NZ Herald Summer Magazine 2018/19

Summer Magazine THE VERY BEST OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON IN ONE MAGAZINE

L I F E S T Y L E & E N T E R TA I N M E N T • F O O D & B E V E R A G E H O M E & L I V I N G • FA S H I O N & B E A U T Y • T R AV E L

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

INSIDE Lifestyle & Entertainment

Summertime… and the readin’ is easy Throughout the year, the New Zealand Herald’s suite of lifestyle publications entertains, amuses, inspires and informs our readers with their sometimes sassy, sometimes quirky takes on the world.

On Monday, bite titillates the palate; on Tuesday, Travel takes our readers around Aotearoa and the wider world. Viva reveals the best things in life – food, fashion, décor, beauty and more – each Wednesday; and TimeOut updates all things entertainment on Thursday.

Our weekend magazines, Canvas and Weekend, add yet another layer to our offering.

Producing these magazines doesn’t happen by accident: it requires the skills and talents of the country’s best writers and photographers, designers and editors. Their work is regularly recognized with awards from their peers, as well as the appreciation of our readers.

To celebrate the verve and depth of our lifestyle publications, we’ve gathered some of their best work from 2018 – selected by their editors – and showcased it in this bonus publication.

Check out the food section for BBQ and picnic recipes from bite, and our Summer Brainbender – 50 of the toughest questions from Canvas’s weekly quiz to test your general knowledge and your memory!

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How three dreamers convinced the biggest artist of the year to kick off 2019 by headlining two New Zealand music festivals First they broke his legs, then they told his parents to send him to dance classes: Mike Tyus tells how he got his big break at Cirque du Soleil Standing on the shores of Lake Pukaki with Mt Cook in the background, the last thing you’d expect to hear is Oprah Winfrey’s voice

Fashion & Beauty 25 Superstar model Georgia Fowler:

is she comfortable in her own skin?

27 Maggie Hewitt’s label isn’t just about looking good, it’s about doing good too

28 Waste not: The Formary’s Bernadette Casey stitches together innovative solutions for waste clothing

Food & Beverage

Home & Living

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31

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The past is another flavour: Auckland’s eating-out tastes have evolved From the pages of bite’s recipe book, ideas for your BBQ or picnic this summer

The next big thing will likely be … that there’s no next big thing

33 We all want to do it, but ditching plastic is harder than it sounds

Travel

Summer Brainbender

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35 50 of the year’s toughest questions

Travel magazine’s writers and friends wax lyrical on why we love travelling close to home

18 Why are a growing number of New Zealand families giving the middle finger to work and suburbia and skipping into the sunset ?

to test your general knowledge (and your memory)

Around Aotearoa

22 In the heart of Canton, Winston Aldworth finds

36 Get wet. Get fit. Ride the sands:

23 Faking it: how to fit in when receiving

40 Beaches, big bashes, bigger blowholes:

a booming Chinese city with rich history high-end service

what’s happening in Northland this summer the must-see’s in Bay of Plenty this summer

42 Beer, birds, bikes and more:

what’s up in Wellington over the summer

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Summer of How three dreamers Cardi B: landed 2018’s biggest artist Cardi B is the biggest artist of the year, and she’s kicking off 2019 by headlining two New Zealand music festivals.

How’d that happen?

Chris Schulz investigates

P

ato Alvarez was on holiday in Santorini. The music promoter was supposed to be relaxing in the Greek Islands, but he couldn’t help himself.

He checked his messages.

He’d received an email he had to share.

It was good news: he and his partners, festival promoters Mitch Lowe and Toby Burrows, had secured Cardi B, this year’s biggest artist, to headline two music festivals, performances that will be seen by up to 50,000 people this summer.

Confirming the Bronx rap superstar, known for No. 1 hits Bodak Yellow and I Like It, had taken a year of negotiations. The trio didn’t need to sign her: they’d already announced Atlanta rap juggernauts Migos and Australian solo superstar Tash Sultana, and ticket sales were going well.

But Cardi B is married to Offset, a member of Migos. They have a child together. “We were like, ‘This is our chance,’” says Alvarez.

So, when Alvarez, 32, received the email, which contained a signed contract, he couldn’t contain his excitement. He got Lowe and Burrows on a conference call.

Burrows was at a party when he picked up his phone. It was nearly midnight, and he screamed “F***! F***! F***!” back at Alvarez.

“It’s like you’ve won Lotto,” he says.

Lowe, meanwhile, was at home with his girlfriend, a massive Cardi B fan. The 28-year-old turned his phone around to show Alvarez and Burrows footage of her dancing around their bedroom in celebration.

Alvarez was by the beach. With a cold beer in his hand, he couldn’t stop smiling.

Landing Cardi B was the latest in a long list of reasons for the trio to celebrate. In just four years, their Mt Maunganui music festival Bay Dreams has become the country’s biggest, attracting 30,000 people. Next year, they’ve added a second leg in Nelson, attracting another 20,000.

Cardi B’s confirmation made them this summer’s hottest festival ticket.

If you want one, you’re out of luck: they’ve long since sold out.

But Cardi B meant something else: it confirmed the promoting trio meant business. They’ve moved into the major leagues, dealing with artists who charge $1 million or more per show, those who can command private jets as part of their contracts. “They’re next level,” agrees Alvarez. It meant they were serious.

“Are you picturing bottles of champagne?”

Lowe asks about the moment they secure an artist like Cardi B. He smiles, leans back in his chair, and says: “It’s a little bit like that.”

Drinking champagne is something you’d imagine music promoters do all the time.

In reality, Alvarez, Lowe and Burrows say they’re far too busy to indulge. continued on p6 ...

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LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

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LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT

Toby Burrows, Pato Alvarez and Mitch Lowe are putting on 300 shows a year from their home base in Tauranga.

PHOTO / Alan Gibson

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

... continued from p5

This year, as in the last few, they’ve put on close to 300 shows. This summer, alongside festivals like One Love, Good Vibes, Soundsplash and Sonorous, they’re touring acts as varied as The Jacksons, UB40, The Prodigy, Toto, and Blindspott.

They say they have many more shows, and several new festivals, yet to be announced. Each requires security, crowd control, bar staff, food vendors, site staff, insurance and more. They all need contracts.

There’s a lot of paperwork. “New stuff comes up every day,” says Burrows.

Business is booming as loud as the bass in Mitch Lowe’s car. As a result, their hours are well outside the norm. Based in Tauranga, the trio are often up into the night, working across different time zones. They’ll message each other about offers at 1am. “We’re taking our opportunities, we’re taking risks,” says Alvarez.

“We have such strong morals, that’s why I have no issue with it.

We’re going head to head, we’re playing by the rules, we’re paying the right money, and we’re smashing it.”

All three say they’ve signed acts while out eating dinner. “If I turned my phone off for a day, I’d hate to say what would happen,” says Lowe. “It doesn’t matter where I am. I could be out on a boat still doing contracts.”

Living that lifestyle comes at a cost. All three admit feeling the pressure. They’ve taken steps to prevent burnout. Lowe bought a lifestyle block “knowing that I’d have no other choice but to feed animals and go outside.” One of his goats is called Selena Goatmez. He recently took up high impact fitness craze F45. “My productivity now is probably twice what it was,” he says.

Alvarez, meanwhile, has moved his family into a large home in Papamoa with a heated pool and guest house. He doesn’t take his success for granted: when he first came to New Zealand, he was broke, and slept rough.

So he enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids. He owns a jet ski, and recently took up meditation. “Our business is like a Ferrari, but if my body is running like a Toyota Corolla, it’s going to burn,” he says.

Burrows, 37, and a keen surfer, meditates too. “There are some points it’s too much,” he says. “We’ve got so many things going on... it’s hard to sleep at night.”

Their team is growing too. There have been four new additions over the last four months. Soon, they’ll leave their pokey downtown office to move into a much larger building. Also joining the team is a personal assistant. “Our business is doubling every year,” Lowe wrote in the job advertisement, saying he was struggling to cope with the hundreds of emails he gets every day.

That growth, in the highly competitive live music industry, means they’re undoubtedly causing disruption. Are they stealing shows from other promoters?

THE BIGGEST ARTISTS YOU CAN SEE THIS SUMMER Here’s how they reply when you ask how many toes they’re stepping on.

Alvarez: “All the toes.”

Lowe: “Not in a bad way.”

Alvarez: “Change is good.”

Burrows: “In any industry, if you’re growing, you’re impacting competitors.”

Lowe: “We have such strong morals, that’s why I have no issue with it. We’re going head to head, we’re playing by the rules, we’re paying the right money, and we’re smashing it.”

Burrows: “We don’t talk badly about others.”

The trio say other promoters aren’t as fair, spreading rumours about them. “People are trying to say we’re doing bad business,” says Alvarez. It always comes back to them. “How fast does word spread in New Zealand?” says Lowe. They claim a “former partner” tried to book the same venue that Nelson’s Bay Dreams will be held in for three years in a row – a blatant attempt to cut them out of the market.

“We’re not being dirty,” says Lowe. “And there is a lot of underhandedness in this industry.”

“So, which one do you want?” Alvarez is looking at Lowe and pointing to one of two empty rooms at the top of a three-storey complex in Tauranga’s outer suburbs.

Lowe nods towards one room, and Alvarez gives him a thumbs up. “Sweet,” he says.

The pair have just chosen their new offices in their new headquarters, a huge slice of an industrial complex that they’ll soon move into.

It’s some distance from their squished open plan office in the middle of Tauranga, which they’ve quickly outgrown.

The sprawling three-level site has plenty of room for their current team of 17, and new staff they’re anticipating they’ll need to add as their business grows. There’s room for all their festival equipment, a front desk, and separate offices for the trio.

Upstairs is a recreation room where they plan on installing video games, a pool table and a new sound system to host artists.

Along with staff and equipment, there’s something else that will make the trip into their new digs: A poster on the wall of their old office. It’s black with white writing that contains five words, a simple quote from Brooklyn rapper Biggie Smalls: “It was all a dream.”

It is, says Lowe, their mission statement.

Their success hasn’t come overnight, but, after 10 years of grind, it’s starting to feel like a reality.

“It’s starting to mean something,” he says.

“Now it’s exactly what we thought it would be.”

Cardi B isn’t the only big name performing in New Zealand over the summer break. Here are three more heading our way.

Nicki Minaj at Fomo By Night, January 9, Spark Arena: The boisterous New York rap superstar tops a bill that also includes Lil Pump, Mura Masa and Kali Uchis. Expect plenty of songs from her recent comeback album, Queen.

Vince Staples at Rhythm & Vines, December 31, Gisborne: The Long Beach rapper has climbed his way up festival ladders to secure headliner status. Expect his New Year’s Eve set to be one of the rowdiest ways to see in 2019.

This article first appeared in Weekend Herald, 3 November. Since it was published, Cardi B and Offset have separated, and Migos will not be appearing in New Zealand.

W

hen Mike Tyus was 11 years old, doctors at the City of Los Angeles Children’s Hospital broke his tibia and fibula, shaved down growth plates and realigned the bones in his young legs.

They told his parents he’d need to wear a cast, spend time – three months, as it turned out – in a wheelchair before moving on to crutches and learning to walk again.

Then they said to take him to dance classes.

Nearly two decades on, Tyus could be walking with a limp – a permanent reminder of the childhood illness which caused him immense pain and nearly crippled him. Instead, he’s now an in-demand contemporary dancer who’s travelled the globe with world-leading circus company Cirque du Soleil.

He’ll visit New Zealand early next year to star as The Trickster in Cirque’s Kooza, a show he helped create 10 years ago and starred in for four.

Standing outside a theatre in Beverly Hills as he talks, you can almost hear Tyus shaking his head in disbelief as he reflects on his journey working against the vulnerabilities – the limitations – of his own body.

A keen soccer player, he’d just hit double figures when he was diagnosed with Blount’s disease, a growth disorder of the shin bone (tibia) that causes legs to become bowed. He was in intense pain and it was decided that surgery was best.

“Dance came into the picture when I needed to find something to keep me strong,” says 29-year-old Tyus. “I was always interested in dance; I improvised dance with my babysitters, making up routines to Michael Jackson.

Dance classes helped me gain strength but it also gave me purpose and passion.”

It became a vocation for Tyus, the eldest of five children raised in a working-class household in Temple City, LA. He says strained

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

financial circumstances meant his family faced real challenges and moved a lot. That changed when his great-grandmother gave them the family home and Tyus’ father, an ironworker, eventually started his own business.

So, maybe that’s where his own determination comes from and Tyus still needs every bit of it.

There’s continued pain; he has to be more careful of injury than other dancers of his age and experience. Last year, Tyus did a backflip – “something I’ve done 100 times before” – felt a twinge, went for a walk along the beach and collapsed when his cracked knee broke all the way through.

“It’s a constant battle against my nature; a challenge to do what I want to do but, in life, there’s always something to be challenged by or something to overcome and when I’m in the midst of that, I remind myself of what I’ve survived so far and that ushers in a new sense of strength.

“It might make me rethink what I am doing but I love it so much and it has changed my life for the better that it re-invigorates me.”

One of the co-founders of the dance group the Urban Poets, Tyus had already toured the world when his grandmother told him she could see him performing with Cirque du Soleil. He thought the idea far-fetched – after all there was a strong theatrical element as well as dance to what the company did – but then his agent put him forward for an audition.

“I went, more or less, to keep my agent happy. I never expected to get in.”

What does he want to audience to feel at the end of the show?

“I want them to have a sense of awe and a renewed appreciation for what’s possible in their own lives.”

This article first appeared in TimeOut, 24 November

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LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT

First they broke his legs, then they told his parents to send him to dance classes

Mike Tyus tells Dionne Christian how he got his big break at Cirque du Soleil

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT

ON THE SET WITH OPRAH, REESE AND MINDY Siena Yates takes time out in the South Island Standing on the shores of Lake Pukaki with Mt Cook in the background, the last thing you’d expect to hear is Oprah Winfrey’s voice over a megaphone, yelling something about a “tuna-fish sandwich!”

But she’s here – despite the fact that it’s her day off – simply because she wanted to take in the scenery.

And this is Pukaki on an off day; it’s raining and the wind is almost as relentless as the sandflies. A crew member sighs: “We’ve had extreme conditions.”

But all the big names are on the set of A Wrinkle in Time none the less.

Oprah, Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon. Even acclaimed director Ava Duvernay stops by to shake hands and exclaim: “Look at us Americans, all cold with our handwarmers and tissues.”

For some reason, this set feels completely different from any other.

Maybe it’s the Kiwi setting. Maybe it’s because the majority of faces are brown and female, or because there are so many kids – all of whom have personalities beyond their years.

Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that nine-year-old Deric McCabe has just run into the catering tent yelling, “excuse me beautiful people” to organise a birthday surprise for a crew member. Or because 15-year-old Storm Reid is dancing with Duvernay, and Witherspoon looks like a fairy spinning in the field.

It’s a cast full of superstars let loose in a place, which Oprah goes so far as to call a “living, breathing homage to all that is God”.

While it may have been New Zealand that drew Oprah to the project – “New Zealand is like another

world, I feel wholly, sacredly blessed to be able to be here” – it was the story and the women involved which sealed the deal.

A Wrinkle in Time is based on a book of the same name about a young girl finding her inner strength, learning to love herself and doing something extraordinary as a result.

More so, it’s about believing in yourself and the power of pursuing your dreams. In a beautifully bizarre case of life imitating art, that’s how the film’s producer, Catherine Hand, got the film made.

At 10 years old, she wrote a letter to Walt Disney to get him to turn Wrinkle – her favourite book – into a movie.

She never sent it, so when Disney died she pledged to make it herself when she grew up.

A full 50 years later, she’s here, looking up at Mt Cook saying, “I never gave up the dream”.

“It’s just a blessing because all those years, the one thing I kept believing was if I found the right team it would make a fabulous film. And I really do believe [this is] the right team,” she says.

“I think there’s something guiding this... clearly it’s a time where the world seems to be at odds with each other – a wonderful time for a message of hope and courage and love as a way to fight back darkness.”

Hand’s main motivation was to tell a story in which “a daughter could do something the father couldn’t” and “a young girl could save the universe”, filled with ideas of differences and tolerance.

To that end, bringing Duvernay on board was a no-brainer. The Selma director is known for her diverse casts and telling the stories of people of

“All those years on the Oprah show and now with my network, my magazine...

I did it for 25 years on the show. It’s the same message: Believe, believe, believe you can do it, there’s a power within you.” colour; the obvious choice to bring the 1962 story to a 2018 audience.

Her first order of business was diversifying the cast, a task which was surprisingly easy.

“I couldn’t believe it. When I sat down with Disney... I said, ‘well I don’t make movies with kids and I really care about people of colour and there aren’t any in the book, so why are you asking me?’

“And they said: ‘Imagine the world that you can create and imagine the story if you could tell it the way that you wanted,’” says Duvernay.

“I think that’s why they called me, because they knew I would do it this way. They’ve put together this new team over there that’s like, ‘let’s reflect the real world’... they’re putting their money where their mouth is – or money where their heart is.”

She also brought in Oprah, Witherspoon and Kaling to play a trio of magical beings who lead the children in their adventure, known as Mrs Which, Mrs Whatsit and Mrs Who. Oprah came aboard when she heard her friend Duvernay was shooting in New Zealand and wanted to tag along, so Duvernay figured she may as well try her luck offering Oprah a role.

“It was New Zealand first, but... who doesn’t want to play a supernova born of the stars, who’s wise and who’s been here for several millennia?” Oprah says.

“My character is a cross between Maya Angelou, Glinda the Good Witch and myself. Sometimes I’m saying things about intention and the darkness spreading and ‘hold on and have faith in yourself’ and I feel like, gosh, I’ve said those words before.

“All those years on the Oprah show and now with my network, my magazine... I did it for 25 years on the show. It’s the same message: Believe, believe, believe you can do it, there’s a power within you.”

It’s a message which even applied to one of the cast members – comedic and improv actress Kaling will be the first to tell you she was an unexpected casting choice.

“It took me a while to understand why [Duvernay] saw me in this role, just because of my reputation – I’ve never done anything remotely like this.”

Duvernay always had her in mind, partly because casting Kaling – who is Indian-American – was an opportunity to expand definitions of diversity beyond black and white, to include more people of colour.

But it was more that Duvernay needed someone who “could add a little sparkle to it – because she only speaks in quotes, you can’t just have a

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straight, dry actress. They need to have a little sparkle and [Kaling] has that.”

Casting the kids, however, posed the bigger problem: “I don’t feel good with them, I feel awkward with kids, I don’t know how to talk to them,” says Duvernay.

“Let me tell you this: I’m a 44-yearold woman who told my mother when I was nine, ‘I do not want kids’. I just don’t want them. My legacy I will leave in the world will be my films, which are like my children.”

But the kids she did find in the end are special, in that they’re almost disarmingly mature.

Reid talks about inspiring a generation of girls of colour and McCabe commands a room – according to Duvernay – “like a 27-year-old man going to the club”.

The film is also a departure for Witherspoon, known for roles in romantic comedies and dramas. “I don’t get to make a lot of fantasy movies,” she says.

It was one of the things that drew her to the film. That, and the chance to work with Duvernay to tell a story she’s grown up with.

“I loved the book when I was a little girl and my older kids have read it and it really spoke to them as well. I think it’s got a great message for everybody; it’s about using the goodness to blot out the darkness and that’s a metaphor for – internally, every single one of us has to fight to see the good in everything every day, and I think that as a child it was this amazing sort of escape from whoever you think you are.

“It’s just a matter of what you put your mind to that can create a new opportunity or a new world for you.”

This article first appeared in TimeOut, 5 April

NO WAR NO NUCLEAR LOVE IFURNITURE

LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

FOOD & BEVERAGE

SPINACH FROTH AND BANANA STEAK

HOW AUCKLAND USED TO EAT Kim Knight steps back in time to track Auckland’s gastronomic progress

T

he past is another flavour.

It is brains with snails under a pastry shell.

Avocado and smoked mussels under a Stilton sauce.

The menu is in French, but the food (writes one 1980s’ restaurant critic) will be delivered by a “Sharleenaccented person”.

How did Auckland used to eat?

The research centre on the second floor of the city library preserves our gastronomic heritage. A mille-feuille of magazines. Pristine but out-of-print cookbooks. Restaurant reviews from the days when coffee was 50c a cup and Marlborough riesling $7 a bottle.

In 1975, The Air New Zealand Guide to Dining in Auckland featured menus from 38 restaurants and almost as many typefaces. The city ate steak at Tony’s (all mains served with assorted salad or spaghetti bolognese) and avocado at Clichy ($1.40, served with vinaigrette and black pepper, reservations essential).

There was nothing new under the lunchtime sun. Four decades before Gwyneth et al scooped kelp noodles out of mason jars, The Belly Button sold “nudeburgers – for an hourglass figure, with mixed salad but without the bun or fries”.

Back then, crayfish was called lobster (the thermidor at Mt Wellington’s Waipuna Lodge would set you back $65 in today’s prices) and diners had to know their meuniere (butter) from their mornay (butter and cheese).

Hobson House Restaurant was (shock!) in Parnell. It served Settlers beef casserole, Logan Campbell scotch fillet and (horror!) “Waitangi” ham steak.

The menu at Ramarama’s Boomerang Restaurant included a message

Auckland’s Picasso Coffee Lounge, 1961. PHOTO / Rykenberg Collection, Auckland Libraries

reminding patrons “dining is a leisurely art... many of our main courses can take 30 minutes or more from the time you actually place your order”.

It is unclear how many customers were tempted to wait for the Steak Africaine, served with banana and horseradish sauce ($4.20), but they could wash it down with orange, grapefruit or pineapple Raro.

The past is another flavour and sometimes the same flavour. In 1990, Restaurant Dolder advertised a pork steak. It was stuffed with banana.

The Auckland Restaurant and Menu Guide 1989/90 “premier edition” listed 64 places to wine and dine. Top of the Town, on the 14th floor of the Hyatt

Hotel, was a three-time Restaurant of the Year winner. Its six-course degustation ($132 in today’s figures) included spinach froth with fine slices of radish and curry-flavoured eggplants.

Lamb fillet was “encircled” by kumara and john dory was heightened” by anchovy sabayone [sic].

New Zealand was, said guest writer Allyson Gofton, finally beginning to establish its own cuisine: “Ours is the nuclear-free, no fall-out produce... at last we are a nation where the bar-beque [sic] has become more than steak and sausages.”

It was the decade of poaching (baby salmon) and smoking (chicken, adult salmon and customers). Beauchamps

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offered non-smoking tables “by request”. The guide noted that at Sarmajaz Restaurant, “Their motto is ‘if the customer wants something, we will provide it’, hence their services include a limousine and handicapped toilets.”

Restaurant reviews ran to pages and pages and Metro’s Warwick Roger skewered more than the food: “Just then a large party burst into the restaurant and took up the central table.

The women, who I took to be hairdressers or perhaps models, were dressed in what might well be the height of fashion of a sort – all silver and gold and tinsel and glitter – and were accompanied by men who were of the type who favoured shirts open continued on p12 ...

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

FOOD & BEVERAGE Auckland’s Picasso Coffee Lounge, 1961.

Photo / Rykenberg Collection, Auckland Libraries

Auckland’s Picasso Coffee Lounge, 1961.

Photo / Rykenberg Collection, Auckland Libraries ... continued from p11

to the navel to expose macho chests and gold chains. They bore magnums of champagne. All looked exceedingly jet set (or at least jet-prop set) and beautiful until they opened their mouths – which didn’t take very long.”

By the time Brian Phillips wrote the 1997 Good Food Guide to Auckland, the city heaved with more than 1000 restaurants and cafes.

Phillips opened his guide with a plea: “Smokers should be physically segregated from non-smokers”. He went on to bemoan the increasingly widespread practice of charging extra for vegetables, 100 per cent markups on wine and certain waiters in Ponsonby “where they still seem to believe they are doing you a considerable favour by serving you”.

Cibo boasted “more cell phones per square metre than the Telecom building” and The French Cafe menu included Hainanese chicken with udon noodles and chilli-garlic soy.

Simon Gault (at Gault’s on Quay) glazed his lamb racks with mango and cloves; Mikano’s ravioli of john dory with sauteed eggplant and red wine butter was “rather arty”.

Only four of the top 10 restaurants

New bars and restaurants in central Auckland are as common as cappuccino.

The problem is they seem to vanish as quickly as the milky froth on top. from the Cuisine Restaurant Guide, Auckland 2000 survive today – Antoine’s, Cibo, O’Connell Street Bistro and The French Cafe. Editor Lauraine Jacobs stated that, at the time of publication, there were more than 1600 premises licensed to serve food and beverages across the city.

She details some 95 restaurants and cafes. Paramount serves an “emerging signature dish” of scallops on baba

ganoush; Albany’s Totara offers “some real surprises” with a dish of braised ox cheek with foie gras and a fruit nachos dessert.

At Kamo, a “funky island-style bar on K Rd, there’s evidence of a Pacific thrust “unequalled elsewhere in the city” with ika mata and a palagi version of palusami, “in which cabbage leaves are filled with a mixture of corned beef, tomato and coconut and baked in the oven”.

Eating at SPQR (which made the top 10 cafe list) was “rather like being in a smoky bunker, but it is an experience many regulars and night-owls return to. This is one of the coolest places to go in the city... it’s become a Ponsonby institution.”

That same year, Herald reporter Libby Middlebrook wrote: “New bars and restaurants in central Auckland are as common as cappuccino. The problem is they seem to vanish as quickly as the milky froth on top.”

One study had shown only 21 per cent of the Ponsonby, Herne Bay and Devonport bars, cafes and restaurants trading in 1990 had survived into the new millenium. Median ownership was just 20 months. But that didn’t –

and doesn’t – stop new entrants from trying.

The New Zealand Restaurant Association recently released its 2018 Hospitality Report. There are now 6741 cafes, restaurants, takeaways, pubs, clubs, bars, taverns and catering businesses in Auckland – 957 of those opened (and 702 closed) in the last year alone.

All hospitality sectors are growing.

Auckland is the behemoth, but there are 2166 outlets in Canterbury, 1872 in Wellington and 1515 in Hamilton.

Year after year, New Zealanders increase their hospitality industry spend. In the year ending March, national sales hit $11.2 billion, a 3.6 per cent increase on the previous year.

According to Statistics NZ, 26 per cent of all food spending is on restaurant or ready-to-eat meals.

What next? The Restaurant Association surveyed its members for the coming year’s hottest food trends. They included healthy foods, ready to go meals, veganism, industry disruptors (like Uber), traceable ingredients – and gin.

This article first appeared in Canvas, 20 October

From bite, sizzling recipes for your summer bbq and cool ideas for a picnic platter

BBQ fish tacos

(Serves 4) Jan Bilton

For the sauce ½ cup Mayonnaise ¼ cup Plain yoghurt 1 small Shallot, finely diced ¼ tsp Chilli pepper, ground For the extras 6 cups Crunchy lettuce, shredded 1 Avocado, diced 4 Tomatoes, sliced 8 Taco shells 1 Lime, cut into wedges For the fish 600 g White fish fillets, skinned and boned 1 can Sprayoil,useasmuchasneededto coatfishand togreasebarbecueplate 1 tsp Lemon pepper, use up to 2 tsp

1. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce. Prepare the extras and place aside.

2. Cut the fish into pieces to fit the taco shells. Spray with oil and season well with the lemon pepper.

3. Preheat the barbecue and spray the barbecue plate with oil. Cook the fish about 2 minutes each side depending on the thickness.

4. Just prior to serving, heat the taco shells either on a rack over the barbecue or in the oven.

5. Fill with the lettuce, avocado and tomatoes, top with a little sauce, then the fish and a little more sauce. Serve immediately with a lime wedge.

Herby barbecued eggplant (Serves 4) Jan Bilton ½ cup 2 Tbsp 2 ½ tsp 1 medium

Lemon infused olive oil Lemon juice Garlic cloves, crushed Dried oregano Eggplant, stem removed

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients and stand for an hour to allow the flavours to blend.

2. Cut the eggplant into 1cm-1.5cm thick slices lengthwise.

3. Brush both sides well with the olive oil combo.

4. Barbecue on the grill or hotplate for about 2-3 minutes each side, until tender.

5. Serve as an accompaniment or top with dollops of fresh mozzarella to make a tasty vegetarian meal.

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FOOD & BEVERAGE

Nice summer salad (Serves 4) Warren Elwin 4

Tomatoes, of various colours (or 1 punnet coloured cherry tomatoes), use up to 5 1 splash Red wine vinegar 1 splash Olive oil 12 small New potatoes, steamed until tender then cooled 3 Baby cucumbers 4 Eggs, soft-hard boiled, peeled 2 Spring onions 1 can Pam’s tuna, in olive oil, use up to 2, small cans ½ Lemon, use the zest and juice only 20 Kalamata olives 1 sprinkle Dill, or tarragon or parsley 8 White anchovies, see note below

Barbecued spring lamb rumps and spring vegetables (Serves 4) Kathy Paterson Green herb dressing 1 large handful Flat leaf parsley leaves 1 large handful Coriander leaves 2 Springonions, finelychopped 1 clove Garlic, new season, peeled and roughly chopped 1 Lemon, finely grated zest only 1 pinch Dried chilli flakes, a generous one 125 ml Olive oil 2 Tbsp Red wine vinegar

1. Cut tomatoesinto even segments(or halvecherrytomatoes),sprinkle with sea saltflakes,drizzlewith a splasheach of vinegarandoliveoil andleaveto marinate for30minutes.

