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

A STARRY TABLE ISSUE 80

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The Home issue

Best design

Willis Bond’s latest Wellington residential development. Capital living at its finest. Launching 2022. Register your interest at onetasman.co.nz for exclusive pre-launch details

Martinborough Magic

Come visit us in Martinborough to get your fix of bubbles & chocolate

We’re looking forward to you visiting us at our Cellar Door this summer. Mention Capital Magazine when purchasing our wines to receive a bar of limited edition Wellington Chocolate Factory & Palliser chocolate*. An exciting collaboration and deliciously good flavour created to go perfectly with The Griffin. Bubbles and Chocolate: what could be better! *Hurry on over – this offer is only available while stocks last!

| Palliser Estate Winery and Cellar Door : 96 Kitchener St, Martinborough

Ed Bats, Is your garage locked, 2021, acrylic, enamel & aerosol on canvas, arrtist frame (White Oak), 820mm x 1400mm. Photo: Michael Mahne Lamb.

ED 11 NOV BATS 4 DEC 2021

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Kinder footprints together. Volvo x Kathryn Wilson Footwear. The future of Volvo Cars is electric with a goal of fifty percent of sales to be all-electric by 2025. The new Volvo XC60 is the latest manifestation of this commitment to a zero-emission future. The perfect partnership - Volvo are proud to partner with Kathryn Wilson and introduce ‘KIND’. A consciously crafted collection of footwear using lower impact materials. Purchase a new Volvo XC60 before 31st December and receive a complimentary pair of Kathryn Wilson shoes from the KIND Collection*.

XC60 from just $79,900.*

*This promotion applies to the purchase of a new Volvo XC60 rom Armstrong’s Wellington dealership only until 31 December 2021 and is not available in conjunction with any other offer. MY21 pricing applies.

Armstrong’s Volvo Wellington | 6 Barker Street, Te Aro, Wellington | 04 384 8779 | armstrongs.co.nz

Want more income & less admin from your holiday home? List your holiday home with Bachcare to make the most of the increased demand this summer. We’re the only holiday home managers in New Zealand with a dedicated team to manage your revenue. This means your property could be receiving 16% higher bookings and 8% higher revenue*. Plus, by listing with Bachcare you’re also listing with over 20 partner sites including Airbnb and Booking.com, making it easy to have your holiday home pay for your summer holiday. * as at 27/07/21 with data from 03/10/21 – 26/07/21 based on Bachcare properties on Super Income Max vs Fixed Price plan.

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The stories of Wellington

CAPITAL

t’s been another eventful year and, despite uncertainty caused by the pandemic, there’s been much for Capital to celebrate. Highlights include the inaugural Capital Photographer of the Year, the return of the Best of Awards, and being a finalist for Best Cover in the 2021 Magazine Media Awards. This is Capital’s eightieth issue, my fortieth, and also my last. It has been an absolute privilege to be part of Capital’s history over the past (almost) five years and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from a very special team led by Managing Editor Alison Franks and Art Director Shalee Fitzsimmons. I have heartily enjoyed finding interesting folk to write about, hashing out the crossword, working with writers on special collections of essays and short stories, and keeping in touch with our “Reverse” poets. I’ve managed to rope in various family members over the years to be featured, to write, and to illustrate for Capital. This issue is no exception. You’ll see my uncle Dan Tait-Jamieson talking about books in our annual Christmas books feature, along with Neil Ieremia, Jessie Wong, and others. And my brother-in-law Andreas Heuser offers his thoughts on the proposed Three Waters amalgamation. In this issue we also have an opinion piece from Michael Reddell who takes another look at the housing crisis, Rachel Helyer Donaldson visits Porirua’s wallpaper tycoon Neil Macdonald, and Claire O’Loughlin chats to City Gallery’s Development Manager Nicki Manthel about this summer’s blockbuster exhibition. In our Home features Sasha Borissenko shows off the special pieces in her city apartment, Donna Cross invites us to enjoy the view from her Breaker Bay home, and we go over the hill to visit Marc Weir, the owner of Briarwood. Christmas has a special place in my heart and it’s been a delight to put together a number of festive features. Cherie Jacobson loves Christmas too and tells us how she marks it, Michelin-starred chef Sam Dinsdale offers a festive feast that champions seasonal eating, and stylist Jenna Limmer shares her tips for making everything look super special. When I arrived at Capital I was quick to bags the regular Christmas foodie feature that plays on traditional Christmas references. This year I spoke with a Dasher, a Dancer, and a Prancer to find out what meaty treat they can’t do without at Christmas. And of course I had to create a Christmas-themed crossword for you.

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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 nation-wide outlets. Distribution: john@capitalmag.co.nz.

Contact Us Phone +64 4 385 1426 Email editor@capitalmag.co.nz Website 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

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.

Meri kirihimete! Francesca Emms Senior Writer and Online Editor

258 THORNDON QUAY | WELLINGTON | BOCONCEPT.COM

Staff

Featured contributors

Managing Editor Alison Franks editor@capitalmag.co.nz Campaign Coordinators Haleigh Trower haleigh@capitalmag.co.nz Sophia Montgomery sophia@capitalmag.co.nz Ava Gerard ava@capitalmag.co.nz Milly Brunel milly@capitalmag.co.nz Factotum John Bristed john@capitalmag.co.nz Art Director Shalee Fitzsimmons shalee@capitalmag.co.nz Designer Elaine Loh design@capitalmag.co.nz Senior Writer Francesca Emms journalism@capitalmag.co.nz

MONICA WINDER Ph oto g r aph er

M I L LY B RU N E L C amp ai g n c o ordi n ator

Monica grew up in Wellington and now lives in the underrated suburb of Wainuiomata. She is a photographer/ office-worker/mum who loves nature, black coffee, and red wine. Having been chosen as a finalist for CPotY, she is now shooting for Capital. monicawinderphotography.com

Born and bred among the Pōneke hospitality scene, it makes sense Milly drinks coffee like it’s water. The newest member to join the Capital team, she enjoys a pint in the sun, a swim on the South Coast, and is known to collect enough furniture to fit out a small mansion.

TAY I T I B B L E Po e t

J O S I A H N E VA L L Ph oto g r aph er

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

Contributors Melody Thomas, Janet Hughes, John Bishop, Anna Briggs, Sarah Lang, Deirdre Tarrant, Dan Poynton, Chris Tse, Claire Orchard, Harriet Palmer, Jess Scott, Claire O’Loughlin, Chev Hassett, Joram Adams, Sanne Van Ginkel, Rachel Helyer Donaldson, Matthew Plummer, Fairooz Samy, Adrian Vercoe, Sasha Borissenko, Siobhan Vaccarino, Annie Keig, Courteney Moore, Lauren Hynd, Josiah Nevell, Arthur Hawkes

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

Tayi (Te Whānau ā Apanui and Ngati Porou) is an award-winning writer from Te Whanganui-a-Tara who has published two poetry collections, Poūkahangatus (2018, VUP) and Rangikura (2021, VUP). Tayi’s work has been published on a number of New Zealand platforms and she also works part time at Victoria University Press.

Originally from the one and only Palmerston North, Josiah moved to Wellington to study photography at Massey University. When he's not behind a camera or a pile of study, you'll find him making coffee at Peoples, out for a wheezy run, or probably behind another camera.

Brighten up that shady corner with an Aglaonema!

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Available now at your local garden centre visit gellerts.co.nz for local stockist.

C O N T E N T S

14 LETTERS 16 CHATTER 20 NOTEWORTHY 23 BY THE NUMBERS 24 NEW PRODUCTS 26 TALES OF THE CITY 31 CULTURE

Wall of duty Porirua jobs needed saving and Neil Macdonald stepped up

36 In good spirits

Nicki Manthel summons support for City Gallery

48 Home Weir Chef Marc's recipe for his dream home

64 The housing market monster Michael Reddell says the monster's not going anywhere

69 Slivin’ in the city

Sasha Borissenko is slaying and living

Installation art Irish glass to admire in Karori Cemetery’s chapel

Coastal Five

A TARANAKI EVENT LINE-UP LIKE NO OTHER AN INITIATIVE OF VENTURE TARANAKI

WOMAD

C O N T E N T S

114 BY THE BOOK 117 REVERSE

119

Bookmarked

Still a shared space Donna Cross lets us in to her seaside shrine

100

Bookworms share what they’re reading and what they’d like to give this Christmas

Feast

A cracking spread for Christmas from Michelin starred chef Sam Dinsdale

88 HOME BRIEFS 92 BUG ME 94 EDIBLES

110

Move over Rudolf

Don’t go chasing water reforms

A Dasher, a Dancer, and a Prancer share their favourite festive foods

TSB Festival of Lights

Andreas Heuser on the proposed three waters amalgamations

124 Stream line

If you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em; Aro Video onstream

128 GOOD SPORT 130 WELLY ANGEL 132 WĀHINE 134 CALENDAR 136 PUZZLED

Experience Taranaki at its best this summer. With events for everyone, there’s never been a better time to plan your ultimate escape to Taranaki, a region, like no other. WHAT’S ON

Photo: Charlotte Curd

• • • • • • • •

Coastal Five – 20-21 November TSB Festival of Lights – 18 December – 30 January L.A.B – 8 January Taranaki Off Road Half Marathon – 15 January Synthony – 5 February Lorde – 4 March WOMAD – 18 -20 March Oxfam Trailwalker – 26-27 March

Taranaki.co.nz/visit

L E T T E R S

VA X X E D A N D I N V I N C I B L E

Camborne Walkway/Te Ara Piko

Discover Porirua this summer! From beautiful beaches and trails for walking and biking, to cool little cafés, arts and culture – there’s something for everyone.

I’m double vaxxed! Feel invincible. I have come to accept that I am just one of those people who react to everything and just one of those people who is a one in a 100 or even one in a million (Pfizer was actually a walk in the park compared to some of the “rare” side effects that I’ve endured in the past). I’m grateful to have a doctor in the family to help me with all my anxiety and reassure me throughout my reactions. I’ve been so supported through my fear and it must be so hard for people who are alone in the decision to vax, especially when they know they are one of those people who react and have bad luck medically. So much of this resistance to vaccination is to do with fear and past rotten experiences in our medical system. And honestly, being Māori in our medical system should come with a warning. I want to share my fears with my friends and whānau and anyone who asks. We need more narrative around “I know it’s scary but I’ll be your advocate if you end up in hospital” and “I’m here for you anytime you want talk about your fears”. Mara, Palmerston North (abridged) A SH I N I N G STAY Your Taranaki feature, (Cap #79,) was a great help to us on a recent trip to the ‘Naki. We tried out a few of the recommendations including Monica’s Eatery, Back’s Beach, and the Govett-Brewster Gallery. We particularly enjoyed our visit to Shining Peak Brewery. The menu far exceeded our expectations. We had a great meal and a lovely evening there. Rangi, Cambourne (abridged) Q U E A SY R E A D E R

Pātaka Art + Museum

I’m fairly strong of stomach but must admit I was taken aback by the look of the scobies in your last magazine (Cap #79). Quite frankly they put me off drinking my beloved (storebought) brew. Thankfully good old-fashioned addiction – and I add hastily, gut health – have overridden the “what the hell is that in the jar” reaction. Cheers for the enlightenment. Ani Moore, Karori P L E A S A N T P R A I SE

Get Fixed Bicycle Café

Pukerua Bay

Adrenalin Forest

I was impressed with the quality, the style of the writing and photos, and everything about the current Capital (Cap #79) (special praise for the p71 airport house/plane pic). Congratulations to the editor and Capital staff. I shall make a point of getting it each month from now on. We are heading to Taranaki soon for the garden festival etc (at least she will be doing the gardens, I have whisky tastings) so the Taranaki section was perused with special attention, too. Coincidentally my sister-in-law in New Plymouth messaged us to praise the Fork n Knife restaurant (p125), saying they would take us there! We shall take up a copy of the mag for her. Richard Long, Wellington (abridged)

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

@discoverporirua 14

CHRISTMAS AT TE PAPA STORE Shop the collection tepapastore.co.nz Visit the Christmas Night Market: 25 November 6:30-9:30pm Level 1 & 2, Te Papa

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

P ra ye r plant Names such as these Calathea orbifolia is a popular indoor plant because of its striking appearance, air-purifying ability, and non-toxicity for households with children and pets. Along with other Calatheas it is commonly known as a “Prayer Plant”, as it folds its leaves together at night and opens them to the sun in the morning in a process suggesting prayer or ritual gestures. It has recently been re-classified as Goeppertia orbifolia, but is still widely known as Calathea orbifolia. We just refer to it lovingly as “The Orb”. Let’s have a look Hailing from the South American jungle, this exotic beauty looks like it belongs in a candy shop with its wonderfully large, waxy, pinstriped leaves. A larger member of the Calathea family, native to Bolivia, Calathea orbifolia is known for its silver-striped leaves, which are iridescent and spectacular. The wide textured leaves are oval in shape, and fan out from the plant, making any room feel like the heart of the rainforest.

