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Lake Morgan from Mt O’Shanessy

October 01, 2023

Lake Morgan from Mt O’Shanessy
After recently travelling through the breathtaking Arthurs pass I was quite surprised to suddenly leave the 40cm of fresh snow blanketing the landscape as we dropped down the Otira Gorge to a flooded countryside. The peaks held little snow, waterfalls cascaded down bluffs and the Otira River spread across the riverbed with a very strong flow (not something I’d attempt to cross). This brought back memories of a contrasting time during summer with my friend Dulkara, meandering across the Otira River and constantly picking our way back and forth across the Taramaku River. Then traversing the tops finding the creeks and tarns dried up, only small muddy puddles, always constantly seeking out water. We did have one slightly dehydrated night on the top of Mt O’Shanessy with our thirst quenched at a small muddy tarn further on filled with deer poo in the morning. 
I also remember dropping down to the Crooked River at the end, the crystal clear fast flowing water, it was over waist deep and looked beautiful yet impassable on arrival. However further down it spread out and was the most refreshing wade back to the track. Such a changeable landscape, and it would have been interesting to see how the Crooked fared with the rain.
Inspired from this earlier adventure I have been working on a painting of Lake Morgan viewed from Mt O’Shanessy. We camped, perched on one side of this peak, in a small hollow trying to keep out of the wind, squashing each other most of the night.
The views were breathtaking, despite the chilly night breeze, watching the evening and morning light stream in between the mountains. This painting (still at a very early stage) captures the evening light filtering through the mountains and highlighting the tops.
Visit here to read the more about this adventure: https://www.bellamygallery.co.nz/collections/works-in-progress

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