THE ANTARCTIC COMES TO TOWN

Most of us will never get anywhere near Antarctica so when a fleet of huge icebergs drifted far out of their zone to the southern coast of New Zealand in November 2006 we were captivated, transfixed and awestruck by the amazing pictures captured by various media which appeared on our TV screens and in our newspapers.

The first person on the scene was Otago Daily Times photographer Stephen Jaquiery whose magnificent photographs inspired a new sightseeing industry and resulted in the arrival offshore of helicopters and small planes laden with tourists, scientists, journalists and photographers.

Alas within a few weeks it was all over, the icebergs melted into the ocean.

But now the enterprising Dunedin-based independent publishing house, Longacre Press, has published a stunning book of Stephen Jaquiery's exceptional photographs with lively text by southern writer Dave Cull. Not only does the book contain glorious full-colour pictures of the iecbergs off the coast, (many previously unpublished), over the time they lasted but it also contains shots taken in Antarctica thus tracking these great ice islands from the place where they were formed to their eventual demise.

The photographs are complemented by maps and diagrams.

ICEBERGS - The Antarctic comes to town. Dave Cull/Stephen Jaquiery

Longacre Press ISBN 978 1 877361 94 4

At NZ$25 this book is a steal and a must for every New Zealand home and library and for those further afield with an interest in the subject.