The Nazi who built Mount Hutt
The untold story of how a former Waffen-SS soldier lied his way into New Zealand — and not only got away with it, but spent the rest of his life as the celebrated founder of New Zealand's best skifield.
Welcome!
I'm Naomi Arnold, a New Zealand journalist and author.
I write about everything but have a special interest in science and nature feature writing. Read some of my stories below and please get in touch if you'd like me to work for you.
Science & Environment
The space balls are coming
Soviet Russia aimed a satellite at Venus. It hit Ashburton.
Invasive algae threatens world’s clearest lake
Nelson is home to the clearest lake in the world, but it could have a gloomy future - an invasive algae called lake snow has been found nearby. Naomi Arnold went for a hike to find out more.
What storms may come
Much of New Zealand’s coastal property has an expiry date, with its value set to be wiped off the ledger in as little as nine years’ time. Why are we still buying - and building - properties right in the danger zone?
An island nation’s audacious effort to save its wildlife
If you wanted to design the perfect predator, the stoat would be hard to beat. Introduced in the late 1800s to help control imported rabbits that were overrunning sheep pastures, they quickly became indiscriminate serial killers.
Wildfire
Fire season is coming, and first responders will soon be on high alert around New Zealand. We can expect more extreme wildfires in the future, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage and endangering homes and lives. How can we better protect ourselves?
The problem with Musk
Elon Musk is flinging long, screamingly bright strings of satellites into space – into our sky – with the noble goal of revolutionising internet access. Star geek Naomi Arnold considers what could be lost.
Let there be night
At no other point in human history has the planet been this bright after the sun sets. But artificial lights affect us, and the environment around us, in subtle ways. What happens to us when there’s too much light in the night?
The dawn chorus heralding fresh hope for New Zealand's wildlife
When the conservation trust Project Janszoon released a dozen kākā in Abel Tasman National Park at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, the large, brassy forest parrots settled in quickly. At 3am the next morning they began their customary ear-splitting calls.
What we do in the shallows
The first time Bill Moore dropped a scallop dredge in Golden Bay, just a short distance out from the curving twin wharves of Port Tarakohe, it came back so heavy with scallops that he could barely lift it over the side of the boat.
The robots will see you now
A surge in New Zealand’s elderly population is on the way, yet health and home-care services are already stretched. A joint research project between New Zealand and South Korea—which is already experiencing the demographic swing that awaits us—is investigating one solution: robots.
In search of six haunting notes
In the wettest, most inhospitable parts of New Zealand, the search for the South Island kōkako goes on. Wilderness meets those who have never given up hope of finding this elusive bird alive.
New Zealand's next top model
A small group of Kiwi scientists is attempting to construct the ultimate crystal ball: a mathematical model of the Earth’s natural systems so intricate that it can predict the behaviour of our atmosphere, land, seas, and human industry far into the future.
From stinging killer to painkiller
An iwi and polytech in Nelson are collaborating on research into the deadly native nettle ongaonga, which might hold secrets to new drugs.
Could lead affect hunters’ IQ?
Eric Buenz was dismembering a bighorn sheep he'd shot when the thought struck him: why was the bullet he’d pulled out of the animal about half the size of the one that went in?
The loneliest snail
In a single pool, in a single Nelson cave lies a critically endangered creature with a curious and little-known history. Naomi Arnold finds about one of the Maitai's secret inhabitants that is found nowhere else in the world.
Retweeting New Zealand
The riot of birdsong woke Joseph Banks early that morning. It was January 1770, the beginning of a summer’s day in New Zealand, and the Endeavour was anchored in the smooth waters of Queen Charlotte Sound.
Secrets of life in an icy grasp
But for a storm and a sled full of fossils, Robert Falcon Scott and his men might have made it.
One hundred years ago this year, they trudged off to take the South Pole, but died in a tent 17 kilometres from safety, out of oil and food, Scott's coat and sleeping bag thrown open as if he had invited in the cold.
One hundred years ago this year, they trudged off to take the South Pole, but died in a tent 17 kilometres from safety, out of oil and food, Scott's coat and sleeping bag thrown open as if he had invited in the cold.
Dirty washing
Squirt out your face scrub and rub it between your fingers. If the gritty bits aren't natural ingredients, they are most likely made from polyethylene. In the cosmetics industry they're called microbeads or exfoliating pearls. Dr Mary Sewell just calls them plastic.
Secrets of the valleys of the dead
Where there's a hint of water, there's life, even in the polar deserts of Antarctica. It was once thought the Dry Valleys were completely lifeless. But the gravel-strewn corridors are home to organisms that fascinate the people who study them.
Antarctic made into a giant telescope
NEUTRINO HUNTING: A giant balloon is circling the lower latitudes of the globe searching for traces of neutrinos, elusive particles that may bring scientists a step closer to unlocking one of nature's most mysterious secrets.
Health, Justice & Society
Ketamine offers hope to sufferers of severe mental illness
As the evidence of ketamine’s positive impact on depression and other mental illnesses grows, Naomi Arnold talks to Holly, a Dunedin artist and anxiety sufferer whose prescription for the drug has made a huge difference in her life.
