Spirit Magazine Mid Canterbury

Gary Hood loves his eye-catching, two-door, left-hand-drive 1958 Ford Custom – the body is all beautiful two-tone paintwork and gleaming chrome -it looks very much as a 1950’s cruiser should, but you can instantly tell by the look and the sound...

words & images: Leanne Gichard Anyone who knows my family, knows that we are a very close, tight knit bunch who just love catching up with each other regularly. Throw together a sunny day, stunning scenery, delicious...

words & images: Liz McMillan I have been lucky enough to have had a number of visits to Japan. I spent a year as an exchange student there, worked on a skifield for a season and...

INTO THE WILD words: Judy McAuliffe images: Brent & Josh Green Hunting is a way of life for many kiwis and has...

It’s raining. Hard, freezing, Ashburton rain, but that’s a good day for Matthew Bird. It’s too wet to be at work so he’s home, with no interruptions, no chores, and his workshop is calling. It’s hard...

Words & images: Pam Williams                                                                                                                          China will probably not see us return so when the opportunity came to get up close to the...

 words & images: Leanne Gichard It is a well-known fact in our family that whenever one or more of us begin to plan an overseas adventure, Plan A quickly turns to Plan B, C, D and...

words & images: Leanne Gichard Kath Shea had a vision.  The moment she looked through the window of a sadly neglected villa and spotted the original mouldings and ceiling roses intact, she just knew there was no turning...

words & images: Leanne Gichard Maree Allan is a vibrant and energetic woman who has a passion for all things ‘fifties’ and one of those passions just happens to be a sleek, shiny 1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible,...

Retired cabinetmaker Roger Mills owns a rather rare, very beautiful car. The elegant vehicle in question, affectionately named ‘Lady’, is a 1930 Ford Model A, Town Sedan, which was the ‘top of the line’ model, meaning it comes with all...

Four generations of one family have been part of the history of a gracious Ashburton home.  We take a step back in time, visiting Hemsworth Estate which, after extensive renovations, recently opened as a very elegant function...