Contents

COVER : Mt Ruapehu - By chance rather than design, New Zealand Geographic editor Warren Judd and photographer Michael Schneider encountered Mt Ruapehu in full eruptive splendour on the night of October 11, as they were returning from assignments in the South Island. These time exposure, taken from the Desert Road, make a feature of the lightning which flickered throughout the ash cloud every few seconds. By the end of this night’s eruption, Ruapehu’s crater lake was emptied of water.
CONTENTS - Features :
THE HAPPY-GO-LUCKY HIGHWAY [Although not the quickest route from Gisborne to Opotiki, State Highway 35, with its dozens of small, colourful settlements and stunning coastlines, is one of the most picturesque drives in the country];
THE MOUNTAIN HAS SPOKEN [After giving hints of impending activity during the year, Ruapehu suddenly erupted on September 18, coating skifields and roads with a layer of ash, cutting short the ski season and interrupting aircraft flights over a wide area];
THE BOY FROM AKAROA [Ernest Shackleton’s 1914-1916 transantarctic expedition was a failure, but no men in his party perished - as much a tribute to the extraordinary skills of his New Zealand-born navigator as to Shackleton’s leadership. And this was only one of the episdoes in Frank Worsley’s adventure-packed life]; DANCING WITH THE WIND [Daubing the heavens with colour and movement, kites are more than mere children’s toys. When we manoeuvre a darting kite across the sky, it is as if our own spirits soar aloft with it, and earthly cares are temporarily forgotten];
POHUTUKAWA - FLAME OF THE NORTH [would summer in the north be complete without the crimson pohutukawa sharing our holidays? Sadly, the tree is on the wane in coastal areas, but efforts are under way to restore this sentinel of our shorelines to its former glory];
CONTENTS - Departments :
LETTERS; GEONEWS [switching stitchbirds]; WEATHER [rivers of wind]; SPACE [in praise of a new New Year]; MUSEUMS [woodworking wonders]; OPEN COUNTRY [Barefoot summer]; SALUTE;