Daily Photo – Mount Cargill & The Organ Pipes

After a slightly breathless scramble to the top of Dunedin’s famous Organ Pipes, you’re rewarded with a view that practically demands a moment of awe, and maybe a little happy panting. Beneath your feet, rock formations that took nearly 15 million years to form jut out like nature’s own sculpture garden, while native broadleaf and podocarp forest stretches lazily down Mount Cargill. Before European settlers arrived, this whole area was forest – proper, ancient forest and some of what survives today is genuinely old, especially where logging either gave up or wasn’t thorough enough. You’ll notice patches that are part original, part regenerating bush, and part exotic forestry that clearly went rogue. From these primeval rocks and leafy slopes, the land tumbles toward farmland and the shoreline far below, a reminder that nature likes to show off now and then. Much like its cousin, the Otago Peninsula, this corner of New Zealand has its own personality and charm that sneaks up on you, whether you’re ready for it or not.