Stood at the summit of the Red Crater I was amazed by the view looking down on the Emerald Lakes. Looking around there were many other possibilities for photographs that I could take. From the Emerald Lakes, looking to the left I could see in the distance, the huge blue lake through the steam. Zooming in I captured this view. This is the Blue Lake on the Tongariro Crossing. You can see the summit of Rotopaunga behind the lake and the Central Crater in the foreground. The lake is much higher than the crater, around 100 metres difference in height. Looking closely along the near side shore of the lake there are dozens of people hiking along the water. Sadly due to the distance and steam there is very little colour in this photograph and the lake doesn’t appear blue, in fact this photograph could almost be black and white. Only close up can you really see how clear and blue the water is.
Taking only photographs – leaving only footprints