One

P e r fe c t s t o r m Watching determined waterfront joggers push through a brisk northerly, illustrator Suzanne Lustig found the inspiration for her Capital tea towel design. “Capturing Wellington’s energy in a single image is pretty challenging,” says Suzanne. “One of my favourite places in the city helped me understand what makes Wellington special.” The limited edition tea towel shows a figure coursing through the wind, adorned with thick inkbrush tattoos of Wellington – Suzanne says she was actually being tattooed when she first began sketching the design. All Capital gift subscriptions will receive a tea towel with the first magazine (while stocks last). Visit capitalmag.co.nz/shop to purchase.

Reverse regular and poet-abouttown Chris Tse has edited Out Here: An anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ Writers from Aotearoa, together with Emma Barnes. The book celebrates queer Kiwi writers and brings together poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and more. We have a copy to give away. Email hello@ capitalmag.co.nz with “Out Here” in the subject line to be in to win.

TLC As a tropical plant, it is a little fussy, with quite a few specific needs that need to be managed to keep it healthy and lush. Give it jungle-like conditions at your whare, including warmth, medium light, and moisture, and you'll both be happy. Our plant of the month comes from James Cameron from Twiglands.

C H AT T E R

New in town

Good things come in threes Just in time for Christmas, Six Barrel Soda has launched three brand new Triple Packs – “Pinks”, “Tonics” and “Classics”. The Pinks box contains syrups that will make you blush: Raspberry & Lemon, Cherry & Pomegranate, and Rose Lemonade. Use the code CAP10 for 10% off your online order! sixbarrelsoda.co

Tw o L a b o u r o f l ove Lower Hutt’s Paige Jarman is the artist behind our new limited-edition “Slurp” goodie box. Inspired by colour field painters like Helen Frankenthaler, Paige is a proponent of the nerikomi method where porcelain is stained and formed into blocks of multi-coloured pattern. She’s opted to deviate from the usual technical and time-consuming process for this project, inlaying coloured clay. “It has felt like a natural extension to this concept of ‘drawing with clay’ that I have been exploring in my nerikomi work.” Slurp is a collaboration between Capital, Paige, and Coffee Supreme. Each pack includes a unique Paige Jarman hand-made ceramic cup and 200gms of Coffee Supreme. Available at capitalmag.co.nz/shop or instore at Small Acorns, Blair Street.

Three M y t r u e l ove g a ve to m e If Capital has a love language, it’s gift-giving! We love finding delightful local treats for every occasion. In putting together our Essential List we wanted to showcase independent business and help you love local this Christmas. The Essential List should be attached to the front of the very magazine you’re holding. But if someone’s already nabbed it, never fear, we have a few to spare, so pop in to see us in Mt Vic and we’ll get you sorted out.

It's cool to kōrero Ka haere koe ki te taone, kaua e wareware i tō ārai.

If you’re going into town, don’t forget your face mask.

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

Four Six ones Musician Jon Toogood is “stoked beyond belief” that his band Shihad is number one in New Zealand again. The Kiwi rock icon and former Wellingtonians’ tenth studio album, Old Gods, debuted at number one on the NZ Official Top 40 Albums Chart (Kōpaki i Te Rārangi Motuhake 40 o Runga) last month. It’s the sixth number one album for the band, which means Shihad is the New Zealand act with the most number one albums in history. They’ve finally pulled ahead of Hayley Westenra, who has five.

Six Dogs to donuts Organisers of the Kāpiti Food Fair hope they will see about 20,000 visitors served by 250 vendors when the fair returns to Mazengarb Reserve in Paraparaumu on 4 December. Mouth-watering local treats will be on offer to eat on the spot or take home – local favourites like That Little Cake Shop’s macarons (try the lemon). There’s lots to do for kids, with a licensed bar and music stage for adults, and it’s canine-friendly – which effectively means you can drink Chardy, eat donuts, and pet other people’s dogs. We’re sold.

F i ve S u r f ’s p u p Some dogs can sit, some dogs can roll over, but Bella can jump on a surfboard and ride the waves. Bella the surfing Golden Labrador belongs to Bronwyn Kelly (Cap#38), one of the women behind Maranui Café. She recently decided to teach the one-year-old water lover to get up on a board and surf – which the dog apparently loves. A viral video shows Bella standing on a surfboard, comfortably riding a small wave in Lyall Bay. Gnarly!

S eve n M a ke r s c h a n g e s Artisan jewellery store the Makers has rebranded as Mason and Collins. The Makers began as a pop-up shop, selling the work of four female jewellers at studios on Abel Smith Street. It was a success and they kept it open. During their six years, co-founder Vaune Mason says a lot changed for the four 'smiths. “Babies were born and grew into children, and by necessity the mothers moved their jewellery workbenches into their houses.” Eventually, just Vaune and Annie Collins were left running the business, which led them to start a new chapter with Mason and Collins.

N O T E W O R T H Y

CROWE MAKES G A L L E RY G R O W Work on the redevelopment of the Mahara Gallery in Waikanae is finally under way this month. Crowe Construction has been confirmed as the main contractor. The project, expected to take 12 months, will double the number of exhibition galleries and almost triple the amount of exhibition space. “It is a tremendous relief to us to know that the gallery will be at accepted museum standard so our gift to Mahara of the nationally recognised Field Collection can be accepted,” says Kay Brown, trustee of the collection of paintings by Frances Hodgkins.

POST-POST OFFICE

POKIE PRESSURE

NAU MAI, PAEKĀKĀ!

Naenae’s historic Post Office building will be turned into a community facility. Mayor Campbell Barry says this will support the revitalisation of the town centre as the council continues its progress towards rebuilding Naenae Pool. "The heritage value of Naenae Post Office, built in the 1960s, and its location, make it an iconic part of the Naenae strip mall. This makes it even more symbolic to return it back to the community for their use." The building has been closed since 2015, and will require earthquake strengthening and refurbishment work.

Hutt City Council is considering capping gaming machine numbers and ultimately reducing them by blocking relocations or mergers. Simon Edwards, the council’s Policy, Finance and Strategy Committee Chair, said, "We know that gambling places pressures on vulnerable families and communities. At the same time, we’re aware of the high level of community and sector interest in this issue, particularly among those organisations that benefit from funding via gaming machines.” Submissions will be heard in November, and a decision will be made in December.

Paekākā is now the name of a central Wellington area covering the Botanic Garden precinct, Anderson Park, and Bolton Street Memorial Park. It was proposed by Wellington City Council after engaging with the Taranaki Whānui iwi, and was officially named by the Minister of Land Information Damien O’Connor. Pae refers to a vicinity or area – in this case, that of the kākā bird.

patina HANDCRAFTED JEWELLERY FOR EVERYDAY LIFE

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N O T E W O R T H Y

V U L N E R A B L E T E NA N T S AT A D I S A D VA N TA G E Property Council Chief Executive Leonie Freeman has slammed the Finance and Expenditure Committee’s recent report on implementing no-access clauses in commercial leases, saying, “It’s another great day for lawyers and for multinationals – but another sad day for vulnerable tenants and landlords across New Zealand.” Freeman says that despite significant feedback from landlords, tenants, lawyers, and property experts on the potential effectiveness of the clause, the committee has made no change (to the draft legislation) that will support vulnerable tenants and landlords. “By the government’s own admission they don’t know the size and scale of the problem,” says Freeman.

DREAMING IN COLOUR

STARGAZING IN THE ‘RAPA

SIGN ME UP

The Dream Girls Art Collective (Gina Kiel, Miriama Grace-Smith, and Xoë Hall) have completed a mural on Tory Street, depicting a journey through the creative process of filmmaking. Close to Reading Cinemas, it recognises its cinematic surrounds, with reels of film unwinding towards a taniwha head. Lena Kretzschmann-Hill of Reading Property, who commissioned the mural, says it represents both making a film and the experiences of the viewer when watching.

Dark Sky status for southern Wairarapa has come one step closer. The application to be deemed an International Dark Sky Reserve has been submitted to the accrediting agency in Tucson Arizona. Ray Lilley, secretary to the Wairarapa Dark Sky Association, is quietly confident. “We have worked closely with them and fully expect their tick of approval,” he says. “It’s been four years of some hard mahi to get to this point.” The group hopes for a result by the end of January, next year.

Wellington is the first New Zealand city to sign up to the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, a global movement for sustainable urban food systems. Over 200 cities are part of the pact which fosters cooperation and best practice exchanges between cities. “This is the first action in Wellington’s Sustainable Food Action Plan, recognising food systems as a priority, bringing a wide range of social and economic benefits to the city, and integrating sustainable food options and opportunities into the many initiatives and projects we are working on,” says Mayor Andy Foster.

B Y

All I want for Christmas... is food

Green thumb 'tis the season

Can’t stop won’t stop the rise of housing costs

T H E

N U M B E R S

$1b

40%

how much Kiwis spent on food over Christmas last year

meals on Christmas day – the preferred pattern for 50% of Kiwis

Kiwis who have turkey on Christmas day

Kiwis who say their top Christmas day activity is a foodinduced nap

$584m

192,000

value of New Zealand’s home gardening supplies market in 2020

search hits for “plants” on Trade Me during lockdown last year

number of house plants needed to remove just 10 percent of the CO2 you exhale – get shopping

15x

$1.45

$474b

12,475

how much faster property values increased than incomes from January to June 2021

billion profits made by banks in the June quarter loan boom

loans given out by banks this year

houses available for sale in August, the lowest number REINZ has ever seen

CO M P I L E D BY CA L LU M T U R N B U L L

It’s none of ya... beeswax

869,000

75%

$62,000

1,160,000km

registered beehives in 2020, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries

proportion of NZ beekeepers considered hobbyists, operating 10 hives or fewer

value of mānuka honey bought in a single transaction from Harrod's last year

the estimated distance bees have to fly to produce 1kg of beeswax

23 23

N E W

P R O D U C T S

1. 3.

8. 11.

Patio party

10.

1. Jati & Kebon Sylt charcoal sun lounger, $895, McKenzie & Willis 2. Honest rum, $73, Honest Spirits 3. Chain of hearts plant, $49, Yvette Edwards 4. Weave Raglan throw, $299, Te Papa Store 5. Sake jug, $32.90, cups, $9.90 each, Tickadeeboo Store 6. 17cm grade Monstera plant (basket not included), $64.99, Gellerts 7. Deanna birch plywood bench, $1,000, Hedge Furniture 8. Luna metal dish, $149, BoConcept 9. Castle black scallop shag floor cushion, $225, Small Acorns 10. Oil & Water amber oil burner, $80, Wellington Apothecary 11. Elba grey wicker lounge chair, $479, BoConcept

S E C T I O N

H E A D E R

For Everything

Outdoor Living

At McKenzie & Willis we believe your outdoor space is an extension of your home. The pieces you choose should be characterised by quality and perfect finishes that compare to the finest interior furnishings. Handpicked for the New Zealand lifestyle, our exclusive Outdoor Living Collection features outdoor lounge and dining pieces from the world’s finest brands.

