The capital boasts mountain biking experiences as compelling as its coffee—many of them within pedalling distance from the city centre.
The view from the top of the Ruahine Range is a good one to wake up to.
The new professionally accredited four-year environmental science degree at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha University of Canterbury gives its graduates knowledge and skills that are in high demand in the workforce while empowering them to address the world’s urgent sustainability issues.
From windswept ridgelines to lush native forest remnants and rugged coastlines, Wellington’s Regional Trails have it all.
Research on the Alpine Fault suggests there’s a high chance of a magnitude-8 event occurring within the next half century. This will cause significant damage in the area, but just as the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake had a significant impact on Wellington, it is also likely to be widely felt across the lower North Island. Some 30,000 residential chimneys in Christchurch toppled or caused damage during the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Most were unreinforced concrete masonry or brick, which are common in pre-1970s homes. Chimneys are just one feature of a home we can make safer for future earthquakes. The Earthquake Commission has assembled a quickfire list of those features most likely to fail, and what can be done to mitigate damage and danger to occupants. For more information visit the Earthquake Commission website: eqc.govt.nz/be-prepared
On February 17, 2020, 16-year-old Caitlin O’Reilly became the youngest person to claim the triple crown of marathon swimming in New Zealand. She had swum Cook Strait at 12 and crossed Lake Taupō at 14. All that remained was Foveaux Strait. O’Reilly set off from Rakiura/Stewart Island at 10.40am and powered north under the watchful eye of open-water swimming legend Phil Rush and skipper Zane Smith (whose father piloted Meda McKenzie across Foveaux in 1979). Despite encountering tidal chop near the finish, O’Reilly reached the mainland at sunset, covering the 27-kilometre distance in just over 10 hours. Only five other people have attained the triple crown; O’Reilly became interested in the feat after her coach mentioned swimming Cook Strait. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool, maybe I’ll do that’,” she says, “and so I did.”
Photographer Julian Apse is well-accustomed to remote places. And so is his Series IIA Land Rover.
The modified vehicles used in deepest Central Otago to carry a collection of varmint hunters may not be roadworthy, but they definitely need to be hillworthy.
Connecting the Central Otago towns of Clyde and Cromwell, the Lake Dunstan Trail skirts the water. Its final section, through the Cromwell Gorge, is set to open at the end of this summer, featuring bridge sections cantilevered from the sheer schist faces and suspended over the artificial lake. The track is a feat of engineering, with the result being a relatively easy ride—it will be rated Grade 1-2. It connects to Central Otago’s 536 kilometres of existing cycle trails, including several Great Rides.
There's no machine better than a trusty Landy on an 88-kilometre-long road made entirely of sand. Just ask the legends of the Snapper Classic.
Equally adept at hauling dogs or dinosaurs, the Foote's Landy has done the grunt-work on their Otago farm for a generation.
“To an outsider it may seem like some kind of climber’s secret society in which everyone knows the real name of the mountain,” says Gavin Lang, “as the name ‘Mount Humdinger’ won’t be found on any map.” Perhaps the name is a play on its neighbour, Mount Haidinger, or a reference to its high-quality rock. Lang, a photographer and mountain guide, spent an easy afternoon scaling it, the day after completing his goal of traversing the rarely climbed Ayres Ridge. Pat Gray leads into the second pitch of ‘Kahu’, a route first established in 2011. “This little outcrop of solid rock is indeed a humdinger of a mountain.”
Dunedin is surrounded by a collection of small townships, each with its own identity and unique community.
Within our New Zealand bubble are some of the most dramatic, breathtaking landscapes in the world.
Growing populations of iconic birds are living proof that eradicating invasive pests is critical to restoring New Zealand’s biodiversity.
Something out of the ordinary has been unfolding above the South Pole.
It’s time to go back—to the Kimberley.
Albatrosses and sea lions, little blue penguins and takahē live next door to humans in Dunedin, a city perched on a knot of land on the Otago coastline.
Tall, dark and lonely, formed from a mountain peak drowned by the sea, D’Urville Island is a rugged sentinel between Nelson’s Tasman Bay and the gentle filigree of the Marlborough Sounds.
Once, trampers emerged from the bush on the Wangapeka to the offer of a cuppa and a yarn.
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