AUTUMN 2023
www.southmagnz.co.nz
Neighbourhood watch Dunedin crime writer Vanda Symon returns.
Drive by shooting Robin Morrison’s republished photographic book.
Life & style Music, fashion, food, cocktails, events, people, and more.
This month marks 175 years of Otago… and 30 years since I moved to Dunedin.
After an interminable journey the bus finally descended Mt Cargill that night, the lights of the city gradually unfurling like a welcome mat.
Although I’ve since moved away and back several times, I’ve never tired of that entrance from the north.
Before moving here in 1993 there’d only been fleeting visits to the south that offered just a glimpse of its fabric.
The first of those was during a family
road trip in the early 1980s that seemed to traverse the entire South Island.
That southern region I first experienced was very much the place photographer Robin Morrison captured on a 1979 journey with his family.
His compelling images of people and places were collected in the 1981 book The South Island of New Zealand: From the Road.
As you’ll read in this issue of South, it has just been republished after an absence of four decades.
Having not previously been aware of the book, being introduced to this document of the place as I’d first witnessed it was a revelation.
A lesson that no matter how well you think you know somewhere, there are always more layers to peel back, adding more context to the picture, and a deeper understanding.
Even after three decades here, Dunedin and the south in general keeps slowly unfolding like those lights that first greeted me.
(Gavin Bertram, Editor)EDITOR
Gavin Bertram
gavin.bertram@alliedpress.co.nz
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Mike D’Evereux
CONTRIBUTORS
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ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER
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From the finest ocean fare to fantastic farm fresh produce — it’s a food lovers’ paradise. With the perfect amount of sunshine and rain, Southland’s fertile plains and coastal waters produce many New Zealand delicacies, from world-famous meat and game to succulent seafood and the freshest, crunchiest vegetables.
Whether raised or grown on the land, hunted, fished, or produced, Southland’s food story is connected to people and place. It really is the land of plenty, the ultimate Surf ‘n’ Turf destination.
Take your pick of exceptional tasting, grassfed lamb, prime pasture-fed beef, and the
finest Fiordland venison. Enjoy mouth-watering kaimoana, including world-famous Bluff oysters, Stewart Island salmon, Fiordland lobster, mussels, paua and blue cod.
The famous Southland Cheese Roll is a local delicacy — the perfect combination of freshly toasted bread, gooey, tasty cheese, and a hint of onion.
Southland’s stellar foodie reputation is fuelled by amazing food producers, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, food trucks and countless others — serving up innovative tastes and textures to surprise, tantalise and delight your taste buds. Discover more at southlandnz.com/food
Take a trip through the many flavours, sights and sounds of this epic food festival that is a window into the incredible diversity of Southland.
Take a seat and experience a picturesque lunch drenched in views of Fiordland National Park’s spectacular mountain scenery.
Recalibrate yourself with nature’s rhythms and enjoy a wholesome weekend retreat in the charming seaside township of Riverton to celebrate Southland’s home harvest.
Surrounded by ocean and pasture, Southland is the ultimate foodies’ paradise destination during this month-long culinary festival!
4 Editorial 7 Big Picture
10 WHAT’S ON: Five things to do this autumn.
13 FOOD: A.R.K Artisan’s hand-crafted goods.
14 DRINK: Le Salon Rouge cocktail lounge at Sofitel.
15: FESTIVAL: Ripe - Wānaka’s Wine & Food Festival.
16 BIG ASK: Toitū OSM curator Seán Brosnahan, and Otago’s 175th.
19 EVENT: Wheels on Wānaka.
20 SHOPPING: Great ideas for the home.
22 FASHION: Autumn fashion from local retailers.
25 VINYL: Record Store Day is in April.
26 MUSIC: Kāhu Rōpū, and Dunedin Fringe Festival preview.
28 Writing crime: Crime writer Vanda Symon returns with Expectant
30 In fashion: Designer Sara Munro from Company of Strangers.
34 HiFi-ing: Tex Houston’s beautiful Dunedin designed speakers.
36 On the road: Robin Morrison’s 1981 photographic classic is republished.
41 HOW YA GOING? Model/photographer Tommy Spence writes home.
43 I WAS THERE: Martin Phillipps on Split Enz turning 50.
44 ONCE UPON A TIME: Pink Floyd cover designer Storm Thorgerson.
47 LOOSE ENDS
*PLUS CLAIM
$1,459
The fog comes on little cat feet.
It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.
(Fog, Carl Sandburg)
Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
SOUTH /Autumn 2023 7 / FOREWORD: Big Picture
This living space’s summer vibe is achieved thanks to the clear-skies blue of Resene Cut Glass painted on the walls and floor. The tongue-and-groove wall and the cabinet are painted in Resene Kumutoto, a maritime aqua which amplifies the relaxed beachy feel. The sand-hued couch brings a fresh contrast to the blues, and the sand-and-blue speckled rug unifies the palette. The coffee tables are painted in Resene Teal Blue and Resene Foam. The vases and bowls are painted in Resene Scandal, Resene Hippie Blue and Resene Wishlist. Natural fibres in the side table legs, chair, pendant and plant pot add an organic warmth that offsets the potentially cold expanse of blue. The coastalthemed artwork features almost every hue across the room, from sandy neutrals to pale blues and shimmering azures. It unites the room and gives every colour a sense of purpose and belonging. Rug, candleholder, sofa, Brad Malyon framed canvas and occasional chair from Freedom, teal and aqua cushions from Adairs. (Project by Vanessa Nouwens, image by Bryce Carleton)
Blue is often thought of as a cold shade – unsurprisingly since it sits on the cool side of the colour wheel. But that doesn’t mean it deserves the cold shoulder when it comes to decor. On the contrary, blue is a perennial favourite with stylists for its many moods and facets.
So how to choose? It really comes down to the ambience you want in your space as different blues generate a different energy.
Research has shown blue helps our ability to focus, so an understated and soothing shade grey-blue like Resene Raven is a great option for a study or office. A clear-skies blue like Resene Cut Glass offers an easy, breezy serenity that brings the outdoors in and creates a sense of spaciousness.
Shades with just a hint of colour, like Resene Duck Egg Blue, bring a gentle harmonious look that verges on neutral. Mid-toned blues like Resene Seachange, Resene Kashmir Blue and Resene Biscay are neither too dark nor too light –making them perfect backdrop material. For some Hamptons-inspired sophistication try strong royal blues such as Resene Havelock Blue or darker
Resene Hendrix paired with a white like ever-popular Resene Alabaster or Resene Black White. It’s a classic pairing that really lets that blue really sing.
Deep moody blues like Resene Indian Ink are rich, velvety and cosy – ideally suited to framing a gorgeous view through a window, or an archway showcasing a beautiful interior beyond.
Fade to blue
So you’ve decided on blue, but you’re having trouble settling on an exact shade. Then why not have several? Once you’ve picked your hero hue, use different saturations of that colour throughout the space. This is a tried-and-true way of dramatically transforming a room by giving it more definition and dimension. Extend the layering effect to your rugs, cushions, sofa etc.
Colours are like flatmates – they need to be easy to live with. That especially
applies to your main lounging space – and Resene’s warm ‘denim’ blues fit the bill perfectly. They contain the right amount of greyed dustiness to make them ideally suited for our intense natural light. Try Resene Half New Denim Blue, Resene True Blue or Resene Kashmir Blue.
To prevent your tonal scheme from straying into bland territory, you can create a statement piece like an ombre batten wall. And it’s not hard to do. For each of the colours in your batten ‘artwork’, you will need eight 40mm wide battens that are long enough to go from floor to ceiling. Prime them with Resene Quick Dry then apply two coats of Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss waterborne enamel - tinted to your Resene colours of choice - to all sides of your battens. Let the first coat dry completely before applying the second. Use a level to get your first batten square to the wall and
attach it using small nails or construction glue. Your subsequent battens can be aligned flush to the one before. If your battens are delicate, pre-drill narrow holes – not too close to the ends – to avoid splitting them when hammering in your nails. Make sure the nail heads sit below the surface level of your battens, fill the holes with wood filler, sand those areas flat then touch them up with paint.
In deep
Rich and luxurious, navy brings all the drama of a black palette but is less austere. And let’s dive right in and debunk a popular myth – navy walls won’t make your space look smaller. In fact, dark colours can blur the edges of the walls, giving an expansive feel. However, you can have too much of a good thing. Be sure to balance out your intense navy with some clear, crisp and bright hues. Good pairings include mustard yellows, vivid pinks and metallic
golds such as Resene Pirate Gold and the vivacious fuchsia pink Resene Smitten –which has a touch of violet. These colours really stand their own ground and contrast beautifully with the deep velvety backdrop. Another showstopping partner for navy is orange – fiery and warm, it balances the cool depth of navy. And as it’s on the opposite side of the colour wheel, orange makes an appealing and energising contrast for your furniture or accent pieces. Try a bright punchy tangerine like Resene Ecstasy or apricot jam hued Resene Roxy. Ah, the serenity
With its deeply calming effect, blue is the obvious candidate for your haven of rest and relaxation. A dreamy pale blue like Resene Breathless or a winter grey-blue like Resene Quarter Frozen will pair well with a range of colours. Pale blue and white is a classic, fresh pairing – and perfect in a smaller room where you want to create an airy, spacious feel. Introduce a lovely soft pale green like Resene Surf Crest and you’ve got a nature-inspired sanctuary that is soothing, romantic and restful.
