South Island
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BATTLETRUCK!
Laura Williamson revisits a post-apocalyptic action classic, filmed in her ‘hood. IT’S AFTER THE OIL WARS. AMERICA IS A RADIOACTIVE AFTERTHOUGHT WHERE MARAUDING BANDITS STALK THE COUNTRYSIDE ON THE HUNT FOR PETROL, AND WOMEN. THE RADIO CRACKLES IN THE BACKGROUND, A LITANY OF BAD NEWS: “GASOLINE ALL BUT UNATTAINABLE”, “FOOD RIOTS”, “OIL FIELDS IN ARABIA…
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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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Fixed wings
The team at Twenty24 are making history airworthy again. HAVE YOU HEARD HOW NASA ONCE SPENT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DESIGNING A BALLPOINT PEN THAT WOULD WORK IN SPACE? THE SOVIETS JUST TOOK A PENCIL. The story’s probably apocryphal, but perhaps there’s some truth to it. Take a look at the fighter aircraft built by the…
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Clinkered and cramponed
Lilian Familton’s audacious ascent of Mount Aspiring. “Day was now drawing to a close, the setting sun lit up the peaks in riotous colours of flaming crimson and gold. Purple shadows … all was peace” – Lilian Familton, New Zealand Alpine Journal Lilian Familton was wet. When she walked her boots squelched and it seemed…
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The 1964 guide to the coolest small-town ice rinks in Aotearoa
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 with metal blades and, in…
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When the white gold’s running
Little fish, little fish, swimming in the water. It’s dawn on a small stream near Haast. The stream can’t be named, the river it leads us to can’t be named. It’s all very mysterious, for reasons that may soon become slightly less murky. A highlighter-yellow kayak, nose jammed into the muddy shore, tail bobbing softly…
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To turn is to admit defeat
Fast times and straight lines with Aotearoa’s top speed skiers. SIX NEW ZEALAND ATHLETES COMPETED AT THE 1992 WINTER OLYMPICS IN ALBERTVILLE. ONE, ANNELISE COBERGER, WON SILVER IN SLALOM, THE COUNTRY’S FIRST MEDAL AT A WINTER OLYMPICS, AND ONE OF ONLY THREE WE’VE WON TO THIS DAY. BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER CONTINGENT OF ATHLETES FROM…
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YAMI time
So you want to be a rock’n’roll star? IT STARTED A DECADE AGO AS A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS FOR SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST HOPEFULS. TODAY IT’S ONE OF THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR KIWIS WANTING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. AND IT TAKES PLACE, OF ALL PLACES, IN WĀNAKA. The YAMI SouNZ Summit got…
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Peak reading
The best things come in small packages, or in the case of the climbing section at The Next Chapter, small bookshops. Set smack against the Southern Alps, Wānaka is a small town with a big reputation in the climbing world. You can see Tititea / Mount Aspiring, also known as the ‘Matterhorn of the South’,…