On our drive from Blenheim to Christchurch via Lewis Pass, the scenery changed quite a bit. Before long, we were surrounded by snowy mountains.
Snow covered even parts of the valleys, and low clouds hung over the peaks. The road seemed to lead straight into the mountains, with just one car ahead of us showing how big the landscape was.
Taken with my almost twenty-year-old Leica M8 — still a camera I really enjoy traveling with.

Click hereThis was the view from our room at Blanket Bay, just outside Glenorchy. As the sun disappeared, the last light caught the snow-covered peaks across Lake Wakatipu, while the lake and lodge grounds fell into shadow.
Blanket Bay sits right on the lake shore, surrounded by the Southern Alps. It is a beautiful lodge, but for me the real luxury was the location and views like this one.
Sometimes you don't have to go very far to find a photograph. I took this one without even leaving our room. to edit.

The view from Isengard Lookout, near Glenorchy. Farther up the valley, around Paradise, Peter Jackson filmed the approach to Isengard for The Lord of the Rings. Saruman's tower of Orthanc was added digitally, but the mountains, valleys and forests are very much real.
On this quiet morning, with the shallow water and gravel banks leading towards the distant mountains, it wasn't difficult to understand why this part of New Zealand was chosen to represent Middle-earth.

On our way from Queenstown to Blanket Bay, the weather around Lake Wakatipu seemed to change every few kilometres.
We had sunshine, heavy clouds, showers and, for a while, a beautiful rainbow stretching across the lake. A little further along, the rainbow had disappeared and the weather became much more dramatic, with dark clouds hanging low over the mountains.
It made for a few stops along the way — and three very different views of the same lake.

I enjoyed watching how everyone on the boat experienced Milford Sound in their own way — taking pictures, pointing things out, or simply sitting back and enjoying the view.
And there was plenty to look at. Steep mountains rise almost directly from the water, with clouds drifting around the peaks. The boats and occasional small plane give you a good sense of how large the mountains are.
We were very lucky with the weather. Milford Sound is one of the wettest places in New Zealand, receiving around seven meters of rain a year. We had sunshine, blue skies, and just enough cloud around the mountains to add some atmosphere.
A memorable few hours cruising through one of the most impressive landscapes we encountered in New Zealand.

Stirling Falls drops around 150 meters into Milford Sound, but for me the photograph became as much about the people as the waterfall. As our boat approached the falls, almost everyone reached for a phone or camera at once.
There's also a local legend that getting wet in the spray will make you look ten years younger—perhaps another reason everyone was happy to get so close. 😉
Sometimes the way we experience a place is almost as interesting as the place itself.

The day before yesterday we had the chance to see this part of New Zealand from a completely different perspective — from a helicopter.
Flying across the mountains and valleys around Queenstown, the scale of the landscape becomes much more apparent. Snow-covered peaks give way to deep valleys, remote lakes and long mountain ranges stretching into the distance.
We have spent the past few weeks exploring New Zealand mostly by road and on foot. Seeing the South Island from above added another perspective — and showed us just how vast and rugged this landscape really is.
These are a few of my images from the flight.

On our helicopter flight from Queenstown to Milford Sound, we made an alpine landing high in the Southern Alps. Surrounded by snow and rugged peaks, the sense of space and isolation was remarkable. For a few minutes we could simply walk around and take in the landscape before continuing towards Milford Sound.

The trail follows the Hooker River deeper into the Southern Alps, crossing three suspension bridges along the way. The second one is particularly special. It only opened on 28 July this year and, at 189 metres, is the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand. Walking across it with the river far below and the snow-covered mountains ahead was quite an experience.

From there, the valley opens up and Aoraki / Mount Cook gradually comes into view. After about 5 kilometres we reached Hooker Lake, with the Hooker Glacier at the far end.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather: blue skies, hardly any wind and clear views of the mountains for most of the walk.
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These are a few impressions from our day on the Hooker Valley Track — from the suspension bridges and the river to Hooker Lake and the walk back through the valley. Not a difficult hike, but definitely one we’ll remember.

Floating ice on Tasman Lake, surrounded by the rugged mountains of Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. The lake has formed as the Tasman Glacier has retreated and is now several kilometres long. Pieces of ice break away from the glacier and drift across its grey-green waters — a landscape that is still constantly changing.