#new zealand silver fern

[polwarth]

New Zealand Silver Fern

[rupertbbare]

Some of the proposed new New Zealand flags

[elenitrack]

Karin Burger 🇳🇿

[beatrack92]

Grace Nweke 🇳🇿

2023 Netball Quad Series (Cape Town)

[ginerva-mollyweasley]

WE’RE IN THE FINAL

WE’RE IN THE FINAL

WE’RE IN THE FINAL

WE’RE IN THE FINAL

WE’RE IN THE FINAL

[innervoiceartblog]

‘Koru’

Silver fern frond, New Zealand by Alkalyne on Getty Images

[nz-nature-appreciation]

Native new Zealand Silver Fern. The silver fern is often found in forest areas that's usually damp. This is both an icon and new Zealand and a large cultural symbol.

Source: Wikipedia

[whatpandorasaw]

Silver fern frond, New Zealand

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

NEW ZEALAND RETAIN OLYMPIC WOMEN’S RUGBY SEVEN TITLE IN PARIS 🇫🇷🏉

Aotearoa 🇳🇿 that’s Gold 🥇

Black Ferns Sevens are Olympic Champions !

Les Black Ferns Sevens sont Championnes Olympiques !

It is the Black Ferns' third rugby sevens Olympic medal after also securing silver at Rio 2016.

The Black Ferns Sevens are the first women's rugby team to secure back to back Olympic golds. Fiji's men's team is the only nation to achieve that feat before today.

The Black Ferns (Māori: Rarauhe Pango) treated the Stade de France crowd in Paris to a powerful haka after winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the rugby sevens. Pushed in the final by a resilient Canadian side. The Black Ferns won 19-12.

Following the medal ceremony the players went to the side of the field with their gold medals on and performed the haka.

Take a bow ladies and keep doing what you do best. Congrats and cheers for the gold medal! 🤩

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe fends off a Canada defender on her way to a try for the Black Ferns sevens in Paris. (Source: Getty)

New Zealand held off a spirited Canada to defend their Olympic gold in Paris CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images

New Zealand players celebrate following victory in the women's rugby sevens gold medal match. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand Sevens were officially launched in 2000. They have played in 80 tournaments, winning 50 and finishing runners-up 14 times.

Attendance records for women’s rugby are being smashed quicker than a Blyde runaway these days. At these Olympics, more than 60,000 fans packed into Stade de France for all three days. In September the Black Ferns and England play a WXV 1 Test at Twickenham. With a capacity of 75,000, there is a high chance the game will sell out and break the record once again.

#Paris2024 #olympics #TheFernIsAllOfUs🥇 #RugbySevensWomen #Aotearoa #goldmedal #rugby #theHaka #NZTeam

Posted 31st July 2024

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Hello beautiful lady! So, I was thinking about Tyler with professional sportswoman SO (like an Olympian maybe) and also she is not American. I don’t know what sports you like or prefer, but maybe like figure skating, formula 1 or tennis

Love your works!!💖💖🪬

Olympian - Tyler Joseph x Olympian!Reader

Warnings: none - super cute

Word Count: 1143

A/N: This is really niche to me so don't hate me if it's awful. I'm from new zealand and used to do springboard diving so I just thought I'd take your idea and change it up a bit hehe - if it's not quite right I can try to write something else but I hope you like this ;)

The flight back home had been long, but it felt like a small price to pay for this moment. Tyler and I had packed up and flown across the world from Columbus, leaving behind our cozy little home for the intensity of Olympic qualifiers. It wasn’t my first time back home, but it was different this time. This time, I was here to secure my spot on the Olympic team, representing my country in springboard diving—the sport I’d dedicated most of my life to. Tyler, of course, insisted on coming with me, despite his crazy schedule. He wouldn’t miss it for the world, he said. The idea of me competing on home turf and making it to the Olympics meant just as much to him as it did to me, even though he wasn't exactly from this side of the globe. I smiled at the memory of him cramming facts, trying to impress me with random tidbits about my country on the flight over. Now here we were, thousands of miles from Ohio, and I was just a few dives away from making my Olympic dream come true.

I stood at the edge of the platform, my toes gripping the springboard, the soft breeze brushing against my skin. The water sparkled below, shimmering in the morning sun, as if daring me to dive into its depths. My heart raced, not from nerves, but from the thrill of it all. The years of training, the sacrifices, the endless hours perfecting every twist and turn—all led to this moment. But more than anything, I knew Tyler was watching.

