Author: Chris Bing

12 September 2023

Glenorchy, that mythical place at the end of the line as far as my journey was planned. Its how I like it, quiet, and being at peace with the grandeur of Mt Aspiring national park. As far as images for landscape photographers it all here folks. Fortunately most overseas tourists don’t spend much time here as the magnetic hubris of Queenstown keeps them there circling like moths around the brightest town in the Southern lakes. This is the total opposite to Tekapo which is part of the dark sky reserve. Glenorchy is also very dark at night with the milky way beckoning us to imagine infinity and beyond. Space the final frontier. Well that’s what I said to the hobbit standing beside me.

12.09.23

“Ride the Highway West Baby……..The West is the Best”

I don’t think Jim Morrison of the Doors had Hokitika in mind but what better lyrics could describe my passion for the West Coast. Just ignore the rest of the lyrics especially the F words and kill words. “This is the End” title is also appropriate as the Haast pass was closed . It was the end . That is when I decided to take the 900km detour backwards to Glenorchy. See “Worth the Detour”. No I didn’t have the car in reverse.

After Glenorchy my next destination was to stay in Geraldine. Normally I would travel on highway 8 via the Lindis Pass which is the way I came to Glenorchy -see “Worth a Detour?”. But there was a danger the Pass would be closed due to heavy snow. So I decided to go on highway 85 between Ranfurly and Palmerston. This is know as the “pig route”. Apparently Google says it’s called that, not because of transportation of certain live stock but the route was a “Pig of a route” to travel on in the old days. It must have been very rough. Some of my B&W landscapes were along the Pig route. What was amazing was how clean the road was even though there was lots of snow on the sides. I enquired about this with my guide and he said in the middle of the night the roads are swept to remove the snow routinely. Unsung heroes I say. Reminds me of the movie with Liam Neeson called “Cold Pursuit”. Anyway I safely got to Geraldine which is one of my favorite towns in NZ. The next day my guide Wayne Keenan picked me up for my third visit exploring the Rangitata Gorge. Towards the end of the day I was photographing the deer in the fields looking for the most attractive one and the local farmer stopped by to enquire who this voyeur was. I meekly replied “I was looking for Bambi”…. Only kidding. Jamie was just finishing his work on the field I was photographing and he stopped for a chat. It was great for Wayne as he travels this road a lot and its good to know the locals, especially when you get stuck in the mud or snow! Anyway Jamie really looked like the “Southern Man” of the Speights adverts. Dressed to kill and a vehicle that actually looks like it fulfills its design brief. Not like a large SUV in the suburbs that rarely gets any mud on it. So I asked him to pose for me for some environmental portraits. I was in my element as well, travel photography featuring the locals, but this time it was Rangitata not Myanmar.