Mentally ill and behind bars
A man with severe mental illness is bouncing between healthcare and prison because he can't get accommodation and treatment. A leading forensic psychiatrist says his and hundreds of similar cases are a human rights violation. Why are we incarcerating our most seriously ill people when it's the worst possible place for them?
Bad then, worse now: How Covid-19 will hurt retired women
Women are worse off than men in retirement - and experts predict Covid-19 will make things worse. But changes now will ensure women are better off in the future. Should we reimburse retiring women for the gender pension gap?
Safety fears as supplement sales soar along with Covid cases
Sales of natural health supplements have soared in the time of Covid, but some can cause life-threatening reactions. Experts say they should be treated with the same caution as pharmaceuticals.
Murder victim's sister in battle to access court documents
A woman whose brother was murdered feels she's in a perpetual battle to access documents about his shocking death. Why is it so hard for victims to get information out of the justice system?
The Nazi who built Mount Hutt
The untold story of how a former Waffen-SS soldier lied his way into New Zealand — and not only got away with it, but spent the rest of his life as the celebrated founder of New Zealand's best skifield.
The day the Russians came
The second-oldest collection of Māori artefacts in the world—exceeded only by the one amassed by James Cook—is held in Russia. These 200-year-old treasures have immense value to iwi at the top of the South Island, whose ancestors traded with Russian explorers. Now, there’s a movement to bring these taonga home.
Block busters
New Zealand’s forests were cleared at a record pace, and from this destruction, a sport arose: who can fell a tree the fastest? Competitive woodchopping transformed the labour of forestry into a community event. Now, 150 years on, a diminishing number of axemen and axewomen chop for top honours at A&P shows around the country.
The vanishing act of New Zealand’s iconic clam
People talk about toheroa like they’re a dream, because these days, they are. The big, delicious surf clams were once plentiful on New Zealand shorelines, before populations suffered a mysterious, catastrophic crash in the second half of the 20th century. Those old enough to have seen the last-ever toheroa season are full of memories.
Gold rush
Mānuka honey has exploded in value in recent years, and now it’s a high-stakes business, attracting hive thieves, counterfeit products, unscrupulous players—and triggering a race for the blossom every spring, wherever the trees are in flower.
Into the weeds
We can’t decide what to call it—marijuana, dope, pot, grass, bud, green, hash, weed, devil’s lettuce, jazz cigarettes—or how to manage it. One thing is certain: cannabis is undergoing a radical image makeover.
Sport, Outdoors & Travel
Pickle juice
Evi Boston and her partner moved to Nelson from Arizona recently. They’re still looking for jobs. But as soon as they landed and checked out their new flat, they found somewhere to play pickleball.
The views were majestic, but halfway up I needed a nap
The first time I walked up Mount Owen, I horrified my boyfriend by curling up beneath one of its famous water-riven karst outcrops and insisting I needed to sleep. We’d broken up six months before, and had just gotten back together to give it another go. That morning, we were both questioning our life choices.
Murchison's secret fishing spot
Down a nondescript country lane near Murchison is one of New Zealand's best-kept secrets: Owen River Lodge, a fly-fishing destination on the edge of Kahurangi National Park that few Kiwis know about, let alone visit.
In Maruia, an old fishing lodge is reborn
Luxury accommodation can sometimes feel impersonal, steeped in pretentiousness without real connection or warmth. But that’s not the case at Maruia River Retreat, tucked beside a wide green trout fishing river in the upper South Island. Instead, the small, sharp and convivial international team makes this a place of true hospitality.
Cecil King’s Hut
There’s nothing like the sight of a hut after a long day’s tramp, but modern DOC huts tend to be rather utilitarian, with their dull colours, corrugated iron, and plywood interiors. It’s always a joy to stumble across those rare huts that have a little more character and give you an insight into how early outdoorsmen and women carved out a living from the tough New Zealand bush.
West Coast high
Deep beneath the Paparoa Range, in the dust on the Metro/Te Ananui cave system floor, there’s still a few faint footprints and pawprints, their edges outlined in the shadows of our headlamps. According to Mark, our Underworld Adventures caving guide, they’ve been undisturbed since they were left there in 1963, by a man called Johnny Currie and his dog, Chum.
How New Zealand’s oldest city became its newest
Grassroots initiatives and local communities have ensured Christchurch hasn't just been rebuilt - it's been reimagined.
Trek through Abel Tasman
A walking tour of Abel Tasman National Park is best done on a full stomach, finds Naomi Arnold.
A walk down memory lane
The first new Great Walk in 24 years is a graveyard, too.
The forgotten face of Aspiring
The mysterious North West Face of Mt Aspiring, one of the enduring oddities of New Zealand alpinism, has finally been climbed. Naomi Arnold has the inside story.
New Zealand’s never-ending fire
Unknown to most travellers – and indeed most locals – the tiny South Island village of Murchison is home to a bizarre bowl of flames that burns eternally in the bush.
