An ode to Prospectors - Passion Project
This project was based around the New Zealand gold mining scene of 1862.
Whilst living in Wanaka, NZ I got to know a local mountain biker named Pete, and quickly discovered that he sees terrain a little differently to others.
Pete is known for ditching the groomed trails and instead favours going to remote places away from the crowds where he builds what he wants to ride.
I realised that the places he is riding in Central Otago follow the same paths that those old gold miners walked, and thus an idea was born. Pete is the modern day prospector, it's the same dirt just a different reward. He sees the scorched Otago dirt as his gold.
This project involved researching real prospectors from that era, one in particular seemed to fit my narrative as a true pioneer, Chris Reiley. And so I based my story around him and Pete.
This editorial was picked up by global magazines and is now stored in the New Zealand National Archives as a cultural piece.
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/67726597/adventure-magazine - SCROLL TO PAGE 60
