Capital 49 by Capital

CAPITAL TA L E S O F T H E C I T Y

SPOT ON MARCH 2018

IN FACT ISSUE 49

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t s e b r O u ion! decis Judith noticed a change in her husband Bob’s demeanour. She found that Bob was sitting at home alone a lot, his hearing had deteriorated and Judith felt he was becoming isolated.

This prompted a pragmatic decision to adjust their lifestyle. Since settling into Bert Sutcliffe Retirement Village, Bob enjoys playing pool with the ‘lads’ and has developed some great friendships. Having Bob engaged in the village community is wonderful. Judith jokes “he’s a much more interesting bloke, but when you’ve been married to an Irishman it’s always interesting!”

*Terms and conditions apply

Staying in the Birkenhead community was a signiﬁcant factor in their decision. Bob’s business was built upon the loyal community he serviced and he is forever bumping into old workmates at the village.

Judith explains, unless you come through the gates and view the resort style facilities, you will have no idea. Judith is a regular at the sumptuous café and enjoys the barista coffee. She loves taking visitors there who are blown away with the stunning views from the café. The couple also enjoy the sanctuary of their light and spacious apartment, where if they want some quiet time they can be by themselves. As for the financial aspect, Ryman’s fixed weekly fees mean that worries such as increasing council rates no longer apply. Their fees are fixed for life* in their apartment. Selling their property freed up some capital. Judith explains “You have a bit more jam for yourself” and with that ‘jam’ they could go on a long-awaited cruise. The added security was that they could simply lock up their apartment and go. “We’re happy as clams, it’s the best decision we’ve ever made.”

To see Judith and Bob's story or for more information about the Ryman difference visit www.rymanhealthcare.co.nz or phone Josie on 0800 000 290

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CAPITAL

MADE IN WELLINGTON

ellness is a new term, broad enough to be applied to whichever aspect of health and wellbeing suits the user, but it is easily understood and has an air of importance. It forms the loose theme for this issue. We have ranged widely from wellbeing in fashion to mythbusting. Two people closely involved with two of the biggest wellness issues today, insomnia, and weight and body image, talk about their approaches. And paralympian Liam Malone, who has dealt with disability and health problems from the day he was born, talks about his progression from athletics to business. The professors at Otago Medical School, Wellington helped compile the mythbusters information. My thanks to them. To celebrate this spectacular summer we have put together a photo essay highlighting freckles − a summer accessory that goes in and out of fashion, but, along with a peeling nose, was an essential part of summer for almost every child in New Zealand. Are freckles disappearing genetically? Or are we just so much more sunsmart? Sarah Lang talks to Indian expatriate author Rajorshi Chakraborti about his move here and its effect upon his writing. Joelle Thomson looks at how rosé wine has come to be the summer drink, and the Shearers, mother and daughter, provide a perfect summer goodness bowl to go with it. There are festivals galore on offer in March; there is much to look forward to. We are also looking toward April when our 50th issue will appear, something we find hard to believe and we want to celebrate. See you then.

SUBSCRIPTION Subscription rates $77 (inc postage and packaging) 11 issues New Zealand only To subscribe, please email accounts@capitalmag.co.nz

C O N TA C T U S Phone +64 4 385 1426 Email editor@capitalmag.co.nz Website www.capitalmag.co.nz Facebook facebook.com/CapitalMagazineWellington Twitter @CapitalMagWelly Instagram @capitalmag Post Box 9202, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 Deliveries 31–41 Pirie St, Mt Victoria, Wellington, 6011 ISSN 2324-4836 Produced by Capital Publishing Ltd

PRINTED IN WELLINGTON

Alison Franks Editor editor@capitalmag.co.nz This publication uses vegetable based inks, and FSC® certified papers produced from responsible sources, manufactured under ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems

The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any losses due to the use of material in this magazine. Copyright ©. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of Capital Publishing Ltd.

The Collection of Frank and Lyn Corner A Wellington Auction and Historical Event Sunday 18 March 2018, 4.00pm at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery 11 Customhouse Quay, Wellington

ART + OBJECT artandobject.co.nz

Tanya Ashkenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s White Torso (1969) and Colin McCahonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Landscape Theme and Variations No. 1 (1963) as installed c.1976 in the Ernst Plischke modernist residence commissioned by the Corners in Thorndon, Wellington.

CONTRIBUTORS

Staff

FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS

Alison Franks Managing editor editor@capitalmag.co.nz Campaign coordinators Fale Ahchong fale@capitalmag.co.nz Lauren Andersen lauren@capitalmag.co.nz Haleigh Trower haleigh@capitalmag.co.nz Lyndsey O’Reilly lyndsey@capitalmag.co.nz Factotum John Briste d john@capitalmag.co.nz Art director Shalee Fitzsimmons shalee@capitalmag.co.nz Designer Luke Browne design@capitalmag.co.nz Editorial assistant Alastair Murray hello@capitalmag.co.nz Accounts Tod Harfield accounts@capitalmag.co.nz Gus Bristed

Distribution

FALE AH CHONG C amp ai g n C o- ordi n ator

L AU R A P I T C H E R E ditori a l Assi st ant

If there was a degree in shopping, Fale would have passed with first class honors. A keen knitter, noodle eater and canine lover, Fale has spent the past few years exploring the world. Now home, she's using her actual degree in marketing and media as one of our wonderful Campaign Co-ordinators.

Laura has been lurking around the Capital office for nearly three years now, sharing her popcorn and assisting the editorial and design teams. She's recently polished off her Masters in journalism and is heading to New York, where she plans to spend far too much money op-shopping.

LAUREN ANDERSEN C amp ai g n C o- ordi n ator

JOELLE THOMSON Wi n e c olum n i st

Lauren is Capital's newest & tallest campaign co-ordinator. With an eye for fashion and a taste for gin, her hobbies include reposting McQueen on Instagram and slathering herself in sunscreen, even on the cloudiest Wellington day.

Joelle was bitten by the big buttery chardonnay bug at Aro Street Café in the late 1980s and has never looked back. She has written 16 books and now comments on wine for RNZ National. Check her out at joellethomson.com

Stockists Pick up your Capital in New World, Countdown and Pak’n’Save supermarkets, Moore Wilson's, Unity Books, Commonsense Organics, Magnetix, City Cards & Mags, Take Note, Whitcoulls, Wellington Airport, Interislander and other discerning region-wide outlets. Ask for Capital magazine by name. Distribution: john@capitalmag.co.nz.

Submissions We welcome freelance art, photo and story submissions. However we cannot reply personally to unsuccessful pitches.

Wellington | 99â&#x20AC;&#x201C;105 Customhouse Quay crane-brothers.com

CONTENTS

12 LETTERS 14 CHATTER 16 NEWS BRIEFS 28 BY THE NUMBERS 20 NEW PRODUCTS

LO OKING FOR TI-MORE Rather than retire, Alastair Gordon joined Volunteer Service Abroad

WELLNESS BRIEFS

DREAM JOB The science of sleep

TALES OF THE CIT Y Jude McLaren is living slow in the fast lane

24 CULTURE

AT H I S O W N PA C E Liam Malone looks to the future

MY TH BUSTERS Fact or fiction? We ask the experts.

DOES SOMEONE YOU LOVE RIDE A SCOOTER? Scooter survival courses available in Wellington www.scootersurvival.co.nz

KEEPING IT REAL Fitspo queen Riley Hemson is a Healthy Chick

CONTENTS

2018 SHEARER'S TA B L E

D OT- TO DOT

Miso Salmon goodness bowl

Fierce and freckled

BY THE BOOK

PASS THE PASSATA

FASHION

D ON'T LO OK AWAY

Mamma mia! Italian tomatoes with Wellington roots

A wellbeing wardrobe

Novelist Rajorshi Chakraborti on writing what you know

76 78 79 82 84

ROSÉ ON A ROLL

61 FISHY BUSINESS 62 EDIBLES

Think pink drinks

TORQUE TALK WELLY ANGEL BABY, BABY CALENDAR GROUPIES

New Zealand Portrait Gallery Supported by

2018

Shed 11, Queens Wharf Wellington Waterfront www.nzportraitgallery.org.nz

1 March – 27 May 2018

Principal Partner

Chris and Kathy Parkin Supporting Partners

LETTERS

WELL FRAMED I’ve just been sent a couple of copies of the GirlGuiding NZ article in the Summer edition of Capital Magazine. I really like the photo that has been used. LOVE the article too. Thanks heaps for involving us in your magazine. Nicki Tipa, GirlGuiding New Zealand – Ngā Kōhine Whakamahiri o Aotearoa

BRILLIANT CEVICHE Wanted to say thanks for including that brilliant and well-timed ceviche recipe in your Summer mag! I was finally sitting down to read my Capital magazine at the camp site on New Year's eve, while my partner wondered how we should cook the kingfish and red cod we'd spearfished that day − and I came across the ceviche recipe! What luck, we had lemons and mango in our camping kit, and managed to make something close enough! Then I made a butterfish ceviche for friends at their holiday house a few days later, which was very well received. Having never tried to make a ceviche, I'm now a complete convert − such a good way to prepare our summer kai moana! Debbie Fish, Wellington GREAT COMB OS Just wanted to say I thought the Dec issue was a cracker. Great combinations of all the usual but I particularly loved seeing more arts and culture stuff and especially including Whirinaki and Pātaka. Bravo! Isabella Cawthorn, Wellington

Exclusive homewares Fascinating stories Celebrating craft + passion Open 24/7 at newtownhouse.co.nz

Send letters to editor@captalmag.co.nz with the subject line Letters to Ed

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NEW HOME Wellington Film Society has moved its screenings to the Embassy Theatre, following the closure of Paramount Theatre late last year. ‘The Embassy Theatre is a glorious new home for us,’ says president Chris Hormann. ‘It is an accessible venue, and one of the finest cinemas in the world.’ Wellington Film Society, formed in 1945, is the longest-standing film society in New Zealand. Their 2018 programme comprises 34 films spanning the years 1924 to 2016. If you attend every movie, membership works out around $4 per film. All screenings are in the Grand at the Embassy, at 6.15pm on Mondays.

GEORGE HOPKINS Why did you choose the design? When I was in school I would always draw cartoons in the back of my books and thought it would be kinda funny if I got a tattoo of one of them. I actually drew this one half an hour before I got it done.

STREET SOUNDS

Family – for it or against? My family wasn't mad that I got it. They said it was my body and that if I wanted a tattoo they wouldn't be against it.

Find a free issue of Capital at the Radioactive stand at The Newtown Festival, 4 March from 9.30am until late. It’s the largest street fair in New Zealand, with over 420 stalls and 12 stages with live performances to keep you occupied. Included in the line-up is Wellington poet Hera Lindsay Bird, who featured in our family issue in November last year.

Art or rebellion? Art. I think if you got a tattoo to be rebellious, you'd just end up regretting it.

C HAT T E R

WELLY WORDS AS THE CROW FLIES A Mornington Wellyworder was watering the plants when she heard a loud bang on her roof and noticed fragments of a white fleshy substance had been sprayed around. Investigations revealed that a fish had been dropped on her roof, presumably from some height. Flying fish? Or did a bird just lose its dinner.

OVER-QUALIFIED Typos can happen to the best of us. The local coffee shop is advertising for a ‘barrister’ with three years’ experience.

CHIVALRY IS DEAD During the Great Train Standstill of this summer, when queues of commuters were struggling to get home, a heroic young Wellyworder was trying to secure a spot in a taxi for an elderly woman when a Middle Aged White Man literally pushed her out of the way and took the last seat. Our Wellyworder was too shocked to say anything but not so the elderly woman. ‘What happened to ladies first, ya prick?’

WE HEAR YA A Wellyworder walking home through Pukeahu National War Memorial Park was startled when a man practising Tai Chi on the grass did the sort of trumpetlike fart you hope people will talk over. Rather than staying all zen, he jumped up and dashed out of the park, earning some strange looks from some elderly women leaving the Last Post ceremony. It did sound a bit like a bugle...