Harbour Hayman Dining Table & Loop Dining Chair

S E C T I O N

H E A D E R

TA L E S

O F

T H E

C I T Y

A very Cherie Christmas BY F R A N C E S CA E M M S P H OTO G R A P H Y BY M O N I CA W I N D E R

BOOK Auē by Becky Manawatu

OTHER LANGUAGE

FAVOURITE VIEW

French

Mt Victoria at night

DAY JOB

DAY OUT

Katherine Mansfield House and Garden

Martinborough

What’s the opposite of a Grinch? Meet Cherie.

herie Jacobson has a very strict rule. No Christmas music or decorations until the first of December. “I think it makes the Christmas season more special if you only get to enjoy it for 25 days of the year. On the morning of the first I immediately get up and put my Christmas playlist on. It’s moved from a homemade CD to a playlist over the years but it’s still called ‘A Very Cherry Christmas’ and the first song is Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt. When those first bars start playing, I know Christmas has started!” Cherie always gets a real tree – “I’m very fussy about the size and shape.” On a weekend in December she hosts “Cheristmas”, which is an early Christmas dinner for friends. Everyone brings a plate. “I’m lucky to have friends who are good cooks so it’s always a delicious spread. We start with a glass of bubbles and end with a photo in front of the fireplace.” An annual Christmas carolling evening with a friend’s family is another highlight. “One of the reasons I love Christmas is because it’s a time of year that I really associate with music,” says Cherie, who sings all year round in a women’s choir called Voix de Femmes. “No one in my family plays an instrument, so to go to someone’s house and have a singalong around the piano, no-one singing to impress, just enjoying singing songs everyone knows together, makes me so happy.” And her favourite carol? “That is an almost impossible

question! Ding Dong Merrily On High is fun to sing, O Holy Night captures that twinkly, nighttime Christmas feeling, and a few years ago I discovered Gaudete, a 16th-century carol in Latin. The version on my playlist has this amazing medieval-sounding drum beat.” The best gift Cherie’s ever given was a gift to herself. She saved up and headed away to experience a Northern Hemisphere Christmas. “It all makes so much more sense – it gets dark early so having Christmas lights everywhere is both practical and beautiful. Wandering around a German Christmas market drinking gluehwein (mulled wine) to keep warm was the best.” And the worst gift? “I gave the parents of my boyfriend at the time a goat. It was the first year of those Oxfam Christmas initiatives. I didn’t know his parents very well, but I figured they’d appreciate the sentiment of giving something to someone in need. They clearly would have preferred a bottle of wine.” Cherie’s aware that Christmas isn’t for everyone, and not everyone has the opportunity to enjoy it the way she does. “Christmas can be a really stressful or sad time for many people. When money is tight, when you don’t get along with your family, or you’re alone, Christmas isn’t a very joyful time at all. I know I’m privileged to enjoy Christmas.” Cherie donates to the Wellington City Mission and encourages people to check out what they do and support them if they can.

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H E R E AT LAST Lisa Reihana is delighted that her video installation in Pursuit of Venus [infected] – which represented New Zealand at the 2017 Venice Biennale and was exhibited internationally – is finally showing in Aotearoa (Te Papa, until March). It’s a response to an 1804 French wallpaper ‘Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique’, which depicted Pacific explorers’ voyages and encounters. To reimagine and “animate” the Eurocentric wallpaper, Lisa created a 26-metre-wide, panoramic video with figures from Aotearoa, the Pacific, and Europe, with an evocative soundscape.

Flying Nun Records has released debut album It's Your Birthday by Vera Ellen, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who returned from LA to Wellington when Covid struck in 2020. “I wrote some of it when I was broke, living behind a sheet in a lounge in Hollywood,” she says. “Imagine you were 20 and wrote about some personal turmoil,” Vera says, “and now you’re 25 and think, ‘Let me share that with everyone I know and a few strangers.’” For her it’s “exposing,” but worth it to share the music.

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It’s no surprise that 40% of New Zealanders now have Netflix (up from 14% in 2016), as revealed in NZ On Air survey “Where Are The Audiences?” However, “linear” TV (free-to-air and pay TV, not including streaming services such as TVNZ On Demand and ThreeNow) is still the medium we consume the most. The average New Zealander aged over 15 watches 118 minutes of linear TV per day (yes, really). That will eventually change, since digital media dominates in the 15–39 age group.

Design

Inspired by the Olympics, Jeremy Beck – a contemporary-dance graduate from the New Zealand School of Dance (2014) – has choreographed Somewhat Physical for the NZSD’s Graduation Season (19–27 November). Six other works were commissioned from classical-ballet and contemporarydance grads, and two other works get restaged. An in-demand dancer, Jeremy says he uses the “Alternative Technique” (or Becknique): a creative-thinking practice “allowing for deeper connection between the body, mind, and present moment”.

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ON THIN ICE It’s been 11 years since Heat, Part One of Lynda ChanwaiEarle’s ‘Antarctic Theatre Trilogy’, but Lynda has been busy, as a broadcaster (until recently) and touring plays, for starters. Part Two, called Hole, shows at Circa, from 20 November. In 1985, a scientist, a US Navy SEAL, and a Greenpeace activist meet in Antarctica, after the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer. To create her characters, Lynda interviewed people who were there at the time, including the scientist who discovered that chlorofluorocarbons were causing the hole. They’re reusing the set from Where Memories Sleep, another production set in Antarctica.

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WELL DESERVED

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At Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, an archivist who was digitising material showed colleague David Klein a visible “wiggle” on a lathe-cut disc – probably there because the storyteller initially talked too loudly. The narrator was WWII soldier Ronald “Skin” Moore, who recounted being attacked, then trekking 200 miles through the Libyan desert. David tried following Skin’s journey via Google Maps, made challenging by shifting borders between Chad and Libya, place names in different languages, and Google Maps declaring that certain areas aren’t within walking distance. Hear and read about it at ngataonga.org.nz/blog/trooper.

The Glamaphones, which describes itself as Wellington’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex community choir, has received $2400 (it’s one of 20 recipients of a total $65,854) from the Creative Communities Scheme, a biannual funding partnership between Wellington City Council and Creative New Zealand. A composer will work with the Glamaphones to create a Matariki-themed work which they will perform in midwinter.

Writer-actor Sarah Boddy’s The Secret Lives of Sixteen-Year-Old Girls at Bats theatre in November is a play about what young people access via their phones, and the secrets teenage girls keep. Sarah got her daughter Lola Gonzalez Boddy, now 17, to play her daughter “Lulu” in what is both a serious drama about social media’s effects, and a “comedy of parenting”. Sarah is a documentary researcher and director, and the production’s director Kerryn Palmer’s PhD thesis is on “Devising Theatre With and For Young People”.

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FA C E I T Pat Hanly’s self-portrait Observer from 1984 (pictured) is part of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery’s new exhibition Face Time: Portraits from the 1980s, opening 25 November. Drawn from major public and private art collections, it will show portrait paintings exhibited alongside other representations of faces; there’s a mug with Muldoon’s face on it, and photos featuring people’s faces during the Springbok Tour. This art charts a decade of immense change for Aotearoa, from homosexual law reform to Rogernomics. Curator Milly Mitchell-Anyon says, however, there’s a lack of representative scrunchies and blue eyeshadow.

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LOOKING UP

EYES CLOSED

Spot the faux issue of Capital in Michelle Savill’s (pictured) film Millie Lies Low. Michelle borrowed some issues from our office to mock up a cover with the main character on it. “It’s to show that Millie’s architecture internship in New York is a big deal,” Michelle says. When Millie misses her flight there, she pretends via social media that she actually went. The film shows on 6, 8, and 18 November at the New Zealand International Film Festival in Wellington.

Children and adults alike will enjoy Ngā Tohunga Whakatere: The Navigators: a new animated short film playing on the domed screen inside Space Place’s planetarium. After acting in various scenes, Reina Stephens (17) was turned into an animated avatar of aspiring navigator Moko, who travels through time and space, learning about Pacific voyaging. Directed by Fiji-born Wellingtonian Lala Rolls, The Navigators was spearheaded by Space Place’s Creative Producer/Public Programmes Manager Haritina Mogoșanu.

When you close your eyes, the stars, spirals, and squiggles you see are called phosphenes. Greytown photographer Esther Bunning plays on this concept in Phosphene: A Portrait of a Landscape at Aratoi in Masterton (from 20 November). The project began after Esther photographed a leaf-dotted pond. “The breeze flurried across the water, and geometric, mosaic-like patterns re-arranged themselves while I clicked the camera.” Esther printed her favourite photographs onto silk, threw the silks into the air and used a fan to make them seem to float as she photographed them again to produce the final images.

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F E AT U R E

In good spirits

As City Gallery’s summer blockbuster exhibition, Hilma af Klint approaches, Nicki Manthel talks to Claire O’Loughlin about behind-the-scenes fundraising for the gallery.

s an artist herself, City Gallery Wellington Development Manager Nicki Manthel straddles the worlds of art and philanthropy, and understands how each relies on the other. She manages the City Gallery Wellington Foundation, and the Friends of City Gallery, which support the work of the gallery and help bring big international exhibitions to Wellington. Their latest achievement is massive: the upcoming exhibition of Swedish artist and mystic, Hilma af Klint. Af Klint was a ground-breaking abstract artist who worked from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s. Considered one of the first abstract painters, she exhibited rarely in her lifetime, and felt

the world was not yet ready for her paintings. Upon her death in 1944, she left instructions that they not be shown to the public for at least 20 years. They were rolled up and stored, almost forgotten, in the attic of the family house for decades. When it was finally revealed, her work sent ripples through the art world. Here was an artist – and a woman at that – working in an abstract style before Kandinsky or Mondrian, who had always been considered the ground-breakers of abstraction. Deeply involved in spiritualism and scientific investigations, af Klint was inspired by the spirit world. In 1896, she and four other women artists founded a group known as “The Five”. They met on

Fridays for prayers and seances, where they believe they received messages and commissions from spirits. One of these commissions resulted in the works in this exhibition. It’s all wonderfully kooky. When I tell Manthel I’m planning on bringing four of my witchiest women friends with me to the opening, she laughs. She began her career in the feminist art scene and couldn’t be more delighted to be bringing powerful woman artists to Wellington. “It’s kind of cool that the last big show we had, Cindy Sherman, was a woman. And this next big one is a woman. In fact, over half of the exhibiting artists we’ve had in the past year have been women.”

Manthel studied drama at Wellington’s Victoria University, then taught for a while at Newlands College, before escaping to the stage, working at Downstage and the Depot theatres. “Theatre was my first iteration,” she says. She was a member of Vital Statistics, a women’s theatre collective funded by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (now the Ministry for Women) to tour cabaret performances around the country in the mid-80s, in celebration of the UN’s “decade for women.” They had a ball, performing in schools and small communities. But the theatre life became hard when she had children, so she enrolled at Elam and completed a Fine Arts degree in painting. It was a natural move. Her mother Vivian

Manthel-French is a painter and she had been surrounded by art her whole life. After Elam, she ran an exhibiting space and open studio in Auckland, which meant seeking funding and looking after sponsors. That experience translated easily into her role at City Gallery Wellington. “You’ve got to have passion for the arts, and you’ve got to understand that it needs support, and know how to get it, and keep it. Those are the really fundamental things that make it all possible.” Her understanding of art and the artistic process is a huge benefit as well. “It keeps you authentic. If I ask an artist to come to an event and meet some patrons and give a talk, I know what they’re going

through. I know how exposed artists can feel in that environment, so I can broker it sensitively. And because I’ve got a fine art degree, I can talk about the shows and make them accessible both to patrons and corporate sponsors.” Manthel had been living in Melbourne teaching and painting for six years before coming home to Wellington in 2015 to take up the Development Manager role. It was a new position, with the foundation in its infancy with only a few supporters. Today, there are 65, and it’s growing. There are two tiers of patrons: the Foundation Collective who pay an annual donation of $1,000, and the Foundation Contemporary who pay $2,500.

