Love is in the air.
If you go to Central Otago at the right time of year, one of the strange sights you’ll see are a numerous number of brides and grooms. Usually, they’re posing for photos in very public places with lots of people holding lighting gear and taking photos. However, I never know if they’re from an actual wedding party or if it’s a promotional shoot. This is a couple I found on the shores of Lake Wanaka.
Lake Wanaka
This is the shores of Lake Wanaka on a stunning summer’s day. Doesn’t it look amazing? It’s not hard to tell why it’s one of the country’s top holiday spots in the summer months. In fact, each year between Christmas and New Years the town becomes so busy that the town’s infrastructure struggles to cope with the number of tourists and holidaymakers enjoying the sunshine and the lake. Maybe that’s why so many developments have started up in the area.
The Cardrona Hotel – Buy
Dating back to 1865, the Cardrona Hotel is an iconic pub/hotel situated in the Cardrona Valley, that dates back to the Otago gold rush days. It had numerous owners of the years, however none more famous than proprietor James “Jimmy’ Patterson. Having purchased the hotel in 1926, Jimmy Patterson owned the establishment for 35 years until his death at the age of 91 in 1961. His attitude towards serving alcohol to patrons was legendary in the area. He preferred not to sell alcohol to women, and the amount you could drink depended on the direction you were heading. For those heading into Wanaka, he would allow two drinks while those heading over the Crown Range were limited to a single glass.
Lake Wanaka – Buy
A summers afternoon on Lake Wanaka in late December.
The Dingle Burn – Buy
This isn’t quite the Dingle Burn, but it’s pretty close to it. Access to this whole area starts at the Dingle Burn Peninsula Track and leads to the Turihuka Conservation Area, the Hāwea Conservation Park and the Hunter River Tracks. The whole area is very magnificent and has tracks that can take anything from several hours to several days to walk and enjoy.
The Cardrona bra fence – Buy
The Cardrona bra fence began around 1999 when a few bras mysteriously appeared on a fence along the Cardrona Valley sometime around New Years. Since then, more bras were added to the fence until it grew into an attraction all of its own. There’s even a donation box there where you can make a contribution to the Breast Cancer Foundation.
Lake Wānaka reflection – Buy
The town of Makarora is situated on the Haast Pass Highway between Wānaka and the West Coast. I stayed in Makarora for three days, two nights, and on the last day it snowed heavily. This left all the surrounding mountains covered in thick snow. It also, meant that on the way home it created some stunning scenery along the shores of Lake Wānaka.
Tree at sunset in Lake Wanaka – Buy
As much as I grow tired of seeing images of ‘That Wanaka Tree’, I have to admit that it does create a great subject for a photo. With the surroundings of the lake, mountains and big clear skies, it makes a wonderful scene for an image. In fact, if you catch it on a still autumn morning with moody clouds in the sky and mist rising off the lake, or on a calm, summer evening after the sun has set as colours hang around in the sky, it’s really rather magical. Therein lies the problem, it’s a vicious circle really.