That Blind Woman

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That Blind Woman Julie Woods is a professional speaker who will make you imagine, laugh and cry! Ask the NZ PM, Governor General and Dame Susan Devoy for starters! England match.

Julie’s a dab hand at cooking without looking...
and in March 2007 got to try out “those bloody truffles again” on all the people she thanked at her 10 years blind party. There’s no doubt about it – Julie’s an extraordinary change expert who has walked numerous half marathons, modeled in her very own town hall, appeared in local, national and international media including one day in 2004 when she found herself refereeing a game of n**e touch rugby as a curtain raiser to an All Blacks vs. Julie also landed herself a spot on Campbell Live when she fund raised to travel to
Paris for Louis Braille’s bi-centennial celebrations in January 2009. Julie’s achievements include a book called How to Make a Silver Lining - 8 keys
for adapting to extraordinary change along with her Cooking Without Looking
workshops and demonstrations. Julie has worked with thousands of participants ranging from Intermediate School pupils to the Prime Minister of New Zealand - they all have one thing in
common though - they have all been left LAUGHING AND ULTIMATELY inspired by “that blind woman!”

Tune in this Saturday at 10 AM for the next series in The World in 360 Minutes, hosted by That Blind Woman Julie Woods a...
16/10/2026

Tune in this Saturday at 10 AM for the next series in The World in 360 Minutes, hosted by That Blind Woman Julie Woods and artist Ron Esplin.

This three-part series, Three Citizens in 30 Minutes, explores the travel adventures of Clark (Ron's brother) and Margaret Esplin through A Gondolier in Venice, A Produce Seller in China and an Andean Woman.

You can listen to this podcast now from the OAR FM Website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider.

https://oar.org.nz/shows/the-world-in-360-minutes/

A huge thank you to NZ On Air and CAMA - Community Access Media Alliance for supporting local voices. 📻🙏❤️

We have walked every street in Greater Dunedin!When Jo and I finished walking every street in Dunedin in 2022, we love...
16/10/2026

We have walked every street in Greater Dunedin!

When Jo and I finished walking every street in Dunedin in 2022, we loved it so much we didn’t want it to end!

By extending our boundary to Greater Dunedin, this meant we could continue walking every Saturday as south as Berwick, east as Aramoana, north as Waikouaiti and as west as Hyde.

It seemed the next best walking goal for us, one that made the most sense, apart from being a gigantic area.

We started in Port Chalmers on November 5 2022, and nearly four years later, last Sunday, Jo and I completed our goal when we reached the Dunedin sign just past Hyde.

Greater Dunedin is 3,300 square kilometres, larger than Luxembourg, bigger than Samoa and 4.5 times the size of Singapore.

We walked in the winter, we walked in the spring, amongst the leaves, the frost and the snow, we climbed steep streets and flat roads, smelt newly cut grass and moved away from barking dogs. It was hot, it was cold, but it was always fun.

We are undecided about our next walking goal, but what we are certain about is that we will be setting another walking goal.

25/09/2026

This is huge for the South! 👏 Dunedin and Waitaki have been named among Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel destinations for 2027, the only region in Aotearoa New Zealand to make the list. 👏

That puts our part of the world in front of a global audience and gives people another very good reason to head south.

It’s fantastic recognition for our tourism industry and the incredible experiences we have right here in Dunedin and Waitaki. A big congratulations to the team at Enterprise Dunedin, and everyone across our visitor economy who continues to champion our region and what it has to offer.

Visitors bring new spending into the region, creating demand for local businesses and, in turn, for the businesses that supply and support them. That spending circulates through our communities, supporting jobs, business growth and investment.

There’s real value in having more eyes on the South, too. People might first discover Dunedin and Waitaki as somewhere to visit, but that exposure also builds our profile as somewhere to live, work, study, invest and do business.

International recognition like this is a big deal for Dunedin and Waitaki, and a fantastic opportunity for the wider southern economy.

The world is taking notice of the South, and we’re pretty excited about that! ✨

Check out the ODT article here: https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/impossibly-cool-dunedin-named-one-of-worlds-best-places-to-visit-oxsr6wh6

📸Dunedin NZ

25/09/2026

Eliana Gray - Dunedin Writer Eliana Grey gives us an overview of the writers' workshop series being haeld at the Dunedin Athneaum & Mechanics' Institute, and looks ahead to NZ Young Writers Festival 2026. Broadcast on Otago Access Radio www.oar.org.nz

24/09/2026

Our judge Emma Neale has read through all 192 poems that were entered from poets across the world (New Zealand, Australia, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, UK, USA, and Venezuela) and selected the winners for our 2026 Caselberg Trust International Poetry Prize. The competition is in its 16th year, and this year’s winner is Linda Collins from Oamaru with her poem 'Rambling'.

Linda says 'I am thrilled to win the Caselberg Trust International Poetry Prize 2026. It is wonderful to have my work recognised at home, after being placed in contests in the UK and the US.”