IT'S COOL TO KORERO kaua e awangawanga: kia hari koa te ngākau Don’t worry be happy

S AT E D , N O T S AT U R AT E D Wellingtonians had to deal with a new eatery at the rate of almost one per week in 2017. Last year 48 new dining places opened in 52 weeks. Statistics NZ say that only half of these will survive three years and 28% a decade. It is definitely a tough business but Dave Lamason of Goldmine on Willis St believes we aren’t at saturation point yet.

ART IN EVERY CORNER Frank and Lyn Corner’s substantial art collection is to be sold this month. Art+Object are holding the special auction at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery. The collection includes works by Frances Hodgkins, Rita Angus, Max Gimblett and many others. Frank Corner died in 2014, and his wife Lyn in 2016. Their collection remains in the family home, a Gray Young house with subsequent interior alterations by the studio of Ernst Plischke. The collection will be auctioned at 4pm on Sunday 18 March.

NEWS BRIEFS

PEOPLE A N D N AT U R E Zealandia Ecosanctuary has established a research centre to support its ongoing research and field work. It will focus on how nature influences our society, including the economy, people’s health and wellbeing, and conservation outcomes. The sanctuary’s Conservation and Research Manager, Dr Danielle Shanahan, says, ‘A key activity of the centre is our Sanctuary to Sea project, which aims to restore the Kaiwharawhara catchment.’ This involves improving fish habitats throughout the catchment, helping fish migration and improving forest corridors for birds leaving the sanctuary. Two community meetings about the ‘huge’ project have already been held.

FROM OVER THE DITCH

PROBLEM PILES

WATER WOES

New Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Principal, Narelle Umbers, arrived to find an array of handmade ‘welcome gifts’ in her office introducing her to Marsden, Wellington and New Zealand. She says they are creative, beautiful, humorous and practical items, ‘that I will keep and treasure.’ Ms Umbers was previously Deputy Principal of Peninsula Grammar in Melbourne. She is the12th Principal of the Marsden Schools in Karori and Whitby.

When Point Howard Wharf, which is ear-marked for removal, was constructed in the1930s its piles may have penetrated the aquifer below. The normal wharf-removal process is to cut the piles off at the sea floor. But if the piles have pierced the aquifer there is a risk that under pressure the sawn off remainder piles might pop out and allow aquifer contamination. Hutt City Council’s Divisional Manager Parks & Gardens, Bruce Hodgins, says a detailed sonar study is investigating how the wharf was originally built. Hodgins expects it to be six months before a decision can be made as to how to proceed.

Porirua’s water supply comes from the Hutt Valley via a single pipeline and the city is vulnerable to seismic activity, with the Ohariu Fault running through the middle. Porirua City Council and Wellington Water want to improve Porirua’s water supply infrastructure. But Laurence Edwards, Wellington Water’s Acting Chief Advisor, Potable Water says, ‘We are encouraging everybody to make sure they have 20 litres of stored water, per person, per day for at least seven days.’ Residents can purchase 200-litre tanks directly from Porirua City Council.

B O TA N I C A L S K I N C A R E / H E R B A L D I S P E N S A R Y / H O L I S T I C FA C I A L S / TA I L O R E D M A S S A G E / S K I N C A R E W O R K S H O P S C r e a t e d b y H e r b a l i s t s M a d e i n N e w Z e a l a n d w e l l i n g t o n a p o t h e c a r y. c o . n z 1 1 0 a C u b a M a l l 0 4 8 0 1 8 7 7 7 F r e e N Z S h i p p i n g

NEWS BRIEFS

S TA N D U P It is125 years since New Zealand women got the right to vote. Mexican-born businesswoman Natalia Albert (right) and her team of volunteers are staging Kate Sheppard Place Women (National Library, 10 March, 5:30-9:30pm): a speaker event by women, for women, and not for profit. Speakers and panelists including RNZ’s Susie Ferguson and documentary-maker Adorate Mizero discuss the fight for diversity and gender equality. There’s also the option to sponsor a ticket, to be distributed through groups representing women from migrant, ethnic and LGBQTIA groups. It’s a one-off event to begin with, but Albert hopes to make it an annual event that tours the country.

POP UP POPPING UP

FIRST DAY OF SCHO OL

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Budding business owners in Upper Hutt can attend a free 10-day business course thanks to Upper Hutt City Council and the business community. PopUp Business School Aotearoa is coming to the city from 12–23 March offering twenty workshops designed to equip participants with the tools they need to start their own business. Topics include how to start a business with no money, the quickest way to find a customer, and building a website.

Te Auaha NZ Institute of Creativity opens the doors to its purpose-built campus on Cuba St this month, catering for up to 1000 students. ‘It will be a place where students can turn their creative talents into a career,’ says Victoria Spackman, the new director. Along with brand new facilities and specialist learning spaces, Te Auaha also offers a brand new degree, the Bachelor of Creativity. It brings together the creative programmes of Whitireia and WelTec and is available in six majors; digital media, music, performing arts, toi poutama, visual arts and writing. Classes start on 5 March.

An independent stocktake of New Zealand’s housing sector released last month has found the housing crisis is worse than previously revealed. Wellington City Councillor and Housing Portfolio leader Brian Dawson says the report confirms the urgency of tackling the problem, something Capital highlighted in May last year (Issue #41, p 40). Wellington Mayor Justin Lester says, ‘All signs point to the solution being supply, supply, supply.’ The Wellington Housing Affordability Measure and wider Housing Strategy will be part of the Council's upcoming Long Term Plan deliberations.

BN Y ETWH E P RNOUDMUBCETRSS

Be well, keep well According to the Treasury, the New Zealand government spends $16.2 billion on health care per year. That’s not to be sneezed at.... which brings us to our first topic – the common cold.

Here’s looking achoo kid

7–10

2-4

6-8

200+

number of days the common cold usually hangs around

number of colds an adult will catch in a year

number of colds a child will catch in a year

number of common cold viruses hanging around

the percentage that you can reduce catching a cold if you regularly wash your hands

Out and about

150

240

190

500+

suggested number of minutes of exercise per week to keep healthy and lengthen your life

suggested number of minutes of exercise per week to lose weight

number of calories burnt walking briskly for an hour

number of calories burnt jogging for an hour

29% 27% 25% 23% 21% 19% 17% 15%

I like big butts 600

400

estimated extra calories in our diet today in comparison to the 1970s (processed food much?)

number of bariatric surgeries funded by government in 2016

percentage of New Zealanders classed as obese in 1997

percentage of New Zealanders classed as obese in 2008

percentage of New Zealanders classed as obsese in 2011

Strike a pose

1980s

500 BC

number of yoga studios listed in the Wellington region Yellow Pages

decade the physical practice became popular in the west

century the practice (meditative and physical) emerged in India

Compiled by Craig Beardsworth 1 18 8

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Hello sunshine

Choose Success Choose Whitireia

Study with us at Te Auaha, opening March • Creative Writing

• Music

• Radio

• Film & Photography • Performing Arts

• Stage & Screen Arts

• Journalism

• Visual Arts & Design

• Publishing

www.whitireia.ac.nz www.teauaha.com

SECTION HEADER

TA L E S O F T H E C I T Y

Film fa n a t i c WRITTEN BY FRANCESCA EMMS | PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNA BRIGGS

FOOD

HOME

JOB

A RT I ST

FASHION

Sweet Mother’s Kitchen

Oriental Bay

NZ Film Commission

Ceramist Katherine Smyth

Kowtow

Jude McLaren balances her fast-paced job with a slow-living philosophy.

atching up with Jude McLaren is pretty easy. She walks everywhere so she’s not moving too quickly. ‘I’m into slow living,’ she explains, ‘I don’t have a car. Everything I need is within blocks of where I live. I look up when I walk. I take in the architecture, the people, the fauna. I don’t like to rush, I like to meander and day dream. That’s often at odds with my job.’ Jude is part of the Talent Development team at the New Zealand Film Commission and says, ‘I unashamedly love my work and feel fortunate to be in that position.’ She works with short filmmakers, supporting them to progress to feature films, manages the funding process for short films and runs development labs. Her team funds 14 films a year and puts about 48 groups through development labs. ‘It’s quite busy!’ Even though she watches films and reads scripts all the time for work, Jude finds going to the cinema the best way to unwind. ‘Heaven is going to two or three movies in a row.’ So it comes as no surprise that Jude loves film festivals. ‘I take holidays to go to them. Along with NZIFF one of my favourites is Māoriland up the coast in Otaki.’ Jude says the town comes alive, ‘it’s like a mini Sundance. I spend the whole weekend wandering from venue to venue, immersed in film from diverse cultures, and in between scarf down great kai.’ Another favourite pastime for Jude is finding and reading non-fiction. She’s often at the library, Unity

Books or any of Wellington’s second-hand bookshops. The best book she’s read lately is Tools of Titans by Timothy Ferriss, which shares the tactics, routines, and habits of billionaires, icons, and world-class performers. ‘For a non-fiction fanatic like myself it’s been a lolly scramble of new reads from widely read people.’ Jude’s favourite works of fiction include The Shipping News by Annie Proulx and Orlando by Virginia Woolf. ‘I’ve reread them over time and I love both films that were made too.’ Jude laughs at the idea of cooking at home, food being one part of slow living that she doesn’t adhere to. ‘But I’m happy to eat other people’s careful creations,’ she says. ‘I like to say I’m an assembler. If something takes more than 20 minutes it’s not in my life.’ Jude’s more likely to be in one of her favourite cafes. Her local is Sweet Mother’s, and KC Café is her go-to for cheap eats – ‘Best curry laksa in town,’ she claims. There’s nothing that Jude particularly covets. ‘I’m pretty content,’ she says. ‘It’s great to be healthy and alive in a city I love.’ But there is one thing she’d like. ‘If I lived in a place that allowed pets – a dog. I love dogs and pine for them. I often stop dog-walkers in the street and ask if I can pat their dogs. I trained as a health masseuse many years ago and I give the dogs a little massage. I enjoy the goofy look they get as they bliss out.’ Māoriland Film Festival. Ōtaki. 21–25 March

CULTURE

I N V E S T I G AT I V E ART Wellington artist Bronwyn Holloway-Smith led the project to find E Mervyn Taylor’s lost murals, including one depicting Maui fishing up the North Island. Made for a telecommunications-cable landing station, Te Ika-a-Māui forms part of Holloway-Smith’s new sculptural-and-video installation The Southern Cross Cable: A Tour at City Gallery. Detailing the trans-Pacific telecommunications network’s local landing sites, it’s part of a wider exhibition, This Is New Zealand (3 March to 15 July), about art’s role in national identity. Holloway-Smith’s hardback Wanted: The Search For the Modernist Murals of E. Mervyn Taylor (MUP, $79.99) will be released 3 March.

WEATHER WARNING

NOT STOPPING

SHE’S HERE

Ironically, a Fringe Festival play about locals battling with or embracing Wellington’s wild weather will follow the summer that caused a fan shortage. Four actors perform 12 vignettes in The Wellington Weather Lover's Playlist (8–11 March). ‘In one, two students meet after one’s jumpsuit blows into the other’s backyard,’ says writer/producer Holly Gooch. ‘In another, a gay couple meet when one’s uncontrollable umbrella scratches the other’s face.’ Performed beside the Freyberg Beach pier, the show goes on if it rains.

After showing in 30 cities worldwide, outdoorart exhibition Coexistence comes to Wellington (1–22 March) to promote peace and tolerance. From painting and photography to graphic art and collage, 44 3m by 5m panels by international artists hang on aluminium frames at Waitangi Park, alongside 20 works submitted by Wellington artists. The local winner gets US$1500 and a spot in the travelling exhibition, and meets Israeli museum curator and exhibition founder Raphie Etgar. Events include a cultural-performance day and a talk by Etgar.

Never seen the world’s most famous painting? Check out fineart examiner Pascal Cotte’s exact replica (the world’s only one) and the unexpected findings of scientific analysis of the painting at touring exhibition The Secrets of Mona Lisa (Expressions Whirinaki, until 15 April). Events include a free weekly tour with a curator and with complimentary wine – and a competition to win a trip for two to Paris.

