Good Shepherd, South Island.

The shell of a Giant Land Snail (Paryphanta busbyi), common name, Kauri Snail.

These snails are endemic and rare. Kauri snails look like ordinary garden snails but are much bigger. The average size is about 8cm across and 4cm high. They are a threatened species due to introduced predators such as wild pigs. They are usually found in native forest, especially beech and coastal scrub. 

Oystercatchers can be found at beaches and mudflats. They are noisy and talkative birds, feeding on molluscs, crabs and worms.

Photos
Weka	fashioninn4us.blogspot.com Weka Chick	Weka Chick	Weka
Weka	Weka
Information

The Weka or woodhen (Gallirallus australis) is a flightless bird from the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand and has a vulnerable status. Weka have brown colouration and are about the size of a chicken. As omnivores, they feed mainly on invertebrates and fruit. Weka usually lay eggs between August and January and both sexes help to incubate. Four subspecies are recognized.

Photos
Kea	Kea	Fiordland	The Remarkables
Kea	The Remarkables	The Remarkables	Kea
Kea	Kea	Kaka

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Church of the Good Shepherd, South Island

Photograph by Thomas Young, My Shot

An old stone church sits among the placid grasses of New Zealand's South Island, a land known for its wide expanses of untouched land and vast farming outlets.

Aotearoa, or "the long white cloud," was the first name given to New Zealand when the Maoris arrived on its inlet shores centuries before European explorers sailed through the Pacific waters. Within the compact island nation there are alps to rival Switzerland’s, plains more fruitful than England’s, streams and rivers as laden with fish as Scotland’s, fiords reminiscent of Norway’s, and beaches as alluring as California’s.

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