Great South
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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
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Full steam ahead: the Kingston Flyer
The return of the Kingston Flyer reminds us what it is about steam trains that stops us in our tracks. FAR DOWN THE LINE, A GLEAMING SMOKESTACK BELCHES AS CARS SCREECH TO A HALT, THEIR OCCUPANTS SCRAMBLING FOR CAMERAS AND PHONES. A MOURNFUL WHISTLE HERALDS ANCIENT CARRIAGES FULL OF BEAMING FACES AS IT PULLS INTO
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Stop the clock
Is Te Anau ahead of its time? IN SEPTEMBER OF 2021, A MEDIA FURORE ERUPTED AROUND THE TOWN OF TE ANAU. SEEMS THE PLACE HAD ANNOUNCED THEY WOULD NOT BE JOINING THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IN TURNING THEIR CLOCKS BACK THE FOLLOWING APRIL. TE ANAU WAS MOVING TO DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME FOR GOOD. The
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Deep water emergence
He is a monster of metal and rubber, a glass cyclops, an alien in a world he was never meant to visit. His voice is a hiss and a gurgle. He dips his head and begins. There is magic in the water here. It seeps out of the soil and runs down the rock face
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Those dam Italians
Are Te Anau and the “alternative media” caught in a bad Rome-ance? THERE ARE A LOT OF STRANGE THEORIES CIRCULATING THESE DAYS. STANDOUTS INCLUDE THE RUMOUR THAT NEW ZEALAND IS A NASA HOAX POPULATED BY PAID ACTORS; THAT KEITH RICHARDS IS, IN FACT, JFK; AND THAT REPTILES ARE SECRETLY RUNNING THE WORLD. THE LAST ONE
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The backcountry, my body
All about accessibility and ambling. A BACKCOUNTRY TRAMP TAKES CAREFUL PLANNING. EVEN MORESO IF, LIKE ME, YOU ARE DISABLED. I HAVE AN ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURY, SUSTAINED IN MY LATE 20S. It’s not just the headaches, or the brain fog, the memory loss, or the fatigue; it’s the way I feel like I have to justify
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Fishing with the poet
Writer and fisher Dougal Rillstone takes to the Mataura River with the acclaimed New Zealand poet Kevin Ireland. THE POET TRAVELS FROM DEVONPORT TO THE FAR SOUTH OF NEW ZEALAND A COUPLE OF TIMES A YEAR, TO FLY-FISH FOR TROUT AND CATCH UP WITH OLD FRIENDS. He says he is in his eighty-eighth year, but
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Sparkles like the day it went in
In search of the General Grant’s gold. There was no raging storm when a lookout on the General Grant sighted Disappointment Island. The evening of Sunday, May 13, 1866 was almost completely still. There was a dense fog. At 10.30pm, Captain William Loughlin ordered all hands to “square the yard” — set the sails so
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Where can I take my dog?
How to avoid the pound when you hike with your hound. THE WORDS “DOG” AND “WALK” GO TOGETHER LIKE “BARK” AND “BITE”, SO IT’S PRETTY FRUSTRATING TO ARRIVE AT A TRACK WITH YOUR BEST MATE, ONLY TO REALISE YOUR MUTT IS NOT PERMITTED. A SIGN ANNOUNCING THAT IT IS LAMBING SEASON, OR THAT THERE’S BEEN