He was sitting somewhere in the stands with a New Zealand flag draped across his shoulders. He had a habit of pulling out all the stops when it came to supporting me, his grin lighting up the entire building. I couldn't see him from here, but I could feel him. The weight of his love, his quiet belief in me, gave me strength.

I adjusted my position and focused on the task ahead, pushing all other thoughts aside. A few breaths to center myself, then a final glance at the water below before I launched into the air.

Everything went quiet in my head. No sound of the crowd, no thoughts about the cameras—just the weightless moment of flight. My body twisted and turned, arms slicing through the air, legs tight and straight. For a few seconds, it was just me and the dive. Perfectly executed, or so it felt. The water greeted me with barely a ripple as I sliced through it like a knife, and as I surfaced, I heard the crowd roar.

I climbed out of the pool and glanced up at the stands, scanning for him. And then I saw it—the black, white, and silver of the silver fern flag fluttering proudly, held high by none other than Tyler. He stood up, waving it like a maniac, drawing laughter from the people around him. A few cameras zoomed in, and I knew what would happen next. Tyler, being Tyler, would go viral for his over-the-top support, and I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

I met his eyes, and he gave me a wide grin. He’d worn his New Zealand beanie, one that he bought on our last visit home, his scarf with the fern logo wrapped around his neck. He looked like a proper Kiwi fan, and it warmed my heart to see him embrace it so wholeheartedly.

As I dried off and made my way to my coach, I could hear a few whispers behind me.

“Isn’t that Tyler Joseph?”

“Yeah. What’s he doing here?”

I chuckled under my breath. He didn’t care if people noticed him. He wasn’t here as Tyler Joseph, lead singer of twenty one pilots—he was here as my Tyler, my biggest supporter.

There were a few more dives to go, but the moment I saw my score for that round pop up, I knew it—I’d done it. I’d qualified. My breath caught in my throat, and a wave of emotion hit me. I’d worked so hard for this, and it was happening. I turned instinctively to find Tyler again, but this time, he was already making his way down to me, flag still in hand, beaming like he’d just won gold himself.

As soon as he reached me, he didn’t hesitate. Wrapping me in a tight hug, he lifted me slightly off the ground, spinning me around despite the poolside onlookers. “Oh my god!” he yelled, his voice muffled in my wet hair. “You’re going to the Olympics!”

“I know,” I whispered back, feeling my chest swell with pride, my arms clinging tightly around his neck. “I actually did it.”

We pulled back to look at each other, both grinning like idiots. He held up the flag in front of me with a goofy smile. “Guess I better practice my Kiwi accent, huh?”

I laughed. “Oh, absolutely. You’re an honorary New Zealander now.”

The moment was surreal. I could see people snapping photos of us, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was the fact that Tyler had been here for it—for every step of this journey, from the training days back in Columbus to this moment of triumph in New Zealand. And he’d made it fun, every step of the way.

As we stood there, the camera that had been following my dives focused in on Tyler again. A small buzz rippled through the crowd as they noticed, and the announcer even made a little comment about it. Tyler didn’t miss a beat, smirking like he’d been waiting for it all day.

“I guess now I have to choose,” he said, loud enough for the people around us to hear. “Team USA or Team New Zealand?”

I nudged him playfully, rolling my eyes. “You better choose wisely.”

“Easy,” he teased, wrapping the flag around both of us like a cloak. “Team you.”

I couldn’t help but grin as he pulled me closer under the flag, leaning down to kiss my forehead. The crowd noise seemed to melt away, and for a moment, it was just us—standing together, laughing at the absurdity of it all.

“I’ll wear black and white any day if it means supporting you,” he said softly, pulling away just enough to look into my eyes. “But don’t tell Josh. He might make me choose for real.”

I laughed, the joy of the moment overwhelming me. I didn’t know what the future held in the months leading up to the Olympics, but I did know one thing—no matter how far I traveled, no matter how high I dived, Tyler would always be there, right behind me, waving that ridiculous New Zealand flag and making sure I never took any of it too seriously.

And honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

//

REQUESTS OPEN

[womensworldtour]

The final track cycling events of the 2024 Paris Olympics have wrapped up, and they saw some impressive performances that *almost* convinced us to watch track cycling more.

