New Zealand, Part 3: Driving the West Coast, Towards the Fjords
Day 4: Franz Joseph to Wanaka
This was one of the most scenic drives I’ve ever done, with waterfalls, glacial rivers, and mountain views. The light was unfortunately too harsh for much photography, but I managed to get a few images that I really like.
Ship Creek
Blue Pools Track
Day 5: Wanaka to Te Anau
The Wanaka Tree
If you don’t know, this is a very famous tree, probably one of the most photographed trees in the world. It’s right in the town of Wanaka, and usually the water is high enough that the tree looks like it’s growing out of the lake. We decided to go have a look at it, but I didn’t bring my camera because I didn’t think the world needed another photo of this tree.
And then we got there and I immediately regretted not getting up early for a proper sunrise photo. So we’ll have to make do with this mid-morning phone photo.
Swamp Harrier
One of the most common birds we saw throughout New Zealand was the Swamp Harrier. Like the harriers here in the US, these spend a lot of time flying low over fields looking for prey. So we’d always see them when we were driving through farm country, which was rarely a good time to stop and try to get a photo.
On our first night in Te Anau, I went out to a beach and saw this one buzzing around. I could never seem to get myself positioned properly to get close, so I settled for these environmental photos.
Also I saw some neat plants.
Te Anau
On the night before our trip into Milford Sound, I had some great dynamic cloud conditions at this rocky beach on Lake Te Anau, looking into Fjordland National Park.
