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Southern Light is my dream to raise environmental awareness of New Zealand’s rich heritage.

We’re starting small, and even then the scope and diversity south of the South Island’s landscape beggars belief, so please enjoy this slide show – just click on any image, or browse the categories.

Cheers Donald

Mt Joffre, Mt Aspiring National Park

Middlemarch, popular as the end point of the Otago Central Rail Trail

Pukerangi ~ the turn-around for the beautiful Taieri Gorge Railway day trip

Mountain biking on the Old Woman Range in Central Otago

Merino sheep being shifted for shearing in the Cardrona Valley

Country Road, Upper Clutha

From near Bob Lee hut at the Snow Farm NZ. Criffel Range to the right behind the people – NZ’s highest altitude historic gold diggings.

Aoraki Mt Cook

Looking across the Cardrona Valley from the Snow Farm Lodge road to the mountains in the vicinity of the headwaters of Branch Creek

$Just for a few moments this late afternoon at the Snow Farm NZ the beautiful phenomena called sundogs appeared above the Snow Farm Lodge. Not long lived usually, but after a few frustrations [due to extreme cold delaying camera utilisation], one finally cooperated! Sun dogs are usually caused by light refraction from plate shaped hexagonal ice crystals in clouds often in very cold conditions$

Just for a few moments this late afternoon at the Snow Farm NZ the beautiful phenomena called sundogs appeared above the Snow Farm Lodge. Not long lived usually, but after a few frustrations [due to extreme cold delaying camera utilisation], one finally cooperated! Sun dogs are usually caused by light refraction from plate shaped hexagonal ice crystals in clouds often in very cold conditions

Across the bonnet NZ southern lakes style ~ Snow Farm NZ Cardrona Valley

Snow Farm NZ Cardrona Valley

The kotuku is known by Maori as a spirit of the nether world, and I was thinking that maybe it often alights transparently on New Zealand’s most famous kahikatea [not Pohutukawa – thanks to Nguyễn Văn Tuấn] growing on the tip of Cape Reinga on it’s way… … as we each undertake our final journey to the tune of these culturally rich words: “Ko to kotuku to tapui, e Tama – e” …translated “Kotuku is now thy sole companion…”. Do we so rarely see this bird in our daily “doings” because it’s purpose is elsewhere – a concept known to our hearts, but one we’re mostly conditioned to deny/ignore? Maybe it occasionally “finds us” to remind us of the illusion of our temporality. Either way, Cardrona Valley