Andrew Tyrrell
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southarrowmaps.co.nz
Andrew Tyrrell
@southarrowmaps.co.nz
1.1K followers 340 following 180 posts
🗺🇳🇿🇨🇦🏔 NZ-based cartographer, actually now Canada-based. Blender, QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, Illustrator. Partial to a good mountain.
southarrowmaps.co.nz
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southarrowmaps.co.nz
Final #MapsOnDrinks of 2025

“Shuswap Lake” West Coast IPA by A-Frame Brewing Company, Squamish

All their beers are named after BC lakes. So far I’ve visited more than I’ve tasted. In 2026, I’ll visit and taste them all…
A photo of a can of beer on a table. On the black label, top-to-bottom, is the A-Frame Brewing Company logo and “Shuswap Lake, West Coast IPA, N 50.9465°, W 119.2586°” in gold, then a simple outline of Shuswap Lake in pale blue. In the background is Flora the dog, with a plushy dill pickle dog toy in her mouth.
January 1, 2026 at 1:28 AM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
Today I finally “met” a distant relative, and several very, very distant relatives…

Andrew Tyrrell (1988–)
Joseph Burr Tyrrell (1858–1957)
Albertosaurus (71–68 Ma)
A selfie of Andrew Tyrrell (1988– ) next to a bust of Joseph Burr Tyrrell (1858–1957) at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada A selfie of Andrew Tyrrell (1988– ) next to a model of Albertosaurus (71–68 Ma) and the sign outside the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada
December 11, 2025 at 5:02 AM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
Further gratuitous #Papyrus in the wild, on a map in Squamish illustrating the altered course of the Mamquam River. Featuring four separate “You Are Here” markers.

Flora thinks she could have done a better job herself
A largely green map on a sign showing in blue the course of various channels of the Mamquam River in Squamish, BC. Many labels are in Papyrus typeface, and there are four separate yellow stars which mark “You Are Here” A close up of the map showing how separated the four “You Are Here” yellow stars are A close up of the legend. It is all in Papyrus typeface Flora, a dog, sat next to the sign with the map. She is looking disapproving
November 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
YAY: Version 6.0 of the NZ Land Cover Database has been released.

NAY: A change from "or" to "and" in the names of two categories means some interesting colours in my maps...
Excerpt of a map of Lake Wakatipu and nearby mountain ranges. The colours reflect the land cover, giving a natural look (blue water, green forest, beige grassland, etc). There are many unnaturally pink areas where the category "Gravel or Rock" is now named "Gravel and Rock". Excerpt of a map of the Otago Peninsula. The colours reflect the land cover, giving a natural look (blue water, green forest, beige grassland, etc). There are many unnaturally pink areas where the category "Sand or Gravel" is now named "Sand and Gravel".
November 6, 2025 at 9:58 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
Terrible video, but last night’s brewery in #Penticton, BC, had a paper scrollable cadastral map on the wall.

#MapsInTheWild
November 3, 2025 at 10:37 PM
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Just some gratuitous #Papyrus typeface on this official map from the District of West Vancouver, where I’m currently dog sitting and researching dog-friendly walking trails.
A map of the western part of West Vancouver, with the title “Nelson Canyon/Gleneagles Trails” in large Papyrus typeface across the bottom, and “Nelson Canyon Park” and “Gleneagles Community Centre” labelled on the map in the same typeface
October 24, 2025 at 11:55 PM
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#MapsOnDrinks
A photo of a bar tap handle featuring the name “GEO CIDER” and a drawing of a globe
October 23, 2025 at 12:37 AM
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I’m surrounded by stunning, dramatic landscapes, yet I’m sat in Squamish Public Library hand-drawing* a map of Mt Cook…

(*tracing from reference)
A photo of my tiny desk setup in Squamish Library. There’s my laptop, with an image and a QGIS window sharing the screen, and in the foreground is my graphics tablet displaying Adobe Illustrator. I’m poised with the stylus, tracing the historical extent of Haupapa/Tasman Glacier
September 10, 2025 at 4:31 AM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
#MapsInTheWild

