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Lake Matheson from Reflection Island

Famous for mirror views of Aoraki – Mount Cook Lake Matheson is a must stop for any landscape photographer travelling up or down the West Coast. Every time I’ve tried it’s been cloudy, raining or I’ve not had the time to walk around the lake. It only takes an hour or two at most. But that can be too much time for a stop on long 8-10 hour driving days on the West Coast. Shows I need to spend more time exploring on foot than driving past the beauty spots. You can’t actually see Aoraki – Mount Cook in this photograph due to the low cloud. Most of the Southern Alps are in cloud. Still I was keen to do the walk. My goal is to come back here in winter one clear evening. I’d love to photograph the Milky Way rising from behind the mountains. This is the view from Reflection Island which is more of a peninsula into the lake than an island.

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Southern Alps from glacier

Stood atop the Franz Josef Glacier this is the view of the Minarets Mountain range. I believe we might have landed on either the Geikie or Chamberlin Snowfield. Either way we are looking south east towards New Zealand’s Southern Alps mountain range. This photo is a reminder to also capture a few camera phone photos in important spots so you have the GPS location to look back on at a later date.

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Peel Monument in Ramsbottom

One of my favourite walks recently was the short walk up Holcombe Hill. Maybe it was the company that day, or the great weather. From in front of the Peel Monument we could clearly see the skyline of Manchester city centre a good few miles south of here. Ramsbotton is a very picturesque place to visit and I look forward to spending more time there in future. Peel Monument is a memorial tower to Sir Robert Peel, a Prime Minister of the UK in the mid 19th century.

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Mount Maunganui

This was only my second visit to Tauranga and the first time overnight. Whilst I was extremely tired from previous days of travel. I was determined to walk to the top of Mount Maunganui and capture this photograph. Especially given it was a sunny summers day. The Mount is 232 metres above sea level and it took me around 40 minutes to walk to the top. This view south east of the peninsula is unique and spectacular. With the town of Mount Maunganui in the foreground. On the right is Pilot Bay beach and the Tauranga Harbour. On the left is the Mount Mauganui main beach and Marine Parade Reserve. The small island is Motuotau Island with the Bay of Plenty stretching out the horizon beyond.