WELLINGTON ... A BETTER VIEW

East by West Ferries to Matiu Somes Island & Days Bay from Queen’s Wharf - www.eastbywest.co.nz / Ph 04 499 1282

CULTURE

OUT OF THEIR SHELLS During her recent residency at The Dowse, country-hopping artist Yuka Oyama interviewed seven nomadic Wellingtonians for her project/installation Helpers: Changing Homes. For each person, she made a wearable sculpture of an object you’d take with you when moving house (a motorbike, a pillow) and filmed them crossing Civic Square in a line with their legs poking out, mimicking hermit crabs swapping shells. See the video, the ‘motorbike’ and Oyama’s 3D-printed pendants depicting each sculpture at The Dowse’s exhibition The Language of Things: Meaning and Value in Contemporary Jewellery (24 February-24 June), featuring work by 100 artists worldwide.

TOUR GUIDE

HERSTORY

FEELING SMOTHERED?

Like a tour guide of sorts to the capital’s street festival CubaDupa (24–25 March)? Reserve a (free) ticket to one of four performances of theatrical romp The Odyssey. Members of the troupe A Slightly Isolated Dog play Odysseus, the Sirens and the Cyclops, leading the audience between moments from Homer’s epic poem, playing out in different sites. ‘We’re weird performers with bad French accents who’ll take you through back alleys, weird nooks, and we’ll pass performances,’ says director Leo Gene Peters. CubaDupa boasts 140 local and international acts.

We hear a lot about men’s experiences during WWI, but not as much about what women went through overseas and at home. Wellington company Story Inc. brings mini touring exhibition Women’s War (23 February to 19 May) to The Great War Exhibition in the Dominion Museum. There’s an audio-visual show, and a display of women's war-era clothing (shorter hemlines included).

Johnsonville gardener and visual artist Shaun Matthews has always photographed plants. In new series Incursion, his photographs of foliage are printed onto large fabric banners, and overlaid (or ‘smothered’) with scanned images of some of the 300 predatory plants listed as serious threats to our parks. Try spotting the banners among the actual vegetation at Otari Wilton’s Bush, the Botanic Garden and Mount Victoria during the council’s Parks Week (10–18 March). Take-away postcards beside each site include information about conservation groups.

Tour Partner

Chamber Music New Zealand presents

Anderson & Roe Piano Duo

From BERNSTEIN to JOHN ADAMS, THE BEATLES to BIZET Described as “Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers transposed from the dance floor to the keyboard” (Southampton Press), the duo will bring adrenalized performances, and palpable chemistry to the concert hall.

Saturday 17 March 7.30pm Michael Fowler Centre

Free Post-Concert Q&A

*Presented in association with

Supported by

chambermusic.co.nz/anderson&roe

In association with JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Core Funder

Supported by

CULTURE BRIEFS

Parking mad

The summer of Suzanne

By Sarah Lang

Don’t bother trying to park on Cuba Street on Friday 9 March – and don’t be concerned that the street’s gone mad. It’s Wellington’s third PARK(ing) Day: a global annual event where groups (such as artists, businesses and community organisations) transform metered car-park spaces into interactive, human-centred installations to prompt debate about how public space is used. Begun in San Francisco, the event is held elsewhere in September, but the Wellington Sculpture Trust stages it here in March in the hope of weather-proofing it. Grab a map, and vote for ‘People’s Choice’, which last year went to the Massey students squeezing lemonade for passers-by who made their own origami cups. Down the road, Deirdre Tarrant dancers made the usable park narrower with tape every hour, until one dancer was doing the splits. Parking wardens won’t be issuing actual tickets, but often stop by to enjoy the fun. This year’s installations include an environmental confessional booth by climate organisation Generation Zero, and a gathering of matchbox toys by jewellery collective Occupation Artist. Wellington Sculpture Trust chair Sue Elliott says PARK(ing) Day is temporary sculpture, like its Four Plinths project outside Te Papa.

Suzanne Tamaki needs a holiday. As Wellington City Council’s full-time Cultural Festival Events Coordinator, she staged the Waitangi Day and Pasifika festivals shortly after meeting two major deadlines for her own art projects. Creating garments and jewellery under the label Native Sista, the ‘artivist’ uses provocative fashion photography to spark discussions about colonisation’s effect on Māori. In her Courtenay Place lightboxes exhibition Native Eye (until late May), 16 photographs depict tangata whenua in politically-charged poses and garments, one wearing a Union Jack flag and another carrying a gun. Download the app suzannetamaki to view three images through an augmented-reality programme. Tamaki is a founding member of Pacific Sisters, an ever-evolving 26-year-old collective of mana wāhine including Lisa Reihana, Rosanna Raymond and Ani O’Neill. Pacific Sisters: Fashion Activists – the first retrospective of the collective’s avant-garde performance art and multimedia fashion shows – runs at Te Papa from 17 March to 8 July. ‘It was such fun reuniting with the girls, pulling out the costumes, dressing the mannequins, and seeing the works haven’t aged,’ Tamaki says. It’s one of four exhibitions that will open Te Papa’s new gallery Toi Art on 17 March, including a retrospective of local jeweller Lisa Walker.

3 March – 15 July 2018 Major Exhibition Patrons

Free entry

City Gallery is part of Experience Wellington. Principal Funder: Wellington City Council. image Michael Parekowhai He Kōrero Pūrākau mō te Awanui o te Motu: Story of a New Zealand River 2011 (detail), collection Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington.

citygallery.org.nz

DISCOVER OUR WORLD OF ART Featuring the Pacific Sisters and Lisa Walker, with must-see new art by Michael Parekowhai, Tiffany Singh, Janet Lilo, and Jeena Shin, alongside the national art collection.

TOI ART AT TE PAPA LEVEL 4 OPENS 17 MARCH TEPAPA.NZ/TOIART

CULTUR AL DIRECTORY

TIKI TAANE HEADLINES APRIL’S TĀIKO FESTIVAL

WELLINGTON FILM SOCIETY

THREAD REDEMPTION

Come and hear Tiki at April’s annual Tāiko Festival celebrating bush, beach and birds in the home of the Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki. Sounds Air flies directly from Wellington to Westport – perfect for politicians, office hobbits, and cool café types! Tickets available through beachcamp@xtra.co.nz

Join the Wellington Film Society at the Embassy on Monday nights to a watch a fantastic curated selection of films, from those hard-to-find classics to cutting-edge contemporary cinema. For an annual joining fee, you’ll enjoy the big screen experience and a range of membership benefits.

Let’s get creative with textile and clothing waste. Over the week Thistle Hall Community Venue will host a range of displays, daily activities, discussions and affordable workshops organised and run by people with a passion for sustainable living. Photo credit: Anna Hicks, Metamorphostitch Workshop tickets from dashtickets.co.nz

27–28 April 2018, Punakaiki Beach Camp, 5 Owen st, Punakaiki (03) 731 1894 punakaiki.co.nz

Mondays at 6.15pm Embassy Theatre, 10 Kent Tce, Wellington filmsocietywellington.net.nz

19–25 March 2018 293 Cuba Street, Wellington thistlehall.org.nz

MĀORILAND FILM FESTIVAL

30 YEARS OF THE WHANGANUI ARTS REVIEW

SGCNZ SHAKESPEARE FESTIVALS

Māoriland Film Festival is Aotearoa’s International Indigenous Film festival. This March, Māoriland will celebrate its fifth birthday with 58 events including screenings, workshops, seminars and more to be held over the five days. Australian band Electric Fields will close out the festival at the annual Red Carpet Party!

NZ’s longest running public arts review is hosted by Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery. Celebrating 30 years in 2018, it is a reflection of the talent and diversity of the region’s artistic community and showcases current work of established and emerging makers. The exhibition coincides with the Whanganui Artist Open Studios weekends.

SGCNZ will hold its 24 Regional SGCNZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival 2018 nationwide from mid-March – mid-April. In accessible bites, NZ’s youth will perform 5- and 15-minute scenes from the Bard’s plays. In our Festivals’ 27th year, experience their exceptional creativity. See website for details.

21–25 March Māoriland Hub, 68 Main Street, Ōtaki maorilandfilm.co.nz

March 10 – May 13 38 Taupo Quay Whanganui (06) 349 0506 sarjeant.org.nz

10,11,12 April, 7pm. Wellington East Girls’ College Hall. 027 283 6016 sgcnz.org.nz

Beautiful antique Indian furniture pieces instore now. Each one personally selected and with a unique story to tell. NON-ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR MODERN DAY LIVING

cnr Blair & Wakefield Streets,Wellington www.smallacorns.co.nz/0800 22 67 67

CAPTUR ING T HE MAGIC OF CUBA STR E E T

www.mooma.co.nz

Colour your table.

Discover the contemporary tableware brand from Sydney.

For beautiful books, boutique magazines and gorgeous cards and stationery. 237 Cuba Street | (04) 934 3424 www.minerva.co.nz

shop online now at www.theporcelainlounge.com

CULTUR AL DIRECTORY

JOHN COOPER CLARKE (UK) LIVE IN WELLINGTON

DISTANCES

The people’s poet, Dr John Cooper Clarke, performs at St Peters on Willis as part of his much-anticipated NZ tour, presented by Plus1. He’ll shake up his classic verse, new material, ponderings on modern life, riffs and banter. Special guest is writer, sailor & musician – Andrew Fagan.

In Distances, three NZ composers collaborate with artists from the MiyataYoshimura-Suzuki Trio and Ensemble Musikfabrik from Cologne in a programme of captivating music performed on Japanese and European instruments. Don’t miss this NZ Festival performance. Photo credit: Mikkel Schmidt

23rd April St Peters on Willis 211 Willis St Tickets at utr.co.nz

THE GREAT WAR EXHIBITION Sense the hardship and the heroism of the First World War. The Great War Exhibition brings it home through movielike sets and colourised photographs. Created by Sir Peter Jackson and supported by ANZ.

Book fast at festival.co.nz 9th March, 6pm St. Mary of the Angels 17 Boulcott St

Dominion Museum Building Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, Wellington (04) 978 2500

A LL O F YO U R INDOOR + OUTDOOR REQUIREMENTS

SECTION HEADER

3 P ick e r i n g St K a iw h a r a w h a r a 04 4 7 3 7 2 0 7 w w w . we l l i n g t o n firep lac e .c o .n z

W E L L I N G T O N

FIREPLACE

Looking for Ti-more By Laura Pitcher

Entering his early 60s and starting to think about retirement, Alastair Gordon found himself feeling bored and unfulfilled with his work. That was until early 2015, when his wife Helen landed on the Volunteer Service Abroad website. In a passing comment she suggested ‘We could do some of these’. Fast forward a few months, to September 2015, and the pair were working in the rural parts of Timor-Leste on a two-year placement. With a background in marketing and market research, Alastair’s role was as a marketing advisor at IADE, a company that works with small enterprises to train young entrepreneurs in business skills and mentor existing businesses. ‘The median age in Timor-Leste is 19 and the economy is over-dependent on oil exports that are running out.’ says Alastair. ‘Many people are poor or unemployed so there is a desperate need to diversify the economy and build new business options to employ these young people’. Alastair worked there setting up a market research function to taste-test soy milk produced by a large rural woman’s cooperative. Locally produced soy milk is now generating good income in rural areas, he says. His other projects ranged from a fair that helps local carpenters learn how to market their products, to a competition to encourage young people to think up business ideas.

