As we had hoped when we headed for bed last night, this morning has dawned with clear skies overhead making the chances of getting reflections of the mountains in Lake Mathieson a reality.
We needed to make a quick getaway for the lake about 6km away so that we made sure we were around the lake before any breeze on the water happened to spoil the hopeful reflections.
There was thought of the use of the ‘good ole credit card on the frosted windscreen trick ‘but this method can give problems in the use of the credit card in the future so we opted for a trickle of water and the wipers in slow motion and hey presto the vision ahead was clear.
There were a couple of other vehicles in the car park at the start of the walk but there was nobody around and we decided we werent first up and about in Fox Glacier for the same reason this morning.
the place it needed to be a photographers dream takes 1 1/2hr and is 2.6km return. It is an easy walking track, mostly flat and very well formed through lush rain forest with tinkling streams every now and then running down to the relatively shallow lake.
One thing that was still apparent as we started out on the walk was that there was light mist handing over the water and we needed that to lift before we got to the best photo spots or we wouldnt get the reflections that we looked forward to capturing on camera.
We got to the far end of the lake from the car park at a spot called ‘The View of Views and got ourselves up the two flights of stairs that looked like a recent addition to the where the best view of the lake with Mt Tasman and Mt Cook in the background.
The sun was hitting the forest treetops and the mist had lifted by the time we got ourselves into place. With the mist lifted all we had to contend with was a small family of 5 or 6 ducks that sent out gentle ripples as they
Thankfully the ducks werent that active and they ‘behaved ‘mostly for us so we were able to get all the photos and video that we wanted over a period of about 20 minutes as the rising sun threw different light on the reflections, forest and the lake water.
Luckily it was only as time passed that we caught the noise of children heading towards us. We hadnt seen them as we made our way in as they had trekked around from the other side of the lake. But now they were ‘destroying the tranquillity of the location and as their voices carried in the small enclosed area of the forest and the lake we could tell from the conversations that they had had enough of the views etc that we were enjoying. Still, kids are kids and we couldnt blame them for wanting to move on once their attention was attracted elsewhere. Their Dad had done all he could and they didnt wait long where we were taking the views in and they returned in the direction from where they had arrived from.
at a location called Reflection Island where the views and reflections got even better than at our first stop principally because the sun had risen further and angle to the water was different.Here though we came across a situation that should never arise at this location except in an emergency!
As we came down the wide stairway we noticed a man talking on his cellphone.This went on for 2 or 3 minutes and his voice wasnt exactly quiet spoiling the serenity of the location.
Thankfully he moved on as did the kids and their parents leaving us, again, to take in the beauty the locale which we believe is unrivalled in New Zealand.
The caf at the start of the walk hadnt been open when we arrived and over 2 ½ hours had passed so it was time for a coffee and a bite to eat while we continued to gaze up to the Southern Alps and enjoy the two majestic mountains that dominated the view.
Leaving the car park we noticed a road sign pointing to a view of the Fox Glacier and we headed in that direction. However just before the car park for
the location the details on the sign had changed and so we carried onto Gillespies Beach 12km away on the coast.
