Capital 75

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

COAST TO COAST SUMMER 2021

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ISSUE 75

SASSY ROMANCE

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The stories of Wellington Guest editorial

A

day at the end of November marked 26 years since, in my very full Datsun Sunny station wagon, I clattered off the Cook Strait Ferry to begin my life in Wellington. I had spent most of my life before that in Dunedin, a city I still love, but was very ready to leave. I spent much of the year before I left listening to the Muttonbirds sing “I wish I was in Wellington” and dreaming of my new life in the capital city. It felt like a natural progression to go to the place where decisions were made, where a political science graduate and student politician might feel at home. And so it was. I went to Parliament to watch debates, even attended a couple of events and parties there, and generally immersed myself in the politics of the place. And that’s never really stopped!

But what I was not expecting was the way the shift opened my eyes to so many other things. I have a vivid memory of going to Downstage Theatre early on to see Michael Parementer’s extraordinary dance piece A Long Undressing. It blew my mind. There was always a show to go to, and friends were often in them. I fell in love with the Town Belt – walking from Mt Victoria across to Te Ahumairangi (although we didn’t call it that then). I found gay bars, and after a couple of years even a gay rugby team. In the song Don McGlashan sings “and you can walk everywhere, cos nowhere’s very far”. It was so true: I lived in Thorndon, Aro Valley, and even Wadestown and always felt connected to the city.

And for 26 years this place has never ceased to amaze, enrich, and entertain me. There have been ups and downs of course.

Theatres and venues have opened and closed, people have come and gone, beautiful buildings have been lost and iconic ones created. And right now, people are worried about where our city is at. I share some of the concerns – we have lots to do to improve our housing and our transport, keep our strong arts scene going in the face of a resurgent Auckland, and make sure that everyone is looked after in our beautiful city. But in my heart I know we will bounce back – because this is still a city that people want to come to, to find themselves and discover things they never knew.

Thanks to Capital for contributing to our exciting city, and a Happy New Year to all you readers.

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Contact Us 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

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Hon. Grant Robertson MP for Wellington Central

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.

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6

Staff Managing editor Alison Franks

Featured contributors

editor@capitalmag.co.nz

Campaign coordinators Haleigh Trower haleigh@capitalmag.co.nz Emily Wakeling emily@capitalmag.co.nz Ava Gerard ava@capitalmag.co.nz Olly Campbell oliver@capitalmag.co.nz Factotum John Bristed

john@capitalmag.co.nz

Art director Shalee Fitzsimmons shalee@capitalmag.co.nz Designer Luke Browne

design@capitalmag.co.nz

Writer Francesca Emms

journalism@capitalmag.co.nz

Publishing assistant Callum Turnbull hello@capitalmag.co.nz Accounts Tod Harfield

accounts@capitalmag.co.nz

Contributors

ADRIAN VERCOE Ph oto g r aph er

M AT T H E W P LU M M E R Writer

Adrian drinks black coffee, is attracted to semi-broken cars, and likes cameras that make clunking noises. Originally from Dunedin, Adrian now calls Wellington home and can be found enjoying a hazy IPA in Lyall Bay or navigating a dinghy around Worser Bay.

Matthew is in the buildings team at Beca. In his spare time he runs the Old Wellington twitter account (@oldwgtn), and is slowly renovating a 1900s house in Mount Cook. He’s a seventh generation Wellingtonian and isn’t a fan of the Water Whirler.

D I A N A S I M U M PA N D E Ph oto g r aph er

ANNIE KEIG Writer

Melody Thomas, Janet Hughes, John Bishop, Anna Briggs, Sarah Lang, Deirdre Tarrant, Craig Beardsworth, Griff Bristed, Dan Poynton, Sarah Catherall, Chris Tse, Claire Orchard, Freya Daly Sadgrove, Harriet Palmer, Sharon Greally, Jess Scott, Claire O’Loughlin, Annie Keig, Chev Hassett, Joram Adams, Sanne Van Ginkel, Rachel Helyer Donaldson, Matthew Plummer, Fairooz Samy, Lucy Wormald, Isabella Austin, Courtenay Scott-Hill, Victoria Whisker.

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.

Distribution: john@capitalmag.co.nz.

Submissions

Diana is a freelance photographer. For her, storytelling is creative nirvana.

Whether it's through a keyboard or a camera lens, she takes little thoughts and turns them into ideas, stories, and experiences that speak to people.

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

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Annie is a freelance writer and Californiato-Wellingtonian transplant. With a taste for travel, earth sciences, and Rogue & Vagabond’s Taco Tuesdays, she hopes to plumb the depths of this multifaceted city one layer at a time.

C O N T E N T S

12 LETTERS 14 CHATTER 16 NEWS BRIEFS 18 NEW PRODUCTS 20 TALES OF THE CITY 25 CULTURE

30 Art ahoy A floating arts collective

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City to sea

Blue prints

The Fergusons get the best of both worlds

Matthew Plummer looks at big ideas that failed to launch

58 Rēkohu 34 Three part harmony Melody Thomas talks to Ida Lune

www.bicyclejunction.co.nz

Visit our easternmost suburb with a photographic essay of the Chathams

C O N T E N T S

70 LIFESTYLE BRIEFS 74 BUG ME 76 EDIBLES

Original Summer fiction

86 The wolf behind my house Discarded clothing, grey eyes, and a shining pendant – there’s something amiss in our summertime fiction by Indianna Cosgriff

78 Shearers’ table

90

Chatham Island Blue Cod with Green-Lipped Mussels and Sweetcorn Salsa

96

Picture perfect

Location, location

Larissa Carlson on being a mum and influencer

Worldwide wanderers Tiana and Glen Jones discuss their journey

80 BY THE BOOK

92

83 Re-verse

Love in disorder

Chris Tse introduces Remapping by Mary Cresswell

Romance novels and psychotherapy go hand in hand

98 WELLY ANGEL 100 WĀHINE 102 CALENDAR 104 PUZZLED

H O L I S T I C T H E R A P I E S , O R G A N I C H E R B A L T E A , N AT U R A L S K I N C A R E , A R O M AT H E R A P Y, B E S P O K E B L E N D S & W O R K S H O P S OPEN

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Take Art. Make It Fringe.

L E T T E R S

N O P L AC E L I K E HOM E I read your update on Wellington’s housing crisis (Stuck home syndrome revisited, Cap #74) with a familiar sick feeling in my stomach. Home ownership is so far out of reach for me (and most of my friends, family, colleagues and contemporaries) and it’s becoming a type of “misery porn” to keep reading stories about the dire situation. I believe those who predict a Wellington exodus are right. Even though we love this city we simply won’t be able to live, let alone thrive, here.

Hannah Watson, a damp flat in Kilbirnie (address supplied) A L L T HAT G L I T T E R S WELLINGTON

26 FEB — 20 MAR FRINGE.CO.NZ

We are lauded as a creative hub and a cultural oasis in this country of rugby, and yet the quality of supposedly professional shows is embarrassingly low. Looking back over the past 2–3 years I feel tired and bored and disappointed by our live performance scene.

For quite some time I’ve boggled at the high cost of a Circa show ticket compared to its low production values and uninspired programming. Fortunately I took a punt on The Glitter Garden.

What a breath of fresh air! The message was uplifting, the audience participation was inclusive, and the performers could actually dance. If Circa’s annual Panto had a sprinkle of Hugo Grrrl magic, just imagine what it could be!

I was looking forward to seeing Venus Rising, and particularly the new commission by Sarah Foster-Sproull, but Covid put the kibosh on that. I did see a Footnote show. I’ll just say, if your dance piece needs spoken word or copious notes then maybe your story-telling needs work. I often find that the best dance is at Te Whaea, the School of Dance. The classical graduation show, There & Then, was a standout for me. It was so exciting to see those talented, hardworking, vigorous young people performing with such skill, maturity, and grace.

So perhaps between the glitter and the ballerinas there is hope?

Still hopeful (abridged), name and address supplied AB C S A N D BU G S F O R M E

WE INTERRUPT YOUR REGULAR WEEKEND SCHEDULE TO INVITE YOU TO NZ’S MOST DIVERSE AND CREATIVE FESTIVAL.

27TH – 28TH MARCH 2021 CUBA ST WELLINGTON

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I enjoyed Ian Apperley’s “Wellington A–Z” for the year that’s been, (Cap #74) and remember liking the one from a year ago too.

Would love to read more from him. Also great to see that Melody Thomas is the writer behind Bug Me – I’d always wondered who that was. It is something I often flick to first before settling in for a cover to cover read.

Eddie Stains, Khandallah

Send letters to editor@capitalmag.co.nz with the subject line Letters to Ed Correction: In the December issue our story on Lewis Ferris, meteorologist and photographer, had his name wrong. The error is regretted.

12

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S E C TCI HO AN T TH EE RA D E R

One

C o f fe a A r a b i c a What’s in a name?

It’s sometimes called Arabian coffee, “coffee shrub of Arabia”, “mountain coffee” or “arabica coffee”. Around these parts it is more commonly known as the daily grind, lifeblood, or even the soul of Wellington City.

If this plant were a person it would be…

Robbie Williams – from his softly swooning cappuccino tunes, morphing into high-energy espresso hits, and even the odd jazz number.

How do I look after it?

Perfect positioning indoors would be just back from a window that receives lots of light and warmth. Plant in a relatively large pot and don't forget to feed it – they are hungry. If you are opting for the outdoors, stay away from the coast and wind – they really don't like it.

Patience is the key here; you won't be grinding the beans any time soon. Sit back and enjoy the foliage for a few years whilst you wait for the red cherry beans (actually seeds) to arrive.

Tell me something I don’t know.

Coffee is highly addictive: too much and you can jitter away for hours, just right and you feel your athletic performance is boosted! However it has been known to help clear congestion, so great for summer allergies. Bees love coffee too. Honey bees feed on the nectar of the flowers and ingest the same caffeine that we do.

Our plant of the month has been chosen by Katherine Beauchamp from Palmers Miramar.

Promises, promises The tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions can be traced back some 4,000 years. During the Akitu festival, a 12-day New Year celebration, the ancient Babylonians would make promises to the gods to pay their debts and return borrowed items. They believed they’d get on the bad side of their gods if they broke their promises. The tradition was picked up by the Romans after emperor Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar in 46 BC declaring January 1 the start of the year. The Romans would offer sacrifices to Janus, a two-faced god who symbolically looked back into the previous year and forwards into the new one, and promise good behaviour for the year ahead. In the Middle Ages, knights would place their hands on a live or roasted peacock and recommit themselves, for the next 12 months, to the ideals of chivalry. Fast forward to 2020 and one of the ten most common New Year resolutions was to travel more. Hmmm...

Two

D r i ve r s b ewa re Each year, drivers grumpily question the use of Cuba Street’s carparks for odd-looking art installations – from a "poochpetting pavilion" to a mini “apartment” made by architecture students. The global event PARK(ing) Day, run here by the Wellington Sculpture Trust (because the artworks are arguably sculptures), calls for better use of public space. It’s observed on 5 March; project submissions are due 24 January.

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C H AT T E R

New in town

Driving you dough-nuts The creative minds from Pickle & Pie have opened Dough in Upper Hutt. Open 7 days baking bread, buns & bagels on site. Dough also offers a full menu and is open for dinner Wednesday – Saturday, making the most of the afternoon sunshine in the outside courtyard.

Three

S n a p h a p py Auckland has one. Christchurch loves theirs. Now it’s Wellington’s turn. Introducing the inaugural Capital Photographer of the Year. We thought it was about time we had our own photography competition to celebrate beauty and creativity. We’ve teamed up with Mazz Scannell – photographer, and lover of Wellington – to put together the biggest photography competition Wellington has ever seen. We’re talking six categories, cash prizes, and an exhibition of finalists as judged by cream-of-the-crop New Zealand photographers.

Get online to find out more, capitalmag.co.nz/cpoty

Wedding birds

It's cool to kōrero Whew it’s hot! Hand me the umbrella and a cold drink.

Wī, te wera hoki! Homai te hamarara me te inu mātao.

Four By the numbers

Are you looking to say "I do" this year? Imagine a beautiful backdrop of lush native forest, birds soaring in the sky and al fresco seating. Delight in a truly unique wedding ceremony and soak up the stunning environment of ZEALANDIA ecosanctuary located only 10 minutes from Wellington city.

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1934

1974

1.5

> 10

The number of nights it took Henry Williams to translate the Treaty into Te Reo. He should have asked for an extension

The first year Waitangi day was celebrated

The first year Waitangi day was recognised as a public holiday

The distance in metres Waitangi park was raised after an earthquake in 1855

Acts that will perform at the free Te Rā o Waitangi event at Waitangi park on 6 February

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N E W S

U S E R - PAY S P OT E N T IA L Significant remedial work is required to correct historical errors made in Wellington’s three waters infrastructure, according to a recent report from the Wellington Mayoral Water Taskforce. The report listed 42 recommendations, including the implementation of “smart” water meters, which the Wellington Chamber of Commerce supports. “We know the average Wellingtonian uses 50 per cent more water than the average Aucklander,” says Chief Executive John Milford. “We believe metering will facilitate behavioural changes, for the better.

This goes further than just funding the maintenance of the system, it is also about the sustainability of the resource.”

HOW CRAFTY

LOO LIBERTIES

FULL STREAM AHEAD

Dowse Art Museum has entered into a fouryear agreement with the newly established Blumhardt Fund, which will match annually up to $25,000 spent on the acquisition of contemporary craft pieces made in New Zealand. “This funding will allow us to extend our collection across a greater diversity of disciplines and approaches.

