New neighbours
The Dunedin Wildlife Hospital invited the Otago Daily Times along for the release of a Buller's mollymawk off Dunedin's coast this week aboard Port to Port Cruises and Wildlife Tours' MV Sootychaser.
Photographer Gregor Richardson captured these images of the abundant wildlife seen along the way.
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Otago Daily Times
18 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Discord over cavalcade funding allocation played down
Goldfields Cavalcade hikers make their way towards Twizel on the Moira's Meander Trail in February. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Cavalcade organisers say a disagreement over fundraising distribution is a needless distraction, despite "concerning" social media posts this week. Goldfields Cavalcade organiser Terry Davis told the Otago Daily Times on Wednesday this year's host town of Twizel had raised a record sum of more than $70,000 for local community groups. On Wednesday night Mr Davis posted an open letter on the cavalcade's Facebook page saying the cavalcade trust was aware of "complaints from six of the 14 cavalcade host town committee members" regarding the planned distribution of those funds. The letter said the complaints had been "thoroughly investigated", and processes found to be "entirely in keeping" with earlier events. The cavalcade comprises a variety of guided horse, bicycle and tramping trails following traditional back-country gold-mining routes, ending at a different shared destination each year. Up to 600 people take part, alongside more than 400 horses, which gather for a fundraising celebration in the host town at the event's conclusion. This year's funds would be distributed to 10 local groups at a celebration in Twizel on Monday. Mr Davis said he had shared the letter on the Twizel Community page to allay concerns due process had not been followed. "We posted it to support the majority of the host town committee that have followed the process. We wanted to share it with the Twizel community after some concerning posts earlier this week." Those posts have since been deleted. Committee chairman Ray Harrington downplayed the disagreement, saying he preferred to acknowledge the efforts of local people in hosting the event. "We had a meeting in April where we had a unanimous vote of the 12 people there to proceed with the distribution, as agreed, for Monday. "I'm not sure why two people, who were not present at that meeting, should now be rocking the boat." Mr Harrington said the meeting was recorded and minuted, and recipient groups were discussed and agreed upon "100%" during an hour-long discussion. "Rather than focusing on the negative, let's instead celebrate the hard work of our community as a whole, which came together to host a great event in February and raised record funds."
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Bygone tour of media frenzies, fabled footy
Yesterday marked 20 years since the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand began. Otago Daily Times sports editor Hayden Meikle, who followed the tour for all five weeks, reflects on a memorable experience. Honestly, it still all seems a little unreal. But the memories are fresh. My former boss, Craig Page, then the sports editor of the Otago Daily Times , made a bold pitch to the higher-ups that our newspaper needed to follow the Lions for the entirety of the 2005 tour of New Zealand, and that both young(ish) rugby writer Hayden Meikle and photographer Craig Baxter should be given a free pass to hit the road. It seems unthinkable in modern times, when newspaper reporters are lucky if the budget extends to a trip to Mosgiel, and we will forever be grateful for the opportunity we were given. We worked hard, to be fair. Craig snapped a million photos, I wrote match reports and columns and profiles and colour stories, and there was never really a second when we were not in work mode, because there was just so much happening. Oh, and we were walking advertisements for New Zealand's best newspaper, too. We were given ODT -branded winter jackets, a sack of 30 ODT beanies (still got one), and enormous magnetic signs for the sides of our rental car. Signs which, full confession, found their way into a rubbish bin rather early in the tour. There were unprecedented levels of hype around this tour, the Lions' first to New Zealand in the professional era. Tales of past tours dipped into romanticism but this one was more of a corporate affair with as much emphasis on marketing and communications — the Lions were accompanied by notorious spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who had been Tony Blair's man at 10 Downing St — as the rugby. Control-freak coach Clive Woodward, surfing on the glory of leading