North & South February 2020

FOR THE SECOND year running, the Larsons’ impromptu, crowd-avoiding Christmas holiday road trip was a resounding success. On Boxing Day in 2018, when an anticyclone stalled over the middle of the North Island, I found accommodation online in New Plymouth, and Ron and I took off the following day for blissfully uncongested Taranaki. This past December, we left Auckland on the 25th for Ohakune, our halfway stop for a late-booked jaunt to Wellington. (We’d had our family celebration earlier, as my sister was meeting her daughter and daughter’s Aussie boyfriend for a Canberra Christmas and NSW South Coast holiday. I thought buying a P2 Breathe Easy face mask for the trip was a bit extreme until she sent me an alarming video clip from the Kings Highway, with the orange glow…

When North & South senior writer Mike White tramped the Routeburn Track in November, he was thrilled to be joined by several kea while camping one night. “They did the normal thing of investigating the tents, tugging on guy ropes, and sliding down the roof of the shelter,” he says. “A couple of them found a bit of plastic DoC signage and danced off into the forest playing tug-of-war with it. And all the tourists just loved being able to see them so close.” But White’s enjoyment of the kea was tested early the next morning when one landed on his tent just after 5am. “There was this thump and shudder, and I looked out and there was one of them hopping towards the tent again for another go. It took…

“RIGHT NOW, AS A GP, I HAVE A CASE SIMILAR TO BABY ELLIE.IT IS A TRAGIC OUTCOME, WHICH SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN 2019 AND, DARE I SAY IT, PROBABLY WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED IN 1989.” BALKANISED SYSTEM Donna Chisholm’s articles are always well researched and valuable (Losing Ellie, January). The issue with our maternity system is difficult. Labour’s health economist Heather Simpson and the Helen Clark government wanted to abolish the midwifery-plus-medical “team” concept of obstetrics – and that has surely happened. But healthcare is a moving ballpark, and by and large not just GPs but also specialists have been perhaps content to vacate the politically unpleasant milieu of childbirth. We are now left with a somewhat Balkanised service supported by perhaps the largest “newly privatised” health sector service in the nation’s history –…

1. The Waikato is easily New Zealand’s longest river, but which is the third longest? 2. Who defeated Kiwi Paul Coll in the final of the world squash championships men’s singles in Doha in November? 3. Who is our Health and Disability Commissioner? 4. What is the national sport of Papua New Guinea? 5. In which UK village is the hit TV series Doc Martin filmed? 6. Which European city was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 1531? 7. What is a hīnaki? 8. Environmental concerns have put on hold Coldplay’s plans to embark on a global tour to promote their latest album. What is the title of the album? 9. What is the cube root of 27,000? 10. What are you consuming if you eat pecorino? 11. In which part of the country did the 1864 battles of…

Congratulations to North & South contributing writer Noel O’Hare, who won a New Zealand Skeptics’ Bravo Award for his 2019 feature The Psychic Will See You Now (published September 2019; see noted.co.nz or https://bit.ly/38FcQMF). Each year, the NZ Skeptics recognise a number of media professionals and those with a high public profile who have provided “critical analysis and important information on topics of relevance”. Of O’Hare’s winning story, the judges said: “This piece explains how some psychics have moved on from allegedly communicating with the dead to the field of wellness, calling themselves ‘intuitives’ or ‘intuitive healers’. The article particularly highlighted Jeanette Wilson, and reported that in her recent shows she had summoned ‘psychic surgeons’ and that she was promoting a ‘healing powder’. The article also mentioned the work of…

INVERCARGILL STREET TALK Queens Park, 13-16 February Local and international performers flock to Invercargill for the Southland Buskers Festival . There’ll be jugglers and tricksters aplenty, including Bayley Graham, who infuses his world-class tap dancing skills with circus skills, magic and swing, and New Zealand busking legend Mulletman. Make sure to leave a tip in their hats. AUCKLAND WINDING UP ASB Waterfront Theatre, 11 February-8 March Alison Quigan and Mark Hadlow are Gen and Barry, a retired couple who aren’t planning on slowing down. Winding Up , the latest comedy from one of New Zealand’s most popular playwrights, follows the pair as they navigate inevitable health problems, family feuds, overseas travel and funerals with Sir Roger Hall’s signature insight and wit. ON TOUR CURTAIN CALLS It’s likely your last chance to see two music legends live in concert: Elton John…