bryan konietzko

August 24, 2013

Giant’s Head Sea Stack // West Coast, South Island, New Zealand // 2012
© Bryan Konietzko

Of all the locations my wife and I visited in the South Island of New Zealand last year, this was one of the most epic to me and something we happened upon by chance. I took this shot a few minutes after sunset at an awe-inspiring collection of massive sea stacks far below State Highway 6 between Greymouth and Punakaiki. There is a steep trail down to the beach starting directly above the sea stacks, or you can drive north about a half mile where the road is closer to sea level and walk south along the beach. Be careful either way, as the cliff-side trail is a bit dicey, and the tides are no joke, especially near the sea stacks where the beach is populated by large, slippery rocks. I couldn’t determine online if this particular human head-shaped formation had a name, so I went with the oh-so-clever title “Giant’s Head Sea Stack.” I hope to get back to this location to do much more photography in the future, and to simply be in the presence of these formations again. The head one wasn’t the biggest, but it was still quite impressive. If you look at the “nose” you can see a bird perched there for scale reference.

7:07pm | URL: https://tmblr.co/ZMz7zvtBhUlQ

(Notes: 1,171)