South Island Expedition
(June 2025)

Following the success of last year’s inaugural South Island New Zealand expedition, we decided to do it all over again! Indeed, the 2024 itinerary had worked so well that there was very little to change in 2025.

Over 13 days, Andy Marty and I co-led a group of 12 photographers to an innumerable and diverse range of premium South Island’s landscape photography spots, taking in the coast (Wharariki Beach, Pancake Rocks, Milford Sound / Piopiotahi) to the mountains (Aoraki / Mt Cook and Mt Aspiring National Parks) and everything in between (Fox Glacier, Haast Pass, Wānaka, Queenstown, Tekapo). This expedition really does take in some of the South Island’s most iconic photography locations!

The only major change made to the itinerary was to start the trip in Nelson rather than Christchurch. This meant removing Kaikōura from the schedule, but in its place, we added a night in St Arnaud (Nelson Lakes National Park). This proved to be very worthwhile, resulting in less time travelling and more time photographing at the front end of the trip.

The winter weather was a mixed bag but we made the most of every opportunity. A stellar example of this occurred on the day we travelled from Queenstown to Milford Sound; much of the 4-hour drive was in a blizzard, but soon after arriving in Milford, the skies began to clear and we were rewarded with the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever experienced there (and I’ve had the good fortune of visiting a lot!).

The weather also meant juggling the timing of the scenic flights, but all’s well that ends well, as we encountered some incredible conditions for aerial photography of the Southern Alps. And in Fiordland, there’s no such thing as adverse weather or bad photography conditions, with our charter cruise offering up some spectacular moments.

Here’s a brief recap video of the  top 5 highlights along with an honourable mention to the weather!