Our first stop was Tauparikākā/ Ship Creek just north of Haast visiting old tree friends in the kahikatea swamp forest. We were very excited to discover beautiful blue werewere-kōkako mushrooms for the first time!

We started the second day by wandering along the Hapuku Estuary Board Walk which loops through an intertidal wetland and a giant podacarp forest. Then we discovered the Lake Ellery beech forest track as well as a stony beach near Hannah’s Clearing full of giant rimu. We visited Okahu/Jackson Bay but by then my phone battery was flat so no photos!

Over the next couple of days we returned to Lake Ellery and Hannah’s Clearing and played around with drawing, painting and sculpting - the weather was amazing and the sandflies persistent!!

Back home in the studio I used gouache and my reference photos and videos to make these loose rimu studies.