North & South December 2021

This issue marks a very exciting landmark for us: it’s now a whole year since North & South resumed publishing. One year ago, we were racing to put out a magazine at the same time that we were assembling a staff, setting up an office, overhauling the design, making a website — building the plane while we learned how to fly it, in that overused but handy Covid-era idiom. Leafing through those early issues is a reminder of how much has changed in the past 12 months — both in the world and in these pages. One of the great privileges of this job is getting to figure out what kind of magazine the new North & South should be with a crew of incredibly smart and dedicated people. I’m extremely…

This month’s best letter wins a summer prize pack from Silver Fern Farms worth $188 – perfect for barbecue season! The prize includes vouchers for 4 pawcks of their delicious Honest Burgers, another 4 vouchers for you to pick from their range of premium products, plus a chiller bag to store all the goods on your way to your favourite summer barbecue spot. Silver Fern Farms meats are grass-fed, and pasture raised right here in New Zealand, and they pride themselves on providing top quality lamb, beef, and venison for Kiwis. Silver Fern products are available in supermarkets nationwide and from Gourmet Direct.…

Letter of the Month Living With Anxiety I’ve lived with anxiety all of my life, caused by poverty, childhood sexual abuse, rape, marital abuse and stage 3 cancer for starters (“The Age of Permanent Anxiety” by Anna Rawhiti-Connell, November). My anxiety has been assessed by ACC as a 70 per cent permanent disability. Yet I can truly say that despite living with a severe anxiety disorder, every day of my life is full of joy and fulfilment. How could this be? Firstly, what Dr Mason Durie refers to as taha wairua: spiritual health. My Christian faith gives me trust that regardless of what is going on around me, God knows and God cares. I have excellent care from a psychologist and psychiatrist. I have experts to call on when I need help. But these…

Nicola Harvey Nicola has been living the country life on a farm near Taupō for the last three years, moving back to the place she grew up after years living in Sydney, where she spent time working at BuzzFeed and the ABC. In this issue’s cover story, she discovers that farming is an industry full of hidden tensions when it comes to deciding the best way to manage our environment. While some push back against the idea of government regulation, others are urgently looking for a better way of doing things in the face of climate change — but as she discovers, going against the grain can come at a high personal cost for farmers willing to speak out. Camilla Rutherford A multi award-winning photographer, Camilla grew up in Scotland before settling in…

GREYTOWN Waiting for Aldi Willow Falleni first contacted Aldi in 2016. She’d come across the German discount supermarket while living in Shepparton, Australia. After her return to the Wairarapa, Falleni, a 42-year-old childcare worker, began writing to Aldi. Her messages were love letters of sorts, asking Aldi to come and settle down in New Zealand. Aldi said no every time. In the realm of international commerce, New Zealand is a bit of an outlier. Global players ignore our island nation due to its small size and utter remoteness. That irks consumers who’d like more choice and competition. There have been numerous Facebook campaigns trying to lure the likes of Ikea, Costco and Aldi to New Zealand. Aldi, which has more than 10,000 stores in 20 countries, isn’t universally popular. Unions mobilise against low-level wages.…

In June, the Pentagon released a study of “unidentified aerial phenomena” that refused to rule out the existence of UFOs. Ever since, reports of sightings have gained more credibility worldwide. Here are some recent local cases. PIHA Orange Glow In early October 2021, a witness observed a bright orange circular light emerge from behind a cloud at a beach west of Auckland. Moving steadily across the sky and visible for about 30 seconds, the glowing object appeared to be guided by a pulsing light in front of it. Then, it disappeared into the mist. TRENTHAM Massive Triangle An huge dark object, shaped like an equilateral triangle with rounded edges, was seen passing over Upper Hutt in April 2021. The witness, a retired police officer, described it as being as large as a football field, “cruising along”…