Podcasts about South Island

Christchurch will host the South Island's first ever Australian Supercars event from next year.

Christchurch will host the South Island's first ever Australian Supercars event from next year.

Welcome to this weeks episode of Soul full Mamas...yes I know it has been a minute!!I took an extended Sacred Pause but now fully ready to dive back into this beautiful wee space in the podcasting world.To ease back into it I have started back with a sharing of where I have been and what I have been doing:✨Family Travel Adventures✨Travelling with teenagers in a motor home✨Beauty of the South Island, New Zealand✨New Moon to Full Moon Portal✨The liminal space of Samhain✨Diving into the shadows of the Scorpio full moon✨Reclaiming the Inner Witch✨Speaking your truth from the heartPlease join me in the comments or feel free to connect with me on Instagram or email:maria@parentingwithsoul.comHave a Soul filling week aheadArohanuiMaria

Sharon Brettkelly (pictured) will go to extreme lengths, in this case, heights, to get to the bottom of a good story.Sharon, who writes for The Newsroom in New Zealand, tells the story this time on The Detail: "Powering New Zealand from a Wellington wind farm".She writes: "When rain poured into our South Island hydro lakes last week, electricity bosses heaved a huge sigh of relief."They're still wincing from the memories of last winter's energy crunch, when power became dangerously scarce and wholesale prices shot sky high.“Droughts are no fun,” says Meridian Energy's chief executive Mike Roan.“They're inevitable though.“Our power system has been built with droughts in mind. The scale of the southern hydro lakes, Lake Taupō, the combination of them is there to provide that backup stored energy for and when a drought emerges.”"But the past 12 months have been “horrible” with the August drought and loss of gas supply causing wholesale prices to spike", her story says.

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast 2025 Thursday 8th of May, Glenn Dobson Drug Detection Agency CEO shares insight on a new Ministerial Advisory Report on organised crime. Much to the surprise of economists The unemployment rate remained flat at 5.1% for the first three months of this year, Westpac Senior economist Michael Gordon shares his thoughts. Transpower says they need to replace the electricity cable connecting the North and South Island at the tune of $1.4-billion, Major Electricity Users' Group Chair John Harbord explains how it will impact power bills. Plus, US Correspondent Nick Harper has the latest on Joe Biden's first interview out of the White House. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transpower is looking to make a key investment into the Cook Strait electricity cable. It's consulting on a $1.4 billion upgrade to the 610 kilometre link connecting the North and South Island. The existing cables are likely to reach their end of life in the late 2030s. Major Electricity Users' Group Chairman John Harbord told Ryan Bridge the link's important when hydro-lakes in the South are low in water. He says the North Island's often moving forms of renewable electricity down to the South Island. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A band of heavy rain is moving toward the South Island, prompting MetService warnings and watches from Wednesday. MetService meteorologist John Law spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Minister for the South Island tells Jack Tame that his position is both vital to the functioning of the government, and unnecessary as Ministers are always thinking of all NZers. So, he's a token Minster for South Islanders? Maybe a DEI hire to represent the minority South Islanders?=================================Come support the work we're doing by becoming a Patron of ⁠⁠#BHN⁠⁠ www.patreon.com/BigHairyNews⁠=================================Merch available at www.BHNShop.nz Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/BigHairyNews Follow us on Twitter.@patbrittenden @Chewie_NZFollow us on BlueskyPat @patbrittenden.bsky.socialChewie @chewienz.bsky.socialEmily @iamprettyawesome.bsky.socialMagenta @xkaosmagex.bsky.social

Tourism organisations from across the North Island are teaming up to shine a light on its tourism offerings. Fifteen operators including Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, Rotorua NZ and Northland Inc have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. It aims to generate interest from key tourism markets particularly Australia, North America and China. Northland Inc Head of Destination Tania Burt told Ryan Bridge tourists fly into Auckland and then head straight to the South Island. She says only 20-30% of their region's visitors are international, hence the need to work together. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1News has revealed that Education Minister Erica Stanford has been using her personal Gmail to send documents to herself that could be sensitive, or even damaging should they get into the hands of a nefarious actor. Spineless Christopher Luxon is just fine with it all.Minister for the South Island tells Jack Tame that his position is both vital to the functioning of the government, and unnecessary as Ministers are always thinking of all NZers. So he's a token Minster for South Islanders? Maybe a DEI hire to represent the minority South Islanders?Defence Minister Judith Collins has clarified a new $957 million boost to the Defence Force is in addition to the previously announced $12 billion Defence Capability Plan=================================Come support the work we're doing by becoming a Patron of ⁠⁠#BHN⁠⁠ www.patreon.com/BigHairyNews⁠=================================Merch available at www.BHNShop.nz Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/BigHairyNews Follow us on Twitter.@patbrittenden @Chewie_NZFollow us on BlueskyPat @patbrittenden.bsky.socialChewie @chewienz.bsky.socialEmily @iamprettyawesome.bsky.socialMagenta @xkaosmagex.bsky.social

David Seymour is absolutely on the money with his call to cut the number of ministers in Cabinet and outside of Cabinet. In his speech yesterday, he proposed capping the number of ministers at 20 —currently there are 28— and scrapping the position of minister outside of Cabinet. “Right now, there are ministers that have seven different departments. There are departments such as MBIE that answer to 19 different ministers. There are portfolios, just to give you one example, not to pick on it, but the Minister for Auckland that Labour created – there's no Auckland department, there's no Auckland vote in the budget, it's just a made-up thing, frankly. And I think that really, we should be moving to a world where each department has only one Minister, no portfolios exist unless they have an actual department with a budget and a thing to do, and there should be no ministers outside of the Cabinet, everyone should be sitting around the same table. That's going to take a lot of people making a concession, but if we could get there, I think the whole thing would just get stuff done faster.” Couldn't agree more. I've always seen the roles of Minister for Women, Minister for the Voluntary Sector, Minister for Auckland, Minister for the South Island, sops to lobby groups. As David Seymour said in his speech, it's symbolism. Portfolios, he said, should not be handed out like participation trophies. Could not agree more. Michael Wood was made Minister for Auckland at the beginning of 2023 in Chris Hipkins government. Did he do anything? No. Did he have any power? Not really, no. As David Seymour said, there's no budget. So why create it? Because Chris Hipkins realised he needed to get Auckland back on side after the Covid response, after the crime waves that affected so many retailers in Auckland. It was a sorry guys, here's a Minister for Auckland we prepared earlier. Didn't work, too little, too late. Later on in ‘23, the red wall crumbled in Auckland and Labour strongholds went to National. Labour knows they need to win them back and Chris Hipkins understands they need to do more than appoint an Auckland spokesperson, but I suppose it's a start. Not everybody sees them as a waste of time – when the very sound James Meager was made Minister for the South Island, the Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown said it was a good move. South Island councils had told the government they felt their voice wasn't being heard, having a local MP promoted to minister outside of cabinet would provide a more direct connection with Wellington. Again, I don't think there's any real merit in having a minister for the South Island other than as a sop to South Islanders. You think we neglect you? You think Auckland's getting all the attention here? He is a minister, a fine young man we prepared earlier, have a Minister! In fact, everybody have a Minister! Minister for Hospitality, Minister for Racing, Minister for the Voluntary Sector. It nullifies the effect of having a Minister. If you don't have a budget and you don't have a vote, what is the point? If you make everybody a head prefect, what is the point? It devalues the position. It might make the minister themselves feel a little bit better, a little bit special, but if everybody's special, nobody is. The only good reason, perhaps to have a minister for anything, other than as a sop, is because you do have fine young talents like James Meager who are given a bit more responsibility. But are they? It's like an apprenticeship for becoming a real minister. It's an absolute nonsense. I couldn't agree with David Seymour more. We've had our disagreements in the past and this one I'm absolutely on board with them. There should not be a minister unless they have a budget and something to do. And government departments should only have one minister to report to, not 19. How could anybody argue with what David Seymour has proposed? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In tis episode I am joined by Andrew Male who is the Southern Territory Manager at Kinetics Group. Andrew leads the Kinetics business in the South Island and has a deep and varied background across multiple business areas. Kinetics Group (www.kinetics.co.nz) was established over 25 years ago and is an award-winning IT support and solutions company who specialise in supporting medium sized businesses with their IT needs. Andrew talks with me about the ongoing cyber threats faced by NZ businesses in 2025 alongside some of the steps businesses can take to protect themselves from malicious actors. Andrew discusses some salutary real-world situations that bring home the very real threat faced by businesses in the cyber sphere. To say this is no joke is an absolute understatement. Taking cyber risk seriously and tackling it in a meaningful and ongoing way are now non-negotiable for all business owners. It is not a question of if you will get hit it is merely a question of when! If you are worried about these risks or want to understand how you might look to approach them then give this episode a listen.Is there a topic you want covered or a person you want to hear from? You can contact us through the Godfreys Law website, or you can message the Godfreys Law Facebook page. We'd like to hear from you, and any ideas you have about making the podcast better. The Real Solutions Business Podcast is presented by Godfreys Law - A Christchurch based law firm, serving Canterbury for over 140 years.

