Four Seasons Scenic

The scenic splendour, New Zealand's priceless asset, is there for everyone to enjoy. Throughout the four seasons New Zealand offers a healthy, invigorating climate and some of the finest scenery in the world!

In some parts of the world the differences between the four seasons are unmistakable, the mantle of winter snows, the rich golds of autumn, verdant spring growth and lush summer splendour. In New Zealand the seasons are more subtle. Most of our native trees are evergreen so we do not see the dramatic seasonal changes offered by deciduous varieties, our climate is temperate so, again, the visual differences between seasons are less obvious. But our four seasons are marked in a unique manner by the abundant flora. The blossom featured in this beautiful series does have an impact, splashing colour onto the already beautiful landscapes of our country. Not only beautiful for their own sake but also in the way they attract native birds such as the tui, waxeye and wood pigeon to their blossom and berries.

The profusion of brilliant Pōhutukawa blossom brings appropriate reds and oranges to our Southern Hemisphere summer Christmas period each year. The Kōwhai, one of the few native trees which loses its leaves in winter presents us with a dazzling display of golden flowers just prior to the new spring leaf growth; the deep pink of the flowers and the bright red fruit of the Pūriri contrasts with the dark green shiny foliage well into autumn and the delicacy of the Mt Cook Lily adds an almost incongruous touch to the ruggedness of the alpine climes it inhabits. It is not, as the name suggests, a lily, but of the buttercup family (Ranunculus lyallii) and is a prolific producer of blossom, carpeting large areas of otherwise inhospitable terrain. There is something uniquely splendid to be enjoyed with every New Zealand season. The grandeur and variety of the unspoiled natural scenery with the added palette of floral colours ... a bonus indeed!

The four stamps of this issue were produced individually and also in a strip of four format.

 Product listing for Four Seasons Scenic

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Image	Title	Description	Price
	Single Stamp	Single 40c 'Winter' gummed stamp. Mount Cook (Aorangi) towers to nearly 3,800 metres, highest in the chain of mountains we call the Southern Alps. Probably the most famous of the many climbers of Mount Cook is Sir Edmund Hillary, world renowned as the first conqueror of Mount Everest. On the western side of the lower Hooker Valley, 16 kilometres south of Mount Cook itself, visitors can find the Mount Cook Centre for full information on the walking, tramping and climbing opportunities available.	$0.45
	Single Stamp	Single 70c 'Spring' gummed stamp. Three hundred and forty five metres above sea level and occupying the site of an ancient glacier between ridges in the Southern Alps lies Lake Hāwea. It is approximately 25 square kilometres in area and has the popular holiday settlement of Hāwea at its south-western corner. Fishing is good here with brown trout and salmon the most popular quarry. Deer, goats and game birds are also to be found near the lake.	$0.70
	Single Stamp	Single $1.50 'Summer' gummed stamp. A short distance from the heads and the open sea, the charming township of Opononi nestles on the southern shoreline of Hokianga Harbour. At one time it was the site of the harbour's thriving port facilities but is now better known as a farming locality and a holiday beach resort with safe bathing and good sea fishing. The area has a distinctly individual character, a personality of its own.	$1.50
	Single Stamp	Single $1.80 'Autumn' gummed stamp. High in the Southern Alps you can find Lake Pūkaki. In Māori, Pūkaki means 'head of the creek'. The Tasman River, which feeds into Lake Pūkaki can hardly be called a creek as four massive glaciers supply the river and the lake is the heart of the Upper Waitaki Hydro Power Development Scheme. Lake Pūkaki provides a fabulous view of Mount Cook mirrored in its placid waters.	$1.80
	First Day Cover	First day cover with stamps affixed. Cancelled on the first day of issue.	$4.70