Earthsea Gallery

The top of the South Island viewed from above the earth resembles the head of a Kiwi with the beak being Farewell Spit. Located just out of Collingwood in Golden Bay, Farewell Spit's Maori name is Onetahua which translates as 'heaped up sand'. Farewell Spit is one serious sand pit and at 35 kilometre in length it is the longest natural sandbar in the world. Its huge dunes form a coastal barrier that protects an important staging area for migratory shore birds. A total of 83 species of wetland birds have been recorded at the spit, which is also a breeding ground for colonies of Australasian gannet. This significant location is now protected and considered a Wetland of International Importance. Farewell Spit features often in Peter's paintings. 'Daybreak' is his most recent seascape.