Author and liver of life absolutely describes our guest this episode, Pat Backley. As Pat says, she was an English woman until the age of 59 when she decided to become a Kiwi and moved full time to New Zealand. Pat grew up in a poor household, but she will tell you that she never regrets not having as much money as many of the people around her. However it happened, Pat grew up with a various curious oriented mind and a desire to explore the world.   During her life which today spans 73 years, Pat has held a number of jobs. She also has been married twice, but clearly really is not bitter over being divorced from both husbands, although the 2nd one simply wasn't ready to be as adventurous as Pat and live in New Zealand.   Pat wrote her first book at the age of 70. Over the past three years she has written eight books and has a number of future books inside her. As with other authors I have met over the years, Pat's characters essentially write their stories. Pat has plans and ideas, but the characters take over and create the stories.   I find Pat to be extremely articulate and personable to converse with. I think you too will enjoy her and what she has to say. So, sit back, or walk or do whatever you are doing, but get ready to hear a most enjoyable and thought-provoking conversation.       About the Guest:   Pat Backley is an English woman who, at the age of 59 , decided to become a Kiwi and she now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. Passionate about people and travelling the world, she has spent the last 73 years living a colourful and interesting life and her books reflect these passions.   She published her first book DAISY in late 2020, just before her 70th birthday, and now says that she intends to write till she dies!   She has published eight books and contributed to several anthologies, as well as writing articles and short stories for various magazines and has several more books in the pipeline.   Ways to connect Pat:   www.patbackley.com I am on Facebook and Instagram @patbackleyauthor. Also on X (Twitter) @Pat Backley Books. And LinkedIn @Pat Backley   About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   ichael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi everyone, and I want to welcome you to another edition of unstoppable mindset. And today we are going to chat with Pat Backley. Pat is a British woman, as she will tell you, but at the age of 59 which has now been some what, 1314, years ago, 13 years ago, she decided to become a kiwi and moved to New Zealand. We'll have to find out what brought that about. I've been to New Zealand. It's a fun place. I'd love to go back. But anyway, and of late, certainly much later in her life, Pat decided to become an author. She wrote her first book at the age of 70, and that is another fascinating story, I am sure. So we will delve into all of that, and we're going to grill Pat until she's tired of us. Pat, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Pat Backley ** 02:20 Thank you so much, Michael, I can assure you, I won't be tired of being grilled by you. I'm I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:29 we're really glad that you're here. What time is it in New Zealand right now? It's 10 o'clock   02:33 in the morning. Yeah, it's about what I thought.   Michael Hingson ** 02:38 So you're 21 hours ahead of us. Yeah, yes.   Pat Backley ** 02:42 And I have to say, I have to say that tomorrow is looking very good. You'll be glad to know, Oh, good.   Michael Hingson ** 02:49 Should be good. It Well, I'm glad to hear that it's going to look good, and it's actually going to warm up a little bit. Here. We're only getting up to about 65 Fahrenheit, so that's what about 17 Celsius or so. But tomorrow it's supposed to start getting a little bit warmer. We're approaching our winter as you approach your summer, which is kind of interesting.   Pat Backley ** 03:14 Yes, very interesting. When I first moved to New Zealand, that was one of the things I found very strange to have Christmas in the sunshine, because obviously I was, I was born with Christmas in the cook.   Michael Hingson ** 03:29 Yeah. Well, and you could have moved to Australia, where they use kangaroos to pull Santa slay.   Pat Backley ** 03:38 I could have done. I could have done. But Australia didn't have the same appeal for me as No, I   Michael Hingson ** 03:43 like New Zealand. I haven't been to Australia. I'd like to go, but I really enjoyed being in New Zealand. I've been to both the North and the South Island. I spent almost three weeks there, back in 2003 and gave something like 17 or 18 speaking opportunities in 15 days. And I only had one day that I had mostly off and that we spent. What is the the town on the South Island, the the tourist town, oh, Queenstown. Queenstown. Yeah, and so but that only lasted until about six that evening, and then I had to go off and speak again. But it was a lot of fun.   Pat Backley ** 04:28 You must have been exhausted because it's quite a lot of distance. I was I'm what I'm about to say is going to sound ridiculous now, because I've just been to America, and I know about your distances I was going to say, because you have a lot of driving distance between the towns you would have had to speak at. But then, as I was about to verbalize it, I thought, Pat, that's stupid. In America, the distances are far greater   Michael Hingson ** 04:51 well, and also a number of airplane flights between the North and the South Island to make it go faster as well.   Pat Backley ** 04:57 Yes, absolutely, yes. So. It was fun. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 05:01 why don't we start by you telling us a little bit kind of about the early Pat growing up and all that. We'll start with that. Okay,   Pat Backley ** 05:08 well, I, I was born in 1951 so it was just after the war, and England was still suffering from the effects of the war. You know, there was a lot of it was a bit of a gray place, so my parents couldn't afford to buy their own home, so I lived with my parent, my paternal grandparents, for the first three and a half years of my life. And of course, I had a lovely time because I had four adults doting on me. Then we moved out to the country. We were given a council house, which is like a state house. I'm not sure what they called in in the in America, you know, where the government provides them, right? Which, at that time was very acceptable, because there wasn't much housing, because it had all been bombed out, because we lived in London. So, so I grew up in the country. I didn't realize we were poor until I was 11, and went to secondary school, and suddenly I was the because I was quite bright, I was put in a grammar stream class, so I was suddenly with all these rich kids. One girl was driven to school in a chauffeur driven rolls, Royce and I lived in the little government house opposite the school, so everyone knew I was poor. So yeah, it was, it was tough. I would say it was tough my teenage years, but I   Michael Hingson ** 06:26 did, they teach you a lot about that. Oh, yeah,   Pat Backley ** 06:28 I got, I got, I mean, these days they would call it bullying, bullying. I just, I just, it was just, what my luck you know that I remember one time, and I actually did write about this in my memoirs, because it's still in my head after 60 odd years, one time I was the only kid in the class that went home for school lunches, and one because mum couldn't afford to pay for school lunches, so I used to go home because we lived just opposite. And I remember one day I came back to school and it was raining, so all the kids were back in the classroom early, and the teacher wasn't there yet. And there was this one girl whose name will live in my memory forever. She's etched on my soul, Angela Barrett. And she was standing at the front of the class, pretending to be the teacher, writing on the blackboard, and then wiping it off with this black cloth. And then she said, this is all this rag is fit for. And it was actually my school raincoat, which until then I'd been very proud of, but it was second hand, it'd be my cousins. And I can remember that afternoon thinking, I don't want to be here anymore. I hate it here. Everyone hates me. And I went home and I told mom, and I cried, and she said, Look, love, just because they've got more money than you doesn't make them any better people. And at 11, I could not see that at all like that. I just thought, why don't you just get more money? Why don't you buy me a nicer and go blah, blah, blah. But now in hindsight, I just think she that was the wisest thing she could say, because the time I rebelled, it made me realize that actually it's not an equal playing field in the world. You know, you're going to have people that are on this side and down at the bottom and up at the top, and you just have to grit your teeth and fight your way through it,   Michael Hingson ** 08:13 yeah, and, and the reality is, there are only so many things that you can truly control, and what you what you can control is how you dealt with that situation and situations like that. Yes, that's   Pat Backley ** 08:25 right. Um, and then I think I was a, I was definitely a product of the 60s. You know, we had all the lovely pop music and the short skirts and burning out bras and all that sort of stuff. But when I was just two weeks after my 20th birthday, I got married for the first time, which was ridiculous in hindsight, but at the time, you think you know everything when you're that age, don't you? My parents begged me not to marry him, but of course, I knew best, so that marriage lasted 14 years, and he wasn't always very kind. So then I left, then I was on my own for a beer. Then I had a living boyfriend, and I was desperate to have a child, Michael, but I'm not. I'm I'm old fashioned. I only would have a child if I had a husband. And so I didn't. I got married again when I was 41 and we had a child. I had a child when I was 43 my daughter, and that was that I thought life was going to be great. And then 26 years later, he decided he didn't love me anymore, didn't want to live in New Zealand anymore, and that was that so. So I kind of found myself living in New Zealand on my own, having we emigrated here together just before my 59th birthday. But anyway, I've picked up the pieces. It's been six years now, and because of COVID and because of him leaving me, that's how my life changed, really. And your daughter, my and my beloved daughter, my only child, yes, she's 30 now, and she is the love of my life. Yes, and I'm sorry. I've just realized I probably. Probably haven't answered your question very well. You must always pull me back, because I tend to get very excited and passionate and you know, don't necessarily toe the line with question answering. So forgive me, not   Michael Hingson ** 10:11 a problem. That's why this is a conversation and not a big deal. So is your daughter in New Zealand? She   Pat Backley ** 10:20 is now. When her dad she she was 16 when we came to New Zealand, so she did her last bit of school here, then she went to university in Auckland, and then she decided she wanted to do her master's degree back in London. So she went back to London, and then she got a job there, and she was away for five and a half years, which nearly broke my heart, but she's home now. She's been back four years, and she's got a lovely Kiwi boyfriend, and she's here to stay, so I'm   Michael Hingson ** 10:49 thrilled. What did she get? Her degree in art history. Ah, now, do you? Did you go to college? No, sadly,   Pat Backley ** 10:57 I because we were poor, I just had to leave school at 16, and so now I never went to college. I would have loved to, I would have liked to have been a teacher, but, you know, it wasn't to be and and I've had a great life, regardless of that.   Michael Hingson ** 11:13 So did you during all your married life and then the time in between and so on. What kind of work did you   Pat Backley ** 11:20 do? Well, I started work. I started work in the bank when I was 16. Barclays Bank was a really good place to work, so I spent 10 years working there. Then I lived for two years in the Fiji Islands and just did voluntary work back to the UK. My first husband and I started a furniture business, and then when I left him. Obviously I needed a job, because I didn't claim anything in the divorce. And so I got a job with bernardo's, the children's charity, as a general fundraiser. And that was great, because I just traveled all around the south of England supporting all the fundraising groups and things which I loved. And then I moved on to after a few years, I moved on to cancer research, um, again, as a fundraiser, but this time, setting up all their charity shops in the south, and that was a wonderful thing as well, because during the course of both those jobs, I met so many interesting people. You know, now that I'm an old gray haired lady, well, not actually Gray, because I color it, but now that I'm an old gray head lady. I feel very bad that the 35 year old me went to my new job with with Barnardos and sat there looking at these hundreds of gray head old ladies. And I thought, Oh, I'm too young to deal with all these old people. What on earth am I going to talk to them about? And of course, within a couple of days, I've realized that all these gray head old people were fabulous, that most of them had had really interesting, fascinating lives, and that I could learn an awful lot from them. So now the old gray head me looks back and feels very guilty at how I was at that age. But I guess that's what happens when you're young. You just think anyone over the age of 50 is is past it, don't you really well, but   Michael Hingson ** 13:03 you did learn a lot, I bet, from them, which is, oh, wow,   Pat Backley ** 13:07 oh, I learned so much, and I had so much fun, so much fun. Yeah, in fact, when I got married for the second time, a whole bunch of those ladies and a few of the men came to my, like, hen party the night before I got married, we went to the local, very smart hotel and had cocktails, and I just smiled to myself, thinking, oh, and I thought you were all so boring at the beginning, and actually, you're fabulous. So, yeah. So then, then my then I, then I stopped working, had my daughter, and I desperately didn't want to go back to my well paid job with cancer research. I wanted to be home with my baby because I was 43 I'd lost two children in the year before, with miscarriages, and so I stayed at home for four months, and then my husband said, oh, we need more money. You need to get a job. So I ended up doing having other people's children at my house, looking after them so doing like child minding. And that was when I look back. I don't know how I managed, because sometimes I had five under four year olds running around the house, which was quite a challenge. But we survived. I did that, I think, for seven years altogether, and oh, and in between that time, we came and lived in New Zealand for a year because my husband was a teacher, and he got a year's teaching exchange. So we basically swapped lives with a New Zealand teacher. He and his family moved into our house in England, and we moved into their house here in New Zealand. So for a whole year, we lived like a proper Kiwi family, which was wonderful. Lucy was only two, so it was the ideal time to do it. And I just, I just fell in love with New Zealand and desperately wanted to emigrate there. And then it took me 14 years to persuade him to get back here eventually. And in hindsight, I've