For her winning poem Linda wins $600, a week in the Caselberg house in 2027, and her poem will be published in the Landfall Tauraka Spring 2026 edition in November 2026. Our two runner up poems received $300 each. All of the winning poems and Dr Neale’s judge’s report will be posted onto our website later in November

For a list of all of the winners please see our website: https://www.caselbergtrust.org/news/caselberg-trust-international-poetry-prize-2026-winners-announced-ctzkt

Thank you to everyone who entered from across the globe. Thank you to our generous sponsors UBS and Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature. Thank you to Landfall Tauraka. Thank you to our dedicated judge Emma Neale.

Image: Malcolm Mcleod

24/09/2026

From the Cooking Without Looking Show

In 2011 I said “why not” to Lesley Paris at Otago Access Radio when she asked “Would you like to have your own radio show?”

The Cooking Without Looking Show aired weekly and as a result, a cook book was created in Braille, featuring the recipes shared on the show.

This recipe comes from the Spreading the love of food segment, where my mother used to read me a recipe, and I would transcribe it into Braille, on the show, using my Perkins Brailler.

Pat’s cheese scones

1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
25 grams cold, grated butter
75 grams grated cheese
Milk to mix

1 Sift baking powder and flour.
2 Add grated cheese and butter.
3 Add milk to mix.
4 Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
5 Bake for ten minutes at 200C.

“We may live without poetry, music and arts,
We may live without conscience and live without heart,
We may live without friends, we may live without books,
But civilised man can not live without cooks.”

Owen Meredith

21/09/2026

Today is World Gratitude Day!

World Gratitude Day is observed every year on 21 September with the purpose to foster feelings of appreciation, positivity, worthiness and connection.

For me, gratitude is a part of my daily practise, writing a gratitude list each weekday morning, and then finishing the day with a sensory gratitude list identifying one thing I have smelled, heard, tasted and touched throughout the day.

The connection comes when I share these lists with others, by email, and what comes back is all the things they are grateful for too. This means my inbox is not just flooded with work and business, but also with sprinklings of gratitude! It’s amazing!

Happy World Gratitude Day!

OAR FM Dunedin - Community Access Media“So much has been given to me I have not time to ponder over that which has been denied.”

Helen Keller
The world’s first Deafblind graduate

This morning my sighted guide and I headed west of Greater Dunedin as part of our goal to walk Greater Dunedin - one str...
19/09/2026

This morning my sighted guide and I headed west of Greater Dunedin as part of our goal to walk Greater Dunedin - one street at a time.

There are 2042 streets, roads, avenues and lanes in Greater Dunedin, covering 3,300 km We started our walking adventure on International Women’s Day in 2019 and we are not far away from completing it.

This photo is of us in Sutton, a small settlement one hour west of the Octagon, by car.

Jo and I met at antenatal classes 33 years ago. Since then we have walked ten Dunedin half marathons, ten Papatowai Challenges, every street in Dunedin, and now we are moving towards completing this next goal.

What connects us is a small piece of rope and a friendship that has lasted more than three decades, and today being Sufferage Day here in New Zealand, it seems a good time to acknowledge this friendship that has endured.

Here’s to all the women who are reading this post today, and to all the women who have walked paths in the past, possibly by holding onto a small rope, with a woman at the other end.

As Helen Keller once said “It’s better to walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”

Here’s to walking with a friend this Sufferage Day 2026. City of Literature Dunedin, New Zealand

20/03/2026

Season 3 of My Business Stars continues with an inspiring conversation featuring Joanne Wooding, founder of K9 Kookies.

After losing much of her vision to a rare cancer of the optic nerve, Joanne turned her lifelong love of baking into a business creating natural, healthy dog treats – all tested by her two very picky pups. In this episode, she talks with host That Blind Woman Julie Woods about resilience, adaptation, assistive technology and the joy of building something that brings happiness to dogs and their humans.

Listen to the episode and access the full transcript here: https://www.ccsdisabilityaction.org.nz/my-business-stars/episode-24

New episodes air on OAR 105.4FM every Tuesday at 12:00 pm and replay on Thursdays at 9:00 am. You can also find the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.


Image description: Photo of Joanne on a night sky background with a rocket icon in the top-right corner. The text reads, "Episode 24: Joanne Wooding. Now streaming on My Business Stars."

That Blind Woman Julie Woods and Artist Ron Esplin are back to share their world travels covering 60 Countries in 60 Min...
19/02/2026

That Blind Woman Julie Woods and Artist Ron Esplin are back to share their world travels covering 60 Countries in 60 Minutes.

In this next series of 10-minute episodes, Julie shares her memories from the 60 countries she has travelled to in her first 60 years.

In this first episode, discover what Julie did when she was told she was too young to learn the guitar, what it was like to move to a new house, and what she saw when she looked out the window of a Queenstown motel.

Tune in this morning at 10am, or catch this and previous series on the OAR FM website:
https://oar.org.nz/shows/the-world-in-360-minutes/
You can also listen Apple Podcasts, Spotify or you favourite podcast provider.

CAMA - Community Access Media Alliance | NZ On Air

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