2. Cut potatoes andcucumber intoevensized wedges, cuteggsintoquartersand thinlyslice spring onions.

3. Tomake a quickdressing,drain thejuices fromthe tomatoesintoa screw top jar. Add theoil fromthecanoftuna, lemonzest and juice andshakewellto combine.

4. Toserve,evenly arrange potato,tomato, cucumberand olivesacross4 plates.

Topwithflakychunks of tuna, egg, spring onionandpicked dill.Garnish with white anchovies,season with freshly ground black pepperanddrizzlewith thedressing.

Spring lamb 3 Spring lamb rumps, about 200g each, trimmed, at room temperature 1 drizzle Olive oil, for rubbing

Spring vegetables 250 g Baby carrots, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise 250 g Baby purple carrots, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise 2 Tbsp Olive oil 16 Asparagus spears, choose thin ones, trimmed 1 Lemon, for squeezing 3 handfuls Rocket leaves, or other small edible greens 1 small handful Mint leaves, shredded 1 handful Toasted hazelnuts, skinned and roughly chopped 1. For the green herb dressing, place the herbs, spring onions, garlic, lemon zest and chilli flakes in a food processor and roughly chop. With the motor running,

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Thai watermelon salad (Serves 4) Annabel Langbein

2.

3.

4.

5.

slowly drizzle in the olive oil and lastly the vinegar. Season with salt. Store in a screw-top jar in the fridge until needed.

Heat a barbecue grill until hot. Rub the lamb rumps with olive oil and place on the hot grill. Grill for 10 minutes, turning once, for pink lamb. Place on a warmed plate, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cover loosely with foil and a clean tea towel and leave to rest for 10 minutes while you barbecue the vegetables.

Lower the heat on the barbecue grill to medium-hot. Place the carrots in a large bowl with the olive oil. Season and toss well to coat. Grill, turning regularly, until tender or cooked how you like them.

Remove and place on a serving plate.

Add the asparagus to the bowl and toss the spears in any remaining seasoned oil in the bowl. Place on the grill and grill until tender, 2-3 minutes for thin spears. Remove and add to the carrots.

Squeeze over lemon juice to taste. Top with the rocket leaves, shredded mint and hazelnuts.

Toserve,slicethelambrumpacrossthe grainfortendermeatandarrangeonthe vegetables.Drizzlewithsomeofthegreen herbdressingandservetheremainderina smallbowlforpassingaround.

For the salad ¼ head Iceberg lettuce, torn into chunks ¼ small Watermelon, finely chopped into 2-3cm chunks ¼ cup Roasted salted peanuts ¼ cup Coconut flakes, toasted 1 Spring onion, finely angle-sliced 20 Mint leaves, torn

For the fat-free chilli dressing 1 Tbsp White vinegar, or rice vinegar 2 tsp Fish sauce 2 tsp Honey ½ Long red chilli, finely angle-sliced, or more to taste 1. To make dressing, place all ingredients in a jar and shake to combine.

2. To make the salad, arrange lettuce on a platter, top with all the other salad ingredients, drizzle with dressing and serve.

Prawn and corn tacos with coriander and lemon mayo 1. In a pot of boiling water, cook the prawns for 2 minutes until they turn red.

Refresh in ice water. Peel the shells off the body and devein the prawns. Set 16 large Prawns, shell-on, heads off aside.

2 Corn cobs 2. Cut the corn in half and char on all sides 2 Avocados using a barbecue or gas flame. Once 2 Lemons, use the zest and juice charred, run a knife along the cob from 1 Garlic clove, minced top to bottom to get the kernels off.

1 bunch Coriander leaves, chopped (reserve some leaves for garnish) 3. Cut avocados in half, twist then use a spoon to scoop out the flesh. Slice the 5 Tbsp Mayonnaise halves and set aside.

8 Corn tortillas, or use 4. In medium-sized bowl, mix the flour tortillas (Serves 4) Sid Sahrawat

lemon zest and juice, garlic, chopped coriander leaves and mayonnaise.

Check the seasoning and add salt if required.

5. Cook tortillas according to packet instructions.

6. Assemble the tacos by spreading a dollop of the coriander lemon mayo on each tortilla, add 2 prawns per taco, slices of avocado and some corn.

Garnish each taco with coriander leaves and serve with any remaining coriander lemon mayo.

Citrus quinoa salad with lemon dressing ½ cup ½ 50 g

( Serves 4 ) Angela Casley For the dressing ¼ cup Dates 1 Tbsp Fresh ginger, grated 2 Tbsp Olive oil 1 tsp Lemon zest 2 Tbsp Lemon juice

Cucumber, chopped Red onion, sliced thinly Feta, crumbled

1. Forthedressing,placethedatesintoboiling water for 15 minutes to soften, then drain.

2. Into a processor place the dates, ginger, olive oil, lemon zest and juice blending until smooth. Set aside.

3. Bring 2 cups of water to the boil. Add the quinoa, give a stir and cook for 15 minutes until all the water has been absorbed. Cool.

4. To the quinoa add the herbs, orange, lemon, cucumber, red onion, feta, salt and pepper to taste, combining well.

For the salad ½ cup Quinoa 1 cup Chopped herbs, e.g. mint, parsley, dill 1 Orange, segmented 1 Lemon, segmented

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WHY WE LOVE TRAVELLING AROUND AOTEAROA Travel writers and friends wax lyrical on why we love travelling close to home

Hahei speaks so much about New Zealand as a country.

I’m often asked what’s the best place to which I’ve travelled. The answer, for a Kiwi travel editor who gets around a fair bit (current status: I’m writing this from a hipster apartment in Berlin), is pretty dull. It’s the South Island, people!

Every couple of years, we take a family holiday at Castle Hill, a quiet, shopless smudge of a settlement in the Canterbury foothills of the Southern Alps.

We hike, we bike, we wander around aimlessly in the bush. The stunning, vast landscape and the ease with which you find yourself in utter seclusion are things of wonder.

The South Island is full of spots like this. Pack a lunch, park the car and walk for 45 minutes and you’ll find yourself in another world. This place is like nowhere else – forget the Middleearth nonsense, it could only be Te Wai Pounamu.

– WINSTON ALDWORTH For the past three summer holidays, we cast adrift and sailed into the Hauraki Gulf.

Relatively speaking, we didn’t go far – amateur sailors, the furthest we dared was Kawau Island – but the freedom a boat affords made me feel like a pioneering explorer heading into the unknown. The Gulf, to me, is one of the most beautiful places on Earth – all the islands and bays and hidden coves, the marine life and clear waters; phosphorescence at night-time sparkling like the Milky Way. Waking up in the morning and jumping from the back of the boat into sun-warmed waters is a feeling that surely can’t be beaten. This summer, hopefully the winds will take us to the Bay of Islands, or perhaps Great Barrier Island, or the Coromandel. We’re spoilt for choice – New Zealand is our playground and we really couldn’t ask for anything more.

– STEPHANIE HOLMES

My favourite place in New Zealand is Wainui Beach, just out of Gisborne, a city still well off the tourist trail.

Wainui’s a 4km stretch of white sand and a Pacific Ocean swell magnet. On small swell days with a warm northwesterly it’s a great family swimming beach, incredibly pretty but never prissy. In a howling southeasterly in the middle of winter it’s wild but still beautiful.

There’s a fairly sizeable settlement with many nice beachside homes but, apart from a few takeaway food stores, not much commerce. It’s where my father once headed a tiny school (that has grown large) and on a small part of the beach I got married nearly 25 years ago. For Estelle and I, it will always be our spot.

– GRANT BRADLEY It was our first Christmas together, alone. On the blended family holiday roster, 2015 was our turn to go it alone. So we headed to Stony Bay DoC campsite in northern Coromandel with fishing rods, snorkel gear and a kayak.

We got there before everyone else on December 23 and found a campsite under a tree where the creek rushed past and the ducklings navigated the rapids. We slow-cooked a ham on the campfire barbecue, drank champagne and toasted the serenity and our solitude. The dramatic views, the ocean, and the sense of space – all just a short drive from Auckland – is glorious. And he asked me to marry him, and I said, yes.

– SARAH DANIELL Any opportunity to escape Auckland is a good thing, and you don’t have to travel too far for peace of mind.

Whether out to the bush, a beach or a small town, there’s plenty of amazing pockets of the country to explore. I enjoy travelling abroad, but one of the most inspiring places I have ever

been is only a short flight away – Queenstown. Yes, it’s a tourist mecca, but there’s something special about the place, and I am always speechless every time I’m down there at the sheer beauty of it.

I never leave without visiting a vineyard or trying something I normally wouldn’t do – like jumping out of a plane for a skydiving session – if only for the most magical views of the region. There’s no place like home.

– DAN AHWA The road rolls and we roll with it ...

This is a line I wrote in a story years ago about taking a road trip around the East Cape. It was off-season and we had this remote part of the world to ourselves – apart from the locals we met along the way. “What are you fellas doing around here?” was often the first question. Quickly followed by “Come and meet us at the pub tonight” or “We’ve got too many crayfish – you want some?”

“Where are you going next? You should catch up with so-and-so. He lives in the old harbourmaster’s house.

Just tell him I sent you.”

And that’s how we rolled.

– AMANDA LINNELL The perfect balance of beach and farmland, Hahei speaks so much about New Zealand as a country; an idyllic spot to experience nature, soak up the sun and get the muchneeded downtime you so longingly crave. While more discreet in the winter months, this quaint little town letsw its personality shine, come summer, welcoming all walks of life – from millennials looking to camp and explore, tourists searching for “Narnia” or the retired population seeking a permanent paradise, Hahei undoubtedly seals a well-earned place in the hearts of those it has touched.

– GRACE MITCHELL

Exit 477. You crest the Bombays and you’re bombing downhill at 95-99 km/h.

You get glimpses of the glory of the green Waikato ahead of you. You’re not yet on holiday. You see a slip road ahead and the sign “Razorback Rd / Helenslee Rd”. You’re still not on holiday. It’s only seconds before you reach the sign “Rotorua via Matamata” and then “Coromandel Peninsula / Tauranga”.

To your left is dense bush; to your right the endless sprawl of Auckland. You’re not quite on holiday. The road splits, you ease left, off the motorway and around the corner at the recommended 75km/h on to a rural highway. You’re on holiday.

– GREG BRUCE While superyachting in the Bay of Islands and heli-skiing in the Southern Alps have their appeal, it’s simply not New Zealand. The best thing about travel in Aotearoa is the DoC campsite. The scout’s honour system that expects you to deposit your fee, cash, in an honesty box.

And you do. It doesn’t matter how thinskinned a camper you are. Even if you find yourself shivering in your sleeping bag, packing up and driving the five hours back to Auckland. You never feel short-changed. You’ve made a donation that builds bridges and breeds kākāpō.

– THOMAS BYWATER Because I live in Central Otago, whenever I travel I get to fly in and out of Queenstown airport which, for the drama of the flight alone – over the Southern Alps and through the Kawarau Gorge – is always exciting. But it’s Airspresso, the cafe/bar at the airport looking out over the tarmac to the mountains, that makes me a happy traveller. A good coffee and a scone in the morning, a fresh salad for lunch, or a glass of Central Otago’s finest and a bowl of fries in the afternoon means I am always fit to fly... no airport lounge required.

– JO ELWIN This article first appeared in Travel, 17 September

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HOW TO ESCAPE SUBURBIA AND TRAVEL THE WORLD – WITH KIDS A growing number of New Zealanders are giving work pressures, exhaustion and suburbia the middle finger and skipping into the sunset, writes Sharon Stephenson Sarah Drummond has more stamps in her passport than most people. Born in New York and raised in Southeast Asia (thanks to her father’s job), the 28-yearold knew her way around dozens of international airports before she knew long division.

On her third visit to New Zealand, in 2008, she fell in love with Josh Drummond (now 31), a Temukaborn builder. Fast-forward five years and the couple were based in South Canterbury, raising daughter Lena, paying a mortgage and, they say, in “survival mode”.

“We were living pay cheque to pay cheque, working our asses off to pay the bills and constantly exhausted,” says Sarah. “We knew we were privileged to have a roof over our heads and food on the table but we weren’t moving forward at all. We knew we had to make a big change in order to live the life we wanted.”

Naturally, the adventure-loving couple’s minds went to travel. And not just a two-week holiday. “We wanted to travel long-term and be thrown outside our comfort zone, for our daughter to see and experience different cultures, languages and people,” says Josh.

The Drummonds are part of a growing number of New Zealanders following the ultimate dream of chucking in the 9-to-5 to travel overseas for an extended period.

Burned-out by long hours and long commutes, they’re giving work pressures, exhaustion and suburbia the middle finger as they skip off into the sunset.

Sarah hadn’t seen her family for two years, so they decided to spend a month driving a campervan though US national parks, starting in LA and finishing in New York, before spending a month doing the same in the UK. When Canvas caught up with them, they were house-sitting in Spain for a month, before ticking off Scandinavia, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and, eventually, Asia.

The couple financed their eightmonth adventure by sub-dividing their

Timaru section and building a smaller two-bedroom house, into which they moved after selling the original house.

Time was on their side regarding their daughter’s education, as Lena turned 5 just after the family left New Zealand in April. They decided to “world school” her.

“Lena has learned so much more than we could ever have imagined,” says Sarah. “At every national park we’ve been to she’s learned about the local flora and fauna and how to respect the world around her. We also encourage her to read and do maths, and she’s learning Spanish.”

Exciting experiences aside, Josh says opting out of the rat race for a year has allowed the family to connect with each other and the people they’ve met along the way. It’s also helped them to embrace a more minimalist lifestyle, something they started doing before they left New Zealand.

In fact, the couple’s escape has given them a vision of how they want their future to look. “We may need to come back to our home base to work and get back into the daily grind so we can save for the next great adventure, but we’re hoping to eventually work digitally so we can travel for even longer,” says Sarah. “Our goal is never be scared to change our lives if we get stuck in a rut.”

WHEN PEOPLE ask Kim Black where she’s been for the last eight months, the 34-year-old asks if they want the long or the short answer.

Since leaving New Zealand in January, Kim, her husband Paul and their two children, James, 10, and Emma, 7, have visited 12 countries from Borneo to Italy. They’ve eaten wild cherries in France, fried crickets in Cambodia and salted cod in Portugal. They’ve slept in more than 60 hotels, Airbnbs and campsites, even an ancient monastery.

For the Blacks, it started with the realisation they were driving more than 1100km a week, Kim commuting from their Upper Hutt home to her central Wellington job as funding manager for Parents Centre NZ, Paul to his quantity

PLA ANNIING G AN

ADVENTURE IN 2019?

