Coastal swamp forest walk, Ship Creek, South Westland

Ship Creek, just north of Haast on the South Island West Coast, flows through some of New Zealand's best-preserved lowland forest. Occupying a sequence of coastal dunes built up since the end of the last glacial advance, the forests here show a marked succession from young dune communities adjacent to the beaches through to dense, primeval swamp forest further inland. Visitors to Ship Creek can see this wide range of vegetation types by following a short (less than 1 hour), easy track that takes them from the wild, open beach to moody forest-shrouded swamps and lagoons.

The annual rainfall in this coastal environment is high — in the order of three metres a year — and winds are generally very light. Consequently the humidity in this forest can become very high during calm conditions, and the abundance of moisture is reflected in the seemingly chaotic profusion of mosses, lichens and ferns that thrive throughout the forest. Birdlife is also abundant, with tuis, bellbirds, grey warblers and fantails just a few of the many species to be seen and heard here.

The best photographs from this kind of environment are generally achieved under calm, overcast conditions following rain, when the colours of the forest are much more saturated and vibrant than when the forest is dry and sunlit. Fortunately, from a photographic point of view, the moist climate of the West Coast means that a calm, wet day is almost assured here for much of the time.