in the southernmost part of South Island, New Zealand. It was established in 1952 and has an area of 12,519 square kilometres, making it one of the largest national parks in the world. It is renowned for the rugged grandeur of its fiords, mountains, forests, waterfalls, and lakes. The park is bordered by the Humboldt, Livingstone, and Takitimu mountains on the east and by the Tasman Sea on all other sides. Te Anau and Manapouri lakes are used for the generation of hydroelectric power. There are limestone caves, and the Sutherland Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in the world, drops 580 m in three cascades. The Homer Tunnel gives road access to Milford Sound. On the lower slopes of the mountains a rich cover of dense rain forest is found. Red, silver, and mountain beech are common in the park; other trees include rimu, miro, kahikatea, totara, kamahi, and broadleaf. Birds include the bush robin, tit, fantail, parakeet, warbler, tui, and several other varieties. Possum and stoat introduced in the park are now a menace to other wildlife. Hunting is encouraged to control red deer and the wapiti. Recreational activities include scenic trips, boating, waterskiing, deer stalking, mountaineering, rock climbing, and fishing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|