Josh and Sarah Drummond with their daughter

surveyor role on roading developments north of the capital.

“I was spending two hours a day in traffic, and it was more like three hours for Paul,” says Kim via Skype. Over her left shoulder, Italy’s Lake Garda glitters in the late summer sunshine.

“We were earning a good income but our after-school costs were significant, although sometimes we had parttime au pairs, which gave us more flexibility. We often wondered why we were working so hard to pay other people to look after our kids.”

Although the couple counted their blessings – a new house, trips back to the UK to see Paul’s family every few years – they weren’t happy.

“We realised if we didn’t make a change, we would continue in the same way, at least until the kids left home. We were exhausted and it wasn’t a sustainable lifestyle.”

Having met at a backpackers’ hostel in Melbourne, the couple love to travel

After training as a chef, Mike (Buzz) Thomson headed to London to work in a Michelin star restaurant. On his way across the globe, he travelled through Europe and Turkey.

These travels, particularly through Turkey, created a lifelong passion for off the beaten track travel.

He left London to travel at the earliest opportunity, and eventually began running adventure travel tours through the Middle East and Asia, where he lived and worked for four years.

If you’re planning to have an adventure in 2019 why not give Mike (Buzz) a call or email?

Mik

and longed for a holiday that wasn’t shoehorned into two weeks. They figured if they sold their house, they could spend a year or so travelling.

The family left New Zealand early this year, spending three and a half months in Asia, travelling through Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Borneo, Bali, Malaysia and Singapore. Next stop was the UK, where they bought a car. They have since driven through Spain, Portugal, Italy and France.

Days on the road follow a similar pattern: a leisurely breakfast followed by sightseeing, a siesta during the hottest part of the day, school work, a swim and dinner. The couple’s desire for flexibility means they swerved around Correspondence School and online learning programmes for the children in favour of “world schooling”, like the Drummonds.

“We believe the world is our children’s classroom, that they learn from the places we visit and the people

Highlights for Buzz included pioneering group camping trips through Mongolia, guiding Gallipoli and hiking The Great Wall of China.

Since returning to New Zealand, he has become an award-winning travel consultant, specialising in long haul destinations and complicated itineraries. Current owner of House of Travel Hobsonville, he works with a diversely experienced team of fellow consultants who specialise in adventure tourism.

09 416 0700 • Hobsonville@hot.co.nz

we meet. We’ve deliberately picked locations we can learn from,” says Kim. The kids also have maths, science and English workbooks and do homework every day.

“We don’t believe our kids will be behind when they’re back in the school system, as we’ve kept up their studies. Travel has also been fantastic for exposing them to history and the arts, as well as all kinds of people, cultures and languages, which they’ve quickly picked up.”

Kim isn’t sure when they’ll be back in New Zealand but says the odd bouts of homesickness, illness and family friction aside, the journey has been overwhelmingly positive. “We hope the kids have learned to want less stuff and to value experiences over possessions.

We’ve met so many incredible people and seen so many amazing things, we have absolutely no regrets.”

IT’S A chilly 8C in Auckland but Pip Patterson is flicking through photos of her family – husband Chris and sons Ty, 12, and Jake, 11 – surfing in Costa Rica. “What I wouldn’t give for some of that sunshine now,” she laughs.

Fatigued by the pressures of running a law firm (Chris) and losing both parents in quick succession (Pip), last December the family rented out their Grey Lynn house and moved to the tiny town of Santa Teresa, in southern Costa Rica, for 13 weeks.

“We’d seen a documentary a few years ago about a career-driven person who, instead of waiting until retirement to explore the world, would work three years then take a year off,” says Pip, who left the wine industry in 2014 to nurse her dying mother.

“That sowed the seed for our adventure, but Chris wanted to be totally off-grid, where he couldn’t be

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The Drummond family no frill stop

contacted by phone or email so he could focus on why he was escaping – to live life in the moment, research a novel he’s always wanted to write and experience what a different culture could bring to our lives.”

The only fly in the ointment was Chris’ legal practice, which he’d never been away from longer than two weeks. But preparing staff and clients before he left worked well.

Costa Rica fitted the couple’s desire for a developing country that was safe, as well as having an interesting history and natural landscape – and good surf.

They found a house to rent and spent their days surfing, with Pip taking up yoga, and Chris working on his book and wildlife photography. Ty joined the local football club, so the family often travelled with him to games.

“We also did a lot of exploring, walking in national parks and animalspotting, including seeing toucans and sloths in their natural habitat. We off-roaded in the quad bikes we used to get around, visited wildlife refuges

and practised Spanish with the many friends we made.”

Because they returned in mid-March, their sons missed only six weeks of school and neither has had trouble catching up. “We discussed it with their schools before we left and they were supportive of the global learning the boys would do on the road.”

Despite the 34C temperatures, a few close encounters with scorpions and a higher-than-expected cost of living, which meant they had to watch their budget closely, the family had an incredible experience, one that has rubbed off on them.

“We were both tired and stressed before we left, but this experience taught us that life is to be lived and work is a means to live, not the other way around. We’ve already started planning a trip back to Costa Rica next year, and maybe a six to eight week stint in Africa the year after.”

This article first appeared in Canvas magazine, 25 August

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TRAVEL The writer with his family at the Nanyue King’s mausoleum. Photo / Winston Aldworth

CHINA’S SHINING NEW FACE In the heart of Canton, Winston Aldworth finds a booming Chinese city with rich history

L

ocal legend has it that the land where the city of Guangzhou now stands was once a barren space, the population starving, the dirt dry and unyielding. With nothing forthcoming from the soil, this was an all-round rough place to live and one you wouldn’t want to visit.

Two millenia ago – as the legend has it – five colourfully dressed immortals rode into town on rams. They handed out rice, blessed the city and left. The rams? They turned to stone.

Those five immortals wouldn’t recognise the giant, technologically advanced, prosperous city that stands on the same ground today. It’s an allround thriving, dynamic place to live and a fascinating one to visit.

The place where no rice would grow now proudly calls itself the home of Cantonese cooking – though their neighbours in Hong Kong, an hour or so away by bullet train, might beg to differ.

Guangzhou has ridden the Chinese economic boom, and today the hub of Canton is a sprawling Asian megacity with about 15 million people packed into an area smaller than Auckland.

There’s a cutting-edge high-tech sector and a university neighbourhood

that’s home to a quarter of a million staff and students. The people buzz around on a fancy underground rail network that could grace any modern city, or on ubiquitous yellow Ofo bikes, one of the world’s biggest bike-share schemes. You think you see a lot of shared bikes in Auckland? In Guangzhou, we passed piles of parked bikes so vast you’d measure them by the acre.

Those five rams are still there... kind of. On an early-morning jog through the beautiful Yuexiu Park, I was one of a handful of visitors to the Five-Ram Sculpture, one of Guangzhou’s most famous structures and an emblem of the city. The quiet morning mist was unsettled only by the occasional crackle of music from one of the transistor radios that some of the elderly locals had with them during their morning tai-chi routines.

We were visiting for Chinese New Year, and I exchanged a couple of cheery greetings with some in the taichi crowd: “Gong hei fat choy.” (It’s a blessing for a prosperous new year.)

From the same ancient strand as the tai chi, you’ll see plenty of herbal tea in Guangzhou.

Old traditions inform new habits at Guangzhou Shennong Caotang

Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where herbal tea is big business. The museum tells the story of the local herbal tea blend that’s now a global brand.

Growing in the museum gardens are the herbs that make the medicinal blends – and a few poisonous ones we’re advised not to touch.

Visitors to this dramatic city won’t see a lot of old Guangzhou, the dazzling new buildings came with the boom of the past couple of decades.

But the influence of the old remains.

The fabulous exterior of the Guangdong Provincial Museum was inspired by the traditional Cantonese ivory puzzle ball and it sits next to the stunning Guangzhou Opera House designed by Zaha Hadid. Just up the road is Canton Tower, the secondtallest tower in the world and, by my reckoning, the best looking. When you do find Guangzhou’s old stuff, it’s seriously old.

On our first day there, we went for a wander and stumbled across the clunkily titled Museum of the Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum of the Nanyue King. A guy called Zhao Mo, was the Nanyue King, ruling the area from 137BC to 122BC, shortly before the ram-

riding immortals arrived. His tomb was discovered in downtown Guangzhou in 1983 and today, for a few bucks, you can walk inside the mausoleum he was buried in and see some of the artefacts found alongside him.

We stoop low to get beneath the tiny door frames, the ceiling has been removed but creeping through the chambers of this mausoleum is still a thrill.

They say you can’t take it with you but Zhao, the old rogue, certainly tried. The king had 15 courtiers buried with him – chefs, concubines and musicians – to keep him fed and entertained in the afterlife.

His loot went with him, too. More than 1000 cultural relics were found in his tomb. His jade burial suit is on display, alongside gold, weapons, bronzeware, a chariot and gifted artworks. A Persian silver box, which was discovered in the tomb, is the earliest imported thing found in China, a gift from someone in what is now modern-day Iran.

The legend of the Five Rams is a good one, but it seems there’s always been wealth in Guangzhou.

This article first appeared in Travel, 22 May

Luxury tips: How to fake it

Winston Aldworth offers tips to everyday folk on how to fit in when receiving high-end service It may happen just once in a lifetime: a crazy random upgrade, a rare invitation to a silverservice restaurant, a night in a five-star resort.

Perhaps it’s a symptom of our largely egalitarian society, but New Zealanders aren’t great at receiving luxury service. But just because you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know how to navigate your way around the cutlery. Playing the part can make the experience all the more fun.

Here are some tips for luxury debutants:

for it. A reasonable shirt, and for goodness’ sake, no Jandals.

TOP TIPS:

“Bring pocket change,” says Partridge. “While some cultures such as the Japanese don’t tip even for luxury service, in most places tipping is highly appreciated.”

PICTURE THIS:

Don’t take too many photos but do get one.

Just try to be cool about it. “For those staying at a 5-star hotel for the first time, it’s very tempting to start taking photos of your plush surroundings on arrival,” says Partridge. “But why not act like you’ve been there before and they’ll see you again soon?”

TAKE ADVANTAGE:

For some, luxury living is an everyday affair.

But that’s not me and you – so accept that glass of champagne (no matter what the time of day), make a point of flopping down poolside; try the caviar.

MAKE AN ENTRANCE:

Remember when Harry and Meghan strode to their fancy sportscar to head for their wedding reception? That’s the effect you’re looking for.

ACT LIKE YOU BELONG THERE:

Adam Partridge, etiquette expert and spokesman for Debrett’s, which has just published The A to Z of Modern Manners, says it’s important to relax. “While you might be overwhelmed by the grandeur or the formality of your surroundings, you won’t be able to enjoy them as much if you’re constantly on edge that you’re using the wrong cutlery or feel uncomfortable with all the pampering.”

GIVE THANKS:

Don’t be over-zealous in your gratitude. Say

“thank you” but let the professionals who are serving you do their job without feeling the need to chirrup every time they adjust a place-setting.

way in towards the plate. But most high-end restaurants these days will clear your cutlery and present new tools for each course.

KNOW YOUR NAPKIN:

Wait until everyone has their food before starting. This one’s actually a basic courtesy that should apply whether you’re at the local RSA or The Ritz.

Let the staff put your napkin in your lap and, if you have to leave the table, place the napkin on the back of your chair. When you’ve finished and it’s time to leave the restaurant, drop the napkin on the table.

HOLD YOUR HORSES:

NO RIGHT TURN:

Don’t be afraid to ask for things – the staff are there to serve and make you happy.

If you’re seated in the plane’s premium cabin, make a point of turning left once you’ve boarded the plane. It’s kind of hilarious when Business Class newbies take a wrong turn.

SPOONERISMS:

LOOK SMART:

ASK AWAY:

Know which way around the cutlery goes but don’t get stressed about it. As a rule, you start with the cutlery on the outside and work your

Flying in premium cabins isn’t all bowties and curtseys, but it’s worth putting a touch more effort into your appearance. You’ll feel better

IGNORE HELICOPTERS:

Properly rich people don’t actually hear helicopters, so familiar are they with the clattering noise of other properly rich people landing on the restaurant lawn or arriving for a round of golf.

DON’T TEST THE WINE:

The sommelier will offer to pour a splash of wine – the idea being that whoever ordered the wine will have a taste to check whether it’s corked. In this age of screw-top bottles there’s no corked wine, so be cool and gesture for the wine to be poured for your fellow diners.

BE POLITE:

They’re service staff, not servants.

This article first appeared in Travel, 4 September

We all do. We swim, fish, play and splash in it – it’s a huge part of who we are. That’s why we’ve started a new movement to improve our waterways, and we’re asking everyone to get involved.

You see, we all want better rivers, lakes, beaches and streams, but to really change things, we all need to pitch in and do our bit.

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Let’s improve our waterways

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TRAVEL

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

YOUR 101 MUST-DO’S THIS KIWI SUMMER Tick some Must-Do’s off your list this summer and be in to win a range of epic prizes including a Suzuki Vitara

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Which of AA A Traveller’s 101 Must-Do’s will you turn into a #MustDone?

View the full 101 Must-Do’s this Summer list and find out more at

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

How Georgia Fowler found herself

Georgia Fowler says her success has been down to her ability to work hard, which she learned from her golfer dad

O

n the other side of the low dividing wall, while a representative of some lifestyle magazine or fashion website was lobbing softball questions at Georgia Fowler, I sat one seat away from Jack Tame, waiting for my own opportunity to lob softball questions at her.

It was what’s known, I believe, as a “press call”, a day of interviews and photos and whatever else the media craves to fill its empty pages and endless minutes of air time. It requires a famous and sought-after subject to stay in one place while members of the press rotate over a merciless period of hours to ask endless variations on the same basic set of questions.

If I had arrived early enough, I could have just sat against this dividing wall with my tape recorder going and left, long before my scheduled interview time, with more material than I could ever hope to use.

Jack Tame and I had never met but I recognised him from television and we rapped genially about our respective prospective softball questions. Frankly though, at such close proximity, it was hard to pay attention to anything except the flawlessness of Tame’s skin.

It wasn’t just the frightening smoothness of the face or its well-known ageless quality that most struck me though – it was its sense of surety, its calm but confident sense of its place in the room.

My own face tends to apologise for its presence, but Tame’s face bestrode that studio on that morning, as it does the TVNZ studio and every New Zealand television screen on which it appears every weekday morning between 6am and 9am.

Anyway, this article’s not about Jack Tame.

Here’s a random but representative sample of headlines about Georgia Fowler from the last couple of years:

“Victoria’s Secret Model Georgia Fowler Shares Her Ultimate Five Minute Beauty Routine” “My Everyday Face: Georgia Fowler” “Victoria’s Secret Model Georgia Fowler Shares Her Best Beauty Hacks.”