For your walls, you may choose to go fullon English country garden with a beautiful floral print from the Resene Wallpaper Collection. Or you may prefer to keep things minimalist with either a plain wall or a feature wall showcasing your own hand-painted design. A pattern of narrow stripes in a calming grey-blue like Resene Relax is grounding without overpowering the space. And the beauty of a cottage-y aesthetic is that your lines don’t have to be perfect – a little ‘wobble’ fits right in with the rustic, home-grown charm. Dial up the country theme with plenty of texture, weathered finishes, organic
materials, fresh or dried flowers, mismatched furniture and interesting shapes.
Make a splash with aqua
For a space that’s both calming and upbeat take a refreshing dip in a palette of aqua blues. Their watery connotations of course make these colours – from dark to light – perfect for bathroom spaces. But you can also layer them to create a year-round summer holiday feel.
To prevent the effect from being too cool, mix in some warmer, deeper tones in your accessories and furnishings. Add in tactile throws in blue or sandy shades and break up the ocean of aquatic shades with plenty of natural fibre – a raw linen sofa, natural timber flooring, a rattan lampshade. Resene has a whole range of aquas and teals that are perfect for building an ontrend tonal palette. Aqua can overwhelm in large doses, or if you’re choosing vivid shades like Resene Hullabaloo or Resene Blue Chill. In this case, sticking to one feature wall can work well. Then balance the look with some creamy white furniture and cushions, and add in paler blue-green accessories in shades like Resene Kandinsky and Resene Breeze. Paint your remaining walls and flooring in crisp neutral hues like near-white Resene Alabaster.
For help choosing colours to suit your projects, visit your local Resene ColorShop, ask a Resene Colour Expert online, www.resene.co.nz/colourexpert or book a Resene Colour Consultation, www.resene.co.nz/colourconsult
This living room wall painted in rich grey-blue Resene Rhino sets the tone for relaxation. The batten ombre feature creates a statement and adds fun and visual interest. The battens are painted in (from darker to lighter) Resene
Half New Denim Blue, Resene Gull Grey, Resene Neutral Bay and Resene Midwinter Mist. The floor is painted in Resene Iron to offer some light relief. The mid-range tonal hues across key items of furniture and accessories act as an intermediary between the lightest and darkest hues. Cabinet painted
in Resene Gull Grey, coffee table in Resene Neutral Bay, side table in Resene Midwinter Mist, pendant lamp in Resene Iron, tealight holder, vase and bowl on the tables in Resene Rhino, mini sculpture on the cabinet in Resene Neutral Bay and Resene Half New Denim Blue, planter in Resene White and the round ball decoration in Resene Midwinter Mist. Chair from Danske Møbler, cushion cover from H&M. (Project by Vanessa Nouwens, image by Wendy Fenwick)
Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
7pm, April 5
With a career in music stretching over six decades, Rod Stewart has a deep catalogue to draw from. Recent shows have included favourites like Maggie May and Young Turks, along with well chosen covers. He’s joined by 80s favourite Cyndi Lauper, and local legend Jon Stevens.
Dylan Moran - We Got This Regent Theatre, Dunedin. 8pm, May 22
Award-winning Irish comedian, and Black Books star, Dylan Moran returns with his brand new We Got This show. It promises to be a joyously furious romp through the frustration and folly of modern day life, and is absolutely likely to sell out!
The Proclaimers
Oamaru Opera House
7.30pm, March 14
Rod Stewart isn’t the only Scottish legend coming south this autumn; The Proclaimers are also returning with their biggest tour of these parts. Bringing timeless hits like I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and I’m On My Way, they’ll be joined by Auckland band The Bads. Also at the Dunedin Town Hall on March 15.
Black Caps v Sri Lanka
University Oval, Dunedin
1pm, April 5
After patchy showings in Pakistan and India, the Black Caps have returned home for series against England and Sri Lanka. Having made last year’s T20 World Cup final, the locals will be backing themselves in this second match of the series, and the third in Queenstown on April 8.
Robin White: Te Whanaketanga/ Something is Happening Here
March 11-June 25
Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Toured by Te Papa, this exhibition brings together works from the artist’s 50-year career in what she describes as a ‘family reunion’. Gathered from 22 galleries and private collections, it includes early watercolours and drawings, White’s celebrated portraits and landscapes, and more recent collaborative works with artists from the Pacific and Aotearoa.
How did you become involved in the automotive industry?
By chance. I have 18 years in the industry, starting out in customer service for a few years before moving into finance. My current role is 2IC and Sales Consultant at Gilmour Motors Suzuki, running the business when Emma is away. Cars and technology have always been an interest. I like learning different things about them and keeping up with what’s new. I briefly left the industry to earn my IT degree, before getting back to the cars.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Our team is awesome to work with, and every day is completely different. Suzuki is also really supportive - with training days and visits, and there’s always someone at the end of the phone if you have any questions.
I also enjoy being part of our Giving Back programme. We get to meet so many amazing local people doing great things in the community.
What’s your best piece of advice for someone looking to change their car?
There’s no pressure! Take your time. It’s important to find the right car for you. Think about your lifestyle and driving routine, and view and test drive as many vehicles as you need to, to make sure your new car will meet all of your needs.
What’s your favourite road trip? I love driving Central Otago, through to Queenstown and exploring quieter towns and backroads along the way. It’s incredible to have such breathtaking scenery just up the road.
Gilmour Motors Suzuki, Dunedin.1. 2. 3.
Having been a chef for 10 years, lockdown enabled Dominic Sturt to try new recipes for hand crafted, small batch preserves and goods. The commercial kitchen gained registration and the range of products grew to include sauces, relishes, curds and rubs.
A graphic designer worked with the business to find a logo that, as Dominic says, “incorporated our family values.” The result was a family crest; a wheat stalk representing food and the high quality ingredients used in A.R.K’s products while three wavy lines symbolise Dominic’s three children.
The name A.R.K comes from the children’s names: Alexie, Rylan, and Kenzie. They are already discovering their own love of food and cooking but, of course, are not allowed to help out in the commercial kitchen. As it says on A.R.K’s website, family is at the centre of everything. This is truly a business to relish.
The most popular products are currently the Passionate Fruit Curd and the eyewatering hot sauces. The curd has both a bold flavour and colour and is made with SPCA approved free-range eggs. Suggestions for its use can be found on the website and include mixing it with
yoghurt, dolloping it on top of your breakfast cereal or adorning a pavlova. Yoghurt may also need to be at hand if purchasing the Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce. Dunedin recently enjoyed the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but the Carolina Reaper red hot chili plant is not for the faint-hearted. In 2017, the Guinness Book of Records declared it the hottest chili pepper in the world. Caution is advised.
Christmas saw people purchasing the Spiced Rum Christmas Ham Glaze. The sugar-free American Mustard is another popular choice. While the warm weather continues, barbecues are catered for with a Flaky Lamb Seasoning and the Everything Rub. Whether it be chicken, pork, or beef, the rub has natural ingredients such as paprika, garlic, onion, and secret spices. The brown sugar caramelises the meat beautifully but, as Dominic warns, “it may burn when at a very high temperature so don’t use it when cooking on a direct heat source such as a grill plate.”
Gift cards and gift boxes are available and customers can subscribe to A.R.K’s emails to be the first to discover new collections and exclusive offers.
Dominic is passionate about his work. Visit the website - arkartisan.com - and try these flavourful products made with love, from his family to yours
A desire to spend more time with his family led Dominic Sturt to start A.R.K Artisan, based in South Dunedin.
Reimagined as a Prohibition Era speakeasy lounge, Le Salon Rouge at Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa has stories to tell.
“What the hell is that, and why didn’t I order it?”
That’s the reaction Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa manager Jeremy Samuels is hoping to provoke at the establishment’s new lounge, Le Salon Rouge.
The hotel has put considerable effort into the concept, which is styled on a Prohibition Era speakeasy lounge, wrapped in flair and carefully crafted storytelling.
With the previous incarnation, the 1789 Lounge, being closed throughout the Covid years, there was a desire to breathe new life and energy into the space.
“We wanted to use the new talent that we’ve brought into the hotel to create the next chapter of our food and beverage story,” Samuels says. “Le Salon Rouge was born from that process.”
Embracing the intimate space at the back of Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa, with plush textures and soft lighting, the lounge has a unique character.
That’s complemented by the drinks menu, with gin as the undisputed hero. Currently there are 70 on offer, with over third being locally distilled, including those from Central Otago’s own Broken Heart, Rifters, and Scapegrace.
And with the focus being on gin, at Le Salon Rouge they’ve devised a way of allowing patrons to go on their own journey.
Choose Your Own Adventure offers your choice of a selection of 10 gins, 10 tonics, and 10 botanicals at a fixed price.
