Summer reissue: Summer holidays got you dreaming of a happier, easier, gentler life in the provinces? Amanda Thompson actually made the move, and has some real talk on what to expect. First published January 29, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members … 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 loss of international tourism has hit the West Coast hard, amid population decline and a wider battle to keep jobs in the area. Alex Braae spent several days driving down the coast to cover the election. The Owen River Tavern just north of Murchison has bilingual signs alongside the usual trapping of a bustling … Read more
During the worst days of the Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand, Matamata was right at the heart of it all. Alex Braae went to the Waikato town to ask people how they’re getting on now. On the signs heading out to the Hobbiton Movie Set about 10 minutes away from the Waikato town of Matamata … Read more
It’s a town where people often feel the rest of the country has given up on them, in the middle of a region where every place feels isolated. So how did Ohura become an unlikely centre of Medieval Combat sports in New Zealand? Alex Braae spent three days there finding out. This story was made … Read more
Summer holidays got you dreaming of a happier, easier, gentler life in the provinces? Amanda Thompson actually made the move, and has some real talk on what to expect. God I love Auckland. Sorry Wellington, hope we can stay friends – but my heart is a Jaffa flavoured Jaffa cake filled with Jaffas and topped … 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
A quiet revolution is growing on New Zealand farms. As debates on water and emissions grind on, a new group of farmers are showing us the way forward – regenerating the land, and themselves, writes Daniel Eb. Mum has a saying: when you’re boxed into a corner, move the walls. It’s a reference to … Read more
With its snow-capped mountain, black sand beaches and rich arts culture, Taranaki is a region absolutely bursting with hidden gems. We’ve put together a list of all you need to know before you explore this stunning part of our backyard this summer. If you’ve got friends or relatives visiting Aotearoa, top of their list should … Read more
Tina Nixon, Masterton mayoral candidate and chainsaw model, is leading one of the tightest campaigns rural NZ has seen. Josie Adams headed to the Wairarapa to learn about Nixon, chainsawing, and voting in rural NZ. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting … Read more
Ruby Porter’s debut novel, Attraction, is a lucid, layered story of three young women on a road trip across the North Island. It’s one of the best books we’ve read this year. Here, Ruby writes about her grandmother – who is not like the grandmother in her book – and Levin, and how the two … 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
The government’s environmental policy is creating major tensions in farming communities. Alex Braae went to a meeting in Taumarunui to see it play out. “We’ve got to get the government’s attention somehow. Okay, we’re not all going to jump on our tractors and drive to Wellington. But we could jump on our tractors and block … Read more
Don Rowe on the unsettling boom in his hometown. This story originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine. Raglan is changing. You can see it in the streets, where luxury cars slot side by side like so many dominoes. It’s audible in the endless buzz of bikes, jet skis and drones. And it’s palpable, if you’re … Read more
Russell Brown travels to Rotorua, Whakatāne and Gisborne to see what data is doing in the regions. For 650 years, people have been hushed by the sunsets of Ohinemutu. The hills to the west of Rotorua, as if gently parted by hand, let the light stay longer and lower here. It sends a blush up … Read more
In the last few years, Twizel’s setting in one of the most scenic parts of the South Island has proven an irresistible draw for tourists. And that’s bad news for locals, writes Twizel resident Sarah Arnold. There’s no feeling in the world better than when you first enter Mackenzie Country. When there is a gap … Read more
As our summer road trip season rounds to a close, Sarah Austen-Smith takes a whistle-stop tour of country cafes between Auckland and Wellington to see whether the grass really is greener in the regions. Black Stump Berries, Te Puke Pulling into Black Stump Berries in a seven-seater Toyota Highlander full of kids, my first thought … Read more
Auckland has long been NZ’s economic engine, but these days the rest of the country’s doing pretty well too – and maybe even better, says Kiwibank’s chief economist Jarrod Kerr. In Auckland, things are starting to get a little chilly, not just in terms of the weather, but economically too – migration is cooling and … Read more
Good news for the rugby lovers of Taranaki: despite some stands being closed owing to earthquake risk, their temple will remain open after all, reports Lydia Burgham. In Taranaki, a disaster has been looming, shrouding the community in a dark, foreboding cloud. I’m not referring to the impending, overdue volcanic eruption, however. There has been … Read more
In the latest in our occasional series which look for signs of literary life in the regions, Kerry Sunderland studies Nelson – and talks to an author whose book is being filmed right this second, in Prague, by some guy called Taika Waititi. Two words: Maurice Gee. Of course literature exists in Nelson; New Zealand’s … Read more
If regional councils are to use new funding to address water quality, they could do well to start in Hawke’s Bay, where wood mill effluent continues to be an issue 27 years after a damning report into its effects. Never has there been a better time to rethink and refresh the care of our rivers, … Read more
What might the 2018 Budget deliver on regional economic development, and how will it intersect with our largest city? In the first piece in a series analysing Budget 2018, Grant Thornton’s Murray Brewer casts his eye over the options and opportunities. The government’s moves on regional economic development are courageous and long-overdue, and will have … Read more
We continue our occasional – and occasionally insanely depressing – series which investigates whether literature exists in the provinces. Becky Manawatu looks for signs of bookish life in Westport. The Buller Rural Education Activities Programme Hall on Henley Street in Westport smells like a church and is decked out with those wooden school chairs that force you … Read more
An extract from a fascinating new book by ex-Hokitika Guardian journalist Cheryl Riley, who tells the stories of remarkable men and women of Westland. Dorothy Fletcher was born in 1927, the youngest of four children to Alec and Isabella Graham, part-owners of the Franz Josef Hotel. Her mother did not keep good health after Dorothy … Read more
We continue our occasional series which investigates whether any literary activity exists in the provinces. David Hill reports from his “entombment” in Taranaki. A lot of authors born in Taranaki have left the province on a permanent basis, to become successful or dead. The successful ones are Anthony McCarten and Stuart Hoar from New Plymouth; Dinah Hawken, Gaelyn … Read more
Dominic Hoey (aka Tourettes) reports from his 17-town 16-town tour of New Zealand with singer-songwriter Skyscraper Stan and sidekick Josh Jugum. The tour is over. As I write this I’m back at home smoking weed and watching nature documentaries. I wish I could say the same for Stanley. Who knows why he left, maybe it … Read more
Dominic Hoey (aka Tourettes) reports from his 17-town tour of New Zealand with singer-songwriter Skyscraper Stan and side-kick Josh Jugum. Day 12 of the tour. I’m pleased to report that Josh didn’t die of seal poisoning, although he has become insufferable, constantly threatening to drive us into oncoming traffic and heckling from the audience. Suffice … Read more
In the latest of our occasional series of essays which investigate whether literature exists in the provinces, John Summers looks for clues in Greytown in the Wairarapa. I do most of my writing on the Wairarapa line, the WRL. Every morning, every evening, it rattles beneath the hills between Wellington and Greytown with me aboard, … Read more
Last night the Clutha Southland National Party selected Hamish Walker, a 32 year old business advisor from Dunedin, as the replacement for disgraced MP Todd Barclay. But if National think that will put to rest the questions swirling around their electorate operations in the Deep South they’re dreaming, writes Peter Newport. It’s a long drive … Read more