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Island wisdom, delivered without fuss: a weathered sign offers a reminder that poor quality is remembered long after a bargain is forgotten. A rain-soaked family escape to Rarotonga delivered spectacular snorkelling, slow days and a reminder of what it takes to live and grow food on a remote Pacific island. The first thing I noticed when we stepped from the plane in Rarotonga was the air. Warm, sweet and impossibly soft, it felt like a balm after the chilly, damp days Christc

Waipara Winehouse has undergone extensive refurbishment since Stuart and Judith Clumpas took ownership in 2023. When Scottish music promoter Stuart Clumpas first visited Waipara Winehouse three years ago, he immediately saw an opportunity. The vineyards. The wide North Canterbury skies. The proximity to Christchurch, while still feeling unmistakably rural. “I looked at it and thought: this could really work,” he says. Now, just a few years later, Stuart Clumpas with wife and

From left, Emily Horne, Natasha Moore, photographer Liv Gorman, Jess Letham and Lauren Pearce, part of the team behind A Lauriston Harvest. A new cookbook from Lauriston School is serving up much more than tried-and-true recipes, capturing the people, memories and community spirit of a small Mid Canterbury school along the way. There is a particular kind of culinary nostalgia attached to recipes handed down through families. They are the cakes made for every family birthday

Kelly Shakespeare is photographing the ordinary. Old sheds. Quiet streets. Faded shopfronts. Brick homes with overgrown gardens. Hand-painted signs. Rusted roofs. The kind of places most people drive past without a second thought. But in a rapidly growing town like Lincoln, those ordinary places are disappearing fast. And Shakespeare knows it. “I’ll photograph something and six months later it’s gone and replaced by new houses,” she says. “That’s become a big driver for me. I

Rosa Power (right) and Margo Flanagan say the idea behind Two Raw Sisters has always been about simplifying wellness and helping people feel good through practical, nourishing food. How Two Raw Sisters are helping New Zealanders rethink food, wellbeing and the cost of living For Margo Flanagan, the answer to feeling better was never found in another diet, wellness trend or expensive health hack. It was found in simplicity. In slowing down. In learning how to use what was alr

Lynton Downs homestead sits beneath the towering inland Kaikōura ranges, surrounded by mature trees, gardens and rolling farmland. There is a quiet kind of magic about Lynton Downs. Maybe it is the stillness of the hills. The creak of an old homestead staircase. The sight of sheep moving through the paddocks beneath mountain ranges that seem to rise straight out of the earth. Or perhaps it is the feeling that this is a place layered with stories. Built in the 1860s and added

Anna Munro (left) Abbey Mackenzie, and Pete Wilkinson bring a country sound to rural stages across Mid Canterbury. The Landgirls are not trying to be a big band. The Mid Canterbury trio, made up of Anna Munro, Abbey Mackenzie and drummer Pete Wilkinson, play the kind of music that fits where they live. Country leaning, harmony driven, and built for rural halls, pubs and paddock gatherings. “It’s definitely got a bit of a country vibe… just songs that people like hearing. It i

Laura MacDonald says modern homesteading is less about perfection and more about learning practical skills over time. Supplied There is a loaf of fresh bread cooling on the bench, children collecting eggs outside and herbs growing in pots by the door. For many New Zealanders, that kind of life once felt old-fashioned. Now, amid rising food prices and growing interest in slower, simpler living, homesteading is making a comeback. But according to Waikato mum Laura MacDonald of

The Brown Shavers are Emily's "army", a breed known for their consistent egg-laying. It looks like something lifted from the pages of Little House on the Prairie. Or maybe, a scene from ‘The Good Life’. There are chickens scratching in the yard, tomatoes ripening in tunnel houses, herbs hanging to dry in the kitchen, and shelves lined with jars of preserved fruit, pasta sauce, and pickles. A rescue cat patrols the deck while dogs lounge in the sun, unconcerned by the hens wa

A harvest from the garden. What began as a small project has become a steady source of food and flowers. There is something quietly powerful about turning a patch of lawn into something that feeds you. Not in a grand, self-sufficient, off-grid kind of way. Just a few raised beds. A handful of herbs. A couple of rows of vegetables. Enough to change how you cook, how you shop, and how you think about food. That is exactly what Holly van Dam has done. Through her growing online

