Highway 6

Jerome and I did a 6½ hour drive along Highway 6 in New Zealand from Franz Josef to Wanaka in the world’s least sexy car (a Nissan Tilda). These three pictures were taken in the mid-late afternoon at various points around Lake Hawea.

After an overcast morning it seemed like the sun came out in sync with us coming up to our first view of the lake at The Neck. We were stunned into stopping (suddenly) as the perfect rainbow arced across the lake, just as we approached. I couldn’t believe my luck.

Further south and a few hours later, with the sun lower, the rich blues of the water and the mountain backgrounds looked ethereal to me; just unreal.

I think it’s something to do with the scale of the landscape combined with the clarity of the air; you can see the mountains and the far corners of the lake but they are only just hazy. I tried to bring out some of that magic by accentuating the backgrounds in the images.

I suspect I won’t enjoy many landscapes more in my life. If I wasn’t already, this would have been the moment I fell in love with New Zealand.