2018 New Zealand Cycle Trails

         The global financial crisis in 2008 hit New Zealand hard, so much so that the government held an emergency jobs summit. Politicians and businesspeople were pulled together to come up with plans and schemes that would create jobs and boost the economy. One of the more successful ventures was a strategy to build cycle trails all around New Zealand. Not only would this produce jobs for then and in the future, it would also give Kiwis a great way to see all that New Zealand had to offer.

         The New Zealand Cycle Trail incorporates 22 great rides through some of New Zealand’s most breathtaking landscapes. From restored heritage trails, epic swing bridges and curious wildlife to luxury accommodation and good food, the cycle trail offers something for everyone. Many of the trails can be broken up and done across multiple days, or even just tackled a section at a time if you’re after a day trip. The difficulty of each trail varies with the location and terrain; some roll with the landscape while others follow pre-forged paths that were once railway lines or horse tracks. Regardless of the style of trail, difficulty level or length of the journey, you’ll experience New Zealand’s landscape in a unique way.

         In early 2018 NZ Post issued this set of six stamps featuring six of the best of these cycle trails. The portrait format they chose is ideal for displaying some of the beautiful scenery found on these trials. Of course, there was also the usual First Day Covers and Miniature Sheet. There was also a presentation Pack including all three of the collector items above plus lots more information regarding each track. 

1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Five.

 Definitive Tour.

Back to 1967 - 1968 Pictorial Definitives.                                Forward to 1975 Decimal Pictorials.

Other Items of Interest.

This page is intended as somewhere we can keep other items concerning the 1970 Pictorial/Definitives. It is incomplete at the moment because as items come to hand they will be added here.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part One.
                    Overview of the 7 issues of this series of stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Two.
                    Looking at the designs and subjects of these stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Three.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the low values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Four.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the large values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Five.
                    Some other items of interest including a collection of courier tags.

1970 Pictorial registered Mail Tags, smaller Mail Tags used for inter Bank parcels, sent from The National Bank of NZ in Jean Batten Place.

Reg. No 254 - Sent from Jean Batten Place. 3 Stamps valued at 69c. 

1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Four.

 Definitive Tour.

Back to 1967 - 1968 Pictorial Definitives.                                Forward to 1975 Decimal Pictorials.

Flaws & Errors - Larger Values.

This page is going to be a lot smaller than the previous page due to the fact there are less larger value stamps and we found a lot less errors on these stamps as well. This could partly be due to the fact that smaller quantities of many of these values were produced.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part One.
                    Overview of the 7 issues of this series of stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Two.
                    Looking at the designs and subjects of these stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Three.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the low values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Four.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the large values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Five.
                    Some other items of interest including a collection of courier tags.

10c Queen Elizabeth II & Coat of Arms - Normal Example.
A small collection of flaws found on the 10c value.
(Some of these images have come out dull due to the photographic process used, its not the stamps.)

           

1970 10c QEII Flaw on Queen's head.                                               1970 10c QEII Light blue ribbon colour shift.

1970 Pictorial / Definitives - Part Three.

 Definitive Tour.

Back to 1967 - 1968 Pictorial Definitives.                                Forward to 1975 Decimal Pictorials.

Lower Value Flaws.

We found a large number of flaws in this issue, particularly through the lower values. This page displays many of them but in the end it came down to the question of just how many examples do we really want to crowd onto one page.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part One.
                    Overview of the 7 issues of this series of stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Two.
                    Looking at the designs and subjects of these stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Three.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the low values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Four.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the large values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Five.
                    Some other items of interest including a collection of courier tags.

                      

Below, on this page, are flaws and errors found in the lower values while Part Four has a collection of similar flaws found in the higher values.

1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Two

Definitive Tour.
Back to 1967 - 1968 Pictorial Definitives.                           Forward to 1975 Decimal Pictorials.  

The Designs.

