Fiordland National Park
Fiordland National Park including Milford Sound with Mitre Peak, and Doubtful Sound with Commander Peak is a unique area in the South Island of New Zealand and a massively popular area for tourists and photographers alike.
Milford Sound
Over an hour from Lake Te Anau the drive alone is worth the trip to Milford Sound. The scenery is breathtaking with several worthy stops along the way. A must see is Mirror Lake, aptly named due to its ridiculously high reflectivity. Another is Lake Gunn, get here early morning when before the wind has picked up and the lake is at its most reflective.
I’ve visted this area a couple times now, the first time to take photos and go on the boat tour. It is very calming being out on the water in the fiord which acts as a natural wind break. Seals line the shores beneith the massive stone mountains carved out by repeated ice ages. I find the light is different in New Zealand when compared to Australia, you don’t always have to wait for the ‘magic hour’ (sunset and sunrise) for moments of beauty. This photo was taken at 10.30am whilst on the boat trip.
The iconic Milford Sound images are actually from the carparks surrounding marsh land and not on the Sound itself. The marsh land, a great place to photography is scattered with drift wood, shells, moss covers rocks and swarms of sand flies. I spend a good couple of hours camped out in the marsh land on a winters night to take the star trail image you see below. This photo is the result of a 45 minute exposure.
Doubtful Sound and Lake Te Anau
On my second South Island tour I took a short boat ride across Lake Te Anau to Manapouri Power Station and the start of a very picturesque journey to Doubtful Sound. The Fiordland National Park is one of the wettest regions in the world and as a result has low lying clouds shrouding its peaks. This makes for some stunning moody photographs and gives the whole area an ancient pristine feeling. I’m sure it is mostly unchanged since it was inhabited by the local Maori tribes.
