West Coast
Derek Grzelewski: extreme New Zealand
Writer, filmmaker, former professional fly-fishing guide, founder of the Wanaka Flyfishing Academy, host of the Trout Diaries podcast, and author of new book, Going to Extremes: Adventures in Unknown… Audio
Cement plant closing in Westport
It's been confirmed 120 jobs will go when Westport's Holcim concrete plant closes in 2016. Audio
Overhaul of medical facilities on the West Coast is underway
After more than twenty years of pleading, a long-awaited overhaul of medical facilities on the West Coast is finally under way. Audio
Jenifer Roberts: Fitz and Christchurch
Historical biographer and author of a number of books, most recently Fitz: the Colonial Adventures of James Edward Fitzgerald. Audio
Spectrum for 8 June 2014
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, George Davies, along with his mates Curly and Big Mac, gave up the struggle to survive in the city and travelled to the Howard goldfield in the Upper Buller… Audio
Greg Hopkinson: money and monks
Entrepreneur turned modern-day monk who tells his story in the memoir Boundless: a Wayward Entrepreneur's Search For Peace. Audio
Your place - Otira
Otira is an old railway town sandwiched between the West Coast's rugged mountains, nestled at the bottom of the Otira gorge. It was founded in the 1860s as a Cobb & Co coach stop for prospectors… Audio
Old school sausages on the West Coast
How to make sausages at home and what goes into making salami with Phil Russ from The Blackball Salami Company. Audio
Your place - Seddonville
It's one of two townships named for our 14th, and longest-serving, Prime Minister. Richard John Seddon, King Dick, was Liberal Party Premier from 1883 until his death in 1906. In 1893 his name was… Audio
Haast highway strikes major legal hurdle
The backers of a multi million dollar highway linking the West Coast and Milford Sound say paper roads up and down the country could be at risk, after they found out their road doesn't exist on… Audio
Your place - Makarora
It's where the arid Central Otago Lakes region meets the rain-forested West Coast of the South Island. Makarora is made up of three small settlements stretched along State Highway 6, about halfway… Audio
Museum visit - Coaltown
Joining us from Westport's 'Coaltown' museum is Chris Hartigan who began working at the museum when he was at high school, 13 years ago. Audio
A virtual visit to Shantytown
Shantytown is just outside of Greymouth on the West Coast. It has delighted hundreds of thousands of vistors throughout the ages, with its reconstructed pioneer village and historic gold mining… Audio
West Coast's Treetop Walkway celebrates one year
The Treetop Walkway on the South Island's West Coast is quickly establishing itself as one the country's must do attractions. Audio
Your place - Reefton
A town that owes its beginnings to the gold rush of the 1860s, but that's not what made it famous. In August 1888 Reefton became the first town in New Zealand, and in fact the Southern Hemisphere, to… Audio
Northern Buller Museum
Located in Granity on the site where several coke ovens were built early 1900's, the Northern Buller Museum reflects the diversity of the people and the history of the Northern Buller area. With… Audio
Turiwhate air crash
Eighty years ago this week, a Gipsy Moth ZK-AAI took off on a flight from Hokitika bound for Christchurch. Pioneering Hokitika pilot Jack Renton and the former mayor of Greymouth, Jimmy Lynch, were on… Audio
Rebecca Macfie: Pike River Mine
Senior writer with the New Zealand Listener, who won best magazine feature writer at the 2013 Canon Media Awards, and has just published Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and Why 29 Men Died. Audio
Off the Beaten Track with Kennedy Warne
Kennedy Warne explores South Westland, and reports that NZ photographer Robin Hammond has won photojournalism's equivalent of the Booker. Audio
Punakaiki Coastal Restoration Project
The Punakaiki Coastal Restoration project focuses on habitat restoration of coastal land adjacent to Paparoa National Park. It's a partnership between Conservation Volunteers New Zealand and the… Audio