“You can spread your wings and explore the wonderful experience that is gin,” Samuels explains. “And even within Queenstown there are some remarkable gin distillers, all foraging for local botanicals which is a really wonderful story.”
Those local stories are important at Le Salon Rouge. For Samuels, the Sofitel brand is all about storytelling, and that helped form the brief he gave the lounge’s
mixologist Mitch Corbett, and executive chef Lindsay Bennett.
Corbett, who’s been brought over from Sofitel in Sydney, has run with the concept. He devised eight signature cocktails that tell tales from Queenstown’s past and present, all named for classic 1920s songs.
There’s ‘Prospector’s Dream’, flecked with gold filament, and inspired by the early gold diggers of the Kawarau River. Or ‘Cruising Down the River’, referring to a mythological albino duck on the Arrow River that if spotted supposedly brings good luck. The cocktail features cognac washed in duck fat.
“Mitch is an artist, there’s no other way to put it,” Samuels says. “What he’s come up with is absolutely outstanding. They’ve all got a touch of animation, they all have a story to tell, and they’re all unique in their own right.”
The focus on storytelling also extends to the menu that Bennett has created. The
former New Zealand Chef of the Year was tasked with linking the local produce he is passionate about to the French storytelling of the lounge.
Le Salon Rouge’s easy to enjoy shared plates emphasise that local produce. Another hero of what’s on offer is their Le Goûter, a French cultural staple similar to the British high tea, with pastries and delicacies made by sous chef Imogen Liao.
“It’s more focused on the sweeter and the pastry side of things compared to a savoury high-tea,” Samuels says. “Le Goûter was originally designed to be enjoyed with a hot beverage, but if you wish to enjoy it with a glass of champagne or a cocktail we certainly won’t judge.”
Le Salon Rouge: Sofitel Queenstown Hotel & Spa, 8 Duke St, Queenstown.
Ripe - The Wānaka Wine and Food Festival returns to the shores of Lake Wānaka on Saturday March 18.
The date has been chosen by event organiser Nathan White to make the most of the settled weather in Wānaka at this time of year. “Not only is it one of Wānaka’s best weather months, it is also Otago Anniversary Weekend, so what more excuse do you need?” White asks.
Ripe will be held at Glendhu Station, within a 10 minute drive of Wānaka township and close to one of New Zealand’s most beautiful campgrounds, Glendhu Bay Motor Camp.
The panoramic lake and mountain views will be the backdrop for attendees enjoying wine and food supplied by Central Otago’s best producers.
Among the premium New Zealand wineries who will be pouring are Akarua, Amisfield, Cloudy Bay, Gibbston Valley, Misha’s Vineyard, Maude Wines, and Valli. These outstanding wines can be paired with some stunning food by local favourites like Hook, The Platter Share, Old Mates Smokehouse, and others. And keeping the crowd going will be live music, and some
very special guests in the Quartz Reef Masterclass Marquee including Joelle Thomson, Bob Campbell MW, plus a cooking demonstration by best-selling Christchurch authors Two Raw Sisters.
Tickets are selling well and are now into the final release allocation.
“The Maude Wine Lounge is almost sold out, and some of our masterclasses are on track to sell out, so the time to buy is now to avoid disappointment” White says.
Having been postponed in 2022 due to Covid restrictions, the festival is certainly on track this year to make up for that disappointment.
“We are striving to be known as one of the premium events of this type in the country,” White says.
“Our new event site coupled with such amazing vendors equals one event not to be missed!”
Buses will be running from the Wānaka town centre. Look out for the transport link on ripewanaka. nz, or just stay across the road at the Glendhu Bay Motor Camp.
• Ripe - The Wanaka Wine & Food Festival: Saturday March 18, Glendhu Bay, Wanaka.
A celebration of the best that the region has to offer, Ripe has become Central Otago’s premier wine and food event.
On this month’s Otago Anniversary Day the province will turn 175. To mark the occasion, Toitū Otago Settlers Museum has created the Journey to New Edinburgh documentary, presented by curator Seán Brosnahan.
What inspires you?
The many people I encounter who embrace life to the full, accepting their limitations while maximising their potential, and just getting on with all the challenges that life throws at them.
And what annoys you?
Half-baked history (which is much of what passes for history in public discourse). History is called a ‘discipline’ for a reason. It takes time and effort and diligent examination of evidence to try and work out what happened in the past. Everything is more complex than it seems at first sight and while history is ‘a neverending argument’, with a myriad of perspectives possible on any particular topic, you have to start by getting the nitty gritty details right. No doubt there will be plenty of errors in Journey to New Edinburgh but we have at least tried really hard to get our core facts straight and where we’ve missed the mark we welcome correction.
Can you recommend a book, a film, and an album (or song)?
For my book I’d nominate Man’s Search for Meaning by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist from Vienna, whose wife and unborn child, both parents, and a brother were murdered by the Nazis. He wrote the book in just nine days soon after his liberation from the concentration camp system. It’s a short but profoundly uplifting work. I visited the Viktor Frankl Museum in Vienna last year and came away even more impressed with the man and his spiritual insights.
For my film, I’d offer It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1946 classic by Frank Capra starring Jimmy Stewart. I’ve watched this film numerous times over the years. It never fails to deliver an emotional wallop and make me feel better about the world and my place in it.
For my album, I’d recommend Van Morrison’s 1986 masterpiece, No Method No Guru No Teacher, from his Celtic mystic phase. Van put out a great sequence of ‘moody-meaningfulmeditative’ albums in the mid-1980s and this is my favourite.
What’s the most important thing that you’ve learnt?
How frequently I am wrong. I have learnt the hard way many times that what I thought about something didn’t prove to be right. By the same token, when I actually do know what I am talking about, I can be quite forceful in my opinion.
Who do you admire?
Those who care for the poor, the sick, the unhinged, the unloved. I know that I’m supposed to do that too but it’s not something I’m very good at. So I really admire all the medical people, the social workers, those working for charities and big-hearted people in general who reach out and do the hard yards for those on the margins of society.
What do you love about where you live?
I love the magnificence of Otago’s widely varying landscapes and the richness of
the stories of those who have made this their home. There is something special about Dunedin too that just grabbed me when I came to live here. It’s something to do with the Scottishness, the underdog status, the being on the edge of a great ocean and at the bottom of the world. And the more I learn of its history, the more I love it.
Where/when are you happiest?
I am happiest when I am at Sunday Mass. As I contemplate the mystery at the heart of the ancient ceremony and receive the Eucharist, I am centered, humbled, and exalted all at once. It is the core of my weekly routine, a reset for another week of trying to live out my beliefs.
When (other than now) was the best time of your life?
I had a wonderful childhood in a large and loving family; so good that it is probably why I have never gone on to exceptional achievements in later life. That’s the standing joke among my siblings anyway; we missed the trauma and misery in early life that seems to be the well-spring of so many great artists and performers’ drive to succeed.
What are you looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to travelling to Japan later this year, my first visit to that country. After 40 years of pursuing a Japanese martial art, it will be great to see the culture and countryside of the country where it originated.
I think everybody would… … benefit from seeing another part of the world at least once in their lives. For one thing, you discover that everywhere is broadly similar to what you know at home, albeit with some intriguing points of difference and distinction that make going there worthwhile. Likewise with the people; we all share our essential humanity whatever nationality, ethnicity, or other characteristic might make us seem different. Everybody wants the same things fundamentally: love, security, comfort, fun, joy…
On March 23 1848, the immigrant ship John Wickliffe arrived at Koputai Port Chalmers, carrying 97 settlers from Britain looking to make a new life in what we now know as Ōtepoti Dunedin.
This date marks the founding of the Otago province, which we celebrate each year as Otago Anniversary Day.
In the subsequent months and years, many European settlers followed and helped build the Scottish and Presbyterian settlement of Dunedin.
Staff from Toitū Otago Settlers Museum have been researching the challenges and adventures of pioneers to southern New Zealand between 1848 and 1861, culminating in a new documentary film, Journey to New Edinburgh. The documentary traces the formation of the Otago settlement scheme from its genesis in Scotland through to the challenging realities the settlers faced when they arrived. Focusing on a number of individual stories, the documentary also explores what made these people leave their homes in Scotland and Ireland and why they chose to make the longer and more expensive journey to southern New Zealand over colonial settlements in the United States, Canada, South Africa, or Australia.
The documentary can be viewed in the Toitῡ Otago Settlers Museum Auditorium between March 23-26 , and later at toituosm.com
18 / Sponsored Content
Visitors will wander uncertainly across the foyer, unwinding scarves and shrugging off rain jackets, before approaching the desk in some confusion: ‘Are there butterflies here?’. Something about the polished granite foyer must seem at odds with the promise of tropical paradise.
Indeed, there are. Otago Museum has been operating a three-tiered butterfly house since 2007, importing its colourful occupants from Costa Rica and the Philippines. To ensure they feel right at home, the Tropical Forest is kept toasty – the mercury usually hovers around 28 degrees Celsius, and the air is humid enough to collide with as you step
through the door.