Southern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Juan de Fuca Strait, in a compass in the ground in Victoria, BC
A photo of the centre part of a compass embedded in the ground. The middle has a brass map of the southern part of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the Juan de Fuca Strait.
August 24, 2025 at 2:15 AM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
My time at #ICC2025 in Vancouver has come to an end.
This morning I was the secondary delegate representing New Zealand at the 20th General Assembly of the International Cartographic Association, voting to approve Warsaw as the hosts of #ICC2027.
Might see you there!
A photo of me sitting at a table behind a sign reading “Nouvelle-Zélande”, as one of the delegates representing New Zealand at the 20th General Assembly of the International Cartographic Association. The two official languages of the ICA are English and French, hence the country name. “New Zealand” is written on the other side. A photo from my point of view of the General Assembly, showing the country name card “New Zealand”, with many other rows of delegates
August 22, 2025 at 8:16 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
The Belgian ones are dark…
A map from the 2025 Children’s Map Competition, showing the world covered in smoke-emitting factories/nuclear reactors, with the title “DO SMTHG” and the text “THE WORLD WILL FALL APART” A map from the 2025 Children’s Map Competition, showing the world split diagonally from SW to NE. The SE half shows green vegetation, and land and marine animals. The NW half is bare and desolate, with deforestation and pollution, and an image of Trump whistling, Putin holding a gun, and Zelenskyy hiding behind an EU flag. The title is “Roll out the fallout”
August 21, 2025 at 11:58 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
Posted without comment
A photo of a slide from a presentation. Against a white background is the title “ICC2025: Rainbow color scheme”, below which is a rainbow colour scheme.
August 21, 2025 at 11:54 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
At this scale you can basically see @johnnelsonmaps.bsky.social’s garden shed office
A giant floor map of the Great Lakes/St Lawrence watershed, laid out at ICC2025.
August 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
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You know it’s gonna be a great day of maps when it starts with The Pirates!
August 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM
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@chaneyswiney.com are these yours? Spotted in the #ICC2025 Map Gallery
Six stunning “peakscapes”, showing oblique depth maps of notable mountains/ranges with beautiful colour ramps
August 19, 2025 at 3:38 AM
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I knew Canada was big but this is ridiculous…
The author, stood on the giant Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada
August 19, 2025 at 2:41 AM
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I didn’t listen to a word of @kennethfield.bsky.social’s #ICC2025 talk.
I was fixated on working out if the tonearm and volume dial on his record player were moving through the 15min talk, or if I was just imagining it.

I s’pose not listening to a talk is kind of breaking the rules of a conference…
A photo of a presentation slide. The left side shows the cover of Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law”, while the right side shows a top down view of a record player with the aforementioned record spinning.
August 18, 2025 at 6:01 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
Let’s do this!

#ICC2025
The author, posing awkwardly with his name badge, in front of a banner reading “Welcome to the 32nd International Cartographic Conference”
August 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
Let’s do this!

#ICC2025
The author, posing awkwardly with his name badge, in front of a banner reading “Welcome to the 32nd International Cartographic Conference”
August 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
I spent far longer talking to the immigration officer about maps than I did about actual work permit things, but now I’m officially in Canada and able to work anywhere and everywhere for the next two years!
A photo showing a redacted version of my Canadian work permit, alongside my passport.
August 17, 2025 at 12:55 AM
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One final bit of plane window remote sensing, waving goodbye to the South Island/Te Waipounamu as I make my way to Vancouver for a year or two, starting with #ICC2025
Christchurch, seen behind a plane wing The Seaward Kaikōura Range and the Kaikōura Peninsula, seen from a plane window Pelorus, Kenepuru, and Queen Charlotte Sounds, seen from a plane window A cocktail, a boarding pass, and a passport
August 16, 2025 at 7:20 AM
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It’s in one of these bags somewhere…
A photo of the boot of a car, packed with many bags.
August 16, 2025 at 2:51 AM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
When I worked at Ordnance Survey there were a couple of times that the BBC would be in filming what we did for some documentary.
My 5 seconds of fame were an over-the-shoulder shot of me looking at aerial imagery, which did happen to be my job.

I also had a large handlebar moustache at the time…
A still from some documentary about Ordnance Survey, showing a person (me) facing away from the camera and looking at aerial imagery on a computer screen. I am sporting 3D glasses and stubble, with the curl of a handlebar moustache protruding from my top lip.
July 28, 2025 at 5:28 AM
southarrowmaps.co.nz
I found one of my old notebooks with a draft sketch map of the “12 Pubs of Christmas” from a few years back.

Sadly the full map never materialised but I’m glad to have found this sketch!

I still enjoy the two ideas for scale bars:

“SCALE VARIES WITH PINTS”

“SCALE SUBJECT TO PERSONAL PERCEPTION”
A photo of a page in a notebook. In black ink is a hand drawn sketch map of Christchurch, NZ, showing main roads and the Avon River/Ōtākaro, with the location of 12 pubs marked with large black dots. There’s two different scale bars. One is straight but has unequal units and has the text “SCALE VARIES WITH PINTS”. The other is wiggly and has the text “SCALE SUBJECT TO PERSONAL PERCEPTION”. There’s also two north arrows. One is centred on a pint of beer, with the cardinal markers NESW reading “BEER”, “ALSO BEER”, “MORE BEER”, and “BIT MORE BEER”. The other has a pint glass marking just the north direction, with the cardinal markers “WHISKY”, “VODKA”, “LAGER”, “CIDER”. Another bit of text reads “NOT FOR NAVIGATION”
July 22, 2025 at 9:09 PM
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High resolution noods for plan oblique terrain in geometry nodes...
A screenshot of the geometry nodes setup to create plan oblique terrain that follows the camera
July 18, 2025 at 5:13 AM