This decomposing, half-grown humpback whale, which washed up on a remote beach north of Warrington in July, was battered and chewed when seen close up. However, an aerial view showed this creature, which is seldom seen here in its element, the sea, and... : Photos of the year: Stephen Jaquiery

Invercargill City Station firefighter Harry Finnerty cools off after setting alight a house in Emerson St, Concord, in a training exercise in Dunedin. : Photos of the year: Stephen Jaquiery

The Southern District Health Board issued a notice in February to say its Covid testing stations in Malcolm St and Victoria Rd were under extreme pressure. : Photos of the year: Stephen Jaquiery

A woman walks through the Andersons Bay cemetery, where driving snow had covered the headstones in an October snowfall which fell to sea level in Dunedin. : Photos of the year: Stephen Jaquiery

Comfortably seated in a Maori Hill garden, I was waiting for a rare leucistic silvereye to come to a bird feeder. Over the fence the neighbours’ pottery feeder was also attracting hungry silvereyes, which would alight, feed and then all erupt away in a... : Photos of the year: Stephen Jaquiery

Dunedin Darlin’ pageant organiser Kerry-Lee Bray applies some lippy with the aid of a hub cap from Kevin Casey’s 1941 Cadillac Coupe, before the Dunedin Autospectacular. : Photos of the year: Stephen Jaquiery

Massive waves, driven by gale-force southwesterly winds, make for a spectacular playground for Peta Smith and her Allanton grandchildren Andrew (3) and Hamish (4) Perry, on Brighton Beach in May. Marine gale warnings were in place off the coast of... : Photos of the year: Stephen Jaquiery