Photo reconnaissance in glacier country
Richard Soult treks to the snowline with Swiss lensman
Since 4x4Explorer Adventures started back in 2020, we’ve been looking at ways to expand our client base and diversify the business. Among the ideas that we have had: to attract guests from overseas and to oer trips to photographers looking to get into remote areas, either to photograph the amazing night skies that we have or the amazing landscapes that we see on our various trips. It’s even possible to photograph the Aurora Australis from some points in Central Otago. I’ve seen photos taken by clients on some of our trips, but have never seen it myself, probably because I’m curled up in bed.
With all of this in mind, I was delighted when I was contacted by Swiss-based landscape photographer Arpan Das enquiring whether I could get him to Lyell Hut and Godley Hut. The Lyell Hut is a long way up the Rakaia and I hadn’t heard of anyone driving that far.
I’d driven to the lake at the snout of the Maud Glacier, close to the Godley Hut, in August and was confident that I could get him up there.
We set up a video call and discussed options and dates. Because of the uncertainty of getting all the way to the Lyell Hut by truck and the fact that Arpan was recovering from a nasty skiing accident, we thought that it wouldn’t be prudent to head in on foot. Arpan was keen on getting in and decided that a helicopter was the best way of getting where he wanted.
We were on for the Godley however, I decided that it was probably best to go and do a recce before Arpan arrived. I “roped” in my good friend Gordon Colemore, with whom I often do mid-week trips close to Christchurch.
We headed down the week before Arpan was due to arrive and had a look. Unfortunately, the Godley, just up from Lilybank, was running very high with meltwater and we decided not to risk it and instead head to the MaCaulay Hut for the night. We had a brilliant night in the hut with a couple of university friends, Liam and Hamish. They were great company and I got my first taste of a Thar that they had shot the previous day. I must say that I was surprised by the texture, colour and taste. I was expecting something like goat but in fact it was dark red and closer to beef. Very good! Thanks guys!
The date of Arpan’s arrival quickly came around. He was landing in Christchurch mid-afternoon and Gordon and I headed down around lunchtime and spent the afternoon, evening and night
in my favourite campsite on the edge of Lake Tekapo.
I had sent a few messages to Arpan saying that there was no rush to get to Tekapo and to be very careful on the roads. I couldn’t believe it when I got a text from him at 19.00 saying that he was already in Tekapo and asking where we were. I sent him our location and was half expecting him to turn up. He didn’t and at 10.00 the following morning, Gordon and I were at the Lakeside Lodge ready to pick up our guest. He was a bit late and I assumed that he was shattered after his long trip. He wasn’t. He’d been up since before dawn, which starts with an 04 at that time of the year. Does this man not sleep?
Arpan was delightful and I knew that he was going to be great company. With all his photography and camping gear in the truck, we headed off up Lilybank road to see if we could get across the Godley. I had warned him that it still might not be possible and offered to take him to the
MaCaulay instead.
When we got to the first crossing, it was better than expected. Still quite high, but not nearly as much flow as when Gordon and I had been there the previous week. We discussed how we were going to tackle it and were quite quickly across. I knew that we still had to cross it again and
that we weren’t there just yet.
Approaching Sibbald island, we met a backpacker on his way out from Red Stag Hut. This gave me confidence because, if he had walked it, we should hopefully be able to drive it. The last time, in
August, we had taken a line on the true left of the valley to the right of the island, looking up the valley. This time however, the river was way too angry and we skirted around the left side, where it was more braided and straightforward to cross. It was still a little bit nerve wracking because, with all the snow melt, the river was turquoise blue and opaque.
Navigation from this point on was pretty challenging as the “track” came and went. I was trying to spot tyre marks and cairns and Gordon kept asking if I was on the track.
The reality with most riverbed work is that there isn’t a track and you just have to find your own way, as best you can.
I had logged the route that we had taken in August and what we ended up doing, was completely different.
The further up the valley we went, the bigger the boulders became and I was glad that I had a 50mm lift, 4mm steel under-armour and rock sliders. They were all paying for themselves on this trip !!!!
There were many bangs and Arpan was clearly having the time of his life, totally surprised and impressed at how capable our two vehicles were.
We stopped at Red Stag hut to use the long drop and found a father, Ben, and two young boys but no vehicle. I asked them if they had walked in but they told me that they were bogged a couple of kms further back and had walked up to the hut.
They were safe and after checking that they had everything that they needed, we left for the lake with the promise that we would be back the following morning to help them out.
We finally got to the lakeshore at around 5.00pm and found a place to set up for the night. Unfortunately, it was blowing a gale, pouring with rain and cloudy. Not great for photography, which was, after all, the purpose of our mission.
Incredibly the wind dropped, the rain stopped and the cloud lifted leaving Arpan plenty of time to get some amazing pictures with his drone and still camera. There are in fact three lakes at the head of the valley, but I had only ever seen the one by which we were camped.
We all spent a very comfortable night. Gordon and I slept in our trucks, while Arpan pitched a very capable alpine tent.
We were all up pretty early the following day, by which time Arpan had taken his sunrise shots and after a quick coffee, we were away around 8.00am.
Stopping back at Red Stag, Ben and the boys were all packed and ready to go and had managed to shoot a Thar the previous evening.
We headed off in search of their truck. After a while we finally found it, but it was on the far bank of the Godley which, at this point, was a raging torrent. We scouted out some possible crossing points further down stream but Gordon and I were running short on gas and we couldn’t really spend any more time looking for a crossing point that far up.
I reluctantly told Ben that I wasn’t prepared to cross that far up, but that we could get them back to Tekapo and safety. They were very grateful and we started our way back down the valley.
I knew that it wasn’t over yet. The day was warming up quickly and the river level was visibly rising due to the increase in snow melt. If you’re in any doubt, it’s always best to get out before the sun comes up and starts melting the ice and snow.
Back at the last crossing, we were very happy to have given Arpan the opportunity to shoot what he wanted and happy to have been able to help Ben and the boys get out and to safety.
Ben was overly generous when we got to Tekapo. I told him that I didn’t expect payment for having done what, I hoped, anyone would have done for me. Ben, we didn’t exchange numbers, but you were too generous with what you gave me and, if I had realised the amount, I wouldn’t have accepted. Thank you however and I hope that you managed to recover your truck and get home safely. I gave you my card and would love to hear from you.
So that was the first photography adventure of www.4x4exploreradventures. co.nz and what an adventure it was !!!!!!
I was so pleased to receive an email from Arpan a few days later expressing his satisfaction. “It was beyond amazing, the whole journey was an adventure!” That’s what we like to hear.
Arpan is going to help me develop the photography side of the business, so if you’re interested, get in touch and we can help you discover New Zealand and some great inaccessible spots for photography.
Check out Arpan’s website, https://www.arpandas.com, to see some of the amazing photos that he takes.