This will make an incredible difference to our collection over the coming years and will help grow opportunities for the studio craft sector in Aotearoa,” says Karl Chitham, director of the Dowse.

A nationwide education programme to improve toilet access for people suffering from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis launched last month, thanks to an Upper Hutt teenager.

Nicole Thornton, who has Crohn’s disease, has been campaigning since 2017 for Kiwis with medical reasons to fear having an accident in public. Businesses are being asked to allow toilet access to people showing the “I Can’t Wait” card, and to display a poster to show that they honour the card.

All Porirua City Council meetings will now be live-streamed. The community requested the ability to hear and see what elected members are talking about without attending in person, to help more people see “what our democratic process looks like”, says Porirua mayor Anita Baker. “This is something we felt was important to make happen.” In the council chamber, a camera tracks whoever is speaking, and there is a high-quality microphone in front of each person.

145 WILLS ST TE ARO CONTEMPORARY EAST ASIAN PREDOMINANTLY KOREAN AND JAPANESE.

N E W S

WHO ME? Dr Michelle Balm, Infection Services clinical lead for Capital & Coast DHB and Hutt Valley DHB’s Infection Prevention & Control clinical lead Dr Matt Kelly have been recognised at the Ngā Tohu Angitu/Celebrating our Success Awards for their responses to Covid-19. Dr Balm says receiving the award is “an unexpected honour” as her role is “mostly enabling others to do their jobs.” Dr Kelly also deflected praise, saying, “The hard work was really done by the others in the Infection Prevention & Control team, the Covid-19 response team, and the frontline services.”

WELL PLANNED

LAUGHING MATTERS

NEW TRICKS

Naenae’s town centre will get a major refresh now that the Hutt City Council has green-lit the Naenae Town Centre Spatial Plan. Mayor Campbell Barry says the rejuvenation of the town centre is a top priority.

The construction of the new Naenae Pool is planned to start in the second half of this year.

Li’i Alaimoana was named Lower North Island Breakthrough Comedian at the 2020 NZ Comedy Guild Awards last month. The Wellingtonian got into stand-up after an injury ended his rugby career. Among the other winners on the night were the Working Committee, who received the Executive Medal for their work to make the comedy industry “a safer, better environment for all.” The Working Committee was established in July last year to urgently address sexual assault and harassment in the industry. It is made up of veteran comedians and producers.

Dog owners of Kāpiti have never been more punctual. Dog registrations for the 2020/21 year were already 98 per cent achieved by December 2020.

Environmental Standards Manager Jacqui Muir says, “The response from dog owners to register has been great. An excellent result in a challenging year. It shows Kāpiti dog owners demonstrating responsible attitudes towards dog ownership.” Registering your dog is legally required under the Dog Control Act.

Organisers

With Support From

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BY M E LO DY T H O M A S P H OTO G R A P H Y BY D I A N A S I M U M PA N D E

EAT

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LISTEN

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BOOK

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

CLOTHES Kowtow

CINEMA

Lighthouse, Cuba

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel McBride aka Sheep, Dog & Wolf, is releasing a brand new album and pining for the streets of Newtown.

D

aniel McBride is one of those musicians for whom music-making is catharsis, and a way to make sense of himself and his life. He’s basically always making music.

At weekends he is in his studio, writing his own songs or figuring out how to play other people’s – a process he enjoys because there’s “no onus of creativity, or of ever performing live. It's just for me, and there’s no better way to fully appreciate a piece of music than to learn to play it.”

Right now, McBride’s learning Douglas Lilburn’s Three Sea Changes on piano, which is “a challenge but super fun.”

His debut Sheep, Dog & Wolf album Egospect, released 2013, was written and recorded in Wellington. McBride now lives in Auckland, and will release his second album, Two-Minds, on 19 February (an album which – incredibly – he wrote, recorded, and performed entirely on his own).

McBride moved to Auckland to be near a sick family member and to take up a dream job at New Zealand music software company Serato (even his day job is music-related), but Wellington still means a lot to him. “It was extremely hard to leave Wellington – I feel like I became ‘me’ there.

Every time I visit, I find it difficult to leave.” He has a soft spot for Newtown, where he lived for five years. “I’ve spent hours cumulatively walking up and down Riddiford – going for groceries at the weekend market, eating at all of the amazing cafes and restaurants, going to gigs and parties at friends’ houses. It’s changed, but the vibe stays the same,” he says. “It’s the part of Wellington that always makes me feel at home.” It was in Newtown that he discovered his favourite restaurant Mother of Coffee, which at that time served up incredible Ethiopian food from a tiny stall inside an internet cafe. The stall has since been upgraded,

and now you can enjoy what McBride calls “the best food I’ve ever eaten in my life” in Cuba Street’s Left Bank. But McBride’s favourite place in all of Wellington is the town belt behind Newtown, the hills of which he’s explored on foot. “There’s a rope swing on a massive tree, and a beautiful view back towards the city. From there you can walk up through the pines to the crest of the hill, and it’s easy to pretend you’re all alone in a remote forest somewhere.

I always felt very lucky to have that in my city, so close to where I lived,” he says.

Fans of Sheep, Dog & Wolf, will have noted that it’s been seven years between albums. There’s been a lot going on in McBride’s life; his unwell family, and also personal struggles with chronic physical and mental illness. The new album, Two-Minds has been described as “showcasing [McBride’s] unique ability to document a young life in disarray”, but also makes it clear that it’s “about recovery as much as it is about illness, and about the shafts of light that could shine through even in the depths of it.” In response to this, McBride says, “One of the hardest things about mental illness was that it became so all-encompassing that I ended up believing it was an intrinsic part of me, that it was just ‘who I was᾿ and I should therefore get used to it, because this was how the rest of my life was going to be. It has been wonderful to realise that's not true.” This doesn’t mean McBride is free from mental illness, but it does make it all more manageable. Now that he has the benefit of that perspective, does he have any advice for people experiencing such hardship now? “If you reach out and get help, you can feel better than you feel right now,” he says, “I didn't understand that, or perhaps I didn't believe, until I did ask for help and found that it helped.”

21

SUMMER IN THE BAYS A magnet for beachgoers and bushwalkers since forever, Eastbourne and Days Bay have combined to be a seaside playground for generations.

Beaches, bush walks, boutique shopping, bars and cafes create a relaxed holiday-time vibe, but best of all are the long sunsets settling across Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington Harbour).

Our sunny seaside bays inspire a creative crowd of artists, designers, actors, architects and writers.

Come say hello and catch the bays vibe too.

PHOTOS: JEFF McEWAN / CAPTURE STUDIOS

huttvalleynz.com

INDY’S FIRST TRIP TO UPPER HUTT Hannah, Ash and Indy headed over the Haywards and into the Valley, a breath of fresh air from their busy lives as a young family.

Hi, my name’s Hannah! I’m a nurse,

We were well over due for a family outing,

mother, partner and lover of all things

we wanted to go somewhere a bit different

nature and food. I live in Kapiti with my

but not too far from home. So we grabbed

partner Ash and our 4 month old, Indy.

the camera and punched Kaitoke into Google Maps.

After all our hiking, stone skipping and geeking out over Rivendell, it was time for a good coffee. I saw on Facebook that Pickle and Pie (one of my favs) had just opened Dough Bakery in Upper Hutt.

So we jumped in the car and made tracks.

Dough was super cute. The cabinet was full of yummy treats and we ended up getting two lamb sammys to go with our coffees. Indy was eyeing up our lemon coconut cake.

I used to love feeding the ducks as a kid.

One of the ladies at Dough suggested we get some bird seed and go to Heretaunga Park on the way home. Indy loved it but I think I had more fun. A day well spent out in the Hutt Valley.

PHOTOS: INDY’S MUM AND DAD

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C U L T U R E

OPER ATUNITY Wellington has itself a new opera company, and you don’t need to wait until their first full production (Don Giovanni in April) to hear them. During the Performance Arcade (5 February to 28 March), Wellington Opera Company presents bite-size performances in pop-up locations around central Wellington, including side streets and balconies. “I hope it’s not too windy!” says artistic director Matthew Ross (pictured), former NZSO violinist and Orchestra Wellington concertmaster. There’s lots of local talent, partly because globally successful New Zealand singers aren’t travelling overseas right now.

LO CO-MOTIVES

RE-STAGE

TOP TO B OT TOM

In 2009, Taylor Smith (then 17) went to City Gallery’s exhibition of work by Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese-American artist perhaps best known for paintings with spots and geometric patterns.

Taylor was dazzled by the “Infinity” room lined with mirrors, suggesting infinite space. Now a dancer, Taylor is director-choreographer of dance/circus show LOCO, performed by her group Delayed Reality. LOCO aims to portray Yayoi’s mind-states, including her obsessive need to create and a period of psychosis. It’s part of the Fringe Festival (26 February to 20 March).

Picking up where they left off when lockdown began, the Royal NZ Ballet takes its long-running Tutus on Tour programme (with the dancers split into two groups) to 16 small towns countrywide during February and March, including Paraparaumu (26–27 February) and Carterton (27 February). Joining two classical favourites are two new works that were scheduled for 2020’s cancelled Venus Rising season.

In Flux, a four-metre-high sculpture reinterpreting a traditional Venetian chandelier, hangs right to the floor at Aratoi in Masterton. Its creators, Martinborough couple Jim Dennison and Leanne Williams – aka the Crystal Chain Gang – are known for glass artworks, including chandeliers, that mesh art and design.

Made of many materials, In Flux was inspired by their trip to Italy, Leanne says. “We saw ornate chandeliers associated with power and wealth, and amazing ceiling frescoes.

Whereas my ceiling has spiderwebs!”

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C U L T U R E

ABOUT TIME Yuki Kihara is achieving a lot of firsts. She’ll be the first Pacific artist, the first artist with no formal training, and the first Faʻafafine to represent New Zealand at the Venice Biennale (postponed until 2022 because of Covid). Yuki’s artworks mesh Japanese kimono with Sāmoan siapo (tapa cloth), blurring the line between clothing and sculpture – and honouring her dual heritage. Pātaka’s Curator Māori-Pacific Ioana Gordon-Smith has curated Yuki’s exhibition A Song About Sāmoa (until 28 February), and is the assistant curator of Yuki’s Biennale project. “I’m ecstatic. I adore Yuki’s work.”

LAST HURRAH

BACK TO IT

MANY AND VARIED

It’s goodbye to the sometimes spicy, wonderfully offbeat Menagerie Variety Show. Kaiwhakahaere (organiser) Rachel Rouge began it in 2013: it played, initially, monthly at Fringe Bar, then annually at the Opera House. However, Rachel can no longer self-fund it nor fit it around her day job (as a Massey University event manager).

Its final show (13 February) has 16 acts including a 20-member drag-king group, a burlesque artist, and a magician. Wellington Paranormal’s Officer O’Leary will be striding around as the “paranormal security guard”.

After a good summer’s break, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra returns, rested, in February, for its “Setting Up Camp” initiative – spending three days largely in the Wairarapa, with some activities (performances for schools) also running in parts of Wellington. In Carterton, Paraparaumu, and Upper Hutt, see a ticketed production (in association with the Royal NZ Ballet) of The Soldier’s Tale: Igor Stravinsky’s theatrical work “to be read, played, and danced”.

Stravinsky (1882-1971) actually conducted the NZSO in Wellington in 1961.

Zac Langdon-Pole’s exhibition Containing Multitudes (City Gallery, until March 2021) includes a suite of jigsaw puzzles, a tiara in a tool box, and a native-timber floor where the tracks left by colonising borer beetles are perversely picked out in gold. The New Zealand artist usually lives and works in Berlin but many of the works in this exhibition were made in New Zealand, last year while Langdon-Pole was stranded in Auckland by closed borders.

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CHRISTIAN THURSTON | JAMES IOELU | AMANDA ATLAS | AMELIA BERRY | OLIVER SEWELL | NATASHA WILSON JOEL AMOSA | PAUL WHELAN | MATTHEW ROSS | SARA BRODIE | MATTHEW KEREAMA | MEG ROLLANDI

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D I R E C T O R Y

THE LOOK OF LOVE

Paul Ubana Jones Plays 1988 LP

Dawn Diver

Spend an evening with award-winning Ali Harper as she showcases the extensive hit songs of the one and only Burt Bacharach.

Timeless, poignant, uplifting - THE LOOK OF LOVE promises to be a musical feast for the heart and soul.

Music legend Paul Ubana Jones takes us back to where it all began with a rendition of his self-titled debut album. Discover the backstory of each track as Paul unfolds his seminal first album at Wellington Museum’s one night only, koha show.

Take the plunge and groove to the harmonic and haunting melodies of Dawn Diver at Wellington Museum this February.

Dive into the dreamy, koha musical experience featuring multi-instrumentalist lead Ben Lemi (Trinity Roots, Estère), Deanne Krieg (Whim), Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa, Will Sklenars and Rose Blake (Blaek).

23 Jan–20 Feb Circa Theatre 1 Taranaki St, Wellington. circa.co.nz

Sat 16 Jan 3 Jervois Quay, Wellington wellingtonmuseum.nz

Sat 13 Feb 3 Jervois Quay, Wellington wellingtonmuseum.nz

{Suite} Westra Museum

What if the City was a Theatre?

Tuatara Open Late

New Zealand Arts Icon photographer Ans Westra is responsible for the most comprehensive documentation of New Zealand culture over the last 60 years. The {Suite} Westra Museum is a dedicated exhibition space for Ans' photographs. Prints are available for sale.

Award-winning festival The Performance Arcade will present a free city-wide programme of art and performance this summer, curated with some of Wellington’s most exciting artists, events, and creative organisations. Take to the streets, and experience internationally-acclaimed arts performance in the places you least expect it.