In the ‘fast growing but small’ capital, Dili, a small house was available for Alastair and Helen and a basic living allowance was paid. The simplicity, he said, allowed them to appreciate things such as waking up to a rooster crowing, hearing singing outside the church on a Sunday or talking to his neighbours – many of whom had ‘horrific’ stories about Timor-Leste’s brutal history. His favourite weekend activity was re-learning to ride a motorbike after 40 years, and taking it for a spin around rural areas. For Alastair, what started as ‘that cliché’ of wanting to give something back became an opportunity to work again at a grassroots level and use skills he hadn’t used in years. After working mainly with international corporate clients, including a Swiss company specialising in the use of facial coding and artificial intelligence to analyse facial expressions for market research, he enjoyed finding the ‘old skills’ are still useful. His only frustration was the length of time simple tasks take. Alastair is back to consultancy work now, after being back in Wellington for more than a year, but still working on occasional aid projects in Timor-Leste. He and Helen would definitely consider VSA work again, but probably in a different place. A place with lots of opportunity for weekend motorbike adventures, perhaps.

F E AT U R E

Myth busters In this brave new world of alternative facts, we wanted to find out if cracking your knuckles really does cause arthritis, and whether you do lose half your body heat through your head. Thanks to professors from the University of Otago, Wellington, we now know the truth about five common myths.

Myth 1: Sugar makes kids hyperactive Studies on kids of sugar vs artificial sweeteners show sugar has no effect on behaviour. The excitement of the party and treats with friends makes kids hyperactive. The body is really good at maintaining normal blood sugar levels, even after eating lollies. Associate Professor Diane Kenwright, Head of Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington

Myth 2: Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis Recent sophisticated imaging studies have concluded the knuckle-cracking noise is due to changes in pressure in gas found in normal joints. There is no evidence that cracking joints causes immediate or long term damage to joints. In fact, joints may move through a larger range of motion after cracking and the joints of crackers may be healthier than those of non-crackers. Dr Rebecca Grainger, Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington.

WELLNESS BRIEFS

LONELINESS I S D E A D LY Current research by Age Concern indicates that about half of older New Zealanders experience some level of loneliness, and 8–9% feel lonely all or most of the time. New Zealand GPs have reported that around one in 10 of their older patients come in because they are lonely. Isolation has been linked to depression, anxiety and mortality, and studies consistently show that people with less involvement in social relationships are more likely to die than those with more such involvement. Age Concern has branches in Horowhenua, Kapiti Coast, Wairarapa and Wellington.

WORKING WELL

GREEN THUMB

REST IN PEACE

A new approach to business at Wellworks Pharmacy uses technology to improve their service: ‘We deliver your prescription medication right to your door and can set up reminders on your smartphone so you know when to take it. We even take care of your repeats, getting them to you before your other medication runs out.’ And they are also offering a range of healthy options at their Wellness Bar, where Kombucha is the drink of choice.

He Rākau Koikoi and the Sustainability Trust have teamed up to run workshops at Compassion Soup Kitchen’s garden at the corner of Tory and Haining Streets. Matt Petrie, Kaiārahi for He Rākau Koikoi, says, ‘If we can build connections for people, we offer them purpose and hope for the future.’ The gardening workshops are open to the public, creating an opportunity for Soup Kitchen whānau and the wider community to upskill and connect. The next workshop is on rat-free composting and will be held on 10 March. Book online at sustaintrust.org.nz/our-events

What began as a small range of natural skincare products made in Georgina Langdale’s Brooklyn kitchen has developed into Archeus, a business dedicated to connecting people to the healing power of nature. Exploring the idea of ‘wrapping someone up in goodness’, Archeus now has a range of botanically infused, organic cotton, handwoven shrouds. Georgina says, ‘I just kept imagining how caring and kind it would be to wrap a loved one in a shroud that was infused with healing herbs. I have selected herbs for their symbolic attributes as well as for benefits such as being antibacterial and antiviral.’

F E AT U R E

At h i s ow n p a ce W R I TT E N BY A L E N A WA L K E R | P H OTO G R A P H BY PAU L P E TC H

Not many 24-year-olds are retired blade-running Paralympians and also members of the New Zealand Order of Merit. But Liam Malone is extraordinary.

orn with fibular himimelia − an extremely rare condition that caused the absence of the fibula bone in both his legs − Malone had his legs amputated below the knees, and had his first pair of prosthetic limbs fitted at 18 months old. At 19, he crowdfunded $20,000 to buy a pair of blade prosthetics, and represented New Zealand three years later at the Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. He won silver in the men’s T44 100-metre final, and gold medals in the T44 200-metre and 400-metre finals, breaking the previous Paralympic record held by Oscar Pistorius. ‘The Paralympics will make the Olympics look like the Antiques Road Show in 50 years,’ tweeted Malone in July 2017. ‘Paralympians will be the most advanced humans on the planet.’ Malone’s decision to retire from the Paralympics in January was, in part, influenced by waning motivation. ‘I didn’t agree with rule changes which affected the design of the blades,’ he says. And for every elite athlete, the question of longevity

eventually arises − even at 24 years of age. ‘The life-cycle of an athlete is really short. I didn’t want to get to 30 and have to make the decision that I’ve made now. It made sense to think of transitioning out earlier and creating a whole new set of opportunities to move forward with.’ Malone was New Zealand’s flag bearer for the 2016 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony. Last year, he was appointed as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his service to athletics and was awarded Disabled Sportsperson of the Year at the 54th Halberg Awards. After such exceptional accolades, his departure from athletics wasn’t altogether premature. ‘I don’t view myself as disabled when I can do everything,’ he says. ‘Shaping how society thinks about people with disabilities is really important because my experiences have often been uninspiring as a child.’ Growing up in Nelson, Malone was bullied at school. He grew self-conscious about his body, wearing trousers for seven years to hide his prosthetics. He ‘learned

F E AT U R E

to be resilient as a result,’ he says. As he grew older, his insecurities caused the onset of anxiety which persisted throughout his teenage years. When he was 18, his mother died after a six-year battle with bowel cancer. ‘I had family members die around the same time as my mum. I had two artificial legs and I had a lot of different societal perceptions that I had to deal with as a teenager,’ he says. ‘How you deal with death and loss is pretty hard. You don’t get over these things.’ At the time of his mother’s death, he grappled with his identity. He self-medicated with alcohol and crashed a car while driving drunk. He pulled himself upwards from rock bottom with fortitude and self-discipline. He balanced his studies in Marketing and International Business with training for the 2016 Paralympics. ‘Your body and your mind learns to deal with these things,’ he says. ‘That’s just life. You want to be able to think forward and look back, and say how do I want to be remembered?’ He is an advocate for the benefits of mindfulness, a practice that helps him bring awareness to the present moment to create a sense of detachment from stresses and negative thought patterns. ‘We have huge mental health issues throughout New Zealand. I think mindfulness will become

one of the biggest skills we’ll end up having to teach in schools.’ To Malone, mental and physical wellbeing are not separable and their interdependence is a relationship he recommends fostering. ‘The world is changing at a faster pace and dealing with change is really unnatural for a human being. Mindfulness allows us to deal with change much easier.’ Malone looks to the future. He’s begun working for Auckland artificial intelligence firm Soul Machines. The company aims to humanise online self-service by creating emotionally responsive digital human beings, thus democratising immersive technology. For Malone, technology is an antidote to the fragility of the human experience – from prosthetics that go beyond the limits of the body’s anatomy, to digital creation unrestricted by societal inequality. Despite his change in career direction, he isn’t about to relinquish the physical ambition that pushed him to become one of the fastest Paralympians of his time. He’s still marathon training, with a regime that’s ‘different, but it’s intense in a different way.’ When asked about his approach to physical wellness, he says he structures his routine by dividing exercise, sleep and nutrition into three equally important parts.

F E AT U R E

Dream job W R I TT E N BY A L E N A WA L K E R | P H OTO G R A P H BY A N N A B R I G G S

We spend a third of our lives asleep, yet insomnia and sleeplessness is a national affliction.

ased on a national survey in 2008, 13% of New Zealanders have insomnia. A staggering 26% of those surveyed, aged 20–59, report having sleep problems that have lasted at least six months; and 37% of NZ adults, aged 30–60, report never or rarely getting enough sleep. The Sleep/Wake Research Centre at Massey University, directed by Professor Philippa Gander, has established some surprising facts on the state of New Zealand’s sleeping habits. Vital physical and emotional processes happen in our sleep as recovery from the demands of our waking lives. ‘There are two completely different brain states when you’re asleep,’ she explains. ‘The actively dreaming, rapid-eye-movement sleep (REM) and non-rapid-eyemovement sleep (non-REM).’ ‘You need both types of sleep,’ she explains. ‘We know that memory consolidation happens, so learning happens, during sleep. We also need it for growth and if your brain can’t go into deep slow-wave sleep, you can’t produce growth hormones. Your immune system gets recharged, so if you haven’t had enough sleep for a few days you’re more likely to get an infection or a cold.’ When Gander entered the industry in the 1970s, little was known about the circadian clock – a pacemaker, as she describes it, that ‘keeps everything working in sync’ – and the brain cells that control it. She was awarded a Fullbright Fellowship at Harvard University, studying neuroanatomy, before joining NASA’s Fatigue Countermeasures Programme. ‘Sleep hasn’t entered mainstream medical thinking,’ she says, ‘which is very focused on waking symptoms and waking health, and you can’t separate that from sleep.’ Over long periods of time, lacking the recommended 7–9 hours per night can seriously impact your health. In the short term, sleeplessness sufferers are more likely to report difficulty concentrating, a lack of productivity and their safety being compromised. Startling links are being drawn between our body clock and rates of cancer, diabetes, and most recently, obesity. Gander says there is strong evidence that the obesity epidemic is partly due to people not getting enough sleep. ‘Lack of sleep alters the hormones that regulate the appetite; the one that makes you hungry increases and the one that makes you feel full decreases. So you end up, after a couple of nights’ restricted sleep, feeling a lot hungrier.’

According to research by the Sleep/Wake Research Centre, one in 10 of us are often affected by at least one symptom of insomnia. Defined as disrupted sleep or difficulty maintaining restorative sleep, it’s the most common sleep disorder, alongside sleep apnoea, diagnosed in New Zealand. Currently, however, there is no funding in public healthcare for cognitive behavioural therapy, the internationally recognised treatment for insomnia. In 2008, a health economic analysis estimated that successful insomnia treatment would save the economy $21.8 million a year. The paradigm shift towards healthier sleep, by and large, has to begin within ourselves. Because sleep is important for our wellbeing, Gander says we have to give ourselves regular opportunities for sleep at night. But she recognises that on shift work you can’t necessarily do this. Around 20% of New Zealand workers are involved in rotating shift work, with or without a night shift. In high-risk occupations, like nursing and aviation, where fatigue can be fatal, awareness of how to make the best of opportunities for shut-eye is paramount. She points out there are ways to improve your sleep, regardless of your work pattern. Look at caffeine, alcohol, smart phones, laptops, TVs in bedrooms, demanding commutes, long work schedules, 24-hour gyms and artificial lighting, says Gander. The simplest of acts can have a positive effect, from spending more time actually trying to sleep, to eliminating artificial disturbance from the bedroom. Emptying our sleep spaces of digital distraction can aid a better night’s kip. ‘The circadian body clock is sensitive to light – even through closed eyelids, the LED flash from a device is enough to disrupt it, making it hard to wake in the morning.’ Creating a pre-sleep routine that makes our beds a space dedicated to sleep can help our body clocks to run more smoothly. ‘Always focus on getting the best sleep you can and train yourself to pay attention to your own circadian cycle,' says Gander. Reach for a pillow instead of another cup of coffee, listen to your body’s sleepiness as a sign you need sleep; turn off the technology and allow yourself to switch off. The perfect night’s sleep might not so be unattainable after all.

WELLNESS BRIEFS

IMPROVE V IA I M PROV Susan Fogarty says you don’t need to be an actor to reap the benefits of learning improvisation. Being encouraged to take risks in a safe environment boosts confidence and builds trust so is great for personal development and wellbeing. ‘Mastering those skills has very positive effects, allowing people to communicate more effectively, to see the world from the viewpoint of others and to take more risks.’ Susan teaches improvisation classes for all ages at Rata Studios, at Scots College in Strathmore.

