Spring in the South Island! We have just completed two weeks of photographing a wonderful mix of landscapes and wildlife with Ron and Donna from the States. Donna is an avid wildlife photographer, who was also keen to shoot the New Zealand landscape while Ron enjoyed the views without the pressure to capture stunning imagery. 

Donna summed up the trip with these words: "With an exquisite countryside, photographic opportunities around each bend and a guide with a wonderful sense of humor we couldn't have had more fun." Our first stop was Kaikoura, to photograph the Dusky dolphins. The dolphins were at the start of the mating season and so were more playful than usual. Donna got some stunning images of these entertaining mammals. We then travelled over to the West Coast to Punakaiki, where the Pancake Rocks are located. The weather was typical West Coast, with a mix of sun and rain, and along with our shots of the Pancake Rocks we also enjoyed a stormy morning shoot at a nearby beach which gave us some classic West Coast images. 

We continued south to the glaciers and took the helicopter up on to Fox Glacier for a fantastic shoot of ice caves and formations. While based at Fox Glacier we also photographed the majestic mountain reflections at Lake Matheson, and took a short walk into the rainforest to shoot the rich, green foliage which the West Coast is famous for. Leaving the West Coast behind us, we drove over to Otago and based ourselves at Queenstown for two nights. The snow was still thick on the mountains and gave us some impressive scenes, particularly up around Glenorchy. Our next stop was Milford Sound, where Ron and Donna made good use of their anti-bug netting to keep the persistent sandflies at bay. We got some very moody images with a mixture of mist and cloud, and no sandfly bites! The boat cruise through the fiord was stunning, as usual, and Donna got good use out of her wide-angle lens.

Continuing south we went in search of Hooker's sealions on the southern coast and the ones we found seemed nonplussed by our presence and took no notice of Donna photographing them. Along the journey we also stopped at some of New Zealand's most scenic waterfalls. Further up the coast we photographed Yellow-eyed penguins coming ashore after a day at sea fishing, before we enjoyed our own seafood meal at a local restaurant nearby. During the course of the journey Ron was constantly trying to melt my brain with his lateral-thinking exercises, so I responded with my corniest-ever jokes.

From the east coast we took the inland road to the Aoraki/Mt Cook village for our last shoot. While we were there it snowed, and Ron and Donna, true to form, went out walking in the forest to photograph the wintry scene. After fourteen days traversing the South Island we drove back to Christchurch where it had all begun. It had been a journey packed with great photo opportunities, laughs, good food and very enjoyable company - Ron and Donna are a very special couple who were a pleasure to accompany on their visit here.