New Zealand had a very good last week, with Ellesse Andrews winning women's Keirin. Hetty van de Wouw of the Netherlands and Emma Finucane of Great Britain finished silver and bronze, respectively. (Can we also mention how absolutely 🔥 the New Zealand kit is? The stark black and fern motif looks so cool. We almost want to do a best of Olympic cycling kit, there were some other great ones out there.)

Other than the funny bike situation, Keirin seems like one of the track events we understand best. It's a bike race, you race together and whoever is fastest wins. There's a pacing motorcycle on the track? It speeds up, or it just pulls off? I dunno, that's weird, but at least it's just becomes a race, and very fast one!

Sprint is a different animal, and seemingly a misnomer. They just ride around slowly, looking at each other. It's like the silliest, slowest part of a road race that ends in a two-up sprint. And they do it again? Okay, whatever, that's fine.

It was more than fine for New Zealand, because Ellesse Andrews took gold in that event as well, followed by Lea Friedrich of Germany for silver and Emma Finucane of Great Britain for bronze, added to her silver in the Keirin.

And then we come to the omnium, a track cycling race that we truly do not understand. Seriously, what is this event? You race around and there are periodic sprints, and you score points on certain laps, and the points add up over multiple races? This just sounds like an event that makes you race a bike and do math in your head as you keep an eye on competitors and laps, and that makes our heads hurt.

This event was dominated by American Jennifer Valente, who already had a gold to her name in women's team pursuit. She entered the final race in the lead, and kept it all the way for gold. Poland’s Daria Pikulik won silver, and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston took home the bronze after holding off Lotte Kopecky of Belgium.

(For the record, Australia's yellow and green kit with indigenous designs on the sleeves also looks very cool.)

But it gets worse! Because the madison is a very similar event that is like a tag-team relay involving tagging in and out, and half of the riders aren't engaged at any particular moment, and they sling-shot each other around, all while keeping track of points and competitors and laps. 🫠

The madison was apparently (who knows, we couldn't even tell) won by a resurgent Italian team made up of familiar names in road racing, Vittoria Guazzini and Chiara Guazzini. Great Britain's Elinor Barker and Neah Evans took home silver while Maike van der Duin and Lisa van Belle of the Netherlands leapt into third place after lapping the pack to score big took home bronze.

Our heads hurt just trying to describe it all, but it was exciting racing, and a nice send-off for cycling at the 2024 Paris Olympics!

[polwarth]

I'm about 60% sure this is a New Zealand Silver Fern

[thinkragelive]

2024 : Furry Baby [BANG'N'ZOZ]

Silver fern, North Island, New Zealand.

[outofangband]

Trees of Doriath Part One (Neldoreth and Region)

Trees are beloved to Tolkien and his forests are some of the most important and beautifully described regions throughout his writing. Though descriptions are somewhat less in The Silmarillion and other earlier tales, many of the forests receive the most attention in this regard

This is a post about the trees of one of the most significant forested realms of the first age, both ones named in canon, as well as my own speculation.  Mosses of Doriath, Ferns of Doriath, Flowers of the March of Maedhros, Orchids of Doriath

This post will examine the trees in the beechwood of Neldoreth and the holly filled wood of Region.

(like with my other posts I’ve included some world building information at the end so it’s not just me listing species!)

Note that while I have many specific headcanons about the environment of Brethil, I’m always happy to take suggestions or write environment posts based on specific places (like I did with the Havens based on Southwest Australia)

I’m actually working on an ecology post for Doriath based on forests in Ethiopia inspired by the beautiful boards @brighter-arda did!

Currently my basic ideas for Doriath is that Neldoreth and Region have more temperate climates with Arthórien having a subtropical or semi tropical one. I used trees mainly from Europe and parts of Asia with a few from South America and New Zealand too.  I headcanon that Arthórien has a markedly different climate than the rest of Doriath (previous posts in this series have gone into why, etc). I do want to make a post about Nivrim as tropical too because I like tropical wetlands a lot. 

That being said due to the magic of Melian there is somewhat more biodiversity of species in Doriath than there would be in another forest, including species from other environments. There are some ecosystems within greater Doriath that more closely resemble subtropical ones for example. 

Doriath is a region made up of a variety of forests. Region, a forest of holly and other mostly deciduous trees, Neldoreth, an ancient beechwood, Nivrim, a forest of primarily oak north of the twilit meres, finally Arthórien, divided from the rest of the kingdom by the river Aros which runs along the Eastern border of greater Doriath.

