This is The Blanket Bay Hotel, which for all intents and purposes is not a hotel. This lonely outpost at the edge of the bottom of the world, is a fishing outpost. I was told this location is only open for certain seasons and caters only to the no-nonsense variety of anglers, i.e. commercial fishermen. This hotel that is not a hotel is located near the inlet to the Doubtful Sound, in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand. I was also led to believe that the name of the outpost was given to it by the manner in which it was purchased. It is believed that this area was a Maori outpost and was purchased from them for the exorbitant amount of a blanket. I pondered what kind of wondrous blanket that was, but was hesitant to ask.

The image was not taken at sunset as you might believe. I took this shot on a boat, in the rain, in the early afternoon. We were on an excursion during a particularly rainy day. This was my second trip to this part of the world and on my first visit here we had clear skies and lots of long white clouds. So this time I was actually quite happy to be here in different conditions, seeing all of the waterfalls fully flowing and to see the landscape in the rain. To get this effect of a sky at sunset, I used my old cheap and scratched Cokin graduated charcoal filter. No Photoshop used here, just a $10 piece of plastic to achieve an interesting effect in the rain and clouds.