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Getting it rolling was hard work. In the early days, Manthel devoted her energy to creating an identity for the foundation and a programme of events to bring people together. The aim was to create something that people could feel invested in. “To me, it’s building a group of advocates for the gallery. It’s not just the money, it’s connecting people to the cause or the institution, and educating them about that, so they go in to fight for you.” Supporters attend previews and get to know senior staff. The foundation’s events also take supporters out into the wider Wellington art world, to meet dealers and artists. And of course, the patrons and supporters will be the first New Zealand audience to see the af Klint exhibition. It has been the focus of their recent fundraising efforts, such as seeking a sponsor for each of The Ten Largest. These 10 paintings, each over three metres tall, represent the stages of human life, and form the centrepiece of the exhibition. This exhibition brings the New Zealand art scene to the gallery also, to help create a hub of art, conversation, and support. The companion exhibition, Pages of Mercury by local artists Andrew Beck and Séraphine Pick, will show work inspired by Rita Angus’s moon drawings, which resemble af Klint’s work in their heavily symbolic, celestial mood. Manthel loves involving local artists wherever she can. Taking the af Klint group of five as a reference point the foundation had five New Zealand women artists – Star Gossage, Emma Camden, Kirsten

Sutherland, Kāryn Taylor, and Lucinda Barrett — each make new works inspired by af Klint, to be sold for fundraising. Bringing af Klint to Wellington has not been without its challenges, and further complicated with restrictions and delays due to Covid. The Swedish Foundation, who look after af Klint’s work, understandably have very specific requirements, from insurance and security to the gallery’s atmospheric conditions. The paintings are fragile, with The Ten Largest painted in egg tempera, a delicate paint made from egg yolks mixed with pigment. “To even get a truck that could hold The Ten Largest and transport them down from Auckland was a challenge!” Manthel laughs. The complexity of the undertaking makes it a once-in-a-lifetime experience, she says. The chances of these paintings travelling this far from Sweden ever again are very slim. “With these sorts of blockbuster shows, we’re really bringing the world to New Zealand.” Bringing the world to Wellington is more important than ever, now it’s almost impossible to go out and see the world ourselves. And Manthel thinks af Klint in particular, with her sense of higher spiritual purpose, is one of the best things we could see as we struggle on through the pandemic. “People are searching for something spiritual that keeps them grounded, inspired, or connected. This is such a timely show.” Hilma af Klint, The Secret Paintings, City Gallery, from 4 December

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F E AT U R E

Installation art

Faith by Wilhelmina Geddes (1914)

Travel isn’t always necessary to see great art. In Wellington, the magnificent stained glass windows in Karori Cemetery’s heritage chapel are world-renowned and free to visit. Nicola Young peers into their fascinating history.

F E AT U R E

arori Cemetery is New Zealand’s second-largest burial ground, established in 1891 when the Bolton Street Cemetery had become overcrowded. By the 1950s, it too had nearly reached capacity, so a new cemetery was created at Mākara in 1965. Now, only pre-purchased or long-established burial or ash plots, and those for children, are available at Karori. Karori’s crematorium was New Zealand’s first. The practice wasn’t common in 1888, when William Ferguson, an engineer and secretary of the Wellington Harbour Board, suggested adding an extra furnace to the Destructor – the city’s rubbish disposal facility on Chaffers St, now the site of New World supermarket’s car park.

Ferguson’s wife was the daughter of William Sefton Moorhouse, Wellington’s mayor in 1875 (local body elections were held annually until World War I) and his wife Jane Anne Moorhouse. Their names endure in Wadestown’s Moorhouse, Sefton, and Anne streets. Ferguson’s proposal was controversial, but cremation was increasingly accepted in Europe. When the Karori Cemetery was opened, one acre was put aside for a crematorium and adjoining chapel. Ratepayers weren’t prepared to borrow money for the project until 1906, when a campaign advocated cremation for public health reasons; a Cremation Fund was established, and the City Council agreed to contribute to the costs. In 1907, John Sydney Swan, the architect who designed St Gerard’s church and monastery and the Wellington Harbour Board building (now the Wellington Museum), drew up plans for a timber building in the current Romanesque-revival style. The City Engineer, William Hobbard Morton, wasn’t happy about a wooden building housing a high-temperature furnace, and redesigned the plans, replacing the timber Wisdom by Michael Healy (1937)

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with bricks. The crematorium and chapel were finally constructed in 1909, once the furnace arrived from England. The crematorium and small chapel are now listed as Category 1 Heritage items, particularly noted for the chapel’s Irish-made stained glass windows. It’s been claimed that, outside of Ireland, they are the most significant group of windows produced by the Dublin co-operative glass-making studio An Túr Gloine (Tower of Glass). The studio was established in 1903 in Dublin, with a mission to make stained glass windows locally rather than importing them from England and Germany. Its founder, Sarah Purser, was an expert on medieval glass. Studio artists were infused with the spirit of the Celtic revival, and drew on traditional Celtic manuscript illumination. Commissions flowed in from Anglican, Presbyterian, and Catholic churches across Ireland, England, Canada, and the United States, especially for memorial windows following World War I. Stained glass windows have been described as “painting with light”. They are a difficult art form, requiring the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, with the engineering skills to assemble the piece. The technique hasn’t changed much over the centuries since stained glass windows became a feature of

Christian churches and Islamic architecture. Plain glass is coloured with metallic oxides while it’s molten: copper for ruby, cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, antimony for yellow, iron for green. Windows must fit snugly into the spaces for which they are made; they must resist wind and rain; and, especially the larger windows, they must be constructed carefully to support their own weight. Many large windows in European churches have remained substantially intact since the Late Middle Ages (1250–1500). Ferguson commissioned five of the chapel’s six stained glass windows between 1914 and 1939, commemorating members of his own family. It’s thought he had met one of the founders of An Túr Gloine while studying at Trinity College Dublin. The first pair of windows were designed and made in 1914 by Wilhelmina Geddes (1887–1955) of An Túr Gloine, a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts movement and 20th Century British stained glass revival. Geddes has been described as the greatest stained glass artist of her era, but by the time she died little was known of her. She remained largely obscure until 2010, when the International Astronomical Union named a crater on Mercury in her honour. Geddes’s interest in drawing developed from the age of four. She was introduced to stained glass at Ulster University’s Belfast School

F E AT U R E

Charity by Michael Healy (1930)

Gethsemane by Hubert McGoldrick (1939)

of Art, then joined the An Túr Gloine workshop, where her originality shone, and her most important works were created. Her work rejected the sentimental late Victorian aesthetic, for a more rugged and vigorous style. In 1925, she moved to London, enduring the hardships of World War II, poverty, and ill health before her death in 1955. Mourners at Karori Cemetery’s small, heritage-listed chapel probably pay scant attention to the glorious windows. The two executed by Geddes, Faith and Hope, are the only examples of her work in Australasia and sit either side of the chapel’s front door. Faith (1914) commemorates William Ferguson’s motherin-law Jane Ann Moorhouse, who died in 1901. It depicts a sword-bearing angel leading a woman through a forest inhabited by wild beasts and ominous symbols of death and temptation. At the top are vignettes of Moses. Hope (1914) commemorates Ferguson’s daughter, Louisa Sefton Ferguson, who died at the age of eight. The window depicts an angel awaiting a child (possibly Louisa) who is crossing the water in a boat, surrounded by doves. The other three Ferguson family windows were created by another An Túr Gloine artist, Michael Healy (1873– 1941). He was born into a Dublin slum, studied in Florence, and eventually became a leading specialist in memorial windows. Healy was noted for his command of suspended

Love by Michael Healy (1930)

animation, but his work was considered uneven. He worked at the Dublin studio until his death. Healy’s reputation was international. In addition to numerous commissions for churches in the United States, Healy created stained glass windows for a businessman in Singapore, a Swedish architect, and the Karori Cemetery chapel. Charity (1930) commemorates William Harold Sefton Moorhouse, Ferguson’s brother-in-law who had died the year before. Ferguson’s wife, Mary, who died in the same year, is commemorated by Love (1930). Wisdom (1937) commemorates Ferguson himself – it was one of Healy’s last windows and the only one of the Karori series to be signed by the artist with the studio name. The sixth window, Gethsemane (1939), was created by Hubert McGoldrick (1897–1967) who worked at An Túr Gloine until its dissolution in 1947. Gethsemane was his last overseas commission. In 2016 the crematorium and small chapel were earthquake strengthened, the cremator unit replaced, and the windows renovated by specialists in Rangiora. The small chapel is usually open during weekdays between 8.30am and 4pm unless a service is being held. You can ring 04 476 6109 to check.

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F E AT U R E

Marc Weir

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Home Weir P H OTO G R A P H Y BY J OS I A H N EVA L L

City chef Marc Weir has moved from his dream job to his dream home. He talks to Sarah Catherall about the move.

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arc Weir thinks it was his destiny to own an 1875 former boutique hotel on Greytown’s main street. Last year, he was the owner of Loretta and cooking in its kitchen during the day. Home was a villa in Brooklyn which he shared with his husband, Ash Brocklebank. Last September, he stumbled upon an online real estate advertisement for Briarwood. He had always noticed the hotel when he visited Greytown. Ten days later, the couple were the new owners, and they have lived there permanently since Christmas. In early September this year, Marc sold Loretta and moved to Greytown permanently. When Capital visited in early October, he hadn’t been back to Wellington. “I feel very calm here. It feels like home. It wasn’t like that when we first moved in. I thought, ‘What have I done? Why have I left Wellington?’”

S E C T I O N

Marc pulls up the ensuite bathroom window, revealing Greytown’s main street lined with lush trees. Trucks and cars motor past. “I’ve seen that view my whole life. In my head. I’m obviously meant to be here. It’s a deep feeling I can’t explain.’’ For now, he has no intention of opening the house to paying guests, although they welcome them into a one-bedroom apartment above the garage. The couple are enjoying their beautiful home, which is filled with art, objects, and furniture they’ve collected over the years. Marc has always loved design and collected. A visiting tradesperson has already asked if the house is a museum. Says Marc: “It’s just home now but I know it’s not a normal home. I’ve always wanted a house full of chairs and furniture. I’m not sure why,’’ he laughs. “It’s been a progression of working hard, and being able to buy nice things, and travel well. Now I’ve done all that, and I can just relax here and enjoy it.’’ 51

H E A D E R

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Briarwood is a heritage building which has had many uses in its 150 years. It was the first commercial building in Greytown, and then a town house. The wide tongue and groove weatherboards were intended to replicate stone. Over the years it fell into a state of disrepair. It was rescued and restored in the 1960s, first as the Turkey Red art gallery (named after the owner’s favourite paint colour), then the Turkey Red restaurant and café. As Briarwood, it was converted into luxury accommodation in 2004. Now the entrance door on the ground floor opens into one of two former guest suites; the previous owners lived upstairs. Marc and Ash have converted both suites into living areas. A den and a parlour are filled with leather furniture, French chairs, art works depicting animals and landscapes, and taxidermy.

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Ash’s framed collection of graphite wildlife illustrations pack the parlour walls. They are by Gary Hodges, a highly collectable UK pencil artist, whose work Ash has been collecting for years. Marc’s taxidermy, much of which he has purchased in Wellington, sits on sideboards, and a mountain tahr gazes out from one wall. The parlour is filled with French furniture which Marc has had reupholstered since they moved in. Like the outside of the house, the interior is full of colour and interest. A bust on the entrance table was on display at Floriditas, and Marc has kept it as a memento of his time there. Marc and Ash spend most of their time upstairs during the day, in the dining room and kitchen. The French chairs in the dining/ living area have been re-covered three times. A peacock presides over one end of the dining table, and more taxidermy works are arranged

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along a dresser. Marc collects pottery – Laurie Steer bowls are arranged on shelves flanking the upstairs fireplace, while the kitchen displays his set of Paul Melser plates. The self-taught chef and perfectionist is the principal cook in the household. He is critical of his Greytown kitchen, though to a casual visitor it looks perfect. He wants to replace the marble benches with stainless steel, but, having been through kitchen renovations before “I won’t do it again,’’ he says. A set of red kitchen scales, which Marc bought on a trip to San Francisco, pop on the bench. His cookbooks, collected over 20 years, are colour coded on shelves.

S E C T I O N

The kitchen opens on to a deck which overlooks the back garden and is blistering hot in the summer. The garden is filled with buxus hedges and topiary, while an antique fountain bubbles soothingly. So far, Briarwood doesn’t have a vegetable garden – the couple had a huge potager garden in their Brooklyn home, which took time to tend. “It seems silly to spend $3.50 on a punnet of herbs. I miss growing everything but it’s nice to have a low maintenance garden.’’ The master bedroom is also upstairs. It has been repainted a gunmetal grey (Resene Masala) and is filled with artworks. A vintage bus sign – one of two in the house – hangs on a wall. A portrait of Tora, the couple’s late tabby cat, was painted by Wairarapa artist Stephen Allwood. “I gave him six photos. He did an amazing job, as it looks just like her.’’

