Lake Wanaka Tourism
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The greatest outdoors
The 1964 guide to the sweet campgrounds of the South Island. IF NEW ZEALANDERS HAVE A SUPERPOWER, IT’S THE ERECTING, AND DECONSTRUCTING, OF CAMPING INFRASTRUCTURE WITH MILITARY PRECISION. EVERY SUMMER, THEY USE THIS POWER TO SPEND SEVERAL WEEKS LIVING ON A DIET THAT IS 70% SAUSAGES AND 30% FRUJU ICEBLOCKS, DROPPING MANUS OFF WATERLOGGED WHARF…
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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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Recollections
Allan Uren finds a private collection of wartime memorabilia hidden in a small town basement. Dear Mummy, I hope this letter reaches you without the mark of a censor’s hand. Life here in the trenches could be worse and it’s best not to make a fuss of what you can’t control and just get on…
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It’s a (sled) dog’s life
Sled dog racing is a thing in New Zealand, and it’s growing in paw-pularity. ACCORDING TO AMERICAN HUMOURIST LEWIS GRIZZARD, “LIFE IS LIKE A DOG SLED TEAM. IF YOU AIN’T THE LEAD DOG, THE SCENERY NEVER CHANGES.” GOOD POINT, LEWIS. ALTHOUGH I’M NOT SURE I’D WANT TO BE FRONT MUTT IN THE EVENT MOST OFTEN…
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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…
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Burning issues
According to William Shakespeare, the fire that’s closest kept burns most of all. Allan Uren investigates. FORAGING FOR FIREWOOD IS HARD WORK. AS THE SAYING GOES, IT WARMS YOU TWICE. OR, AS WĀNAKA FIREWOOD ENTHUSIAST TOM O’DONNELL LIKES TO SAY, IT ACTUALLY WARMS YOU FIVE TIMES: CUTTING DOWN THE TREE, RINGING IT, SPLITTING IT, STACKING…
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Second hand news
The 1964 guide to the top op shops of the south. WALK IN WARDROBE – QUEENSTOWN One of the very few upsides to living in a region where people move away all of the time is that those people often leave great clothes behind. Queenstown’s Walk in Wardrobe is like rummaging through your mate’s closet…
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Alpine soundscapes
In 1998, the Rippon festival brought New Zealand music to the mountains of Wanaka for the first time. Twenty years later, TUKI festival is taking homegrown to new heights. No one said it would be easy. A loss here, a legal tussle there, the trials of the digital age. But Wanaka’s TUKI music festival, and…
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A portrait of an artist in a small town
Wanaka-based artist Stephen Martyn Welch paints people, because people deserve to be painted. PORTRAITURE. IT GETS A BAD RAP. FOR MANY, THE WORD EVOKES POWDERY ARISTOCRATS IN RUFF COLLARS, GREY AND WHITE CEOS LINING THE WALLS OF GREY AND WHITE BOARDROOMS, AND THE QUEEN. STEPHEN MARTYN WELCH (KNOWN LOCALLY AS MARTY) IS A PORTRAIT ARTIST,…