Today you will fly into Christchurch!

Carnmore Hotel Christchurch encapsulates modern design and innovation and is ideally located within a short stroll to the heart of the city and within close proximity to a number of Christchurch’s iconic landmarks. With ease of access to the main arterial routes north and south, nothing is too far from the hotel.

Twenty Seven Steps | A charming boutique eatery set in a historic heritage building, offering a seasonal menu of modern New Zealand cuisine with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and an intimate, stylish atmosphere - perfect for a relaxed dinner experience.

The TranzAlpine is one of the world’s great scenic train trips from one coast of New Zealand to another through the dramatic contrast of dry beech forests and tussock land on one side of the Alps and lush green landscapes on the other. Weaving coast-to-coast through the stunning Southern Alps, the TranzAlpine journey is one of a kind. Cutting through the mountainous spine of New Zealand's South Island, the railway weaves through cliff-lined river gorges, over high mountain plains, over braided rivers and around pristine mountain lakes.

Is the West Coast the best coast? If you ask someone from the west on the south island of New Zealand, they’re likely to give you a hearty affirmative yes. This long strip of coastal territory is the least populous region in the country. Stretching from Kahurangi Point in the north to Awarua Point in the south, the West Coast region is about 400 miles long and to the west is the sea and to the east are the Southern Alps.

Opened in 2014 and offering 20 luxurious rooms with free WiFi and Complimentary Continental Buffet in our Breakfast Restaurant, Franz Josef Oasis is just 10 minutes’ drive from the Franz Josef Glacier. Guests enjoy a spacious, covered outdoor terrace, perfect for taking in the lovely views of Westland National Park, the garden and mountains.

Rooms feature soundproofing, double-glazed windows, deluxe linen, super king beds and an electric fireplace or heat-pump. All have a wide-screen TV. Each room includes a bathroom with heated towel rails and guest toiletries. Rooms display artworks by renowned New Zealand photographer, Andris Apse. Franz Josef Oasis Hotel is 5 minutes’ drive north from the Franz Josef Heliport and Vilage. It is 2 minutes’ drive from Westland National Park and Lake Mapourika. Okarito Beach is 20 minutes drive.

Franz Josef and the surrounding West Coast region offer something quite different from the Mackenzie or Queenstown, and in many ways it is even more dramatic:

• The glacier itself

  Franz Josef Glacier is one of the few glaciers in the world that descends from an alpine icefield right down into a temperate rainforest. That juxtaposition is genuinely bizarre and beautiful. You can be standing among ferns and rimu trees and looking straight up at a river of blue ice tumbling down from 3,000m. No other easily accessible glacier in the world offers that combination.

• The blue ice
  Glacial ice compresses over time until all the air bubbles are forced out, and it absorbs red wavelengths of light while reflecting blue. The deep crevasses and ice caves at Franz Josef glow an almost electric blue that photographs incredibly well, especially on overcast days when the light is soft and even.

• The rainforest foreground

  The West Coast gets enormous amounts of rainfall, which means the vegetation is lush, dense, and intensely green in a way that feels almost tropical. That vivid green rainforest framing a wall of white and blue ice makes for compositions you simply cannot find anywhere else in New Zealand or much of the world.

• Overcast light is an advantage here

  Most landscape photographers chase clear skies, but Franz Josef is one of those rare places where overcast or moody conditions actually improve the photography. Flat cloud diffuses the light beautifully across the ice, eliminates harsh shadows in the forest, and adds atmosphere and drama to the landscape. The frequent mist and low cloud rolling through the valley can make images feel almost cinematic.

• The Waiho River and valley floor

  The braided grey glacial river running along the valley floor with the icefall behind it gives you a strong leading line straight into the image. At dawn before the tourist helicopters start, the valley can be utterly still and the reflections in the river pools are exceptional.

• Sunsets and alpenglow on the peaks above

  When it does clear, the peaks above the glacier, particularly Mt Tasman and Aoraki/Mt Cook visible from certain angles, catch alpenglow in spectacular fashion. Because the West Coast faces west, you get sunsets directly over the Tasman Sea, which can produce vivid skies above the dark forested ridgelines.

• Lake Matheson

  Just a short drive from the glacier, Lake Matheson is arguably the most famous reflection lake in New Zealand. On a calm morning the still water perfectly mirrors Mt Cook and Mt Tasman above the treeline, framed by kahikatea and rimu. It requires an early start since any wind after mid morning disturbs the surface, but the rewards are considerable. It is one of those shots that looks almost too perfect to be real.

