Domestic lighting and heating come at a cost, and most people are resigned to rising energy prices. But bigger bills—and high connection fees for people building in out-of-the-way locations—are forcing many people to seek an alternative to drawing power from the national grid. From the backblocks to city blocks, free thinkers are seeking free power; […]...
El Nino has us firmly in his grasp as we enter summer, and has been affecting the tropical Pacific for months, bringing, as predicted, drought to the west and floods to the east. Here in New Zealand south-west winds have been relentless since October, pleasing windsurfers and glider pilots, but wearing down the general populace in […]...
Mars and its Pathfinder may have been the star astronomical attraction of 1997, but most of the crucial evidence for the history of the solar system lies not on planets but on and in the moons of the outer planets—particularly the small moons. In the face of the majestic bulk of Jupiter and Saturn, this truth […]...
“The phones have been ringing hot the last few months in Tokelau, thanks to a state-of-the-art telephone system. For the first time, the 1500 residents of the three small atolls, Fakaofo, Nukunonu and Atafu, have been able to hold private telephone conversations in their own homes. Even more important, the Telecom corporation TeleTok—the country’s first government corporation—is being […]...
Mother’s love and protection just aren’t enough these days if you happen to belong to one of those shorebird species which nest on open beaches. Predators, recreational vehicles, storms and beach-front developments threaten not just this variable oystercatcher chick but the very survival of several other species....
A glassy sea, an open sky, fish on the bite. An alluring image, but often far from the day-to-day reality faced by small-scale coastal fishermen, who must compete for fewer fish while trying to stay on the right side of increasingly complex government rules. One of the few unregulated fisheries left is tuna, which attracts […]...
Pumice and ash, scoria and grit-the harsh layers of pulverised volcanic refuse that form Rangipo Dessert east of Mount Ruapehu-may offer little succour to plants, but from such unpromising materials nature has fashioned a landscape of austere and peculiar beauty....
Known to Maori as Kawatiri—deep and swift—the Buller is the largest river on the West Coast of the South Island, and in flood carries a greater torrent than any other New Zealand river. Although for most of its course Abe river runs in gorges through remote bush-clad mountains, its last few kilometres broaden to a […]...
