All this chilly weather has had me reminiscing on our South Island trip last August, so I thought it was high time these snaps saw the light of day. Get settled in - she’s a long one. We were down there for a few weeks and had epic weather, so resulted in heaps of opportunities to get the camera out. Everything you see in this blog was shot on my Nikon Z6ii paired with either the Nikkor Z FX 24-70mm f/2.8 or the Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 - using the F To Z Lens Adapter. This adapter has been so epic for my transition into a mirrorless body. It’s meant I can still use all my F-mount lenses while I slowly upgrade to the mirrorless Z models. So much kinder on the savings. And so much kinder on the weight of my camera bag. My back thanks you, Nikon.
First up, we hung out in Queenstown for a couple of weeks. We were lucky enough to arrive with a fresh dusting of snow on the mountains - not forgetting how unlucky we were that the snow storm that resulted in said dusting, was actually responsible for cancelling our flight the day before. But what followed was 10 days straight of clear blue skies and light winds. It was our mini’s second time to the South Island, but we wanted to do things a bit differently this time and actually have our Toyota Land Cruiser with us. So I flew down with the offspring, while Jord did the hard yards and drove the truck all the way down from Whangaparāoa to Tahuna. The petrol costs and Cook Strait ferry actually worked out cheaper than renting a car for that whole time, and we really wanted the benefit of having a 4WD. This really came in handy when we explored Paradise out in Glenorchy and the Mount Cook National Park. Even the road out to Moke Lake has seen better days and made me wonder how any of the wee 2 wheel drive Toyota rentals were making it out there.
Any who, let’s get into it. Stay tuned for some of my fave images I’ve ever taken, way above the mountain tops.
Man this place never gets old.
Next came the best morning of the trip - a sunrise flight with Glenorchy Air. I had been watching the weather like a mad woman for a week leading up to this scenic flight as Sophie Piearcey had sung its praises and her images from previous flights looked incred. We were so lucky to have perfect flying conditions. This flight flies all the way to Mount Aspiring, showcasing breathtaking rivers and glaciers along the way. I also accidentally timed the flight with the full moon being directly over Mount Aspiring which rarely lines up with perfect weather! Froth factor was high and this experience did not disappoint. It was so epic and I snapped one of my new favourite prints “Oh Hey Skippers” over the lower area of Skippers Canyon. If you’d like any of these shots added to my print shop, just flick me an email or DM on the gram.
As you can tell, my trigger finger got a real workout…
No trip to Queenstown is complete without a trip out to Glenorchy. To of course visit the famous jetty, but more importantly if you have a 4WD - driving the road to Paradise. Note that you will most definitely not make it very far along this road if your vehicle does not have off-roading capabilities. There are reasonably deep fords and some hectic chunks of the road missing. The easiest way to access this place without a 4WD is to book a tour. But it’s seriously worth it. Especially if you’re a Lord Of The Rings fan. We had a cruisey explore while our little mate snoozed away for his nap, had the whole jetty to ourselves and then had a little lakeside picnic dinner on the way home.
Making the most of even more sunshine, we hit the Bobs Cove hike. An easy walk that overlooks the stunning blue glacial waters of Lake Wakatipu. We were treated to some amazing low cloud hanging over the headland of Bobs Cove and countless Kereru dive bombing all over the show (see if you can spot one in the pics below)
Unsurprisingly this adventure saw lots more rock throwing by the miniature human and heaps more rock skimming by the big humans. Out of all the grandeur of the South, my favourite pastime is flinging tiny little smooth rocks at a high spin rate with horizontal velocity over glassy waters. It really is the most underrated yet meditative sport. (Yes it’s a sport).
One afternoon we wanted to gain some vertical metres without flying to enjoy sunset views of the lake. Enter Deer Park Heights. An absolutely incredible private property with some of the best views you can access with a vehicle in Queenstown. This was such a cool experience for both us and our sprog. There are so many animals to see on the way up including, deer, goats, donkeys, pigs & alpaca. All of which you can feed by hand (provided pellets are $2) - super exciting for kids. It’s $55 per vehicle to access the land, which is amazing value for the views you get. Not to mention the fact we only saw one other vehicle the whole time. So it felt like we had the entire place to ourselves. There is also a cool interactive map on their website that showcases some of the filming sites of Lord Of The Rings. I loved revisiting my LOTR fan days and seeing where some of my favourite scenes had been shot. But of course the main event was golden hour and watching the fading light over the mountains and a cheeky little pop of colour. Trigger happy Lola was once again in full force.
The next day saw the end of our fine weather streak. However I’m never mad about a bit of moody cloud in the mountains.
It was then time to say goodbye to Queenstown and head to the spectacular Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. I had seen that Hooker Hut had recently been re-located to probably the most scenic yet accessible location you could ever imagine for a DOC hut. It was fully booked already, but we hiked in to enjoy lunch with the best view in town, with the occasional avalanche as our soundtrack.
On the final night of our adventure I wanted to head back to Hooker Hut for a solo sunset mish. I arrived at the hut, expecting to be greeted by the residents for the night (as it was booked on the DOC site) but found no one in sight. I sat and had my snacks expecting people to arrive at any moment, but as the light faded, no one came. To pass the time and stay warm, I sat inside the hut and began to read the visitors book. It had entries from years ago when the hut was positioned further up in the mountains. I was happily reading along when my eyes met a word that made my heart stop. “Ghost”. I honestly didn’t read another word, snapped the book shut, and chucked on my camera bag before I even took another breath. Screw the sunset, I’m out. Marched my ass right out of there like someone had paid me to gtfo. I’m not a huge believer in spirits, but honestly when you’re alone in the middle of nowhere in hut that was built in 1910 that has ghost stories - I don’t fuck with that shit. So if you ever stay in Hooker Hut and that kind of thing gives you the heebie-jeebies, don’t read the visitors book k.
FIN.
Shout out to our buds Em & Mike who hosted us in Queenstown at their incredible abode at the bottom of the Remarks! Can’t wait to be back again soon!