probably pushed it too much, because. After he left, he said, I didn't like living in New Zealand. I didn't ever really settle there. So I have to hold up my hand and say, probably I persuaded him to do something that he really didn't want to do. But anyway, it's easy to be wise in hindsight, isn't it, as always, yeah. And then so we went back after our year here, we went back to the UK and we set up a business training and assessing construction workers, because the government realized, the UK government realized that, because they'd stopped formal apprenticeships some 20 odd years earlier, that there were now hundreds of 1000s of men working on construction sites who had all the necessary skills, but no paper qualifications. And so they wanted to redress that, but they realized that these men would not be willing to go back to college for three years to learn, learn their trade that they could already do. So they started this fast track program, and we used to go onto sites. We obviously, I had to get lots of qualifications and things to do it, trainers and assessors, qualifications. But then we used to go on two sites and watch the men working ask them loads of questions. We obviously had trade specific instructor assessors, and they could get that qualification that they would have taken three years to get going to college, they could then get in in a matter of six months or so, just by being observed doing their job. So it was a really, really good system, and it was very rewarding for me personally, because I used to go onto the sites and do the initial talks and whatever. And I've always liked men. I've always enjoyed their company, so I could cope with all the banter, you know, all the right, darling, what you're going to do after work, that kind of thing. I enjoyed all that. The bit I hated was wearing a hard hat, because they're very unflattering and they squash your hair do. But the most rewarding thing for me, we did that, that business for 20 years. The most rewarding thing was when a guy who I'd met on site who didn't even want to do it because he felt inadequate, which I later discovered was because he couldn't read or write, but he'd hidden it from all his colleagues. The most satisfying thing was once he'd passed, which obviously he sailed through. I sent him his certificate in the post, and the next day he phoned me, and he said, Pat. Thank you so much for that certificate. He said, it's the only thing I've ever had in my whole life that says I'm good at anything. He said, My wife is framing it and putting it on the living room wall. And that just made me cry, because I thought, this is, this is a man who's 45 who's gone through his whole life thinking he's stupid, and suddenly, just that one action can give him something to be proud of. So that was, I loved doing that, and we made that's how we made our money. For a few years, it was incredibly successful, and then it tailed off, and that's when we immigrated to New Zealand, and since I've been here, I've just basically been having a lovely time, doing a bit of voluntary work, lots of socializing and becoming an author. So   Michael Hingson ** 18:10 what, what attracted you to New Zealand? Why did you fall in love so much with New Zealand? Do you think   Pat Backley ** 18:19 it's a it's a hard question to answer. Michael, it was something deep inside me after I'd been here for a year, or when I'd been here probably only for a few weeks, I got this real feeling deep inside, inside me that I needed to be here. I just think sometimes places in the world draw you in for whatever reason. Who knows? You don't know if it's because perhaps you've got some association with it through an ancestor or I don't know, but I felt very, very drawn to New Zealand, and once we went back to the UK, we were back there for 14 years. Whenever I spoke to friends from New Zealand, whenever they'd phone me, I would end up in tears for hours. I want to go back to New Zealand. So it was a need rather than a desire, almost. And it's not something I've ever regretted. Even after he even after he abandoned me, we were back in England when he announced he didn't want to be married anymore, and he never came back to New Zealand. I just had to come back alone. Even then my friends in England were saying to me, oh, Pat, just stay in England. You know, we're all here. We'll, you know, we'll all be here for you. And I said, No, no, home is just New Zealand, even though I knew I was coming back all alone because Lucy was still living in London, I had, I've got no family here, so, but there was something that pulled me back.   Michael Hingson ** 19:45 I understand that I really enjoyed New Zealand a lot. And if there's when people ask me a place in the world that I regard as my favorite place to visit, New Zealand always comes out first, but I enjoy. Way wherever I go. I actually took my first trip to London in late October of this year. I was only there for a couple of days, but it was to do a speech. And, you know, it was pretty similar to being here. It just wasn't the same feeling as as being in New Zealand, which I had the opportunity to do, as I said before, for a little over three weeks. So it was really a lot of fun and and the the environment is just so different.   Pat Backley ** 20:28 Yes, I think New Zealand, I think one of the, I mean, obviously it's an incredibly beautiful country, but I think one of the main differences is that we, we've got a land mass pretty similar to the UK, but we we've only got like 5 million people, and the UK has got more than 70 million. And I think that's the thing. You know, the more people you try to cram into a small space, the more the social problems are, are enlarged, don't they? You know, we have exactly the same social problems here that are anywhere else in the world, but because our population is relatively small, it's not such a such such a huge feature of life, I think, yeah. Mm,   Michael Hingson ** 21:10 well, I haven't explained to everyone listening that Pat and I met through the RV Book Festival, virtual book festival, which both of us being authors, we spoke at and participated in, gosh, a little over a month ago now. Mm,   Pat Backley ** 21:28 yes, time flies, doesn't it does. It does.   Michael Hingson ** 21:32 And one of the things that I said, as I usually do when I get a chance to meet with people, is we'd love to have you all come on the podcast. And Pat is the second of the three people who were there. And so I'm glad that that that we got to do this. But let's talk about you being an author. So you started being an author. What, just three years ago or four years ago? Yes, yes. What? Yeah. Go ahead. Oh,   22:01 no, sorry, you carry on. Well, so   Michael Hingson ** 22:03 what just caused you to decide that you're going to try to write a book?   Pat Backley ** 22:09 Okay? Well, when I was a little girl, I had a massive list of things I wanted to be when I was growing up, I wanted to be a nurse, a missionary, a writer, a teacher, a ballerina. They were all my that was my list. So when I was about eight, I edited my first magazine. Is I have one limited copy of it. It was a limited, very limited edition. It only lasted one, one time. But so I guess probably I've always had that desire deep inside me, but because of circumstances, and not coming from, you know, a very privileged background, it meant that I didn't have the opportunity. But in the days when we used to write letters, I always love to write long, long letters to all my friends, my family. And when I lived in Fiji for two years, I wrote, there was no other way of communicating with my parents. They had no telephone. So for two years, I wrote them letters and when my when, when they died, and I had to clear out their house, I found this enormous pile of blue Air Mail, letters that I'd written to my parents over a two year period. They'd kept every single one. So I think I'd always loved writing, but it never occurred to me that I would ever have the chance to write a book. And then we get to COVID, and we, here in New Zealand, went into lockdown on the day of my 69th birthday. It was a beautifully sunny day, and I was all alone because Lucy was in England, and I made myself chocolate brownies, stuck a candle in it, sat in the garden and cried because my marriage was over. My daughter was gone. We had COVID. There were, you know, there were lots of things to cry about. And I then spent the next three weeks lying on my sofa watching rubbish on Netflix, eating too much chocolate, drinking too much red wine. And then I thought to myself, Pat, this is ridiculous. This could go on for a few more weeks, because at the time, we thought COVID was going to be quite short lived, didn't we, and I thought, why don't you do something practical? Why don't you write a book? So I just got out some paper and pen and started writing, and stayed up, probably mostly day and night, for two weeks, and then within two weeks, my first book, Daisy was done, and that was that really the rest is history. Since then I have so I published it self. Published it just before my 70th birthday, and in the three years since then, I've written and published eight more. Contributed to five anthologies, written a little Yes, so yeah, written articles for magazines and been interviewed by lovely people like you, and the rest is history. Are you alright? Have I sent you to sleep? Talking?   Michael Hingson ** 24:58 No, I. Well, I'm just listening. I didn't know whether you were done. You know, it's, it's fascinating to to listen to the story and to hear you talk about what, what brought you to it, what made you decide what kind of books to write. I   Pat Backley ** 25:18 don't think I really did decide, um, my daughter for my birth, for the previous Christmas, had sent me a very dry little textbook, which she knew I love, called, I can't think exactly what it's called, something like the history of architecture, of council houses in the UK, something very boring like that. And it was, it was basically a textbook, because I love architecture as well. It was basically a textbook with just a few pictures in so I'd kind of put it on my coffee table, but not but ignored it. You know how you do when there's books? You know, you should, you kind of don't get around to it. So at the beginning of COVID, I picked it up one day, or a couple of days before I started writing, I picked it up, and within five minutes, I was enthralled. I got out post it notes. I'd stuck those all over little bits and written quotes, and I think that was kind of an inspiration. So I expected the book to be more about, have more of a theme of architecture. And in fact, the book doesn't. There is one guy who becomes an architect in it towards the end. But I think that kind of just just pushed something in my head into gear, because I firmly believe Michael. I mean, they always say that everyone has a book inside them, and I, when I do my talks now, I'm often photographed at a very funny stage where I'm going like this, because I'm just saying how somebody's it feels as though somebody's taken off the top of my head, and 70 years worth of words are just flying out. Because I find writing incredibly easy. The first book Daisy wrote itself pretty much, you know, I just kind of had an idea and and I wrote down a few things about possible people, and then they just wrote their own story, really, which I'm, you know, I know, as an author, you will understand that. And I would say, for all my other books, I've had an idea, but they've kind of, they've kind of written themselves, themselves   Michael Hingson ** 27:17 as well. Yeah. Well, you know, you talk about textbooks. I've been an advocate for some time about the concept that people should rewrite textbooks or make textbooks different than they are, and technical manuals, the same way, as you said, they're very boring and and they don't need to be in textbooks could draw people in a lot more than they than they do. For example, my master's degree is in physics, and when you're looking at a physics textbook, there are lots of mathematical equations and so on, and that's fine, but think of how much more interesting the book might be, and think of how much more you might draw the interest of people to the science by including in the book some stories about the the author. Their their, I don't want to necessarily say adventures, but their experience is why they became a physicist, why they do what they do, and bringing some humanity to the textbook, I think would make a significant difference to textbooks in general, but we don't see that, because people just want to get the facts out there.   Pat Backley ** 28:32 I couldn't agree more. I absolutely, totally agree. When I was at school, I hated doing research because it was boring. You had to learn the names of all the kings of England, and King, you know, Henry, the eighth wives, and when their heads got chopped off and all that stuff. And apart from the really scandalous bits, I wasn't really interested. But now I absolutely adore research. I discovered that my first book, Daisy is is a historical fiction, and so I had to do lots of research to make sure it was accurate, because you you know, if you write something in a book and it's not right, people are going to pick holes in it. I mean, they're going to pick holes in your work anyway, so you don't want to give them extra ammunition, right? But I discovered that I absolutely loved doing research. And of course, these days it's so easy because you just click a button on your computer and you can find out what cold scuttles were used in 1871 whereas in my youth, we had to trudge to the library get out all the encyclopedias. And so because of I've discovered that love of research, all my all my novels, are now historical because it's almost it gives me an excuse to go researching and finding out stuff. So it's opened up a whole new world to me, Michael and I just realized now that that expression education is wasted on the young is so true, because now in my seven. Is I am so open to learning new things, whereas in my teens, I was bored to death and just wanted to go home and play.   Michael Hingson ** 30:09 So what was Daisy about? Oh, well,   Pat Backley ** 30:11 Daisy, I'll just, I'll just read you a little bit on the back to give you an idea. Um, Daisy is a gentle family saga spanning almost 100 years, from 1887 to 1974 It is set in Alabama, Harlem and London, and incorporate some of the evils of society, poverty, racism and snobbery, as well as some of the greatest that life has to offer, family, friendship and love and a couple of quotes, being born poor was a scar that never faded, and she had never experienced racial hatred first hand, so had no real idea of how it could erode a person's whole life. So basically, it's just a story of a young woman born in the slums of London and a young man born into an affluent lifestyle on an Alabama plantation in 1871 and how their lives interwove, they never got together, but, you know, or all their extended people did, so it's right, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 31:14 right. Well, the thing about about that kind of a story is, again, it draws you in. I I would would say something slightly different. Being poor is a scar that that never fades. On the other hand, being poor also gave you, or would give Daisy the life that she had, which was, was so I would suspect so very invaluable to her overall life experiences.   