It’s very possible you’ll also walk into a blue morpho. This species is fond of swooping erratically near the entrance, clipping heads with its iridescent blue wings before spiraling away. Occasionally, a butterfly will even settle out of the air and onto an outstretched hand. They really know how to work a camera. Although known as ‘The Butterfly House’ in visitor short-hand, the Tropical Forest is actually home to a menagerie of animals. Parakeets converse loudly in the upper reaches, or survey you from the sky bridge; finches launch themselves from the railings, flitting over lush vegetation; and carp idle in the pond below. For true lovers of the exotic, there
are tarantulas and giant African millipedes.
With its cascading waterfall, balmy temperatures, and lush vegetation, the Forest is its own world and feels far removed from urban Dunedin. But there’s a different realm again beyond the exit, where the Tūhura Science Centre awaits. A tide of discarded shoes washes against the stairs that lead to its three-story slide, testament to their owners’ excitement.
Elsewhere, paper craft are blasted towards the ceiling on air currents, and a mirrored light show plays out in The Void. Learning happens through play in here, and time flies. You may need to break for lunch, but you won’t want to.
The staff at Tūhura Otago Museum’s front desk never know what inquiries they’re going to field on a given day, but one question is all but guaranteed.
Proudly presented by Three Parks, Wheels at Wanaka will welcome over 3,500 vehicle enthusiasts rallying from all corners of the country to exhibit their steam engines, tractors and farming heritage machinery, cars, motorbikes, trucks, earthmovers and so much more.
The success of Wheels at Wanaka can be attributed to an army of 200 plus passionate volunteers, working sideby-side to keep New Zealand’s vehicle history alive and to raise funds for the community. Charities of choice for 2023 include Cure Our Ovarian Cancer and the Wanaka Community Workshop (MenShed).
A family friendly event, there’s plenty for everyone, including Komatsu’s Kids Diggers and Kids Zone, markets, trades and demonstrations at every turn. Shopping opportunities include retail, food, coffee, and licensed bars with live music.
Buzzing with energy, Wheels at Wanaka is huge - a weekend is barely enough to see everything. April 7-9 2023. Register your wheels, buy tickets, or volunteer at www.wheelsatwanaka.co.nz
Wheels at Wanaka is set to return this Easter. With more than 25,000 patrons expected to attend, it’s on track to become Australasia’s biggest history-in-motion, all-vehicle event.
In addition to the non-stop Highlands Motorsport parade ground programme, Wheels at Wanaka 2023 will feature a number of action-packed specialist arenas including the Wanaka Powersports Dirt Pit, the Terra Cat Earthmoving Extravaganza, the CLAAS Harvest Centre - tractor, traction engine and truck pull competition, the Schist Enduro X competition and 4WD demos guided by the Shotover 4WD club.
Select from a range of roles, help raise funds for community groups and receive FREE ENTRY to Australasia’s biggest all-vehicle event. Learn more and sign up at:
www.wheelsatwanaka.co.nz
When the opportunity arose in 2021 to shift just a few doors up the street, Jono Palmer and Lucy Hunt jumped at the chance for a fresh start to post-Covid life.
The Trojan Holdings premises posed some new challenges for the sweet shop. Accustomed to cramming small shops full of delicious goodies, they had to work hard to transform a much larger, modern shop into a quirky old fashioned lolly shop with that touch of magic.
Fresh shipments of favourites and surprises keep arriving at Remarkable Sweet Shop.
With the help of designer Jess Stall, and joiner Nigel Molloy, they created a ‘shop within a shop’, with a cottagey weatherboard front wall constructed within the glass. As customers enter, they pass through the portal from new to old. As work progressed, they realised how much space they had to fill, and have utilised the high ceiling to erect a giant lolly tree in the centre of the shop alongside a fudge island creating a sense of wonder for children of all ages.
Three months of closed doors, lots of trips up Beach Street with trolleys full of lollies, and it was opened in August 2021. There’s still plenty of spaces to fill but you can be sure the magic will keep coming. With Fijian store manager Liz Kaloudau at the helm, Remarkable Sweet Shop still has its customary friendly service, free fudge tastings, and fresh shipments of favourites and surprises from abroad to pack into every nook and cranny.
add
www.arrowtowncurios.com arrowtowncurios
Muted tones are in order as both the trees and your wardrobe transition between seasons.
Don’t get caught out as the seasons gradually changealways take a coat. Even if you don’t need it, you know it looks great!
1. 2.
3.
All the leaves are brown
anne mardell antler blacklist cartel & willow coop curate
ketz-ke
leo+be
mardee
mink pink
nyne
nineteen 46 naturals
ricochet recreate stitch ministry staple + cloth staple the label silk & steel
tuesday
Dunedin is a creative city where arts, culture, and style are essential parts of the Ōtepoti experience. The fashion event of the year, the iconic iD Dunedin Fashion Show (March 31 – April 1) returns to the Dunedin Railway Station with runway creations from 54 designers. If your artistic tastes lie outside the mainstream, you’ll want to check out the line-up at this year’s Dunedin Fringe Festival (March 15 – 26). And in the middle of winter when the nights are longest the city lights up for the Midwinter Carnival (June 23 – 24) as lanterns parade the street, historic buildings turn into canvases for projections, and performers delight the crowds.
As the Wildlife Capital of New Zealand, Dunedin hosts the iconic New Zealand Festival of Nature (April 14 – 23) when wildlife viewing is near its best. The behemoth Wild Dunedin festival runs for ten days over the easter holidays and features about 100 events, both free and ticketed, from gin tastings to wildlife cruises and garden visits. As well as stunning wildlife, Dunedin is an academic, future-focused city. The New Zealand International Science Festival (June 30 –July 9) returns with a 10-day programme full of hands-on activities, panels and science shows across the city.
In Dunedin festival season doesn’t end with summer. Sir Rod Stewart, one of the bestselling recording artists of all time returns to New Zealand to play one South Island show (April 5) at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium alongside pop icon Cyndi Lauper and Jon Stevens. If drum and bass is more your vibe, then you’ll be pleased to hear Dunedin’s homegrown music festival Baseline (April 1) is back at Logan Park. The festival has a line-up of nearly 20 artists across two stages with international talent like Example, Hedex + MC Skywalker set to play some bangers.
In between the concerts and nature festivals, Dunedin will also be playing host to some world class sporting events, including the biggest sporting event in New Zealand history. This year’s Otago Rally (March 31 – April 2) is a part of the TER (Tour European Rally) World Series circuit and has attracted international competitors to the rugged roads and lush landscapes of Otago. Corral the rallies and head for the hills for all the dustflying, gravel-grinding action. Stick around a few days after the Rally for the T20 match between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka (April 5) at University Oval.
Winter in Dunedin is also promising to bring with it some blockbuster sport. The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ (July – August) is the biggest sporting event the country has ever seen and will be a once in a lifetime event. As the only host city in the South Island, Dunedin will be home to six group stage matches featuring 10 teams, including New Zealand v Switzerland on Sunday, July 30.
Round off your fix of sport with the epic showdown between the All Blacks and Australia for the Bledisloe Cup (August 5).
Relics Music: 82 and 86 St Andrew St, Dunedin
A huge amount of vinyl and more, and they also have a hifi store.
THE INTERNATIONAL RECORD STORE DAY ON APRIL 22 IS A CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENT RECORD SHOPS.
Relics Music owner Dave James says that the annual Record Store Day is the shop’s biggest day of the year. It’s even bigger than Christmas for the retailer.
Since being launched in the US in 2008, the day has become an international event with over a thousand outlets participating. As well as shining a light on the independent retailers who have passionately kept record store culture alive, it is a platform for sought after exclusive releases on vinyl.
Record Store Day is one of a number of reasons for the renaissance of vinyl over the last decade or so, James reckons.
“It was one of the reasonably major factors in that,” he says. “And now it’s just an event that customers really enjoy. It helps promote buying physical products in general, and locally as far as we’re concerned, it promotes our store and attracts a lot of people to the store on the day.”
As well as ordering a selection of the Record Store Day releases, Relics also regularly have a sale to coincide with the event, drawing in even more customers.
It’s the day when they see all of their regulars in the shop, along with some who have made a special trip from out of town. James says there’s also the interesting phenomena of those who only visit for the exclusive releases on Record Store Day. But even for him, who’s worked in music retail in Auckland Dunedin since the 1980s, is frequently enticed by the special offerings.
“I’m enthusiastic about it as a punter for sure,” James says. “It’d be pretty seldom that there’s at least one if not five or six things that get taken home. But I buy them because I want to listen to them; I’m not a collector of things just to have them, I only want them if I can get some use out of them.”
James and partner Irene Hundleby took a gamble when they opened Relics in 2013.
At that time independent music retailers were withering due to their much larger competition, and the supposed death of physical product.
Somewhat miraculously that’s turned around over the subsequent decade. Renewed interest in vinyl has seen numerous independent stores opening around New Zealand.
While they serve as community hubs for music lovers as they always have, James is adamant that these days record shops are more appreciated than they’ve ever been. “They’re considerably more special to the people who go to them regularly,” he reflects. “You used to take it for granted that you could go and buy a record. In Hastings, where I grew up, there were three or four shops I could go to. As far as I’m aware there’s one used record shop there now. So people who are into them value them highly.”