A red shed sits against the hills near Parnassus (photograph). Bruce Mortimer Bruce Mortimer does not describe his work as rural. But his landscapes will feel familiar to anyone who spends time in open country. Wide horizons, open space, and a single element holding its place against something much larger. It is not farming, but it is the same land farming sits in. Originally from England, and raised in the Netherlands and South Africa, Bruce Mortimer has called New Zealand

Justin Klar with one of his largest works on display at the Wānaka A&P Show. What started as a way to fill an empty driveway has quietly turned into something much bigger for Wānaka-based sculptor Justin Klar. The German-born artist, who now calls Central Otago home, only began working with metal just over a year ago. At the time, there was no grand plan. “My driveway was looking boring, and it just needed something,” he says. What came next wasn’t expected. Neighbours notice

Agright Operations Manager, Mathew Bryant, marks the occasion with a group of very excited Chertsey pupils. All with a basketball each, because playing a game with just one ball is boring! Amy Riach Bright blue astroturf and a brand new set of basketballs have made the children of Chertsey School into very proud athletes. A new, multi-use sports court at Chertsey School was officially opened on May 27, and it’s already making a difference for local pupils, said principal Clai

The Next Chapter Bookshop has become a destination in its own right, drawing in readers from Wānaka and beyond Tucked behind the bustle of Wānaka’s lake-side main street, The Next Chapter Bookshop has become as much a destination as the town itself. “One thing we didn’t anticipate was becoming a visitor destination,” says owner Sally Battson. “We get a lot of travellers buying books. I’m constantly surprised by how many.” In an era where print media is supposedly being swallo

Why local, seasonal shopping is finding its place again Becks and Dryden Power at The Country House Greengrocer in Woodend. Greengrocers are quietly making a comeback. Rising food prices and a growing focus on seasonality are pushing more people to think about where they shop and what they’re buying. In the small town of Woodend in North Canterbury, one store is leaning into it. At The Country House Greengrocer, people aren’t just moving in and out. There’s a coffee from next

There are some songwriters whose music feels woven into the back roads of New Zealand. Not because they set out to write “rural” songs, but because they have lived that life. They have travelled the country, watched people closely, and learned how to tell a story the way New Zealanders talk. Straightforward, observant, and quietly reflective. Barry Saunders is one of them. This May Saunders returns to the Tussock Country Music Festival with The Warratahs, bringing decades of

After 17 years as a volunteer firefighter, Felicity Lang is stepping into the role of first female officer for the Waipara Volunteer Fire Brigade. Felicity Lang has been answering the pager for nearly two decades. Now the Waipara volunteer firefighter is stepping into an officer role at the brigade, becoming the first woman to do so - although it’s not something she makes much of. To her, it is simply the next step. “I’m just one of the guys,” she says. “That’s how I look at

Gabe Ross (left) and Riley Meason became full time content creators last year. A turning point was when the pair entered and won the reality show ‘Tracked’. Supplied. Weekend Mish didn’t start as a business. It started with a group of mates filming their hunting trips for fun - and seeing what happened next. Today, best friends Gabe Ross and Riley Meason run one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing outdoor content platforms, sharing everything from farming skits to multi-day bush

The Gore-raised country artist Jenny Mitchell returns to the Wanaka A&P Show stage this year. Photo: Supplied Country artist Jenny Mitchell has spent the past year on big stages across Australia and New Zealand, opening for international acts, winning awards and building serious momentum. But when she steps onto the Wanaka A&P Show stage on March 13 & 14, it’s a kind of homecoming. Because long before the tours and the awards, there were A&P shows, rural halls and small-town

Moa Brewing co are riding the low carb wave with their Southern Alps low carb lager. Supplied. From its home among the Marlborough vines, Moa Brewing Co is carving out a new future: one built on family ownership, South Island sourcing and a fast-growing low-carb lager that is now challenging much larger global players. Under Managing Director Stephen Smith, the brewery has stabilised, rebuilt and begun rising quickly in a shifting beer market, driven in large part by Souther