Pat Backley ** 31:50 Yes, absolutely yes. And her life changes quite dramatically midway because of the people she meets. Yeah, it's I, it was in, it's interesting, because sometimes I reread it and I just think, Wow, this is quite a good story. And I then I feel bad for thinking that about my own writing, but I've written the second Daisy, which is obviously the follow up. And then I thought, actually I and then I wrote a little travel book and my life story and whatever. And then I thought, Oh, I really miss doing research. Perhaps I could write about my own family, my own ancestors. So I then wrote the ancestors series. I've done three in it, and wrote about my paternal grandparents, my maternal grandparents and my own parents. I've just published that book about them that was glorious, but very emotive, because obviously I knew certain bits about them. But delving back further and further into the family histories, you discover lots of things and very emotional to write, yeah, particularly one about my parents, because your parents are just your mom and dad, aren't they? You kind of don't think of them really, as people in their own right, but when you start writing their life story, you're living life through their shoes and and it, yeah, it made me very emotional. I cried every day writing my parents story, but now I'm really glad I did it, because it's kind of honored, honored their lives, and also it means they'll never die their even their photographs are on the cover. And my daughter said that she cried all the way reading it, and she said, Mom, it was wonderful, because I hardly knew them. You know, they died when she was quite young. Yeah, she's but now I understand, yeah, so because she's had, you know, she's had a reasonably nice upbringing. She hasn't had the upbringing that they had, or even I had. So, yeah, I think I try. I've become a bit I've become a bit of a pain now, because everyone I meet, I say, like last week, I did a talk at the local genealogy society, and I said to them, please write your story down or record it some way. Because once you die, your story dies with you, no one knows your life as well as you do. So, yeah, yeah. But I just love research. So now I'm thinking, oh, what else can I write about and do some research? I write about people. Michael, people are my passion. I love people and and ordinary people. I don't need to write about, you know, worthy things people, right?   Michael Hingson ** 34:24 But the other part about it is that you got, as you write about your parents, I'll bet you got to know them better, too, and it helps you understand the kind of life you had and they had. And I still bet overall, you could talk about wealth and all that, but you wouldn't trade your life for anything because it made you who you are today. Abs,   Pat Backley ** 34:49 you're absolutely right, and yes, you're right. Writing about their stories and all that they went through, it was Yeah. Just made me really, really realize that they were even. Special people than I knew they were. But no, I wouldn't trade anything. I mean, I had a wonderfully happy childhood, if you put aside that silly bit of bully in that, you know, I tend to know for the years. But, yeah, we I, I because I didn't know, really, that I got snippets of there being other kind of lives like, you know, I had rich friends who had lots of clothes, traveling all the time and stuff, but basically, my life was just my little nuclear family. In our little we had a little two bedroom house for six of us, and that was my life. We were very happy. There were very rarely raised voices, and that's why I didn't cope very well in my first marriage, when my husband, my first husband, suddenly showed me that he had a rather violent temper because I didn't know how to handle it, because I had never experienced that before in my whole life. So I in that way, I wasn't prepared. But yeah, I will always be grateful to my parents, because with very little, they gave us all a very happy childhood.   Michael Hingson ** 36:05 Well, so you started writing at the age of 70. Do you wish that you had started writing earlier? Or did you think about that? I   Pat Backley ** 36:17 think about it. I don't really, because I think I had to live through everything I've lived through get to the point now of being able to write in the way I do. And also, yeah, no, I don't really. I mean, the only thing I think is, oh, I hope I don't die before I before I get everything written, I want to write. That's my only thing. But no, I I've learned, Michael, not to regret anything in life, because if you do, the only person it hurts is yourself. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 36:47 because you are who you are, because of your life   Pat Backley ** 36:51 exactly, and you would understand that better than most. I mean, you cope so well with with being blind, which is absolutely remarkable, because most of us, if we suddenly can't see and need to wear a stronger pair of glasses, we just go down, you know, go down into a depressive state. So you're a wonderful beacon of hope. I think for an awful lot of people, of course,   Michael Hingson ** 37:15 the issue, and using that as an example, the issue is that you don't know anything about being blind or blindness, and people generally don't, and they make a lot of assumptions that are not necessarily true, but it is again, the lives that they live, and the reality is there's nothing wrong with being blind. We live in a world where most people are light dependent, that is, they can see. But the reality is, of course, in the perspective I try to oftentimes nowadays, to convey to people, is light dependence is just as much a disability as being light independent or blind, because as soon as the lights go out, you lose power, and if you don't have an immediate light source. You're in a world of hurt. And we really should think of disability as a characteristic that everyone has, except it manifests itself differently for different people. But unfortunately, people aren't ready to do that. And the reasons for bringing up the concept in that way is that I think that because disability is really a characteristic everyone has, it is also a way to help level the playing field. And that's something that is so hard to get people to do, because they really think, well, you're blind, you're not as good as I   Pat Backley ** 38:37 Oh, wow. Very profound. I love talking to you. Michael, this is fascinating stuff. Fascinating. I had, I had a little niece. Sadly, she died when she was 14. She had a dreadful genetic disease called battens, but she went blind for the last couple of years. It broke my heart. It broke my heart, but she seemed to just deal with it somehow. You know, it's, I guess we all get the strengths we need at the times we need them. Do you think   Michael Hingson ** 39:04 I think, I think that's true, or we can if, long as we accept it. But the reality is that, of course, she lost her her eyesight, but if she developed an attitude that I have other things that are available to me, so I'm going to be fine, then she would be fine. Yes,   Pat Backley ** 39:23 yeah, yeah. I mean, sadly, she lost all her faculties. She couldn't talk. She so everything went but, but it was when her eyes went and she was still able to understand, that was the hardest thing. So I remember years ago when I worked in Barclays Bank, when I was quite in my 20s, and we were, I worked in a big branch at the time, and we had a blind telephonist, because in those days, back in the 60s, I think it was kind of what they did. It was when there were all those great big telephonic boards, you know, press all the buttons. And we had a guy called Peter, and he had. His dog was called penny, and our branch was on the corner of this huge, wide road in a place called Kingston, just outside London. And to cross the road, there were like six lanes of traffic, and it was really, really dangerous. And we would come out of work in the afternoon, and we'd all be standing there hesitant to cross the road, and Peter would suddenly just march across the road with Penny, and we'd all be standing there in awe. And one day I crossed with I've got brave, and I crossed over with him, and we got to the other side, and I said, Peter, how can you do that? He said, Oh, well. He said, It's always useful being blind, because traffic feels sorry for you, so they all kind of slow down anyway. He said, But, but. He said, But Penny leads me. He said, she just, she just, she just knows it's fine, so she just the dog just, just takes me over. I was fascinated, but he had just recently married about two years earlier he'd been, he'd been fully sighted till he was 11, and then he and some friends were messing about on the railway lines, and he fell over and bashed his head, and he went blind. So he had been sighted and but now he he was married, he had a little baby, and I said, Oh, Peter, can you actually see your baby, or do you just kind of have to feel the outline? He said, Oh no. He said, I got a tiny, tiny bit of vision. He said, so I can see the shape of the baby. And I just always remember thinking you're so brave. That was, that was what I thought. I just felt he was so brave. Well, just remember   Michael Hingson ** 41:27 the dictionary, you know? Well, just remember the dictionary defines to see is to perceive. It doesn't necessarily need to be with the eyes and and there's so many other senses that give us this a lot of information as well. For me, I don't want my dog to decide when we cross the street in general, unless the dog refuses to go because there's a hybrid car or something coming that I don't hear. But it's my job to know when to go and and I know how to do that, and so I can listen for the traffic flow and and, and go accordingly. And at the same time, if I then tell the dog to go forward and the dog won't go my immediate assumption is there's a reason for that, and and, and usually there is because the dog and I have developed that kind of a relationship where the dog knows it's my job to tell the dog where to go, and it's the dog's job to make sure that we get there safely. It's a very close knit team. It's as close knit of a team as you can imagine, and it's what it's really all about. So the dog and I each do our jobs, and when we do them correctly together, what a wonderful world. It becomes   Pat Backley ** 42:47 fabulous. And it obviously works because you're still standing, you're still here,   Michael Hingson ** 42:54 and my and my dog is over here, breathing very deeply, asleep. Oh, so you you stick with historical fiction. Have you ever thought of writing other kinds of books, like adventures or novels or that are not historic in nature, fantasy or any of those? I   Pat Backley ** 43:17 don't think I've got the right brain set to do fantasy or horror or crime. I, I I'm writing historical because I've discovered a great love for it, but I've also, I also have a great love for travel. So I wrote a little travel book, and I've just done a big trip, so I'm going to write another travel book, because that's another great love I wrote. I wrote my memoirs, which was very satisfying, you know, to write my own story down so it's there forever, if you like. And I also wrote a little book called The abandoned wives handbook, which I didn't want to write. I just kept putting it off. And then one day, I woke up at three in the morning and this voice saying to me, Pat, you have to write this book to help other people. So I just wrote this. I cried all the time. Writing it, as you've probably deduced, I'm a great crier. I think crying is is the best way of getting stress out of your system, out of my system. So I wrote this book. It's just a tiny little book that you can pop into a handbag called the abandoned wives handbook. And I've just made it like a little dictionary. I call it a dictionary of distress, and it's just to I'll just just briefly read you the backseat and understand the pain of abandonment is huge. The partner you loved and cherished for so many years has decided you are no longer required past your sell by date of no use to them anymore, so tossed out like a piece of garbage, abandoned with barely a backward glance, in an attempt to keep this a gentle, light hearted read, each chapter is divided into letters of the alphabet, rather like a dictionary of distress, something you can dip into at any time. I am not an expert, merely someone who has survived one of life's great traumas and has come through. Is a stronger, more resilient person, so I didn't want to write it. I hated doing it. I've, I published it, and it's, ironically, one of my best selling books people buy   Michael Hingson ** 45:13 all the time. Do you publish your own books, or do you have a publisher? I   Pat Backley ** 45:17 have, I have done till this point, Michael, but simply because I'm feeling I'm too old to hang around waiting to get noticed. But I have just written, I have just finished another book, which I I just feel might be slightly more commercial, so I may try seeing if I can get an agent for that. But I will probably only try one or two, and then if they say no, I'll just give up and self publish. The only thing against self publishing for me now is that it because I want to do it properly. You know, I pay an editor, I pay a cover designer, I pay a formatter. It becomes quite expensive to pay people. So that's my that's my only downside. But I do like to be totally in control. You know, I can choose my own covers. I can choose when it's published. I can choose what the content is. And if you go with a traditional publisher, you often lose the ability to have the same control   Michael Hingson ** 46:11 well, or you you negotiate, but, but, yeah, I understand what you're saying. I also have to say I understand fully this whole concept of abandonment. When my seventh guide dog Africa retired, and she retired because she wasn't seeing well and she was slowing down, so I knew it was time to get a new guide dog. So it was February 9 of 2018, and we lived here, and her puppy raiser, the people who raised her, they call them, I think, in New Zealand, puppy walkers, but they live about 140 miles south, or about 120 miles in a town called Carlsbad. And they came and I, and I said that they could have Africa, and the only reason I gave her up was because we already had my wife's service dog and a cat, and I was going to get another dog, and Karen wasn't really going to be able to handle taking care of two dogs and a cat when I traveled to speak, so we agreed that Africa could go live with the bill And Peggy, and they came and picked her up, and she walked out the door without a backward glance. I was abandoned.   47:26 Oh, that's awful,   Michael Hingson ** 47:28 yeah. Well, we actually, we went. We went down and visited her several times. She was just excited. No, she's, she was a great dog. And, yes, yeah, you know. And they got to have her for two years before she passed. But she was, she was a good dog and and she had a good life. And I can't complain a bit, but it's fun to tease about how obviously we have abandoning issues here. Yes, yeah.   