• This year, Bird Dog by Dunedin’s Verlaines is an officials RSA release
Threes & Sevens: 136b Dee St, Invercargill
Opened recently above the Black Shag Cafe, with new and used records.
Bound Books & Records: 3 Church St, Queenstown
An independent store with a great range of both vinyl and books.
Vinyl Revolution: 32 Woollcombe St, Timaru
A recent arrival to Timaru, with new records, turntables, and gifts.
Rock N Rolla Records: 86 Spey St, Invercargill
The venerable veteran of vinyl purveyors in Invercargill.
Taste Merchants: 36 Stuart St, Dunedin
A vintage shop offers several bins of vinyl, both new and used.
The Record Keeper: 116 Talbot St, Geraldine
A new boutique vinyl store and coffee shop in Geraldine.
Tristan Dingemans and Rob Falconer are contemplating creative drive over a licorice tea at Taste Nature in Dunedin’s Exchange. It was in this space, in its previous guise as Arc Cafe, that Dingemans first performed under the Kāhu moniker in 1999.
At that time it was a solo excursion providing a more abstract platform than his band of the time did.
Perfectly balanced between tenderness and brutality, HDU were Dunedin’s leading light from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. The trio toured internationally, and produced a handful of masterful albums and EPs for the Flying Nun label.
Since then, Dingemans has kept making music, as Kāhu, with Mountaineater, and now as a trio again with drummer Rob Falconer
and bassist Sam Healey as Kāhu Rōpū This weekend they’re playing release shows in Dunedin and Christchurch for new single Juggling Realms. It’s an appetizer for an album expected to arrive later this year.
The title of a track recorded for that release - Paradigm Shift - perhaps captures where Dingemans is at creatively in 2023.
“I’ve started thinking about it differently, why I do it,” he muses. “I’m at this point where I’m making music because I feel I need to do it, and not because it’s like a career.”
He laughs that for three decades he’s been driven by music industry fantasies that he’d had as a 17-yearold growing up in Hawke’s Bay. Dingemans and fellow HDU members Dino Karlis and Neil Phillips moved to Dunedin to study, and also because of the city’s musical
heritage.
Now, despite never having been financially rewarded, he’s unquestionably contributed to that heritage - and continues to do so.
Falconer has also written his name in that history as part of Operation Rolling Thunder, while Healey performs solo as Cecil Turbine and runs a small studio.
“I’ve completely fallen on my feet,” Dingemans says of his fellow musicians. “And Sam is a very good engineer, so we’ve been able to record this for pretty much nothing.”
Kāhu Rōpū have been chipping away at the recordings for the album for a year and half. They’d love to be able to dedicate a block of time to recording, but other commitments don’t allow that kind of focus.
That can be a bit frustrating. But the
drive to do it is entirely self-generated rather than because a record label is cracking the whip.
“It is entirely for the love of it,” Dingemans reflects. “It becomes more and more like that I suppose. In the meantime, I think I’m writing better music than I ever have, which is why I want to keep sharing it.”
Later after further contemplation he emails some further thoughts, worried about coming across as a floundering artist. But Dingemans says he’s gradually finding a place where he can simply play and have the music land where it falls.
“A prayer-wheel of sound with no set trajectory,” he writes. “No plan. Just playing; because the music, simply, must be.”
• Tristan Dingemans is also part of Salon All Sum in the Dunedin Fringe Festival on March 18.
Making music for love, not money, is the driving forcebehind Dunedin trio Kāhu Rōpū.
This year’s Dunedin Fringe truly includes something for everyone, with stand-up comedy, theatre, live music, interactive installations, and much more!
Held in Ōtepoti/Dunedin, 2023’s programme offers audiences the chance to see new work from established and emerging artists from Aotearoa and abroad. The festival is delighted to welcome back international artists from Scotland, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia following the pandemic border closures. Dunedin Fringe provides a forum for artists of all abilities and art mediums to discover, explore, and nurture their creativity. The Fringe platform allows them to share their unique artistic voices with more people they might not usually have the opportunity to interact with. This artistic freedom also
EVEN over 20 years since it opened, Speight’s Ale House Dunedin still trades on the same ‘‘generous to a fault’’ approach it was originally founded on in 1999.
And at the Speight’s Ale House Dunedin, the beer is matched to a menu of equal quality.
Food has always been a major part of the offering, with a focus on Southern fare, hearty servings, and value for money.
The menu has something for every taste, with classics including seafood chowder, blue cod, lamb shanks, steak, venison, and vegetarian options.
And, of course, there’s a superb range of brews on offer, including the original Gold Medal Ale, the Triple Hop Pilsner, Distinction Ale, Old Dark, Empire IPA, and even a cider.
What more could you want from a Dunedin Bar & Restaurant!
translates to enabling the public to experiment and creatively explore however they choose. This year Fringe is excited to collaborate with Dunedin Pride during Dunedin Pride Month. From March 12-26 the Community Gallery at 26 Princes St will transform into the Dunedin Pride x Fringe Hub, providing an all-ages venue for collaborative programming that uplifts the local LGBTQIA+ community.
Dunedin Fringe also gratefully acknowledges the support of Creative New Zealand’s Pacific Team, whose grant funds are supporting the presentation of three spectacular exhibitions by Pasifika artists Ma’taria Pekepo, Rosie Roache, and Padma Naidu.
• Dunedin Fringe Festival: March 16-26. See dunedinfringe.nz for the programme.
The Dunedin Fringe Festival is soon to be back in full swing, providing a vital platform for artists to showcase their work and talents.(Love, Mum) is Cynthia Hiu Ying Lam’s autobiographical one-woman show.
After studying for a PhD, Dunedin crime novelist Vanda Symon returns with Expectant, the fifth in her Sam Shephard series.
By Gavin Bertram
For almost a decade, the character lived rent free in Vanda Symon’s head, a benign but nagging presence.
During that time, the Dunedin author was committed to postgraduate study, her crime writing career temporarily on ice. But an opportunity out of the blue had Symon revisiting the previous novels of her Sam Shephard series, making the recurring character impossible to ignore.
“She was always there slightly in the
background, saying ‘enough of this studying business lady, come and write more about me’,” she reflects. “Revisiting those books got her voice really clearly in my head again, and made me realise how much I love that woman, and how much fun she is.” We meet at a discreet cafe down an alley off George Street to talk about Expectant, the fifth entry in the Detective Sam Shephard series, and Symon’s sixth novel.
“The usual coffee?” the barista asks her, so it’s no surprise when the author reveals that the place gets a
mention in the new book. For as well as Shephard, Dunedin - in all its beauty, mystery, and darknessplays a central role in the series. While wanting to be the city’s biggest cheerleader, Symon suggests that she also makes a very strange kind of tour guide for the place through her writing.
“I dump bodies down alleyways; I’m always looking for places to put something nasty,” she laughs. “I love this city, so I like to portray the positive in it. The beautiful contrast is that I’m writing crime, so I’m
exposing a seedy underbelly, a dark side to the city that does exist.”
That dark side is certainly evident in Expectant. Detective Shephard, herself about to go on maternity leave, is thrust into a horrendous investigation involving the murder of a heavily pregnant woman and the forced birth and abduction of her child.
Certainly it’s a shocking set-up that’s almost unimaginable in sleepy Dunedin. Although gratuitous violence and graphic descriptions aren’t Symon’s bag, such heinous acts are a primary tool in any crime writer’s arsenal.
“It’s really important to find a balance,” she considers. “I describe things sort of perfunctorily so it’s just enough and the reader’s imagination takes up the work. I’m a squeamish reader and I don’t like reading about gore.”
Expectant takes place in a city shocked by such a harrowing crime, with the focus on the intriguing machinations of the police investigation. Always a relatable character, Shephard’s own pregnancy obviously adds a further layer of involvement and emotion to the plot.
Symon’s first novel Overkill took over four years to complete before its publication in 2007, as she juggled family commitments. It was the introduction to Sam Shephard, who’d grown up in Mataura and joined the police, before moving to Dunedin to become a detective.
The character was explored further in The Ringmaster (2008), Containment (2009), and Bound (2011), while Symon also wrote 2012’s Faceless, set in Auckland minus Shephard.
Following that book, the author did a forensic biology paper at the University of Otago. Her background in science (she’s previously worked as a pharmacist) meant that Symon was interested in how accurately science is depicted in crime fiction.
On invitation, the paper grew into a PhD topic researching how both writers and readers view how science is portrayed in the genre.
Initially, she was hoping to focus on Dame Ngaio Marsh, the Christchurch born writer who produced 33 crime novels over a 50 year career. Marsh was internationally renowned,
and bracketed with the likes of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Dorothy L. Sayers as one of the ‘Queens of Crime’. The New Zealand crime writing awards are named for her.
“She was on this global stage,” Symon says. “But she’d fallen off the collective consciousness of this country. I wanted to do something that honoured her. I wanted to look at the science that she put in her crime novels, because I knew she did a lot of research.”
While Marsh alone was not sufficient to formulate a PhD, she broadened the topic, surveying both writers and readers.