H E A D E R

Many of the paintings in the house feature animals or landscapes and most are by Allwood or Joanna Braithwaite. He can’t explain his preferences, but all his art and objects make him feel at home. Marc has been working in restaurants for more than three decades. He was 18 when he began his career working for Lois Daish at Brooklyn Cafe and Grill. He started out as a waiter, learned to be a baker, and then became the maitre d’. “I went there to dine one night and thought this is where I want to be.’’ After that job, he managed Clark’s Cafe in Palmerston North, the beginning of a long business relationship with James and Julie Clark. They set up Floriditas together, then opened Loretta, and eventually took one restaurant each, when Marc owned Loretta. The Clarks are now co-owners of Loretta with new business partners.

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Marc says fate intervened when he got an offer for Loretta. He talks about a year of struggling to find staff, so he was relieved to get out. “I truly think someone has looked after me. Loretta was my dream restaurant but it was time to move on.’’ Marc jokes that Greytown is famous for luring former Wellington restaurateurs: Marcus Daly, Martin Bosley, and Rusty Domworth all live there now. But he had no intention of going there – it was the house that captured him. He also likes the friendliness of the locals. “You walk along and we say hi to each other.’’ For now, he plans to focus on food and recipe writing, while enjoying his beautiful home. “People think I’m going to open up a new restaurant in Greytown. No. Why would I? Why would I sell my dream restaurant to open up a new place?’’

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When Aspiring Walls went into liquidation last year, one of its longest serving employees stepped up to save the day. Neil Macdonald talks to Rachel Helyer Donaldson about being a business owner and why he’s keeping it in the family.

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Wall of duty

P H OTO G R A P H Y BY SA N N E VA N G I N K E L

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spiring Walls is the largest wallpaper manufacturer in the Southern Hemisphere. A Porirua mainstay for six decades, at one time the company employed 400 people. It supplies 5,000 different patterns. Around 500 of them are printed on its two large presses, and the rest are imported. Customers include Resene, Guthrie Bowron, various independent shops, and 250 stockists in Australia. In 2020 the business made it through Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Level 4 lockdown, only to go into voluntary

liquidation in Level 3. Wallpaper has made a big, bold comeback in recent years but, as far as the owners at the time were concerned, that wasn’t enough to keep the company going. It was saved when one of Aspiring’s longtime employees, Neil Macdonald, decided to buy it. In the boardroom, Neil sits under a gold neon sign that reads, “We love wallpaper.” News of the liquidation came as a huge blow to the 33 staff, says Neil. “We were very shocked, especially after so many years.” Neil was Aspiring’s safety and manufacturing manager at the time. As the most senior staff member, he dealt with the Auckland liquidator, who was confined to Tāmaki Makaurau during Level 3. Neil suggested that the business keep running – it still had stock and keen customers – while the liquidator looked for a buyer. But after a month of trading, all the interested parties fell away. The liquidator suggested that Neil buy the business. At first Neil, then 61, was having none of it. An electrician by trade, he first started working there as a contractor in 1974. He’s been an employee since 1981, in various roles. “I said, I’ve been here long enough. I wasn’t looking to undertake the challenges of running a business with a few years to retire.” Eventually, he relented. “It was really hard looking people in the eye and telling them there’s nobody to buy the business. In the end I was like, well if I have to, I’ll buy it.” The previous owner is also still involved. “We have a coffee once a month, and they’re very supportive”.

Aspiring Walls 61

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Neil, a Christian, has been teased in the past about being “too nice”. But it’s held him in good stead. “I’ve built up relationships with a lot of suppliers over the years. So when I bought the business, they said ‘Fantastic, we’re so happy,’ not ‘How are you going to pay?’. ‘If you’ve got it, then we’re in good hands’ is the message that keeps coming back.” More than a year down the track, the business is “going great.” Neil is wearing one of the company’s brand new navy polo shirts, designed by marketing and design manager Terry Isaako. “We still have challenges. We’re not there yet, but life is better and better every day.” Neil’s links with the company run deep. He met his wife, Tanya there in 1990 when she was the receptionist. Now she is a director and shareholder. Their daughter, 23-year-old Stacey, now occupies the reception desk her mother used to sit at. A communications graduate, Stacey also helps with marketing and social media. Another daughter, Hine,

20, works in customer service and the warehouse. Neil’s eldest daughter Juliette is Aspiring Walls’ Auckland sales representative. Family dog Bruno, an enthusiastic curlyhaired mix of Jack Russell, shih tzu, and poodle, welcomes customers. There’s a definite sense the staff feel like family, too. “My driver is looking after people, being reasonable and being decent,” says Neil. The company pays the living wage, and factory staff work four-day weeks. Last week Neil got hit by a car in the Pātaka Art Museum carpark. Save for “a few dings on my head” Neil insists he’s fine. Factory staff have been texting him messages of support. “It’s quite humbling.” Established in 1960, the company was one of Porirua’s founding businesses, and still operates out of its original premises in Mohuia Crescent. It’s had several makeovers over the years: Ashley Wallpapers became Pacific Wallcoverings and then Aspiring Walls. The days of hundreds of factory

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workers are long gone. Several other companies, such as ethical clothing manufacturer Little Yellow Bird, who produced Aspiring’s new staff shirts, rent out factory space. Wellington’s bus shelters are made there. “We’ve got a real community of businesses here, which is quite cool.” Aspiring gives back to the local community. It provides premises for the Nest Collective, a charity that sources essentials for families in need. The business also supports Tanya and Neil’s middle daughter Teana, in her youth engagement work. Plans include updating existing designs with new colours and textures, creating new designs, digital printing in-house, and increasing exports to Australia. Hine wants to be Australian manager and live on the Gold Coast. It’s a family joke, Neil says, but he’s probably only half joking. He wants to retire eventually, so the long-term plan is all about his family’s goals. “It’s ‘What do you want to do,

where do you want to be?’ They don’t feel that they have to be here, they’re here because they want to be here. They really enjoy it and they’re good at what they do.” Neil is also in talks with local iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira, which has a substantial housing portfolio. Aspiring Walls hopes to provide wallpaper for new builds as well as the iwi’s 900 state houses. It would also train people to hang wallpaper. Aspiring has already taken on one rangatahi fulltime, training him to print and emboss wallpaper. It’s a commercial venture that also represents a “knitting-in of community”, says Neil. “Many who live in the pā have worked here or have a relative who’s worked here.” The support of both his family and the company whānau are crucial to Aspiring’s success, says Neil. “Everybody is trying that much harder to make it work, which is really good.”

O P I N I O N

The housing market monster BY M I C H A E L R E D D E L L

There's been a lot of action, but there's still no fix for the housing market.

ven before Covid, house prices in much of New Zealand were very high. Over the past year or so they’ve again risen sharply almost everywhere, putting home ownership further beyond the reach of most, and underpinning rising rents. The resulting transfer of resources (wealth) from the relatively poor and young to the relatively rich and the risk-takers is utterly unnecessary and deeply unjust. In a well-functioning market, times like these would be a renter’s dream. Purchasing a house should never have been cheaper, and rents should be lower (in real terms) than ever. That’s because interest rates are at record lows. The New Zealand government’s 20-year inflation-indexed bond currently trades at about 0.8 per cent. Twenty five years ago the comparable rate was about five per cent. Basic financial theory suggests that when rates of returns on one long-term asset fall so will those on other long-term assets. And in a well-functioning market rents are the main source of return to the owner of the rental property. But a well-functioning market is one in which it is easy to bring to market and develop new land and new houses. In such a market, developing the new land (building the new houses) would now be easier and cheaper than ever. It takes time to develop a subdivision and build houses, and finance costs are one of the major costs to business. New Zealand has abundant land that could readily be converted to urban uses. So does Wellington, and much of the land surrounding Wellington isn’t worth

much in alternative uses. But if regulations make land artificially scarce, then lower interest rates (or other sources of higher demand) can translate quite quickly into higher house/land prices. The alternative isn’t just some theoretician’s dream. When I wrote here six months ago, I cited Little Rock, Arkansas, as an example of the many growing, pleasant, and highly-affordable US cities. Real house prices in Little Rock hadn’t changed much in 40 years and median house prices appeared to be about NZ$300,000. Interest rates are at least as low as those here. Check any website and you’ll easily find modern townhouses to rent in Little Rock for no more than NZ$1000 per month. Try that in Wellington. In a well-functioning market, when interest rates fall and prices look like beginning to rise, owners of land (existing sites in the city or new areas at the periphery) should be falling over themselves to get new land, and then new houses, to market, and owners of rental properties should be competing aggressively to get and keep tenants. The alternatives would be vacant property (earning nothing) or money in the bank (earning little more). But this is New Zealand where, absent a wellfunctioning market in which it is easy to bring to market and develop new land, house/land prices have surged again, where rents have been rising, and where price to income ratios – which should be less than four in well-functioning markets – are now more like 10.

O P I N I O N

There has been all manner of policy announcements this year, some substantive and others little more than rhetorical. The government has extended the “bright-line test”, so that investors selling properties within 10 years will pay a sort of capital gains tax, and – in one of the more bizarre moves – is legislating to stop businesses owning investment properties deducting their interest costs against taxable income. A select committee is looking into new resource management legislation. And, of course, some councils – including Wellington’s – are (haltingly, controversially) moving to allow some more intensive development in some parts of the city. Bureaucrats have got in on the act too, with renewed loan-to-value (LVR) restrictions from the Reserve Bank and the threat of more restrictions to come. And the government has insisted that the Reserve Bank should talk more about house prices. But there are two pointers that none of this amounts to much more than performative display. The first is that government ministers – from the Prime Minister down – refuse to express any interest in seeing house prices fall. Instead, they talk repeatedly about just lowering the rate of increase. Councillors, and Opposition parties, are rarely much better. The second pointer is that prices have kept on rising. Among forecasters, at best house prices are expected to fall back just a few percentage points over the period ahead, despite the huge increases we’ve seen in recent years. If people – smart people with lots of money at stake – really thought that the policy changes already made (tax rules, access to finance) or those in the works (such as the replacement for the RMA, or the National Policy Statement on urban development) were going to make an enduring difference, we’d see it in the prices of the assets already. That is how asset markets work, whether stock markets, foreign exchange markets, or (a little more murkily) land markets. But there are no signs or reports of substantial falls in prices for existing properties or potentially-developable land. This year’s measures aren’t designed to fix the broken housing market, just to throw some sand in the wheels, be seen to be doing something, and

perhaps to buy a bit of temporary relief. Nothing done or promised is likely to make very much sustained difference at all, because none of it gets to the source of the problem. Some people put a lot of hope in provisions for greater urban density, even though our cities are already quite densely populated by New World standards. They are probably wrong to do so. Increasing density has already been a feature for several decades – think of all the infill housing a decade or two back – and the physical footprint of our cities has also expanded. But in the face of rapid population growth – likely to resume once Covid passes – these grudging changes have only been enough to prevent house prices rising sooner to even more outrageous levels. Without a radical freeing-up of land use at the periphery, creating aggressive competition between development options in cities and those at the margins, simply allowing a bit more densification will not bring land prices down. It may even bid up the prices of some sections, which can now be developed more intensively. A lot of houses are being built right now, but there is no prospect of enduring much lower prices unless or until owners of vacant land, on the peripheries of our city, are free to bring it into housing and other urban uses. New Zealanders should be able to count on a well-functioning housing/land market and ready access to finance. Increasingly we have neither; just more complexity, more inefficiency, and moreunaffordable house/land prices. Michael Reddell was formerly a senior official at the Reserve Bank, and also worked at the Treasury and as New Zealand’s representative on the board of the International Monetary Fund. These days, in additional to being a semi-retired homemaker, he writes about economic policy and related issues at croakingcassandra.com

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O G R A P H Y BY A N N A B R I G GS

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Slivin’ in the city

Freelance journalist and publicist Sasha

P H OTO G R A P H Y BY ANNA BRIGGS

Borissenko takes us on a tour of her 52sqm central Wellington apartment. 69

What the apartment lacks in size it makes up in the fact we own half of the roof. One day we may even invest in purchasing a spa for “spartys”.

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I’ve been obsessed with the work of Anya Sinclair for about 10 years since I was studying in Dunedin. I was 31 and thanks to Covid-19 it looked like I wasn’t going to live overseas anytime soon so I used some of my savings to finally purchase one of her works. There’s something about woods that gets me going.