Art, music, film, talks, beer, wine, and food. Celebrate the return of Tuatara Open Late—City Gallery Wellington’s changing programme of late-night events on the first Thursday of the month. Kicking off the 2021 line-up is songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Andre Smith (Heavy Chest).

Wed–Fri 11am–5pm, Sat 11am–4pm.

241 Cuba St. Instagram: @answestra suite.co.nz

Image: Ray Cash—Movement Of The Human, Hurihuri.

5 Feb–28 Mar www.citytheatre.co.nz

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5—10pm, Thu 4 Feb Te Ngākau Civic Square, Wellington. citygallery.org.nz

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F E AT U R E

Art ahoy

BY M AG G I E T W E E D I E P H OTO G R A P H Y BY H A R R I E T T E L E A K E

Art collective injects new life into old vessel.

J

ust steps into central Wellington is The Sealion, a fatigued old boat originally built as an army supply vessel in South Australia. After four decades across the ditch, The Sealion was a family houseboat for about 15 years, then had a short career in Wellington as a party charter and is now home to a floating arts collective run by four creatives in their mid 20’s.

Simon Van der Zeyden volunteered to become a guardian of the vessel in August, in the hope of restoring it to its former glory. He invited Dylan Pyle, Ollie Hutton, and GiGi Crayford to help him pay the rent and move in. The new crew happily scrubbed the mould from the walls, cranked multiple dehumidifiers, and furnished its interior to make the boat home.

Van der Zeyden and Pyle “hand pump the bilge” as a daily defence against the boat sinking. The old treasure is a liability to the maritime industry because the engines quite simply do not go and the engine room fills with litres of water a day. The Sealion’s current owner, Selwyn Findlay, pays the harbour rates and accepts small financial contributions from the four flatmates. “He’s an old tinkerer who loves analogue technology and a one-manband blues musician,” says Pyle. Van der Zeyden says Findlay’s dream is to retire on The Sealion, an ambitious one considering the boat hasn't been out of the water for 20 years. This is partly because there is not a slip big enough to pull it out of the

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water in Wellington. Picton has the closest such slip, but the rudder is stuck, and so is the hydraulic steering system, so it cannot be towed.

The boat is moored at Queens Wharf, among waterfront walks and high-end restaurants and cafes. It has become a hub for the Sealion Community. The kaupapa of the Sealion Community is an alternative to commercially-driven artist spaces.

Determined for the vessel not to be scuppered, the 450 online members have agreed that the boat is a sober space. A safe venue for artists, musicians, and poets to perform and gather, rewarding the four flatmates who keep the boat afloat. Monday evenings are for film screenings, Thursdays are jam nights, and Fridays are for sauna sessions. Yes, there is a working sauna on the boat. It’s powered by an oil heater and an electric kettle. In November, the Sealion Community also launched a publication called Flotsam, a zine pieced together by various contributors, which acts as a kind of time-capsule recalling the early events hosted on the vessel.

The Sealion has become a community sponge, full of mattresses, dried flowers, live music, and philosophical conversations. The young people driving this floating art space are realistic enough to recognise that The Sealion is not their forever home.

But meanwhile the boat acts as a community anchor and connection point in uncertain waters.

F E AT U R E

What the anglerfish would say about Valentine’s Day if he still had a mouth (which he doesn’t)

BY A N N I E K E I G

W

hen the male anglerfish meets the love of his life, his face dissolves. For the anglerfish, living largely alone in the abyss of the Atlantic and Southern Oceans, the cliché “there are plenty of fish in the sea” is wildly irrelevant.

Finding a mate is so rare that when they encounter each other, the male anglerfish bites into his female counterpart and fuses his face to her body.

Slowly, he disintegrates until he’s nothing more than a pair of gonads, which she uses at will. She can carry six mates, each linked to her bloodstream, gleaning nutrients and fertilizing eggs when needed.

Female anglerfish have lures called esca: long spines of the dorsal fins that protrude out of their foreheads with thousands of bioluminescent bacteria on the tip. With this beacon, a female attracts both food and mates. The food can be twice her size and mates can be 60 times smaller. Who needs a dozen red roses when you can have a harem of sexual parasites permanently attached to your fleshy underbelly?

Humans don’t fuse their faces to their partners, but there is an insidious pressure to find “your other half ” around this time of year ‒ someone who will balance out your flaws, complete your life, and ride off with you into the sunset. My problem with St Valentine’s Day is that the way it’s often celebrated perpetuates the idea that being in an insular romantic pair is the be-all and end-all.

It doesn’t acknowledge other connections that are nurturing and life-affirming. If we have to have a day that’s all about love, let’s include all the shades and shapes of it.

Other countries recognise love as more than romance. On 14 February, Finland celebrates Ystävänpäivä, or “Friends Day.” Ystävänpäivä looks a lot like a classic Valentine’s Day; the major difference is that neighbours, friends, and colleagues are the recipients of chocolate and cards. Platonic and familial love are honoured and community connection is celebrated with delicious chocolate. Honouring wider support networks and strong community ties would foster and strengthen people’s sense of belonging.

Thankfully, we live in a vibrant city that allows much more varied and meaningful connection than the kind the anglerfish have in deep ocean habitats.

I say, let’s ditch the roses (don’t get me started on the hidden environmental cost of St Valentine’s Day) and celebrate our support networks and connections in the community. Go swimming with some mates. Create a family trivia board. Take your loved ones dancing in the moonlight or for a stroll on the waterfront.

Most species of male anglerfish die of starvation if they can’t find a mate. If it weren’t for billions of years of evolution, they might want to rethink this arrangement. As it is, they’re probably thrilled to beat the odds. That’s the thing: for anglerfish, it is necessary to become a sexually parasitic pair, and for humans it isn’t. If the anglerfish had a mouth and a brain capable of giving relationship advice, he might say, “Wait, you get to have a partner AND keep your face?” He would encourage humans to celebrate having partners, friends and family who can grow alongside us rather than attached to us.

We matter to many people in many different ways, not just the folks who get to see us naked.

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Three part harmony P H OTO G R A P H Y BY L I L I A N PA N G

Seven years ago, three strangers were hand-picked to harmonise together on tour with an experimental folk group. Bonded by the experience, Anna Wooles, Rose Blake, and Deanne Krieg formed their own band, Ida Lune, and last month released their self-titled debut album.

While the women of Ida Lune have developed a near-psychic harmonic intuition after years singing together, their voices are distinctive and the album allows them plentiful opportunities to shine. Which is what we thought we’d do here. Melody Thomas talks to the trio.

Anna Wooles

Rose Blake

Deanne Krieg

Vocals, mandolin, synth, drums

Vocals, banjo, guitar, synth

Vocals, guitar, synth, percussion

I grew up in Seatoun, watching as the fences got higher and higher and the fish and chip shop got fancier and fancier.

Growing up in a musical family singing around the house, harmony was always default – the fourth child would never have the privilege of singing the melody.

This started my own exploration with music and helped me develop some tools I would need to start writing when Ida Lune got together as a band – that plus studying jazz at Massey and songwriting at Stanford. It’s special being an all-female band because it’s an outlet to share our collective experiences. I remember once walking into a rehearsal for a band where I was the only female, and since our last rehearsal I'd given birth. My son was with me, earmuffed in a car seat, and only one of my band-mates acknowledged the fact that I'd had a baby. Ida Lune's a vast contrast. They sang me through pregnancy, have pictures of my son on their wall, and buy him too many presents. When I’m not performing with Ida Lune I’m dodging imaginary bullets from my son; working at Koko to design and produce large events; mentoring on Home Ground – a creativity and wellbeing initiative for women engaged in the justice system; and grabbing any chance to get out in the garden.

Growing up in Karori was lovely. It’s a very leafy and peaceful area, and I spent lots of time playing outside. From a young age I was always singing, but when I finally got the opportunity to sing “My FavouriteThings” in front of my class I forgot the words! So I started making up my own, creating and performing musical concerts with a friend on family holidays, including poetry gold such as: "world peace is everything you need, hate and fighting is a very bad deed" with a Casio beat to back us up. At music school I was primarily focused on classical singing, but I was always writing my own music in the background. It was always very private and I never performed the songs for anyone. When I was nearing the end of my studies a friend and I started sharing musical ideas and started doing gigs – it was almost like we gave each other the idea to share our music and I’ll always be grateful for that. It’s what led me to eventually meeting Anna and Deanne!

When I’m not making music in Ida Lune, or with Blaek, or Dawn Diver, I’m Senior Administrator for the Postgraduate Programmes at the College of Creative Arts (Massey University).

Growing up in the Hutt, my main goal was to get out! There wasn’t much for non-sporty kids to do back then, so the culture of the big smoke was very alluring. I made it out and now I’m living the beach life in Petone. I was a super-shy kid who loved singing, so my mum got me performing at retirement homes to boost my confidence. I started out performing original songs to my grandma when she babysat me. I remember my first song was called "Me and My Dog". Getting guitar lessons at intermediate school allowed me to accompany myself singing for the first time, and then during high school I worked all summer to buy a second-hand laptop which could run Garageband. This was a massive game-changer in that I could finally record and rework musical ideas. We all compose songs for Ida Lune and we all think of ourselves as equal contributors to the band. The great thing about being a band of women is that rehearsals become catch-up, life-advice, and recipe-sharing sessions as much as they are getting down to business. When I’m not making music with Ida Lune I’m doing so with my solo project WHIM and in Dawn Diver and Congress of Animals, or I’m manufacturing and dispatching synths at Synthstrom Audible.

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S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

What is “home” for you?

Home is in Karaka Bays, Wellington. My husband and I have lived there for more than 30 years. Our two children were born and raised there and we have close friends living nearby. We’ve never quite achieved the empty nest stage – mainly because our son Jack is an actor who spends time in Wellington every year, as do a number of his actor friends, who we enjoy having stay with us.

Where do you work and what do you like about it?

I love my shop, Wellington Sewing Centre in Coutts Street, Kilbirnie, because it’s pretty and positive to be there! I love our fabrics and yarns, and that it’s our customers’ “happy place”, and that my talented upbeat staff thoroughly enjoy helping people with their creative projects. Running the shop feels in complete contrast to my previous career as a public sector lawyer.

Tell us about your favourite Wellington eateries.

Our favourite family takeaway dinner is a selection of vegetarian and other Indian dishes, the Balti House in Miramar is our fave. And I eat way too many lunches from A Taste of Greece in Kilbirnie (Helen is an amazing cook!).

What’s the best local purchase you’ve made this year?

A light grey, slightly sparkly, cropped sweatshirt from Rex Royale in Lombard Lane.

What’s your best Wellington memory?

The dawn of the millennium at Te Papa is right up there. Gareth Farr led the performance of one of his own works, blending a modern orchestra, operatic voices, and kaikaranga. We sat on the floor in front of the performers and I was reduced to tears by the sheer beauty and force of the music.

Jack specially remembers (and hasn’t yet forgiven me) because he wanted to stay up till midnight the night before but I wouldn’t let him because we had to be up at 4am to be ready for the dawn ceremony. Apparently he was pissed off with me then – at age nine – and seems to still harbour a grudge 20 years later. My husband Graeme has a CD of the music and we played it the other night and it made us both cry again! It is fantastic!

What book is beside your bed?

I’m about to read Rachel Kerr’s first novel Victory Park. Rachel was the librarian at the Waitangi Tribunal for some of the time I was on the tribunal. She was full of energy and talent then and has gone from strength to strength since.

Sew Jo Does Jo Morris look familiar? If you’re crafty, then you probably saw her at Wellington Sewing Centre when you were picking up your bobbins and buttons. Everyone else probably saw her cutting shapes in the infamous Lockdown Boogie video that took the world by storm.

“It was really good to be preoccupied with something positive and silly during such an unusual time,” says Jo, who has to be one of the coolest mums in Wellington.

We caught up with her to talk business, pleasure, and find out why her son is holding a grudge.

What’s on your Wellington bucket list?

I’ve always wanted to visit Kāpiti Island but haven’t made it there yet. It’ll have to wait till I retire.

What are you looking forward to in the new year?

Taking two five-year-olds to see Jack performing in Circa’s pantomime Cinderella (2–16 Jan). I’ll be very newly allowed out of the house in my moon boot, after having surgery on my foot.

We’ll have a drink and nibbles beforehand at the Circa restaurant. Then once I’m out of the moon boot I’m looking forward to taking Maisie the dog for walks, and by late January I may even be ready to boogie again, should the occasion arise!

Find more ways to Love Local at WellingtonNZ.com/LoveLocal

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F E AT U R E

City to sea P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A D R I A N V E RCO E

Helen Ferguson loves the contrast between her city apartment and her beach home on the Kāpiti coast. She talks to Sarah Catherall.

W

hile both of Helen Ferguson’s properties have stunning sea views, in other ways they could not be more different.

In Wellington, the Clyde Quay apartment she shares with husband Ferg has views out towards Te Papa and the bobbing yachts in Chaffers Marina in one direction. From their bedroom, the couple look out towards Oriental Parade, with a glimpse of the red tugboat and the iconic Freyberg building on the foreshore. They sleep with the curtains open, falling asleep with the moon beaming in, and waking to the sunrise. “I love living here. There is always something to watch. I love living among the weather. We had fog yesterday, and today we have 120-kilometre-an-hour winds,” she smiles.

The luxury complex of 76 apartments was designed

by Athfield Architects. Clyde Quay Wharf is located on a historic wharf, which began construction in 1894 and opened in 1908; in the 60s, it was transformed into the Overseas Passenger Terminal, a cruise-ship

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berth designed by the firm Morton, Calder, Fowler & Styles, in which former mayor Michael Fowler was a partner. The elegant structure was crowned with a 17-metre-high spire, which has been retained and set on top of the new building.

