Summer Times

John Fridd takes you up the mighty Kilmog and beyond

The Black Caps' poor performance, the junk mail that overflows from the mailbox as Christmas approaches and long queues at the supermarket - they all annoy and frustrate thousands of New Zealanders.

I'd always wanted to go to Paradise, so I wangled a week off last summer, threw a tent into my 4WD and headed west.

Some people take years to learn how to hitchhike properly. Clearly, they have not made enough mistakes.

After being crushed by a boat at Lake Wanaka, ODT journalist Philip Somerville spent five weeks experiencing the mercies, marvels and mistakes of Dunedin Hospital.

Many of us tend to believe European settlement of New Zealand began seriously in the 1840s,

Shane Gilchrist presents a special Summer Times selection of albums that, although obscure, are worth exploring.

Former Dunedin student Dani Blake writes about her year working for an environmental NGO on islands off the east coast of Africa.

Dunedin city is built around a pretty natural harbour. Peter Mackenzie discovers it has some great motorcycling roads as well.

Having heard this year described as the unofficial year of the chick flick, ODT film reviewer Christine Powley steps back and takes a wider view.

Former Otago Rebel netballer and the franchise's most capped player, Debbie White, has signed to play with the Northern Mystics this year. Sarah Harvey blows the whistle on her wardrobe.

Following on from the popular drive destinations series in last year's Summer Times, the ODT motoring team has been out exploring again.

Long gone are the days when Hyde boasted several hotels, just about as many churches, plus a butcher, a baker and probably a candlestick maker.

For advice on walking tracks, there is no-one better than Antony Hamel.

A pelvis-breaking moment last June dramatically lowered the sights of Otago Daily Times journalist Philip Somerville.

Ask them what they think of the drive north to Christchurch, and most people will speak of prolonged, straight stretches of travel tedium.

Nigel Benson was as excited as we've seen him when he was offered a free holiday in a 21st century campervan late last year. But it turned into the holiday from hell.

In the early part of our courtship, the man in my life endearingly described me as wrong-headed and stuck in the '70s.

Dunedin is a good walk from Invercargill, which is why I'm hitchhiking.