As well as allowing Symon to combine two things she loves - science and crime writing - the research also offered a lot of useful data, as well as many ideas that have been noted for future use.
But it hasn’t had a fundamental impact on the author’s own writing. Rather, the postgraduate study reinforced beliefs she already had about getting the details right.
“Before the PhD, I felt it was important for it to be accurate,” Symon says. “Both for the reader, and also for personal satisfaction, because I’m slightly perfectionist. The thought that I had something incorrect in there would just niggle me to death.”
The heavy lifting aspect of writing Expectant began early in 2022. Although postgraduate study and other commitments had dominated Symon’s life, the Shephard character had always been in her consciousness.
Particularly after a stroke of good fortune involving a UK publisher who loved the writer’s earlier novels.
New Zealander Craig Sisterson had thrust a copy of Bound into the hands of Orenda Books publisher Karen Sullivan in London. Having got so absorbed in the book on the train, Sullivan managed to miss her stop.
This encounter led to Symon negotiating with Sullivan for European publication of all the Sam Shephard books. The deal meant revisiting the series - thankfully to make them more Kiwi, rather than less.
“She was looking for fiction and authors that had a very strong sense of place,” Symon says. “Embedding my stories in our culture and mannerisms and environment, she loved that element
• Expectant will be available in New Zealand in the coming months. It’s already published in the UK; the ebook can be purchased from orendabooks. co.uk/product/expectant
and wanted more. International readers live vicariously through the fiction and other places, so dial it up.”
The rewriting largely meant adding context and description to antipodean things that could be alien to readers on the other side of the globe.
But it also put Shephard front and centre in Symon’s creative mind again, a perfect entree to getting stuck into Expectant
“Recurring characters are quite amazing, in that you follow them and they grow and develop,” the author reflects. “I’m discovering more about her all the time.”
Already ideas are percolating for the next novel, although as ever Symon is juggling multiple obligations.
Straight after the interview she’s off to coach beginners fencing at the Claymore Swords Club.
So far, the author has resisted the temptation to include the surely fertile territory of that sport in her books.
While that topic is off limits, ideas for her crime fiction can emerge from anywhere, including current events, and court reports in the paper.
While getting the science right is a critical concern in the genre, having some sense of the sociological reasons why crime happens is equally important.
“It makes you acutely aware of how everything is not black and white,” Symon considers. “It makes you aware that there are underlying reasons. You need to put that kind of complexity into your work, to reflect what real life is like. If I can help people realise that, then that’s a good thing.”
“I DESCRIBE THINGS SORT OF PERFUNCTORILY SO IT’S JUST ENOUGH AND THE READER’S IMAGINATION TAKES UP THE WORK. I’M A SQUEAMISH READER AND I DON’T LIKE READING ABOUT GORE.”
iD Dunedin Fashion nears, Sara Munro from Company of Strangers talks about the label and what it’s like creating in the southern city.
By Gavin BertramOF THE MULTIPLE facets of running a fashion label and corresponding retail outlet, there are two that Sara Munro particularly loves.
The first is with the physical creation of a piece after its design, and the recognition that it’s going to work. It’s a feeling anyone creative can relate to – the act of bringing to life something that’s previously existed only in the conceptual realm.
The second thing the Company of
Strangers founder loves comes much later, validating all those decisions that helped shape the final garment.
“At the other end is seeing someone walking along the street wearing it,” Munro says. “I was in Sydney once, and was walking behind this woman and realised she was wearing one of our dresses and had one of our bags as well. I said to my husband, ‘I don’t even know her!’ She’d actually invested her hard earned money in that.”
ON A QUIET Friday before students return to the city, the Dunedin designer is at her Company Store on George Street’s Edinburgh Row.
Bathed in the morning sun, the upstairs space has a relaxed, inviting aura. They’ve only inhabited it a few months, having previously been in a smaller, darker, street level shop opposite for a decade.
She wanted to slow down the retail experience, so customers could relax without distraction and actually enjoy the shopping experience.
In the store are Company of Strangers’ own timeless, sophisticated garments and jewellery, alongside other carefully selected brands.
The shift has meant that while the Company Store no longer has a street presence, it feels like something of an oasis away from the noise of traffic and pedestrians.
“We used to stand in our old store and look up at the light in here,” Munro says. “There were many reasons for wanting to move. Mostly, we’ve been making clothes for 14 years, and we take a lot of time and really consider each design. We wanted our retail space to reflect the time investment in the products, and the quality.”
The emphasis on quality has been a Company of Strangers hallmark since Munro launched the label in 2008. Although in retrospect it was inevitable that she would strike out on her own, the route to that decision was slightly circuitous.
Interested in fashion and other creative endeavors when she was young, Munro completed the Otago Polytechnic fashion design degree after leaving school during the mid-1990s.
Later she left Dunedin and gained industry experience in Sydney and Wellington, before returning to her hometown to work for Margi Robertson at NOM*d.
It was her dream job, but after seven years she decided to pursue another dream.
“The idea had been ticking away, so I went to art school,” Munro recalls. “I lasted for two weeks. I thought, ‘what are you doing? You have a child, you need to earn money’. And I started making bags and selling those, and jewellery. It gave me enough to live on. I can’t sit still for very long so it quickly snowballed into more.”
“I CAN’T SIT STILL FOR VERY LONG SO IT QUICKLY SNOWBALLED INTO MORE.”
ALONG WITH being creative when she was young, Munro harboured an interest in commerce.
An anecdote reveals something about both herself and fellow Dunedin designer Charmaine Reveley.
“I set up a market in the Octagon when I was a kid and sold painted pots,” she says. “And funnily enough, Charmaine did exactly the same thing! We obviously had this love of making something, and selling it so someone else can take it home and enjoy it.”
There was no revelatory moment that sparked her interest in fashion, but Munro remembers seeing Madonna on a music show and trying to replicate something she wore.
Rather than wanting to mimic the star, the exercise was more about trying to figure out how to make something. That problem solving impulse remains
central to the Company of Strangers’ ethos. “You’re constantly problem solving,” Munro says. “In the fashion industry, you’re constantly recreating and reinventing every time you make something.”
The three years studying fashion at Otago Polytechnic offered a good grounding in how to navigate the unpredictable rigors of the creative process.
While her friends at university seemed to have a lot of time to mess around, she was working almost 9-5 at the old fashion school on Dunedin’s Tennyson Street. It was fun, but it was also hard.
“It was live and breathe the course,” Munro says. “They really push you. It was hard but I loved it, and we had a lot of great lecturers.”
Further important education came when she gained real industry experience, and learnt a lot quickly.
ALTHOUGH Munro had a great foundation in the fashion business when Company of Strangers was born, there were still challenges. Early frustrations included being patronised during meetings with the bank, but those encounters were treated as challenges to be overcome rather than insurmountable obstacles.
“If you want to make something happen, you’ll make it happen,” Munro reflects. “If you need money you’ll figure out how to get it. The fashion business is a hustle, and it’s no different to any other hustle.”
That attitude served her well when she began making and selling the first bags, which were forged from vintage leather jackets.
The business soon grew from accessories and jewellery into a highly respected clothing label. Initially, the range emerged because Munro needed clothes herself. That motivation is often still the seed for Company of Strangers’ designs. The ideas are open ended though, and may be held onto for several years, or elaborated on in later collections.
“We’re not looking at what trends are, we’re making things that you can wear forever,” Munro says. “We’re designing things for next winter or possibly the winter after that, or the summer after that. If great ideas come up, we think ‘that was a good one, let’s hold onto that for later’.”
In the studio, she has worked closely with Amelia Hope for 10 years, gradually developing a unique design vocabulary.
Munro says that she is the big ideas person, while Hope focuses on the details. Their creative process relies on a lot of back-and-forth discussion as ideas are fine-tuned.
“Sometimes when we’re prototyping one design, it might get made eight times before it’s correct,” she explains.
iD DUNEDIN FASHION wasn’t around when Munro was studying design, but the annual event has been part of the Company of Strangers journey since the label’s genesis.
As well as regularly showing her new collections on the runway, she’s been on the judging panel for the iD Dunedin Fashion Emerging Designer Awards.
With the last few years of the event being Covid affected, and a return to its traditional venue at the Dunedin Railway Station, Munro believes this year’s iD will be huge.
“In Dunedin there’s not a lot of events of that scale that aren’t sports,” she says. “It’s always well attended because it’s something different, and celebrates the beginning of design with the Emerging Designers, and also the established designers. It’s a nice opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate design.”
• iD Dunedin Fashion: Dunedin Railway Station, Friday March 31/ Saturday April 1.
Someone recently suggested that Tex Houston should build some Bluetooth enabled speakers. While he hasn’t entirely dismissed the idea, the Dunedin designer makes a joke about a cheap portable speaker brand favoured by teenagers at the beach.
Because that idea of sound reproduction is the antithesis of what Houston’s boutique Tex Tone speakers are all about.
Having spent most of his life as a sound engineer in the studio and on the road, he has a wealth of experience in making things sound good.
Speakers in the domestic market, particularly those outside the hifi realm, generally don’t meet the criteria. Instead, Houston is aiming to design and build speakers that offer the sort of tangible dimensionality that high-end studio monitors do.