Helen and Ferg had lived in a Kelburn villa with their two children, Laura and Gus. When the kids left home – Gus is a teacher in Christchurch, and Laura lives in Melbourne with her husband and children – the couple decided to downsize. They bought the Clyde Quay apartment off the plans six years ago, moving in when their part of the development opened. Their apartment is at the southern end of the complex at the end of the original wharf building.

Apartment life has its limitations. Helen says that Ferg, who was a partner at Craig Investments until he retired in December, grew up in the South Island and has always loved to have plenty of space. He has also always loved a garden and missed growing things. At Clyde Quay, they have huge vegetable boxes on the deck outside their bedroom, but it wasn’t enough.

“Ferg was also thinking about retirement at the time, so we wanted more outdoor space,” she says.

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After moving in about five years ago, they started looking for a weekend beach retreat on the Raumati coast. Says Helen: “Raumati beach is a safe beach. It’s very shallow. A neighbour here at Clyde Quay had a section for sale and we fell in love with it. There was a flat lawn to build on and an inherited herbaceous garden. We also loved the pohutakawa grove along the front.”

Helen also loves the light and both places have plenty of it. Her apartment is filled with sunshine during the day, with expansive floor-to-ceiling windows and sliders opening to the decks. On the Kāpiti Coast, they sought the same thing.

Friends had homes designed by Wellington architect Geoff Fletcher, and Helen and Ferg liked his style. They signed him up and had few requirements. Helen wanted one long living space with room for a big dining table and a kitchen at the end, from which she can look out at the glorious sunsets over Kāpiti Island. The one-storey dwelling has sliders in each room and a high ceiling sloping up to the sky, allowing as much light in as possible. “We loved Geoff ’s design of a simple pavilion that sits lightly on the site. It has beautiful proportions and a superb finish.” They had a hassle-free build, praising their builders Haarlem Build for also bringing them in on budget.

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Having moved in in October 2019, they now spend most weekends there, and expect to spend more time there now Ferg has retired.

Helen loves the boardwalks running around the house, which have proved a big success with grandchildren riding scooters. She says the design was influenced by a trip to Japan. The bathrooms are simple, and the bedrooms have a relaxed coastal vibe. Ferg’s office, where he worked during lockdown, is tucked off the bedroom.

“We’ve just got practical doors and lots of light. We’re north-facing so we get great sun in winter.”

Ferg has built a vegetable garden which is filled with herbs, tomato plants, and leafy greens. They’ve also built a path of railway sleepers down to the beachfront, and planted coastal grasses along the banks. Whenever they are there, they enjoy beach life, walking on the beach, surfcasting, and riding their bikes. Ferg has got the bug and wants to get an e-bike.

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Helen is an avid bridge player, playing with several groups in Wellington and now also on the Kāpiti Coast. “It’s a great way to meet people,” she says. Helen enjoys painting, and goes to Clive Kelly’s art classes at Evans Bay. A large chalk drawing she created with her class, inspired by New York skyscrapers, hangs in her Clyde Quay dressing room. “We were due to go to Malaga on an art tour in August, but alas!” she says.

The Clyde Quay apartment stretches across the building, and the views, decks and generous ceiling height make it feel bigger than it is. It’s configuration is similar to that of their Kāpiti home: an open plan kitchen and living area, linked by a hallway running across the middle, and bedrooms along the eastern side opening on to loggia decks.

The couple have furnished their apartment with furniture from their former Kelburn villa, so it has a more traditional feel than the modern furnishings in their beach house. Works by artists including Michael Smither hang on the walls. Even though they’ve got neighbours surrounding them, the apartments are private and the decks are surprisingly sheltered.

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Helen was familiar with the Overseas Passenger Terminal as a venue for balls and weddings. “I never imagined this would be my home one day,” she laughs.

When they’re there, the sociable couple love getting out and being surrounded by activity. “There’s so much happening around us. Marathons, fireworks, the vege market, and we feel as though we’re in it,” she says.

Despite enjoying the busyness, she revels in the contrast up the coast and feels instantly relaxed when she arrives at her Raumati beach home, “which is all sunsets and pohutakawas.” The walls are deliberately bare as Helen likes the serenity and a more minimalist look at the beach.

Helen says she feels fortunate to enjoy two beautiful spaces, “and share these with our adult children, grandchildren, other family, and friends.” They had a special 10 days together last Christmas, when their children and grandchildren spent the summer with them at Raumati. The kids built a fort on the beach, and Ferg strung a swing up in the trees. Helen smiles, “When we arrive at Raumati, I kick the doors open and hear the sea. Every day is different here. We love the simplicity, the serenity, and the sublime setting.”

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F E AT U R E

Blue prints Spatial plans, new libraries, town halls, sewers, and cycleways are all under discussion in Wellington.

Matthew Plummer looks back at some of the grand civic designs promoted in the past.

T

he rise of private car ownership, the baby-boom, and post-war reconstruction were catalysts for drastic urban planning interventions around the world, a fashion that inevitably reached New Zealand. Metropolitan Wellington’s population increased by 63% in the space of two decades from 1945 – and was projected to reach 398,000 in 1981 (wildly inaccurately – this did not happen until 2014).

This growth, largely concentrated in the Hutt Valley and Porirua, was a headache for planners, but it also gave the civic leadership confidence to invest. It stimulated a decade of radical proposals for the capital, which came close to destroying much of what Wellingtonians now love about the city.

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Comprehensive Transport Plan for Wellington 1963 / 1966

B

y the late 1950s rapidly increasing traffic volumes on the Hutt Road (comparable to Adelaide Road today) caused a fear of gridlock, and work on the first part of the Urban Motorway from Ngauranga to Aotea Quay started in 1959.

There was bitter debate about the next phase of the road, between a “foothills motorway” route through Thorndon and one along the waterfront – the latter preferred by the City Engineer and the Ministry of Works. In 1960 American transport consultants De Leuw, Cather & Company were commissioned by the Wellington Regional Planning Authority (a predecessor of the Regional Council) to resolve the matter and create Wellington’s first Transportation Master Plan.

Despite its being the cheaper option (at £13,000,000 – close to $570 million today) the initial report in 1963 made the waterfront route look as unpalatable as possible. Projected traffic volumes would require “a double-decked structure approximately 40 feet [four storeys] in height with three lanes in each direction”. This would have run from Bunny Street to Cable Street, with off-ramps required at Kings Wharf, Post Office Square, and Mercer Street. The report warned of conflict between the motorway and what was still a working inner harbour, and the impact on the amenity of the waterfront, pointing out how quickly San Francisco’s officials had come to regret building their new freeway above the Embarcadero.

The foothills route was duly recommended, even though it was projected to cost almost 50% more and need streets of houses demolished, with the Mount Victoria tunnel to be duplicated

during the first phase of works. The time required to dig the Terrace tunnel meant Te Aro would need a one-way system to speed up traffic (half a century later the council has voted to slow traffic down), with southbound vehicles routed up Cuba Street.

Public transport was also considered, with a recommendation that once the motorway was completed the railway should be extended in a 3km subway to the end of Courtenay Place – with underground stations at Parliament, Lambton (under Boulcott Street), Cuba Street and Courtenay Place – all for £11,000,000 ($480 million in 2020).

As proposed the complete motorway would have buried half the Basin Reserve under motorway off-ramps, a deep trench cut across the top of Te Aro and a “full-diamond interchange” at Taranaki Street – designs familiar to Wellingtonians who successfully defeated the Tunnel Link proposals a quarter of a century later.

The focus on roads alarmed Wellington’s retailers. They feared that greater mobility would send shoppers to more convenient destinations outside the city, and commissioned a rival proposal from architects Gabites and Beard. “Precinct Planning for Wellington” (released in 1965) had some bold predictions, with “public transport vehicles running on air cushions rather than rails” and “combined air and ground vehicles in general use” by the year 2000. But the pedestrianisation of large parts of the CBD, rather than a focus on cars, proved popular with Wellingtonians, and this influenced the final version of the Comprehensive Transport Plan in 1966, including the retention of the Basin Reserve.

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Draft Town Plan 1965

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ith the transport masterplan complete the City Council was free to focus on transforming the CBD. In 1957 Robert (“Terry”) Kennedy arrived at the University of Auckland to take the first Chair of Town Planning. He was retained as a consultant by Wellington City Council from 1965–75, and the 1965 Draft Town Plan clearly reflected his previous job remodelling Britain’s blitzed cities.

Some ideas were developed from the De Leuw report and “Precinct Planning”, including Cuba Mall, and the Farish Street Extension which pushed Victoria Street through to the top of Te Aro – to feed a future Western Suburbs motorway running through a tunnel from the top of Aro Street to Karori and beyond.

The plan was critical of central Wellington’s small commercial plots and streets laid out in the era of deliveries by horse-drawn vehicles, now resulting in increasing conflict between vehicles and pedestrians. European cities were able to “take advantage of ” extensive bomb damage to unleash ambitious redevelopments – and Wellington was to follow suit with the “Willis Street redevelopment area”, a three-tier “superblock” similar to London’s Barbican, to tackle “the bottleneck between Stewart Dawson’s corner and the sea”.

The development would have been enormous, stretching between the top of Plimmer Steps and the waterfront. The existing street layout was to be maintained but built over, with garaging and warehouses at ground level, and car parking above them, accessed via ramps from Jervois Quay and a Willis Street flyover connecting Victoria and Boulcott streets. Above that was to be the pedestrian deck, with shops, offices, and hotels.

The sheer chutzpah of the Town Planning Committee’s report was admirable: the Willis Street superblock was “economically feasible” and would “rehabilitate the centre of Wellington” in combination with the proposed Civic Centre and new Cuba Mall. The City Engineer pointed out to doubters that “this sort of integrated development is already taking place in larger cities overseas”.

The project stumbled at the first hurdle: the population growth projection was found to be overly optimistic (a failing among council officials), and the indicative £50,000,000 cost ($2.1bn in 2020) was seen as wildly unaffordable. Councillor Turk called the proposal “a Utopian flight of fantasy” – and by the mid-1970s Kennedy’s departure from WCC’s payroll and the city’s stagnation meant the idea mercifully faded into the long list of municipal what ifs.

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Report and Development Plan for the Wellington City Council Civic Centre 1974

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he idea of a municipal precinct dates back to the 1942 Wairarapa Earthquake, which led to the demolition of the old city library building and technical college buildings on Wakefield Street – now the site of the Council’s closed Civic Administration Building and empty Municipal Office Building (or MOB). Work started on MOB in 1946, and the popular lawn in front of the building was referred to as the Civic Centre.

The council had gradually acquired land at the harbour end of Cuba Street from the 1960s onwards, and the section of Mercer Street between the Town Hall and Central Library was often closed for civic festivities, so it was a small leap of imagination to pedestrianise the space. Terry Kennedy and Ken Clarke (the council’s City Planner) embarked on a scheme to banish vehicles and create a “true and pleasant centre of the City of Wellington”.

The masterplan that emerged had all the hallmarks of European post-war design. The demolition of the seismically vulnerable Town Hall would clear the way for a decidedly Soviet-looking 10,000m2 office building; a conference facility was to be built on the corner of Harris Street and Jervois Quay; and pedestrian subways would give access to the waterfront and a new shopping arcade to be built over Mercer Street through to Willis Street. Kennedy realised that changes in opinion and finances would alter the plan, but he suggested a 15-year development programme – the new library and conference centre were to have been completed by 1986.

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Instead Mayor Michael Fowler championed the construction of a new concert hall: it was commissioned in 1975, but the challenging ground conditions slowed construction. The building was opened in 1983, by which time campaigns to preserve the heritage and acoustic value of the old Town Hall had made its removal untenable, leaving the two buildings uncomfortably close to each other. The waterfront had been transformed from a potential motorway route to a popular open public space – a rethink for the precinct was required.

While the development Kennedy proposed would have been built at the height of Brutalism in New Zealand, some core ideas from the 1974 masterplan shaped today’s Civic Square, including turning the 1937 library building into a City Gallery. This stimulated the council in 1980 to create exhibition space at 65 Victoria Street, before demolishing the building and using the site for the new central library (another Kennedy recommendation). Interconnected elevated walkways linked the library and council buildings around the square – until they were deemed seismic risks earlier this decade – and the space enjoys good sunlight.

Kennedy died in 1997, with his superblock vision for Wellington’s civic precinct largely realised, and especially the underground parking and wide pedestrian expanses. With the Civic Administration Building likely to be demolished, perhaps the lawn in front of the municipal offices which coined the precinct’s name could be restored, bringing the Civic Centre concept full circle?

F E AT U R E

Rēkohu Misty Sun

P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E SY O F RO B B I E L A N AU Z E A N D C H AT H A M I S L A N D FO O D CO.

In the 90s the Chatham Islands became part of the Rongotai electorate, making it the most remote region of Wellington (or at least that’s what we’re claiming).

Called Rēkohu by indigenous Moriori people, the islands were rediscovered and renamed in 1791 by the crew of British naval ship HMS Chatham.

Home to 663 residents, the economy of the Chathams relies largely on conservation, farming, fishing (see page 78 for a Chatham blue cod recipe), and tourism.

While the rest of the country has been struggling with tourism numbers, the islands have seen an increase – it’s no surprise that with overseas travel off the cards, we are visiting in droves.

In the first instalment of our Rēkohu series, Chathams-born photographer Robbie Lanauze takes us on a photographic tour of New Zealand’s easternmost islands and the first to see the sun.

