This morning we woke up at sunrise the Edgewater with not much of an early morning plan. Ordinarily this would have been fatal for the day but since we were on the edge of lake Wanaka, I raced over to that Wanaka Tree and shot with a bunch of other crazies as the rising sun shifted the fog from the lake.
Our plan for the day had been to drive along the Wanaka Mt Aspiring Road to the Rob Roy Glacier. So, shortly after checking out, we did just that. The road took us West past the Roy's Peak track, around Glendhu Bay, along the Matukituki River and into Mount Aspiring National Park. A word of warning if you decide to do this: The road becomes quite narrow, is unsealed and you have about 7 water crossings which can flood without notice and trap you on the other side. Just take care and watch out for rogue sheep!. This drive is about a hour from Wanaka.
Tomorrow we will be at Milford Sound which we will access from Te Anu. The truth is we were so close to Milford on this track but there is no way through by vehicle so you have to drive around and it'll take 5 hours!
The Rob Roy Glacier is a small hanging glacier in theSouthern Alps. It is located 9 kilometres (6 mi) south of Mt Aspiring.
The glacier covers the steep slopes of the mountains surrounding the head of the Rob Roy Valley. The most prominent part of the glacier is on the northwestern side of the valley on the slopes below the 2,644 metres (8,675 ft) tall Rob Roy Peak. This part of the glacier extends from just below Rob Roy Peak down to a bench high on the valley's side where it abruptly breaks over the cliff's edge at around 1,500 metres (4,900 ft).
We hiked in for about 2hrs. We didn't go all the way to the glacier along the second section of the track as we didn't have time because we had the long drive back to Wanaka and then on to Te Anu but the views we had along the way were magnificent!
The drive to Te Anu took us almost 4hrs. 1hr back to Wanaka and then about 3hrs to Te Anu and Fjordland National Park.
We checked in to the Lake Front Apartments and made plans to shoot the sunset along the Northern Shores of Lake Te Anu.
The sun burns off the fog very quickly in the morning.
Canon 5Dmiii, 16-35L iii @ 35mm, ISO50, f/16, 15s with 0.6ND
The warm glow as the sun rises in the East
Canon 5Dmiii, 16-35L iii @ 35mm, ISO50, f/16, 13s with 0.6ND
The swing bridge at the start of the Rob Roy Glacier Track.
Canon 5Dmiii, 24-105L @ 60mm, ISO640, f/6.3, 1/250s with B+W CPL
On the Rob Roy Glacier Track
Canon 5Dmiii, 100-400L ii IS @ 321mm, ISO640, f/5.6, 1/80s
The sun begins to set on the Northern Shores of Lake Te Anu
Canon 5Dmiii, 16-35L iii @ 20mm, ISO200, f/18, 25s with 0.6ND and 0.9 Soft GND
Brilliant colours to the West in Fjordland National Park
Canon 5Dmiii, 100-400L ii IS @ 227mm, ISO100, f/8, 1/50s
The sun set on the Northern Shores of Lake Te Anu
Canon 5Dmiii, 16-35L iii @ 16mm, ISO160, f/8, 20s with 0.6ND and 0.9 Soft GND