I'm such a big fan of winter. Well, what's not to like? Snow, wet boggy walks, damp thermals drying by the fire (mm, sexy..), plus of course the landscape photography dream of late sunrise, early sunset and plenty of dark in between the two!
With the recent PSNZ conference in Dunedin, I managed to find a couple of extra days to make a leisurely journey South. First stop was to the Hooker lake at Mt Cook. I figured a night camping up at the lake would be a great way to start the trip, maybe an astro shoot, leisurely breakfast, then further into Central Otago. So when I rocked up at the carpark in drizzle, which gradually degenerated into rain, I wasn't expecting much. The rain turned to hail, and then it started snowing, wet and heavy drumming on the flysheet!
My tiny little lightweight tent was sagging under the ever-increasing weight of snow ( I really should have taken the mountain tent...) and I was becoming gradually more and more nervous about the impending collapse that sleep became less and less likely.. at some point I finally managed to snooze, to wake up to silence... and clear skies!
I jumped out of bed and managed a couple of somewhat rushed shots before twilight, then sat back, made a coffee and waited for the light to come... I wasn't disappointed!
From here I headed down past Alex to Poolburn reservoir, but that's another story...
