Summer Times

    Getting on track for the summer

    The Ben Lomond walk is not for the faint-hearted.

    Getting on track for the summer

    Whether you're on foot this summer or on two wheels, Queenstown and its surrounds provide tracks for all fitness levels. Otago Daily Times reporter Olivia Caldwell, in Queenstown, has supplied an A-Z guide on the area's biggest, best and hidden tracks to try out this summer.

    Following in his father's footsteps

    Brent Weatherall works on a watch. Photo by Craig Baxter.

    Following in his father's footsteps

    You can't choose your family, but you can choose whether to go into business with them, although sometimes getting out of business with them can be messy. Brent Weatherall talks to Debbie Porteous about how sharing a business philosophy with your family does not necessarily mean you can share a business.

    Shelter from the storm

    The venerable hut's door. Photos by Stephen Jaquiery.

    Shelter from the storm

    Mustering huts still play an important role on some high country properties, like the Hore family's Stonehenge, in Maniototo, but hut life is a little more comfortable these days, as Sally Rae reports.

    Not just lying around doing nothing

    Not just lying around doing nothing

    Asking people what they would take to a desert island is sooo last year, and frankly rather dull. So this holiday season, the Summer Times has upped the ante. We have kept the desert island, but made the whole shebang super-difficult, by painting a carefully crafted scenario commensurate to the skills of the professionals and leaders to whom we put the question. How will they respond? Will they be able to stand the pressure of ... David Loughrey's A Desert Island Conundrum?

    Heart and sole

    Machinists Kylie Bottle (left) and Judy Buchanan in the McKinlays factory. Photos: Christine O...

    Heart and sole

    McKinlays in South Dunedin is New Zealand's last general footwear factory. Eileen Goodwin gets a close-up view of a family business that spans five generations.

    A berry unlikely public plant

    Photo by Gregor Richardson.

    A berry unlikely public plant

    What is it? A Chilean guava bush, a plant sometimes sold in New Zealand as a cranberry, although it is not a true cranberry. It does produce edible red berries, though, which are more aromatic than, and not at all tart like the ones more commonly associated with good bladder health.