Pat Backley ** 47:53 And I think that's the secret in life, Michael, to always find something to be happy about and smile about, because life can be very tough, can't it? I mean, you know, it's, yeah, life is tough. And so I think if we don't find, try and seek a little joy, we might as well all give up, you know, yeah, yeah. And   Michael Hingson ** 48:14 there's no need to do that. I mean, God put us on this earth to live an adventure. And life is an adventure,   48:21 absolutely,   Michael Hingson ** 48:22 no matter what we do. Yes,   48:25 absolutely. Well, how do you   Michael Hingson ** 48:26 develop your characters? I mean, you're writing historical fiction, so you're you're using history and and periods of time as the the setting for your books, but you're creating your own characters primarily, I gather,   Pat Backley ** 48:39 yes, yes. To be honest, in my head, when I start writing, I almost have an exact picture of my characters. I know exactly what they look like. I mean, if I was to, if I was to suddenly get a film offer, I could easily say how these people should look, because I they're real for for example, a few months after I oh no, maybe a year or so after I published Daisy, I was talking to my daughter one day, and I just said, Oh, do you remember when Theo did whatever? And she looked me straight in the eye, and she said, Mum, I don't know your characters as well as you do. And I just, we both burst out laughing, because to me, they're real people. You know, I I can picture them. I know exactly what they look like. And I think even when I start a new book in my head, I already know what my characters look like. They may not as the plot goes on, behave in the way I want them to, but I know how I know who they are. I know how they how they look. Yeah, they're going   Michael Hingson ** 49:43 to write the book and they're going to tell you what you need to do. Yeah, totally. But you use, but you use, I assume, real places in your books. I always   Pat Backley ** 49:51 use real places, always Yeah, and always places I know, because I think you can write more authentically then, like in days. I wrote about Harlem and Alabama and New York and London, or not New York in that one, but London and because I know all those places, I've been there and you know, they're, they're familiar to me, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 50:13 yeah. So you, you, you let them do what they do, and out comes the book.   Pat Backley ** 50:21 Absolutely, that's right, yes, yeah, have you   Michael Hingson ** 50:25 written any yet in New Zealand?   Pat Backley ** 50:29 You mean, based in New Zealand? The funny thing is, Michael, being an immigrant is and I have spoken to lots of other immigrants about this. In fact, I co authored a book in lockdown called the warrior women project, a sisterhood of immigrant women, which is based in the States. And all the other women are are living in the States, except me, and I caught up with them when I came over to the states. Couple of months ago, we had a reunion, met for the first time, which was wonderful, but we all said, once you are an immigrant, you never truly belong anywhere. You know, when I go, I always feel a little bit of an outsider here. I've been here 14 years now, and that's nobody's that's nothing anybody does. That's just my feeling deep inside. I go back to England, and I feel like an outsider. I used to live in Fiji when I was in my 20s, and then I had a house there. Until my divorce, I go back there, and I've got a lot of extended friend family there, I go back there, and I always feel like an a bit of an outsider. So I think that's the price you pay for wanting a life less ordinary. You know, you somehow become like a little bit of a floating person. And I don't to answer your question, I don't really feel qualified to write about New Zealand. Obviously, I talk about it in my travel book and I talk about different places, but to base the whole story here, I don't feel qualified. There are enough fabulous New Zealand authors who are doing that already, who've been born here, who understand the country, who, you know, who, yeah, they're   Michael Hingson ** 52:07 just at the same time you wrote Daisy, which took place in part in Alabama. How much time did you spend, you know? So it may be, it may be something in the future where a character will pop out and say, I want to be in New Zealand, but that's something to look at.   Pat Backley ** 52:23 Yes, I love it when somebody like you calls me out on my own, my own things, because you're absolutely right. I That's That was a silly argument to say. I don't know it enough. So thank you for that. You've made me rethink. That's good.   Michael Hingson ** 52:37 Well, so I gather that when you're writing, you think you have the plot planned out, or you you try to have the plot planned out, but it doesn't necessarily go the way you plan it. Does it?   Pat Backley ** 52:49 No, not at all. I mean, I know roughly what I want to say. I think what I'm definitely, definitely know what I want to do is get certain little messages across. And that doesn't matter what my characters do, because I can weave that in, like in Daisy. I wanted to get across that slavery was dreadful, and racism is dreadful, and the way black people were treated when they went to England in the 1950s was dreadful. So I managed to we, and that's and that's snobbishness and stuff is dreadful. So I managed to always weave those kind of themes into my books. And apparently, it has been said by reviewers that I do it so well that people it just makes people think about what that how they think how Yeah, so, so those main themes, if you like, I managed to weave into my stories, regardless of how badly my characters behave.   Michael Hingson ** 53:45 So when you're writing, are you pretty disciplined? Do you have certain times that you write, or do you just sit down and write till you're ready to stop for the day? Or what I   Pat Backley ** 53:56 am very non disciplined, undisciplined, whatever the term is supposed to be. I have great intentions. I think, right, I'm going to spend tomorrow writing. I'll be at my desk by eight o'clock, and I'll sit little five. And then at nine o'clock, I get up to go make a cup of coffee. And at 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, I'm out weeding the garden, and then I might come back in and do a little bit, and then I go off and do something else. So I am dreadfully undisciplined, but I work really well to deadlines. Just before I went away on my big trip in September, I was part way through a book, probably a third way through writing a new book, and I woke up one day and I thought, right, I'm going to get that book finished before I go. I had three weeks left. In that three weeks, I had masses of appointments. I had to sort out my wardrobe, which, as a woman, is a huge problem, one that you've probably never had, but you know, you have to decide what goes with what and how many dresses you should take, and it's a huge issue for a lot of women. So I had a lot of jobs to do in that three. Weeks instead of which, I decided to set myself as self imposed time to get the book finished. Crazy. Just, I mean, why? Why? Why crazy?   Michael Hingson ** 55:09 And did you the day   Pat Backley ** 55:11 before? There you are. I was so proud of myself because I just that was it. I decided I and what I did to make myself accountable, I actually put a post on Facebook and Instagram saying, why, and all these little yellow post it notes, and I'd written on their pack suitcase, Do this, do this, do this. And so I just said to everyone that I'd given myself this self pointed deadline so I had made myself publicly accountable. If I hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't have finished it, but I find, for me, that's the best way of disciplining myself is to have a deadline with everything in life, really, yeah. But the   Michael Hingson ** 55:49 other part about it is, even when you're as you would put it, being undisciplined, your brain is still working on the book, and the characters are are mulling things over, so it does pop out. Oh, totally,   Pat Backley ** 56:00 totally. And I end up with lots of little scrappy notes all over the house, you know, where I've just grabbed a piece of paper and written down something. And then, of course, I have to gather them all together. And when I was in the States recently, I spent two months, and I've got scrap I was doing a lot of research, and I've got scrappy notes everywhere. So I've now got to try and pull those all together while my brain still remembers what they were meant to be, you know, like lady in red dress in New Orleans. Well, what does that really mean? So, right? I'm, I'm my own worst enemy in many ways, but,   Michael Hingson ** 56:37 but she thought, and so you went through it exactly, exactly, yeah, that's okay. Where did you travel in September?   Pat Backley ** 56:45 I went to Atlanta first to meet up with these warrior women, which was truly fabulous. Then I went to New Orleans, and my friend who lives in Alabama, picked me up, and we went to New Orleans, and then we drove back to Alabama. She lives in Huntsville. So I was there for a week and was doing lots of research, because Daisy is partly based right and then we then she drove me back to Nashville, and I flew to New York, where I was meeting some friends from New Zealand who lived there six months of the year. So I spent six days there and went to Harlem for more research and stuff like that, and then flew to Canada, to Toronto, where two friends, a lady I'd met when we had our daughters together, and her daughter, they now live in France. They flew from France, met me in Toronto, we hired the biggest SUV I've ever seen in my life, and we drove across Canada for three weeks, which was such fun, such fun. And then I came home. So I've got millions of scrappy notes that I need to pull together to write a travel book and to use as inspiration for my novels.   Michael Hingson ** 58:01 So you so you're going to write another travel book? I   58:05 am going to write another travel book. Yeah, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 58:09 And the the abandoned wives handbook, that's kind of a self help book. That's a self help book, yes, yeah. Just you think you'll write another one of   Pat Backley ** 58:17 those? No, no, I'm done with that one's enough of those, huh? Yeah, that's right. I'm not an expert, Michael and the I just, I just, but the funny thing is, when I do talks, I always talk about all my books. And a few weeks ago, I was talking at this very smart meeting of ex business people, both ladies and gentlemen, and they were all over 60. Um, so quite a conservative audience. And at the end, or towards the end, I just mentioned this abandoned Wise Book, I tend to skim over it. I don't really, I don't really talk about it too much unless the audience is particularly relevant. But I just said to them, oh, and this is my little book. And someone said, Oh, could you read us an excerpt from it? So I said, Okay, I'll just open the book at random. And I opened the book and the title, what you won't be able to see here, the title of that chapter was K for kill. And I thought, no, no, I don't want to read about kill front of this audience. So I just made a joke of it and and I'll just read it to you, because it will make you laugh, as I have said previously under Section indecisive. You may, in your darkest moments, think about hurting him. This is not really a great idea, as you would undoubtedly be caught and end up in prison. Yeah, you so, you know, I and then I went on a bit more, but, you know, it's some yeah and no, I'm done with that book. I've, I've done my bit for humanity with that. It seems to be helping a lot of people. So that's that's enough.   Michael Hingson ** 59:45 Yeah, I would never make a good criminal, because I know I'd be caught and and I don't know how to keep from getting caught, and frankly, don't care about trying to get worry about getting caught or not getting caught. It's easier just not to be a criminal. So it works out fine. So. Yes,   1:00:00 exactly. Yeah, me too. Me too. So much   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:02 easier. So much easier. Absolutely, absolutely yes. Well, if people want to reach out to you and maybe learn a little bit more about you or meet you, how do they do that? Okay,   Pat Backley ** 1:00:12 well, my website is just patch back league com, so it's very easy. Um, I'm Can you spell that please? Yes, yes, of course, P, A, T, B, A, C, K, L, E, y.com.com, yeah, and I'm on all the channels, as you know, Facebook and Instagram and x and LinkedIn and stuff as Pat Backley author or pat Backley books. And my books are all available from Amazon, all the online retailers, Barnes and Noble stuff like that, as ebooks or paperbacks, or if someone desperately wanted a signed copy, I'm very happy to send them a signed copy, and you can get them from you can request them from libraries.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:59 Have you? Have you thought about making any of them an audio format?   Pat Backley ** 1:01:05 I have someone's. A few people have suggested that this year, when I've been doing talks, they've come up to me afterwards, and yes, I think I'm going to, as long as it's not too costly, because at the moment, my budget is extremely limited, but I'm going to do them myself, because everyone feels that my books will be come come across better in my own voice so well,   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:25 and you read well. So I think that makes a lot of sense to consider.   Pat Backley ** 1:01:29 Thank you, Michael, that's very kind of you. Well, Pat,   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:33 this has been fun, and I've enjoyed it. I've learned a lot of things as well, and I'm and I'm glad that we've had this chance. We need to do it again. When are you going to start a podcast?   Pat Backley ** 1:01:47 Well, funny, you should say that I've decided I'm going to I'm going to just dip my toes in very gently. I'm going to start it in the new year, and I'm going to call it and this makes everyone who knows me laugh. I'm going to call it just 10 minutes with Pat Backley. And everyone has said, Oh, don't be ridiculous. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:05 I agree, 10   Pat Backley ** 1:02:06 minutes, but I thought it's a way of just gently edging in. And then if people enjoy listening to me, they might want to listen for longer after a while. But I thought initially, just 10 minutes, little snippets, if they like what they hear, they might come back.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:21 They'll come back. Oh, I don't think there would be a problem. Well, if you, if you ever need a guest to come and spend at least 10 minutes, just let me know. I   Pat Backley ** 1:02:30 certainly shall. I have absolutely loved talking to you. Michael, thank you so much for inviting me as well. This is a very joyful morning. I've really loved it. Thank you. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:39 this has been fun, and I want to thank all of you for listening. I hope you've enjoyed it and reach out to Pat. I'm sure she would love to communicate with you, and maybe in some way, you'll end up in a book, which is always a nice, good thing to think about as well. I'd love to hear what you think about our podcast today. So please feel free to email me. Michael, h, i, m, I, C H, A, E, L, H i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I b, e.com, or go to our podcast page, which is at w, w, w, dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, and Michael hingson is spelled M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, S O n.com/podcast, wherever You're listening. We would really appreciate it if you would give us a five star rating. And we we value that. We value your thoughts and input. Pat for you and all of you listening. If you know an

