This 1970s color film (Part 1 of 2) created by Wisconsin accountant and filmmaker Norman E. Schley offers a travelogue view of New Zealand, with music and SFX sans narration, which was intended to be provided during in-person screenings by the touring filmmaker himself. Architectural landmarks, natural features, and cultural activities of Auckland, Christchurch, and Milford Sound are depicted in this colorful Kiwi picture postcard (TRT: 44:48).
“Schley Ride” focus leader. An Air New Zealand jet airliner on a runway. Passengers, flight attendants. Young children climb a boarding staircase, followed by adults (0:08). The wing of an airplane in silhouette (0:52). Montage: Fjords, snowy mountains, country roads, dolphins, a sightseeing boat, runners, shepherds and their flocks, elders (1:28). Opening titles: “Schley Ride to New Zealand.” A map of New Zealand indicates Auckland (2:44). Marathon runners (3:12). A green streetcar. Auckland Town Hall. A modern high-rise building shows contrasting architecture. An office building. Elevated panoramas of shows rooftops, distant waters (3:57). A blue Volkswagen Beetle. Pink roses. A garden and trellance. A topiary timepiece (4:54). The intersection of Federal and Wellesley, with St. Matthew-in-the-City Anglican church. A priest in religious habit pulls a friar outdoors by his rope belt and shakes the hands of congregants after service (5:37). A young man reviews a program. Horses and jockeys at Auckland Racing Club’s Ellerslie Racecourse. Racefans fill stands. Laughing women fill out race forms (6:08). A balloon vendor. A man falls backwards into a pool during a show for children under large letters spelling, “Australia.” A tightrope act. A man in a top hat climbs a swaying lamp pole, stands horizontally (7:41). A seal with heraldic kiwi birds. An animal handler places a kiwi in a pen before spectators (9:20). A busy urban crosswalk, pedestrians. Harbors, ports. A cruise liner. A smiling sendoff (9:42). A sightseeing tour boat, a Yugoslavian captain, a tourist couple. A fishing tug, the catch of the day (10:58). Fresh produce at auction (12:19). The map indicates Christchurch. A woman hanging laundry (12:46). Children visit a coastal cliff. Godley Head Lighthouse. A fresnel lens (13:22). An interview: Trevor the lighthouse keeper and family from the Headlands in Middleton Harbor (14:48). A red bus. Urban shops. A neon sign,” Quick Lunch” (16:11). A flowery residential street in the suburbs (16:31). A statue of Captain Robert Falcon Scott (16:56). A sign: “Operation Deep Freeze” (17:22). On the map, coastal cities are pointed out. A pen lands on Greymouth (17:45). Footage from a speeding car. Mountains. Sheep herded by a dog. A lamb has its hooves trimmed (17:56). Lush farmland. Snow-covered rural mountains. The Hermitage Hotel at Mount Cook National Park. Schley looks through binoculars. A tour guide. Backpackers load supplies, then climb Mt. Cook. Icecaps (18:51). A mount Cook Airlines jet. Interview with a pilot. A chartered flight through the mountains (21:22). A plane lands in the snow. A tourist’s snowball fight (24:27). A mountain stream. A livestock truck. Signs for Arrowtown, Queenstown, Cromwell (26:35). A cemetery. Skippers Canyon, a gold mining town (27:05). A sign: “Skippers Saddle” (27:38). Above the clouds. An elk. Feeding goats on a farm. A rushing stream (27:56). A placid river. Landscape panoramas. A gondola lift (29:03). A rugby match (30:38). A stone bridge, ducks (31:13). A hydrofoil cruise boat tours Kawarau River Canyon, Kawarau Gorge. A smaller motorboat shoots upstream (31:25). Tea with a lecture on birds (34:23). Girls with windswept hair, large sunglasses (35:15). Stirling Falls. Signs for Milford Sound, Teanau. Sheep herding (35:34). Christie Falls (36:34). A road tunnel: “Homer Nature Walk.” Swimming dolphins (37:09). A closer look at a waterfall. Sea lions (38:31). Interview: A lobster fisherman, lobster tails (38:55). Cages and buoys are thrown overboard, retrieved empty (40:22). The Milford Hotel resort. Aerial photography (41:32). A one-lane bridge. West Coast beaches of Hokitika (42:52). Pan mining. A “western” town. The filmmaker is chased from a saloon and “hung” at a gallows. “Intermission” (43:33).