The trees named in association with Doriath in canon are beech, birch, elm, holy, linden and oak. 

Neldoreth is a forest noted for its beech trees including the great beech tree Hírilorn where Lúthien is imprisoned. It is North of the river Esgalduin which runs east to west through Doriath with the river Sirion on the west side and Aros on the east. It is a lighter forest than Region with a more diverse undergrowth as more light is allowed in. Both forests have darker corners however. 

Common beech trees, hazels, common and sessile oak, hornbeams, field maples, Tabebuia ochracea, and field elm are the primary species with beeches being the most common. 

Green, black and gray alders grow along both sides of Esgalduin as does the red fruited elm, almond leaved willow, and wych elm. 

Region has slightly greater biodiversity of trees than Neldoreth.

Holly trees trees grow throughout the woods as do common oak, common ash, little leaved linden, Japanese maple, perhaps some rewarewa trees (which along with the maple and holly are responsible for the seas of red through the canopy of Region), silver birch, one leafed ash, multiple species of elm and common willows. 

Silver fern, a tree fern, grows around Menengroth and the river Esgalduin. Some varnish trees also grow around Menengroth, up aways from the river and outside of shade. 

Common walnut grows in less dense areas of both Region and Neldoreth, especially Neldoreth, as it needs more light and space. 

This does not include the actual gardens of Menengroth and other specifically cultivated ecosystems which I will get into later though some of the species listed above are specifically cultivated. 

Some general thoughts:

Trees are obviously vital to Ilkorin cultures. Much sustenance and resources come from the trees, the trees of Doriath are where many homes are constructed outside of Menengroth. (I talk about this on my first Doriath world building post)

Some examples outside timber are: 

Beech, hazel and walnuts are eaten. Linden leaves are used as garnishes. Acer palmatum leaves are used occasionally in medicine as is bark from green and black alder. Bark from red fruit elm is used in teas.  Black alder bark is used in dyes. The willows are commonly used for weaving as is oak occasionally.

Different species are attributed different values, meanings and even personalities in Ilkorin cultures. This includes both the Sindar of Doriath and the small population of Nandor there as well though the exact values and identities attributed to trees might vary between them. Leaves are common in family sigils and in art. I’ll get into this more on my next heraldry post! 

Children learn to climb early the same way children of the Falathrim and the Falmari learn to swim early. Lessons might take place upon tree branches. Children learn to read trees, their names, their health, the worlds each one contain from a young age. 

I love doing general flora and fauna posts but I can’t fit everything in them so I’m trying to make more specific ones as well! please please feel free to send categories to work on with locations! Or any environmental world building asks!

[drhoz]

#1956 - Austroblechnum chambersii - Lance Water-Fern

This is hardly the last New Zealand fern I’m likely to cover - some people call it the Land of Ferns, and there’s a reason why the Silver Fern Flag is the unofficial flag of the country. This isn’t that species, however.

AKA Blechnum chambersii, nini and rereti. Native to SE Australia, Samoa, Fiji and on the North Island of New Zealand and in many of the coastal forests of South Island. Usually found near creeks in shady, moist forests, where it grows in erect tufts on the forest floor or among rocks, or with downward arching fronds on wet banks as in these photos, or on fallen logs at the bases of tree-ferns.

The sterile and fertile fronds are quite different in appearance. The formermay be up to 60cm long, but the fertile fronds are shorter and limper.

The only known foodplant for the New Zealand moth Batrachedra litterata. In some parts of its range the  starchy rhizomes are eaten raw or roasted.

[hagoftheholler]

Lorelei, she/her.

The Snake & Fern "Starting Over"

The guidebook says "The snake and fern called us to start anew. Regularly shedding its skin, the snake is a symbol of rebirth and transformative healing. And in many cultures, the fern is associated with new life and new beginnings. To the Māori of New Zealand, and image of unfurling silver fern frond, or koru, is a central motif indicating growth and a return to one's origins. Together, the snake and fern inspire confidence as we start over or embark along a new path."

Something is changing for you, and it may be for the better. Embrace the upcoming changes are they are. These changes may inspire some introspection, or maybe you'll recall the past to make sense of what is happening now. Change can be scary, but it comes easier when handled with grace.