BENEFITS OF WALKING

PREP FOR PREVENTION

Most Wellingtonians are well aware of the many fabulous walking tracks in and around the region. But if you’re interested in going further afield the Rotorua Walking Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. Geothermal areas, lakes and majestic redwoods are just some of the sights that walkers will be treated to over the two-day festival. Rotorua Walking Festival, 17–18 March. rotoruawalkingfestival.org.nz

New Zealand has become one of the first countries in the world to publicly fund the HIV-prevention drug Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), giving those at high risk of HIV another way to protect themselves. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation said that in 2016, 244 people in New Zealand were diagnosed with HIV, the highest annual number on record. The public funding of PrEP is expected to have a drastic impact on the overall health of those at risk and cause a drop in the number of new HIV diagnoses.

HARMONIOUS HEALING Good Vibrations Sound Therapy recently opened in Wellington offering a healing method that’s been used by various cultures for centuries. Sound Therapy uses vibrational frequencies to influence brainwaves and induce a deep meditation, or ‘the ultimate mindfulness.’ Sound therapy is thought to be beneficial in reducing stress, by reducing cortisol levels. goodvibrationssoundtherapy.co.nz

Myth 3: You lose half your body heat through your head This is partially true, but not half your body heat. In adults the head makes up about 7-10% of the skin surface, and you will lose 10% of your heat through it. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually go out naked in cold weather, however. If the rest of you is wrapped up warmly and only your head is exposed, a hat can reduce the exposed area by quite a bit. Also, babies have proportionately much bigger heads. A hat on a newborn will reduce heat loss by 23%. Associate Professor Diane Kenwright, Head of Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington.

F E AT U R E

Ke e p i n g it rea l W R I T T E N BY SA R A H L A N G

Riley Hemson is an inspiration to thousands of followers on healthy living, fitness, and loving what you’ve got.

iley Hemson’s Instagram page ‘Healthychick101’ has more than 90,000 followers and this tagline: ‘Just a huge girl tryna get some abs’. It’s no longer true. For one thing, she’s not huge, having lost more than 30 kilograms in two years, from her starting point of 115 kilograms. For another, it’s not about losing weight or getting abs any more. It’s about wellbeing. ‘I’ve learned along the way that it’s about how I feel more than how I look,’ the 22-year-old says. ‘It’s about being in the healthiest body I can be in.’ In 2015, as a paramedic student, she set up the Instagram page to keep herself accountable for sticking to healthy eating and regular exercise. ‘And it did keep me accountable.’ She started posting ‘Transformation Tuesday’ photos of her body to show her progress. Not shy about wearing G-string bikini bottoms, crop-tops or short shorts, Hemson posts images of herself working out at the gym or in the Wellington outdoors, of her healthy meals, and of the occasional positive affirmation, calling 2017 ‘the year of self-love’. At the request of followers, she’s also begun posting YouTube videos on topics such as her back and biceps workout, and what she eats in a day. In less than two years, ‘Healthychick101’ has built quite a profile in fitspo (fitness inspiration). It’s a buzzword for visual content – usually photos but also short videos and slogans – posted on social media to motivate others to eat healthily and exercise. And you don’t have to be thin to have influence. Recent Australian research found that fitspo images which show women of different shapes and sizes exercising have a more positive impact on women than ‘aspirational’ fitspo images depicting usually very thin bodies. Last year, teen-targeted website MissFQ.co.nz asked readers to nominate and vote for the Kiwi bloggers, vloggers and ’grammers they can’t get enough of. Attending the Miss FQ Influencer Awards in Auckland, Hemson was shocked not just to win the fitspo category but also the supreme prize, beating the likes of The Bachelor NZ winner, brand ambassador and author Matilda Rice. ‘I was nervous just being alongside these women I’d looked up to,’ Hemson says, ‘so I couldn’t believe I’d won’. Many fans who voted for her mentioned that she keeps it real. ‘Riley taught me to look past the idea of ‘fitspo’ as an unrealistic diet and insane fitness,’ one wrote. ‘True ‘fitspo’ is a lifestyle and takes time, learning to love yourself at every point of your journey.’ Yes, Hemson’s surprised at her popularity. ‘Every single day I think “What the hell? Why are people even following me?” Especially when I’m just posting a photo of my dinner. But it feels good to share the things I’ve learned to help other people.’ She replies to most of the many direct messages she gets from followers. ‘One girl got in touch the other day to say a doctor 44

told her it would kill her if she didn’t lose weight, and now she’s lost it. It’s crazy but so cool to think I’m helping these people, when I was once on the other side [of social media], looking at people who inspired me.’ Hemson was always active, going to the gym and playing netball. ‘But I used to eat a whole pizza, hot chips, or pasta for dinner, and my body didn’t need it. I’d go on diets and never stick to them. Every day I’d plan to only eat the healthiest food – then I’d have one biscuit and blow out and eat as much as I could.’ Posting as ‘Healthychick101’ helped her ditch the unhelpful allor-nothing mindset. ‘From that day I stuck to moderation, and to fuelling my body with what it needs rather than cutting things out altogether.’ A vegetarian, she mainly steers clear of refined white carbs like pasta, as well as junk food. ‘But I also enjoy going out with my friends for a drink, and I’ve found that balance of healthy mind and body. I’ve realised I can have treats sometimes and yet still make progress if I have a healthy dinner and go to the gym.’ She works out about five times a week, mixing weightlifting, high-intensity interval training, and circuit training. ‘After a workout, I feel so much better. I remind myself of that to make myself go.’ Some of her photos show products from Luxe Fitness, which sells women’s fitness apparel and protein supplements. ‘Here’s how it works: some brands send you free products and if you try it and love it, you can post about it if you want. With some, you develop an ongoing relationship.’ Yes, she has an ongoing promotional relationship with Luxe. ‘My view is that if it’s something you like and will use, and it’s giving you an income to keep doing what your followers want to see, then why not? But you can’t just go around talking about things you don’t love for money because my followers are like my friends.’ Hemson finished her four-year paramedic degree last year, and now hopes to find a graduate paramedic internship in Wellington. ‘I love paramedicine so much, but the social-media thing is so cool. So this year I’ll just see what happens.’ In February, she moved out of her parents’ home in Lower Hutt and into a Lyall Bay flat with boyfriend Vita Tomoana. ‘We met mid last year and we both share the same interests, eat healthy, go to the gym. When I’m having a down day, he’s so supportive.’ In January, the couple took a holiday in Thailand, posting pics of themselves dancing, seeing the sights, and sipping cocktails. ‘I’ve been honest with my followers that I did put on some weight in Thailand,’ Hemson says. ‘Who doesn’t gain weight on a holiday?’ That’s why her followers love her; she’s keeping it real.

Myth 4: When you start shaving, the hair will grow in thicker Before puberty body hair is fine and downy. After puberty â&#x20AC;&#x201C; about the time shaving starts hair becomes coarser and darker, adult-type hair. Shaving coincides with this darker hair appearing so it seems that shaving has caused it. Associate Professor Diane Kenwright, Head of Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington.

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Myth 5: Deodorants cause breast cancer Studies using reliable methods show that there is no evidence that this is true, unlike the studies on alcohol. To reduce your chances of breast cancer, decrease alcohol consumption, exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight. Associate Professor Diane Kenwright, Head of Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington.

F E AT U R E

Dotto-dot If freckles are the stars of the skin, this summer they are surely at their zenith. We connect the dots, and celebrate the trendy clumps of melanin that adorn many of us, with images of six freckled beauties.

Make-up Hil Cook Art Direction Shalee Fitzsimmons Photography Luke Browne People care of Kirsty Bunny

Helena Broughton-Rickard : Many people ask why I have them on my lips. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know. I just do.

SECTION HEADER

Mia Berney : I've always been a bit self conscious of them. But Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve actually seen a lot more of them on Snapchat and social media these days. 52

SECTION HEADER

Emma Barrett : I remember trying to rub them out with an eraser when I was younger. Now I forget I have them.

INTERIOR

Zechariah Julius-Donnelly : When you see someone with a face full of them, it's interesting. Intersting is beautiful.

Phoenix Szymkowiak : I was born with them, so I'd never cover them up. They're part of me. Emma Barrett : â&#x20AC;&#x153;I remember trying to rub them out with an eraser when I was younger. Now I forget I have them.â&#x20AC;?

INTERIOR

Lee Flockton : When I was a kid people used to ask if they were a dot-to-dot puzzle

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FASH ION

A wellbeing wardrobe BY M EGA N B L E N K A R N E

We all know that consuming – food, alcohol, drugs – affects how we feel, and of course, so can consuming fashion. This will come as zero surprise to anyone who’s experienced buyer’s remorse. Impulse shopping can make you and your bank balance very bleak. On the flip side, if you’ve experienced the dopamine rush that comes from finding the last pair of shoes on sale in your size, you know shopping can make you at least temporarily more cheerful. The connection between feelings and fashion goes way beyond shopping. Every time you put on an outfit to ensure you swagger into that job interview or tough meeting, or to give yourself courage when you meet your in-laws for the first time, you’re harnessing the power of clothes to alter your emotional state. You’ve temporarily changed the way you see yourself and, much like eating an occasional salad or going to the gym once a month, it may have a temporary wellbeing effect, which seems very real. The memories you attach to your wardrobe can also affect your wellbeing. This is why betrayed brides symbolically burn their dresses – the negative feelings that come with the memory are bad for their hearts and minds – and why we tend to hold onto special things long after

we last wore them. You know what this means! It’s time to ditch all the bad associations (in an environmentally conscious way, please and thank you) and start creating some wonderful memories to imbue your clothes with magical cheering up powers. For me, it’s items like this dress, which carries special meaning for me. Every time I choose it to wear, I can easily recall that good stuff regardless of what other nonsense the day brings. Now, I admit that wearing a fancy dress your Mum bought you, or avoiding something that has bad memories, isn’t going to have a permanent effect on your wellbeing. However, since most of us wear clothes every day, there’s a cumulative effect created by each outfit we choose. From the moment we stand in front of the wardrobe in our undies, trying to choose something to wear, to the moment we take that outfit off at the end of the day, we’re sending ourselves an unconscious message and altering how we feel. You will dress yourself thousands of times in this life, so choose well, make some happy memories in the clothes you have now, and you’re setting yourself up for a wellbeing wardrobe. Guaranteed to be much more fun than the gym.

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FISHY BUSINESS

Piper

Name: Piper, or garfish. Māori names: Hangenge, ihe, wariwari, takeke. Scientific name: Hyporhamphus ihi Looks like: Long and thin with a short triangular upper jaw and beak-like lower jaw − the most obvious clue as to their family group, Hemiramphidae, otherwise known as halfbeaks. Piper are dark blue-green above with brown flecks, with silver-white sides and belly and a silver stripe running down their side. They grow to about 40cm and are often seen leaping out of the water to escape predators. Habitat: Piper occur from Cape Reinga to Foveaux Strait and the Chatham Islands but are most common in northern and central inshore areas. The fish school in the shallow coastal waters of harbours, bays and estuaries, particularly where there is a rock outcrop to protect them from tides. They like wharves and piers for the same reason − unfortunately for them an abundance of baitfish means predators quite like those places too. Feeds on: Piper are omnivores that feed on invertebrates, algae and plant matter.

Catch: Somewhat difficult to catch due to their small mouths and fussy eating habits, hangenge are great bait fish if you can get them. Berley goes a long way – oats, mashed up bread and even crumbled Weetbix will do the trick. Some fishers swear by live maggots as piper bait, though they can be tricky to get on a hook. A dough bait can be made pretty easily from flour and water (or substitute fish oil for the water or the dregs of a tuna can). Piper are great fun to fish for with kids off wharves. Cook: Piper are great eating, though dealing with their little bones can be offputting. The easiest way around it is to flatten them either side with a rolling pin, before making a little slit in the end of the tail, curling the fish into a circle and pushing the beak through the slit to secure it. From there just grill or pan fry in butter. Delicious! Did you know? Piper are endemic to New Zealand – while similar species exist around the world, this one is found only here. If they were human they would be: Skinny with a huge nose and a tiny mouth, piper we imagine to be an interesting-looking human, hopefully not as underrated as the fish are in their deliciousness.