My husband has been a big game hunter in British Columbia and Hawaii for decades.  We eat what he kills.  For as long as I've known Mike, he has always wanted to hunt for New Zealand red stag with his bow.  We have checked that box.  Today's episode is all about the location where this incredible hunt took place.  Gary Herbert's New Zealand Mountain Hunt, at South Island, New Zealand, was a once in a lifetime event.  His lodge staff, guides, and his incredible property are all part of the memory big game hunters like Mike drool over.  For me, it wasn't about the location or the animals or the food – all of which were amazing – it was about supporting Mike in achieving a bucket list item.  Join me as I walk you around the hunting lodge and talk to you about this incredible experience. 

The use of robots is driving record production levels at a South Island dairy plant.

Dom talks with ACT MP and Northland dairy farmer Mark Cameron about his upcoming South Island roadshow, what he hopes to achieve and his new member's bill aimed at repealing legislation which requires banks and other financial institutions to submit climate disclosures. Tune in daily for the latest and greatest REX rural content on your favourite streaming platform, visit rexonline.co.nz and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.

On today's REX Daily Podcast, Dom talks with Tim Curr, TRS Wholesale Ltd's Business Development & Product Support Manager, about creating the world's first electric-driven sprayer, its current applications and what the future holds for electric technology on farms... He talks with ACT MP and Northland dairy farmer Mark Cameron about his upcoming South Island roadshow, what he hopes to achieve and his new member's bill aimed at repealing legislation which requires banks and other financial institutions to submit climate disclosures... And he talks with FLOC Business Development Manager Tom O'Sullivan about the recent installation of its acoustic wall panels in Lincoln University’s Ivey West Memorial Hall, its presence at the upcoming Australian Design Show and its quest to achieve an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for the product. Tune in daily for the latest and greatest REX rural content on your favourite streaming platform, visit rexonline.co.nz and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.

