Nestled amidst the magnificent mountain scenery of the Southern Alps of New Zealand, the town of Queenstown lies on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. As a popular holiday resort, it serves as a starting point for various tourist activities: water sports in summer, skiing in winter, and spectacular attractions from the modern leisure industry. Lake Wakatipu alone, New Zealand’s third-largest lake, is an attraction in itself. During a trip on the steamship “Earnslaw”, which has been operating on the lake since 1912, you can visit several sheep farms and have plenty of time to soak in the mystical landscape. A unique feature of the lake is its water level, which rises and falls by a few centimetres at regular intervals. Science has yet to provide a precise explanation for this phenomenon, but the Maori have their own idea: the heart of the giant Tipua, who was killed by his beloved for abducting a beautiful woman, is still active today and causes the pulse of Lake Wakatipu.

All pictures from the ‘World Pictures’ edition