I moved down to Wellington from Auckland in November 2020, after realising I wasn’t going to be living overseas anytime soon. A friend suggested I move in with a friend of a friend – Tane Morris – and we got on like a house on fire. We like to laugh, take our jobs seriously, share the same sense of style, and are considerate of each other’s space.

A week shy of Christmas our landlords said we had to move out because they wanted to sell the apartment. We both had savings and Kiwisaver and thought it would be a laugh to take the plunge and go through the process together, despite knowing each other for less than two months. In hindsight, neither of us thought it would happen. The buying process was hideous, but we realised we made a great team. Perhaps it was insanity or simply luck but we purchased the apartment in February and we’ve been living rather harmoniously ever since.

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The mid-century vanity was a second hand purchase. I travelled to Kāpiti to get it and the guy thought I was crazy to think I could fit it into my Nissan Tiida. There’s nothing like being underestimated to get the adrenalin and motivation going.

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I almost didn’t purchase this amazing desk chair. The inscription says it was made in the Whanganui prison, which had a sense of meaning for me seeing I tend to report on access to justice issues. I was travelling from Auckland to Wellington and my car was positively heaving with twenty years worth of hoarding. I told the owner of the shop that I’d buy it if he could fit it in the front seat of my car. After a solid half-hour of real-life tetris, he got it in so it was meant to be.

The futon is a secondhand Nood purchase, but I hated the original upholstery. I purchased the mustard velvet fabric cheaply and sewed the cover not realising that I hadn’t accounted for the fact it needed an opening. It required a lot of unpicking. I tend to do things guns blazing and then regret not being more considered, but it’s the risk that’s exciting.

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Amid the hysteria of the first lockdown I purchased this metre-tall Virgin Mary. A throwback to my Catholic roots, I think. I spent the first lockdown with my mother in Tauranga. It’s not very often you get to spend quality time with a parent in your adult life. But it almost didn’t happen. I caught the last bus from Auckland and begged the bus driver to let me travel with my bike. I’ve always thought I would secretly thrive if there was an international crisis. I suppose I purchased an apartment so the theory remains intact.

If Tane and I have parties we tend to put tape over the glass cabinet and label it with “no touchies”. We’re a “don’t use the mugs or hand-blown glass” kind of household. Shoes and debauchery are allowed, of course.

There’s nothing quite like having the perfect mug for a cup of tea. My family are all obsessed with mugs. We rank them (tier one, two, or three) according to their quality. I think I may only have tier one mugs. I’ve collected them over the past 10 years from all of my travels and adventures. I think I’d cry if one broke, so I’m pushing my luck having them stacked like that. My friends have staged interventions.

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The antlers were a gift from a journalism subject. The article was on a guy who grew world-class dahlias and he owned a second-hand shop. He said I could pick anything up from his shop as a gift. It was probably unethical to receive a gift, but I was young, and if it’s free, it’s for me. I’ve clearly spent far too many years being a student (10).

The ice-cream lamp is iconic for a plethora of reasons. Is it art? Is it functional? A few years ago you could buy two-for-one tickets to Japan. My sister and I went – we often travel together – and I coaxed her to come with me to the kitchen district to pick one of these up just an hour shy of going to the airport. We had all of our luggage with us, and it was a pain, in hindsight. Getting the lamp through customs caused quite the stir. I’m sure they thought I was mad. I suppose they weren’t wrong.

I have an unhealthy obsession with bed linen, and the limoncello European pillowcases are the byproduct of lockdown online purchasing. They may look delicious but they cost a small fortune. The painting on the left is by Julia Atkinson-Dunn of Studio-home. 74

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Still a shared space P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A D R I A N V E RCO E

Donna Cross loves her late husband's things. She talks to Sarah Catherall about making their home her home.

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cott Kennedy’s spirit lives on in the home the late artist built with his partner, Donna Cross, 30 years or so ago. The house, across the road from wild Breaker Bay, is filled with his sculptures and paintings, his favourite things and found objects, and his collections of books and toys and other treasures. Donna, an illustrator and designer, has added her own mark to the property since Scott passed away from cancer eight years ago: she has repainted, added a dining room and entrance way, renovated the kitchen, and turned an upstairs open space into smaller rooms. She has also set up a gallery where she displays and sells Scott’s art and holds regular exhibitions on behalf of other artists.

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She says: “I love having Scott’s art and things around. But I’ve also set out to regenerate the house. It has to be my home while honouring Scott’s art and presence.’’ Scott and Donna were together for nearly 40 years after meeting at the Wellington School of Design. Scott specialised in sketch-style figurative illustrations and was an artist and sculptor. Today, book covers and many examples of Scott’s art, and found objects like the bottles he collected across the road on the beach, are on display around the two-storey house. As Donna wanders around the house, a southerly swell crashes on the foreshore, visible like a framed artwork through vertical windows. Donna has spent about 30 years gazing at that view every day, and says she never gets tired of it. The couple were renting a house in Hataitai when they bought the triangular site overlooking the rugged beach in 1989. They bowled the cottage and called in a friend, designer Euan McKechnie,

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to sketch their new home. He designed a house with strong lines, and a metal staircase striding up the middle. Donna has added circular shapes where she can – circular art works, round mirrors, clocks, and circle pullouts in the cabinetry – to contrast with the rectilinear character of the house. Similarly, in the living room, sofas in the living room add splashes of lime green and orange against the charcoal and white walls. From the moment they step in the door, art and objects greet visitors. A curtain of fabric designed by Scott shields a cupboard

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holding coats and shoes near the entrance way. The whole house feels curated, a living gallery. Donna has turned the garage into a reception area for visitors to her exhibitions. Behind it, she has converted Scott’s painting studio into Three Eyes Gallery, where she holds a new exhibition on behalf of a local artist every month. When Capital visited, she was about to open a show of the work of Massey student graduates. She explained that Scott had wanted to put a container out the front to house exhibitions, “but I’ve got all this space so that’s what I decided to do.’’ Simple everyday objects are arranged like art works. A handful of rocks from the beach are dotted along a windowsill. Donna has arranged kete bags, some bought and some

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gifted, on a wall. In the former garage, her garden tools hang on a wall like an art installation. The upper storey had an open-plan space where Scott and Donna had their offices. During the renovation, Donna erected a wall down the middle to hang Scott’s framed paintings and to divide up the area. “I added the walls and Scott’s paintings fitted perfectly.’’ Splashes of orange in Scott’s paintings match the hues in the skinny Matai floorboards. “The floor is quite stripey. I like the way the wood warms everything up. When Scott’s paintings went up, everything seemed to work.’’ Donna’s studio where she does illustration work for the Film Commission and mentors Massey University interns, is off to one side. A small sitting room with bookshelves is

E D I B L E S

down the back in the place of Scott’s former office. Tar jugs Scott collected over the years (they used to be used by road workers) are arranged along the bookshelf. “He found one in a foundry. He got one chromed and collected the others.’’ Donna’s bedroom at the back of the house is simple and calm, painted charcoal and white, with art and objects that all hold special meaning for her displayed on a table: a pine cone, one of Scott’s bottle sculptures, and a pottery bowl add texture and contribute to the sense of calm. Art hangs on all the walls. Much of it is by friends of Donna and Scott, including an oar by Leanne Culy, a photograph by Brian Culy, and an art work by the late Fane Flaws. A second bedroom on the ground floor was occupied by Donna’s nephew for a couple of years. Both bedrooms overlook the garden filled with natives, which are like living sculptures of different shapes, hues, and textures.

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Six years ago, a new kitchen was needed after a water pipe burst. “I love my kitchen. The old kitchen was the same dimensions but it didn’t seem to work.’’ In the living area, a memory wall displays some of Scott’s favourite things and mementoes of the time when he was ill – the rings he wore, a toy he had as a child, a hospital band, and a patch of fabric from his jeans are among the dozens of items Donna has arranged. She points to a weapon which Scott wasn’t allowed as a child. “Scott always loved toys Everything here has a story.” Was it hard having the memories of his illness on display? “Yes, that’s why the house couldn’t stay exactly the same. But everything he loved is here,’’ she says. “I’ve always had Scott’s art around me and I’m proud of him. Now I want the art work to speak in a fairly neutral kind of space.’’

From waste to wares BY A RT H U R H AW K E S

Matthew O’Hagan and Courtney Naismith are the duo behind Utilize, a Wellington design studio that uses recycled plastic to 3D print homewares such as lampshades, pots, and furniture. Both 24, they honed their methods while studying at Victoria University, where they used filament made from plastic cutlery to print a run of minimalist, tāniko-patterned lampshades, which won an ECC Lighting Design award in 2020. Since setting up the studio earlier this year, Matthew and Courtney have made their own recycled filament, finessing the entire process from trash to treasure. Their “Scale Seat”, a public bench prototype, began life as plastic fishing waste they gathered by hand. They also mix discarded flax fibre into some of their plastics, printing plant pots with a natural earthy hue.

Their ability to place 3D printing in a circular economy of reusing and recycling has earned them a number of domestic prizes. They’re also finalists for the Best Design Awards and the globally-recognised James Dyson Awards. Matthew says the awards provided “validation that our products have the potential to make real change”. And validation is important when you’re navigating a design world already saturated with innovators. Courtney stresses that, despite the early success, their original goal – “to think about waste materials as a resource” – hasn’t changed. While still at university, she noticed how Air New Zealand’s clear plastic stirrers captured and refracted the sunlight, and procured them by the bagful after the airline switched to bamboo. The stirrers would become the aforementioned lampshades, retaining the lucent, crystalline quality of the source material. Sharing virtually all aspects of the workload, including the building of their new 3D printer, Courtney and Matthew are now in the planning phase of their next run of recycled homewares. “Hopefully in time for Christmas,” Matthew says. “But we’ll see.”

Nic Dempster

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H O M E

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PROPOSED PLANS New builds in Wellington’s central city will have to be a minimum of six stories, in an effort to tackle the housing crisis, if the Wellington City Council’s Draft District Plan goes ahead. According to data from the council, without changes to the existing planning settings, the City can expect a shortfall of 4,600 to 12,000 homes over the next 30 years. The plan also proposes working with developers to provide affordable housing, and requiring a certain proportion of units or houses in any development be affordable. The public is invited to give feedback until 14 December.

LUCKY FOR SOME Over the past year, the average house price in South Wairarapa has risen by 40.5%, according to CoreLogic’s Quarterly Property Market & Economic Update. Porirua, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, and Kāpiti Coast all saw increases of more than 30% (all above the national average of 22.8%). The report states, “There are no parts of the country that have been left untouched by this property market upswing in the past 9–12 months, creating more equity ‘on paper’ for owners, but raising the barriers to entry for would-be buyers”.

STILL STANDING In 2012, tenants of the Gordon Wilson flats on the Terrace were given just seven days to vacate their homes. The 1950s modernist building, which has been the cause of much debate over the past nine years, is the inspiration behind Deanna Dowling’s exhibition Standing still, still standing. On display in the Courtenay Place Light Boxes, Dowling’s photographs and text (taken from articles that discuss the situation of the building) reflect on the history and future of the former Housing New Zealand complex and explores modern architectural value systems.

HOMELESS HUB After nearly three years of planning, demolition work on the site of Wellington City Mission’s new community hub, Whakamaru, has begun. The project in Oxford Tce, just off Adelaide Road, is ambitious. It will contain a 120-seat community café, 35 housing units which can be occupied for up to a year, and a social supermarket where patrons can browse for different items free of charge, instead of receiving prepacked parcels from a foodbank. The centre will be open 24/7, providing laundry facilities, showers, kitchens, and bathrooms for Wellington’s homeless population.