Unlike Page One, this page is laid out by value rather than issue date. Our purpose here is to look at the design and subject of each stamp.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part One.
                    Overview of the 7 issues of this series of stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Two.
                    Looking at the designs and subjects of these stamps.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Three.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the low values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Four.
                    A collection of flaws & errors from the large values.
          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Five.
                    Some other items of interest including a collection of courier tags.

Butterflies and Moths.

The first group of six stamps showing three native butterflies and three native moths. They are all the same small vertical format, in each case showing a topside, opened wing view. The designs use a strong background colour to achieve what is actually quite a striking appearance.

                             

½c - Glade Copper Butterfly.                        1c - Red Admiral Butterfly.

1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part One.

 Definitive Tour.

Back to 1967 - 1968 Pictorial Definitives.                                Forward to 1975 Decimal Pictorials.

Overview of this Definitive Issue. 

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part One.

                    Overview of the 7 issues of this series of stamps.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Two.

                    Looking at the designs and subjects of these stamps.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Three.

                    A collection of flaws & errors from the low values.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Four.

                    A collection of flaws & errors from the large values.

          1970 Definitive / Pictorials - Part Five.

                    Some other items of interest including a collection of courier tags.

Brief History.        

         Planning for the 1970 Definitives began in 1968 with a two stage competition to select a group of designers who were then commissioned to complete full designs for the issue, with the final stamps being picked from that selection.

         The half, one and two cent abstract moths were designed by Miss Enid Hunter. The rest of the moths and the fish stamps up to the seven cent stamp by Miss Eileen Mayo. D.B. Stevenson designed the 7½ and 8 cent stamps.

                                   

1991 - 1993 Scenic Stamps.

1991 Scenic 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.                                                60c - Moeraki Boulders.

1987 - 1989 Scenic Stamps.

         In this post we have decided to combine three stamp issues on to one page. Although all three sets differ from each other in subject and appearance, they are all part of the Scenic Stamps Series. What I did find interesting is how all three issues have miniature sheets where the design of one stamp appears as part of a bigger illustrations.
        You can view all the stamps from this series in our collection Scenic Stamps Series - Part One.

1987 National Parks.
         The 1987 Scenic Issue commemorated the centennial of the National Parks movement in New Zealand. In 1887, Te Heuheu Tukino IV, paramount chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa with the consent of many other chiefs, gifted to the people of New Zealand the tribally-owned land within a radius of one mile of the three volcanic peaks of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu.  The land was given on the understanding that it would be kept sacred under the protection of Queen Victoria and on the condition that it would be preserved as a national park.  Originally 2630 hectares in area, today the park has grown to almost 80,000 hectares. 
        Tongariro National Park remained the only national park until the turn of the century when the Egmont National Park was established in October 1900.
        This issue shows four of our more famous National Parks. Two of these were also featured in our post 2015 - UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

          

70c - Urewera National Park.

80c - Mount Cook National Park.

2015 - UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

         New Zealand is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites - Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand, Tongariro National Park, and the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands. Tongariro National Park is located in the central North Island, Te Wahipounamu is located in the south-west of the South Island and the Sub-Antarctic Islands are found south of the South Island.

         This special stamp issue showcases these scenic locations in all their glory. Six colourful stamps, two of each area combine to make this one of the better stamp issues New Zealand has released.

         I have chosen to use extra large images to display the full beauty of these stamps then lower down smaller images accompany more detailed captions on the views shown. I know our blog owner Allan, is against using such large images but I feel they are needed here.

1974 - 1975 Scenic Stamps

1974 - Scenic Stamps - Offshore Islands.

See the full collection - Scenic Stamps Series - Part One. 

Following on with the scenic theme of this series, in 1974 four offshore islands were featured. Once again I good variety were selected from the larger Great Barrier Island and Stewart Island to the active volcano White Island. The final stamp was the tiny Brothers Islands from Cook Strait.  

Notes on this page were based on notes from the NZ Post Web Site.