Kawarau River Canyon Bridge

The view drops straight into the gorge, looking upstream toward the Kawarau River as it churns through a narrow canyon carved between steep, scrub-covered walls. That water is an almost impossible shade of turquoise — glacial and electric, swirling into white where it quickens around exposed rock — and it draws the eye straight to the slim arc of the bridge spanning the cliffs above. The canyon walls rise in layers of grey and amber, softened on the left bank by a tumble of lush green growth and tall, loose-limbed trees catching the warm afternoon light. Beyond the bridge, the hills open into tawny slopes that fade upward into rusted red peaks beneath a pale sky. The whole composition pulls you forward, as though you are about to round a bend in the river yourself.