In 1972 New Zealand started a series of stamp issues that has continued almost annually right up until the present (2015). Each year a different theme was selected featuring the scenic beauty of New Zealand. This collection, which will act as a history/summary of the scenic issues, will eventually take up three pages. As issues are added to this page we will create posts looking at each issue, with First Day Covers, flaws and errors, and other items of interest.
1972 Scenic Stamps - Lakes.
1972 - 1973 Scenic Stamps.
The first Scenic Stamp issue showed four lakes know for their scenic beauty. They range from the bush clad beauty to Lake Waikaremoana to the volcanic created Lake Rotomahana.
6c - Lake Waikaremoana. 8c - Lake Hayes.
18c - Lake Wakatipu. 23c - Lake Rotomahana.
1973 Scenic Stamps - Mountains.
The 1973 Scenic stamp issue depicted four New Zealand mountains. There are a variety of mountains shown, including Mitre Peak rising straight out of the deep waters of Milford Sound, and the active volcano Mount Ngauruhoe.
6c - Mitre Peak. 8c - Mount Ngauruhoe.
18c - Mount Sefton. 23c - Burnett Range.
1974 Scenic Stamps - Offshore Islands.
1974 - 1975 Scenic Stamps.
Off Shore Islands was the theme of the 1974 Scenic Stamp Issue. Being surrounded by water, there are many islands around the coasts of New Zealand. The islands shown range from the larger Great Barrier Island to the volcanic White Island.
6c - Great Barrier Island. 8c - Stewart Island.
18c - White Island. 23c - The Brothers.
1975 Scenic Stamps - Forest Parks.
1974 - 1975 Scenic Stamps.
The 1975 Scenic Issue featured Forest Parks, two from the South Island and two from the North Island. The Forest Parks of New Zealand are on public land administered by the Department of Conservation. Forest parks have a less stringent level of protection than National Parks and they are used for a wide variety of recreational and commercial activities.
6c - Lake Sumner Forest Park. 8c - North West Nelson Forest Park.
18c - Kaweka Forest Park. 23c - Coromandel Forest Park.
1976 Scenic Stamps - Waterfalls.
1976 - 1977 Scenic Stamps.
The beauty of water falling is always an attraction. With our high rainfall New Zealand has many water falls. Here are just four although 50 others could be worth of including too. In this issue 3 North Island falls are shown and one South Island one,
10c - Purakaunui Falls. 14c - Marakopa (Marokopa) Waterfall.
15c - Bridal Veil Falls. 16c - Papakorito Falls.
1977 Scenic Stamps - Coastal Scenes.
1976 - 1977 Scenic Stamps.
New Zealand is made up of two large islands and many smaller ones so it makes sense there will be coastal scenes all around the country. Here are four of them, sometimes called beach scenes although the 30c can't exactly be called a beach.
10c - Karitane Beach, Otago. 16c - Ocean Beach, Mount Maunganui.
18c - Piha Beach. 30c - Kaikoura Coast
Things were going along well with an issue each year until suddenly 1978 was missed out. I believe this was because two other issues, 1978 Lincoln College & 1978 Sea Resources were issued that year.
1979 Scenic Stamps - Small Harbours.
1979 - 1980 Scenic Stamps.
Just four of the many smaller harbours that can be found around the coasts of New Zealand, these four locations are well known for their natural beauty.
15c - Whangaroa Harbour, Northland. 20c - Bon Accord Harbour, Kawau Island.
23c - Akaroa Harbour. 35c - Picton Harbour.
1980 Scenic Stamps - Large Harbours.
1979 - 1980 Scenic Stamps.
The four largest ports of New Zealand are the subject of this issue. Back in 1980 they were the largest ports but in more recent times the Port of Tauranga has taken over as the largest port in New Zealand.
25c - Waitemata Harbour, Auckland. 30c - Port Nicholson Harbour, Wellington.
35c - Lyttelton Harbour, Christchurch. 50c - Port Chalmers Harbour, Dunedin.
1981 Scenic Stamps - Rivers.
1981 - 1982 Scenic Stamps.
The 1981 Scenic issue featured rivers and streams, 2 from the North Island and 2 from the South Island. Again a variety of scenes were shown from mountain streams to larger rivers.
30c - Kaiauai River. 35c - Mangahao River.
40c - Shotover River. 60c - Cleddau River.
1982 Scenic Stamps - Four Seasons Issue.
1981 - 1982 Scenic Stamps.
In 1982 there was a slight change of theme for the annual scenic issue. While the usual scenic views were shown, there was an attempt to show the four seasons of New Zealand as well.
35c - Summer. 40c - Autumn.
45c - Winter. 70c - Spring.
1983 Scenic Stamps - Beautiful New Zealand.
1983 - 1984 Scenic Stamps.
These stamps did not have any theme other than being Scenic Views.
35c - Mt Egmont / Taranaki. 40c - Cooks Bay.
45c - Lake Matheson. 70c - Lake Alexandrina.
1984 Scenic Stamps - New Zealand Ski Fields.
1983 - 1984 Scenic Stamps.
The Scenic series threw up another surprise when this issue featured Sky Fields showing people skiing rather than the usual scenic view.
35c - Mount Hutt. 40c - Coronet Peak.
45c - Turoa. 70c - Whakapapa.
1985 Scenic Stamps - Bridges.
1985 - 1986 Scenic Stamps.