Exploring the twists and turns of Bulmer Cavern
In a world where the surface is mapped so closely you can spot a street sign from space, it's easy to think of cavers as the last true explorers. Burrowing deep into the ground, recording and naming everything new that they find, they're the first and sometimes only humans to see what's secreted under the skin of the earth.
Delve deep
At some point, when talking to New Zealand professional caver Kieran Mckay, you can’t help but blurt out: “Why?”
Why wedge your fragile body between tons of rock, through passages so pinched that one of them is dubbed “Castration Gap”?
Why camp underground in the wet and filth for days on end, sucking dank air, aware that you could be drowned or crushed at any second? Why risk death when you have no communication with the outside world, and rescue is days away?
Mckay has two different respons
Why wedge your fragile body between tons of rock, through passages so pinched that one of them is dubbed “Castration Gap”?
Why camp underground in the wet and filth for days on end, sucking dank air, aware that you could be drowned or crushed at any second? Why risk death when you have no communication with the outside world, and rescue is days away?
Mckay has two different respons
Degrees of separation
Even with increasing numbers at Uluru, you can still marvel at the great rock in peace, writes Naomi Arnold.
Diving into darkness
Fifty years ago five Nelson men dived into the unknown at the Riwaka Resurgence, charting its black and chilly depths for the first time.
Culture clash
Tourism has long had an uneasy relationship with the wondrous and deeply sacred land of Uluru, but as Naomi Arnold discovers, it is gradually finding a steadier footing.
Cold comfort: Sir Edmund Hillary's favourite haunt burns in the Antarctic
The iconic old hut was a safe haven for visitors to Antarctica. Now it's gone.
Profile & People
Losing the ice
In February, Nelson photographer Virginia Woolf drove to Aoraki/Mount Cook to document glacier loss, as part of her climate change photography project Final Meltdown. But she was worried sick as she hit the road. Four days earlier, Cyclone Gabrielle had struck Gisborne, her childhood home, and she hadn’t heard from her parents since.
How to survive cult reporting
How do you write about people suffering from severe trauma without making it worse? What are the boundaries between journalist and subject? Naomi Arnold writes about five years of watching journalist, cult reporter and friend Anke Richter suffer the weight of those questions while writing her new book Cult Trip.
The moment Robyn Malcolm snapped
This weekend, one in six New Zealanders will be putting on their game face and grinding through anxiety. It’s something Robyn Malcolm did for years. She opens up to Naomi Arnold about struggling with the crippling condition and why she’s bringing awareness to the issue in a new documentary You, Me & Anxiety.
Caught in the trap of domestic drudgery
Birthing a baby is a brutal shock to body and mind. But one of the hardest things Clementine Ford faced when she gave birth to her son was the shame of being trapped in a world she'd spent her career railing against.
Barry Crump: The man, the myth, the father
Barry Crump defined what it meant to be a Kiwi man in the last half of the 20th century. So what does it say about New Zealand men that he’s been described by his exes and sons as sadistic, violent, cruel - and most of all, absent?
Good as gold
There’s not much left at Puysegur Point, the south-western-most tip of New Zealand, where a tiny settlement once held on against the thrust of the wind. Concrete foundations, a squat lighthouse, a shed—and a radio repeater, casting a wide, invisible net across the waters of the south.
The reluctant profile: Becky Manawatu
It was a damp Saturday afternoon in Westport at the end of August, and we stood on the sidelines at a rugby league match, not looking at each other. It was patently obvious that author Becky Manawatu didn’t particularly want to do this profile, and she couldn’t be blamed for that. All profiles are akin to being flayed alive, particularly if you’re someone who doesn’t really want the spotlight.
The sense of belonging
When Melanie Burford teaches the art of documentary photography, she teaches curiosity, respect, and trust.
“I teach moments,” she says. “The gift of what we do, and the responsibility that comes with it.”
“I teach moments,” she says. “The gift of what we do, and the responsibility that comes with it.”
The inheritance
Māori astronomy expert Rangi Matamua is bringing the astronomical knowledge of his ancestors into the light.
Natural history 2.0
In a stream in Wellington there lives a snail. A tiny snail, found nowhere else in the world. Not much is known about it, other than it’s critically endangered and lives near Siobhan Leachman’s house. Leachman, a lawyer in a former life, is one of the few people to know about the snail—and, arguably, one of the few who cares.
National Portrait: Rose Renton, medical marijuana campaigner
The summer before he got sick, Nelson teen Alex Renton grew his first and only cannabis plants with his mother Rose, in a half-barrel in the garden. She'd told him no, originally – it wasn't worth it. She'd seen how cannabis convictions had ruined the lives of others.
Hard times and healing
For some, former Nelson Catholic boys' school Sunnybank was a place of loneliness and horrors. Recently, Wellington writer Hinemoana Baker visited the school with her father, and is turning his ghastly memories into poetry.
Renee's battle with Tourette's
Curiously, Renee Harvey's tics go away when she sings. When she raises her voice above the happy din of her 2-year-old son Neko and sings her favourite songs, it's the only time her hands stay still.