Big win at major trial makes Cory ‘top dog’

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JULIA WADE

13 June, 2022

 

Captivated for over two decades by some of Mangawhai’s iconic landmarks rising from coastal waters, a local photographer has collated a series of artworks offering a unique perspective of a not-often-seen landscape.

Long-time holiday local and now resident, Jes Magill, recently launched ‘Mangawhai Rocks’, a collaboration of 22 photos and photo-art showcasing some of the area’s stunning natural rock formations, captured by Jes and accentuated by local graphic designer Kerren Packer from HammerHead Visuals, assisted by Jeannie Davis.

Located just over 11km east of Mangawhai’s surf beach, Sail Rock and other nearby sea stacks, which are formed by wave erosion and wind exposure, can take on unusual personas depending on the eye of the beholder, from Queen Victoria, an old man and his dog, and even the face of a gorilla.

“There are some great rocks along the surf beach too,” says Jes. “I saw one recently that looked like a dog and someone swears Beethoven is along there somewhere playing a piano. It would be cool to find a rock in the shape of a stingray, Mangawhai’s namesake.”

Jes says she’s ‘driven her family mad over the last 20 years’ with her rock fascination (can't you see Queen Victoria?’) and finally decided to ‘pay homage’ to the distinct formations and share her ideas with other ‘cloud gazing, rock gazing, slightly mad kind of people’.

“Unless you go boating, most people wouldn't have any idea what intriguing rock forms lie beyond the Mangawhai Bar, their discernible and not-so-discernible resemblance to other objects, people, even family pets, have entranced people for years,” she says. “Mangawhai Rocks is a community initiative, about sharing perspectives of this natural beauty which surrounds us, a glimpse into something that not everyone usually gets to see.”

n Intrigued? Artworks can be viewed on Facebook at ‘Mangawhai Rocks NZ’ and Marketplace pages.

 

Quirky fact Seeing faces, animals, and other shapes in rock formations, clouds, Rorschach inkblot, their morning cereal or other inanimate objects actually has a scientific name says the Merriam-Webster dictionary: Pareidolia – The ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness.

 

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Queen Victoria perhaps? Title ‘Queenie @ the Hen’, or if looking from the north, the stack is known as ‘The Chimney’.

‘Queenie @ the Hen’ in front of Sail Rock.
 

The northern view of Sail Rock – ‘Many see an old man with his dog, or is it a child?’

 

Mokohinau Islands, ‘Maori Rock – The Chief’ ’, in all its untouched beauty.

 

Photographer Jes Magill with ‘Sail Mates on a cloudy day’.

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