Here’s an interesting fact for you, Lake Wakatipu is so deep that while the surface of the lake is 310 meters above sea level, at its deepest point it is below sea level with a maximum depth of 380 meters. Local Māori tell a legend about the lake involving two star-crossed lovers called Matakauri and Manata. One night, Manata was kidnapped by a giant and cruel taniwha named Matau. Manata’s father was so distraught about losing his daughter, he declared that any warrior that was able to rescue her, could have her hand in marriage. Matakauri decided to accept the challenge and successfully rescued Manata as the taniwha lay sleeping. After the wedding, Matakauri feared the taniwha would return and decided to deal with Matau once and for all. So, one night he crept out and set fire to Matau to ensure he would never steal Manata again. As Matau’s body melted it created a deep ‘S’ trough in the ground which then filled with rainwater and created Lake Wakatipu. Check out my daily blog from a small city. https://fromasmallcity.nz/ To purchase email john@caswellimages.com
While in Wellington, I found this statue/sculpture in Midland Park on Lambton Quay which celebrates the life and work of author Katherine Mansfield. Made entirely out of stainless steel, the sculpture is covered with quotes from her writing which becomes illuminated at night. Born in Wellington, Mansfield went on to be considered one of the world’s most important authors of the modernist movement with her work having been published in 25 languages across the world. To think, she achieved all that by the age of 34 when she passed away in Paris, France. Check out my daily blog from a small city. https://fromasmallcity.nz/ To purchase email john@caswellimages.com
I used to spend a lot of time driving New Zealand roads at dawn. Well, the same road lots of times to be precise. It’s such a special time of day when the light is doing interesting things. Some days I would see scenes that would say something to me, other days I wouldn’t. The scenes, themes and ideas that I enjoyed the most, always had some form of human element to them. Like this fenceline for example. Check out my daily blog from a small city. https://fromasmallcity.nz/ To purchase email john@caswellimages.com