“Georgia Fowler’s Go-To Skincare, Makeup And Hair Tips” “A look inside Georgia Fowler’s beauty bag.”

“Train like an Angel with Victoria’s Secret model Georgia Fowler” “Project Runway host Georgia Fowler’s Kiwi workout” “Get fit with Georgia Fowler” “Kiwi Victoria’s Secret model Georgia Fowler reveals fridge contents” “Victoria’s Secret Model Georgia Fowler on Food, Fitness, and Insecurities” “Georgia Fowler reveals her strict diet and exercise regime on the eve of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” What the media chooses to say about a person can tell you a lot about the media.

She says that when she was at high school she’d wanted to do engineering because it was so black and white: “There was no bullshit behind it. Maybe I could have done something like that.”

But she had been spotted, age 12, by a modelling agency, and her life appears more or less preordained from that point.

Her modelling success – which has been extensive, international, next-level – has, she says, has been down to her ability to work hard, which is something she learned from her dad, Australian golf legend Peter Fowler. Everyone on tour knew that Chooky was the first on the course and the last to leave.

Growing up, she would say to him, “Dad, why are you going to the gym? Come on, please, don’t do it!” He would reply, “I haven’t found anyone else to do it for me.” continued on p26 ...

Marques Almedia skirt, Paris Georgia top, 08 by Priya Patel earrings.

Greg Bruce meets superstar model Georgia Fowler and wonders: is she comfortable in her own skin?

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

FASHION & BEAUTY

... continued from p30

Her life and career philosophy is perhaps best summed up in the following quote: “I think my resilience is the only reason I have got as far in the modelling industry as I have.

I just never gave up. There are so many people along the way who will tell you that you aren’t good enough, but you just have to keep trying.”

She says you also need to be lucky but also says she doesn’t think she’s been lucky.

There were many seasons, she says, when models around her were having fantastic success while she was working hard and getting nowhere.

“A lot of those girls got too big, too soon and got spat out the other end. And I think I became so successful because all the hard work paid off and I was determined and now when I get on set I am working hard and people notice that.”

Now 26, Fowler’s a big international success and about to become a primetime TV host. Her headline achievement to this point is her 2016 and 2017 appearances in the televised underwear extravaganza that is the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, but her major break came in 2012 when she was asked by Karl Lagerfeld to appear in Chanel’s show at Versailles.

Last year, she closed Kanye West’s Yeezy label’s New York Fashion Week show, and she’s also appeared in some of the world’s leading fashion magazines and been in campaigns for some of the world’s leading fashion brands. Two weeks ago she found out she’s scored a spot in her third straight Victoria’s Secret show.

She says she can now go on to a shoot and be herself, show her true personality and pretty much get away with whatever. That’s what hard work can get you.

She’s hosting Project Runway, in part because somebody offered her the job, which is the type of thing that happens only when you’re already a big international success.

“I did grow up wanting to be something big,” she says. “I loved performing. I wanted to be famous.”

She says she has always looked up to models like Heidi Klum, Elle Macpherson and Miranda Kerr, who became names and then brands. Being a Victoria’s Secret model has been her biggest step in that direction so far: “It gives you much more of a platform and a voice,” she says.

The next step, she says, is “just getting more. More more more!” She’s been working so hard for so many years that she’d like to be more selective and less exhausted.

“It would be amazing to get a jewellery contract or a beauty contract, like a brand that you become the face of and that’s guaranteed lock-in money. You know the team and, if it’s something you believe in, it can be quite special as well.”

Becoming the face of a brand is not easy though. There are so many faces available and only so many brands wanting them, so you have to work the angles. For example you might, she says, get them a bit interested by doing some makeup tutorials and tagging in the brand’s products.

But because modelling can never stop being about the way you look, that might not be enough. She’s been told she should get surgery to fill in her eyebrows because they’re too thin, she’s been asked to lose weight for one client and she’s been asked to put weight back on for another.

Georgia Fowler hosted TVNZ’s Project Runway.

“You’re too this, you’re not this’ – things that other people would never have pointed out to them, we’ve had pointed out.”

“You can never ever please everyone,” she says, “and that’s what initially you try to do, and then you just end up tearing your hair out and being like, ‘Who am I?’ “Some models are some of the most self-conscious people I know because we’re judged constantly about everything and from such a young age. ‘You’re too this, you’re not this’ – things that other people would never have pointed out to them, we’ve had pointed out.”

The top Google result for her name after Wikipedia, her agency page and a short Spy article is a picture-driven story from the Daily Mail, headlined: “Heavenly body! Victoria’s Secret Angel Georgia Fowler flaunts her

model figure and sculpted abs in black bikini and during Bondi photoshoot”.

In 2016, Harper’s Bazaar wrote about her daily beauty routine: Embryolisse moisturiser, Nuxe lip, Pawpaw, M.A.C face and body foundation, some concealer under her eyes, around her nose and on any spots, bronzer as a slight contour and on her eyelids, Boy Brow, mascara and a little bit of highlighter on her Cupid’s bow, moisturising cream for her hair, occasional exfoliator at night, Bioderma Crealine makeup remover, Glossier face wash, SKINny chemical peel in a jar for the backs of arms and thighs during the week before the show and SKINny face oil for when she’s feeling super-dry.

Miss Vogue sought comment about her skin regimen: “I don’t think skincare needs to be so complicated. It’s best to come from within: lots of good fats, lots of avocado, lots of salmon, olive oil. I never travel without good probiotics and magnesium.”

Last year, Marie Claire wrote of how she de-puffs her morning eyes with Skyn ICELAND eye patches.

In November last year, Byrdie.com.au wrote that all the makeup she has to use while modelling makes her use less in her regular life: “I think that makes me look more chic, you know, by just putting a bit of gloss on my lids rather than a full face. It’s easier. Give yourself some dewy skin with a bit of brow gel and concealer, and you’re ready to go.”

In January this year, Harper’s Bazaar wrote that her routine includes: La Mer Creme de La Mer; Nuxe Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm;

YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch; Anastasia Beverley Hills Dipbrow Pomade; Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate Palette in Intensity One; Charlotte Tilbury Eye Blender Brush; Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Black; Jillian Dempsey Lid Tint in Dew. W magazine wrote that she never leaves the house without brows filled in, skin moisturised, eye circles concealed, a touch of creme contour and a dash of mascara focused on the outer corners.

You can find equal and often even greater detail about how she manages her appearance by googling “Georgia Fowler fitness” or “Georgia Fowler eating”.

Last year, news.com.au ran an article about how she follows a diet of protein and vegetables and tries to always take nuts with her to avoid snacking on bad stuff; Vogue wrote about her love for battle ropes as a way to work her heart rate, posture and abs; the-file.com ran a story covering her top six moves for toning her entire body.

Hosting Project Runway is her first major step off the catwalk and away from the fashion pages. She understands that to build a career beyond modelling, she needs to shift the world’s perception of her.

“It’s about being a personality if you want to really hit the big time,” she says.

You do what you can with your platform, but in the end it’s not you who decides what your platform looks like.

This is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Canvas, 22 September

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

FASHION & BEAUTY

Taking ethicallly made fashion to the world

Maggie Hewitt’s label isn’t just about looking good, it’s about doing good too, writes Dan Ahwa

M

aggie Hewitt exudes a quiet confidence in the way she interacts with people. Softly spoken, but always with self-assuredness, there’s a conviction behind every word she says. And her small team of mostly under 25-year-old staff pay undivided attention.

“Although I’m quiet and naturally introverted, I’m also a no-bullshit type of person. No one can really tell me what I should do if it doesn’t feel right to me. I’m big on intuition and gut instinct – that’s something you have at any age.”

Yes, she’s 23, but don’t make a big deal out of it. Age is nothing but a number in Maggie’s world, and given her Maggie Marilyn brand’s rapid trajectory in the space of two years, from graduate collection to endorsements from former Teen Vogue editor and journalist Elaine Welteroth, poet Cleo Wade, Kate Hudson and Kendall Jenner, the sky’s the limit.

Her first resort collection was quickly picked up by luxury e-tailer Net-a-Porter, and since then she’s managed to amass an impressive portfolio of stockists, particularly in the US, her biggest area of business. Next season, her new collection will debut on the racks and shelves at Bergdorf Goodman, an accomplishment most established designers spend a lifetime dreaming about.

Just last year, she impressed judges as a shortlisted finalist for the prestigious LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) prize.

When we met she was preparing to judge this year’s iD Dunedin Emerging Designer Awards, then heading off to Dallas, before returning home to shoot her season six look book and campaign.

Despite the accolades, she remains grounded, finding inspiration in the women who buy her clothes. “It’s important to me that the brand isn’t put on some pedestal. I don’t profess to know everything, and my team are still learning every day. And while it’s such an honour to see these beautiful celebrities wearing my designs, it’s equally, if not more satisfying, for me to see a girl walking down the street wearing it her own way.”

Sitting in her Newton workroom we’re surrounded by creative chaos – cutting tables

strewn with fabrics, patterns hanging from every corner, boxes of orders to be dispatched and mood boards tacked to walls.

Among it all are flourishes of Maggie’s now-familiar sense of whimsy – ruffle neck samples on hangers in a riot of hot pinks and yellow; ferns and toitoi plants sprouting from elegant vases.

We sit drinking coffee at a sleek marble table, discussing an opinion piece about why millennials say they care about sustainability, but aren’t necessarily shopping this way. It’s a conversation Maggie is well-versed in.

“It goes back to that whole discussion around sustainability. Do people care enough that it will influence how they shop? The straight answer is probably no,” she says.

“As a society I don’t think we are there yet. I don’t know if it’s getting through to people enough; maybe it’s not tugging at their heartstr or maybe it’s not confronting enough. For most people, how would they know where to start researching things like fast fashion’s effect on the environment and the people locked in the supply chain? Not everyone is reading in-depth articles about the issue.”

Given the fashion industry’s ongoing challenges around creating ethically made and sustainable clothes, up until now, it’s an aspect of the brand’s message that’s only scratched the surface.

A short film by celebrated director Bruce Morrison aims to highlight the label’s inner workings from design to fully produced garment.

It’s an opportunity to press pause on the rapid speed of fashion and highlight to customers what goes into making each garment.

“By no means are we anywhere near perfect. When I first started I just wanted to be noticed for my designs, and for purely being a brand that made our women feel great and empowered. Of course, being sustainable was just how I wanted to do business,” she says.

While the film touches on Maggie’s family home in the Bay of Islands and its influence on her designs, the key storyline is spotlighting the makers and people responsible for bringing her designs to life.

“One of my favourite stories is the shirrer,”

says Maggie. “There’s not enough people who want to get their things shirred (a gathering/pleating technique using elastic).

So we have this great story of a woman who does our shirring with coffins!

“When you go to her studio there are these coffins intermixed with our shirts. It’s such a funny sight. Even better, her name is Shirl!

This to me is such a Kiwi story and I love sharing it with some of our stockists, who find it hilarious,” she says.

In the tradition of brands doing well on an international level, the label has played up its ‘New Zealandness’ throughout its imagery.

“For sure, we’ve capitalised off the fact that New Zealand is beautiful. It’s a way for me to show New Zealand to the world.”

With the help of former managing director Jo Knight, who was instrumental in the brand’s early success, as well as a

27

sales agent in Sydney and a PR agency in New York, the label’s international success continues to surprise its designer and her young team.

“There’s something about doing this together that’s perhaps relatable to our customers. As a designer, I would never become too unrelatable to a generation I’m trying to speak to and design clothes for.

“Being young and having a young team is also part of the magic of the brand. There’s this real undeniable sense of optimism amid so much cynicism in our industry.

“There’s definitely a beautiful sense of naivety in trying to change the conversation and make a difference – and I feel like we can.”

This is an edited version of an article which first appeared in Viva on June 6.

To discover more see viva.co.nz

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

FASHION & BEAUTY

HOW THE FORMARY IS REIMAGINING TEXTILE WASTE Johanna Thornton speaks to The Formary’s co-founder and creative director Bernadette Casey about innovative solutions for waste clothing

W

hen British designer Vivienne Westwood sent duffels, holdalls and totes made out of coffee sacks down the runway as part of her spring/ summer 2018 collection, Bernadette Casey couldn’t help but smile.

The bags, made in Nairobi out of locally sourced coffee sacks as part of Westwood’s commitment to an ethical fashion initiative, reminded Casey of one of her own projects.

The co-founder and creative director of textile research and development company The Formary began making fedoras, baker boys and Fidel Castrostyle hats and bags from coffee sacks 10 years ago, well before it was fashionable.

“As my mother says, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I love that such a design legend is running with what we started, really mainstreaming the jute sack as an accessories fabric.”

Casey’s Wellington-based company, The Formary, is thinking bigger than hats these days, specialising in the development of new textiles made from fibre waste, and working with corporate clients to provide solutions for their waste clothing. It’s key work at a time when New Zealanders are spending $4 billion on domestic clothing each year, with corporate consumption thought to be 40 times greater than that by volume.

The scale of waste produced by this consumption is mind-boggling, says Casey.

Of the 80 billion pieces of new clothing produced globally every year, most of it ends up in landfill or is incinerated. And what’s to blame for this uncharted level of waste?

It’s partly due to the unsustainable fast-fashion model, which comes at a huge environmental and social cost.

With cheap clothing abundantly available, consumers are starting to see items as disposable.

The Formary’s co-founder and creative director, Bernadette Casey. Picture / Alan Blundell

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“Clothing and textiles is one of the most polluting industries in the world with a long history of human abuses,” she says.

“Awareness is rapidly growing that we are over-consuming our limited resources.”

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This year saw the fifth annual Fashion Revolution Week, a global movement for change established after the Rana Plaza disaster killed 1138 workers in a garment factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013. It’s an issue that’s close to Casey’s heart, having worked at the “unglamorous end” of the clothing sector for 10 years.

“Clothing and textiles is one of the most polluting industries in the world with a long history of human abuses,” she says. “Awareness is rapidly growing that we are over-consuming our limited resources.”

Key to The Formary’s ethos is reusing resources already available, creating innovative new textiles from fabric destined for landfill. One of the company’s first forays into this area was born out of those runway-worthy coffee sack hats after they led to an encounter with global coffee chain Starbucks (which has been in the spotlight for racial discrimination).

VIVA.CO.NZ

Casey saw an opportunity to present the hats to Starbucks in 2008 when, as fortune would have it, one of her American colleagues had a friend who worked as a senior interior designer at Starbucks. “So we wangled an appointment and jumped on a plane,” says Casey.

“Our intention was to sell them our coffee sack hats, but when we rocked up to the presentation at Starbucks HQ in Seattle they were totally uninterested in the hats but wanted to reuse their coffee sacks in their interior design, and so began our twoyear collaboration with them.”

