Aoraki
While sorting through my ever-growing backlog of images, which has gotten even bigger since we recently went on another short trip, I'll upload a few more images from our trip to New Zealand last year, where we of course had to visit Aoraki, or Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. Since there is a really nice and relatively flat hiking trail through the Hooker Valley, we decided to camp one night at the White Horse Hill Campground right next to the Hooker Valley trailhead.
Since we were running a little late due to several stops along the road (including the famous viewpoint with the winding road in the foreground), we rushed the payment, which had to be done online, along with filling out a paper form with our payment reference. We then parked our motorhome and began the fairly easy hike over 3 swing bridges with beautiful views of the surrounding mountain range and the turquoise waters of the Hooker River. We arrived in time for sunset, but didn't have much time to look for compositions. We had originally hoped for more ice in Hooker Lake, but there was almost none and so we descended further down the trail to the water's edge. Aside from a few rocks under the water, there weren't many foreground options, and after shooting a few of these compositions, I decided to switch to the landscape orientation, where the surrounding mountain slopes serve nicely as converging lines towards Aoraki. The light was fading fast, bathing the valley in shades of blue, and just as I locked in my composition, the last rays kissed the peaks of Mount Cook, resulting in my favorite image of that day.
After packing up, we hiked back for an hour, and on the way n possum crossed our path in the dark. We hadn't expected to encounter any animals on this trail and so were initially startled, partly because the possum didn't move at first (perhaps it was blinded or confused by our headlights), but then approached and walked past us without bothering too much about keeping a distance. After an hour we returned to the campsite, and before I wrap up this story, let me tell you: if you decide to camp there in winter, you should do your business before going to this remote place. We were looking for a toilet and thought there must be some as this is one of THE tourist attractions in New Zealand. Well, there are toilets, but as it was winter, they turned off the water supply and signs advise you to use the surrounding outhouses. And let me tell you, you don't want to use them... Anyway, we did what had to be done and both came to the conclusion that seeing the almighty Aoraki with our own eyes was worth this memorable olfactory experience. I hope you like this image!
Aoraki
While sorting through my ever-growing backlog of images, which has gotten even bigger since we recently went on another short trip, I'll upload a few more images from our trip to New Zealand last year, where we of course had to visit Aoraki, or Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand. Since there is a really nice and relatively flat hiking trail through the Hooker Valley, we decided to camp one night at the White Horse Hill Campground right next to the Hooker Valley trailhead.
Since we were running a little late due to several stops along the road (including the famous viewpoint with the winding road in the foreground), we rushed the payment, which had to be done online, along with filling out a paper form with our payment reference. We then parked our motorhome and began the fairly easy hike over 3 swing bridges with beautiful views of the surrounding mountain range and the turquoise waters of the Hooker River. We arrived in time for sunset, but didn't have much time to look for compositions. We had originally hoped for more ice in Hooker Lake, but there was almost none and so we descended further down the trail to the water's edge. Aside from a few rocks under the water, there weren't many foreground options, and after shooting a few of these compositions, I decided to switch to the landscape orientation, where the surrounding mountain slopes serve nicely as converging lines towards Aoraki. The light was fading fast, bathing the valley in shades of blue, and just as I locked in my composition, the last rays kissed the peaks of Mount Cook, resulting in my favorite image of that day.
After packing up, we hiked back for an hour, and on the way n possum crossed our path in the dark. We hadn't expected to encounter any animals on this trail and so were initially startled, partly because the possum didn't move at first (perhaps it was blinded or confused by our headlights), but then approached and walked past us without bothering too much about keeping a distance. After an hour we returned to the campsite, and before I wrap up this story, let me tell you: if you decide to camp there in winter, you should do your business before going to this remote place. We were looking for a toilet and thought there must be some as this is one of THE tourist attractions in New Zealand. Well, there are toilets, but as it was winter, they turned off the water supply and signs advise you to use the surrounding outhouses. And let me tell you, you don't want to use them... Anyway, we did what had to be done and both came to the conclusion that seeing the almighty Aoraki with our own eyes was worth this memorable olfactory experience. I hope you like this image!