On my flight to Queenstown, NZ, an Air New Zealand flight attendant chatted me up and ask what was bringing me to NZ. I told her I was part of a small photography workshop that was traveling the South Island, and she asked if I knew where we'd be traveling. I'm pretty sure I had the itinerary memorized, but the first thing that popped into my head was the Wanaka Tree, the iconic bare tree in Lake Wanaka. We we were scheduled for an afternoon arrival to shoot sunset, staying the night at a hotel at the lake, and then a morning session before heading on. She responded with a wry smile and "oh, sure, we call that the 'Wanker Tree' for all you guys who take pictures of it." I busted a gut. She was being friendly, but . . . point taken.
We arrived in Wanaka late afternoon. As it was most of our trip, the sky was filled with low clouds, dull and lifeless. But shortly before dusk, it began to break open, and we had an absolutely glorious sunset.
The next morning, we walked from our hotel to the rocky beach nearby, through misty woods, and discovered the lake shrouded in fog. This is unusual. NZ winter does not usually drop fog on top of the lake. At first, the tree was barely discernible and then, inch by inch, the fog slowly thinned revealing it in full. Occasionally a duck or two swam by while a cormorant watched from the branches.
