Lake Wanaka Tourism
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On the boil
Tea, technology and the perfection of the Thermette. It’s the first day of spring and a sharp chill slices the air, hazing the grass at Trotters Gorge with ice. Gregor places more beech twigs into the mouth of the Thermette and warms his hands on its side, the hot gas catching to flame in the
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Into thick air
Whitney Thurlow is a professional mountain guide with more than 50 ascents of Tititea Mount Aspiring. But it was a boredom-induced walk up the road that nearly did him in. It was the kind of mood where a bad idea could take root and flourish. I had just returned from an aborted guiding job in
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Starlink, star bright
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s thousands of satellites circling Earth. I’VE GOT PERSONAL BEEF WITH ELON MUSK BECAUSE THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIS SATELLITE TRAIN MY MATES WERE ON ACID, AND IT SCARED THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF THEM. I was babysitting some friends in the Matukituki Valley, gazing at the indifferent
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A gig in a hut
On stage and off the grid in the Pisa Range. A single bulb hangs from the roof, casting direct light on the musician below, his eyes closed, his face contorted. The crowd, if you can call it that, sits on wooden benches in near darkness just a few metres away. They are completely silent. At
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The slacker generation
Crossing the line with the funambulists. Elsa Leperlier, a young French woman living in Wānaka, didn’t have a choice when the small tabby cat adopted her. It was love at first sight. Owning a cat isn’t easy when you’re a freewheeling spirit, travelling the world without any ties. Elsa was once offered a lucrative job
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Winter mixer
Onwards and upwards at the Remarkables Ice & Mixed Festival. A four-limbed creature moves across the vertical face with careful agility. The rock is plastered with blobs of freezer ice. The creature’s extended arms end in singular sharp hooks and its lower limbs are adorned with multiple spikes, which it places carefully. It looks terribly
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Our hearts’ desires: We can go our own way
“Lines are created by being followed and followed by being created.” THE LINE ABOVE IS A LINE BY SARA AHMED, AND SHE’S WRITING ABOUT LINES CALLED DESIRE LINES. YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF DESIRE LINES, BUT YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN ONE OR WALKED ONE IN YOUR LIFE. Desire lines, sometimes called desire paths, rat tracks,
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The cutting edge
Zambonis and the business of smoothing the ice in Aotearoa. THE HILLS OF THE CROWN RANGE ARE ALIVE WITH SECRET CARS. THEIR MAKES AND MODELS ARE HIDDEN UNDER DARK CLOAKS, LIKE NUNS’ HABITS. THESE ARE THE CARS OF THE FUTURE (HENCE THE SECRECY), SENT HERE BY INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS TO HAVE THEIR ICE HANDLING PUT
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Frozen fish
Freezing the day at the New Zealand National Ice Swimming Pool Championships. THE FIRST TIME YOU FACED REALLY COLD WATER WAS IN AN ALPINE LAKE. IT WAS SUMMER, BUT THERE WERE STILL POCKETS OF SNOW COWERING FROM THE SUN IN SHADY GULLIES. THE INSTANT YOUR TOE TOUCHED THE WATER IT BUZZED. YOU EASED YOURSELF IN