Earthsea Gallery

The alpine area of Nelson Lakes National Park is another of our favourite tramping and kayaking destinations. Glacial activity has gouged out two large, almost parallel troughs to form Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotoroa. The spectacular mountains rising up from these lakes are the northern tip of the Southern Alps. Dense beech forest covers the mountainsides and a diverse alpine flora is abundant on the tops. I painted ‘A Perfect Day’ after I visited Lake Rotoroa with my wife’s parents. We launched their small boat on a crisp, spring morning with glistening thick snow on the tops and not a ripple in the water. It was indeed a ‘perfect day’.