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Steve Adams is standing tall

Steve Adams is used to standing out, and not just for being Olympic gold medallist Valerie Adams' younger, taller half-brother. At 2.1 metres (7ft) tall and 110kg, the Wellington teen seems huge, even next to his taller-than- average basketball team-mates - and his future in his chosen sport looks equally gargantuan. Adams, 18, originally from Rotorua, attended Scots College before heading to Notre Dame Preparatory School in Maryland. Having impressed in American high school basketball, Adams
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A routine patrol that turned to hell

Finley Johnson was out on a routine patrol in the gun turret of his light armoured vehicle (LAV) when suddenly he was called to action to defend his mates. The Nelson soldier was part of a Kiwi patrol in the northeast of Afghanistan's Bamiyan province on August 4 this year, when he was ordered to go to the aid of Afghan police and New Zealand troops whose patrol had been ambushed by Taleban insurgents. Two New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in the battle, including his friend and flatmate L
The Wireless •

Saving lives is part of the job

And that’s a good thing. Would you like it if the person stitching up your gashed leg, or putting you to sleep before surgery, had skived off during their human anatomy lectures? Not likely. But, despite the academic challenges and endless hours of training, both Louise Poynton and Pip Stuart - registrars at Wellington Hospital’s emergency department - are quick to dispel the idea that it takes super-smarts to make it in medicine.
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Slaying of cabbie recalled

A murder mystery that "shook Nelson's foundations" 50 years ago has been remembered, with children of a murdered taxi driver paying tribute to their father. About 50 people attended the service at St Mary's Catholic church yesterday for popular Nelson taxi driver Peter Carthew Banham. Mr Banham was killed in Nelson on February 20, 1963, by Maurice Albert Davis for a meagre £27. His body was found the next morning in Hope. It was a whodunit that caught the attention of the nation. It especial
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Rapid descent

Nelson kayaker Ari Walker is not afraid to drop off the edge of a 25-metre waterfall but admits he is a bit nervous about the Papua New Guinea wilderness. Mr Walker, 21, is one of four Kiwi kayakers preparing to travel to the highlands of Papua New Guinea next month. Their goal: Become the first people to descend the mighty Chimbu, a 100km long river with grade five rapids, flanked by tall canyon walls and immersed deep within Papua New Guinea's alpine jungle. "We are going right into the hear
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From tall peak to Nelson beach

If adventurer Tom de Dorlodot had a day job in New Zealand, his office would be hanging beneath a paraglider, thousands of metres in the air above the Southern Alps. "It's the ultimate freedom. It's a beautiful way to travel, because you're not disturbing anything. Even the birds come and fly with." The Belgian man and his Dutch friend Ferdinand van Schelven are professional paragliders who have landed in Nelson after a month-long adventure through the Southern Alps. Their sport is vol-bivoua
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Condoms and lollipops for safety

Roving ambassadors are helping keep Nelson's streets safer with a mix of sweetness and savvy. The Nelson street ambassadors patrol the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights during the summer months when alcohol can fuel problems. Hard to miss in their bright orange vests, with fists full of free lollipops and condoms, the ambassadors have been on the beat since November. The patrols will end in the middle of this month. "People are aware we are the condom and lollipop people, and that giv