Experience Mid Canterbury
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In the clubs
The 1964 guide to the club fields of the South Island. “You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub.”- ‘In Da Club’, 50 Cent Here’s an approximation of the conversation I had the first time I set foot on a club field: “What the hell is that?” “That’s the nutcracker.” “Nut what??”…
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The 1964 guide to the small town cinemas of the South Island
Where going to the movies is as it should be. WAS A TIME, MOVIEGOING WAS AN EVENT. GOING TO THE CINEMA WAS AN EXPERIENCE, ONE YOU MIGHT DRESS UP FOR, SAVE FOR, BOOK IN ADVANCE. THOSE WERE THE DAYS. WHICH SOUNDS CURMUDGEONLY, BUT ALSO, MULTIPLEXES ARE TRASH. Fortunately, despite industry turbulence caused first by the…
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All roads lead to snow
The 1964 guide to the ski roads of the South Island. WE HAVE TO DRIVE TO THE SNOWLINE HERE, UNLIKE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, AND THE ROAD UP TO ANY NEW ZEALAND SKI FIELD IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF ITS FOUNDING STORY. Early paths carved by bulldozers, winches and good keen humans opened…
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Flare – A Ski Trip: A NZ ski film by Sam Neill
Laura Williamson looks back at Flare, a classic New Zealand ski film directed by Sam Neill. Warning: Contains ski ballet. “FREESTYLE,” THE NARRATOR TELLS US, “BEGAN AS AN EXUBERANT REACTION TO THE CONSTRAINTS OF CONVENTIONAL SKIING. NOW IT HAS STRETCHED THE LIMITS OF WHAT’S POSSIBLE ON SKIS.” It’s 1976. Six skiers (five Kiwis and one…
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Firstborn son of the sky
The point of return. NIC LOW’S NEW BOOK UPRISING IS THE ACCOUNT OF NINE EXPEDITIONS INTO THE NGĀI TAHU HISTORY OF KĀ TIRITIRI-O-TE-MOANA, NEW ZEALAND’S SOUTHERN ALPS. GUIDED BY ORAL HISTORIES, NIC TRAVELLED ON SKIS, ON FOOT AND BY WATER TO REVISIT THE STORIES OF HIS ANCESTORS. In this excerpt, he visits Aoraki / Mt…
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A history of bats
When mammals fly. A BAT CAN’T SEE IN THE DARK, BUT A BAT CAN FIND ITS WAY. TO BATS, EVEN THE BLACKEST NIGHT IS THREE-DIMENSIONAL. THEY CAN CATCH TINY INSECTS WHILE FLYING AT 60 KILOMETRES PER HOUR USING NOTHING BUT SOUND. WE THINK THINGS ARE AS WE SEE THEM, BUT BATS KNOW OTHERWISE. THE WORLD…
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The truth is up there
A brief history of space junk in, and above, Aotearoa. IN JANUARY 2019, CRICKET FANS AT A NEW ZEALAND-SRI LANKA MATCH AT THE BAY OVAL IN MOUNT MAUNGANUI WERE STARTLED BY A CLUSTER OF LIGHTS TRAVERSING THE NIGHT SKY. TURNS OUT THEY WERE BITS OF KOSMOS 2430, A RUSSIAN MILITARY SATELLITE, HEADED FOR THE SPACECRAFT…
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Decisions, decisions
Your whisky awaits you at the Bad Decision Shelter. Sounds good to us. Ideas arise when mates are passing whisky around late at night in a mountain hut. Some can lead to bad decisions. This is the story of an alcohol-fuelled bad decision that is also a good idea. The bad decision belonged to Will…
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The 1964 guide to the coolest small-town ice rinks in Aotearoa
See what we did there? ICE SKATING HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE. IT PROBABLY DATES TO THE BRONZE AGE, WHEN SCANDINAVIANS AND RUSSIANS STRAPPED THE BONES OF ELK, REINDEER (SORRY, RUDOLF) AND OXEN TO THEIR FEET SO THEY COULD GLIDE ALONG FROZEN WATERWAYS. MACABRE, BUT EFFECTIVE. The Dutch improved things by replacing the bone…