“When you walk into a studio and hear a song on studio speakers in a treated room it’s just mind blowing,” he says. “When a lot of people hear my speakers they go, ‘oh wow!’ They have a kind of 3D effect, like you’re a little more immersed in the music, a little more inside it.” Houston initially started working in sound when he was at high school and built some onstage monitors for a band that he was in for a period.
Later, he toured as sound engineer with Dunedin’s Netherworld Dancing Toys as they gained national prominence. He was also involved with the Fish Street Studio, and has recorded bands including the 3Ds, The Clean, and the Verlaines.
While he still does some studio work, mainly in remastering material for reissue on vinyl, Houston’s focus has largely switched to Tex Tone over the last five years.
The enterprise began when he spent a lot of time designing some speakers for himself. After much trial and error, he eventually played them to some impressed friends.
“Somebody said they’d love to buy a pair, and it sort of blossomed from there really,” he says. “I’d say half of the speakers that I’ve sold are through word-of-mouth or through friends who have already bought them.”
The Tex Tone range of speakers are designed and made in Dunedin.
After a lifetime working with sound, Tex Houston is now crafting world class hifi speakers at his Dunedin home.
As a result, customers as far away as Queensland and California are now enjoying their Tex Tone speakers.
When he began work on the first pair, Houston had a desire to create something that was not a simple box like most speakers are. He’d also discovered stacked plywood, which both looks great and has the density necessary.
Unhappy with his initial efforts with a jigsaw at home, a friend’s basic 3D drawing program and a commercial joiner with a CNC router were employed.
Further construction is performed at home, with materials and tools taking over the family living room. It’s here that Houston is happiest, especially in the design and prototyping stage.
“I’m not somebody who enjoys marketing or anything like that,” he says. “I’d far rather have my mess set up at home, with microphones and software and different drivers. That creative part of the process is what does it for me more
than anything.”
The Tex Tone range so far consists of the Classic Speakers, the smaller Console Speakers, and the new Classic Mini Speakers. These small, stylish speakers were a response to people saying they’d like something a bit more discreet. Now Houston’s working on some large floorstanders to further broaden the range.
“In a couple of years I may have half a dozen varieties,” he says. “This layered ply thing is a bit of a signature so I’ll probably stick with that. And because I tune them to my own taste or ear, they do have a personality. People seem to like them so I’ll continue in the same vein.”
Robin Morrison’s photography book The South Island of New Zealand: From the Road was published in 1981. A new edition will introduce the legendary volume to a whole new generation.
By Gavin Bertram
Matthew Galloway’s recent The Power That Flows Through Us installation explored the controversial history and legacy of the Clyde Dam.
Over 45 years earlier, photographer Robin Morrison had ventured to Cromwell to elegiacally document places soon to be lost to the monumental Think Big project.
Those experiences ingrained in the late Auckland photographer a deep love of the South Island - its landscapes, buildings, and people. So much so that he returned for a six month journey with his family in 1979, an expedition that resulted in the revered book The South Island of New Zealand: From the Road. Out of print since its initial small print
run in 1981, a superb new edition of the book has just been published.
A new essay in the book was written by Louise Callan, a friend of Morrison’s who was with him on that initial 1975 visit to Cromwell.
“I think it had a profound effect on both of us,” the Auckland writer and researcher reflects. “The thought that it would all disappear, the fact that those things were suddenly so transitory, I think had an effect on him.” Callan believes there were numerous reasons why the South Island appealed so much to Morrison. The place presented a landscape very physically different to that of the North Island, where much of his work as a photojournalist for publications including The Listener occurred.
And previous depictions of the South Island had largely been of the picturesque landscapes that are used to promote the country to prospective international tourists.
But hidden from view in those editions was the raw human experience of the people inhabiting the place.
“I think he found the way that people lived, particularly in the out of the way places, very different from what you’d even see in similarly out of the way places in the North Island,” Callan says. “He found something that hadn’t been captured up to that time. The earlier books were very pretty and didn’t have that kind of edge, that truth, that he was looking for.”
To do justice to such a vast subject
as the South Island, Morrison, wife Dinah, and their two young boys Jake and Keir, embarked on a full immersion experience.
The second-hand yellow Mazda Capella the family travelled in was part of the small advance from Alister Taylor Publishing.
When they headed south from Auckland in the winter of 1979, Morrison’s vision for the project was fairly nonspecific.
“I had no real plans other than I wanted to photograph the South Island,” the photographer later explained to the TV arts show Kaleidoscope. “Not the usual ways of simply landscapes and scenic views. That’s been done before, and I had no wish to repeat that.”
Flagstaff, a peak that looms over Dunedin, provides the cover image for From the Road. Morrison considered it “a very magic hill”, and his image of the stark tussock under a vaguely menacing sky captures that.
Alongside such charged, empty landscapes are photos of lonely buildings and vehicles seemingly stranded in place and time, denser built environments projecting something surreal and spectral, and intimate portraits of people.
Morrison had an affinity with all the subjects that he captured over that six month period of life on the South Island roads.
“All of them to me seem to have been treated with such respect, even if sometimes it will make you smile a little,” Callan considers. “There’s nothing to make people feel that they’ve in any way been lessened by the experience. It was all genuine, it wasn’t manipulative.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by artist Robin White in Callan’s essay. The painter had loaned the Morrison family her Kaitangata cottage during their journey, and she attended a seminar that the photographer gave in Dunedin.
“I think of him as being almost an anthropologist recording human beings,” White noted. “And what comes through for me from his photographs is a very real sense of warmth for human beings.”
From the Road is divided into sections covering The North, The West Coast, Canterbury, Coastal Otago, Central Otago, and Southland.
In all the varying landscapes there are also portraits of people gazing into the lens of a photographer who’s clearly disarmed them of misgivings.
There’s Alf Smart enjoying a drink at the Portobello Hotel, Bannockburn’s Jane and Ted Lawrence with their cats, Fred Flutey in his pauaencrusted Bluff living room. And particularly poignantly, Aramoana’s Tim Jamieson, who a decade later would be one of David Gray’s victims.
Only 2000 copies of From the Road were printed upon publication in 1981.
The following year it became the first photographic book to win at the New Zealand Book Awards, in the non-fiction category. Its success saw it become highly sought after in the decades since, with copies coveted, and various attempts at a reprint proving to be unsuccessful.
There has been considerable effort put into the new edition, which is published by Massey
University Press.
A year before his death in 1993, Morrison donated his collection of more than 100,000 images to the Auckland Museum.
The original Kodachrome slides from the 1979 trip in that archive were digitised for the new book and an exhibition. While some images from the original had been lost, photos from the same sequence were used instead.
Ultimately the result is spectacular, with Callan saying that it’s more like a new book rather than a new edition.
“Technology has improved enormously, and the way you can get the transparency onto a plate and onto a page has improved,” she says.
“It’s interesting lining a copy of the old book up next to the same image in the new book. There’s definitely a brightness and a clarity. It’s a little bit closer to what you might see if you looked at that transparency on a lightbox.”
When it was published in 1981, New Zealanders were seeing Morrison’s unique view of the South Island as it was then.
Now, there’s a gulf of almost 40 years between those images and the reader. How will a new generation respond to the photographer’s vision?
Callan is adamant the new edition is not an exercise in nostalgia. While some younger colleagues that she showed the book to viewed it as a slice of history, the place depicted in From the Road still exists.
“(Timaru writer) Owen Marshall and others have said that you can actually find those places and those people pretty much as Robin found them,” she says. “I’d love for people to actually take a copy of the book with them when they do their trip to the South Island… which I think not enough North Islanders have done.”
• The South Island of New Zealand From the Road, by Robin Morrison ($75 RRP Massey University Press), is out now.
by Neal Wallace
More Than A Game tells the story of Ben Smith's journey from club rugby to achieving international recognition through skill, determination, an unbridled love for the game, a commitment to training and a thirst for hard work.
Ben's story, told in a mix of conventional biographical narrative and through Ben’s own reflections, is an intelligent and inspiring look into the people, events, his values and drive that led to a remarkable career.
Tommy Spence is enjoying the lifestyle in Sydney.
So, how are you going? Feeling good, lots of fun things going on for me at the moment.
Where are you, and how’s the weather?
Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia. I have been living here ever since the transTasman border opened after the first lockdown in 2020. Australia was the first port of call for work opportunities after being trapped by border closures. Sydney is a wicked lifestyle city, easy access to nature while all the perks of city living. The weather is too hot for me, too humid, and the UV is crazy. Bring on winter.
What’s been keeping you busy recently?
I am still modelling here
and there but the market is a lot slower in Sydney in comparison with London or New York. I have been having a bit of a shift as of late.
Fashion photography has been keeping me really busy in the past year; I started working closely with an amazing photographer in Sydney as a lighting tech. He shoots all the time, we work on all the big jobs and do a lot of travel for work. I’m shooting my own stuff too!
Eventually the plan is to move back to London and follow the bigger opportunities; my partner Shanti and I really miss living in London but it’s hard to leave Sydney, the quality of life you can have
here is kinda unrivalled. I cram my spare time with lots of rock climbing at the local gyms or heading out to the Blue Mountains for some real rocks.
