Given a sparkling Westland winter day and the option of a panoramic perch high on a snowy ridge, what better place to take in the vantage than Mt Brown Hut on the western edge of the Newton Range.

A well-marked track leads through the forest from Lake Kaniere to reach sub-alpine scrub and then the tussock zone.

When we went, there had been heavy snowfall and progress was tedious and chilling. Every so often, though, a ‘window’ popped out of the forest cover to reveal the magnitude of the view we were climbing to reach. Eventually, at the bush edge, things became a little easier.

Mt Brown Hut is the authoritative viewpoint for this section of Westland and stands just back from the ridge so that it overlooks lake, bush, ridges and sea.

The winter sunset spectacle, when viewed from the lofty vantage of Mt Brown itself, can be beautiful with rosette tones melting into indigo and deep shadow.