An exquisite palate of seasonal colour covers Birch Hill Flower Farm in North Canterbury. Nicky Paul grows an array of spray-free flowers to sell at her local market.

A blooming business stems from passion for flowers

News & Politics

A great rendition of William Kethe's hymn All people that on earth do dwell begins this week's programme. You can also hear harvest hymns, and hymns of thanksgiving.

Hymns on Sunday, 28 April 2024

The top stories and other headlines at midday

RNZ News at 12pm, April 27

The arrival of photography to New Zealand in 1848 was more about business than art. A cumbersome kit meant photographers needed carriages or horses to lug their gear across unsealed roads to sell their wares. These early images provide a valuable insight to the country's colonial era, with stunning portraits and landscapes now being presented in a new book entitled A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa. Susie is joined by Shaun Higgins who, along with fellow book editor Catherine Hammond, has pulled together the extraordinary and extensive photographic collections of three major research libraries - Auckland Museum, Hocken Collections, and Alexander Turnbull Library. The book is also being celebrated with a travelling exhibition.

Shaun Higgins: the dawn of NZ photography

Former soldier Christian Lewis had hit rock bottom and was so severely depressed he would shut himself in his flat for weeks. But one day he made an impulsive decision, setting himself the challenge of walking the entire coastline of the UK. Christian joins Susie to talk about his new book, Finding Hildasay, which explores how with just ten pounds in his pocket and a few supplies, he walked himself into a brighter future.

Christian Lewis: Finding Hildasay

New Zealand's volcanoes are world renowned, and most Kiwis are familiar with our big ones such as Ruapehu, Taranaki and Tarawera. But what about our lesser talked about volcanoes? GNS Science principal scientist Graham Leonard joins Susie to chat about some of the volcanic areas around the country that people are less familiar with - from Northland's periodically active field to volcanoes buried in the Canterbury plains gravels.

A blooming business stems from passion for flowers

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