Laura Williamson
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To turn is to admit defeat
Fast times and straight lines with Aotearoa’s top speed skiers. SIX NEW ZEALAND ATHLETES COMPETED AT THE 1992 WINTER OLYMPICS IN ALBERTVILLE. ONE, ANNELISE COBERGER, WON SILVER IN SLALOM, THE COUNTRY’S FIRST MEDAL AT A WINTER OLYMPICS, AND ONE OF ONLY THREE WE’VE WON TO THIS DAY. BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER CONTINGENT OF ATHLETES FROM
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Book Review: Common Ground – Garden histories of Aotearoa by Matt Morris
Here’s a thing I didn’t know before I read Matt Morris’ Common Ground: gardening is more than an expensive pastime that mostly causes back pain and a seasonal cycle of frost-damage-induced disappointment. Gardens are, in fact, frickin’ fascinating. This isn’t a long version of one of those Home & Garden profiles featuring properties owned by
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Top of the pit stops
The 1964 guide to our favourite rural, and remote, toilets of the South Island. You may not realise it if you grew up in Aotearoa, but this country does public toilets well. Drive into any small town and you will be greeted by a white-on-blue sign pointing the way jauntily to the loos, conveniently located,
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Book Review: Wonderland
THE PHOTOS IN PETER ALSOP’S WONDERLAND (POTTON & BURTON) ARE A SAMPLING FROM THE ARCHIVES OF WHITES AVIATION. FOUNDED IN 1945, WHITES DEALT IN EVERYTHING FROM AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY, TO TRAVEL JOURNALISM, TO HAND-COLOURED PHOTOGRAPHY. ONE THING THEY DIDN’T DO WAS FLY; DESPITE THE COMPANY’S NAME, THEY NEVER OWNED A PLANE. THEIR PHOTOS, COLOURED BY HAND
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Claimed by the sea
French for Rabbits make soundscapes like seascapes, like driftwood, like walks on the beach. THE MUSIC MADE BY FRENCH FOR RABBITS IS HARD TO DEFINE. THE BAND ARE OFTEN DESCRIBED AS PURVEYORS OF “DREAM POP”, BUT THERE’S MORE TO IT THAN THAT. FOR ONE THING, IT’S SALTIER. FRONTWOMAN BROOKE SINGER’S VOCALS FLOAT LIKE SEAFOAM ON
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DIY defence
The Semple tractor tank has a reputation as a homegrown groaner, but was it really such a bad idea? IN MID-1941, THE CHRISTCHURCH AND DUNEDIN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS HELD THEIR CAPPING PARADES. ALONG WITH THE USUAL MOTLEY, INCLUDING A SIX-LEGGED PANTOMIME HORSE, LOTS OF BOYS IN DRESSES AND A DEVICE CALLED “THE NEW POMME POMME” THAT
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Second hand news
The 1964 guide to the top op shops of the south. WALK IN WARDROBE – QUEENSTOWN One of the very few upsides to living in a region where people move away all of the time is that those people often leave great clothes behind. Queenstown’s Walk in Wardrobe is like rummaging through your mate’s closet
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Prisoners on the Milford
That one time the “finest walk in the world” was a short-lived experiment in Australian-style convict labour. THE MILFORD TRACK IS PROBABLY THE SHINIEST JEWEL IN NEW ZEALAND’S VERY BEJEWELLED TOURISM CROWN. FAMOUSLY CALLED THE “FINEST WALK IN THE WORLD” IN A 1902 ARTICLE BY THE ENGLISH-BORN POET AND ALPINIST BLANCHE BAUGHAN, IT’S WALKED BY
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All you can eat, cheap
The 1964 guide to binge eating your way around the South Island without ending up in debtors’ prison. WINTON – THE MIDDLE PUB You would think a place like Winton would lead the way when it comes to the Southland delicacy that is the cheese roll, and you would be right. Winton’s Middle Pub−yes, it’s