Tasman Lake at sunset looking out towards Mt Cook.

Canon 5Dmiii, 16-35L III @ 16mm, ISO200, f/5.6, 30s

I met Bryan Stalder at Queenstown Airport last night. This was to be the start of the photographic leg of my New Zealand holiday. It was exciting to be travelling with another photographer again.

We started the day at sunrise at the Shotover river. The water wasn't as blue as we'd hoped and the rain pelted down but it was still beautiful.

After breakfast at the Mercure Queenstown, we hit the road North. Destination Mt Cook Aoraki National Park!

Aoraki Mount Cook National Park is home of the highest mountains (Mt Cook) and the longest glaciers in New Zealand. It is alpine in the purest sense - with skyscraping peaks, glaciers and permanent snow fields, all set under a star-studded sky.

According to Ngai Tahu legend, Aoraki and his three brothers were the sons of Rakinui, the Sky Father. While on a sea voyage, their canoe overturned on a reef. When the brothers climbed on top of their canoe, the freezing south wind turned them to stone. The canoe became the South Island (Te Waka o Aoraki); Aoraki and his brothers became the peaks of the Southern Alps.

We arrived in the late afternoon and decided that the easiest thing to do would be to walk in to the Tasman Lake area and shoot the sunset there.

Upon arrival the mountains were covered in cloud. Bryan and I debated returning to the car and driving back down the road to shoot there as it looked more clear. Indecision paid off this time. As we debated the clouds started to clear and we had the BEST sunset!

We stayed til after dark and got lost on the way back to the car...all worth it though!