When you have visitors, where do you take them?
For my outdoorsy friends, the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney is a really special place. World-class rock climbing scattered everywhere and nice hikes too. Also the Royal National Park to the south of Sydney is great for day trips and easy access to fresh water swimming holes. What do you miss about New Zealand?
The mountains, my people, the weather, the pace, family pets, one finger waves at passing cars.
1977: Regent Theatre
“I definitely would have been the youngest person in the audience. It was on their Second Thoughts tour, and pretty much everybody else in the audience would have been students or that age group. It was an odd environment and not a big audience by any means, maybe 300 people if that. And me sitting down the back by myself, pretty nervous about the whole thing. It was only my second concert, the first being the Hues Corporation, so it was a bit different.
I think it was when they came out wearing white gowns and wandered aimlessly around the stage, and then hit the instruments all at the same time, which was really clever. I think it was Stranger than Fiction. They were still doing all their epics at that point - Under the Wheel, Another Great Divide which was only ever a single, and Nightmare Stampede which I don’t think they officially recorded. I’d never seen anything like it obviously.”
1984: Enz with a Bang
The 50th anniversary of groundbreaking New Zealand band Split Enz is being celebrated with a display at Hocken Collections. The Chills’ Martin Phillipps talks about his association with them.
“Then in 1984 we supported them on the Enz with a Bang tour. They made a point of coming as a whole band and introducing themselves to us, which was really nice. There was a look on the face of both Nigel Griggs and Terry Moore - both bass players,
both from Britain, and both looking quite similar. And also Peter Allison on keyboards who wasn’t a million miles away from Eddie Rayner as well. So there was this strange sort of mirror band and I think everyone was a wee bit perplexed.
That was a tough tour for them. Tim had already had success with Fraction Too Much Friction going on. We saw some weird stuff going on between the brothers, difficult politics. But they were so professional I don’t think the audience really picked up on it much.”
1999: America’s Cup Village
“There was the Bowie announcement on Nightline or something of him coming out to do the millennium show here, and how much he looked forward to playing with Split Enz. As soon as I saw that I rang Neil and said ‘we have to be on this too!’
And although the Bowie part fell through, they kept their word and The Chills were there too. It was a pretty rough Chills at that point unfortunately, not our best line-up, but still a real event.”
• The Split Enz at 50 foyer display at Hocken Collections ends on March 25. The Chills are preparing for a tour of Europe and the UK in June.
The late Storm Thorgerson designed many of the most iconic album covers in rock history. His credits include Pink Floyd’s massive selling The Dark Side of the Moon, which turns 50 this month.
By Gavin Bertram
Phone interviews with people in different time zones are often surreal experiences.
Like a 45 minute conversation with the Soup Nazi of Seinfeld fame at 4am, which certainly felt like a bizarre dream in the morning.
Or finally reaching the notorious rock journalist Nick Kent at his home in Paris, at 7am New Zealand time, with a deadline just hours away.
And many other occasions at 2am or 3am waiting for calls that never came from the likes of Muse, The Strokes, or The Clash’s Mick Jones.
But living in the antipodes, interrupted sleep and early morning stress is the price paid to snatch a little time with rock royalty.
Sometimes publicists are a little kinder though, scheduling the call for midnight; a time reasonably favourable in New Zealand, and also the UK, Europe, and the US’s East Coast.
It was just after midnight on a Monday in 2010 when I
called Storm Thorgerson in London, where he was out with family for a lunchtime art gallery visit.
The revered designer was heading to Auckland a month later, to be the keynote speaker at the SemiPermanent creative festival.
There he would cover a storied career spent making some of the best known album covers ever, including works for Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, 10CC, Muse, and Pink Floyd. Thorgerson, who passed away in 2013, and his Hipgnosis studio partner Aubrey Powell had a visual association with Pink Floyd that began in 1968. Over subsequent decades their work became synonymous with the British prog rock band’s aesthetic, including covers for 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon, 1975’s Wish You Were Here, 1977’s Animals, and 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Although Thorgerson had a reputation for grumpiness that extended to some New Zealand journalists in
2010, my conversation with him was perfectly amiable. It began with an inquiry about his involvement in London’s vibrant counterculture during the 1960s. “It was fantastic!” Thorgerson enthused. “It was the centre of all sorts of turnarounds and changes of opinion, and flower power and hippies. And especially the music, which was so vibrant then. I have extremely fond memories of my early 20s.”
He went on to explain how the influence of two Italian films - Antonioni’s L’Avventura and Federico Fellini’s 81/2 - had set his course for university, film school, and in turn graphic design.
Already a high school associate of Pink Floyd members, he worked on the cover for their 1968 sophomore A Saucerful of Secrets “through chance and circumstance”.
As Thorgerson reflected, at that point he didn’t want to be a designer, and it took several years for him to find his feet.
“You often need a lot of confidence to try and do something,” he said. “So it probably took at least to Ummagumma a year later before I felt I could design seriously. And then it took another five years after that to believe that I could run a business.”
Hipgnosis really hit their straps in the early 1970s, with covers for some of the biggest rock albums of the decade. There was Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and Black Sabbath’s Technical Ecstasy.
But it was the series of Pink Floyd covers that coincided with that band becoming one of the biggest on the planet that Hipgnosis and Thorgerson are best remembered for.
The Dark Side of the Moon with its
instantly recognisable prism artwork is one of the most successful albums of all time, selling 45 million copies. Wish You Were Here from 1975, with an equally distinctive cover, has sold around 20 million.
The latter was an example of Thorgerson’s particular penchant for creating seemingly impossible scenes in real life. Even when such ideas became far more accessible through digital editing, he still preferred truly engineering the fantastical.
“Some things that look complicated aren’t, and some things that look easy are complex,” Thorgerson mused. “I’m always amazed that bands actually take my ideas, because I think they’re kind of preposterous by and large. But you see, rock ‘n’ roll is preposterous, so I think it
kind of fits in a way.”
As we wrapped up, Thorgerson expressed genuine interest in New Zealand, asking specifically about the south and what Dunedin was like.
A few days after that interview, I spoke to New York rock memorabilia collector Rob Roth. A friend of Thorgerson, he’d been equally thrilled and appalled when given the opportunity to explore the designer’s archives and examine some of his work up close.
“I’ve yelled at Storm because he doesn’t take care of the stuff very well,” Roth related. “I’m holding the original album artwork for Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, and it’s just stuck in a drawer. It’s not even protected. But Storm said ‘who cares about that? The finished thing is the album cover’. ”
• Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon turns 50 in March. The anniversary is being celebrated with a lavish box set.
I’M ALWAYS AMAZED THAT BANDS ACTUALLY TAKE MY IDEAS, BECAUSE I THINK THEY’RE KIND OF PREPOSTEROUS BY AND LARGE.Photo: Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images
The 1866 Maungatapu murders near Nelson are a notorious chapter in this country’s criminal history. But there was a connection between that incident and robberies on the Otago goldfields a few years earlier. Richard Burgess was the leader of the gang of four who murdered five people on the track between Nelson and Marlborough. He’d earlier found trouble in Otago, having sailed to New Zealand from Australia, where he’d been transported to after criminal offenses at home in England. Burgess met various nefarious characters in Otago, including Thomas Kelly. The pair were arrested for a bungled robbery at Weatherstons, and were sentenced to three-and-half-years hard labour at Dunedin jail. There the embittered Burgess met Henry Garrett, recognised as New
1. When was the airshow that became Warbirds Over Wanaka first held?
2. What was the first Dunedin band to release an album of all original material?
3. Which large mammals were first released in Fiordland in 1910?
4. Near which southern lake is there a military base?
5. Last Words was the prison penned autobiography of which infamous Dunedin criminal?
6. What Southland industrial location uses around 13% of New Zealand’s electricity?
Zealand’s first bushranger, and the architect of an audacious 1861 robbery at Woodside Glen.
In the shadow of the Maungatua Range, Garrett’s gang held up 15 diggers returning from the Central Otago goldfields. Although dispossessed of their gold and tied to trees, the victims weren’t harmed and were even supplied with refreshments. Although he made it to Australia, Garrett was arrested and returned to Dunedin, where in May 1862 he was sentenced to eight years in prison. Later that year he and Burgess attempted to escape, winning 36 lashes each.
After a South Island wide crime spree, Burgess was hanged in Nelson in October 1866. Meanwhile, Garrett was in and out of prison for the rest of his life, succumbing to bronchitis in 1885 while incarcerated in Wellington.
7. Which Oamaru artist won the Supreme Award in the 1991 World of WearableArt with Pallas Athene?
8. Who, while playing for Otago in 1980, hit nine sixes during his only first class century?
9. The cast of The Flying Doctors included which actress who now resides in Otago?
10. Robin White painted which poet standing outside the Portobello Pub in a 1978 work?
• I can’t possibly be beat. (Muhammad Ali)
• Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. (Leonardo di Vinci)
• All great achievements require time. (Maya Angelou)
• Talkin’ loud and sayin’ nothing. (James Brown)
• In chaos there is fertility. (Anais Nin)
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