EDIBLES

RU N TO L OL A , RU N The old Vista café at 106 Oriental Parade has been sold, bought and given a serious facelift. It is now named Lola Stays and the last two times I have been down for an early morning coffee it has been humming. The menu is relatively simple and while all I’ve had is a couple of Havana flat whites, things like the Poke bowl with market fish and wild rice stood out as inviting. Lola is marketing itself as a ‘neighbourhood eatery’ but it has an extensive wine and beverage list which would make it a great spot for an afternoon drink too.

IT’S NOT A SIN

HANGIN’ OUT IN THE CARPARK SMOKING

Wellington-based mixer company Bootleggers has released a ‘Gin Compass’ which recommends combinations of differently flavoured Bootlegger tonic waters with different gins. It was developed in conjunction with various boutique distilleries from around New Zealand including Reid + Reid, Karven, Sacred Spring and Ariki, who all featured in our gin tasting (Cap #45 October). The combos are collated into a compass with a guide to every season. Available online.

A new eatery has popped up in the area where the old Reading Cinemas’ carpark was. Lucky Strike Beer and Brisket is open only on good weather days. They specialise in smoked meats and beer, with a house special called ‘Lucky’ made by Black Dog. Owner Regan Wood, who also owns the Lanes right next door, says the WCC were especially helpful in the realisation of Lucky Strike, encouraging the creation of a ‘cosmopolitan environment’.

TEA AND BISCUITS A Japanese café has opened at the top of Plimmer steps. Named TaiyaKiwi, it specialises in Japanese Matcha tea and a kind of Japanese biscuit called Taiyaki. Matcha is powdered green tea which is widely lauded as a ‘superfood’. Matchasource.com claims one cup has 137x more antioxidant content than a regular cup of green tea. Taiyaki is a fish-shaped waffle-type sweet which has been eaten in Japan for more than 100 years. They are considered an omen of good luck.

EDIBLES

BU TC H E R , P R E SE RV E , F E R M E N T, S E R V E Egmont St Eatery has a lot more going on behind the scenes than you might realise. Usually every delivery of lamb or fish is the whole animal and every new chef is taught to butcher animals, which owner Simon Pepping says is ‘a dying art.’ Delivery of whole carcases means there is little to no waste; any scraps are used to make sausages or stock in house, and there is also no plastic waste because whole lambs are delivered in muslin cloth. Over the past year Egmont St has also used any leftover stone fruit flesh and stones to create their own vinegars. Simon says that the scraps that are often thrown away can be incredibly tasty and take food to ‘another level.’

CHEERS TO THE CHURRASCARIA

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

FRESHEN YOUR CUP

Wildfire has opened at the former site of Osteria del Toro on Tory St. Wildfire is a Brazilian style churrascaria restaurant, a word which translates roughly to BBQ. When dining you can choose from several differently priced packages, which are all you can eat, kind of like a carnivore’s yum cha. One thing to bear in mind is that the offerings are largely meat, with unique dishes such as chicken hearts. If a vegetarian must attend there are options available.

One of Martinborough’s smallest wineries has had to uproot its entire Riesling vineyard, due to the dreaded vine aphid, phylloxera. Vynfields on Puruatanga Road has historically made three Rieslings – a dry, a classic (medium sweet) and a bubbly called Bliss. These wines were all made from a small block of Riesling grapes which has been affected by phylloxera because the vines were not grafted onto American rootstock that is resistant to this aphid, which attacks vine roots. Most vineyards are planted on grafted rootstock to prevent phylloxera destroying them.

L’affare on College St has had an upgrade. After 27 years it was probably due. Now it’s bigger − 500 odd square metres – and there’s a new head chef. They have retained that slightly industrial feel, the genial staff and of course the coffee and food. ‘We’re enjoying catching up with all our regulars and sharing the refreshed space with Wellingtonians,’ says communications coordinator Amy Dalziell ‘Same drop, same us. But a fresh backdrop.’

S H E A R E R S ' TA B L E

Miso sa lmon goodness bowl BY N I K K I & J O R DA N S H E A R E R

s summer continues to bless and gardens flourish we are looking for recipes that are fresh, healthy and delicious. Our goodness bowl is inspired by the produce of our garden, but whatever you are loving and growing this summer can be substituted. Wellington has many vege markets for those who don’t grow their own – try Harbourside Market, Newtown Fruit and Veg Market, Victoria St or Hill

Street Farmers Markets, or Riverbank Market in Lower Hutt, to name a few. Our top tips for marketgoers: Go early, shop around, and know how to pick ’em! All of the components for our goodness bowl can be pre-prepared and assembled just before eating. Nothing needs to be hot if you don’t want (except the chilli) which is perfect at this time of year when we are all embracing the holiday chill factor.

DRESSING

1. To a small saucepan add the sugar, vinegar, water and marjoram. 2. Heat until the sugar has dissolved, add the leeks. Cook gently for 3 minutes. 3. Take off the heat and add the carrots and chillies. 4. Leave in the pickling liquid until ready to serve.

1 Tbsp tahini paste 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 Tbsp runny honey

GO ODNESS B OWL

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. 2. Set aside until ready to use.

300g salmon fillet sliced in half, pin-boned, skin on 1 Tbsp miso paste 1 Tbsp rice bran oil 1 cup quinoa and brown rice cooked ½ cup puffed black rice (cook in dry pan over medium heat until puffed) 1 avocado, sliced and drizzled with lemon juice 20 snow pea shoots or bean sprouts 1 cup finely sliced fresh spinach 1 green pepper finely sliced ½ cup edamame beans 1 lime Edible flowers for garnish

HERB EGG ROLL

2 free range eggs, whisked 1 Tbsp chopped fennel fronds 1 Tbsp chopped chives Salt and pepper 1. In a small bowl combine the egg, herbs and seasoning. 2. Heat a small frypan on a medium heat and pour in the egg mixture. 3. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the bottom is starting to brown and the egg is starting to firm. 4. Gently start to roll from one side until a roll is formed. 5. Remove from heat and set aside.

1. Spread miso paste over salmon avoiding skin side. Leave to marinate in fridge. 2. Heat oil over medium heat. Add salmon skin side down and cook for 3–4 minutes. 3. Turn salmon and cook for a further minute. Remove from heat and rest.

VEGETABLE PICKLE

PLATING

3 Tbsp caster sugar ½ cup white wine vinegar 1 cup water 3 sprigs marjoram 2 small chillies, finely sliced (you choose if you want seeds in or not) 2 baby leeks, sliced into 2cm pieces 2 small carrots, julienned

1. Mix puffed black rice with quinoa/rice and place in two serving bowls to one side of bowl. 2. Arrange and divide all fresh vegetables and drained pickles between both bowls. 3. Drizzle with tahini dressing and top with salmon. 4. Garnish with lime slices and edible flowers.

EDIBLES

Pass the passata BY S H A RO N G R E A L LY | P H OTO G R A P H BY I A N PAU L

t the turn of the last century vast numbers of Italian migrants arrived in New Zealand, settling in Hawkes Bay to grow apples, D'Urville Island to farm sheep, Nelson and Lower Hutt for market gardening, Eastbourne for fishing, and Little Italy: Island Bay as we know it, now recognised for its vibrant Italian community, is the largest Italian settlement in New Zealand. Most of the men came as poor fishermen from Stromboli or Massa Lubrense, on a New Zealand government assisted passage, which they had to pay back. Families whose names are now familiar like Della Barca, Meo or Cucurullo have woven a significant part of our Wellington history. With seeds brought from home, immigrants established their own vegetable gardens, growing produce they would not otherwise be able to get here. The locals had never smelt such strange aromas as those coming from the 'foreigners'' kitchens. Many had no idea what homemade pasta, salami or grappa was. The Italians welcomed their cautious but curious neighbours into their homes, and had them try some of their dishes. Vegetables and fruits that the locals had dismissed or used as animal fodder have now thankfully become part of our staple diet. Peppers, aubergines, globe artichokes, grapes, garlic, fennel, lettuces. And tomatoes. More particularly, Capri tomatoes. Antonio Cucurullo came to Wellington from Massa Lubrense in the 1950s and settled

in Island Bay. He set up shop and ran the successful Wellington Fisheries in Cuba St for 42 years, until his sons Gino and Joe took over. The boys eventually moved the business, and changed it to Mediterranean Foods where you can now buy authentic imported produce. From his beloved Massa Lubrense Antonio had brought seeds for the variety of Isle di Capri tomato that his family had been growing for generations. This tomato is known for its oblong shape, like a Roma tomato, with a thin skin, firm meaty texture and distinctive green markings. This Adonis of the tomato world is acid free and has fewer seeds than other tomatoes, having only three seed chambers instead of the usual four. Antonio’s grand-daughter Nina says, ‘they have the best flavour. We mainly use them for bottling. But we do also use them fresh in salads. They have a tangy sweetness.’ The tomatoes are generally grown in glasshouses, as our inclement weather is not ideal for these delicate fruit. (That’s another thing we can thank the Italians for – glasshouses.) Every year at harvest time there are literally hundreds of bottles to fill with the family recipe of passata. All the generations including the youngest get together and set up a production chain. To keep the crop going, the best looking tomatoes are chosen to have their seeds dried and saved for the next years' harvest. Seedlings are shared around the Italian community, and even some other lucky interested parties.

LIQUID BRIEFS

Rosé on a roll BY J O E L L E T H O M S O N

omeone famous once said that behind every overnight success, there’s 20 years in the making. It applies perfectly to pink wine in New Zealand today. The past 20 years have led to the seemingly sudden popularity of pink wine, and it’s all down to Pinot Noir. It’s no coincidence that as Pinot Noir production has skyrocketed in New Zealand, so too has rosé. Pinot Noir production grew by over 30% in one year, between 1999 and 2000 in this country. A decade later, it was neck and neck with Chardonnay (the second most planted grape then). And now? Pinot Noir has climbed into second spot, trailing only Sauvignon Blanc. This is why rosé is also on the rise – its supermarket sales grew by 60% last year and by a whopping 150% over the past three years. Every Kiwi winemaker is adding a pink drink to their to-do list. The Pinot Noir connection is simple really. Pink wine can made from any red grape you can think of: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah. As long as the grape has a red or black skin, it can be pressed to make pink wine. The reason that Pinot Noir especially is being turned into rosé is that the grapes tend to have rather thin, rather pale skins. This makes it rather tough work

for winemakers to extract colour from them since red grapes gain all their colour from their skins. So, if winemakers want to make a deeply coloured Pinot Noir, they need to prolong the skin contact during the winemaking process. Even then, it can be hard to maximise colour from a thin-skinned red grape. This is where rosé comes in and a French winemaking method called saigneé, from a word which means ‘bleed’. Most Pinot Noir is made in stainless steel tanks with taps fitted to their bases. Winemakers can turn on the tap, bleed off a little of the fermenting grape juice to make a pale pink wine and, hey presto, they concentrate the colour of the remaining juice in the tank. The fermenting juice has a higher ratio of grape skins as a result of this bleeding-off process and winemakers have an easy and attractive wine as a by-product – rosé. There is no correlation between how dry a wine tastes and how pale or deep it is in colour. Dry wines have had all of their natural grape sugars fermented into alcohol. Medium dry and sweet wines have had their fermentation stopped partway through by the winemakers to retain a little residual grape sugar to make a sweet wine.

TRY THESE PINK DRINKS 2017 Luna Estate Pinot Meunier Rosé $22–24

2017 Whitehaven Pinot Rosé $21.99

Martinborough winemaker Joel Watson from Luna Estate makes a pink drink with a difference – he uses Pinot Meunier grapes grown at the Blue Rock vineyard on Dry River Road to make this bone dry, full bodied rosé, which rocks Turkish delight, red apple and redcurrant flavour notes.

