Earth from Space.
New Zealand’s South Island is highlighted in this Envisat image. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand is comprised of two major islands – North and South – and a number of smaller islands. The mountain range visible in the image stretching the entire length of South Island down the western side is the Southern Alps. Some two-thirds of the South Island is comprised of mountains, many of which are caused by the collision of the Australian and Pacific Plates.
New Zealand is located at the south-western end of the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, a continuous line (40 000 km long) of volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the Pacific Ocean, and straddles the boundary of both the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates. To the east of the Southern Alps are the regions of Canterbury, Otago and Southland. The latter two, visible in the image, are made up of rolling farmland and numerous lakes.
Lake Te Anau, seen in the south-western corner, is located in Southland and covers an area of 344 square kilometres making it the largest lake in the South Island and the second largest in New Zealand, after Lake Taupo. Lake Wakatipu, above Lake Te Anau but in the Otago region, is New Zealand’s longest (80 km) and third largest lake (291 square km). The Remarkables mountain range is on the lake’s southeastern edge.
Also located in the Otago region (above Wakatipu) is Lake Wanaka, which is New Zealand’s fourth largest lake (192 square km). Lake Hawea is seen beside Wanaka. The milky-blue alpine lake above them is Lake Pukaki, which was created by receding glaciers.
This image was acquired on 12 May 2007 by Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) while working in Full Resolution Mode to provide a spatial resolution of 300 metres.
[I thought I'd post this because I've actually been there! Some years ago a friend and I hired a VW campervan and circum-navigated the South Island of New Zealand in 5 fun packed days, which icluded whale watching and a helicopter flight up to one of those glaciers in the satelite shot. It was the middle of a fantastic three week holiday.]
4 comments:
I've always wanted to go to New Zealand. Especially after LOTR showed off so much of it.
I would SO love to go there someday. I think I have to wait till I win the lottery and can fly first class though. I'd go fucking bonkers in Coach unless maybe I knocked myself out with heavy tranqs.
Yeah, I think I'd do a bit of self-medicating on that flight. ... excuse me stewardess, another whiskey sour, please?
It *was* a very long and boring flight over the Pacific - after a 5 hour stop over @ San Francisco... after an equally long flight over the Atlantic. Total time between leaving London and arriving in Sydney (our first stop)... 27 hours. We were rather tired when we arrived at 7am(ish) and then stayed up all day so we wouldn't miss anything....
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