Destination Queenstown
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Dirt, the new snow
Is mountain biking the future for the resort towns of the past? WHEN WE USE THE PHRASE “RESORT TOWN”, WE GENERALLY MEAN ONE OF TWO THINGS: A PLACE WITH A BEACH, OR WITH ONE OR MORE SKI HILLS. QUEENSTOWN IS THE LATTER. IT’S PROBABLY THE COUNTRY’S BEST-KNOWN SKI RESORT. CORONET PEAK, AOTEAROA’S FIRST COMMERCIAL SKI…
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Waste not, want
IT ALL STARTED WITH A FIELD FULL OF RUBBISH. IT WAS NEW YEAR’S DAY 2020, AND RUBY URQUHART WAS HELPING WITH THE CLEAN-UP AFTER THE RHYTHM & ALPS MUSIC FESTIVAL, IN THE CARDRONA VALLEY. Scattered amongst the usual post-party detritus (beer cans, vape cartridges, flickering smart phones with shattered screens), there were a heck of…
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In the moment
Can the At the World’s Edge Festival get us hooked on classical? I’VE SEEN CHAMBER MUSIC DESCRIBED AS “A DELICATE, BUT INTENSE, WORLD IN MINIATURE.” I like that, because it not only sums up what this niche of classical music is, but what makes good art. Good art takes big stuff and serves it up…
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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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The terrible catastrophe of 1863
Whitney Thurlow revisits a notorious avalanche. In Avalanche Accidents in Aotearoa, the only scholarly history of avalanches in New Zealand, one event stands out. It was August of 1963, and 50 prospectors were camped at the head of the Serpentine Gully, near Dunstan, when a “very heavy snowfall” hit the Main Divide of the Southern…
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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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Failure is inevitable
Or is it? LYN MCNAMEE LOOKS INTO THE REVENANT, A RACE SO HARD THERE ARE NO WINNERS, JUST FINISHERS. It’s dawn in the Nevis Mountains. A piper stands silhouetted on a ridge, his melody drifting towards a host of tiny lights in the tussocks below. Each pinpoint is a contestant — twenty-four audacious adventurers seeking…
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Sound and vision
What’s a nice Post Rock band like EchoKnot doing in a place like Queenstown? THE LIST OF ECHOKNOT’S THREE MEMBERS TELLS YOU A LOT. JOE BARRON-COWIE IS ON “GUITARS, KEYS AND PROGRAMMING”, SCOTT KENNEDY DOES “GUITARS, KEYS AND VISUALS”, WHILE ANDY PATERSON TAKES CHARGE OF “BASS AND NIHILISM”. CHECK. THERE IS NO LEAD SINGER, THERE…