Dean, a professional photographer from Australia, toured with us for two weeks of fantastic photography and we had a lot of laughs along the way. It was Dean's first visit to New Zealand and he was very keen to photograph at locations which were off the tourist route - way off, in some cases.

We started in Christchurch and made our way to Mt Cook/Aoraki National Park. Even though it was late spring we arrived at the village to find it lightly snowing. It snowed overnight and we woke to find a good covering of snow on the ground and trees. We left early for our morning shoot and got some good images of the Tasman Valley in the early light. The weather closed in shortly after and it started to snow again, so we took a break and hoped for it to clear by evening. In the late afternoon, the clouds started to break and so we hiked up to a lookout point to photograph Aoraki/Mt Cook in the last light. As the evening approached the clouds disappeared giving us beautifully clear views up to New Zealand's highest peak and Dean was amazed at the clarity of the air and the sharpness of detail visible on the mountains.

The next morning we left the village for Central Otago, stopping along the way to explore an abandoned gold settlement high in the hills. For our evening shoot we drove out to a remote location on a hill that was dotted with abstract rock formations. The mixture of late light, tussock and rock gave us some superb images that typified the rugged Central Otago landscape - and the accompanying wind gave us a taste of the southerly chill that this exposed terrain experiences in winter. The following day we were out the door at 4.30am as we had an hour's drive to get up into the hills for our dawn shoot. We arrived in good time for Dean to scout out his scene, and the landscape turned a rich ochre as the first rays of light appeared over the horizon. There was not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind and we had magnificent 360 degree views from our vantage point 1200 metres above sea level. We then continued on along an old gold trail that took us bumping along a 4-wheel drive road which had so many river crossings that we lost count! Later in the afternoon we arrived at Te Anau, where we got the barbeque going at the motel for a good old Kiwi cook-up.

Our next destination was Milford Sound and the weather was cloudy as we drove through the Fiordland National Park. It started to rain as we drew near the end of the road and it looked like it wasn't going to clear up in a hurry. There is a reason that the forest is so incredibly lush, with mosses and lichens competing for space on every tree, and so rain at any time of the year is not uncommon. Dean saw that this was the perfect time to get a rainforest photograph - when it was actually raining. So, he donned all his waterproof gear and walked across the river to photograph the forest. An hour later he emerged totally drenched through but with the spoils of going the extra mile...his photograph of a stream running through the forest was a real cracker! The following morning dawned calm and clear giving us beautiful reflections of Mitre Peak. We then took the cruise out through the fiord and as well as photographing the dramatic scenery, we also spotted a few breeding pairs of the Fiordland Crested penguin.

We then enjoyed two days around Queenstown, with photography around Lake Wakatipu, Glenorchy, and a trip on the gondola for a panoramic view of the township, lake and surrounding mountains. From Queenstown we travelled over to the West Coast and up to Fox Glacier. Dean took a heli-hike on to the glacier and captured some sublime images of ice caves and formations. That evening we took a hike around Lake Matheson and were treated to a colourful sunset over the mountains, which was reflected perfectly in the dark waters.

Continuing to travel north we explored the wild coastline around Punakaiki and took a hike alongside a river, photographing everything from rugged limestone outcrops to large orange starfish to delicate fern fronds.

The last area we visited was Kaikoura, over on the east coast. As Dean was very keen to go where no other tourist could get to we took a four-wheel drive track up over the mountains and into one of the most remote locations in the district. After overnighting in a high country hut, we returned back to the township in the afternoon and took a break before heading out for a brief evening shoot. The following morning we were up early to take the dawn dolphin watching cruise and it wasn't long before we had found a large pod of approximately 300 dusky dolphins, so Dean found himself with more photo opportunities than he could handle. After the cruise we drove south back to Christchurch for Dean to catch his flight back home. The two weeks seemed to fly by, and it was an absolute pleasure (and a lot of laughs!) having Dean join us on tour. His comment in an email to us afterwards couldn't have summed it up better: "The tour was a real unforgettable CRACKER!"