Day5: Friday

04:45
The day begins. I'm snuggled up in bed, dressed & ready, waiting until it's time to leave. Its nearly routine this time of day, not that I'd put my hand up to be a 'morning person'. Especially when it's that cold outside & there's no power. No idea when it went out, I went to bed a bit before 11pm & it was toasty warm then. Room doesn't feel like power has been out for more than a couple of hours either. Just hope my camera battery is charged.

Bus the 45mins back to the start of the Key Summit trail. Took us a smidge under an hour to the 900masl spot we wanted for sunrise. Arriving as the stars began to fade with the morning light turning the sky from black to deep blue & purple. We snapped away for about an hour, before a break, waiting for the sunshine to blanket the scene in front of us. A few of us wandered up to the top to see what we could see. View was def better further down.

Made our way back down the hill, stopping frequently for photos & even pulling out the camera at the waterfall. It sometimes feels like hard work & you question if it's worth it...but now it is. Knowing how to get most photos to look right, or something like you imagine makes the process worth it. Rather pleased much of the guess work has been eliminated. Still lots to learn & practice; but knowing what to do to achieve it is motivation to keep the camera (& tripod) handy.

Lunch back in Te Anau before driving back to Queenstown for the last night.

And so it ends; with calloused fingers from the tripod, a bag full of laundry & over 1600 photos I've yet to sort, cull & most likely put into a printed book. It feels like it has only been 3 days... it feels like there is so much yet to learn. It feels like I have some work to do when I get home, honing these skills so I can do even more with a camera.

I don't know that landscape photography is my thing. But it may also be because I find it so challenging that I feel that way. Perhaps a bit more skill is needed to feel like better about it