Destination Queenstown
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Music Review: Lacuna by Reb Fountain
Seeing Reb Fountain perform live is a bewitching experience, not just because she is an absurdly-talented songwriter and musician, but also because she has a way of dancing that makes you want to question everything you ever thought to be true and give yourself over to Reb’s groove. That director Lola Fountain-Best chose to focus…
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The 1964 guide to the best rural bridges of the South Island
Gap fillers galore. BRIDGES SPEAK TO SOMETHING IN US. THEY ARE A PERVASIVE METAPHOR, POPPING UP IN INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS (BURNED ANY BRIDGES LATELY?), MORTALITY (THE BRIDGE TO THE LAND THE DEAD), FISCAL POLICY (BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR), AND FAKE- QUOTE MEMES. (NO, INTERNET, ISAAC NEWTON DID NOT SAY “WE BUILD…
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Stumbling in the dark
Illuminating LUMA. One of the many things we lost in 2020 was the LUMA Southern Light Project. As we welcome it back, musician and light artist Scott Kennedy ponders LUMA’s flickering dream of “maybe”. As I write this, it’s two weeks before the start of the LUMA Southern Light Project, and as you read this,…
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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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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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Rhymes of the Mariner
The words of poet, actor, musician and storyteller Noel Coutts roll and rise like the ocean. ONE LOOK AT, OR LISTEN TO, QUEENSTOWN POET AND BLUESMAN NOEL COUTTS TELLS YOU HE IS NOT A MAN WHO HAS LIVED A MAINSTREAM LIFE. A CHAT WITH HIM TELLS YOU THIS IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. HIS IS A TRAVELLING…
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The Rhythm Method
Scott Kennedy reflects on how Rhythm & Alps went from the Little Festival That Could to the hottest, and rarest, ticket on earth. In case you hadn’t noticed, the global live music scene is a dumpster fire. Glastonbury – grab your Hunter wellies, you’re gone. Coachella – pack up that culturally inappropriate headdress and get…
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In gigs we trust
Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand, but thanks to the scene at one community hotel, it’s turning into a live music capital too. PERCHED HALFWAY ALONG FRANKTON ROAD, HIGH ENOUGH ABOVE LAKE WAKATIPU TO SEE THE RIDGELINES OF THE REMARKABLES, SHERWOOD HOTEL IS A SPACE WITH SPUNK. THERE ARE RED VELVET…
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Just ski faster
FORGET THE FROTHY NEW WAVE TUNES OF THE EIGHTIES. DOWN IN THE SOUTHERN LAKES, WE WERE MAKING OUR OWN WAVE. MULLETED BUG- EYED ADRENALINE SEEKERS, DIY-ING OUR KIT, BUSH-BASHING, SKIING, PADDLING AND, OFTEN, SWIMMING, UP AND DOWN OUR MOUNTAINS, THOUGH OUR FORESTS, IN OUR RIVERS. BEFORE THE DAYS OF CORPORATE TEAMS AND SPONSORED ATHLETES, WITH…