Look for our feature on the islands’ geology in March.

Quick facts

Chatham Island

• The Chatham Islands are 45 minutes ahead of Wellington.

• There are no mobile phone networks on the island.

• The nearest mainland New Zealand point to the Chatham Islands is Cape Turnagain, which lies about 60 km north of Castlepoint.

• Locals call themselves “Wekas”.

Pitt Island

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Clay cliffs of Tikitiki with the main township of Waitangi in the distance.

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Local James Moffett monitors the incoming weather from his farm on Pitt Island, looking out to South East Island.

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The Pyramid lies south of Pitt Island and is the only known breeding colony for the Chatham Island albatross, more commonly known as the Mollymawk.

Moriori would make the hazardous voyage by waka to this sacred rock each year to collect the birds, which were a delicacy.

The Pyramid is also known in Moriori as Tcharok'or Tcharoko which means "the sharp point". In Māori it is called Tarakoikoi which means "to be sharp".

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Jamie Lanauze and Dustin King stop for a smoke and a yarn while fishing for crayfish off the Pitt Island coast. Fishing and crayfishing are big business in the Chathams. Regular shipments are made to Wellington by local fishing firm Chatham Island Food Co, who say demand is growing.

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Early morning mist hovers over Mangere and Little Mangere islands with the Castles in the far distance.

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Bird's-eye view of the wool shed at Tuku farm, Chatham Island.

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Tyson Kamo shearing sheep at North Head Farm, Pitt Island. The island is home to one of Aotearoa's oldest and rarest sheep breeds, the Pitt Island Sheep. These sheep are descendants of animals imported by Samuel Marsden on his ship the Active, sometime between 1814 and 1837.

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Tuku Farm, located on the South Coast of Chatham Island. The farm is also home to Taiko, the world's rarest seabird, with about 15 known breeding pairs left.

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Beached pilot whales at Waitangi West, 96 of them. According to the Department of Conservation, mass strandings are reasonably common on the Chatham Islands. In 1918, up to 1,000 whales were stranded on the islands - the largest incident of its kind in New Zealand.

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S E C T I O N

Bush surrounding the base of Maunganui. At 120m tall, the ridge stands as a reminder of the islands' volcanic history.

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L I F E S T Y L E

WISH LIST Late last year the Colmar Brunton Waste Minz survey showed that Wellingtonians are the best urban dwellers in New Zealand at recycling. Wellington City Council says that "93% of Wellingtonians recycle and 87% believe it’s worth taking the time to recycle right, higher than the national average. We also get top marks for remembering to rinse before we recycle, but we can be guilty of 'wishcycling' – recycling things we’re unsure of and hoping for the best." Common non-recyclable items found in the green recycling bags include plastic cutlery, meat trays, coffee cups and lids, and plastic straws.

JUST KEEP SWIMMING Summer is back, and so is the Interislander Swim the Lighthouse event. Celebrating our waterfront and Pt Jerningham lighthouse, this event has four swims allowing for different comfort levels: 100m Banana boat Ocean kids, 500m Round the Fountain, 1000m Round the Fountain, or 3.3km Round the Lighthouse. Whether you’re swimming or supporting, Freyberg beaches will be decked out with support crews and family-friendly activities. Swim happens 31 January.

SKIN DEEP

HEARING TAMARIKI

Union Tattoo’s Craigy Lee (Cap #51) has expanded his business and is now offering piercings in one of his brand new private rooms. All piercings are done with a needle, never a gun, because “piercing guns cause unnecessary trauma to the skin and damage cartilage”.

Originally from the United Kingdom, Craigy fell in love with Wellington while travelling here a decade ago and opened Union Tattoo in Willis St in 2015.

Capital E's new play experience, SoundScapes, opens on 13 January at Play HQ. Created for tamariki aged five and under, the project is a creative collaboration with New Zealand artists Tony De Goldi and Simon Watts. It is about exploring sound and music in the setting of a New Zealand forest.

Children will make their way through interactive tree-trunk tunnels to trigger the trickling sounds of the Water Stream, the Squishy Forest Floor and the Echos of Glow Worm Cove.

Now with unlimited swimming at all our pools when your child is enrolled in a SwimWell class.

Learn water safety, gain confidence, and swimming skills for life at Wellington’s biggest swim school.

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Made in Wellington 72

CapitalMagazine Wellington @capitalmag

ADVERTORIAL

When being a jack-of-all-trades is a good thing Considering how to match your broad range of interests to a multitude of degree options? Maybe you’re destined for a communication pathway that’ll open many doors.

You know the saying: “a jack of all trades, master of none”.

For the fast-paced world of communication, having a foot in many worlds and being adaptable is often far better than being a master of just one.

Perhaps you are someone who believes they don’t have a particular passion in life, or you get passionate about something for a short time then move on? You have screeds of passion, but they are time-limited, or have multiple interests but not one defined talent or skill? If you have a breadth of knowledge across many areas and can be a jack of all trades, but you’re by no means a specialist in any - welcome to my world.

I arrived at Massey in 2018 to start my communication degree, after working in a homeless hostel for two years in England.

I realised that when people didn’t understand what businesses, organisations, institutions, or governmental departments did, they could make uniform decisions based on hearsay rather than fact, which could ultimately result in huge repercussions (especially for charities). I found a passion for educating people, but I did not want to be boxed into one area, and comms has made that possible. Comms provides the opportunity to connect with people and translate their experience into words. It shows me the power words can have, and that language will always unite us as humans and especially as Kiwis in a global context.

If you feel yourself floundering in the mess of English, arts, business, and humanities choices then this degree encompasses a taste of all. You’ll get to learn about things like creative

writing, filming and editing, marketing and content strategy, and how to build a communication plan. So that upon graduating, you are prepared to launch your career into a wide range of creative fields or to dive deeper into the area you like the flavour of most. I am nearing the end of my degree, and currently doing an internship, so can honestly and wholly admit that I actually use the theory I have been taught and that the everyday comms language we use in our degree is used in the real world of communications.

So maybe you get bored easily or lose interest quickly and see this as a negative? Nope. Maybe instead you’re destined for the comms world - a fast-paced and exciting adventure. 2020 has shown just how important communication is, especially in a crisis (cheers COVID) and that a communication degree provides you with the skills to adapt to a world that changes faster than political opinions. The discipline doesn’t sit around using old theories; it brings you real-world best practice, lecturers who care (because they’re industry professionals), and a degree that sets you up for almost anything. So maybe you can change your perspective that a flippant interest in lots of different things isn’t a negative after all. Maybe it’s the perfect credential for you to thrive in the world of communication.

To find out how you can unlock 280+ career choices with one Communication degree, visit massey.ac.nz/study-communication.

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B U G

M E

Red admiral butterfly

BY M E LO DY T H O M A S

Name: New Zealand red admiral butterfly Māori name: Kahukura Status: Endemic, in decline.

Scientific name: Vanessa gonerilla Description: The red admiral is a medium-sized butterfly with striking patterns on the top side of its wings, and mottled white, black, and brown on the underside, to provide camouflage as it alights on flowers to feed. The brightest and most noticeable parts of their wing patterns are red – hence its Māori name kahukura, meaning “red cloak” – including a bar on the top forewing running back from the front edge, and a red patch on top of each of the rear wings containing four black circles, the centres of which are pale blue. There are further white spots near the forewing tips, also fringed with light blue.

Habitat: Red admirals are found across mainland New Zealand and on offshore islands. The Chatham Islands even have their own subspecies. They are usually forest dwellers but can live in more open habitats wherever there are

ongaonga, or native tree nettle, which acts as both a favourite food source and a protective nursery for their larvae.

Look/listen: Kahukura can be seen all year round, but most often in the warmer months, from now until March. Take a closer look at that plain-looking, brownish butterfly sitting on the flower or nettle plant; it just may be kahukura with her striking topwings folded up for camouflage. Otherwise, look for a butterfly flashing red from the tops of her wings as she flutters by in the garden.

Tell me a story: The suspected decline of the kahukura is linked to spraying and the decline of nettle plants, and to the parasitic wasp Pteromalus puparum, which was introduced to New Zealand in the 1930s in an effort to control cabbage white butterflies. The female wasp has a horrific and fascinating way of taking out their prey (stop reading now if you’re prone to nightmares) – landing on the caterpillar as it is pupating and using her ovipositor to inject it with dozens of eggs, which later hatch and devour the larva from the inside out.

O L D S T PA U L’ S

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E D I B L E S

MUNCHES AND LUNCHES Last year social enterprise Eat My Lunch fed about 1,800 Kiwi kids per day in 77 schools in Auckland and Wellington, using their “Buy one, give one” model: each lunch you buy means a free lunch for a kid who needs it. They won the tender for this year to work with the Government’s Ka Ora, Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches Programme to provide 16,500 lunches per school day during the 2021 year. “We’ll be able to make a huge difference to Kiwi kids and continue to support their physical, mental and educational development,” says founder Lisa King.

GOOD SORTS

FEB FEST

CORNER STORE

Finalists in the Good Food category of the 2020 Sustainable Business Awards included Kaicycle, an urban farming and community composting initiative based in Newtown, and Common Unity Project Aotearoa, which works to create food-secure, resilient communities in the Wellington region. Based in the Hutt Valley, the Common Unity Project includes a community cafe, 11 urban kai farm sites, a food co-op, and a community kitchen.

The Good Food Award was won by Hawkes Bay’s Bostock Brothers, New Zealand’s only certified organic chicken producer.

All menu items in the Wellington Wine, Food, and Craft Beer Festival will be $12 or under. The festival, on 13 February at Waitangi Park, celebrates local cuisines, local wineries and breweries, and live music. Vendors were still being announced as we went to print but we’ve already seen some of our favourites on the list, including Sprig and Fern and La Belle Waffle.

Two scoops of goody gumdrops and a fifty cent mix? Or how about a K-bar?

Corner Dairy is at the Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui until 14 March, but you can’t eat the lollies – they’re art. Curated by James Hope, the exhibition honours the Kiwi dairy and highlights the contrast between the essential service the dairy provides and its slim margins. Art pieces referencing confectionery, fruit, staple food items and the physical features of dairies celebrate and mourn the shifting status of dairies in New Zealand culture.

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E D I B L E S

GET THE SCOOP Kiwis are amongst the biggest consumers of ice cream in the world at 23 litres per person per annum. “This is testament to the quality of ice cream produced here over decades and evidence of our good taste – Kiwis love dairy products and know their ice cream, gelato and sorbet,” says Kathie Bartley.

She’s part of the team behind New Zealand Ice Cream Month which runs throughout February. She tells us that vanilla is the biggest selling flavour by far, followed by hokey pokey, but Kathie’s favourite is orange chocolate chip.

TO BE FAIR

SUPER SPICE

OPEN INVITATION

Cell phone reception at Battle Hill Farm Forest Park is patchy, which gives you the perfect excuse to switch off and enjoy the Eat Drink & Be Crafty Fair on 23 January.

Held on the hill country farm in Pauatahanui, the fair brings together locally-made crafts, artisan food, and refreshments. There’s also a live band and plenty of entertainment for all ages. Proceeds from the day will support Wellington Free Ambulance and Porirua charities.

Turmeric, and especially its constituent curcumin, has been claimed to have potential to help prevent heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. While it’s often found in capsule form or added to smoothies it’s not easy for our bodies to absorb. However, research has shown that heating the spice enhances its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and maximizes its absorption by the body.

So a turmeric latte (or golden latte), curry, or stir-fry is the best way to get the most out of this super spice.

Everybody Eats, a pay-as-you-feel dining experience, has come to Wellington.

Following a successful eight-week popup in the capital late last year, it will be a permanent weekly feature at Ltd, on Dixon St, from 26 January. Everybody Eats was established in Auckland in 2017. Jack Laing is heading up the Wellington branch, plating up three-course meals made “almost entirely from rescued food” for whoever wants or needs it. ”I cook the exact same way as my mum. Look in the pantry, look in the fridge, see what you’ve got,” says Jack.

Food, Wine, Cocktails, Craft Beer, and more!

13th February - Waitangi Park

Tickets on sale now! wineandfoodfestival.co.nz

S H E A R E R S '

TA B L E

Chatham Island Blue Cod

with Green-Lipped Mussels & Sweetcorn Salsa

BY N I K K I & J O R DA N S H E A R E R

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his dish screams New Zealand oceanic nature at its finest. The delicate sweetness and fresh flaky white flesh of Chatham Island blue cod is sought after by top chefs all around the world.

Paired with New Zealand green-lipped mussels in this dish, the subtle flavour balance will

Salsa 2 cobs sweet corn, husked and cut from cob 1 or 2 red chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped juice of half a lemon drizzle of olive oil salt and pepper Broth 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 large Spanish chorizo sausage, sliced 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 large tomatoes, diced ¾ cup white wine pinch saffron ¾ cup stock (chicken or vege) 1kg mussels (approx. 4–5 per person), cleaned and de-bearded Fish ½ cup rice flour 2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp flaky sea salt 4 fillets of Chatham Island blue cod, trimmed and cut into portions olive oil To serve

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have anyone at your dinner table this summer reaching for more and mopping up those delicious juices with crusty bread. We are lucky that our local butcher in Waterloo stocks snapfrozen Chatham Island blue cod. Fresh is best but snap-frozen is the next best thing.

Serves 4

Make salsa. Heat a dry frying pan on a medium-high heat and cook corn kernels for 3–4 minutes until beginning to char. Set aside to cool.

Prep all other salsa ingredients, and mix with cooled corn.

Set aside.

In a large pot, heat olive oil on a medium heat and fry sliced chorizo for 2 minutes.