For a Marlborough winery that began life as a small player, Whitehaven makes a staggering amount of vino these days, including this bone dry rosé. Like most Kiwi pink vinos, it’s made from Pinot Noir and has had minimal skin contact; hence it’s pretty pale pink hue. Delicious. 68

Meet The WHIP: brand new from BurgerFuel, the WHIP is their very own blend of thick, creamy, indulgent dairy, made with premium, allnatural ingredients and whipped into shape daily, fresh to order. With two gourmet flavours on offer, as well as a bunch of limited edition specials in the pipeline, there’s a WHIP to suit all tastes and they’re the perfect end to a gourmet burger feast! Deft Bite Chocolate is a winner, with chocolate infused WHIP, rich chocolate brownie and luxurious chocolate flake. Or if berry is more your thing, try the Knuckle Berry Spin, with berry infused WHIP, freeze-dried

DEFT BITE CHOCOLATE

raspberries and chocolate brownie. The current special edition, the Caramel Pop Top is a lusciously remixed blend of caramel infused WHIP, spoonfuls of crunchy, natural peanut butter, glazed caramel popcorn and a rich chocolate drizzle. Get in quick – this flavour is here for a good time, not a long time! In keeping with the BurgerFuel ‘enviro-mental’ ethos, the packaging is worth a mention too. The cups are made from 100% recycled and sustainable resources and printed using natural vegetable oil based inks. The spoon is 100% recyclable

KNUCKLE BERRY SPIN

and the compostable and recyclable dome lid allows customers to take the product away and then dispose of it responsibly. With all-natural, high quality ingredients, environmentally friendly packaging and deliciously awesome flavours to choose from, we reckon this is an indulgence you can definitely feel good about! Head in store or order online to try one for yourself – they’re available in all BurgerFuel stores across New Zealand. www.burgerfuel.com

special edition CARAMEL POP TOP

BY THE BOOK

V I R T UA L TOUR There’s now no reason to lose your way on the Wellington Writers Walk, with its 23 typographical sculptures dotted unexpectedly along the waterfront, quoting local authors past and present. The ‘Literary Atlas’ app, which launches 8 March, alerts you when you’re close to each site and plays tracks of selected writers reading their poems, while an augmented-reality feature lets you drag words into different orders to create your own poem to Tweet, archive (or delete). It’s a collaboration between five Victoria University students and Wai-te-ata Press director Sydney J Shep.

WE’LL COME TO YOU

POETRY GALORE

FACE B O OK

Keen to come to Writers & Readers events but not to drive into town on all four days? The New Zealand Festival’s long literary weekend (8–11 March) brings graphic novelists Mimi Pond and Brent Williams to Waikanae, journalist Sarah Sentilles (above) to Lower Hutt, novelists Jock Serong and Brannavan Gnanalingam to Featherston, and fantasy writer Ian Tregillis to Paekakariki. Rejuvenated by manager Mark Cubey, the full programme spans 148 writers and 75 sessions.

Award-winning poet Chris Tse, also an actor, musician, food blogger and filmmaker, questions literary and sexual identity in his second poetry collection He’s So MASC ($29.99). Auckland University Press launches He’s So MASC and fellow local Anna Jackson’s seventh poetry collection Pasture and Flock on 8 March (6pm, Circa foyer). On 11 March, Seraph Press launches a hand-bound chapbook, Tātai Whetū: Seven Maori Women Poets in Translation at Te Wharewaka (2pm).

Four leading international photographers – including the UK’s Jem Southam – speak at Photobook NZ (7–11 March), the biennial festival celebrating design-focused photobooks created by photographers and small publishers. The New Zealand Photobook of the Year Awards are followed by a finalists’ exhibition, book fair and artists’ talks at Te Papa (10 March). On 11 March, there are talks, panel sessions and a exhibition of Japanese photobooks at Massey’s Engine Room gallery.

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BY THE BOOK

D o n’ t l o o k a wa y P H OTO G R A P H BY A N T H O N Y G R E E N

Indian novelist Rajorshi Chakraborti talks to SARAH LANG about the challenges of publishing here and being a stay-at-home dad.

ith his booming voice, bright shirt and broad smile, Rajorshi Chakraborti stands out among the Wellington literati at the launch of the NZ Festival’s Writers & Readers programme. He looks me straight in the eye when he listens. When he talks, he stares at a fixed point in the distance – either upward or downward, to the right or the left – and often pauses to consider the next word or to restate the previous phrase more eloquently. Chakraborti is there with his cousin, a tech journalist visiting from India. ‘But you haven’t come to ruin my life, have you?!’ Chakraborti is joking about the premise of his new novel The Man Who Would Not See (Penguin Random House, $38), in which the narrator Abhay’s half-brother Ashim visits from India to shake up Abhay’s comfortable life in Wellington. This is literary fiction with a trace of the psychological thriller, flashing back from modernday Wellington to the brothers’ childhood in Calcutta. Which brother is the man who would not see? Is Abhay privileged and blinkered, or selfless and put-upon? Is Ashim a toxic manipulator, or does the end justify his means? I can’t help wondering where the similarities between author and narrator end. Both are Indian immigrants who live in Karori with Wellingtonraised, university-lecturer wives. Both fit writing books around caring for a young daughter. Both play tennis, run, and are keen on teaching creative writing in prisons. ‘There is a lot of me in Abhay,’ Chakraborti admits, ‘with some comic exaggeration’. A real-life mystery inspired the disappearance of the fictional brothers’ sister. In 2015, Chakraborti decided to write a non-fiction book about an aunt who’d moved away before he was born, lost touch with the family and later disappeared entirely. He did extensive Skype interviews with his parents, then interviewed other aunts and uncles

on his annual visit to India. By the end, he had ‘unsubstantiated theories’ about what happened to his aunt – and 14,000 words of transcripts. ‘Then I encountered a dilemma. The book I wanted to write would invariably challenge much of what family members had told me. Should I risk hurting my family, and risk damaging new relationships with this aunt’s children? The family member in me trumped the writer.’ Setting aside all that work was frustrating. ‘I felt lost and despondent. Then I thought “Fiction is my suit – what if I put it on?” I decided to ask my narrator the hard questions I wanted to ask family members.’ He also wanted to reflect on the formative years since he and wife Sasha Calhoun moved to New Zealand in 2010, after meeting in Edinburgh, where he worked as a literature and creative-writing lecturer while completing doctoral studies in African and Indian literature. When she returned to fulltime work as a linguistics lecturer at Victoria University, Chakraborti became primary caregiver to 10-month-old Leela. Now that she’s six, he works 9–3pm before school pick-up, also sometimes writing after Leela’s bedtime. He’s published four well-reviewed novels and a short-fiction collection in India, with some titles also published in Spain, the USA and Canada. But that doesn’t get you published in New Zealand. ‘As a writer I felt quite invisible here. What I hadn't expected was being made very aware that, yes, the country has a small, thriving publishing industry but that it devotes its limited resources to books that in some way deal with New Zealand.’ An earlier novel, still unpublished, was repeatedly rejected. ‘I couldn't set up stall here until I had a story worth sharing about New Zealand.’ Wellington is almost a character itself in The Man Who Would Not See. As Abhay shows Ashim the sights, from the Mount Vic lookout to Makara Beach, the reader appreciates the city from a

BY THE BOOK

newcomer’s perspective. But Abhay also feels Wellington’s pros are ‘the price I felt we paid for this blessed life, my feelings of being cornered and cut off from my professional dreams’. Does Chakraborti share Abhay's hunger for professional recognition, and homesickness for India’s literary scene? ‘The honest answer is yes, but the voice isn’t as loud in me as in him. Abhay really struggles that there’s no Academy Award for best stay-at-home dad. He doesn't quite grasp the fact that sacrifice has been routine for generations of women caring for their children. My plans for full lift-off as a self-supporting writer hadn’t quite happened, but my writing has always been about trying to live more richly, and I saw no path richer than being a stay-at-home parent to Leela. I once wrote a poem about the sheer number of plans that have to fail for you to chance upon something you love.’ In January, Chakraborti was in Melbourne watching Roger Federer play in the Australian Open. ‘He has two sets of twins. Far be it from me to question Roger Federer, but part of me wonders, in order to still play at this level, how many bedtimes can he do?’ In other words, 'what are you not doing because of what you're doing?' Chakraborti admits he took inter-club tennis results and running times too seriously during his first three years as a stay-at-home-parent. ‘They stood in for visibility and achievements. It's the spirit of the things you pursue that determines whether they’re healthy or unhealthy.’ Wellington’s warmth and friendliness has made it easy for him to try new things and make new friends. New Zealand’s social mobility, he says, is a refreshing contrast to India with its 3000-year-

old caste system that divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups. ‘In India, people size up your caste as soon as they see you, and automatically change their tone and manner according to who they’re speaking to. Every time I travel between New Zealand and India I notice these two cultures couldn’t be more different. The absences of prohibitions here are refreshingly disorientating. In India, you wouldn’t be allowed to jog into Parliament grounds or work in prisons.’ In 2016, Chakraborti joined William Brandt, Pip Adam, and Gigi Fenster in the Write Where You Are collective, which teaches creative writing to inmates of Rimutaka and Arohata prisons. ‘My deeper motivation was trying to expand the range of what I see. I said to the men, one morning, that “when you look closely at ‘dull’ things, you notice hidden things of interest.” There was lots of laughter about their toast never being right at breakfast.’ As part of Writers & Readers, ‘Prison Voices’ (8 March) at Rimutaka takes 80 ticket-holders to participate with the collective and their students in an interactive workshop. Chakraborti also appears with Emma Ng and Brannavan Gnanalingam in ‘New Asia, New Zealand’ (9 March) to discuss their roots, their identity and their work. Chakraborti’s recent fiction centres on the theme of failing to really see the person right in front of you. Has he done this himself? ‘Yes. I don’t think I damaged anyone irreversibly, but there were friends or other relationships I lost through inattention or immaturity.’ ‘Also, this issue of building a life on looking away is a light level of political comment, particularly on places with stark inequalities. Generally speaking, the fortunate find it very easy to look away.’