The governments not ruling out underwriting the expansion of small regional airlines to help maintain routes and keep the price of flying competitive. Minister for the South Island and Associate Transport Minister in charge of Aviation, James Meager told Lisa Owen he's uncomfortable with the idea flying could just be for the wealthy.

Here we go again with the whinge fest about Air New Zealand's prices. I get it. I try book the same flights as everybody else and when you're trying to fly some obscure route from this province to province its gets expensive. Quickly. But here we are again with politicians telling us fibs - telling us they can wave a magic wand and fix all of our problems. This time is James Meager - going in to bat for the South Island. He says flying shouldn't just be for the rich, the government is going to take action and is talking about underwriting airlines. Do we want the government underwriting the purchase of turbo prop planes? Really? We've heard this all before of course. They've gone after the banks, the supermarkets, and the price of petrol. I can't tell you how many painstaking and frustrating interviews I've done with ministers of all colours and stripes who swear black and blue they'll sort it out and then don't. What's worse? The person that punches you in the nose? Or the doctor that says they'll fix it when they know you can't? Here's the thing, if you wanna book the main trunk line, it's relatively inexpensive, providing you're not booking last minute. There's Jetstar keeping Air New Zealand honest. That's competition. But if you're flying Kerikeri to Dunedin tomorrow, guess what? It will cost plenty. Why? Because they've got you over a barrel. You need to fly. It's short notice. 8000 people live in Kerikeri and 130,000 in Dunedin, these routes are often empty. The fact is running a profitable airline in a sparsely populated country is bloody difficult. And we want them to be profitable, otherwise we have no airline and we're a backwater banana republic. And the regional players - they're no better off. Air Chathams the other week was threatening to pull out of Whakatane unless the council paid for a new Cessna. Everyone compares us to the Australians - but have a look at outback Queensland. You pay thousands just to get to Brisbane. Show me a headline about flights being cheaper from Dunedin to Bali than Dunedin to Auckland and I'll show you one about Mount Isa to Brisbane and Brisbane to Canada. Population matters and guess what? We're a blip on the radar. And as for the promise that some politician will swoop in and save the day - it's about as reliable as planes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is earthmoving and mining like in New Zealand? Well Mack travels around the world to find out. On this episode, Mack sits down with Richard Clark, Brand and Events manager with Terra Cat to talk all about Mack's adventures in New Zealand.We visit all the big dirt contractors and mining companies on both North, and South Island to learn about equipment, projects, mining, and culture in New Zealand.Terra Cat hosted us at their facilities in Christchurch and aided in visiting the 789 haul trucks at Macraes Mine. Big thank you to their team for all the help and hospitality!Find Mack on social media @earthmovers_media or visit the website https://earthmoversmedia.com/

Brace for strong winds and intense downpours - as ex-tropical cyclone Tam lashes large parts of the country. The wild weather's already begun with more than 1000 homes in Northland losing power earlier today. Strong wind and heavy rain warnings are in place across the upper North Island, while the top of the South Island also has warnings in place. To talk us through what's to come and when is MetService Meteorologist John Law spoke to Lisa Owen.

The Blues women made history last weekend by beating South Island franchise Matatu in the final at Eden Park to become the first back to back Super Rugby Aupiki champions. However, there is still one job to do for the Auckland based side, who host the Australian champion NSW Waratahs in tonight's inaugural trans-Tasman Super Rugby Women's final at North Harbour Stadium. Former Black Ferns forward Charmaine McMenamin spoke to Corin Dann.

One New Zealand has apologised after rodents and a contractor brought down thousands of people's internet and phone services on the South Island for more than seven hours yesterday. Norman Kerr, owner of Total Works Pest Pest New Zealand, spoke to Corin Dann.

Adam's New Zealand adventure continues with stories from the South Island. Whilst cruising around Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, Adam's boat is chased by a wild dolphin having the time of its life!Adam also hikes through Abel Tasman National Park, where he's forced to speed-run 25kms of beautiful coastline or risk being stranded in the dark.As always, if you have any questions, we'd love to hear from you. Send us a message using the contact form on our website: ⁠⁠tripologypodcast.com⁠⁠Need travel insurance? We recommend SafetyWing! Click here to get started: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://tinyurl.com/tripsafetywing⁠⁠⁠⁠Require an onward flight? Please use this fantastic flight rental service: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://onwardticket.com/tripologypodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our Patreon community: patreon.com/tripologypodcastFollow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/tripologypodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/@tripologypodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Please rate the show and help us grow! Recommend the podcast to family & friends (all of them). It makes a HUGE difference. Thank you for your continued support. It means the world.The 11 Great Walks of New Zealand: Lake Waikaremoana, Tongariro Northern Circuit, Whanganui Journey, Abel Tasman Coast Track, Heaphy Track, Paparoa Track, Routeburn Track, Kepler Track, Milford Track, Hump Ridge Track, Rakiura TrackAbel Tasman National Park: https://www.abeltasman.com/abel-tasman-national-park/Cleopatra's Pool, Abel Tasman National Park: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/new-zealand/nelson-tasman/cleopatra-s-pool-from-anchorageMitre Peak Cruises: https://www.mitrepeak.com/

Supercars driver Andre Heimgartner is getting behind plans for a Supercars round to take place in Christchurch. Ruapuna Park's the likely candidate to join Taupo as the only New Zealand events on the calendar next year. Heimgartner's very familiar with the proposed venue. He told Mike Hosking it's great for New Zealand motorsport. He says they've been longing for this for a while, and it's great that they've finally decided to give it to them – plus, it's great for the South Island fans. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A squally cocktail of rain, hail, wind and thunderstorms tracked across the upper South Island, Taranaki, Waikato and Auckland. MetService Duty Forecaster Katie Hillyer spoke to Alexa Cook.