Add garlic and fry for another minute, until garlic softens.

Add diced tomato, white wine, and a pinch of saffron.

Increase heat and bring to the boil, allowing the wine to begin to evaporate.

Add stock.

When liquid is boiling again, add mussels, and cover tightly with a lid. Steam for 6–10 minutes, shaking occasionally, until all mussels are opened. If any mussels have not opened, discard them.

While mussels are cooking, mix together rice flour, turmeric, and salt, and coat the cod fillets.

Pan fry fish in olive oil for 2–3 minutes each side, or until just cooked through.

Taste mussel broth and season with salt if required.

To serve, divide mussels between plates, and ladle over a generous spoon of broth (making sure you get some of the chorizo and tomato in each portion).

Top mussels and broth with blue cod, corn salsa, and spring onions.

Serve with crusty bread to mop up any juices.

2 spring onions,finely sliced 1 loaf crusty bread (optional)

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B O O K

ON OUR TERMS When Anahera Gildea was doing doctoral research in creative writing at Victoria University, the poet, short-story writer and essayist baulked at the idea of Māori literature still being predominantly taught and analysed in Eurocentric academia. So she and essayist Nadine Anne Hura took 17 writers to Anahera’s Ngāti Tukorehe marae (near Levin) to see what happens when Māori writers define the terms. All 19 wrote something stemming from that experience. The pair created online Māori literature journal Te Whē – te hau o te whenua (tewhe.nz) to publish (mostly in English) these works.

They’re seeking funding for further editions.

INDOOR SLIDE

MONSTER MENU

GREEN FINGERS

A Capital correspondent signed up her sixyear-old to the SPCA Reading Challenge, a summer project run by Read NZ to address the well-documented “summer slide” in learning.

On an interactive website, children five and older choose an animal-named team, and log the books they’ve read (with an optional star rating/short review), and the Readerboard tracks team rankings. To win animal books, kids can send a photo of themselves reading to any animal. Said six-year-old will read to Wellington Zoo’s meerkats.

Rumour alleges that David Larsen and Elizabeth Knox (pictured) got off on the wrong foot many years ago when he wrote a less-than-glowing review of a book of hers. But now they’re friends, and have co-edited: Monsters in the Garden: An Anthology of Aotearoa NZ Science Fiction & Fantasy (VUP). And yes, New Zealand actually has enough writers in this genre to fill an anthology. The authors include among others Janet Frame and Danyl McLauchlan (featured Cap# 55).

Karl Maughan – Page Galleries artist, Capital neighbour, and L’affare regular – is inspired by gardens.

The painter’s botanical creations explore everything from wild undergrowth, to meticulously manicured lawns. “It’s a wonderful thing to research gardens.” More than 150 of his works feature in a new book, Karl Maughan (Auckland University Press), edited by Hannah Valentine and Gabriella Stead.

Homegrown, it’s worth the wait

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R E V E R S E

Re-verse I N T R O D U C E D BY C H R I S T S E

About the poet: Originally from Los Angeles, Mary Creswell spent time in Germany and Japan before settling in New Zealand in 1970, and now resides on the Kāpiti Coast. Mary’s writing has been widely published in local and international journals. Before her retirement, Mary worked professionally as a freelance science editor and copy editor.

In brief: The poems in Mary’s latest collection Body Politic delve into the many ways that we are collectively responsible for humanity’s impact on the natural world. Glaciers melt and endangered species stare down the barrel of extinction, while the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown presents a peculiar paradox: the chaos and uncertainty that many are still facing is contrasted by what many have said is “nature restoring itself ”. Throughout the lockdown we heard stories of reduced pollution levels and wildlife reclaiming land. This poem asks, “How much effort, how much heart/are we really prepared to spend on the world?”. Will we as a planet learn from this experience?

Why I like it: Without sounding like a doomsday prepper or someone driven by nihilistic tendencies, there’s something about this poem’s rational and stoic acceptance that the world is ending that appealed to me as a wake-up call. The poem’s title suggests a need to shift how we think about the end of the world, and what we’ve all contributed to bringing it about. The best and most comforting poems about mortality and death often start from a place of inevitablity and acceptance, which allows the poet and reader to reflect on the past with unhampered clarity (“When I was young I looked around/and knew I had strength to expend on the world”). However, this is not a poem of peace or resolve – a quiet rage forces us to confront and question “what we intend for the world”.

Why read it: Published shortly after the lockdown, Body Politic is one of a handful of poetry collections from the latter part of 2020 that make reference, or directly respond, to the pandemic.

This makes its poems feel immediate and intimate while we continue to grapple with the effects of Covid-19. “Remapping”, along with several other poems in Body Politic, is an urgent and timely reminder that despite the progress made in Aotearoa, we’ve not broken through to the other side of the pandemic. I suspect we’ll be seeing many more poems and books inspired by and responding to the events of 2020 over the coming years.

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REMAPPING There’s cause to believe it’s the end of the world.

Are you here to receive the end of the world?

Once it looked like the way was straight but that didn’t account for the bend in the world.

How much effort, how much heart are we really prepared to spend on the world?

Most of the time we make more of a mess ripping and tearing and rending the world.

When I was young I looked around and knew I had strength to expend on the world.

But now I look back at the truth and the lies – all those ways of upending the world.

Contrary to opinion, we’re none of us gods.

This is proved by what we intend for the world.

By Mary Cresswell From Body Politic (The Cuba Press, 2020)

A mermaid's tale

three attempts to meet this requirement. In 2019 she missed the time by five seconds, so she knew it was within reach. Last year, with determination and some extra swimming lessons, she got there with 16 seconds to spare.

Deborah would love to see more women in the club.

“Surf historically has been male dominated, but I’m glad to say that this is changing, with last year’s SLSNZ annual report showing an eveningout of the gender split.”

But statistics also show that female participation tends to drop off in later years. She and a group of likeminded women at the club “want to unpick this and figure out why more women don’t put themselves forward – is it the club culture, a confidence thing, or something else?”

Deborah says there are many ways people can be involved with their local surf clubs. You might like to drive the rescue boats, or work the radio. You don’t have to be an athlete. “We have a retired emergency department nurse who is interested in becoming patrol support in the future. She has no desire to go into the sea, but she’ll be on the beach ready to perform first aid when someone’s been saved from the water.”

BY F R A N C E S CA E M M S P H OTO G R A P H BY I SA B E L L A AU ST I N

Deborah Donkin grew up on a council estate in the United Kingdom and had never seen the sea. She didn’t learn to swim until she moved to New Zealand in her 30s.

Now, at the age of 50, she’s achieved her Surf Lifeguard Award and is proudly patrolling Titahi Bay. “My husband Steve is a Kiwi, from Opotiki, so swimming and beach safety has always been important to him. Our kids began swimming lessons when they were six months old and they’ve been part of the Titahi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club since 2013, first as ‘Nippers’, a programme for the under-14-year-olds, and now as surf lifeguards and athletes.” Deborah decided she wanted to get involved too.

To be a lifeguard you need to be able to swim 400 metres freestyle in under nine minutes. It took Deborah

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A really beautiful place to stay” “Exceptional”

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S H O R T

Original Summer fiction

F I C T I O N

The wolf behind my house

BY I N D I A N N A CO S G R I F F

Sweat soaks through my top, pooling on my lower back. Two more bends in the path, a short sharp uphill climb and then I’ll be home. Less than a kilometre to go. Relax, breathe. In-and-out through the nose. The air is thick under the trees. Still. The branches form a temporary shelter from the Wellington wind, baking in the lingering heat of the day. Blink. I’m adjusting to the soft blue twilight. It’s beautiful. If I wasn’t already heaving it would take my breath away.

It all started three weeks ago, on a Monday evening at eight o’clock. Jack and I were on the pathway. He was dashing off into the trees and crashing through the brush, following along with me as I jogged. Pure freedom. Then, I heard footsteps.

I couldn’t tell whether they were ahead or behind me, but they were out-of-sync with my own. I whistled for Jack. The steps got heavier but still I could see no one. When the sound started echoing loudly in my head I stopped on the path and put my hands over my ears. I was afraid I was having some sort of episode. I scrunched my eyes tight and then reopened them in panic. Silence.

The sound suddenly ceased and my eyes refocused. I saw something on the path 100 metres ahead. Jack returned faithfully to my side and together we advanced.

After a few steps, I began to make out the object. It was a pair of dirty, worn, sneakers; white, with blue laces. Jack sniffed around furiously. One metre ahead laid a pair of sports socks.

I could see by glancing up the path that there was a trail of clothing, scattered like breadcrumbs. I was curious as to whether this was a man or a woman’s belongings. Eventually I found a bra; a woman.

Clearly running clothes. Just enough to cover the important bits while still allowing the body to breathe in the summer heat. The last item trailed off into the trees to the left of the path.

I took two steps into the bush. “Hello,” I called.

There was no response. Jack bounded away, off into the dense green.

I took one more half step forward, a twig snapped beneath my foot, breaking the eerie silence. That’s when I saw the wolf.

A muscled bulk advancing towards me through the trees. Six paces away. The grey eyes glowing in the failing light. The fur sticky and matted with sweat.

It was staring straight at me. The eyes were focused, intelligent.

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here’s a path behind my house that leads up the hill, at the top is Spinnaker lookout. The view stretches all the way out over the inlet, across to Pauatahanui.

It’s my favourite track to run. It’s quiet. The little wheels on kids’ scooters don’t fare too well up here.

I used to run under a red sky, along a flat, sandy road. But I had to move and start over. New beginnings and all that jazz. A futile exercise, really. We just carry our history with us. It’s in our skin, our eyes, in our feet. If you’ve ever had a reflexology massage then you’ll understand that everything is connected.

So now I’m out here, in the burbs. In a neighbourhood lined with square houses and pretty trees and big cars. On warm afternoons, families sit on white plastic chairs outside the dairy on my street and eat melty, overpriced ice blocks. No one recycles the sticks.

My new beginning.

Usually I bring my dog with me when I run and let him roam free. Unleashed and unbridled, as God made him. But I haven’t brought Jack up here in a while. Not since it happened.

That strange scene that lingers in my mind like a bad dream. I know it’ll sound farfetched, but I’ll tell you anyway, and let you judge the peculiarity for yourself.

There’s a werewolf roaming the hill behind my house. Now, I don’t mean a shirtless Twilight-type werewolf. I mean a beast with fangs and fur and eyes as grey as a midnight cemetery.

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I took a slow step backwards. “Good doggy,” I said.

In the re-telling, it does seem like I responded rather calmly. This was not the case at all so let me be frank in saying I was scared shitless. My breath caught in my throat and my heart beat so fast I thought it was going to explode out of my chest.

From somewhere off to the right, Jack crashed back into the frame, tongue out, panting happily. It took him a moment to register we weren’t alone.

The wolf bared its teeth and let out a low, grumbling snarl. Jack stood close to me, tucking his tail and whimpering, submitting entirely to the clear Alpha. Sook.

We were in a dance, the wolf and I. Our eyes were locked, adrenaline coursing through our veins, poising our limbs for action. Fight (the wolf) and flight (me).

In the moment, a subtle shimmer caught my eye. The wolf was wearing a crystal pendant. It didn’t make sense, but nor did anything about the situation. Who was I to question the ornamental choices of a killer animal?

I had barely registered the presence of the necklace when something instinctive inside me came to life. It was now or never. I clicked the fingers on my right hand in the hope of securing Jack’s attention, and bolted.

Once on the path, I checked over my shoulder, only Jack was in pursuit. We ran all the way home without stopping.

That was my first sighting of the wolf. And, at that stage, it did seem to be a mere wolf. It wasn’t until the next day that I truly understood the nature of the beast I had encountered.

I was at the supermarket, reading the grocery list on my phone, when a pair of white sneakers with blue laces walked through my frame of vision.

Normally I wouldn’t register such a detail, but the events of the day before and the objects strewn across the path were fresh in my mind. These were the same sneakers. Worn, marked with the dry December-dust from the track up the hill.

I followed the wearer; a woman. I kept a safe distance, hoping to catch a glimpse of her from the front as she perused the shelves. Eventually she turned around, reaching back for something she’d forgotten to put in her trolley. She was wearing a crystal pendant.

This was no coincidence. I knew the woman was involved.

I went home and dumped my groceries. Grabbing a couple of ice cubes to suck on, I set out up the path behind my house to retrace my steps from the day before, feeling safe under the cover of daylight.

I made it to the same spot. The path was empty, save for a couple of tui waging war in the treetops under the patchy sunlight. No sign of any clothing, or any werewolves. I was alone.

So here I am, researching. My nocturnal self sitting alert in the darkness. A balmy breeze blowing through my open window, bringing with it the faint smells of evening BBQs. Familiar, but not tantalising for a vegetarian.

It turns out that the night I saw the werewolf there was a Blue Moon. In “moonology” (technical term), a Blue Moon signifies a time to pay attention. Unsurprisingly, Google knows a lot about moons and werewolves, and my coincidences stopped seeming like coincidences.

I believe there’s a werewolf roaming the hill behind my house. A woman with a white sneakers and a crystal pendant goes up the path under a Full Moon and strips off her clothes, transforming into a huge, hairy beast with grey eyes.

What does she do? I don’t know yet. But, there’s another Full Moon in six days’ time, and I intend to find out.

My Pyrite necklace will protect me. Never underestimate the power of crystals.

Indianna Cosgriff is a creative writer and aspiring actress. Her day job is as a public servant.

Indianna studied creative writing at the University of Canterbury and while studying published a number of articles in New Zealand university magazines. After a hiatus and a move to Wellington she is rediscovering her creative side. Indianna is currently working on a dystopian novella inspired by Covid-19.

