New Zealand - Apr '23

New Zealand is one place that I have been longing to go for years. I attempted to do this in 2020 but had to cancel due to Covid and finally made it in April ’23. With this I think I have covered most of the places in my bucket list (I know I have to be extremely careful with this statement so that no one holds me for this !!).

My final destination in New Zealand was Queenstown. With limited flight options from Mumbai, the only good connection I had, was to Fly Mumbai – Singapore – Auckland – Queenstown and return.

Travel Date : 19th Apr ‘23 to 11th May ‘23

Company : New Zealand Photography Workshops led by Richard Young, Glen Howey, Ken Wright and Joel Staveley

I don’t think I can explain the beauty of New Zealand in words. One has to experience it. And the autumn colours adds a totally different perspective to the beauty of landscape. In this trip I decided to cover most of South Island and I was fairly successful in doing that. The trip was a combination three different photography tours. Queenstown was the base and every tour starts and ends in Queenstown. Amongst the places I have visited so far, I would probably rate Iceland and New Zealand as the two best places for landscape photography.

Wanaka / Nevis Valley / Central Otago / The Catlins - Otago Peninsula

Milford Sound / Aoraki / Mt. Cook /

With 18 days of non-stop photography, you could imagine the images I have captured resulting in an unacceptable delay in publishing my blog !! Apologies, unlike my other blogs / albums, you will have to spend more time here to even browse the images, forget enjoying it.

The tour Itinerary :

Date	Location	Hotel
22/4/23	Wanaka	Edgewater Hotel
23/4/23	Nevis Valley	Edgewater Hotel
24/4/23	Central Otago	Edgewater Hotel
27/4/23	Milford Sound	Milford Sound Lodge
28/4/23	Te Anau	Distinction Te Anau Hotel & Villa
29/4/23	Doubtful Sound	Doubtful Sound Boat - Fiordland Navigator
30/4/23	Doubtful Sound	Doubtful Sound Boat - Fiordland Navigator
3/5/23	Aoraki / Mt. Cook	The Hermitage
4/5/23	Aoraki / Mt. Cook	The Hermitage
5/5/23	The Catlins - Otago Peninsula	Larnach Castle
6/5/23	Otago Peninsula	Larnach Castle
7/5/23	The Catlins	Kaka Point Motel
8/5/23	The Catlins	Kaka Point Motel
9/5/23	Aoraki / Mt. Cook

Queenstown is a small and beautiful town. I stayed in Rydges Hotel and the location is amazing with a lake view and all the restaurants and shopping in just a few meters. After I landed, I had one free day. I decided to explore Arrowtown which is about an hour bus ride from the hotel. I believe this is the best place to experience autumn and it was so true.

Queenstown

Arrowtown

Doubtful sound is a fiord in the Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. This was a two day cruise in a beautiful small ship. We had ample photo opportunities, the moment we boarded the ship. Cruising along the fiords - the mountains, the greenery, clouds, patterns and reflections in the water, sun piercing thro clouds and so on, were so beautiful. I used to spend most of the time from sunrise to sunset in the open deck.

Doubtful Sound

Thanks to New Zealand Photography Workshops and the entire team, for having made this a memorable trip not just in terms of the meticulous planning, selection of locations etc. but also in providing photography support whenever required. I have truly learnt a lot in this tour.

The Players ...

To view the album --> https://new-zealand-apr-23.gopsview.com/