How Waiwera Hot Pools went from New Zealand’s most visited water park to dereliction and decay. Many who grew up in Auckland likely have fond memories of Waiwera Hot Pools. Like me, they remember summer days spent racing down the slides and playing in the naturally hot pools. But how did this small town just … Read more
Summer reissue: By the end it was was best known for the drunken brawls that marked its conclusion each year, but for a time the Undie 500 was a (relatively) innocent Christchurch-to-Dunedin lark. Chelle Fitzgerald met up with Undie 500 founding member Matt McCloy for a nostalgic look back. This is an edited version of … Read more
Summer reissue: From the highs (Ralph Hotere’s turtleneck), to the lows (Bain), the jersey is as much a part of this place as the jandal or the Swanndri, but it resists such easy nostalgia, writes John Summers. First published May 31, 2020. Whenever it comes time to lure tourists back to our shores again, we … Read more
Summer reissue: From the tip of Farewell Spit to the very arse end of Stewart Island, there is one delicacy that unites Te Wai Pounamu: the humble green onion chip. But why? Alice Neville embarks on a quest for the true story behind this regional snacking quirk. First published February 29, 2020. I have many … Read more
Do your childhood memories include being randomly attacked by your classmates? Josie Adams and Duncan Greive look back at the strangely violent schoolyard culture of dead arms, noogies, tabletops and more. Illustrated by Toby Morris. They say your school years are the best of your life. Remember being nine, playing marbles, and swapping your fruit … Read more
Timaru, Waihi, Greymouth and Woodville entered; only one could emerge the winner. Tara Ward looks back at one of the most exciting moments in regional New Zealand history: the grand final of Top Town. It was a hot summer’s day in 1977 when 10,000 people gathered in Whangarei’s Okara Park to witness one of our … Read more
The nineties gameshow Sale of the Century may be all but forgotten, but host Steve Parr’s trademark stage-left entrance will live on forever. Sale of the Century was the most glamorous game show ever made in New Zealand. It burst onto our screens back in 1989, when broadcaster and former What Now presenter Steve “Star … Read more
After months trying to get back to her husband and daughter in Hungary, Daisy Coles is finally on her way home. So why is it so hard to say goodbye? In April, I wrote about what happened to my family when Covid-19 came crashing into 2020 like the Kool-Aid Man. Our Hungarian-Kiwi family was split … Read more
Tara Ward takes a trip back in time with this classic 1980s New Zealand tourism video. Be warned, it contains bare buttocks. Covid-19 has made us tourists in our own country, so there’s no better time to wrap your optic nerves around the classic tourism film Come On to New Zealand. It was a 34-minute … Read more
It’s our tucker, sure, but how do the items on the new song hold up against a good ol’ ranking? Sam Brooks puts his New Zealand passport on the line to rank them. How many fast food items do you know that have their own song? Not many, if any, am I right? Well, even … Read more
Who had the clown cake? Who had the terrible duck with chips for a beak? Who had that bloody train cake? In celebration of Jacinda Ardern’s laudable attempt at the piano cake for two-year-old Neve, we revisit the book that defined the birthday parties of your childhood. A version of this article was first published … Read more
From 2012 to 2013, a small bunch of enterprising Dunedin promoters opened a new nightlife frontier in the city: club nights for teens, held in adult bars with minimal adult supervision. But should 13-year-olds really be clubbing? Caroline Moratti reports. Underage clubs have a long and questionable history, as anyone who remembers overpriced glow sticks … Read more
From the highs (Ralph Hotere’s turtleneck), to the lows (Bain), the jersey is as much a part of this place as the jandal or the Swanndri, but it resists such easy nostalgia, writes John Summers. Whenever it comes time to lure tourists back to our shores again, we really must work on our slogan. Forget … Read more
By the end it was was best known for the drunken brawls that marked its conclusion each year, but for a time the Undie 500 was a (relatively) innocent Christchurch-to-Dunedin lark. Chelle Fitzgerald met up with Undie 500 founding member Matt McCloy for a nostalgic look back. This is an edited version of a story … Read more
