Mary Jane Walker's Blog: Adventures at Snow Farm Part 1 – Skiing with a broken shoulder! , page 34

Why don't we have affordable barn houses in New Zealand? A plan to beat the housing emergency

In this post, I ask whether affordable barn houses, with steel exteriors and kitset interiors made of machined pine logs, could help New Zealand to beat its national housing emergency. Kiwibuild is a start, but not enough. There has to be a return to the hands-on housing activism of the past, so that more small, affordable dwellings will be erected on private sections and in larger projects, like the one in the feature image, as well.

From Heritage, to Glass and Girders? Notes on Invercargill���s Downtown Renewal Scheme

This story is about urban renewal in downtown Invercargill, and the question of whether the pursuit of underground carparks is leading to heritage demolition. It follows on from an earlier post called '46 South going on 47', where I talk about the New Zealand city of Invercargill's civic heritage in wider terms. It's worth reading that post first!

46 South going on 47: Invercargill and Bluff

In this post, I travel to New Zealand's southernmost city, Invercargill, and its port town, Bluff. This is literally the end of the line in mainland New Zealand. I talk about Invercargill's beautiful parks and old buildings, and a threat to some of those buildings from development. I meet some runners in Queens Park, the grandest park in town, and visit a strange theme park made entirely of what many people wold call junk. Then I press on to Bluff and its wild, windswept hill!

Sounding out Dunedin

This is my second post on Dunedin, the most southerly of New Zealand's main centres and one of the most remote cities in the world. I talk about its rise on the back of sheep and gold and land obtained cheaply from the M��ori, its many talents, its Scottish and Chinese heritage, and a visit to New Zealand's only castle and to the albatross breeding colony at Taiaroa Head.

Dunedin and the Taieri Gorge Railway

This is the first of two blog posts about Dunedin, an old historic city in the southern part of New Zealand. In this post, I talk about Dunedin and a trip made by my father Brian and my editor Chris Harris on a scenic train trip up the Taieri Gorge, which links Dunedin and the lowlands of the Taieri Plain to the higher plains of the Maniototo: the 'plains of blood', a reference to the red tussock that used to abound up there..

No Doubts about Doubtful Sound

This post is about a visit to New Zealand's Doubtful Sound, actually a fiord, which my father Brian Walker and editor Chris Harris made in January 2018. Doubtful Sound is the second most famous fiord in New Zealand after Milford Sound; both are well worth a boat trip!

Very Viking Shetlands

In this post, I visit the Shetland Islands, part of Scotland but closer to Norway. The Shetlands share a common history with the Orkney Islands, which I wrote about a little while ago, but the Norse tradition is stronger here. The Shetlands are one of the world's remoter inhabited areas, indeed.

Xmas in New Zealand

Ever heard the expression "you wouldn't read about it"? Well that's a bit like what some of my adventures and misadventures between Christmas and New Year in 2018 have been like.

Floating to Fingal���s Cave: The Three Isles Tour of Iona, Mull and Staffa

In this post I travel to the islands of Mull, Iona and Staffa in Scotland's Inner Hebrides, and reflect on the nature of the Sublime.

Raasay, and Calum's Road

In this post I visit the small Scottish island of Raasay, tucked between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland. This is somewhere that is definitely off the beaten track!