The result of the collaboration is the award-winning Wojo, which combines jute coffee sacks with New Zealand wool to create upholstery fabric used in Starbucks’ 16,000 stores.

This game-changing fabric saw Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud put The Formary on his Green Heroes list in 2011 and they also won a Sustainable Product Innovation Award from Prince Charles. While the awards were streaming in, however, the pile of coffee sacks was getting ever-higher.

“We were chuffed about the awards, but it was after the launch of the Starbucks flagship store in Mayfair, London, that we first got to see one of Starbucks’ warehouses. It was truly vast and at that moment we realised that, like the movie, Fantasia, no sooner had we taken 1000kg of jute coffee sacks out, that more would flood back in. We realised that single projects were not going to scale to address the volume of the jute created by their operation, let alone any other company. That what was needed was a systems approach to waste textiles.”

This systems approach is being achieved in small part through The Formary’s NZ Textile Reuse Programme, a collaborative project with New Zealand corporations that finds solutions for the waste created from old uniforms and textiles.

Stage one of the project, completed in 2016, determined the scale of wasted textiles in this sector – and it’s big. The Formary found that the top 20 organisations in New Zealand go through about 1 million garments a year, not including the sheets, towels, tea towels and other textiles used in hotels, DHBs and prisons.

“Vast is the best word I can think to describe it,” says Casey, and it’s all destined for landfill. The programme converts some of this waste clothing from the likes of NZ Post, Fonterra, Alsco NZ, Air New Zealand and Wellington Council into fibre for new textiles and products using a centuries’ old process for producing linen and hemp, with fibres put through a traditional retting process that breaks down the plant to release the fibre.

The programme also recycles fibre for reuse within the community, for example removing branding from decommissioned Wellington City Council uniforms and redistributing them in lower decile schools.

It’s exciting stuff, and was recently recognised by the industry, winning the Emerging Services Category at the 2017 Wellington Business Gold Awards. Stage Two is researching the feasibility of new fibre-to-fibre technology, which would see a polyester shirt broken down into its molecular form using green chemistry, so it can be reused in anything from

moulded plastic objects to clothing.

This technology will dramatically reduce the need to landfill our clothing, says Casey. There are other exciting developments too, such as Mibu, another of the company’s new textiles created from straw fibre.

After each rice harvest in China 200 million tonnes of rice straw is burnt, clogging the atmosphere and disrupting air travel. With Mibu, straw fibre is instead blended with wool to create a luxurious and resilient textile.

As a lover of fashion herself – she’s on the board of iD Dunedin Fashion Week and a judge of the Oversew Fashion Awards – Casey says that fashion doesn’t have to mean consumption.

“Fashion is an irreplaceable form of self-expression. I tend to buy just one or two good pieces of clothing a year, such as a silk top from the lovely Jimmy D, who has retained his production in New Zealand and a dress from Wellington’s Goodness Boutique.”

And as momentum from events surrounding Fashion Revolution Week continue to grow, Casey is heartened by projects like Rent The Runway, a clothing leasing company for women to rent designer items, into which Alibaba’s Jack Ma recently invested $20 million.

“This is likely to disrupt the fast fashion model and the mind-boggling level of waste it generates. We have a lot of work to do but these types of evolutions make me feel optimistic about where we are headed.”

This article first appeared in Viva on April 25..

To discover more see viva.co.nz

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FASHION & BEAUTY

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

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Your fresh Monday inspiration.

Coming January 14th in your New Zealand Herald.

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HOME & LIVING

The end of the trend

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

Could it be time to retire the outdated notion of design trends, asks Melinda Williams

Sometimes a word ends up permanently consigned to an era. For a while, it captures something essential to a particular cultural mood or look or attitude, but after a few years, it begins to jar a little each time you hear or read it, and eventually, it just sounds hopelessly outdated.

“Funky” is one such word. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it perfectly conveyed that something had a bright, inexpensive, urban energy, but now when you hear an apartment described as “funky”, you immediately assume that it’s going to have way too many different colours on the walls, and maybe a funny smell in certain rooms.

And here’s a nomination for a word that is already past its use-by date and needs to be immediately binned. Trend.

“Trendy” has almost entirely vanished, and is now only deployed in a Kath and Kim accent to describe something that you would never be seen dead in. But somehow the closely-related “trends” has survived, and still regularly appears in cover-lines of interiors magazines and websites touting improbable decorating ideas. “Six Spring Trends For Kitchens”. “This Year’s Wallpaper Trends”.

We don’t know about you, but we don’t re-do our kitchens or walls either seasonally or annually. Even more than once a decade seems like a bit too much work. But we suppose “20 Sofas That You Won’t Need To Replace For The Next 20 Years” doesn’t convey the same, jaunty sense of relentless product consumption as “125 Trends To Update Your Home This Winter!”

Here’s something you are probably loosely aware of but don’t see admitted often: trends can be invented by editors and “trend-spotters”. Trends are a staple of the fashion industry, where consumers are often willing to update the clothes they wear every year or even every season – and over the past decade, “fast fashion” producers like H&M, Zara, Glassons and Supre, who take concepts from the seasonal designer shows and produce cheap, fast-turnaround “on trend” items at a massive scale – have made it much easier for consumers to keep their wardrobe “up to date”. continued on p32 ...

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HOME & LIVING

... continued from p31

The furniture and design world is now so huge and diverse it’s impossible to make accurate pronouncements about what might be “trending”. Increasingly, editors of noted design publications are declaring trends dead, frustrated by the impossible task of meaningfully reporting on good design while subscribing the idea that the items being showcased will be out of date next year.

In his 2017 Milan Report, Marcus Fairs, editor of the popular design blog Dezeen, put it this way: “Honestly, we tried looking for design trends. Really we did. But without running a statistical analysis of everything that was presented across the city, and comparing that with past years, who’s to say whether any one material, colour or form is in the ascendency? And does it really matter, given that we live in eclectic times when anything goes and there is no dominant aesthetic? And when most furniture and lighting design is copying the fashion industry and creatively pillaging from the past rather than looking to the future?”

“Trends can only be discussed retrospectively by those who were observing them after they’ve happened.”

Of course, there are times when global movements (like the growth in sustainability awareness) or advances in technology mean a number of designers simultaneously become interested in exploring a particular form or material or approach, such as the rise in CNC (computer numeric control) cutting and 3D printing, which has given designers the ability to explore new forms that were previously extremely difficult to produce at scale.

David Trubridge, one of New Zealand’s most internationally recognised furniture and lighting designers, describes these industry-scale movements as a kind of “collective consciousness or pattern that we’re connected to in some way, but it’s a complex system and can’t be broken down into component parts”. What designers create, he says, comes not from external “trends” or a designer hive-mind, but “from each designer’s artistic imperative, their internal drive”.

Trubridge makes the point that by the time trends in such a large industry can be recognised, they’re effectively already passe. “Trends can only be discussed retrospectively by those who were observing them after they’ve happened,” says Trubridge.

“We don’t know what the trends of the future are going to be. The people I like to call the ‘style tribe’, they like to try to create

those ideas. Trends are a fashion construct, a commercial construct. They’re a way to get people to buy more today.”

Right now, terrazzo – a traditional Italian flooring surface that contains chips of coloured marble – is having a moment. You can’t open an interiors magazine without seeing it multiple times, and not just on floors, benchtops and bathroom walls, but on everything from vases and side tables to wallpapers and T-shirts.

The ascent of terrazzo started in 2014, when British designer Max Lamb released a collection of objects in a new engineered marble called Marmoreal for the company Dzek. The versatility of the material caught the imagination of the design world, and the characteristic speckled pattern caught the eye of the fashion world.

Now, four years later, the obsession has worked its way out to the lowest price points of the market. That’s a bit unfortunate for the people who invested in terrazzo benchtops when Marmoreal first came out – who are presumably now hoping hard that their expensive new kitchens aren’t going to be permanently typecast as “very 2016” because of a swathe of cheap terrazzopatterned notebooks and throw cushions.

For the furniture industry, where quality products are made with the expectation they will last at least one, and ideally several decades, the rise of “get the look for less” cheap copies is especially galling because of the time and investment that goes into producing products designed for longevity.

Trend-driven derivative production significantly affects the original designer, as Trubridge knows first-hand. His recognisable design style has been copied repeatedly, here and overseas, sometimes subtly and sometimes blatantly.

Several years ago, he was made aware of a company at a Hong Kong lighting show that was selling exact replicas of his designs under their own name. It was upsetting at more than a business level. “It felt like they had come into my house, ransacked my house, stolen a whole lot of stuff and sold it as theirs,” he recalls.

After pursuing several expensive legal channels to try to stamp out the copying, only to find it popping up again elsewhere, Trubridge eventually joined a Spanishbased collective called Redspot that uses a class-action model, monitoring intellectual property infringements and instigating proceedings against companies on behalf of the designers they represent.

Former editor (now Brand and Content Director) of design bible Wallpaper* Tony Chambers has taken a stronger stance. For years the magazine has championed the words of the legendary German industrial designer Dieter Rams: “Less, but better”, encouraging people to save their money for quality purchases rather than fritter it away on low-priced in-season updates.

“This more thoughtful, well-educated and conscientious consumer is a good thing,” Chambers writes. “They may well buy a little less, but they’ll be buying better.” Now that’s a mass movement we can get on board with.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT TRENDS If we’re changing the topic, what do we talk about instead? Here are five conversation starters for better design.

1. Originality Some people have the misconception that designers try to discern future trends to “keep ahead of the pack”, says David Trubridge. But true originality comes from exploring an idea in a way that’s unpredictable, he says. “When some incipient idea is lurking at the edges of my vision and I’m trying to find it, it has its roots in today, but as it grows it becomes a new piece of territory that I’m discovering and creating a design out of. That’s moving forward. You don’t know where you’re going to go with it. The direction you take comes from your personal integrity that you have to follow.”

Design items that have become classics over the years have all started out as original ideas.

2. Materials High-quality materials are essential to products that will go the distance.

Increasingly, consumers want to know exactly what their new couch or cushion is made of, and where the materials came from. If a product doesn’t come with clear information about this, and the salesperson doesn’t seem to know, that’s a red flag that it may contain materials that have a negative impact on your health or the environment.

3. Sustainability Closely linked to materials is the sustainability of a product, which includes whether the product can be easily recycled at the end of its life, the resources consumed in the manufacturing process, the way the workers who produce the product are treated, and how far the product has to travel from the point of production to your home.

4. Longevity British writer Tara Button was once an impulse shopper, constantly picking up cheap new purchases that lasted a few weeks or months before breaking or becoming worn out. After her sister gave her a Le Creuset pot for her birthday, she became interested in buying items that would last a lifetime. Her website, BuyMeOnce.com curates the best-of-thebest, recommending items that will solve your problems – in everything from pepper mills to luggage – once and for all.

5. Individuality Trends rely on the idea that we want our homes to look a bit like everyone else’s. But the homes that are usually the most interesting are those that are a true expression of an individual’s taste. “Why should you be dictated to by the style tribe?” asks David Trubridge. “Why should they tell you what you should have in your home? You should have what you want and what you like, and not be ashamed of that.”

This article first appeared in Viva on April 18 To discover more see viva.co.nz

European design brand Se’s new collection focuses on rendering “noble materials in timeless forms”. Picture / Supplied

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

INSIDE THE REALITY OF DITCHING PLASTIC Melinda Williams finds out why ditching plastic is harder – and better – than it sounds Single-use plastic has emerged as the environmental conversation of 2018.

Just last month, National Geographic’s June issue featured a widely-shared, haunting image of an iceberg-like plastic carrier bag in the ocean, hinting at the unseen scale of the problem.

This year’s Earth Day in May was also devoted to the issue of plastic pollution, cautioning that only 10 per cent of the 300 million tonnes of plastic produced globally every year is being recycled or reused.

Here at home, in February, Wellington’s Oriental Bay was identified by a US study as having some of the worst marine plastic pollution in the world, Greenpeace announced that one in three turtles washed up on our beaches have ingested plastic, and numerous news outlets reported on the growing piles of plastic being stockpiled around the country after China introduced severe restrictions on imported waste products.

Grim photos of the plastic-stuffed

bellies of seabirds remind us where that bottle cap or bread tag can eventually end up.

As supermarkets jostle to announce “bans” on plastic shopping bags, only to declare they’re replacing them, in some cases, with stronger plastic shopping bags, and the Government dithers over when they’ll “phase out” the 1.6 billion carrier bags used in New Zealand each year, it’s no wonder Kiwis increasingly feel the need to take matters into their own hands.

Plastic-Free July, an international environmental movement that started in Australia in 2011, challenges consumers to avoid the Big Four singleuse plastics for one month – shopping carrier bags, disposable bottles, plastic straws and takeaway coffee cups (which are typically lined with plastic).

More ambitious PFJers also eschew takeaway containers, soft plastics, and some even try avoiding plastic full stop.

Whether you dip your toe in the (microplastic-filled) water and refuse continued on p34 ...

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

HOME & LIVING

... continued from p33

the Big Four, or go the whole hog, what Plastic-Free July really makes clear is that once you start looking for it, single-use plastic is everywhere, and it’s very hard to completely avoid.

There are bread bags. And pasta bags.

Rice bags. Cling film. Chip, cracker and biscuit packets. Bubblewrap. Open a box of cereal and there’s a plastic bag waiting inside. Shampoo, conditioner and bodywash bottles. Almost everything in your medicine cabinet.

There’s plastic tape wrapped around your Fair Trade bananas. Plastic milk, juice and cleaning product bottles.

Frozen vegetables. Yoghurt containers.

Little plastic seals around the tops of jam jars. Great swathes wrapped around toys or clothes ordered online. Ballpoint pens that are thrown away by the tens of millions a year. Once you start trying to do it, eliminating single-use plastics from daily life can seem Herculean.

But people are trying, and they’re ‘gramming their journeys. If you search the hashtags #zerowaste or #plasticfreejuly you’ll find an endless stream of aspirational images of chic reusable coffee cups, tote bags, stainless steel straws, beeswax wraps (to substitute for clingfilm), pantries filled with matching glass containers of bulk ingredients, and mason jars stuffed with tiny bits of rubbish that represent months or in some cases as much as a year’s worth of landfill waste for those who have committed fully to the cause.

“Every time we ran out of a product, we would ask ourselves ‘Do we really need this product?’ and if we did, was there a more eco-friendly alternative?”

Nicola Turner (@mainstreamgreen) knows first-hand how hard it can be to eliminate single-use plastic, and how rewarding it can be when you do.

The Cambridge-based mum of two left a 16-year career working in shopper insights for FMCG (fastmoving consumer goods) clients to become an advocate for waste minimisation and simple living.

Through her company Mainstream Green, she offers workshops in homebased waste reduction using her own home as a model.