England to World Cup success two years earlier, enlisted an insanely large squad, and commissioned a ghastly tour anthem, The Power Of Four , that was met with rolled eyes whenever it was played. Yet, for all the hooha that surrounded it, the tour was immense fun. Our task was to capture as much of the off-field colour as rugby action, and we deliberately went off the beaten path at times. We caught up with lots of visiting fans — the real reason Lions tours are so wonderful — and accompanied the players on hospital visits and had a delightful day in Southbridge, near Christchurch, where we were invited in for tea and biscuits at the childhood home of a rising star called Dan Carter. I wrote a lot about our travel experiences and about the pre-match entertainment, the latter getting me into a little hot water when I was less than complimentary about an element of the Carisbrook show that did not particularly impress. Then there was the bombing. The July 7 London terrorist attack, targeting commuters on their way to work, cast a shadow on the tour. With our printing flexibility, the ODT was the only New Zealand newspaper to have reaction from the Lions in the next day's edition. New Zealand has never seen anything like the hordes of media that descended on these shores for the Lions tour. All of Britain's great rugby writers were here, along with television and radio crews sniffing out every story angle, and press conferences were a huge deal. It was an odd Lions squad, containing some of Woodward's old English soldiers and a bunch of players who were not really comparable to some of the great touring stars of the past. Jonny Wilkinson, Brian O'Driscoll, Lawrence Dallaglio, Gavin Henson and Jason Robinson were the big names, but for various reasons, none really made any impact. The Lions won all their provincial games but were beaten by New Zealand Māori and then whitewashed 3-0 by a very good All Blacks team. Christchurch hosted the first test. It poured with rain, and there was a flashpoint after just two minutes when the great O'Driscoll was invalided out of that tour after a clumsy clear-out. What followed was remarkable as Woodward called the media together for a forensic explanation of why perpetrators Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu should have been banned, and there were days of septic atmosphere as the Lions kept banging on about the transgression. Umaga, the All Blacks captain, finally spoke about the incident at a fever-pitch press conference during which team-mate Anton Oliver stood by as a sort of bodyguard. The second test, in Wellington, featured the All Blacks at their best, led by a divine performance from Dan Carter, and it was all rather anti-climactic when they wrapped up a 3-0 series win at Eden park. Many reflect on the 2005 tour as something of a fizzer because the Lions were so average. For my friend Baxter and I, well, it was a special time. The Lions returned to New Zealand in 2017 for a contentious 1-1 series draw and games against Super Rugby teams, not provinces, and are scheduled to tour in 2029. Their series in Australia starts against the Force in Perth on June 28. 2005 Lions tour Five big moments 1. Laurie's prediction. "We'll maul Clive's pussycats" was the wonderful headline on a pre-tour story I wrote with former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains. He was spot-on. 2. Woodward's largesse. Much of the discussion before the tour surrounded Lions coach Clive Woodward and his decision to bring 44 players — allowing him to run a separate midweek team — and 25 management to New Zealand. 3. Tū meke. New Zealand Māori showed unfathomable courage to beat the Lions in Hamilton. 4. The strife of Brian. The Lions suffered a terrible blow, and the tour got a discussion point that just would not quit, when star captain Brian O'Driscoll suffered a tour-ending injury just two minutes into the first test when he was tipped up by Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu. 5. Carter masterclass. Dan Carter scored 33 points in the second test in Wellington in arguably the greatest All Blacks individual performance of all time. Results Beat BOP 34-20, beat Taranaki 36-14, lost to NZ Māori 19-13, beat Wellington 23-6, beat Otago 30-19, beat Southland 26-16, lost to All Blacks 21-3, beat Manawatū 109-6, lost to All Blacks 48-18, beat Auckland 17-13, lost to All Blacks 38-19.
Otago Daily Times
23-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
New neighbours
The Dunedin Wildlife Hospital invited the Otago Daily Times along for the release of a Buller's mollymawk off Dunedin's coast this week aboard Port to Port Cruises and Wildlife Tours' MV Sootychaser. Photographer Gregor Richardson captured these images of the abundant wildlife seen along the way.
