Two paddle steamer captains navigational charts of the Darling River, from Wilcannia to Menindee and Wentworth to Portee (sic), circa 1870-1890. Indian ink on waxed linen or sailcloth, charting the river course, landmarks, hazards and built establishments, wound onto wooden rollers
21 metres long

It’s the three dimensions into two, conundrum…inadequately solved by projections. Crossing from Auckland to Melbourne a few years ago we calculated we would have saved 24 miles by following a great circle route rather than a fixed course. That’s four hours over an eight day journey.

The phased withdrawal of paper charts from production will take place over a number of years and is anticipated to conclude in late 2026.

When Mr Lewin began explaining how cartographers addressed the challenge of portraying what is essentially a three dimensional object - the world - on a two dimensional plane - a piece of paper - my eyes lit up!