Is she atoning for her time helping supermarkets figure out how to sell people more plastic-wrapped

PLASTIC-FREE ALTERNATIVES

convenience foods? “Pretty much,” she laughs. “My job was all about driving consumption. I never really thought to question it. It’s the way of the world.”

Today, she’s turned things around in her own life, producing just one wheelie bin of landfill waste a year for her family of four, decluttering 10,000 items from her home (passed on to second-hand stores and family and friends who wanted them) and using 300 fewer chemicals in her family’s cleaning and personal care products every day.

For her, the journey started seven years ago with a persistent patch of dermatitis on her husband’s hand.

After steroid cream failed to keep it at bay, she decided to try addressing the cause rather than the symptom, switching to more natural products.

“Every time we ran out of a product, we would ask ourselves ‘Do we really need this product?’ and if we did, was there a more eco-friendly alternative?”

Today she takes jars to bulk refill stores for everything from rice to Ecostore laundry detergent (there are refill stations at several chains, including Ecostore itself, GoodFor and Huckleberry, and Bin Inn stores offer a range of different bulk cleaning products), takes a plate or container to get takeaway sushi, DIYs her own candles and vanilla essence and feels a whole lot happier about how she lives.

“My family’s life now is way simpler and we focus more on experiences over things, which makes our life feel fuller,” she says. “They say with every possession comes responsibility, which I think is true. We have so much choice in our modern lives that it’s overwhelming.

“In the supermarket game, there’s an experiment where you put people in front of a supermarket bay with 15 products, and in front of one with 100 products. People always feel like they have more choice in the bay with 15 products, because you can navigate it.” That’s an experience that anyone

who’s spent half an hour scrolling through Netflix, unable to decide what to watch, can identify with.

She doesn’t see it as a life of sacrifice.

“I always say that if change doesn’t feel good, we’re not doing it right. For me, it’s about finding solutions that suit you and your lifestyle. And it’s about cutting yourself some slack sometimes.

Minimising waste before it comes into your home is the key to solving to the plastic problem says Paul Evans, CEO of WasteMINZ, a not-for-profit organisation that works with local government, central government and community organisations to get better waste outcomes in New Zealand.

“As consumers I think we think, ‘We’re recycling, we’re doing our bit’, and once it’s in the bin, it’s out of sight, out of mind,” he says. “But recycling is just ‘less bad’. You can’t recycle your way to a better planet.”

That’s because plastics can typically only be recycled a handful of times before they degrade to such a degree that they have to be landfilled. Worse still, if plastics are contaminated by food waste, dirt or even too many other non-recyclables (like biodegradable cups, or plastics that can’t be locally recycled) in the same load, recycling isn’t even an option – it’s straight to landfill they go.

“Don’t get me wrong, recycling is important,” says Evans. “But rather than jumping to an end solution, people need to look further up the chain. We are doing okay in New Zealand, but we can do much better.

New Zealanders throw 153kg of trash into landfill every year. That’s 2kg a day for the average person.”

He agrees with Turner that living simply isn’t restrictive. “People think it’s about depriving themselves, but it’s not. I have an 8-year-old daughter, and I don’t buy her toys because it’s crap that she’s going to use three times and then forget about. People ask, ‘Is

INSTEAD OF TAKEAWAY COFFEE CUPS Melbourne-born KeepCup is the original reusable coffee cup, or try the locally-made Ideal Cup. Ecoware cups, found in many cafes, are takeaway cups made from plant-based plastic, which have a lower production footprint than conventional plastic and can be commercially composted. Just don’t throw them in the recycling – they’ll contaminate the load.

INSTEAD OF CLINGFILM Try beeswax wraps – LilyBee Wrap, In My Kitchen and Honeywrap are three local companies. Or just put a bread plate over your bowl of leftovers.

INSTEAD OF SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER AND BODY WASH Try beauty and haircare bars, which are packaged in paper. Lush, Dirty Hippie, Aoraki Naturals and Ethique make well-reviewed ones.

INSTEAD OF PLASTIC TOOTHBRUSHES Try a bamboo brush from Toothcrush and Ecobrush (who also make plastic-free floss) or Ecostore’s plant-based plastic brush that can be returned to them for recycling when it’s past its best.

INSTEAD OF PLASTIC CLOTHES PEGS Your granny had it right – oldfashioned wooden clothes pins are still available from Briscoes, or try bamboo ones from the Eco Warehouse. Bento Ninja do a great set of hardy stainless steel pegs (as well as excellent segmented stainless steel lunchboxes). that hard?’ and I say, ‘No, because she’s been to 20 countries.’

“We do experiences, cool stuff. She doesn’t go without, and when she’s 25, she won’t remember that she didn’t get a Barbie, she’ll remember that she went diving with turtles.”

This article first appeared in Viva on July 25 To discover more see viva.co.nz

Summer brainbender

Test your general knowledge – and your memory! – with 50 of the toughest questions from Canvas magazine’s weekly quiz SCIENCE & NATURE

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

What trade takes its name from the 82nd element on the periodic table?

The organism Phytophthora agathidicida causes what disease?

What bit of the chicken is the furcula?

Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity all went where?

The 1987 Montreal Protocol was a treaty designed to protect what?

A dzo is a hybrid, a cross between a domestic cow, or bull, and what species?

A trichologist is a medical specialist who treats what part of the body?

The drug fluoxetine is best known by what trade name?

If you have them – and not everyone does – where are your Darwin’s tubercles?

If an illness is “iatrogenic”, what caused it?

SPORT

11 Held since 1927, “The Brier” is one of the premier championships in which sporting code?

12 Mashie, cleek, spoon, jigger – oldfashioned names for what?

13 Forward pocket, back pocket and ruckrover are positions in what sport?

14 Handfuls of salt are thrown on the ground before what sporting contest?

15 In what sport do competitors clash in a series of “jams”, each one lasting up to two minutes?

16 The spectacularly unsuccessful British Olympian Michael Edwards was known by what nickname?

17 In what sport is a “boast” part of the game, not just what you do after winning?

18 Each year, Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre is the venue for what international sporting event?

19 In a long-running tradition, the winner of what car race is presented with a bottle of milk?

20 In what sport did Telstar 18 (2018) follow Brazuca (2014) and Jabulani (2010)?

ENTERTAINMENT

21 Who worked at Dunder Mifflin?

22 The “French Elvis” died in 2017. What was his stage nWame?

23 With 14 nominations and four wins, Sylvester Stallone holds the record for what award?

24 Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky is more commonly known as?

25 Alicia Vikander stars as action heroine Lara Croft in the third Tomb Raider movie. Who played her in the first two?

26 Onika Tanya Maraj – the performer better known by what name?

27 Who is the most famous pilot from the planet Corellia?

28 What started with Tall Story (1960) and ended (probably) with The Old Man & the Gun (2018)?

29 The moon Pandora was the setting for what 2009 movie?

30 Where would you encounter bounty hunter Red Harlow and the outlaws John Marston and Arthur Morgan?

KIWIANA

31 In the 19th Century, what was such a common danger that it was called “the New Zealand death”?

32 The Whanganui River settlement of Ranana also has an English name. What is it?

33 In what city does a plaque on Botanical Hill declare it to be the “centre of New Zealand”?

34 Canterbury’s Tammy Wells is better known by what title?

35 InEnglish,whatisHohiperaoHoteriniTiriti?

36 Which is New Zealand’s most westerly city?

37 The grouping sometimes called the Seven Sisters, or M45, is known by what Maori name?

38 Hamlet St, Juliet St, Lear St and Portia St are all in what New Zealand town?

39 Father and son Colin and Shaun Quincey both achieved what feat?

40 On October 21, 1958, Christchurch company Marathon Rubber Footwear produced the first what?

WHAT LINKS

41 Joanna Kramer; Karen Silkwood; Julia Child; Margaret Thatcher?

42 Margaret; ear-biting; Arthur Wellesley; Bruce Dickinson?

43 The Queen Victoria; The IV; The Waterhole; Cheers?

44 Maketū Wharetōtara (1842) and Walter Bolton (1957)?

45 Horse long jump; croquet; swimming obstacle race; cricket?

46 Monk’s Café; Central Perk; Vesuvio’s; Krusty Burger?

47 “Beam me up, Scotty”; “Play it again, Sam”; “Do you feel lucky, punk?”, “Luke, I am your father”?

48 Schubert’s Symphony No. 8; the Ryugyong Hotel, North Korea; F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon; the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona?

49 Storm; Sounders; Seahawks; Mariners?

50 Underground; Revolution; Black; Blue?

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

ANSWERS: Science & Nature: 1 Plumbing. (From “plumbum”, the Latin word for lead.) 2 Kauri dieback. 3 The wishbone. 4 To Mars. (They’re all rover vehicles, sent to explore the planet.) 5 The ozone layer. 6 A yak. 7 The hair and scalp. 8 Prozac.

9 On your ear. (They’re the little bumps some people have inside the top edge of their ear flap.) 10 Medical treatment or examination. Sport: 11 Curling. (Specifically, Canadian curling.) 12 Golf clubs. 13 AFL / Aussie Rules. 14 A sumo wrestling bout. 15 Roller derby. 16 Eddie the Eagle. (Dead last in his two ski jumping events at the 1988 Winter Games.) 17 Squash. (It’s a shot played off the back or side walls.) 18 The World Snooker Championship. 19 The Indianapolis 500. 20 Football.

(They were the official World Cup balls.) Entertainment: 21 The cast of the US version of The Office. 22 Johnny Hallyday. 23 The Golden Raspberry – or Razzie – for worst actor. 24 Krusty the Clown. (From The Simpsons.) 25 Angelina Jolie. 26 Nicki Minaj. 27 Han Solo. (From the Star Wars movies.) 28 Robert Redford’s movie acting career. 29 Avatar. 30 In the Read Dead video game series. Kiwiana: 31 Drowning. 32 London. 33 Nelson. 34 The Briscoes lady. 35 Shortland St hospital.

36 Invercargill. (Also our most southerly city.) 37 Matariki. 38 Stratford, Taranaki.39 Rowing solo across the Tasman. 40 Red Band gumboots. What links: 41 Roles played by Meryl Streep. 42 Iron. (“Iron Lady” Thatcher; biting boxer “Iron Mike” Tyson; the “Iron Duke” of Wellington; Iron Maiden vocalist.) 43 They’re all fictional bars from TV series. (EastEnders; Shortland St; Neighbours; Cheers.) 44 First and last people executed in New Zealand. 45 Sports that have featured at just one Olympic Games. 46 Dining places from TV series. (Seinfeld; Friends; The Sopranos; The Simpsons.) 47 They’re all misquotations -- never said in precisely those words in the original movie/TV series. (Star Trek; Casablanca; Dirty Harry; The Empire Strikes Back.) 48 They’re all unfinished. 49 They’re all Seattle sports teams. (Women’s basketball; soccer; American football; baseball.) 50 Velvet. (1960s rock band; end of communism in Czechoslovakia; cocktail; David Lynch movie/1960s song.)

news it through w with us beaches sh how with us up a stor a good game it up d down ab access rights about tomorrow w sense your langu uage views news N E WS TA LK Z B .CO. N Z

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

NORTHLAND

WHAT TO DO IN NORTHLAND Take a walk and a dip at Whangārei Falls There’s something about waterfalls that’s a little bit magical. All the better when they’re both easily accessible and classically beautiful, like Otuihau Whangārei Falls.

Just 10 minutes from Whangarei CBD, the falls are a great spot for picnics, bush walks and spending time in nature.

The falls fan across basalt cliffs and plunge more than 26m into a deep pool that’s popular for summer swimming.

Three viewing platforms provide easy access and photo opportunities of dramatic vistas, while a circular track around the falls allows you to appreciate them from all angles.

Historically a good eeling spot for local Māori, the land was purchased in the late 1920s by Archibald Clapham, purportedly to stop the waterfall from being developed as a commercial mill. In 1946 the Whangārei Businessman’s Association from public donations and the property became a domain.

Things you should know: • From Whangārei, take Kiripaka Rd signposted to Ngunguru and Tutukākā.

Otuihau Whangārei Falls is signposted as you leave the suburb of Tikipunga.

Turn right from Kiripaka Rd into the park where a carpark and toilets are available.

• The walk loops around the waterfall, down one side, crosses a footbridge at the bottom and back up the other side.

It has well-maintained tracks and is suitable for all ages, although both sides of the track zigzag down steep slopes to the lower bridge.

Whangarei Falls.

Picture / Northland Inc

ALTOGETHER READY FOR SUMMER

There are plenty of reasons to warm to a sun-drenched sale.

There are so many elements to a classic Kiwi summer: beaches, baches, barbecues and... buying and selling houses. For just as the shrill cicadas hit their peak in February and March, so does the real estate market. Encouraged by the glorious weather, sellers and buyers emerge refreshed and revitalised from their Christmas breaks.

If your New Year’s resolution is to make a move, contact the sales professionals at Bayleys. Their years of experience selling homes will ensure you enjoy a very happy and prosperous 2019.

0800 80 20 40 | whangarei@bayleys.co.nz ALTOGETHER BETTER MACKYS REAL ESTATE LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Residential / Commercial / Rural / Property Services

Connect with the land, the people, the history

Bay of Islands, New Zealand www.waitangi.org.nz

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Boutique wine, grown in Russell.

“Arctic Scandinavian Adventure” Hosted from NZ in August 2019

Arriving in Stockholm, we start our Arctic Scandinavian adventure. For 18 days, hear tales of Vikings, and Lapland stories from the Sami people & travel through dramatic fjord and glacier landscapes. We will meet Santa in Rov aniemi and travel through the Scandinavian capitals to the North Cape where we can witness the land of the midnight sun! Then travel through Finland to Helsinki and ferry across to explore the Baltic states, from Tallinn to Latvia. Join us for 5 more days from Latvia to Poland, or an optional add-on to Iceland.

Wine tastings & sales Casual style eatery Ocean and vineyard views Vineyard and bush walk

AUCKS ROAD, RD1, RUSSELL , B AY O F I S L A N D S | P : + 6 4 9 4 0 3 8 0 0 7 W W W. O M ATA . C O . N Z

28 days Whangarei back to Whangarei from $13,500 pp share twin with Extended Journey through the Baltics from $2,500 pp share twin or Iceland add-on from $3,800 pp share twin Call David or Stephanie on (09) 438-4939 www.youwhangarei.co.nz

MORE HOSTED TOURS AVAILABLE. CALL 09 438 4939

Make Your Summer in Northland With A Day at Kiwi North A unique combination of Museum, Kiwi House & Heritage Park all in one very special place.

Only 2.5 hrs up SH1 from Auckland The only Kiwi House and Tuatara viewing in Northland Kiwi feeding: 11am, 1pm and 3pm daily.

