Wild Weekly Photo Challenge : Green

The challenge from “Let’s be Wild” this week is Green. So I am going to take you to New Zealand or Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud) the Māori name for this green, fertile country.

When I travel from Australia to New Zealand it is the vivid, vibrant green landscape that is such a contrast to the Australian landscape and it’s palette  of colours.

The dairy and sheep farms are a rolling sea of lush green grass producing the best produce in the world. The country is marketed as the “clean green” paradise…

Bay of Plenty, what a good name for this rolling green farming country in NZ

New Zealand farming country

But there are 2 Islands making up New Zealand (actually 3 if you count Stewart Island) The South Island is wild and rugged dominated by lakes and the Southern Alps running down it’s spine. Go over to the West Coast of this Island and you enter another world. A world of mist and constant rain creating forests that drip with moss and lichen that covers branches with a pale iridescent green. The atmosphere is haunted and surreal.

Haast Pass New Zealand South Island

In contrast Australia is a different green. Yes some areas are as green as New Zealand, the Atherton Tablelands are prime dairying country. The tropical rainforests with the palms and huge, broad-leaved, buttress rooted trees entwined with lianas and vines are a dark, dusky, olive-green

Tropical rainforest, Cape Tribulation

Finally the many shades of dusty, sage green of the Australian bush.

I never expected to find shrubs or trees along the road across the Nullabor plains, after all the name “Nullarbor” is Aboriginal for “treeless plain”The word “Nullarbor” is from two Latin words (nullus arbor) literally meaning “no tree” (Null, from nullus = nothing, arbor = tree).  It was first named in 1865 by E.A. Delisser ( Thank you Sandra for this information)

But at the Western edge of the Iconic Nullabor plains road we camped in among this group of shrubs and was amazed at the variety of colours.

Western edge of the Nullabor plain so many shades of green

Browse through the “Let’s be wild” site, if you enjoy these photos make a comment on the “lets be wild ” site. You will also find some excellent posts on this subject. Maybe you have some green photos you would like to share with us…