The landscape of New Zealand means there are many rivers and other obstacles that needed to be crossed by both roads and railways. The 1985 Scenic Issue shows just four of these many hundreds of bridges. What can be seen in these four stamps are examples of technology and variety of designs found in New Zealand's bridges.
35c - Shotover bridge. 40c - Alexandra Bridge.
45c - South Rangitikei Rail Bridge. 70c - Twin Bridges, Whangarei.
1986 Scenic Stamps - Scenic Coasts.
1985 - 1986 Scenic Stamps.
A favourite subject of the many New Zealand Scenic stamps has been coastal scenes. New Zealand has a long coastline that includes an endless number of scenic localities.
55c - Knights Point. 60c - Beck's Bay.
65c -Doubtless Bay, Northland. 80c - Wainui Bay, Northland .
1987 Scenic Stamps - National Parks.
Four of the more famous of our National Parks.
70c - Urewera National Park. 80c - Mount Cook National Park.
85c - Fiordland National Park. $1.30 - Tongariro National Park.
1988 Scenic Stamps - Scenic Walkways/Walking Tracks.
There are many great walkways in New Zealand, from short walks though our local parks to walkways known all over the world. Here are four of New Zealand's best walks.
70c - Milford Track. 80c - Heaphy Track.
85c - Copland Track. $1.30 - Routeburn Track.
1989 Scenic Stamps - Native Trees.
New Zealand has a wide variety of native trees. This issue features 4 of the more well known native trees.
80c - Kahikatea / White Pine. 85c - Rimu / Red Pine.
$1.05 - Totara. $1.30 - Kauri.
1990 Scenic Stamps - 150th Anniversaries.
An issue combining four scenic scenes with four anniversaries.
80c -150th Anniversary of Akaroa, Banks Peninsula.
$1.00 - 150th Anniversary of Wanganui.
$1.50 - 150th Anniversary of Wellington.
$1.80 - 150th Anniversary of Auckland.
1991 Scenic Stamps - Rock Formations.
For hundreds of millions of years the enormous pressure created by the movement of the continental plates has been shaping and changing New Zealand's landscape, creating spectacular indicators of the turmoil beneath the earth's crust. These astonishing rock formations were the subject of the 1991 'Scenic Wonders' issue.
40c - Punakaiki Rocks. 50c - Moeraki Boulders.
80c - Organ Pipes. $1.00 - Castle Hill.
$1.50 - Te Kaukau Point. $1.80 - Ahuriri River Clay Cliffs.
1992 Scenic Stamps - Glaciers.
The awesome activity of the huge glaciers of the Pleistocene ice ages has shaped much of the face of New Zealand's South Island over the past two million years. Today the glaciers are much smaller, in some cases in danger of disappearing all together.
45c - Glacier Ice. 50c - Tasman Glacier.
80c - Snowball Glacier. $1.00 - Brewster Glacier.
$1.50 - Fox Glacier. $1.80 - Franz Josef Glacier.
1993 Scenic Stamps - Thermal Wonders.
1991 - 1993 Scenic Stamps.
The 1993 Scenic Thermal Wonders Issue depicted the spectacular thermal attractions of the North Island's volcanic region.
45c - Champagne Pool. 50c - Boiling Mud, Rotorua.
80c - Emerald Pool. $1.00 - Hakereteke Falls.
$1.50 - Warbrick Terrace. $1.80 - Pohutu Geyser.
1994 Scenic Stamps - The Four Seasons.
The 1994 Scenic Issue of four stamps features the four seasons with each stamp showing a different scene in a different season. This is an interesting theme combined with an unusual design format to create what I think is one of the better scenic stamp issues.
45c - Winter, Mt Cook & Mt Cook Lily.
70c - Spring, Lake Hawea & Kowhai.
$1.50 - Summer, Opononi & Pohutukawa.
$1.80 - Autumn, Lake Pukaki & Puriri.
1995 Scenic Stamps - Cities by Night.
Again we see something a bit different in the 1995 scenic issue. This time the theme is Cities at Night with six stamps capturing night scenes from four major New Zealand Cities and two tourist cities.
45c - Auckland at Night. 80c - Wellington at Night.
$1.00 - Christchurch at Night. $1.20 - Dunedin at Night.
$1.50 - Rotorua at Night. $1.80 - Queenstown at Night.
1996 Scenic Stamps - Parks and Botanic Gardens.
Five of the more well-known beautiful gardens found in parks around New Zealand. While being man-made rather than natural, they can still be considered part of the scenic beauty of our country.
1997 Scenic Stamps - Scenic Train Rides.
Six passenger trains, some still running and some well gone that run through the scenic landscape of New Zealand. What is different about these stamps is that they show trains in their scenic surrounds rather than just the train themselves.
1998 Scenic Stamps - Skies.
As this page has shown, New Zealand has some beautiful landscape but often as much beauty can be found in the skies above our landscape, the theme of the 1998 Scenic Issue.
40c - Cambridge. 80c - Lake Wanaka.
$1.00 - Mt Maunganui. $1.20 - Kaikoura.
$1.50 - Whakatane. $1.80 - Lindis Pass.
1999 Scenic Stamps - Scenic Walks.
40c - West Ruggedy Beach, Stewart Island. 80c - Ice Lake, Butler Valley, West Coast.
$1.00 - Tonga Bay, Abel Tasman National Park. $1.20 - East Matakitaki Valley, Nelson Lakes.
$1.50 - Great Barrier Island. $1.80 - Mount Taranaki / Egmont.
Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ
Information for this post came from.
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