From the tip of Farewell Spit to the very arse end of Stewart Island, there is one delicacy that unites Te Wai Pounamu: the humble green onion chip. But why? Alice Neville embarks on a quest for the true story behind this regional snacking quirk. I have many fond childhood memories of visiting my grandparents’ … Read more
Twenty years ago, Auckland’s streets were ruled by diesel-hating narcs. Josie Adams looks back at the short-lived 0800 SMOKEY campaign. For five chaotic weeks in 2000, the Auckland Regional Council experimented with extreme, multi-level peer pressure. The goal: to get cleaner-burning fuel into Auckland cars. The method: turning citizens against each other in a whistle-blowing … Read more
From foul combat snacks to forbidden cones and fruit-based sophistication, the most sought-after sugary snacks of his childhood still hold a special place in John Summers’ heart. Childhood is always summer in recollection, and so came with the hope of ice cream, of jandals slapping on dry pavement in the direction of the dairy. There … Read more
Summer reissue: Hard to break, cheap as chips, filled with instant coffee or weak tea – it’s the mug of the marae, the staffroom, the factory canteen, the church hall. It’s our mug, says John Summers. First published 8 May, 2019 Our son was born almost three months ago. He’s close by, fighting sleep in … Read more
From Waipukurau to Waipawa, Hastings to Havelock North, how did a humble crumbed meatball reach cult status? Fiona Fraser investigates the origins of this east coast delicacy. I was halfway out the door of a client’s premises when he bellowed “Have you had lunch? I’m just nipping out to get some meatballs. Five for $10.” … Read more
Tara Ward remembers the book that made every school project sing. If you went school in New Zealand during the ‘80s and ‘90s, there’s one book you’ll remember. The deep blue cover will be etched into your memory, the hand sketched drawings seared onto your emotional core. It was The Lettering Book, a wondrous volume of … Read more
As TVNZ celebrate 50 years of network news this week, Alex Casey celebrates 50 of the most iconic looks that otherwise might be left forgotten. This week, as TVNZ celebrates 50 years of network news, there will be much time devoted to the stories that stopped the nation. Plumes of smoke billowing out of Mt … Read more
Alice Neville looks back on a heady time in New Zealand’s social history – when an insatiable thirst for a new dairy product brought the country to its very knees. Think back, for a moment, to October 2014. Exactly five years ago. What were you doing? Some occurrences of note for context: the National government … Read more
A perfectly preserved set of Big Fresh Animatronic Fruit and Veges went on sale this week. Hayden Donnell delivers an exclusive update on their fate. Everyone remembers their first encounter with Junk & Disorderly’s set of Big Fresh Animatronic Fruit & Veges. There’s something overpowering about the experience. The Butter looms overhead, deranged joy etched … Read more
For some, it symbolises the very backbone of New Zealand’s food culture. But can Kiwi onion dip survive after the factory that makes reduced cream is shut down? The Australian factory that makes Nestlé reduced cream, an integral ingredient in Kiwi onion dip, is shutting down, casting a shadow over the future of the New … Read more
Before Zumba, before Just Dance, before it was cool again to move in public group settings, there was Jump Jam. Madeleine Chapman reflects. Jump Jam entered the lives of New Zealand kids in 2001, a year filled with historic cultural movements. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released in 2001; Frodo and Sam introduced … Read more
From tennis champions to dance craze inventors, Scratched celebrates New Zealand sporting heroes who never got their due – but whose legacies deserve to be in lights. This month, aerobics world champion and creator of Jump Jam, Brett Fairweather. Every New Zealander under the age of 30 knows at least one Jump Jam song. “Witch … Read more
The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read more comics here.
The red, yellow, and black trikes are everywhere. But where did they come from and how did they get here? Madeleine Chapman investigates. Walk past any daycare centre or kindy in New Zealand and you’ll hear the sound of plastic wheels on concrete, or plastic wheels on decking. That’s the Triang A.T. Cycle, and if … Read more
Tara Ward power-ranks our nation’s most valuable, revenue-generating resource: Our big-ass rural monuments. Big Monuments are taking over the nation. No town is safe, no highway untouched by their enormous limbs and massive beaks and enormous carroty girths. We’re obsessed with these oversized symbols of Kiwi identity, and it’s time we celebrated them for what … Read more