Aoraki Mount Cook

At a bit over 3700m, Mount Cook is the highest point in New Zealand.  

This morning I headed south to Omarama for a soak in the open air hot tubs.  I couldn't resist stopping at Lake Pukaki to photograph Mount Cook as it is not that often that I have seen it cloud free - usually there is a cloud or two obscuring the tops.

I liked the view with these stone sentinels watching over the mountain. Or is it the mountain watching over the sentinels?   

It was early in the day, not yet 10 a.m. so the light was not at it's best meaning that the lake shows as being darker and the sky lighter than was the actual case.   I couldn't seem to get the balance right in camera, and I didn't want to play with this, so what you see is the colours sooc - all I've done is crop it a little to remove a couple of specks from the top (my camera needs cleaning again Ben/Sarah).