Late in the day the light on Lake Wakatipu comes in low and from the side, and it turns the faces of The Remarkables gold. This one catches that light — the white steamship mid-crossing, the white lakeside houses on the shore catching the sun, the serrated range glowing gold behind it. An original vintage-style New Zealand travel poster of the lake that made Queenstown.
The design is drawn flat — an elevated view from a lakeside hill across deep-blue water, with a white twin-masted steamship and its single dark funnel set right of centre on the lake, a golden reflection beneath it and a small red-and-white flag flying from one end of the deck. White lakeside houses, jetties and dark poplars gather on the left shore, conical conifers and golden scrub frame the bottom-left corner, and behind it all the serrated wall of The Remarkables rises over rolling tussock foothills, its faces lit warm gold under a clear blue sky with a few soft clouds. A letter-spaced LAKE sits above WAKATIPU in large cream serif capitals, with NEW ZEALAND in terracotta beneath, all set over the sky, the whole worked in lake blue, warm gold, cream and terracotta with slate-purple shadow in the rock. Printed to order on heavyweight matte art paper with a smooth, uncoated surface that keeps those hard colour edges crisp and readable from across the room. No glare, no plastic sheen, no photograph: just paper and ink.
- Paper: 189 g/m2 (10.3 mil) heavyweight matte art stock — substantial enough to hang unframed without curling
- Finish: uncoated matte — no glare under lamps, windows or gallery lighting
- Opacity: 94%, so a wall colour or a second sheet behind it never shows through
- Brightness: 104% ISO — a bright white base that keeps the flat colour blocks saturated
- Origin: paper milled in Japan; every poster is printed to order, never warehoused
Size chart
| Poster size | Art panel (centred) | Works well |
|---|---|---|
| 16"" × 20"" | 16 × 20 in | desk shelves, small nooks, gallery-wall filler |
| 18"" × 24"" | 18 × 22.5 in | bedrooms, home offices, above a console or sofa |
| 24"" × 36"" | 24 × 30 in | living rooms, stairwells, a single statement wall |
The illustration is a 4:5 panel centred on the sheet with an even margin above and below, so it sits well in an off-the-shelf frame with or without a mat. Ships rolled in a protective tube, unframed.
Quick answers
Which size should I order? The 18″ × 24″ is the safe default for most walls. Take the 16″ × 20″ for a desk, a shelf or as part of a gallery cluster, and the 24″ × 36″ when the poster is meant to be the focal point of the room.
Does it come framed? No — it ships rolled and unframed in a protective tube. All three sizes are standard US frame sizes, so a shop-bought frame fits without a custom mat. A ready-to-hang framed version of this design is listed separately.
Is this a reprint of an old travel poster? No. It is an original illustration drawn in the mid-century travel-poster tradition — flat colour, clean edges, bold lettering — and a new composition made for RaZits. It is not a scan of a historic print.
Is that steamship on Lake Wakatipu real? The ship recalls a real one — the TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamship launched in 1912 that still sails from Queenstown across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak. The mountain range behind it is The Remarkables, which rise steeply from the lake's south-eastern shore, and Wakatipu itself is New Zealand's longest lake at roughly 80 km end to end.
The lake that made Queenstown, caught at the golden hour.
