<p>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.</p> <p><i>Aotearoa</i>, 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.</p> <p><a href="http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/good-shepherd-church-new-zealand/">See larger and download wallpaper &gt;&gt;</a></p>

Church of the Good Shepherd, South Island

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.

See larger and download wallpaper >>

Photograph by Thomas Young, My Shot

New Zealand Photos

See photos of New Zealand (including Milford Sound, Kaikoura Canyon, and Maori tattoos) in this photo gallery from National Geographic.

<p>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.</p> <p><i>Aotearoa</i>, 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.</p> <p><a href="http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/good-shepherd-church-new-zealand/">See larger and download wallpaper &gt;&gt;</a></p>

Church of the Good Shepherd, South Island

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.

See larger and download wallpaper >>

Photograph by Thomas Young, My Shot
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