Great South
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The walkway at the end of the world
Between Bluff and the Foveaux Strait, a ramble along the Foveaux Walkway feels like skirting the edge of the earth. We’re just pimples on a gnat’s back. It’s a colourful metaphor. But strolling along the Foveaux Walkway, I realise it’s true almost as soon as the wizard says it. My companion on this day is…
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Salt of the earth
Pure Salt is helping to restore Tamatea Dusky, one boat trip at a time. The trip’s going to be chilly. There’s a dump of fresh snow to low levels on the Fiordland Mountains. One by one, the volunteers turn up at the Manapouri hangar. It’s a motley lot, myself included. There are back-slaps and hugs…
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The Great Jandal
Those shoes weren’t meant for walking. They say before you judge a person, you must walk a mile in their shoes. If that’s the case, I won’t be judging Gus Cope, because his shoes are a beaten pair of sweat-soaked jandals. Once upon a time, Gus was camping with friends at the Routeburn Flats for…
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The wonderful wizard of Bluff
Noel Peterson uses his powers for community good. Perhaps there is a magical explanation for why it’s such a lovely warm winter’s day in Bluff. But if he has cast a spell, Noel Peterson won’t say. It’s a valid question. After all, Noel is a wizard. “When I cast spells from my lair, it sometimes…
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Down to some fine arts
Riversdale’s Mixed Media Exhibition has a lot of heart(s). I drive through Gore, out into the rolling countryside, past the Hokonui Hills. An evening fog hovers at sheep level over the paddocks. Twenty minutes later I arrive in Riversdale, population 500. The main street is mostly deserted. It’s dusk on a winter Friday. There are…
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Above par: The 1964 guide to Aotearoa’s best rural golf courses
Our resident golf writer Phil Hamilton tours the nation’s village greens. Golf is big in Aotearoa. By some metrics, we have the second-most courses per capita after Scotland, the birthplace of the sport. Flash resort courses continue to be built at pace and to suck up overseas attention, but the heart of golf in this…
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Fiordland Moose discovered!!
April 1, 2023: Zack Black, 1964’s Photographer in the Field, has incontrovertible proof that the Fiordland moose exists! After living deep in the Fiordland bush for five months, Zack has finally photographed the elusive moose. Zack believes it’s a small herd, perhaps 10 or fewer animals, who have been hidden by a unique geographical feature. The moose in the photo was…
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Book review: Takahē – Bird of Dreams
By Alison Balance (Potton & Burton, 2023) I don’t want to stir up any more Bird of the Century controversy, but takahē are the best. For one, they are crazy-pretty. The takahē’s plumage, with its layers of blue, turquoise and shimmering green, is everything you need to know about how nature makes perfect beauty. Also,…
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Recipe: Food for walks
Eliana Gray shares a few trail-tested tramping recipes. We started the Rakiura Coast Track fresh off the morning ferry, by turns elated and nauseous from the late September strait. Beginning the morning wide-legged and wind-whipped on the deck, keeping pace with the gulls and pretending to be old-timey sailors fresh with adventure, we were ready…