Gillian Vine

Dunedin

Writer at Freelance

Freelance Writer at Otago Daily Times

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Articles

Performance exquisitely delivered

1 week ago | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

"DARKNESS & LIGHT" City Choir DunedinSaturday, April 12Knox ChurchCity Choir Dunedin delighted a well-filled Knox Church on Saturday evening with "Darkness & Light" under the baton of its musical director David Burchell. Knox Church was an appropriate venue for his selection of predominantly religious music. Most items were composed within the past 30 years, although the opening hymn, Thomas Tallis’s O Nata Lux de Lumino, was published in 1575.
Cold war, hot spot

2 months ago | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Life & StyleTravelSouth Korea’s top tourist attraction divides two war zones, Gillian Vine discovers. Our bright young guide delights in telling us that North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Un is my height — 1.6m — but at 130kg weighs more than twice as much as I do. How he got that information, given how little is known about Kim, is a mystery.
Of gardens great and small

Dec 19, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Life & StyleHome & GardenAs Otago Daily Times’ gardening writer Gillian Vine signs off, she recalls some of her favourite stories. When asked recently how long I had been writing garden features for the Otago Daily Times, I said, "It must be 10 years or so."When I checked it was more than 21 years, as my first ODT gardening article was published in July 2003.
French concert sets joyeux season off to a good start

Dec 11, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. The StarCity Choir DunedinKnox ChurchFriday, December 6The very best concerts are those when you can’t decide afterwards which item you liked most and so it was with "Joyeux Noel!" on Friday. Knox Church was well-filled for City Choir Dunedin’s presentation of French music for Christmas.
In harmony with nature

Nov 21, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Life & StyleHome & GardenGillian Vine reflects on the greening of King Charles III and the influence this has had on the gardens at Highgrove. When King Charles III celebrated his 21st birthday, his mother Queen Elizabeth II gave him an Aston Martin DB6. He still has it, a classic now worth about $300,000.
Irises steal the show

Nov 7, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

Friday, 8 November 2024 You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Life & StyleHome & GardenGillian Vine looks at a plant named for a rainbow lady. Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, was supposedly always in perfect health and immune to ageing. She was fleet of foot, able to cross quickly the rainbow bridge between earth and heaven. That sounds good, although her role as handmaiden to the gods doesn’t resonate with me.
Upper Junction sanctuary

Oct 24, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Life & StyleHome & GardenGillian Vine gets a sneak preview before a garden tour. Moving from Brisbane to Dunedin nine years ago was an entirely new gardening experience for Cheryl Willis and her husband, Stephen. "Brisbane is completely non-seasonal and tropical," Cheryl says.
Samoa: top 10

Oct 18, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Life & StyleMagazineGillian Vine lines up 10 things to see and do on your Samoan escape. 1. Vailima, on the outskirts of Samoa’s capital, Apia, was the home of writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), of Treasure Island fame. Known as Tusitala ("teller of tales"), the writer lived here for the last five years of his life.
An ever-changing garden

Oct 17, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. Life & StyleHome & GardenGillian Vine meets a prizewinning Taieri gardener. "I have a bit of a thing for fritillarias," Keryn Luke says. It was fitting, then, that at the Outram Flower Show last month her giant orange crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) was adjudged champion bloom. She has several smaller species in her garden near Henley and is growing some from imported seed.
History of spuds unearthed

Oct 15, 2024 | odt.co.nz | Gillian Vine

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. SouthlandThe EnsignGillian Vine looks at our spud-growing history. Potatoes, one of the first vegetables brought to New Zealand by Europeans, are now one of our two most popular edibles, vying with tomatoes for top slot. Captain James Cook gets the credit for the initial introduction, having given potatoes to a chief on the Coromandel in 1769.