Up and over Mt Alfred

Same goregous day

went for an afternoon stroll to the top of a mountain with Mandy

Lake Whakatipu in the background and the Dart River on the right

This is the view looking up the valley. Routeburn valley on the left next to the Dart River and Mt Ernslaw on the right just past Diamond Lake

We didn't realise there would be snow at the top!

We decided to go down the other side towards paradise...

and while it was really cool, took longer than we thought it would.

Got back to the house just on dark... was a beautiful sunset over the lake.

Heaps of cool cabbage trees dotted over the braken that we have to climb over to get down the hill. I'd hate to have to climb up it...

Great little adventure - the sheep guided us!

GY Jetty

Gorgeous morning sun and blue skies + Glenorchy mountains = lots of photos.

I have done well - from over 1 hundred to about 7 or 8. I have chosen the jetty ones for today.

I like the shapes in these two. Top: facing Glenorchy,

Below: looking at the mountains on the other side of the lake.

Looking up the valley towards Mt Alfred, Mt Ernslaw and the Dart River

Up the Dart

Hubby took us for a ride today - was such a gorgeous afternoon!

Look who's got a new toy...

Amazing scenery but the sun was in front of us - have to go in the morning next time!

I kind of like the sun rays in this one - even if it does look over exposed

Mother Natures work of art. love it

Borland Road

We have had a couple of trips over the Borland Saddle now. Stunning country and great 4wding to be had up the top of the old road.

I like capturing vivid plants. This shot is a benchmark - I can only get better!

Spot the spotter... Top of the Borland Saddle. I like the colours in this one.

Below is the view behind me (if that makes sense).

Kea Basin

Up the Rees Valley for a bit of a look around.

Really nice up there but the clouds were closing in...

This is Kea Basin on the east side of Mt Earnslaw. Great place to come and camp in the summer. It was a warm wet day and ice was falling off the frozen waterfalls and smashing on the rocks. If you didn't see it fall, you'd think there was a gun going off...

The light wasn't very good, and my many grass shots (sitting, watching, waiting) didn't really turn out so I turned to the river for inspiration. Ok, nothing spectacular.

And we got out before the rain came!

We will be back...

The road to civilization

Twice a week I drive to Queenstown for class. The road must be up there with the most beautiful scenic drives in the world. I'm not complaining.

I haven't 'got the shots' yet. Murphy's law plus many, many other factors are making this task take awhile. The one above is my fav from this particular trip. I was trying to capture the water, how it looks amazing with its stripes by the islands there. Not quite.

And I must say, I haven't deleted as many as I should have (don't get me wrong, it was tricky to get to this few...)

This one was taken from the same spot as my fav. I couldn't decide between it and the next which was from the lookout. This is probably better, but I like the rock in the other one, and the mixture of colours.

Classic end of the day view for me. Love it.

Paradise

No wonder its probably the favourite filming spot in New Zealand! Paradise is gorgeous...

Our friends have just taken in the role of caretakers at this amazing spot just up the valley from Glenorchy. Great place to go and take a load off - there are cute little huts linked by a maze of tracks, no electricity but open fires/coal ranges to keep visitors cosy. Lots of history to the property, and ofcourse an impressive homestead (I forget when it was built) to go with it all.

Lake Wanaka

Yip - every day is beautiful in winter around here... um of course!

Quick trip to Wanaka the other week to please my husband. Found these photos today too - just one more lot of pics to go...then im all caught up - if you only count the ones from the camera.

I started taking lots of photos of the many birds around the lake front. Nothing special. This one is a bit different I guess. I orchestrated it too - msybe im not supposed to mention that? Anyway, could have got the horizon a bit straighter, the bird in complete focus and the background isn't amazing, but I like it anyway.

Plus two others to set the scene. Maybe nice photos look better when you set the scene?

Before the storm

I think this was last week - classic example! Go for a walk, take the camera, forget about deleting required pictures. I found these when down loading the shots for my first post.

Anyway, I had one fav, again out of about 25. I guess it is all about what the object is doing...

I have added two others as well just to see the difference.

Glenorchy Lagoon in flood

Such a beautiful day, reflections everywhere and hardly a cloud. I took about 80 photos (playing about with the exposure setting) and reduced them to just 1! Some of the others were nice - but didn't have anything special.

To show how gorgeous the reflection was but I dont like this as much. Maybe because in the first one, there is more to the imagination - I guess sometimes you just have to be there.