Bethany Rogers
-
Freezing for fun
The cold never bothered me anyway. “Take off your clothes,” the Italian woman says. She’s speaking in English, into a loudspeaker. The crowd lining the poolside and balcony go quiet. “Get into the water.” Eight of us shuffle to the edge of the pool. There is one ladder for two lanes. The competitor in lane…
-
Living in a fantasy world
Trolls and Tolkien and the landscapes of the far south. A FOREBODING CLOUD CLINGS TO THE UPPER PEAKS OF A GREY-BLUE, SHARP-EDGE MOUNTAIN. YOU STAND ON A ROCKY OUTCROP WITH A GOOD VANTAGE POINT OF THE ICY LAKE IN FRONT OF YOU AND BREATHE IN THE MOSS-SCENTED AIR. THE LAKE IS UNFATHOMABLY DEEP AND FAERIE…
-
![Great Grandmother’s stories [fiction]](https://1964.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Gulls-page-FINAL-1-scaled.jpg)
Great Grandmother’s stories [fiction]
Cromwell, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2219 Once upon a time, Great Grandmother told you stories. Stories about a world – she said it was this world, only different – where the gulls would snatch children’s food, but not their hands. Where humans were the top of the food chain and did whatever they wanted. Where they…
-
Rhymes of the Mariner
The words of poet, actor, musician and storyteller Noel Coutts roll and rise like the ocean. ONE LOOK AT, OR LISTEN TO, QUEENSTOWN POET AND BLUESMAN NOEL COUTTS TELLS YOU HE IS NOT A MAN WHO HAS LIVED A MAINSTREAM LIFE. A CHAT WITH HIM TELLS YOU THIS IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. HIS IS A TRAVELLING…
-
Take a punt
It’s all river crossings and holy hops at Tuapeka Mouth. The Tuapeka Mouth Ferry is a hangover, a legacy of the days when Aotearoa’s rivers were a pain in the arse to cross and the iron needed to build bridges was expensive to import. The ferry is said to be the last of its kind…
-
Pleasure and plunder: A short history of Mount Aspiring National Park
The “public pleasuring ground” that is Mount Aspiring National Park was established in 1964. These 3562 square kilometres hold rambling rivers, pointed peaks and more stories than a kea could pick at. Established in 1964, Mount Aspiring National Park was New Zealand’s tenth national park (there are now thirteen) and it’s arguably the most diverse.…