SOUTH ISLAND TRIP 2016: DAY 9, 26 JUNE
We got up at 7am and donned the now obligatory sunrise clothing (waders and gumboots) and walked the 5m to the edge of Lake Paringa (with a near immediate return to the camper when I, and the sandflies, realised that I hadn't put my insect repellent on!) . It was nice to see some colour in the sky on this morning and it was very peaceful standing out in the lake, which seemed quite a bit higher than normal due to the rain the previous week.
Morning fire at Lake Paringa
Back to the van for some breakfast, then a bit of fantail chasing and photos around the edge of the lake. We headed off north again at about 10am and drove through to Bruce Bay. This is an iconic West Coast location with huge Rimu trees right on the back edge of the wild beach. We hung around for about half an hour taking photos and exploring, then back on the road. Another brief stop at "Our Lady of the River" church at Jacobs River then on to Fox at 12:30
Bruce Bay
We found the Top 10 camp and checked in (yay, power again!), parked up then walked to town (about 20 minutes) for some lunch and a look around. Tried making contact with Rina, a photographer I knew through Facebook who lived in the area, but without success. We found out later that she had been flown to hospital the day before, but was on the mend.
Camp with a mountain view, Fox
Back to the camp and into the van again, and then drove to the Fox Glacier walking track carpark. It took about 1/2 hour to walk along the side of the river then up a fairly step climb) to the glacier lookout, about 500m from the face of the glacier. Met a couple who had stayed next to us the previous night at Paringa. Back down to the campervan and drove back through town and out to Lake Matheson.
Liz walking to Fox Glacier lookout
This visit was for a quick 'scouting mission' to look at location for the next mornings shoot at sunrise. I walked around the lake in about an hour, taking a few phone photos on the way. Back to the van and then we drove a bit further down the road towards Gillespies Beach to a viewing spot which looked back towards the Southern Alps and had a good view of the Fox Glacier. We hung around there through sunset and for about 1/2 afterwards when the snow on the mountains was still reflecting the last of the days light. As I have been known to say: "sunset ain't over 'till it's dark!", so it is always worth hanging around to see what the scene does well after the sun goes down.
Back in the van and back to the camp, parked up and walked to the White Hotel for dinner out (the first dinner out of the trip, and it was very nice). Walked back to camp, into the van (again) and back to the viewing point we had been at for sunset; this time to shoot the Milky Way over the mountains (this was to be the only astrophotography opportunity of the trip), at about 8pm. After 1/2 hour we went back to the camp to rest.
"Fox Transition"
Fox Glacier, Mt Tasman, Mt Cook, La Perouse & Mt Copeland, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand
D800, ISO100, f8, 1/2sec, 36mm