The magic of winter

We've had some stunning days lately as a high pressure system sits over us. Usually when this happens we get an inversion - a low layer of cloud that excludes the sun from shining on our Wanaka town. However for whatever reason we've had the stunning frosts that occur sans inversion, and glorious days of bright and welcome sunshine. That is until today.

However the escape is to drive up one of the ski area roads and since the Snow Farm nordic area opened officially yesterday I [officially] began my 2009 ski season yesterday. My forty third it seems.

What an inversion looks like from above...


Vicky and Eric were there - old buddies from my Mt Cook days. Vicky and I often ski together, so it was great to get back into the swing of things...


Vicky at the Bob Lee hut. It's not often we can sit in here and relax as it's exposed and at high enough altitude to catch whatever wind is about...


From the Bob Lee hut, looking towards Lake Wanaka, you look right across the Criffel Range. I've done a lot of wandering down there amongst New Zealand's highest altitude gold workings. It's a fascinating area overlooked by all and sundry...


Late today the inversion was still sitting over Lake Hawea...


This morning driving up to the Snow Farm I was keen to do some landscape photography of a particular shot I had in mind. This one I eventually made is looking across at Mt Cardrona [inc. ski area] and was not quite what I had in mind, but landscape photography is often like that...


This weeks recommended blog is by my good friend Geoff - on Sat. he was across the valley from the Snow Farm ski touring behind Cardrona Ski Area, and he made some nice photographs >>

Wanaka - new, old and a larger landscape that does change, be it slowly.

These days as parking becomes more of a hassle in downtown Wanaka [and sadly more Queenstown like] I park above Ardmore St. on Lismore and walk down to do my shopping and get a coffee and muffin at Soul Foods. The return up-hill exercise does me good too!

Roy's Peak in the background never changes much, but the foreground does...


Downtown the old Masonic Lodge is becoming a symbol of the past, and it's being kept tidy. Perhaps helped by funds accrued by hiring out the land around the building as parking space...


I found this photo on the wall recently out at Lake Hawea at the hotel in good enough light to photograph it. I find it so symbolic of the past history of Wanaka that I know I had no choice but to make a photo of the photo. Obviously a winter shot [note ski auction banner] - the center building is the old Wanaka Town Hall, now long gone. What a great atmosphere that building had. I even remember going to movies there 45 years ago as a kid, and it never changed really, just becoming a maintenance impossibility until it's demise several years ago. For those of you regular Wanaka visitors the Infinity Investment Group's building is now to the right of the site. From the right: Wanaka Four Square still in operation, next Tuatara Pizza just changed hands to something ... Bistro and it used to be Monley's cafe. Then we now have Soul Foods downstairs in what used to be where you did NZR bus bookings, and the Gilliams sold magazines and newspapers in the 80s. Upstairs was a yoga studio until recently, and the large carport was where the NZR [New Zealand Railways] buses used to load and unload. Correct me if I'm wrong but prior to this it was a garage [Mansons?]...


This photo I've republished from this week's Mount Aspiring College newsletter. Twenty Years Young they say, this year. I still vividly remember attending the official opening by Princess Anne. It was a very hot day, and it was the last time I ever wore a suit in my life! I was also wearing my favourite glacier sunglasses and must have looked a sight. I was so "heat struck" I missed the opportunity for meaningful conversation over little onions and cheese bits stuck on toothpicks, with glasses of wine or cups of tea!


Last night I made this shot up on the mid slopes of Mt Iron. From a Wanaka landscape photography point-of-view I quite like it's "vanishing point" point, that leads my eye on a journey into a sense of distance [Mt Iron being an area that challenges me composition wise]. Again though while the basic form of the mountains remain unchanged as you'd expect, the growing vegetation speaks volumes about the evolution of the area...