Part way along the Kawarau River between Cromwell and Queenstown (Central Otago, New Zealand) is a feature known to Maori as ‘Whatatorere’ (Kaumatua Huata Holmes of Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki pers. comm. to Lloyd Carpenter, lecturer in Maori Studies at Lincoln University) and to Pakeha… Read more
All posts tagged “New Zealand”
Grumbling about Graywacke
When I was growing up in Central Otago (New Zealand) graywacke was a bane of my life, and certainly of my Dad’s too. The family lived on a section near the foot of an alluvial terrace dating back to glacial times. The loess soil was… Read more
Thin Ice? Climate change in Alexandra and skating on the Manorburn Dam
Growing up in Alexandra (Central Otago, New Zealand) in the early 1970s it was the family thing to go ice skating on the Manorburn Dam, a short drive from town. It was a very social occasion, with heaps of the rest of Alexandra there too,… Read more
The Origin of New Zealand in Deep-Time
Anyone who knows anything about New Zealand geology will know that it was once ‘part of Gondwana’. This is true, but how did it become a ‘part’? This is the origin of New Zealand in ‘deep time’. The question was addressed by researchers Li and… Read more
Pacifism in New Zealand: A Ruined Life?
Back in the days when Australia had just seven veterans left from the First World War, I made an effort to meet two of them. One was Ted Smout, and the other was Eric Abraham. Smout was a medic in the First World War, and… Read more