Crucible Lake, Mt Aspiring National Park

Cluttered full of icebergs, the perfect chalice of Crucible Lake conjures up a sudden hailstorm which chills us to the bone. Above, the brazen, blackened ramparts of Mt Alba preside over this monochrome masterpiece of symmetry. A single silver thread of falling water winds through the middle, inside a narrow gut, draining the Axius Glacier. It feels like being in an Imax cinema, with jagged summits of sheer schist stabbing into the sky in a 270-degree cirque; a natural amphitheatre of black rock, white ice, and brochure-blue melt water.

It’s not a place to linger if the weather is anything but benign.  But on a blue-sky day, this is a pristine piece of wilderness, worthy of a lunch stop and some serious photography. Crucible Lake is often the highlight of the popular four-day Gillespie Pass tramp.

Amongst the nooks and crevices you may find the elusive rock wren, New Zealand’s only truly alpine bird. On your journey. you will walk through a meadow of yellow and red flowers, springing up among the fallen debris from a hundred rock falls.