This morning was, thankfully, a lie-in. Yesterday was a long one and I was grateful for a little extra sleep. It wasn't a long drive back up through Queenstown to Glenorchy so we checked out at about 10am, grabbed the required coffee and left Te Anu and the Fjordlands behind.
There are a few rivers that flow into the Northern side of Lake Wakatipu. If you take the Glenorchy-Paradise rd North out of Glenorchy you cross a few of these rivers enroute to the Routeburn track and Sylvan Lake.
This afternoon we drove North to explore this area and get a spot to shoot the sunset. This was to be our last in NZ. We ended up at the Sylvan Lake parking area and doing the hour hike to the lake. This was pretty special with so many changes in light and vegetation. Somnus peak towered above the lake.
We wouldn't have been able to shoot the sunset in this wooded area so we decided to go back to the bridge in Paradise...yes, that's what the area is called. :) We picked up a young French girl, Amelie, travelling on her own through NZ at Sylvan Lake. She needed a lift back to Glenorchy and I am pretty sure she regretted asking two photographers who took 90min to shoot the sunset along the way!
It was clear, during the sunset shoot that I had not learned my lesson at Tasman Lake. In the cold and wind, I dropped 2 filters and the holder...this time off the bridge into the river. That was another $750, literally, in the water :(. I was lucky not to hit Bryan with the shattered glass who was shooting on the rocks under the bridge. Julia would be waiting in Sydney with the 0.6ND that I dropped in Aoraki but it was too late to ask her to get these in time for our trip to Tassie next week. I was hating myself again.
We dropped Amelie off outside our accommodation, The Glenorchy Lakehouse, and I felt sorry for her as she wandered off into the dark to find a spot for her tent...then I realised that I had been there too and this was just her turn.