Nathan Weathington
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Book Review: A Bunk for the Night
by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown and Geoff Spearpoint If you’ve read the original Bunk for the Night, you know it’s more than a guidebook. It’s escapism. It’s fantasy. It makes you get your map out, check your gear and plan a trip. It is the ultimate conversation starter. Aotearoa has a vast range of backcountry…
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Time killers: The 1964 guide to hut games
How to win friends and battle boredom in the WiFi-less purgatory that is a backcountry hut. A BACKCOUNTRY HUT IS A TOUGH PLACE FOR AN INTROVERT. NO MATTER HOW REMOTE, THERE’S ALWAYS THE CHANCE YOU’LL BE SHARING YOUR SHELTER WITH STRANGERS, AND YOU’RE PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE TO TALK TO THEM. Huts are a social…
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Food Review: Royal India, Geraldine
Yes, you read correctly, Geraldine. And for those keeping score, this will be the third mention of Geraldine’s culinary scene in 1964 (Al’s Hot Pepper Sauce, The Running Duck Cafe). For those traveling between the Queenstown Lakes District and the East Coast, Geraldine (population 2,800) is the spot for a snack, a meal or a…
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Have you seen this head?
One family’s search for a missing stag (as in deer, not party). ROBERT WALSH AND DAVID HOPE WERE NOT TROPHY HUNTERS. BOTH WERE GOOD SHOTS OUT OF NECESSITY. IT WAS 1949, AND THEY HAD YET TO RECOVER FROM THE DEPRESSION, EVEN TEN YEARS ON. ROBERT HAD THREE CHILDREN AND DAVID, WHO WAS 16 AT THE…
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Book Review: Railways Studios
How a government design studio helped build New Zealand By: Peter Alsop, Neill Atkinson, Katherine Milburn and Richard Wolfe For 65 years, the go-to designers who produced advertising for any-and-all clients was Railways Studios, the design studio of the New Zealand Railways. The Railways Studios decorated every city and town in New Zealand with outdoor…
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Book Review: Scenic Playground – The story behind New Zealand’s mountain tourism
Scenic Playground (Te Papa Press) explores the story behind the promotion of New Zealand’s mountains from the 1890s onwards. With an exquisite gallery of photographs, paintings and posters the book explains how the country built its reputation as an alpine playground. The ultimate coffee table book for a mountain bach, Scenic Playground is a lavish,…
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Chasing monsters
The immortal goldfish is no laughing matter. LIKE HEDGEHOGS, GOLDFISH (CARASSIUS AURATUS) WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO EVOLVE INTO SOMETHING HUMANS FIND CUTE. THEY ARE NOT CUTE. THEY ARE TERRIFYING. YOU JUST DON’T KNOW THIS BECAUSE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN ONE OUTSIDE OF A TANK. Don’t let the glowing skin, big eyes and graceful tails fool you;…
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The greatest outdoors
The 1964 guide to the sweet campgrounds of the South Island. IF NEW ZEALANDERS HAVE A SUPERPOWER, IT’S THE ERECTING, AND DECONSTRUCTING, OF CAMPING INFRASTRUCTURE WITH MILITARY PRECISION. EVERY SUMMER, THEY USE THIS POWER TO SPEND SEVERAL WEEKS LIVING ON A DIET THAT IS 70% SAUSAGES AND 30% FRUJU ICEBLOCKS, DROPPING MANUS OFF WATERLOGGED WHARF…
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Can’t buy me trout
“THERE’S LITERALLY A GODZILLA-SIZED BROWN TROUT LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER, AND YOU’RE TELLING ME NOBODY IN GORE SERVES TROUT AND CHIPS? ISN’T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ‘BROWN TROUT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD’?” MY SERVER GIVES ME A FAMILIAR LOOK. IT SAYS: “YOU’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE, AND MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP TALKING.” The immense…