George Driver

New Zealand's energy minister has taken credit for a renewable energy boom, but official figures show the boom began long before the Luxon administration took office. aap.com.au/factcheck/nz-g… #nzpol

Beneath famously dry Central Otago are the remains of an enormous, ancient subtropical lake that was once home to crocodilians, turtles, giant parrots, bipedal vampire bats and palm trees. George Driver heads to St Bathans in our July issue to learn more about NZ's prehistory.

Forty years ago the kakī/black stilt teetered on the brink of extinction with just 23 birds left. In a lab-like hatchery in the Mackenzie Country attempts are being made to bring them back from the edge — but is it enough? Read the article in our June issue, on sale now.

@HaydenDonnell odt.co.nz/regions/queens…

sadly I couldn't find the charity that told National to bring back no-cause evictions but I did find a large number of charities and community housing providers that definitely did not tell National to bring back no-cause evictions thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-05…

Congratulations to North & South’s George Driver for being a finalist in the Voyager Awards! Driver is nominated for Feature Writer of the Year (long-form) for three stories. Click the link below to read Blue Smoke in full. northandsouth.co.nz/2022/10/08/new…

@emiledonovan stuff.co.nz/life-style/hom…

Hearing rumours that Americans, typically, do not use kettles and instead boil water on the stove or *shudder* in the bloody MICROWAVE. Is this true or am I falling for a gardening is illegal in NZ shenanigan here

Hope it finds a buyer. North and South has been excellent in its current form businessdesk.co.nz/article/media/…

@comingupcharlie @kate_g_evans Most people round here pronounce it Otarga

To manufacture medicinal cannabis, companies must undergo extraordinarily thorough testing, which has proven too challenging for most growers. In our February issue, George Driver investigates what has gone wrong with what was once envisioned to be a booming sector.

Before once resident moved to Waipori Falls, she’d spent 15 years in Aramoana, living three doors down from David Gray, who shot 13 people in 1990. Waipori Falls, she says, “is much more scary”. northandsouth.co.nz/2022/04/22/wai…

A former scarfie reacquaints himself with Dunners’ drinking scene and descends into an existential crisis in our February mag, out now at all good magazine retailers. Photo: Courtesy of OUSA

It is claimed Queen Victoria used cannabis tea to relieve menstrual cramps and her doctor, Sir John Russell Reynolds, later called the plant “one of the most valuable medicines we possess”. George Driver on the past and future of cannabis in our February issue, available now.

The South Island kōkako was all but gone by 1900, and declared extinct more than a decade ago — but people continue to say they hear its haunting call. Follow George Driver on his quest to find the elusive grey ghost in the January issue of North & South, available now.

My latest story for North & South explains how the ozone hole has little impact on our UV levels and ozone depletion is no worse here than anywhere else. Our UV levels aren't exceptionally high internationally either. But it could have been much worse. northandsouth.co.nz/2022/11/12/new…

"For more than 40 years, scientists in a tiny Central Otago pitstop have been studying the ozone layer and the carcinogenic UV rays from the sun. Their critically important work has literally helped save our skins." ⬇️northandsouth.co.nz/2022/11/12/new…

@southernscoop Is the final count in on this?

The Otago Regional Council's Dunstan constituency offers only three places, look at these numbers befores specials . . Gary Kelliher 9,640 Alexa Forbes 9470 Michale Laws 9275 Tony Lepper 9246

If you wanted to buy a used Japanese import in 1987 you had to actually fly to Japan. But our cars were so bad and expensive that thousands of people made the trip. Within a few years, the country’s vehicle fleet was transformed. northandsouth.co.nz/2022/10/08/new…

Clyde may have more Ranchsliders per capita than anywhere on Earth. Landscaping mostly consists of a rotary clothesline and a birch tree. Every second house has an old caravan out back. northandsouth.co.nz/2022/09/10/cly…

International tech companies are investing heavily in so-called data farms in tiny rural communities like Makarewa — why? By @GeorgeFDriver northandsouth.co.nz/2022/06/12/dat…

@johnhsummers I'm still too scared to take my 1996 Sentra to the garage to see how she goes.