Tuatara Encounter: 6th to 25th January – Mon, Wed and Friday after 11am Kiwi feeding.

2 Special Exhibitions: The World travelling “Anne Frank, let me be myself” and “Art from the Archives”.

Heritage Park Rides: 9th to 25th Jan. 10am to 2pm, Wed, Thurs and Fridays – Mini trains on Wednesdays only.

Event: Medieval Madness Sunday 27th January 2019.

Open 10am to 4pm everyday. Closed 25th and 26th December.

Gate 1, 500 SH14, Maunu, Whangarei, Northland Phone 09-4389630 • www.kiwinorth.co.nz • admin@kiwinorth.co.nz

Now Christmas is over stop, shop and listen Stop for breakfast, lunch or just a snack.

Shop in the Gallery. Listen to the frogs and birds while relaxing in the garden

Open 7 Days

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Open for: • Breakfast • Lunch • Delicious Cakes • Functions • Paintings • Glass Works • Carvings • Jewellery • Sculptures • Ceramics • Gift Vouchers

1392 Old Russell Rd, Hikurangi Phone/Fax: Gallery 09 433 9616 or Café 09 433 9934 Hours: 7 days - 10am to 5pm www.galleryhelenabay.co.nz www.facebook/galleryhelenabay

37

NORTHLAND

dinatiscover our on’s story

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

38

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

NORTHLAND

Ride the giant dunes in Ōpononi In Ōpononi, on the shores of Hokianga Harbour, there are dunes of epic proportions – more mountains than sandhills.

On these the Māori explorer Kupe is believed to have landed in Aotearoa and returned to Hawaiki. Which explains the harbour’s full name – Te Hokianga-nui-aKupe, or the place of Kupe’s great return.

Today, the Ōpononi dunes are a hot spot for summer fun. Bring your boogie board for epic rides finishing with a splash in the warm sea – a welcome dip after a hot, sandy climb to the top.

While exposed to the prevailing winds, the top of the dunes have exceptional views over the harbour and Northland landscape.

The dunes can only be reached by boat, so catch a ride with Hokianga Express Charters who leave on the hour from Ōpononi Wharf and supply free boogie boards.

Things you should know: • Ferries run seven days a week on the hour from 10am depending on passenger numbers and weather conditions. Bookings are essential.

• Take your own food and water, as there are no facilities once you have been dropped off.

• It’s best to time your trip around high tide so the sea is closer to the bottom of the dunes and you can skim across the water.

• For more information visit the Hokianga i-SITE at Ōpononi.

Mt Manaia.

Picture / Northland Inc

Climb steep and seriously scenic Mt Manaia Mt Manaia towers over Whangārei Harbour in a cluster of majestic craggy peaks, irresistible to anyone who appreciates a dramatic view.

The track to the 420m summit is a steady climb through regenerated native bush that includes kauri stands, groves of nīkau and northern rātā hanging from pōhutukawa. In the steepest bits, the wide

gravel path switches to wooden steps and you’ll want to stop at the lookouts on natural rocky outcrops, if not to catch your breath, then definitely to appreciate the view.

From the top, Whangārei Harbour is spread out like a rich tapestry, with shades of blue stretching to the horizon and the intriguing shapes of Bream Bay and the Hen and Chicken Islands.

Be aware that the lookouts have no safety barriers, so stay well away from the drop-offs and supervise children closely.

Things you should know: • Mt Manaia is 28km east of Whangārei.

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NORTHLAND Hokianga Harbour.

Picture / Northland Inc

Park in the Mt Manaia Club’s lower carpark on Whangārei Heads Rd above McLeod Bay. The track begins just above the carpark.

• The walk to the summit is4km return via the same track, which should take around two hours.

• The surface is a mix of wide gravel path and wooden steps with no safety barriers at the natural rock lookouts.

• Kauri dieback disease is killing our native kauri. It spreads by soil movement, but you can help prevent it.

Stay away from kauri tree roots. Clean your shoes and gear before and after visiting kauri forest.

Discover a magical marine environment It’s a pretty big accolade to have a famous marine expert rate a dive site as one of the world’s top 10. But Jacques Cousteau picked the Poor Knights.

Some 23km off Tutukākā, the ancient volcanoes that make up the Poor Knights islands are a renowned nature reserve on land as well as marine life below the waves.

Discover an underwater wonderland of dropoffs, walls, arches and caves teeming

Poor Knights Snorkling.

Picture / Dive Tutukaka

with abundant sea life - well-known species like trevally, kingfish and snapper to tropical visitors carried from warmer waters and a vibrant selection of colourful sponges and anemones.

Whether you’re an experienced diver, a snorkeler, or keen to stay above water on a SUP, the Poor Knights are one of New Zealand’s highlights.

Things you should know: • The Poor Knights Islands can be reached by boat from almost any port in the Hauraki Gulf and Northland.

• Charter boats from Auckland, Leigh, Whangārei, Tutukākā, and Bay of

Islands visit the islands.

To help protect marine life inside the reserve, remember: • No fishing of any kind, either from a boat or from shore • No taking or disturbing any marine life, including shellfish and seaweeds • No taking of any part of the sea floor, including rocks and shells • No feeding the fish as it disturbs their natural behaviour Adapted from AA Traveller’s 101 Must-Do’s This Summer and used by permission. For more ideas, see aa.co.nz/travel/things-todo/summer-must-dos/

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

BAY OF PLENTY

Opohe Beach.

Picture / Western Bay Regional Council

Mt Maunganui.

Picture / Sudina

WHAT TO DO IN BAY OF PLENTY

Drink in the view from Mt Maunganui

Mt Maunganui is the iconic landmark of the Tauranga region – standing sentry over sprawling white sand, turquoise surf breaks and happy holidaymakers.

The Māori name – Mauao – means ‘caught in the light of the day.’ Legend tells of a once nameless hill whose affections were spurned by the beautiful female mountain, Puwhenua. Heartbroken and hopeless, the hill decided to drown himself in the ocean and called on the patupaiarehe – the fairy folk – to help. But time ran out and, as the sun rose, the hill was forever frozen in place at the entrance of Tauranga Moana: caught by the morning sun.

Today, if you take on the challenge to slog up its slopes, you’ll be in the perfect spot to snap a summer selfie.

Choose from a gentle 3.4km meander around the base of the big hill to a brisk 20-minute walk to the 232m summit via the steeper tracks. You’ll be rewarded with spectacular 360º views along the plentiful coastline.

On a clear day you’ll see Whakaari White Island simmering away on the horizon and to the north, the intriguing shapes of Rangiwaea and Matakana Islands.

Things you should know: • Mt Maunganui is 232m high.

• The 3.4km walk around the base takes around 45 minutes and is suitable for wheelchairs and strollers.

• The summit walk is 3.8km on a steep track that will take around one and a half hours return. There are steps on this track, so it’s not suitable for bikes.

• For more information visit bayofplentynz. com/discover/mt-maunganui

Visit the most active volcano in New Zealand Get up close to hissing fumaroles, sizzling sulphur and steaming craters on a visit to Whakaari White Island.

A short boat ride from Whakatāne (or less, if you’re travelling by ‘copter), Whakaari White Island is a weird and wonderful volcanic landscape.

One of the world’s most accessible active volcanos, the island has been bubbling away for nearly 200,000 years.

Sulphur creates vivid colours in simmering lakes and collections of crusty crystals; mini-geysers spurt, steam hisses and there’s a real sense of adventure as you explore this unique piece of geology.

Relics from an ill-fated sulphur factory can still be found, with rusted metal telling the sad story of 11 lives lost in a 1914 eruption.

While today’s obligatory hard hats and

gas masks will also make you feel like an intrepid explorer, the walk to the crater is quick and easy – no mountain climbing required.

Things you should know: • There are a number of ways to get to Whakaari White Island – boat tour, charter, plane or helicopter.

• There are no facilities on the island, so take water, sunscreen and appropriate clothing and make use of the toilets onboard your tour boat before you disembark.

• For more information visit whakatane. com/activities/white-island

Visit New Zealand’s most-loved beach It’s a pretty big achievement to be rated the best bit of 14,000km of coastline, but Ōhope managed to take the crown.

Not far from Whakatāne, Ōhope Beach is an idyllic, iconic piece of postcardperfect Kiwiana. Think blooming pōhutukawa, fish’n chips, Jandals and frisbees. It’s no wonder Kiwis love it here.

From the entrance of Ōhiwa Harbour to West End, Ōhope Beach stretches for 11 glorious kilometres of golden sand, so you’ll never be jostling for a spot.

A mecca for summer activities, Ōhope boasts gently rolling waves ideal for safe

What’s on in Whakatāne 19 January

Whakatāne Seafood Festival 28 January - 30 March

Summer Arts Festival

2 February

Local Wild Food Challenge

22 February – 3 March

Air Chatham’s Sunshine and a Plate For more information visit whakatane.com/events

Share our

summer w whakatane.nz

swimming, learning to surf, or simply SUPping the day away.

For those inclined to more active pursuits, there are coastal walks, fishing spots galore or the nearby Ōhope International Golf Club.

Picnic, play or sip your latté at a nearby café, but don’t miss out on Ōhope this summer.

Fish’n chips and L&P on the beach From Ahipara to Ahuriri; Mangonui to the Mount; Paihia to Piha; Waikanae to the West Coast – New Zealand is spoilt for spots to enjoy fish and chips by the sea.

The classic Kiwi feast of fresh fish served battered, hot and golden brown with a scoop (or six) of crunchy chips is the perfect way to wind up a summer’s day.

Whether you’re watching a romantic sunset or feeding the family, fish’n chips eaten out of newspaper with salt on your skin and sand between your toes is the quintessential Kiwi experience.

Wash it down with that other Kiwi classic: a bottle of sweet, fizzy L&P. It’s what summers are made of.

Adapted from AA Traveller’s 101 Must-Do’s This Summer and used by permission. For more ideas, see aa.co.nz/travel/things-to-do/ summer-must-dos/

HOLD ONTO THAT

HOLIDAY FEELING

We all love how summer feels – when you breathe the fresh sea air of Papamoa Beach.

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BAY OF PLENTY

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42

SUMMER MAGAZINE 2018

WELLINGTON

WHAT TO DO IN WELLINGTON Get up close with the birds of Kāpiti Island

Complete the Wellington Craft Beer Capital Trail

Kāpiti Island is one of the few easily accessible offshore nature reserves in New Zealand.

Just 15 minutes – by boat, of course – off the coast of Paraparaumu, the distinctively shaped island can only be accessed by approved tour operators.

While the island was home to around 2000 hardy folk in the dark days of whaling, today its only residents are native birds.

Kāpiti was designated a bird sanctuary in 1897 and its mature native bush now teems with species that are rare, endangered or virtually unheard of on the mainland.

Fantails flutter alongside kōkako; brown and little spotted kiwi snuffle in the undergrowth, while tūī, saddlebacks and curious kākā soar through the trees.

Wellington is New Zealand’s capital city of craft beer. With more malts, hops and mash than you can shake a stick at – and most bars within walking distance of each other -Wellington is the perfect destination for a beer-themed walking route. The Wellington Craft Beer Capital Trail is not a pub crawl, more a leisurely amble of beer appreciation for the curious and connoisseurs alike.

Visit the 23 bars and brewpubs on the list, each with their own unique character; all with great beer. Some live and breathe craft beer; others brew onsite. Some are simply iconic Wellington spots, stocking beer, beverages and bites.

Download the map and brochure to guide you and collect a stamp with purchase at each establishment – it doesn’t need to be for beer; could be food or non-alcoholic drinks – and collect a prize pack for each completed map.

Things you should know: • Collect a stamp with purchase from each participating bar or brewery you visit, then submit your completed map (one submission a person a year) in exchange for a certificate and a Craft Beer Capital T-shirt.

• For more information see craftbeercapital.com

Ride the remarkable Remutaka Cycle Trail Beginning at Petone at the head of Wellington Harbour, the Remutaka Cycle Trail encompasses all the best bits of the Wellington and Wairarapa landscapes.

Over 115km, usually spread over two to three days, the trail – one of New Zealand’s Great Rides – is grade two to three, an easy to intermediate route.

Ride alongside the Hutt River before heading inland – or rather, under-land – through historic railway tunnels to Wairarapa’s famous vineyard country and New Zealand’s third largest lake, Lake Wairarapa. The trail finishes by skirting the wild and windswept southern coast to Orongorongo.

Things you should know: • To get to Kāpiti Island you must book transport with an authorised provider.

• The ferry departs from Paraparaumu Beach at approximately 9am each day.

The boat ride takes around 20 minutes.

• Private vessels such as kayaks, boats, paddle boards and jet skis are not allowed to land. No one can land without a permit.

Things you should know: • The Remutaka Cycle Trail is one of New Zealand’s Great Rides.

• Cycle 115km from Petone to Orongorongo via Wairarapa on the grade two to three – easy to intermediate – route over two to three days • For more information see nzcycletrail. com/trails/rimutaka-cycle-trail

Explore wild and windy coastline on the Mākara Walkway Take in vast views past wind turbines and across to the tip of the South Island on this coastal walk just outside Wellington.

The Mākara Walkway is a 6km loop track just 30 minutes from Wellington City that begins and ends at the isolated and beautiful Mākara Beach.

Climb through farmland to high vantage points with spectacular views of the coast and ocean that were used by Māori and European soldiers throughout history.

The historic Ngāti Ira pā site lies on the promontory at the western end of Fisherman’s Bay, while gun emplacements at the top of the cliffs mark Fort Opau, which was garrisoned by soldiers during World War II. Finish your walk with a dip at Mākara beach - a lovely sheltered spot in a southerly wind, but very exposed if it’s blowing from the north.

Things you should know: • Mākara Walkway is a 6km loop track that begins and ends at Mākara Beach, 16km north of Wellington. The beach is at the end of Mākara Rd which runs from the south end of Karori Rd. • Carry food and drink. There is no drinkable water on the track.

• Mākara Beach is sheltered from southerly winds, but is very exposed to northerlies. The hilltops are especially prone to galeforce winds.

Gardens Magic: live and luminous in Wellington There’s nothing quite like listening to live music under stars and fairy lights on a warm summer evening. At the Gardens Magic summer series, held at the Soundshell in Wellington’s Botanic Gardens, you can do it for free.

As the sun goes down, the Botanic Gardens transform into a wonderland of lights that wind through trees and between flowerbeds.

Things you should know: • The Gardens Magic concert series runs over 18 nights from Tuesday 8 January to Sunday 27 January 2019.

• For more information see wellington. govt.nz/events/annual-events/ summer-city/gardens-magic Adapted from AA Traveller’s 101 Must-Do’s This Summer and used by permission. For more ideas, see aa.co.nz/travel/things-to-do/ summer-must-dos/

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WELLINGTON

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