Wilmot Pass joins West Arm of Lake Manapouri with Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound. It was built between 1963 and 1965 to enable transport of heavy equipment to the construction site of the West Arm Power Station. Due to the heavy loads it was built to a very high standard and remains an excellent road through Fiordland National Park. Disembarking from our boat that had crossed Lake Manapouri we boarded a bus to head over the main divide to Doubtful Sound. Wilmot pass climbs to an altitude of 2100 ft. and at the top we were in the snow before descending back to sea level.

The above photo was through the bus window as we unfortunately didn’t stop for photos until the return trip in the afternoon by which time the light was horrible. Descending to the west it is interesting to see how the forest changes from Beech to a temperate rainforest with tree fuschia standing out prominently with their bright orange/pink bark.

The photos I took to amuse myself during the bus journey were a nice reminder of the convenience of an onboard flash with the D810. A little puff of fill flash gives a much nicer image. Using slow sync and dragging shutter (1/30s)  gives a sense of movement.

All photos with Nikon D810 and Nikon 24-120mm f4VR lens