Latest from Living

Design & build: An automatic home

Control heating and lighting with your phone.

5 best ways to eat oysters

The season of succulent Bluff oysters kicked off this week, and we can't wait to slurp them straight from the sea-salty shell. The experts say they're the best Bluffies yet and the season looks promising.

Cook Islands: A lovely place to still be in love

A second honeymoon can be better than the first, writes Penny Lewis.

Books: Deadly betrayal of trust

Sage advice about herbs (+recipes)

What to do with an abundance of herbs now summer is at its end.

Gardening: Fruit fly needn't stop us

Fruit harvesting is a topical issue where I live. Once again, we're in the the eye of a biosecurity storm and troops of fluorescently clad officers are walking door to door to curb the spread of the dreaded Queensland fruit fly.

Fashion: Tween girls, interrupted

The coolest gear for modish tweens.

Review: Nomad Restaurant, Pt Chevalier

Restaurants do write some dreadful tosh about themselves. "Quality ingredients" are always "freshly sourced" and "expertly prepared" (as distinct from second-rate stale crap carelessly chucked together, presumably).

Gardening: Hardy blooms flourish

On a baking hot afternoon in December, our 18-year-old nephew Mark drove us around remote roads in the high country above Kaikoura, doing a great job of showing us the local sights.

Songs shot straight from the hip

Balkan Beat Box will get the party started at Womad -- with a message.

Design & build: The hunt for the perfect tile

Popping into the Tile Warehouse proves to be a pleasant retail surprise.

5 best places to take your dog

Here are the best places to take your pooches according to our dog-parent pals.

Gardening: It's the kindest cut

Sharpen your shears and take to the fruit trees to prepare for the coming winter.

Hayley Atwell: More than a woman

Hayley Atwell stars as Peggy Carter in television series Marvel’s Agent Carter, inspired by the Captain America films.

Make mine a Thai taste sensation (+recipes)

Try the flavours of Thailand: citrus, basil and coriander.

Jupiter Ascending: Out of this world

It’s a wild ride for all in Jupiter Ascending, writes Leena Tailor.

Wellbeing: Safety first from helmet to pedal

A bike ride is more than simply leaping into the saddle and pushing off, learns Jenny-May Coffin.

Gaining new skills at an older age

Don’t let the kids have all the fun, writes Sarah Ell. Join a class of like-minded grown-ups and gain new skills of your own.