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Argentine ant BY M E LO DY T H O M A S

Name: Argentine ant Scientific name: Linepithema humile Status: Highly invasive, population increasing Description: Argentine ants are 2–3mm long and honey-brown in colour (whereas most other ants in Aotearoa are black). A single colony will have several queens, each capable of laying up to 60 eggs a day. Argentine ants are incredibly aggressive and territorial, and when disturbed they will scatter – sometimes up the legs and arms of unsuspecting humans. While they aren’t poisonous, they will sometimes bite. The Argentine ant is listed among the world’s 100 worst invasive species by the World Conservation Union. Habitat: Native to a handful of countries in South America, the Argentine ant is now established on six continents, having been spread inadvertently by humans. The species was first discovered in Auckland in 1990 and has spread to other regions and cities including Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Nelson, and Christchurch. As well as being a pest, these ants pose a serious threat to native flora and fauna. They compete for resources such as honeydew and

nectar with kiwi, tūi, bellbirds, and silvereyes, and kill and displace native invertebrates, which other native species depend on for survival. The community of Raumati South has been battling a bad infestation since 2018, despite huge elimination efforts. While invasive species like the Argentine ant are believed to be susceptible to population collapse (an outcome Raumati residents will surely be hoping for), climate change has been predicted to increase the likelihood of their survival in many regions. Look/listen: The easiest way to recognise Argentine ants is by their brown colouring. They also move together in trails which can be five or more ants wide, like an ant superhighway. Tell me a story: Part of the success of Argentine ants is down to their ability to form “super colonies”. While most other species of ant will attack or compete with neighbouring nests, the genetic makeup of Argentine ants is so similar that individuals from different nests can mingle. In the US, there’s an Argentine ant colony reaching from Northern California to the boundary of Mexico, which is estimated to contain nearly one trillion individuals (it’s called “The Very Large Colony”).

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With a newly renovated minimalist interior, here at Egmont we have created unique and contemporary food and beverage menus to elevate and refine the customer experience while retaining our signature Egmont flair.

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EVERYTHING EVErYTHING YOU WANT IN A PALE ALE CALLED PALE ALE.

MALTY

HOPPY

LIGHT

DArK

sweet

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WA K E U P A N D S M E L L THE COFFEE According to recent research from the Rainforest Alliance, coffee could become scarce if environmental sustainability is ignored – a global shortage greater than Brazil’s annual output is probable in the coming decades, owing to a combination of climate change and rocketing global demand. They are encouraging Kiwis to shop sustainably, and check for certifications. Good Fortune Coffee Co, for instance, winners of Capital’s Best Coffee Award, only use organic Fair Trade beans.

SUSTAINABLE STUDENTS

FOOD OF LOVE

CHEESED OFF

Sophie Hall, Hana Klein, and Rosie Dunn, Year 7 students from Evans Bay Intermediate School, have been awarded the Sustainable Agriculture Award at the NIWA Wellington Regional Science and Technology Fair. The team investigated nitrate levels in Wellington’s rural and urban rivers. These are affected when fertiliser for our food (or for grass our food eats) leaks into waterways, causing algae to bloom, depleting oxygen and sunlight, and producing toxins.

Supermarkets are swiping left on ugly veg. This means suppliers get stuck with cartloads of tasty (but wonky) produce. Sadly, a lot of this unloved goodness goes to landfill. This is where Wellington heroes Wonky Box come in. They swipe right on “wonky “produce” which can be a mixture of odd looking or surplus varieties that might not meet market standards,” says co-founder Angus Simms. “We pick up and bring back to our depot in Wellington, where we pack our boxes and distribute them.” It’s a match!

A new feature documentary, Milked, highlights the shortcomings of New Zealand’s dairy industry. The documentary has received praise from well known vegan James Cameron, and features interviewer Chris Huriwai (pictured) talking to a number of high-profile environmental figures, including Jane Goodall, Suzi Cameron, and Keegan Kuhn, the director of Cowspiracy. Part of the New Zealand International Film Festival, Milked will show at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington and Reading Cinemas in Porirua.

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 O P E N 7 D AY S / ( 0 4 ) 8 0 1 8 7 7 7 / 1 1 0 A C U B A S T R E E T, T E A R O / S H O P O N L I N E AT W E L L I N G T O N A P O T H E C A R Y. C O . N Z

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WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS Commonsense Organics celebrated their 30th birthday with some sumptuously sustainable collaborations. They teamed up with Good Fortune Coffee, Wellington Chocolate Factory, and Six Barrel Soda Company. This produced a single-origin 70% cocoa bar, bottles of organic strawberry and ginger fizz (with strawberries grown on the Commonsense farm in Te Horo), and funky bags of Fair Trade coffee beans. No end-of-year selection would be complete without a calendar, and their's is printed locally on recycled paper by Excel Digital, a zero-carbon company. All available at Commonsense.

THE TASTIEST TIK-TOKS

LOCAL SENSATIONS

WINNER ON A PLATE

Matt Reynecke cooks to an online audience. We’re loving the Upper Hutt local’s easy-to-follow video recipes, posted on @kitchen_by_matt, particularly the juicy gua bao (braised pork belly buns). After leaving his previous cheffing job, Matt decided to grow his social media platform before he made any major career decisions. He’s already amassed more than 66,000 TikTok followers and 5,000 on Instagram, winning over lockdown audiences across the globe.

Wairarapa and Kāpiti producers have swept the annual New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards, winning all of the five major categories. Kāpiti Olives’ Frantoio blend won best in show, with Olive2Oil from Tauherenikau Olives winning best boutique. Midori No Yuzu, made by the Olive Press in Greytown under their Pressed Gold label – a blend of frantoio olives and yuzu fruit – won best flavoured oil. Side note: boutique olive oil is a great gift for those awkward friends you can’t easily buy for.

Egmont Street Eatery has been awarded the coveted title of Best Burger, in Visa Wellington on a Plate’s Burger Wellington competition for their “Kingston Tastee”: a smashed pork and beef patty, with mango and pork fat chutney. The burger offering was only five days in when Covid and lockdown forced all establishments to close. Thankfully, VWOAP resumed and finished strong, with C.G.R. Merchant and Co. winning Best Cocktail, and Best Festival Dish going to Boulcott Street Bistro.

MAKING SUSTAINABILITY SIMPLE

@THEMINIMALNZ WWW.THEMINIMAL.CO.NZ

F E AT U R E

Dasher Jade Otway is New Zealand’s top-ranked junior tennis player. She’s so good at dashing around the court she was offered a sports scholarship to Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, which took her away from her family in Blenheim. The Christmas before she moved to Wellington her mum gave her a custom-made necklace – featuring a tennis racket with a gold tennis ball. “I've worn it every day since. It's my taonga, my treasure,” she says. For Jade, Christmas is all about spending time with her family. “My siblings and I all live in different cities so it’s very rare the whole family is together. As we all grow up and are moving away we are definitely cherishing these moments all together.” In January she’ll move to Texas to play tennis for Texas Christian University on a full scholarship, so this Christmas is particularly special. “It’s always a special day and to spend it with my family before heading off overseas is very important to me.” Jade’s vegan, but when she thinks of festive food a big pink fish swims into her head. “Mum and Dad decided to make Christmas day really relaxing, so we could just enjoy being together and playing games. They didn’t want to be in the kitchen for hours. Traditionally they always had ham and lamb as the Christmas meats. When we moved to Blenheim, they discovered Marlborough salmon. It was too expensive to have as an everyday meal, so it became a Christmas treat. Mum would top the salmon with a cranberry, pine nut, and herb topping. It was a really fresh, light lunch – so as kids we would always have the energy to run off and play with our new toys.”

Move over Rudolph BY F R A N C E S CA E M M S

We thought it was time for Rudolph to stop hogging the limelight, so we talked to some talented Wellingtonians who fit the bill as Santa’s first three reindeer, and asked them what ingredient really makes their Christmas Christmas.

F E AT U R E

Dancer

Prancer

In Japan lots of people buy KFC for Christmas dinner, says Royal New Zealand Ballet Dancer Kihiro Kusukami. “I guess it’s a similar tradition to roast ham or turkey. Christmas is not as big a celebration in Japan, but Japanese people are interested in western culture and what’s more western than fried fast food?” When Kihiro was little, his mother would make a special creamy chicken stew for the family at Christmas time. “It’s made with milk, cream, a lot of vegetables, and chicken,” explains Kihiro. “Now that I’m grown up, I really like it, but when I was little I didn’t. I have a silly memory from one Christmas; because I didn’t like the soup, I ate it super slow and complained about it. My father got mad, took my soup away, and put me in time out.” Originally from Nagoya, Japan, Kihiro joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2018 and was promoted to Soloist at the beginning of 2020. His first national tour with the RNZB was Val Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker, in which his roles included the Nutcracker Prince and Chinese Tea. “In Japan, the Nutcracker season is during winter so it’s cold outside and often snowing. Since I moved to this side of the world, it has felt weird doing The Nutcracker in summer. I liked bringing a bit of wintry Christmas to New Zealand.” Christmas in Japan is more about romance than family, says Kihiro. “If you’re in a relationship, you usually spend Christmas with your partner. New Year’s is more for family. As I got older I spent fewer Christmases with family.” Last year, Kihiro and his girlfriend celebrated together in Wellington. “My girlfriend is Australian and grew up having pavlova at Christmas, so she made one for us. We gave each other presents and watched Elf.”

If Felicity Frockaccino was one of Santa’s reindeer, she’d be Prancer, “because this is me in real life! Swishy and can do a killer runway in six-inch heels!” Apart from being a costumier, drag queen, and host, Felicity can also ballroom - and tap-dance. Felicity is an internationally recognised drag performer of Ngai Tahu descent. She was raised in Ōtaki on the Kāpiti Coast. Pre-pandemic she lived in Sydney where she hosted some of Australasia’s biggest drag events, including Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day. “I had to come home for a spell because of Covid.” Now she’s back in Sydney working hard to create amazing events, “so I can one day bring them back again to New Zealand.” Christmas is Felicity’s favourite time of year. “I always loved coming to Wellington for the parade and became fascinated with the Kirkcaldie & Stains Christmas windows; so much so, I became a window dresser in my late teens for a bit!” Her best memories include driving the streets to see everyone’s Christmas light displays, the Christmas tree sparkling with decorations, and her nana’s homemade cooking. Especially pork crackling – “Crunchy, salty, juicy, moreish, delicious!” Eating pork crackling brings back memories of happiness for Felicity. It makes her think of everyone home for Christmas, “all under one big roof eating and enjoying each other’s company, days of eating leftovers and feeling content. Coming from a poor family, Christmas was really the only time of the year we could afford to celebrate, so it was always a massive affair.” This Christmas will be the third since she left New Zealand for which she won’t be home. She’ll celebrate with an “orphan’s Christmas” in Sydney, where celebrations tend to be “a lot more relaxed”. Will Felicity be on the crackling? “I’m a hopeless cook. So no,” she laughs.

S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

Pig Out

ike many folks, Gregor Fyfe loves bacon. But he doesn’t

The company soon expanded into fresh pork and other small

love not knowing where and how the pig that provided

goods, followed by free-range eggs. Its story has evolved too,

that bacon was raised. Back in the mid-2000s, there weren’t

and today the impact of farming on the environment is as

a lot of options on the shelves at the grocery store. “When

central to its ethos as animal welfare. “Our mission has always

it came to bacon and ham,” Fyfe explains, “we couldn’t find

been to support sustainable farming change. It’s increasingly

any products we could trace back to a farm, and we felt

clear it’s got to be a win for the environment as well as a win

uncomfortable not knowing where or how that pork had

for the pigs.”

been produced.” So the Fyfe brothers – Gregor and Cameron

Those pigs start life in paddocks before moving into large,

– decided to do something about it.

open-air yards called deep straw shelters. This is why Freedom

Freedom Farms was launched in 2006. “To set up traceability,

Farms pork products are not labelled free-range (the eggs are

we had to be able to visit the farms and have them

free-range, however). “Free-range pig farming is delightful,”

independently audited, to prove they were sticking to a

says Fyfe, “but is it sustainable on a large scale? Obviously, we

set of standards,” Fyfe explains. “We said, ‘If you agree

support free-range farming, but we really want to support

to be audited, we’ll pay more for your pork, put it into

farmers to change in a way that’s sustainable at scale.”

products we’ll brand, and see if consumers care or not.’

The advantage of raising pigs on straw is that the manure

Turns out customers did care.”

doesn’t end up polluting the soil, and therefore the water table

A robust supply line of meat was crucial. Being a boutique

and waterways. Instead, it’s collected on the enriched straw base, composted, and spread back over the land. There’s that

producer was never an option, Fyfe says. “We knew that

win-win Fyfe hoped for: a farming system that’s kinder on pigs,

to make a meaningful contribution, we had to be in all the

and takes it easier on the environment.

supermarkets in the country. Our bacon had to sit right next to the bacon people were used to buying, to present a

Freedom Farms Christmas Hams will be available at your local

serious choice.”

grocery store or speciality food store from the start of November. 98

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T H E

E D I B L E S B O O K

Feast P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N N A B R I G GS

This silly season we’ve taken classic summer ingredients and added a little star-power. Our festive feast includes four recipes designed especially for Capital by a Michelin-starred chef. Plus an expert table setter offers eight tips to beautify your dining experience.