Fine print, small print, or “mouseprint” is less noticeable print smaller than the more obvious larger print it accompanies that advertises or otherwise describes or partially describes a commercial product or service.[1] The larger print that is used in conjunction with fine print by the merchant often has the effect of deceiving the consumer into believing the offer is more advantageous than it really is, via a legal technicality which requires full disclosure of all (even unfavorable) terms or conditions, but does not specify the manner (size, typeface, coloring, etc.) of disclosure. There is strong evidence that suggests the fine print is not read by the majority of consumers.[2]Fine print may say the opposite of what the larger print says. For example, if the larger print says “pre-approved” the fine print might say “subject to approval.” [3] Especially in pharmaceutical advertisements, fine print may accompany a warning message, but this message is often neutralized by the more eye-catching positive images and pleasant background music (eye candy). Sometimes television advertisements flash text fine print in camouflagic colors, and for notoriously brief periods of time, making it difficult or impossible for the viewer to rea Fine print, small print, or “mouseprint” is less noticeable print smaller than the more obvious larger print it accompanies that advertises or otherwise describes or partially describes a commercial product or service.[1] The larger print that is used in conjunction with fine print by the merchant often has the effect of deceiving the consumer into believing the offer is more advantageous than it really is, via a legal technicality which requires full disclosure of all (even unfavorable) terms or conditions, but does not specify the manner (size, typeface, coloring, etc.) of disclosure. There is strong evidence that suggests the fine print is not read by the majority of consumers.[2]Fine print may say the opposite of what the larger print says. For example, if the larger print says “pre-approved” the fine print might say “subject to approval.” [3] Especially in pharmaceutical advertisements, fine print may accompany a warning message, but this message is often neutralized by the more eye-catching positive images and pleasant background music (eye candy). Sometimes television a colors, and for notoriously brief periods of time, making it difficult or impossible for the viewer to rea Fine print, small print, or “mouseprint” is less noticeable print smaller than the more obvious larger print it accompanies that advertises or otherwise describes or partially describes a commercial product or service.[1] The larger print that is used in conjunction with fine print by the merchant often has the effect of deceiving the consumer into believing the offer is more advantageous than it really is, via a legal technicality which requires full disclosure of all (even unfavorable) terms or conditions, but does not specify the manner (size, typeface, coloring, etc.) of disclosure. There is strong evidence that suggests the fine print is not read by the majority of consumers.[2]Fine print may say the opposite of what the larger print says. For example, if the larger print says “pre-approved” the fine print might say “subject to approval.” [3] Especially in pharmaceutical advertisements, fine print may accompany a warning message, but this message is often neutralized by the more eye-catching positive images and pleasant background music (eye candy). Sometimes television advertisements flash text fine print in camouflagic colors, and for notoriously brief periods of time, making it difficult or impossible for the viewer to reaine print, small print, or “mouseprint” is less noticeable print smaller than the more obvious larger print it accompanies that advertises or otherwise describes or partially describes a commercial product or service.[1] The larger print that is used in conjunction with fine print by the merchant often has the effect of deceiving the consumer into believing the offer is more advantageous than it really is, via a legal technicality which requires full disclosure of all (even unfavorable) terms or conditions, but does not specify the manner (size, typeface, coloring, etc.) of disclosure. There is strong evidence that suggests the fine print is not read by the majority of consumers.[2]Fine print may say the opposite of what the larger print says. For example, if the larger print says “pre-approved” the fine print might say “subject to approval.” [3] Especially in pharmaceutical advertisements, fine print may accompany a warning message, but this message is often neutralized by the more eye-catching positive images and pleasant background music (eye candy). Sometimes television advertisements flash text fine print in camouflagic colors, and for notoriously brief periods of time, making it difficult or impossible for the viewer to rea Fine print, small print, or “mouseprint” is less noticeable print smaller than the more obvious larger print it accompanies that advertises or otherwise describes or partially describes a commercial product or service.[1] The larger print that is used in conjunction with fine print by the merchant often has the effect of deceiving the consumer into believing the offer is more advantageous than it really is, via a legal technicality which requires full disclosure of all (even unfavorable) terms or conditions, but does not specify the manner (size, typeface, coloring, etc.) of disclosure. There is strong evidence that suggests the fine print is not read by the majority of consumers.[2] Fine print may say the opposite of what the larger print says. For example, if the larger print says “pre-approved” the fine print might say “subject to approval.” [3] Especially in pharmaceutical advertisements, fine print may accompany a warning message, but this message is often neutralized by the more eye-catching positive images and pleasant background music (eye candy). Sometimes television a colors, and for notoriously brief periods of time, making it difficult or impossible for the viewer to rea Fine print, small print, or “mouseprint” is less noticeable print smaller than the more obvious larger print it accompanies that advertises or otherwise describes or partially describes a commercial product or service.[1] The larger print that is used in conjunction with fine print by the merchant often has the effect of deceiving the consumer into believing the offer is more advantageous than it really is, via a legal technicality which requires full disclosure of all (even unfavorable) terms or conditions, but does not specify the manner (size, typeface, coloring, etc.) of disclosure. There is strong evidence that suggests the fine print is not read by the majority of consumers.[2]Fine print may say the opposite of what the larger print says. For example, if the larger print says “pre-approved” the fine print might say “subject to approval.” [3] Especially in pharmaceutical advertisements, fine print may accompany a warning message, but this message is often neutralized by the more eye-catching positive images and pleasant background music (eye candy). Sometimes television advertisements flash text fine print in camouflagic colors, and for notoriously brief periods of time, making it difficult or impossible for the viewer to rea

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French delight W R I TT E N BY RO G E R WA L K E R | P H OTO G R A P H Y BY LU K E B ROW N E

n my time I have produced four children, who in turn have begat seven grandchildren. Hard to get them all together at once of course, but I do need a seven-seater. An SUV would be good because we have roadie trips, as well as adventures on riverbanks and the seashore. What do I choose? There are offerings from Asia and Germany, but because I delight in design, I am led by the charming Clare at Armstrong Motor Group in Lower Hutt to the newly introduced Peugeot 5008. It’s a stretched version of the stylish and practical fiveseater 3008 which won the 2017 Geneva Motor Show Car of the Year in tough competition. Car of the Year is a highly coveted award, and the 3008 was the first ever SUV to win it. Think of the 5008 as a not much more expensive COTY with two extra seats. I value design very highly but I am also ‘thirsty for quirky’, so I look more closely. The 5008’s fresh, imaginative, innovative thinking is very attractive. I am now looking closely at the two available variants: the 5008 ‘Allure’ with 1.6-litre turbo petrol power, priced at $47,990, and the 5008 ‘GT’ with a 2.0-litre turbo diesel, priced $10K upwards. Both options power up the front wheels friskily via a six-speed auto box with manual override. Both have a lengthy list (please don’t get bored here) of features: six airbags, ‘sport’ mode, 3D satellite, lane departure and blind spot detection, auto light and wiper activation, speed limit recognition, front and rear parking sensors and adaptive cruise control. The pièce de résistance, though, is the amazing versatility in the rear. Lowering the back rows of seats provides a low, flat-floored, wide, ski-deep space of a voluminous 720 litres. The rear two seats are completely removable from the car for that most Gallic of pleasures, the outdoor picnic. The cupholders take wine bottles as well as coffee cups, but don’t tell the constabulary. The kids would also appreciate the secret under-floor cubby holes and the fold-down trays

behind the driver and passenger seats. I can’t say behind the wife’s seat because I currently don’t have one of those. The GT model has the same dimensions as the Allure, but adds bigger wheels, LED lights, hand stitched Alcantara upholstery, forward collision warning, self-parking, 360-degree camera, keyless entry, hands-free tailgate, driver’s seat massage to ease your aching back, and intriguingly a ‘smell function’– I wondered if that included camembert cheese before I discovered the car can cleverly dispense scents specially developed for Peugeot to enhance the driving experience. I chose the ‘Allure’ model for my investigations. The dealer struggled to contain his enthusiasm for his new baby. It’s part an earlier muscly Gerard Depardieu and part beautiful Catherine Deneuve. Approaching from the front I couldn’t help but notice the Peugeot logo. A lion, upright and punchy, patented by Emile Peugeot in 1858. Much more appealing than the Holden’s lion, I thought. The kids would enjoy the general quietness of the car, but will probably be delighted when dad pushes the ‘sport’ button which turns a purring feline into a roaring beast. The steering wheel is Formula One small. You view the instrument panel over the top of the wheel rather than through the spokes, meaning if you are twirling the wheel like Alain Prost, you can still read the revs and the speed. As well as being very progressive in design, the car is thoroughly civilised and impressively capable over a wide range of road surfaces. Its looks generated many admiring gazes at the city. ‘What is it mate?’ I heard twice at the traffic lights. So my decision is this: I will definitely buy this car for transporting my kids because of its modernity, its impressive range of skills, its lovely design and its value for money. I’m just waiting for a refund from the tax man.

W E L LY A NG E L

W h a t wo u l d D e i r d r e d o? PLEASE SET TLE AN ARGUMENT Is it reasonable to expect some kind of gesture from my partner (of three years) on Valentine’s Day? Mine ignored it completely, saying it’s silly to buy flowers on the day at vastly inflated prices. I would have been happy with chocolates... but nothing... grrrr. Feeling neglected, Churton Park Valentine’s Day seems a trifle overrated and totally commercial, so I am with him a little on this; but if it means something to you then yes, I agree he should step up with a red rose or chocolates! Maybe a night at the Wellington Zoo? Don’t fret – if he is what you love all the other days of the year it isn’t all bad!

ALL STRUNG UP My flatmate keeps making macramé things, potholders etc. They are clever but I hate them. How do I say I don’t want them in the living room? Stylish, Miramar You are flatting which means sharing, and this calls for generosity of spirit! Big-time. One of life’s

lessons. When you have your own house think how satisfying it will be to make your own choices. Don’t comment as that may encourage more creativity.

DANCE YOUR SO CKS OFF My partner can’t dance, in fact seems to have not any musical instincts. I love to dance and listen to music, and going to gigs is a big part of my life. (I’m not quite sure how we got together). How important do you think such shared interests are? Offbeat and anxious, Brooklyn Well this is dear to my heart! It seems you two are fine so just go dancing and he can do something else. Each to their own! Just dance to your own rhythm. Enjoy.

There does seem to be an element of indulgence abuse here but you have clearly committed to buying her a car (why?). So go shopping together and find one she will use and be safe in. Don’t spend over your budget. Maybe she should be working, saving for herself?

DEFENSIVE DRIVING Do you think our son should be pushed into getting his driver’s licence? He is not keen but we think it important as a life skill. He says not. Why are so many young people not getting their licence? Committed to cars, Lower Hutt

SPOILT BRAT?

It is his decision and he will do it when he needs to. You can advise but don’t push it. Young people have better things to do, and they can ride bikes and catch trains.

My daughter, who only got her licence because we pushed for it, wants a better car than we have offered her. I think she is being a spoilt brat. Do we say take it and sell it and buy what you want with your additional money? Or it’s that or nothing? Bewildered parent, Thorndon

If you’ve got a burning question for Deirdre, email angel@capitalmag. co.nz with Capital Angel in the subject line.

B A B Y, B A B Y

M u m’s t h e wo rd BY M E LO DY T H O M A S

s always after momentous occasions, in the days following our Prime Minister’s pregnancy announcement I was asked multiple times where I was when I heard the news. The answer – I was at work. As I have been since a few months after the birth of my second child. As were so many other mothers when they heard the news – like my two workmates, who squealed and whooped alongside me (though as usual I was the only one to cry). Back when Jacinda Ardern first accepted the role of Labour Party leader, when her uterus became the centre of too much public debate, I found myself excitedly proclaiming that I hoped she did get pregnant (though I quickly regathered my senses and never said it aloud again.) But I continued to think about it. Imagine having the leader of our country taking important meetings and passing long overdue policy with a one hand on her bulging belly. Debating in the House with a babe on the breast. Sharing pictures of her partner and their child off fishing, counting down the days till she returned from a trip abroad. And now, unfathomably, it’s happened. I’ve spent a bit of time thinking about why it means so much to so many of us, and I haven’t quite been able to put my finger on it. It’s something to do with feeling seen. For so many women, motherhood erases every other aspect of your identity. Anyone who has witnessed childbirth knows there’s no better word for it than miraculous, but in the months and years that follow, the golden light surrounding the mother fades and dirties with the unpaid, unthanked, relentless work of it all. It’s almost as if Prime Minister Ardern, real-life mother of the nation, were a glowing, prismatic disco ball, shining little beams of light down on

every woman like her, reawakening the pride and power they felt when life first erupted from their bodies. Her competence, too, is inspiring. For too long the feminine has been equated with weakness and submission. Pregnant women are delicate creatures that need to be cared for, mothers struggle against ‘baby brain’ to complete the simplest chores. Despite the fact that we all knew it not to be true, we too bought into the myth. But there she is, our Prime Minister, steeling herself against exhaustion, nausea and those who would love to see her fail, getting stuff done. Just as the rest of us do, and have done, since always. And there is Clarke, her partner, preparing himself for his new role as ‘first man of fishing’ and stay-at-home Dad. Representing a growing number of Dads choosing to invest as much time and energy in their children’s lives as women have always had expected of them, and actively resisting a society that still believes a supportive, nurturing, available father must have his balls in his partner’s purse. My daughter loves Jacinda – has done since she first saw her face, smiling and confident on the news. The day I found out the PM was pregnant I called from work to tell her the news. ‘Did you hear about Jacinda?’ I asked. ‘She’s gonna have a baby!’ she replied. Then she changed the subject back to what she really cared about. At the time I was slightly miffed by her lack of interest, but now I see it for what it really was. My daughter has never known a time when a young woman could not rule a country. When a Mum couldn’t simultaneously hold down the two most important jobs there are. This is her normal now. This is our normal. And when something that great becomes ordinary, extraordinary is that much more within reach. For all of us. 79

Capital 49

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Road Less Travelled

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Keeping It Real

Dream Job

At His Own Pace

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