Wednesday marked the winter solstice—the shortest day of the year—but for many of New Zealand's ski clubs, the season is just beginning.

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A home in high places

Wednesday marked the winter solstice—the shortest day of the year—but for many of New Zealand's ski clubs, the season is just beginning.

With only 15 members and the cashflow of a school-leaver, Awakino is our smallest club ski field, a one-of-a-kind relic from old New Zealand. It’s open only on weekends and runs on traditional values: enthusiasm, volunteer hours and classic Kiwi can-do attitude.

July in the Maniototo

Kennedy Warne follows in the footsteps of Central Otago gold miners—a tour through the history and landscape of the Maniototo Plain in the heart of winter.

#SundayDoco: mountain rescuers

First responders working on one of the world’s most treacherous mountains, Aoraki/Mt Cook, answer an emergency call which turns out to be their worst nightmare.

New home for world's rarest wading bird

An aviary collapse in 2015 dealt a blow to kakī/black stilts, but today US-based Global Wildlife Conservation announced it will build them a new one. With just 106 adult kakī remaining, there's no time to lose.

Should we edit the DNA of native species?

A study of DOC staff found that most would rather see a species go extinct than manipulate its genome in order to save it—but most were perfectly happy to tinker with the DNA of pest species in order to eradicate them.

How do you edit a genome? First, you need something called CRISPR. And this is why a species in trouble, kākāpō, might benefit from it.

New Zealand skies awarded for their darkness

Today Great Barrier Island was named a Dark Sky Sanctuary due to its lack of light pollution. Only one other place in New Zealand has been recognised by the International Dark Sky Association, and that's the Mackenzie Basin. These photographs show why it's special.


	#NZGeoRadio

REMARKABLES NATIONAL PARK 'LONG OVERDUE'
High country land near Queenstown, including the Remarkables, needs to be made into a national park, says Federated Mountain Clubs.

'TROJAN FEMALES' COULD STERILISE PESTS
A new technique that could be used to eradicate pests like mice and wasps has just been proven in the laboratory on fruit flies.

AUSTRALIAN MINING FIRM QUITS NORTHLAND
The company has been prospecting for gold in the Puhipuhi area for the past two years. But it said it had done all the drilling it needed to for the time being.