Sea Change by Jenny Pattrick. Jenny is a longstanding writer of great New Zealand fiction, perhaps best known for The Denniston Rose some years ago. Her new one is lovely. Set in a small village slightly north of Wellington, which is completely cut off after a massive magnitude 8 earthquake in the South Island's Alpine Fault and a subsequent tsunami, a number of the inhabitants decide to ignore a relocation mandate and manage their own survival. Their plans come under threat when a mercenary property developer sees the opportunity to buy up many of the abandoned houses and build himself a mini empire. Full of characters you can really warm to, and an all too credible premise. No Words for This by Ali Mau. Ali has been a journalist and broadcaster on the NZ scene for many years, and recently was a leader of the local #metoo campaign during which time she met many brave women – and ultimately came to realise that if they could share their stories so could she. She's had a terrific career with many rewarding jobs and raised a family, but her world came crashing down one night when her sister called and opened the can of worms that was their childhood. This is a truly courageous book and beautifully written. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about atmospheric rivers and rainfall numbers. Is this event a drought breaker? As for March, it was dry for most parts of New Zealand and warm for the South Island, according to the Monthly Climate Summary issued by Niwa.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seeing as it's now autumn, a number of bulbs can be planted in the garden. Here's a few of them: Tulip A fabulous early spring colour. There's some historical stuff with the Dutch making heaps of money out of often virus-ridden “varieties” (early 1600-s AD) selling them for Fl 3000.00 per bulb (while the average yearly wage of a skilled craftsman was around Fl 300.00) – the bulb bubble burst in 1637 AD. These days they are a bit cheaper and more reliable. They grow well in South Island with very cool winters – up north they need winter chilling (taking out of the soil and put in fridge for 8 weeks). In mild climates it pays to plant later in the year, in May or June. But in South Island, planting the bulbs can start in a few weeks; order them now! Great bulb outlets: Bulbs direct Garden Post NZBulbs Fiesta Bulbs Hadstock Farm in Springston Work the soil to 20 cm deep in sunny to semi-shade positions(bulbs prefer well-drained soils). Plant 15 cm spaced and 15 cm deep – in warmer climates, plant them a bit deeper (20 cm deep). A bit of mulch over the planting site will keep weeds down. Bulb fertiliser is recommended and after flowering, some blood and bone will feed the green leaves. Do NOT cut those green leaves after flowering: they gather sunlight (photosynthesis) for re-stocking the food reserves inside the bulbs underground. Narcissus Daffodils Prep the soil to 40 cm or so – daffodils' roots go way down! Plant them 10 cm deep and spaced to 10 cm apart. Well-drained soils work best – perhaps under deciduous trees. Hagley Park is a great example. Planting them in full sun is okay too. Mass planting works well, and the bulbs will come up year after year. They are not as fussy as tulips in terms of cool winter soils. Apart from the far north, the whole of New Zealand is daffodil country. Bulbs will multiply. Crocus: the lovely smelling spring flowers Plant the corms in autumn a couple of centimetres deep and closely-spaced for best effect – they are best lifted after the foliage dies down. Of course, Saffron is a crocus, but it flowers in Autumn (March). Leucojum, also known as snowflake It has a special place in my heart: we used to have a rare and endangered native species in the wetlands where I used to roam as a nature nerd in the Netherlands. Many different varieties now – flowering in early spring, planting in early April. Bulbs in containers Most of these bulbs do well in containers. Picture a terracotta pot with these plants massed together – you can shift them inside when they flower to enjoy, or put them on the patio so you see them through the ranch-slider. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MetService said heavy rain and strong winds will affect many parts of the country - with the heaviest rain expected to affect northern parts of the South Island. Some regions have already experienced 18 hours of heavy rain and the forecaster says areas could get a month's worth of rain in one day. Samantha Gee has more.

Many parts of the country are set for heavy rain in the coming days as a deep low crosses the Tasman Sea, with the heaviest falls expected to affect northern parts of the South Island. MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane spoke to Corin Dann.

Enjoyed the chance to talk with Lewis Patterson about his life story, growing up on a farm towards in the South of the South Island as well as his move overseas, desire to learn Korean, what it was like to live in Korea and then move back to New Zealand.  We also talk about his upcoming event on "The Value of Purpose" which will be held in mid May 2025 - see link below for information.   Relevant links:   Sustainable Brands "The Value of Purpose" event website:  Sustainable Brands Sustainable Brands global website:  Sustainable Brands LinkedIn profile:  Lewis Patterson | LinkedIn  

Tens of thousands of people have been descending on the small Canterbury town of Kirwee over the past few days for the South Island Agricultural Field Days. Event committee chairman Andrew Stewart spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Today was day two of the South Island Field Days event at Kirwee - and thousands of Kiwis turned up for the event. Today, the event was swarming with politicians - including Prime Minister Chris Luxon and Labour's Chris Hipkins. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The emergency management agency continues to urge caution around beaches at the bottom of the South Island after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday. GNS Seismic duty officer Sam Taylor-Offord spoke to Corin Dann.

Many farmers in the Tasman District are having to use winter supplies to feed their stock, as the drought continues across part of the top of the South Island. Samantha Gee has more.

Stephanie Cawthon shares about her book, Disability Is Human - The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life, on episode 561 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. Quotes from the episode We all have disability at one time or another, maybe just not right now. -Stephanie Cawthon I think that there is still a sense of surprise when a request is made for some kind of modification. -Stephanie Cawthon This idea that accommodations and accessibility is coming at some cost to the abled is a false pretense. -Stephanie Cawthon If you receive a whole bunch of feedback and you can't do anything about it, that just makes you feel bad. -Stephanie Cawthon I was really trying to help us understand our assumptions about disability and accessibility. -Stephanie Cawthon Resources Disability Is Human: The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life, by Stephanie Cawthon Video: Episode 561 Including American Sign Language Interpretation Disability Is Human: The Vital Power of Accessibility in Everyday Life | The Official Workbook, by Stephanie Cawthon Oakland firestorm of 1991 Kororā - Blue Penguin Colony Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony LIVE Cam - Highlights 17th July 2021 - Oamaru, South Island, NZ from the Urban Wildlife Trust WILDCAMS National Disability Center for Student Success How to Host a Deaf Podcast Guest and Accessibility Guidelines for Media Interviews and Presentations Reflect on Stephanies stories of mentorship The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and How it Matters, by Priya Parker

The Australian native huntsman spider is a common creature to spot in some parts of the country - most commonly in Auckland, as well as in parts of the South Island. But in the last few months, locals in Napier have made two sightings of the species not far from each other. While mostly harmless to humans, the spiders can grow up to 20 centimeters in width and are known for their speedy jumping abilities. Dr Cor Vink is a professor of entomology at Lincoln University, and has spent time researching the evolution and diversity of spiders. [picture id="4O20AGA_galleryīmage_45016" crop="16x10" layout="full"]

Come and listen to Host Tina chat with today's guest Daphne Wells. Daphne Wells sees what others don't; revolutionizing the way midlife women do business. As the Numerologist and Success Coach for Leaders, she makes it easy for women business owners to create a powerful workplace environment that promotes better mental health and wellbeing, optimized performance and productivity, and supportive relationships so that you enjoy higher profits. When she's not inspiring women around the globe to rewrite the rules of business leadership to suit them, you'll find Daphne creating magic with fabric and threads, getting her hands dirty growing what she eats, or frolicking in the waves near her home in the beautiful South Island of New Zealand. https://daphnewells.com https://linkedin.com/in/daphnewells https://facebook.com/daphnebwells https://instagram.com/daphnebwells https://www.youtube.com/DaphneWells

In conjunction with Vrify, we explore Rua Gold's operations and the evolving exploration landscape in New Zealand, particularly focusing on the Auld Creek project, within the Reefton Goldfield on the South Island of New Zealand. CEO Robert Eckford discusses the significance of antimony, the use of AI technology from Verify to enhance exploration efforts, and the company's ambitious goals for the future. The conversation highlights the potential of New Zealand's mining sector and Rua Gold's strategic initiatives to capitalize on this opportunity.This episode of MSD is in conjunctin with VRIFY's Dora Platform. The world's first AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform transforms our proprietary geological dataset — one of the largest in the industry — and your project-specific information into actionable insights, so you can see what's in the ground.

Welcome to another episode of the Trader Joe's Wine Club, brought to you by Inside Trader Joe's. In this sip-sized segment, we're going grass-roots – or at the very least, grass-noted – with a conversation about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. More specifically, we're highlighting Raorao Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region, an area on the South Island renowned for this varietal (among others). This wine is an excellent expression of Marlborough Sauv Blanc – a quick listen here will reveal what makes this wine so special, some delicious pairing ideas, and what a tremendous value it is at Trader Joe's. Transcript (PDF)

On episode 393, Ryan presents an exclusive audio documentary based on a relatively unknown UFO event that occurred in New Zealand in 1959. Eileen Moreland went out to milk the cows one morning in the South Island town of Blenheim. She returned home about eighty minutes later with an extraordinary story. "You may think I am mad,” she told police, “but I saw a flying saucer." After reporting the incident to the police, the local Air Force Base got involved and began to privately investigate the report. What they uncovered, and the events that followed, would both haunt the Air Force investigators and the Moreland family for many years to come.Special thanks to our voiceover talents: Jim Rees, Megan Mazzoccone, and Steve Mazzoccone.Book Ryan on CAMEO at: https://bit.ly/3kwz3DOPatreon: http://www.patreon.com/somewhereskiesByMeACoffee: http://www.buymeacoffee.com/UFxzyzHOaQPayPal: Sprague51@hotmail.comDiscord: https://discord.gg/NTkmuwyB4FBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ryansprague.bsky.socialTwitter: https://twitter.com/SomewhereSkiesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/somewhereskiespod/Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/Sprague51/Order Ryan's new book: https://a.co/d/4KNQnM4Order Ryan's older book: https://amzn.to/3PmydYCStore: http://tee.pub/lic/ULZAy7IY12URead Ryan's articles at: https://medium.com/@ryan-sprague51Opening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per KiilstofteProduced by LIONSGATECopyright © 2024 Ryan Sprague. All rights reservedSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.