Columnists

Focusing on the good things

Motueka saw what Stoke missed out on when the Tasman Skatepark Tour hit town last Saturday.

Familiar faces in remotest places

KARL DU FRESNE - © Fairfax NZ News

Things happen to you in New Zealand that I can't imagine occurring anywhere else in the world. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Health system works only for some

TERESA O'CONNOR - © Fairfax NZ News

There's certainly money to be made from health – or should that be illness? – judging by the medical edifices that have gone up in this town of late.

There's this funny thing that happens when you turn your back on your home country and go overseas. The further you go, the more patriotic you get. And you can't get much further away from New Zealand than London.

Cute critters make good sport (and cash)

ZANE MIRFIN - © Fairfax NZ News

It's a tough life being a possum. Being trapped, shot, poisoned, or ending up as roadkill can't be a lot of fun for New Zealand's public enemy No1.

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Blink and you'll miss triathletes in action

Parents' attitude will help students

Times change, but racism endures

The only answer is to run and hide

The academic hijacking of the arts

A humble man amid all the swagger

Those moments when we might need a hero

Fishing, fossicking and family at French Pass

India's schoolyard bluster needs a reality check

Swimming spectacle

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Teresa O'Connor

A humble man amid all the swagger

A middle-aged man with some insight, some understanding, some humility and some courage – they are a rare enough breed.

Recalling summer's joys and woes

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? – not this summer anyway.

'Stressmas' rams home key themes

Green Party leaders could loosen up

Matt Lawrey

Taking the weight off

Want to know a secret?

The season to be jolly

Is it just me or has Christmas come early this year?

The drawbacks of first impressions

Best way to get around the CBD

It's not about just parking

What's the first thing you notice when you look at this old photo of Trafalgar St?

Zane Mirfin

Fishing mecca fails to inspire

Croisilles Harbour was flat and calm, as brother Scott, West Coast friend Dave Heine and I agonised over how to free a seized steering system for our 90 HP outboard motor. With some Kiwi ingenuity, and good preparation by Scotty with appropriate tools, we were soon out of trouble and finally heading for fishing Shangri-la.

Waves of feathered paradise

The hills are alive with the sound of gunfire – it's paradise for duck shooting.

Chasing the not-so humble eel

Days spent fly-fishing with angling heroes

Happiness is ... a box full of flies

Ever since I was a little kid, I've loved mucking around with fishing tackle.

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Bob Irvine

As camp as a row of fancy coffee grinders

"Be natural, be happy, be real, be relaxed, be yourself." Even my cereal box was on holiday. "Here at (name withheld), we passionately believe that simple ingredients are the best."

Man's earthly treasures

The little writing bureau in the op-shop received careful scrutiny. The price was reasonable, and it looked like an easy do-up, but the prospective buyer shook her head. "It's more stuff," she said wistfully. "When you reach a certain age you don't need more stuff."

Bums on seats, and knees

A grand plan for an island crying out for a submarine

Times change, but racism endures

The English identify with the bulldog, but the Scots are terriers. Witness my holiday reading, a couple of frayed gems by Scottish authors, found at a second-hand book sale in Takaka.

Karl du Fresne

Online bile in the name of free speech

One of the claims made for the internet is that it has opened up public dialogue on a scale never experienced before.

Paper or e, it's keeping in touch

I bumped into a friend at the counter in my local Post Shop a few days ago. She expressed surprise when she saw what I was buying.

Capitalism's down, but it's not out

RWC debased by obsessive bullies

The academic hijacking of the arts

Question: Which of the following writers acquired their skill as a result of attending a creative writing course Shakespeare, Tolstoy or Dickens? Answer: None.

Alan Clarke

A growing reflection of our place

If this sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet, so be it. My old man played one, in a jazz band, so perhaps it's in my genes.

No news is good news - or is it?

Reporters can be a soft target – and at times with good reason.

Probation scheme sure to be abused

The clean green scenes of home

Why are our streets getting meaner?

My own little taste of random street violence goes like this. I'm walking through a park one Saturday afternoon, when out of the bushes from somewhere behind me comes a menacing voice: "Hey, you white-arz mother – you a freak by nature, aren't you?"

Geoff Rennison

Better off just digging

Some anglers wax lyrical about their exploits: "I made a few casts with a red dragon fly but the line fell like silver wire on the water and danced idly over the cool stones in the rapids ... " (F Rollet.)

It's true, I'm normal

The recent Mail article, "Does Nelson measure up in the greenie stakes?" cast around for reasons to be greenish and commented: "Maybe it's the proximity of long-term hippie hangout Golden Bay."

Lost in family holiday brouhaha

Rambling chats demonstrate a word's worth

Life's a constant battle with the elements

I was going to call this column "The Deepest Passions of a Country-Dweller" but I'd never get away with it.

Alastair Paulin

TV review: New Girl

Your tolerance level for the sweet, funny sitcom New Girl will rest upon how much endearing hipster cuteness you can stomach.

The only answer is to run and hide

Motueka is pumping with tourists; I can barely keep track of all the summer events, let alone report on them all, and the summer holidays are dragging on and on.

Give your resolutions a helping hand

This feels like a snow job in the summertime

Revelling in the land of doers

California may have the girls, the freeways, the cars, the sunshine ... but Motueka can still hold its own.

From Left Field

Ko trapped in an amateur world

She acts like a professional and she certainly plays like one, yet Lydia Ko remains locked into the amateur ethos.

India's schoolyard bluster needs a reality check

India's flat track bully syndrome appears to be affecting some of their players – and not in a good way.

Jacko's a breath of fresh air on the sporting scene

Black Caps a starter's chance against the Aussies

Doing without runners

It appears that injured batsmen will no longer have the luxury of completing one day international (ODI) innings with a runner.

The Fitness Zone

Blink and you'll miss triathletes in action

If you're stepping out of Nelson's Elma Turner Library any time after 12.30pm tomorrow, look both ways.

Listen to your inner music

If the summer's sports events were a symphony, many Nelson athletes would be past the allegro and the adagio and be building into the scherzo. I'm feeling a little as if I'm into the rondo at the moment.

Southern challenge awaits

Measuring up to a challenge

Swimming spectacle

Nelson traditionally faces an exodus of athletic talent in the second weekend of February.

Pine Needles

All Whites dodge Latin bullet

It was the one-in-three chance which might have scuppered the All Whites' chances of reaching the next football World Cup finals before they'd even begun.