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F E AT U R E

Picture perfect

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he life of an influencer looks perfect – that’s the point. Larissa Carlson’s got the hook ups, the hot husband (a la Celeste Barber), and the fashion and make up know-how. She also has a photographer’s eye and a genuine enthusiasm for the things she promotes.

Describing herself as a “visual storyteller”, Larissa Carlson’s brand is The Leo Style. It’s an online diary where she talks about motherhood, lifestyle, travel, beauty and fashion. Her photos are lush and the people in them – namely, her family – are beautiful.

She explains that it started as a way to connect with people who had similar artistic interests.

“Then when I became a mother my platforms became family-centred. We are now proud resident bloggers of the Wairarapa, we share how to support local in our region, family-friendly experiences and accommodation, and how whānau can reconnect as a family outdoors.”

Larissa has been approached by tourism vendors from all over New Zealand wanting her help to “showcase Aotearoa and all our unique experiences and destinations.” She says it's naturally tied in with her aim of using her platforms for a good cause while also ticking off her kiwi travel bucket-list. “We have brands such as Interislander who we have been travelling with for years notice us and in 2020 we landed a dream partnership with them that kicked off one of our favourite whānau road trips to-date in the South Island.”

Larissa’s website and instagram (16K followers) star herself and her family. Her husband Isaac is “an extremely thoughtful and loving family man.

Passionate about men's health, our Māori culture, and being in nature.” Isaac does the corporate thing Monday to Friday and then devotes himself to family time at the weekends, which are usually spent off-grid,

with a focus on relaxation and being outdoors. “Our parenting style encourages optimal access to outdoor environments, we see it as their classroom, learning through play. I also whakapapa Māori so naturally I feel a strong bond and sense of happiness being off the grid.” Trips will often see Isaac diving for seafood and gathering herbs from the forest, or they’ll take locally grown produce and meats from the farmers markets or local business. Their Jeep is set-up with a fridge and burner so they can “cook up a storm outdoors. Isaac is a bit of a pitmaster so where fire is allowed we cook that way too.” Their two boys are Ryder-Leo and August-Grace, aged nine and five respectively.

The whole family got to jump on board Interislander late last year for what Larissa describes as “a journey to remember” across the Cook Strait. While she spent a lot of her journey out on the viewing decks taking in the sights, Larissa and her family did take advantage of everything else the ship had to offer – “there are plenty of onboard happenings for every member of the whānau.” She lists the two restaurants, a sports bar, shop, several lounges, the onboard cinema, and “mums and dads BRACE-YOURSELF....there’s even a deck dedicated to children, can I get an āmene.”

The family has travelled between the North and South islands many times on their preferred mode of transport, “In my humble opinion and after several experiences on board as family, there’s no better way to travel the Cook Strait than on Interislander,” she says. “It’s as much about the journey as the destination. We experienced the best of both worlds on our arrival and return journey. Sailing through showering skies and moody waters, to departing with a sunnyblue hurrah!”

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Love in disorder P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A D R I A N V E RCO E

Gudrun Frerichs talks to Sarah Lang about writing romance novels, her former career as a psychotherapist, and her new book about a woman experiencing Dissociative Identity Disorder.

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s a psychotherapist for 20-plus years, Gudrun Frerichs treated about two dozen people with Dissociative Identity Disorder. In the 80s and 90s, it was called Multiple Personality Disorder, but she says it’s more complicated. Dissociative Identity Disorder is characterised by a fragmentation or splintering of a person’s own identity, rather than a proliferation of separate personalities. Essentially, two or more distinct and enduring identities (or “parts”) are present in – and alternately take control of – an individual, and memory loss intervenes.

Dissociative Identity Disorder usually stems from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse in childhood.

Gudrun, who did her Master’s and PhD theses about sexual-abuse recovery and dissociation, says: “When people with Dissociative Identity Disorder receive good treatment, they can ‘journey toward integration’.

I’ve found if the client isn’t helped to understand herself and her actions within the context of her personal history, then medication only temporarily relieves the symptoms. They may still dissociate in stressful times, but we all do that to an extent in crises.”

Gudrun radiates calm, yet she expected to find our chat “nerve-wracking”. She explains: “I've always been more comfortable with writing than talking. Usually, after a while, I'm okay, especially when talking about a topic I feel competent in.” There’s more behind her anxiety: “Also, I think my generation of Germans is used to not drawing too much attention. There’s been hate directed toward Germans since WWII. My son was bullied at school in the late 80s, being called a Nazi and saluted with Heil Hitler, even though many of his Russian Jewish family on his father's side died in Nazi camps. One learns to not stick out.”

Now 71, Gudrun grew up with her brother, hairdresser mother, and coppersmith father, on a fishing island close to Hamburg, Germany. She learned her

third language, English (after German and Dutch), at school and later via reading Agatha Christie.

After living in Switzerland and Holland, Gudrun moved to Auckland in 1988 when her husband, a pharmaceutical-company executive, was transferred.

They brought three children with them. After 27 years in Auckland, the couple moved to Petone to be close to their youngest daughter. “It was love at first sight: the beach, the Esplanade, Jackson Street, the little shops and cafes, and the cute cottages.”

When they moved here, she and her husband, who both had health issues, retired. “I thought ‘let the young ones run the show’.” She enjoys tennis, swimming, and walking, but a double knee replacement stopped vigorous exercise. She got bored. “I wondered are there still adventures ahead for someone my age?”

Turns out there were: writing novels. Gudrun never planned to be a “proper writer.” But she had loved writing stories as a child, and later writing letters, and reading romances, and thought “Why not give writing it a try?”

She describes her work as “sassy, classy women’s fiction”. Her five-book “Golden Girls” series is about four friends with a zest for life as they approach their sixties. “I wanted to write about ageing women, who aren’t well-represented in fiction as romantic protagonists.” The Broken Heart, the first in her new romance series, is out this January (it’s about a couple rebuilding trust).

She self-publishes, largely e-books. “I doubt my books are mainstream enough to interest publishers.

And I’m impatient! I don’t want to wait a year before a book comes out.” Her readers are 90% American.

Her books sometimes land on the daily-updated Amazon list of the top 100 romance novels downloaded for free. Freebies are potent marketing tools, hooking the reader into a series and an author.

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Does she make a living from writing? “I cover my costs,” she says, noting with a laugh that her husband views her writing as a hobby. She writes long hours, armed with chocolates, a cup of Earl Grey, and the occasional glass of merlot.

Gudrun is a member of the Romance Writers of New Zealand association’s Wellington-Kāpiti branch. In December, they had a Christmas BBQ at the Paraparaumu house of Leeanna Morgan (Cap #39). The group meet monthly, help each other out in between, and hold two writing retreats a year.

Ten years ago, Gudrun began writing a book about Dissociative Identity Disorder. “It became a manual for treatment providers, didn’t flow, and sounded preachy.” She put it aside. “After I’d written four novels and improved my writing skills, I decided to write a novel about Dissociative Identity Disorder. There are so many misconceptions about it, so I wanted to normalise it for readers, rather than writing for a handful of practitioners.”

Published in May 2020, The Girl in the Tree House is a psychological thriller about 42-year-old Elise, who has Dissociative Identity Disorder and tries to escape being put in a mental-health facility. Elise is terrified of the system, with its emphasis on medication (often with severe side effects), and her lack of autonomy in treatment.

“People with Dissociative Identity Disorders are unprepared for what’s awaiting them in the public mental-health system,” Gudrun says. “I’ve had clients who had electroconvulsive therapy, been sectioned or treated only with medication.”

Elise’s multiple “parts” include a four-year-old. She calls them The Tribe. Elise says, “You’re the host of a personality system, and during your black-outs, other parts of you take control of the body and do what’s needed.” When she “comes to”, Elise can’t remember what happened (her different “personalities”

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sometimes write down instructions for each other).

Yes, Elise’s behaviour affects her adversely. But she’s worked hard to see her “parts” as one family, and she’s a warm, witty person. Perhaps she can even get a boyfriend.

The novel, available as a paperback and e-book, was a finalist for Best Book at the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards for crime/thriller/suspense novels. “I’d never heard about the award, was asked to enter, and certainly didn't expect to get anywhere!” Since writing is a solitary pursuit, she enjoyed meeting fellow authors at the Christchurch ceremony. Her sequel Beyond the Treehouse, published in April 2020, concludes Elise’s story.

Dissociative Identity Disorder is categorised as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, Gudrun would like it seen more as an adaptive trait to terrible circumstances. “You could argue that every mental illness like depression and anxiety is an adaptive response to circumstances, and that puts a question mark against everything we understand as mental illness. Some film or TV depictions turn a ‘multiple’ into a monster, which isn’t helpful. Suppose we normalise Dissociative Identity Disorder more?

That might help people experiencing it.”

Meanwhile, scepticism about Dissociative Identity Disorder being real at all irritates Gudrun, because it has been real to her clients. “I find this whole belief thing futile because people believe in God, and there’s scant evidence he exists. Whereas I’ve seen somebody shrink metaphorically into a child or another younger part of themselves. And I’d witness clients having – in their various parts – different thought and behavioural patterns, handwriting, even sexual orientations. Most of them, following good treatment, live pretty good lives, have careers, have families, and that’s been wonderful to see.”

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F E AT U R E

Location, location Tiana and Glen Jones are a husband and wife business partnership who have returned home from jobs abroad, to work and bring up their family, and now lead Sotheby’s in the Wellington region. They talk to Francesca Emms.

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e’s originally a Whanganui boy, but Glen’s Wellington roots go deep. He has family in Wellington so spent a lot of time here growing up. And once he finished school he moved to the capital to study at Victoria University.

After university Glen left Wellington and headed for London. With an MA in Property Valuation and Law, he specialised in residential and mixed-use development consultancy, and with Colliers International he worked on property projects ranging into the hundreds of millions in London and San Francisco.

In 2011 he met and fell in love with Tiana, a California girl. Their meeting was impulsive, to put it mildly: “I was living in San Francisco at the time and in a bus on my way to work. I saw this beautiful girl crossing the street. I jumped off the bus, and asked her out!” And since then, “we have barely left each other’s side.” Glen says Tiana’s bubbly, happy personality is infectious. “She is wise beyond her years, intelligent, measured and she gets on with everyone.”

About a year later Glen was offered a job back in London.

“We knew we wanted to be together, so going our separate ways simply wasn’t an option, and I was up for an adventure,” says Tiana. They moved across the Atlantic together. “I had been working as a litigation paralegal (think Meghan Markle in Suits).” In London she took a course in fashion business, then worked with luxury fashion and lifestyle brands, such as Tiffany and Co and Atlantis The Palm in Dubai.

The couple stayed in London for five years and had their first daughter, Theia, there. Then they decided to move to New Zealand. Tiana was set on Auckland but a year there showed the family that it wasn’t for them. “We are used to living very centrally in walkable cities – and that is really the pace of life we enjoy.” They tossed up between returning to California or moving to Wellington.

Then an opportunity came up to buy New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty in Wellington. Glen is the managing director and Tiana is Director of Marketing and Operations for the Wellington branch.

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So, what’s it like working together? “Really easy actually,” says Glen. “We have our distinct roles that often overlap, but I trust her and the decisions she makes, and she trusts me similarly.” Tiana observes, “We have completely complementary skillsets and personalities. We always manage to pick up where the other leaves off and we genuinely enjoy being around each other.”

The family of four lives in Mt Victoria and Tiana can’t imagine being anywhere else. Tiana enjoys the proximity to coastal attractions, shopping and cafes, walks on Mt Vic. She and Glen work hard during the week so try to spend their weekends together as a family. Weekend time is “all about the girls.” Wellington’s always been an easy city to live in, says Glen. “It’s got a great heart, amazing people and an energetic vibe. Since I left uni, amongst other things, what’s been done around the waterfront has elevated this city to another level. Similarly, the use of what used to be redundant side streets has been fantastic to see.”

The girls, four-year-old Theia and two-year-old Lucia, both go to Crossways Creche. “It is so wonderful for them to be immersed in our local community,” says Tiana.

When she turns five artistic Theia, who has a “huge imagination”, will start at Roseneath School, “such a special little place.” Tiana says Lucia is determined, into singing and dancing, and “absolutely hilarious”.

Global pandemic notwithstanding, 2020 was full on, as the couple opened a new Sotheby’s office on the Kāpiti Coast. What’s on the cards for 2021? “It’s a difficult industry to forecast,” says Glen. “It depends on so many variables, many of which are out of our control!” Tiana says the business “will still remain the priority, but I’d like to try to have a bit more balance”. She wants to get their house done up to their taste, and to place more emphasis on health and well-being. Glen agrees: “For me, provided we are healthy and well, and get to spend lots of time together, then that is enough for me.”

W E L L Y

What would Deirdre do?

A DV I C E F RO M D E I R D R E TA R R A N T

NOT A FRIEND I borrowed a friend’s dress to wear to a Christmas party without asking as she had already gone away. We often swap clothes. I ripped it and have had it repaired, and now she is angry and says I should give her the price of a new dress. What do you think?

Careless, Carterton Sorry but I am with your friend. You should have asked, text is instant, and been more responsible both to your friendship and to the borrowed property. Offer to buy her a new dress, pay up pleasantly, and go shopping together! Have fun.

S A F E T Y B E G I N S AT HOM E My landlord has been fixing up things around our flat over the last few months. I’m really pleased that things are getting sorted, but he keeps showing up unannounced. The other day he let himself in while I was home alone and in the shower. I got really upset about it because it scared me. My other flatmates say to suck it up, that we know he’s going to be around so just expect him to be there. I want him to keep making the flat better but this makes me feel like I can’t relax, and like it’s not my home, it’s his. What do I do?