We will aim to capture the famous reflection on Lake Matheson. Our hotel is a 35 minute drive from our shoot spot, and a 20-30 minute walk from the carpark. Be ready early this morning!

With easy walking at your pace, information on glaciology, geology, geomorphology, flora and fauna, local legends, history and small guided groups with fantastic guides, you will experience this glacier in style and in the best hands with the only local company.

This full day experience ventures deep into the place Rudyard Kipling called, "the Eighth Wonder of the World" as we explore the magnificent sheer cliffs and shimmering waters of this world-renowned location.

Your local guide will pick you up from your accomodation and whisk you away in the comfort of your Land Rover Discovery or Mercedes van. Enjoy constantly evolving landscapes from windswept alpine plains and turquoise lakes to vast mountain peaks and lovely lakeside towns. Skip the crowds and never miss a photo opportunity with the flexibility to stop, step out of the car and breathe in the crisp mountain air.

A few things make Queenstown one of the most photogenic places in the Southern Hemisphere:

• The lake and mountain combination

  Lake Wakatipu is a long, fjord-like lake surrounded on almost every side by steep, jagged ranges. Unlike Tekapo where the mountains are in the distance, in Queenstown the Remarkables literally loom directly above the town. That compression of water, town, and dramatic peaks in a single frame is rare and makes almost any vantage point feel composed for you.

• The Remarkables

  The name does a lot of heavy lifting but is entirely justified. The range runs in an unusually straight line and rises sharply to serrated ridgelines that catch alpenglow beautifully at sunrise and sunset. In winter with snow, and in autumn with golden larch trees in the foreground, they are extraordinary subjects.

• Arrowtown

  Just 20 minutes away, this old gold rush village is lined with ancient trees that turn spectacular shades of amber, red, and gold in April and May. It is consistently rated one of the best places in New Zealand for autumn colour and makes for wonderful street and landscape photography.

• The elevated viewpoints are easily accessible

  The Skyline gondola takes you up Bob's Peak in minutes, giving you a sweeping panorama over the town, lake, and ranges. From up there you can shoot sunrise, sunset, blue hour, and the town lights at night without any serious hiking. For those willing to walk, Ben Lomond above that gives even more dramatic compositions.

• The TSS Earnslaw

  The old steam ship that cruises the lake adds a wonderful historical element. Photographing it against the mountains, especially with steam billowing in cooler weather, gives you something quite cinematic that you cannot get anywhere else.

• Blue hour and night photography

  The town itself is compact and pretty, and at blue hour the reflection of the lights across Lake Wakatipu with the dark mountain silhouettes behind is genuinely stunning. It is one of those places where pointing a camera almost anywhere at dusk produces something worth keeping.

• The surrounding valleys

  Glenorchy at the head of the lake, about 45 minutes from town, is where much of Lord of the Rings was filmed, and for good reason. The flat valley floor with braided rivers, reflected peaks, and morning mist rising off the water is extraordinary. It rewards an early start more than almost anywhere else in the South Island.

Scenic cruise from Queenstown Bay, across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm on The vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw for a dining experience that's unlike any other. Guests disembark where they are escorted through the lakeside gardens to the Colonel's Homestead and seated for dinner. Guests can relax in the unique ambience in front of a roaring open fire and soak in the views from this stunning lakeside setting while the chefs prepare a gourmet BBQ on the outdoor grill.

The drive from Queenstown to Tekapo is about 3 hours.

Highlights along the way:

Geraldine is a lovely little town for a coffee or stretch — there's a good bakery and the famous Barker's food store.

Burkes Pass is the scenic gateway into the Mackenzie Basin — the landscape opens up dramatically here into tussock grassland with the Southern Alps ahead of you. It's genuinely stunning.

Lake Tekapo itself — the impossibly turquoise glacial lake is even more vivid in person. Don't miss the Church of the Good Shepherd on the lakeshore, and if you're staying the night, the stargazing is world-class (it's inside a Dark Sky Reserve).

Set inland on the south island of New Zealand in sparsely populated MacKenzie Basin, Lake Tekapo—or, as locals call it, Tekapo, in order to distinguish the town from the lake of the same name—is a small town of under 600 full-time denizens about three hours’ drive south-west of Christchurch.

