Summer Times

Experienced tramper Cliff Donaldson will always vividly remember one night, more than 60 years ago, when he learnt just how quickly and harshly the weather can change in the great New Zealand outdoors, including in the Silver Peaks area.

Crime fiction can be a mixed bag but Connelly is always good and this yarn, one of his earliest, is the best I have read.

A great book is a great book, no matter the subject. So why do sports books often get such a bad name? Sports editor Hayden Meikle - who answers his own question by acknowledging the sports book market has more dross than most - names the 12 sports books you simply must read.

New Zealand rugby has produced plenty of champions in three positions - fullback, first five-eighth and openside flanker. Rugby writer Steve Hepburn looks at a possible top 10 in each position in a brief series, starting with the men at the back.

A Dunedin family optometry business has been going strong for four generations. Debbie Porteous speaks to Peter Dick and his son, Peter, about the family legacy and what keeps the business so strong.

Summer Times asks Dunedin musicians to ruminate on their most prized instrument. Today: Graeme Downes, of The Verlaines.

It was the year that had a bit of everything. A bit like most other years, really. Nigel Benson looks back on 2012.

Peter Marsh cannot explain his desire to collect, but says it is something that will never go away.

A step inside the beautiful, sun-drenched wooden cellar door area and tasting room of Waitiri Creek Wines in Gibbston is to instantly feel a sense of serenity, a gentle reminder of its original incarnation as the Wangaloa Presbyterian Church.