Anxious tenant I am not a lawyer but my feeling is that you are tenants and he cannot enter at will and certainly not unannounced.

Check out the law in this. I do not agree that you should suck it up at all. Tell both the landlord and flatmates that you are not comfortable, and that prior planning and notification when work is being done would be a courtesy. We

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should all feel safe in our homes. All the time. Or maybe just find another flat? Kia kaha.

DRESS TO IMPRESS I’ve got a few weddings coming up over the summer. Can I wear the same dress to them all?

Barb, Brooklyn If it is likely that the guest list will have a lot of common friends you might feel you should reconsider; but if you have an outfit you like wearing and feel good in then wear it to every wedding! It is not about your clothes – it is who you are that is why you are invited so share the occasion and love the celebrations!

SE X D R OU G H T My partner and I haven’t had sex for a year. We’ve been together for five years. Is this normal? Should I be worried?

Unsure, Thorndon Are you unhappy? Talk about it and share the concern. It seems unusual but every relationship is unique. Cuddle up.

STA R I N G I N T O T H E F R I D G E In recent weeks I have found myself weepy and often directionless, staring into the fridge. Is this end of year panic or something more?

Weepy, Khandallah This does not sound good at all. Go and see your doctor or a health clinic and talk to someone as soon as you can. You do not mention a reason for this reaction and maybe you need help to find out. Perhaps sit in the sun, go for beach walks, or lie in the bath to find your personal calm place – but find someone to share these feelings with who can give you advice and help you feel better. Do it today!

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

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Body language

BY ME LODY T HOM AS

S

ummer is here, bringing a much needed influx of vitamin D, salty skin, and long, warm evenings. But while I’ll sing the praises of summer to whoever will listen, the hot season can bring discomfort too, especially for those doing the hard work of unlearning body shame and negativity.

It’s at this time of year that the ever-present messaging about which types of bodies are good bodies really amps up. The magazine covers switch from thinly-veiled racism against Meghan Markle to miracle weight loss and bikini body stories, our social media feeds are inundated with exercise and diet apps and, like the “feminist f**kboy” whose misogyny is harder to spot through all his woke-talk, even those of us well-schooled in spotting diet-industry sabotage find it harder to dissect the undercover messages of “wellness” (NB: fasting is really just starving yourself with a different name).

Plus there’s the simple fact that warm weather requires fewer clothes, which brings us face to face with parts of our bodies we’ve relegated as “problem areas” and hidden away under stylish layers the rest of the year. All of this means summer can feel like an advent calendar where half of the little doors hide joy and freedom, but the rest threaten to unleash a tidal wave of unexpected and debilitating shame. Fun! Recently, I’ve been learning about the work of Lindsay and Lexie Kite, who through their organisation Beauty Redefined

have conducted extensive research into positive body image and ways we might all help to develop it. They caught my attention after I saw a clip on Instagram from Lindsay’s Ted Talk “Body Positivity or Body Obsession?” In it, Kite talks about how body positive messaging over the past 15 years has focused on how “all women are beautiful – flaws and all!”, which, while wellmeaning, isn’t fixing the problem. Girls and women “aren’t only suffering because of the unattainable ways beauty is being defined, they’re suffering because they are being defined by beauty”.

In other words, the focus is still on the importance of beauty.

Deeply realised positive body image, Kite argues, “isn’t believing your body looks good, it’s knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks.”

Through the work of Beauty Redefined I also came to hear about “self-objectification”, or the tendency for many of us, especially girls and women, to adopt a third-person perspective on ourselves, so that instead of viewing the world through our own eyes, we experience it as if through the eyes of an imaginary person looking back at us.

One of the side effects of this is body obsession, taking the form of an endless internal narrative that sounds something like this: “Smooth your shirt down, suck your stomach in, that person’s looking at you, turn to your best angle, pull your hem down, you need to pluck your eyebrows, shoulders back, check your teeth for lipstick, smile don’t frown” – on and on until you die.

Self-objectification obviously isn’t great – it’s linked to feelings of shame, anxiety about one’s appearance, and negative mood. It inhibits agency and confidence, and just takes a lot of energy that would be better spent elsewhere – studies show that when women and girls are self-objectifying they perform worse on math and reading comprehension, and can’t run or throw a ball as far or lift weights as heavy.

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The first step in transforming negative body image into positive is recognising when we are self-objectifying; until I heard Kite verbalise her own body-obsessed internal monologue I’d been pretty oblivious to my own, but now that I know what it sounds like it’s impossible to ignore. The next step is, when we notice ourselves doing it, instead of responding how we usually do (either doubling down on our shame with disordered eating or other harmful behaviours, or hiding and “fixing” ourselves, for example avoiding the beach while making promises to ourselves to lose weight so we can go to the beach next time) – we confront our discomfort. We go to the beach and breathe through our anxiety, reminding ourselves as we step into the ocean that what matters is how we feel; the cool water lapping at our skin, the power of our stroke as we swim out to the pontoon. That we choose exercise because it makes us feel strong and capable, not because we want to fit into some dress we should have given away years ago. That instead of judging food as “good” or “bad” we ask our bodies what they need and respond accordingly, be it salad, cake, or both.

All of this takes time. Unlearning messages you’ve heard your entire life about how your worth relies largely on your appearance is a big task, and sometimes it can feel impossible.

But we’ve already wasted so much time and energy on these endless, cruel, shaming internal narratives – not to mention the eternal squeezing, shaving, tanning, covering up and shrinking of our perfectly good bodies – that it feels more than worthwhile to divert just some of that energy into rejecting and dismantling the ideas that got us here in the first place.

After all, as the Kite sisters so wonderfully put it, our bodies are instruments, not ornaments.

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C A L E N D A R

January STA R GOSSAGE: HE TA NGATA THE PEOPL E New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington, until 14 February PORTR A IT S OF POW ER/ PORTR A IT S AS POW ER New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington C ONTA INING MULTITUDES Exhibition of works by Zac Langdon-Pole City Gallery THE A LGORITHMIC IMPUL SE Exhibition of works by Simon Ingram City Gallery WOW UPCLOSE Te Papa, until 14 February 2 9 t h WA L L ACE A RT AWA RDS 2 0 2 0 Exhibition of winners and finalists Pātaka Art and Museum, Porirua, until 28 February A SONG A B OUT SĀ MOA Yuki Kihara Pātaka Art and Museum, Porirua, until 28 February TOSS WO OL L ASTON & STA R GOSSAGE Page Galleries, Wellington, until 13 January

Experience the beautiful Queens Charlotte Sounds with local based Katabatic Charters and skipper Grant Orchard. Specialising in tailormade cruises and transport for up to 8 people.

Contact: Grant Orchard grant@kcandm.co.nz 021 654 267 kcandm.co.nz | katabaticnz

FA MILY TREE W HA KA PA PA Artwork by four sisters Aratoi Museum, Masterton, until 14 February W HA KATAU MIROMIRO Embroidery on linen by Terri Te Tau Aratoi Museum, Masterton, until 28 February

1 NEW YEA R’S DAY

2 TAUHERENIKAU R ACES

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C A L E N D A R

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BIG BAC KYA R D MOV I E NIG H T Watch Men in Black under the stars Queen Elizabeth Park, Kāpiti Coast, 6pm

W E LLINGTON A NNI VERSA RY DAY

CHINESE NEW YEA R

WA IN U I T E DDY BE A R S PIC NIC Bring a picnic and watch Christopher Robin in the park Wainuiomata Recreation Area, Lower Hutt, 12–3.30pm

12 GA R DE N S MAGIC Concerts 8–9.30pm, light display 9–10.30pm Wellington Botanic Garden Soundshell, 12–31 January

13 SOU N D SC A PE S Interactive sound exhibition for tamariki Capital E PlayHQ, Queens Wharf

16 PAU L U BA NA JONE S Playing his self-titled debut album from 1988 Wellington Museum, from 7.30pm

18 WIL DE R KID S HOLI DAY PRO GR A MME Sustainability Trust, 18–29 January

22 SUMME R C ONC E RT SE R I E S Music for the whole family, BYO picnic Aotea Lagoon, Porirua, 22–25 January, 6–8pm

23 WE L L INGTON PASIF IKA F E ST I VA L Traditional and contemporary music, food, art, and crafts Odlins Plaza, Wellington waterfront, 12–6pm

26

Celebrate 20 years of this festival, walk the family-friendly Chinese Zodiac Trail

G R E AT BIG WATERFRONT CLE A N-UP Wellington Museum, 12–2pm

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29 C OU N TRY MUSIC FESTIVA L Featuring Jodi Vaughan, Ainslie Allen, and Marian Burns Tauherenikau Racecourse, 29–31 January

31 I NT E RISL A NDER LIG H THOUSE SW IM Community swimming event Freyberg beach, from 6.30am

Waterfront and Courtenay Place

W EL L INGTON W INE & FO OD FESTIVA L Waitangi Park, Te Aro ISL A ND BAY FESTIVA L Outdoor music and entertainment Shorland Park, Island Bay, 13–14 February DAW N DIVER Wellington band performs their haunting melodies Wellington Museum, doors open 7.30pm

February

14 ST VALENTINE’S DAY

1 TERM ONE BEGINS For most schools

B OW L ZIL L A

4

Waitangi Skate Park, Te Aro, 10am–5pm

EMILY WOLFE & HARRY WATSON Page Galleries, Wellington, until 27 February

22

TUATARA OPEN LATE Art, music, food and drinks City Gallery, 5–10pm

National skating championship

SEMESTER ONE BEGINS For universities

24 SETTING UP CAMP

5

NZSO, RNZB perform The Soldiers Tale

WHĀNAU FILM NIGHT Free, family-friendly outdoor movie night Waitangi Park, 6–9pm

Kāpiti and Carterton, 24, 25 February

26 TUTUS ON TOUR

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T E R Ā O WA ITA NGI Waitangi Day Public holiday observed 8 February

WE L LY WE E KE ND Fireworks, rides, circus performances, and activities Wellington waterfront, 24–25 January

M A RTINB OROUGH FA IR Hosted by South Wairarapa Rotary Club Martinborough Square

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RNZB perform two familiar favourites and two brand new ballets Kāpiti and Carterton, 26–27 February

27 HURRICANES V BLUES Sky Stadium, 7.05pm kick-off

S E C T I O N H E A D E R P U Z Z L E D

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C rossword answers from issue #74 Across 1. Advent 3. Rudolph 6. Bethlehem 9. Socks 11. Yule 14. Pavlova 16. Three french hens 19. Chimney 21. Meri kirihimete 22. Pinus radiata 23. Elves 24. Krampus

Down 2. Eighteen 4. Pōhutukawa 5. White Christmas 6. Boxing day 7. Bloody Red Baron 8. Stockings 10. Cracker 12. Saint Nicholas 13. Tannenbaum 15. Bubbly 17. Wenceslas 18. Star 20. Holly

Answers will be published in the next issue

36.

39.

40.

Across

Down

3. Scenic lunch (6) 6. Makes a big splash (4) 8. Small floating vessel (4) 10. Hottest season, in te reo (7) 11. Two-wheeler for hills (8,4) 14. Seafood, in te reo (8) 15. Foggy type of beer (4) 16. Pink drink (4) 18. Brew, sometimes pale or scotch (3) 19. Headwear (3) 20. Live musical performance (3) 22. For the romantics (10,3) 23. Nude swim (6, 3) 24. Best barbequed (7) 25. New year promise (10) 31. Classic summer sport (7) 32. Wellington’s Riviera (8,3) 35. Type of skin cancer (8) 36. Pour it on pudding (5) 37. Best to fake it (3) 38. Wine town with fairs (13) 40. Unisex short-sleeved top (1,5)

1. Measure used for sunscreen (3) 2. Result of too much sun (7) 4. Pop to access bubbly (4) 5. Tent holiday (7) 6. Precedes party, gown, and suite (6) 7. Outdoor cooker (3) 8. A skin-tone, alloy, or colour (6) 9. Free summer concert series (7,5) 12. February public holiday (8,3) 13. Celebrated on 12 February (7,3,4) 17. Slip slop __ and wrap (4) 19. Popular Wairarapa beach (11) 21. Sleeping noise (5) 24. Finer than gravel, coarser than silt (4) 26. Mozzie bites feel this way (5) 27. Second month, in te reo (7) 28. Two-piece swimmers (6) 29. May ruin your 3 across (3) 30. Common name for H2O (5) 33. Holiday spot, off limits for now (4) 34. Foul hook (4) 39. Stinky humans have this (2)

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THIS TIME, IT’S AN ACT OF HUMANS

To insurance companies, an ‘Act of God’ is an event that is beyond human control: unpredictable, unanticipated, or unpreventable. Take the extreme weather we now experience more often and more intensely. Scientific evidence shows it’s because of the way we live. Does that mean these climate-change-related events are actually preventable?

COVID-19 has shown us how quickly we can adapt to a different lifestyle, and how much of an impact our daily lives can have on the environment.

Our government is spending huge sums to aid economic recovery, but this money could be spent strategically.

Instead of ‘shovel-ready’ construction projects, it would be beneficial to look at, say, green transport. We have an unprecedented opportunity to adapt our thinking and begin mitigating the effects of climate change right now.

Professor Ilan Noy from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Economics and Finance is Chair in the Economics of Disasters. Professor Noy and his colleagues focus on the research and application of economic insights to the management of disasters and climate change.

If you would like to know more about world-leading thinking and latest research, go to wgtn.ac.nz/wellington

To find out more about how you can learn from the best, go to wgtn.ac.nz/study