The name comes from the Māori who were the first settlers here. It’s actually a misspelling of Takapõ, which comes from “taka” for sleeping mat and “po” for “to leave in haste at night.”

One reason why visitors gravitate to Tekapo is to look at the night sky. That’s because it has been declared an International Dark Sky Reserve since 2012, the largest of its kind and the only such reserve in the southern hemisphere. Once the sun goes down and the sky turns dark, you can look up and see many more stars and much more activity than in other parts of the southern hemisphere. In fact, visitors can take star-gazing tours while in town.

Peppers Bluewater Resort Lake Tekapo lies near the shores of Lake Tekapo, in the heart of Mackenzie Country in New Zealand's central South Island. Overlooking the lake, the resort is set amidst the purest natural landscape, offering a tranquil and scenic holiday destination. Located in close proximity to the town center, Peppers Bluewater Resort Lake Tekapo features an on-site restaurant that captures the flavors of the region with local produce. Romantic and secluded, this accommodation in Lake Tekapo reflects the beautiful surrounding landscape.

A few things combine to make the Mackenzie Basin genuinely special for photographers:

The light
The Mackenzie sits in a rain shadow created by the Southern Alps, meaning it gets an unusually high number of clear, sunny days for New Zealand. That clarity makes the light crisp and clean. The high altitude (Tekapo is around 700m) also means the air is thin and dry, so colours pop, shadows are sharp, and golden hour lasts beautifully.

The colour of the water
The lakes get their extraordinary turquoise colour from "rock flour," ultra-fine particles of glacially ground rock suspended in the water. It scatters light in a way that produces that surreal blue-green that photographs so dramatically, especially against brown tussock and snow-capped peaks.

The Dark Sky Reserve
The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is one of the largest in the world. Because the Basin is so sparsely populated and strictly controls light pollution, the night skies are extraordinary. The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye, and the Southern Cross and Magellanic Clouds are vivid. For astrophotography it is genuinely world-class, and the Church of the Good Shepherd with the stars behind it has become one of the most iconic shots in New Zealand photography.

The foreground to background drama
Mt Cook (Aoraki) at 3,724m is the tallest mountain in Australasia, and it rises very steeply from a relatively flat basin. That means you can compose shots with a strong, uncluttered foreground like tussock or the lake surface, and have a towering peak filling the background sky. The Hooker Valley Track leading to Hooker Lake gives you floating icebergs with the mountain directly behind, which is a genuinely rare combination.

The intimacy of the landscape
Unlike somewhere like the Himalayas where the scale is so immense it can be hard to compose, the Mackenzie gives you a more intimate relationship with big mountains. You can be standing at the lakeshore at Pukaki and feel like Mt Cook is right there. That accessible drama is a gift for composition.

Put it all together: reliable clear weather, extraordinary water colour, world-class dark skies, dramatic mountain backdrops, and seasonal wildflowers. It is hard to find another place on Earth that offers so much photographic variety in such a compact area.

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park is a rugged land of ice and rock and walking one of the tracks is the best way to experience this ancient landscape.

The Hooker Valley Track is the most popular hike in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. Located a 5-minute drive from the Aoraki/Mount Cook Village, this stunning track is breathtaking at every turn and is regarded as one of the best short walks in New Zealand.

Paul Nguyen has lived and worked from coast to coast across the U.S., and has over 35 years of experience in film and digital photography. He specializes in digital photography of natural landscapes and wildlife, and capturing the authentic experience of outdoor adventure and exploration through his video series.

In April 2017, he served in the prestigious National Park Artist in Residence program at Petrified Forest, Arizona, and continues to create programs for the National Park Service. His accomplishments also include an exclusive assignment as a photographer for the Boston Museum of Science, and a position as a program guide and brand ambassador for Swedish outfitter Fjällräven.

His noteworthy image-making and teaching in the realm of photography have gained him sponsorships from Tamron USA and Sun Surveyor, and his acclaimed adventure and overlanding videos have led to numerous outdoor equipment sponsorships.

Hailing from Massachusetts and now based out of Flagstaff, AZ, Paul spends most of the year exploring the western U.S. to research photo tour destinations and create video content. You may run into him, his Jeep, his trailer, and his cat somewhere along your own travels. Despite the distance, he maintains an active connection to New England camera clubs, and continues to serve as a remote lecturer and competition judge.