kees neve

Hello,
I was about 10 years ago for holiday in New Zealand and
spend their some weeks during the month of July. Winter-time in
New Zealand so. One day I traveled with a domestic flight from
Christchurch to Auckland. During this flight I saw a strange looking
mountain peak. Situated somewhere in the southern tip of
North Island (neighbourhood of Wellington?)
The peak was covered with snow, but surrounded by an
inner circle with no snow and with an outer circle with
snow again. It was magnificent to see this natural feature form a height of
10 km in the plane.

I included a copy of this picture on the site:
http://www.euronet.nl/users/kneve/NewZ.htm

- Can somebody tell me which mountain this could be.
- And what could be the background of this strange spread of snow coverage
over the mountain hills.

Thank you for the information.

Best regards: Kees Neve, the Netherlands.

--
________________________
| Kees Neve
| email: kees@neve.to
| Weather site:
| www.euronet.nl/users/kneve

brian boutel

The mountain is Mt Taranaki (also known as Mt Egmont). It is further
north than you thought, about half-way between Wellington and Auckland,
and a little to the west of the direct flight path.

Snow can be seen on the peak, which is above the tree-line, and on the
grassed fields further out from the peak. The dark area between is dense
bush (forest), so the snow on the ground is not visible. The sharp
circular boundary between the bush and the cultivated land is the edge
of the National Park.

--brian

--
Brian Boutel
Wellington New Zealand


Note the NOSPAM

jasonr (jason rumney)

Brian Boutel <boutelbNOSPAM@acm.org> writes:

Taranaki is right underneath a direct line drawn between Christchurch
and Auckland, and is the first point at which you would strike the
North Island if you flew that route, which might explain why the
poster thought it was at the southernmost tip. Most flights I've been
on between Auckland and parts south (Christchurch, Wellington, and
Wanganui) fly slightly to the east of Taranaki, just as the picture
shows. I'm not sure if New Zealand has official air corridors, but if
it does, then where this photo was taken would be on the main one.

jim purdie

You're absolutely right, Brian. It is interesting that the edge of the
National Park, and hence the bush edge, is at about 500 meters asl, so snow
lying on the ground that far north would be fairly unusual. Kees picked the
time of year, and the weather, very well.

It is also interesting, Kees, that the mountain is also an actor. It is
appearing in a forthcoming film, playing Mount Fuji in Japan.

Jim Purdie

peter ashby

If you don't know this then the picture almost looks like the mountain
sits in a bowl and the outer snow line is the raised edge. Sort of like
if the mountain had arisen from the middle of a huge impact crater. It
also emphasises how extreme altitude apparently flattens the landscape.

Peter

--
Peter Ashby
School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland
To assume that I speak for the University of Dundee is to be deluded.
Reverse the Spam and remove to email me.

peter

this quote is from Jim Purdie of Tue, 14 Oct 2003 18:06 :


The movie is The Last Samuri.
It was shot mostly around north Taranaki, although there is some speculation
as to whether Mt Taranaki actually features in the movie or not.


Peter

peter

this quote is from Kees Neve of Tue, 14 Oct 2003 06:48 :


The mountain is called Taranaki. This is also the name of the province.
More photos and info here ...
http://www.taranakinz.org/destinatio....cfm?pageid=68

(BTW that's a superb photo!)

Peter

geopelia

(for our overseas visitor)
Mt Taranaki used to live among the other mountains in the centre of the
North Island, near Taupo. He quarrelled with Mt Ruapehu, the big volcano
that erupted some years ago, over a smaller female mountain. He lost the
argument and stumped off in a huff to a place on his own. The track he left
is the Whanganui river.
He's a volcano, and if he ever erupts he will devastate the whole district! Geopelia