It is not known exactly why Van der Velden emigrated to New Zealand in 1890 with his wife and children (one daughter and two sons), aged 53, but he was supported by Gerrit van Asch, the founder of the Sumner School for the Deaf.
Van der Velden arrived in Christchurch, where he stayed until 1898.

It was during the 1890s that van der Velden discovered Otira Gorge on the West Coast, which provided him with his most successful and enduring subject.
The first trip took place in January–February 1891 and  the primary work produced was Waterfall in the Otira (aka Mountain Stream) (1891).
Van der Velden treated the Otira landscape as an opportunity to evoke the sublime, and sought out appropriate opportunities to depict it; as a student of his later recalled:
When I was last at Otira, a resident of the place who remembered van der Velden told me that the Dutchman was evidently quite mad.
Evidently?
Yes; because at all those times when the thunder rolled, and wind howled, and rain poured, van der Velden would go into the Gorge, whereas all those times when the sun shone from a cloudless sky, he would lie with his back to the grass near the hotel and sleep.

Waterfall in the Otira was shown in art society exhibitions in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, and met with considerable critical acclaim.
The painting was acquired by the Otago Art Society for the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection in 1893 for the significant sum of £300.
Van der Velden returned to the Otira Gorge and Arthurs Pass areas in the winter of 1893, when he added Mount Rolleston to his Otira motifs.
Although van der Velden only made two sketching trips to Otira, he returned to the subjects many times, including when living in Wellington in the 1910s.
Examples of these later works include Mount Rolleston, Otira Gorge, West Coast, New Zealand (circa 1911), now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Otira Gorge (1912) in the collection of Auckland Art Gallery.

By 1894 van der Velden had taken on students, among whom were Sydney Lough Thompson, Robert Procter, Cecil Kelly, Elizabeth Kelly, Leonard Booth, and Raymond McIntyre.
His teaching method placed emphasis on acquiring an intimate acquaintance with the subject by doing a great many drawings and studies.
It is not known exactly why Van der Velden emigrated to New Zealand in 1890 with his wife and children (one daughter and two sons), aged 53, but he was supported by Gerrit van Asch, the founder of the Sumner School for the Deaf. Van der Velden arrived in Christchurch, where he stayed until 1898.
It was during the 1890s that van der Velden discovered Otira Gorge on the West Coast, which provided him with his most successful and enduring subject. The first trip took place in January–February 1891 and  the primary work produced was Waterfall in the Otira (aka Mountain Stream) (1891). Van der Velden treated the Otira landscape as an opportunity to evoke the sublime, and sought out appropriate opportunities to depict it; as a student of his later recalled:
When I was last at Otira, a resident of the place who remembered van der Velden told me that the Dutchman was evidently quite mad. Evidently? Yes; because at all those times when the thunder rolled, and wind howled, and rain poured, van der Velden would go into the Gorge, whereas all those times when the sun shone from a cloudless sky, he would lie with his back to the grass near the hotel and sleep.
Waterfall in the Otira was shown in art society exhibitions in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, and met with considerable critical acclaim. The painting was acquired by the Otago Art Society for the Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection in 1893 for the significant sum of £300. Van der Velden returned to the Otira Gorge and Arthurs Pass areas in the winter of 1893, when he added Mount Rolleston to his Otira motifs. Although van der Velden only made two sketching trips to Otira, he returned to the subjects many times, including when living in Wellington in the 1910s. Examples of these later works include Mount Rolleston, Otira Gorge, West Coast, New Zealand (circa 1911), now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Otira Gorge (1912) in the collection of Auckland Art Gallery.
By 1894 van der Velden had taken on students, among whom were Sydney Lough Thompson, Robert Procter, Cecil Kelly, Elizabeth Kelly, Leonard Booth, and Raymond McIntyre. His teaching method placed emphasis on acquiring an intimate acquaintance with the subject by doing a great many drawings and studies.
Petrus Van der Velden