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Follow the star Sam Dinsdale spent 12 intense years as a chef in London. A self-proclaimed perfectionist, she honed her craft in Michelin-starred restaurants, training under Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing. The restaurant she opened with two friends, The Five Fields, in Chelsea, was awarded a Michelin star in 2016. Now happily back in Wellington, Sam describes herself as a retired professional chef who is passionate about cooking. She shares recipes and sage advice for blissful Christmas cooking.

or Christmas in our house, we always have an array of easy-going, bountiful dishes. In the past, Christmas was the one time that I appeared from the depths of London. I would always vow not to cook and yet, somehow, I couldn’t stay away from the kitchen. Food is the one thing that I love bringing to my friends and family. It just brings me so much joy. And the people eating the food always seem to be happy about it. Sometimes cooking for a heap of family and friends can be chaotic and a bit stressful. Pour yourself a drink, laugh with your guests, give a loose time-frame, and just enjoy yourself. If something doesn’t turn out the way you thought it might, never apologise. The best way to enjoy your day is to make sure what you’re cooking is something you enjoy cooking. After making an entire career out of perfectionism and obsessive focus on success, I now choose to dial back everything and just keep it light, fun, and delicious. Showcasing what is in season goes without saying. We must make the most of what we have at the time. Asparagus, stone fruit, berries, just have them all day every day while you can.

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Toasted buckwheat, peach, and marjoram salad

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Pulled lamb, cucumber, and tahini verde

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Asparagus salad with pine nut and puffed wild rice granola

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Raspberry, yoghurt, and almond panna cotta

E D I B L E S

Toasted buckwheat, peach, and marjoram salad

PEACH MARJORAM DRESSING 1 ripe peach 1 handful of fresh marjoram 2 tsp apple cider vinegar 1 Tbsp olive oil

BUCKWHEAT CRUNCH

6. Take the peach, cut in half, remove the stone, and pulse the flesh in a blender, then place in a jar. 7. Tear up the marjoram and add to the peach puree, along with the apple cider vinegar, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Lid on. Shake to emulsify.

1 Tbsp canola oil 100g hulled buckwheat Salt 1. Heat oil in a frying pan and toast the buckwheat for 6–7 minutes. 2. Remove, drain on some paper towels, and season with salt while still warm. Set aside.

TO FINISH 7 ripe peaches 100g hazelnuts, roasted and chopped 100g puffed buckwheat

HONEY-SOUSED RED ONION 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 2 Tbsp honey

8. Prep the peaches by removing the stones, and cut into bite-sized chunks. 9. Place in a bowl, season well, and drizzle over the marjoram-peach dressing. 10. Next, add in the toasted buckwheat, puffed buckwheat, and hazelnuts. Drain the liquid from the red onion and add to the salad. Toss well to mix, adding more dressing if needed.

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar ¼ cup water

3. In a bowl, season the onion well with salt. 4. In a small pan, heat the honey, white wine vinegar, and water until the honey has dissolved. 5. Once hot but not simmering, pour it over the onions and leave to cool. Chill in the fridge until needed.

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E D I B L E S

If you’re hosting little ones, have a kids’ table with crackers, colouring placemats, and toys to keep them entertained while the adults indulge.

We all know it's the middle of summer and (hopefully) hot, but don't skip the candles or fairy lights to add ambience and create a vibe.

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On the eighth day of

Table talk

la m sa d, p10 3 o ra j r ma

gave to me, eight tips for laying a delectable dining table. Event stylist and owner of boutique events hire company, Arch, Jenna Limmer shares her top tips to create the perfect environment for

If space is an issue then set up a small DIY bar for condiments and bottles – it’s also a good save if you have heathens who want a tomato sauce bottle on the table.

your festive feast - from candles to quizzes. 104

Pass up the paper and use real napkins. They don't have to match (neither does your dinnerware, for that matter). To make your own, head to your local op-shop for fabric.

E D I B L E S

Have your table fully set and ready before your guests arrive. It helps give it that wow factor.

Things that are living can bring life to your table. Think greenery, fruit, or pine cones. A branch of olive or foraged pōhutukawa placed down the centre of the table is a quick way to add charm.

ragus sal ad A spa wild rice wi fed f gr t pu a

n ut ne pi p106 h ola n

an Pick a colour theme and use it as your base – three colours is a good rule of thumb. Try to stick to a single metallic.

Instead of place settings, have an activity for your guests ready to go – a small quiz or a fun project, for example, will create conversation and ease pressure in the kitchen.

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E D I B L E S

Asparagus salad with pine nut and puffed wild rice granola ASPARAGUS SALAD

PINE NUT GRANOLA

2 bunches asparagus 4 Tbsp good olive oil 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar Zest and juice of ½ lime Salt and pepper

1 cup of canola oil 70g wild or black rice 50g pine nuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped 50g honey 1 tsp olive oil Zest of 1 lime Salt

1. Cut the tough ends off and trim off the tips. Ends in the bin; set tips aside. 2. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and get two bowls of iced water ready. 3. While the water is coming to a boil, take a peeler (or a mandolin, but be careful) and thinly slice the spears. Place the shavings in one of the bowls of iced water and chill in the fridge until needed. 4. Once the water is boiling, cook the tips for a couple of minutes, until tender. Refresh in the iced water. 5. Make the vinaigrette by putting the olive oil, vinegar, zest, juice, salt and pepper in a jar. Make sure the lid is closed firmly and shake until emulsified.

8. Place the oil in a pot and bring to 150C. Check to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping in a few grains. If they puff instantly, you’re good to go. 9. Have a plate with some paper towels at the ready to drain the rice post frying. It is best to fry the rice in two batches as you can scoop it out of the pan more easily. Once the rice is puffed, scoop out with a rice skimmer or small sieve. Place on paper towel and give it a quick season while still warm. 10. Place the drained rice in a mixing bowl with the pine nuts. Warm the honey until liquid and pour into the bowl. 11. Drizzle in the olive oil, season with salt, and give a good mix to coat the rice. 12. Spread over an oven tray lined with baking paper and bake at 180C for 5 mins. Take out of the oven and sprinkle with fine lime zest while still warm. Set aside to cool.

ROAST PINE NUT PUREE 200g pine nuts 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar

TO FINISH

6. In a preheated 180C oven, roast the pine nuts on a tray for about 4–5 minutes until lightly golden. Then place in a saucepan with the salt, sugar, and enough water to cover. Simmer until the pine nuts can be squished without too much force – you may need to top up the water during cooking. 7. Once the pine nuts are squishable, drain any excess water and reserve the liquid. Place the nuts in a blender and add in about 2–3 tablespoons of the cooking water. Blitz until smooth.

13. Drain the shaved and blanched asparagus and gently shake out the excess water. 14. Dress with the vinaigrette, and season lightly with salt and pepper. 15. Spoon the pine nut puree on to a shallow dish then arrange the bundles of the shavings with the tips of asparagus on top. 16. Break up the granola into clumps and scatter over the asparagus. 17. Finish with some more lime zest and drizzle with a couple of teaspoons of vinaigrette.

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E D I B L E S

Pulled lamb, cucumber, and tahini verde

Raspberry, yoghurt, and almond panna cotta

I like to use the slow cooker for this one as you can just put it on and go about your business. If you don’t have a slow cooker and are using the oven, cook the lamb at 170C for 3.5–4 hours, until it falls off the bone.

PANNA COTTA

PULLED LAMB Approx 1.4kg lamb shoulder, preferably rolled 1 bulb of garlic, split in half Sprigs of rosemary and thyme Salt and pepper 250ml vegetable stock 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Season the lamb well with salt and pepper. In the base of the slow cooker, place the rosemary, thyme, and garlic. Heat some oil in a frying pan big enough to hold the lamb. Brown the lamb on all sides and place in the slow cooker. Return the frying pan to the heat and pour in the stock. Bring to a simmer. Pour the hot stock over the lamb, set the cooker to high, and leave to heat. Keep on high for 1 hour, then set the temperature to low, and cook for a further 3–4 hours. When the lamb has cooled enough to handle, remove from the slow cooker and pull into chunks

TAHINI VERDE 75g tahini 3 Tbsp sesame oil ½ tsp honey 75ml olive oil 50g canned chickpeas Juice of 1 lemon 7. 8.

100ml water 2 Tbsp chopped tarragon 2 Tbsp chopped coriander 2 Tbsp chopped mint 2 Tbsp chopped basil Salt

In a blender place the tahini, sesame oil, honey, olive oil, chickpeas, lemon juice, and water. Blend until smooth. Add the herbs and blend until it looks like a chunky paste. Season with salt, transfer to a jar, and refrigerate until needed.

TO FINISH 1 cucumber 100g marinated pitted black olives 9.

Cut the cucumber into quarters and then chunks. Place in a bowl. 10. Roughly chop the olives and mix together with the cucumber. 11. Arrange the hot lamb on a platter, scatter over the olive and cucumber, finish with an abundance of the tahini verde and enjoy!

2 punnets of raspberries 1 lemon 2 tsp icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla paste 3 leaves of gelatine

400ml cream 100g caster sugar 400g Greek yoghurt Pinch salt

1. Place the raspberries in a bowl with the juice and zest of half the lemon, icing sugar, and vanilla paste. 2. Stir well and spoon all over the base of the bowl that you are going to set the yoghurt panna cotta in. Refrigerate. 3. In a small bowl, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. 4. In a pan, place the cream and caster sugar, and bring to barely a simmer. 5. Squeeze out the gelatine and dissolve into the hot cream. Whisk well. 6. Put the yoghurt in a mixing bowl and strain the cream into it. Whisk well together. 7. Pour the yoghurt mix over the raspberries and set in fridge for at least 4 hours.

ALMOND SABLE CRUMB 160g butter, room temperature 160g caster sugar 2 egg yolks 225g plain flour 15g baking powder

5g sea salt 100g whole blanched almonds, roasted 100g sugar 2 Tbsp freeze-dried raspberries (optional)

8. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until it starts to turn pale and fluffy. 9. Add the yolks and mix till combined. 10. Sift in the flour and baking powder, and mix until it just comes together. 11. Finish with the salt, mix one last time, and then take out of the mixer bowl. 12. Roll the pastry into a log, wrap, and freeze for at least 2 hours. 13. While the sable is freezing, lightly grease a sheet of baking paper. 14. Heat the sugar in a pan and cook until caramelised. Once it is light brown, add in the almonds, stir to coat and then turn out onto the baking paper. Leave to cool. 15. Once cool, chop or pulse in a food processor until a chunky dust is formed. 16. Preheat the oven to 170C. Place a fresh sheet of baking paper on a tray. Coarsely grate the sable onto the baking tray. 17. Bake until golden, about 10–12 mins. Remove from oven and cool. 18. Once cool, crumble in a bowl, add the almonds, and the freezedried raspberries if desired. Mix well and set aside.

TO FINISH 19. Liberally scatter the almond sable crumb over the yoghurt, then finely zest the rest of the lemon and sprinkle on top.

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Don't go chasing water reforms We all know Wellington water needs some serious TLC. Andreas Heuser looks at the current water reform proposals, and explains why bigger is not always better.

or much of our history, Wellingtonians have not cared much about the pipes, pumps, and sumps that make up the city’s water system. We didn’t think about them until we had trucks carting treated waste around the south coast, and sewage in our main streets. Havelock North (campylobacter poisoning) and Karitane (lead contamination) have had recent distressing failures. We generally agree that we need safe, resilient, reliable, customer-responsive water services, at least cost. Against this background, the government wants to centralise the 67 council-owned and operated water services into four mega-entities. The greater Wellington region councils’ services will be rolled into the imaginatively titled “Entity C”, together with council water services from Tairāwhiti and East Cape to Takaka and Farewell Spit and everything in between, including also the Chatham Islands. The logic goes that bigger water entities will save money and improve management. The government reasons that Entity C, not councils, should own and directly manage the assets, raise the necessary finance, and charge the water rates. The councils contributing their assets will not own shares. Entity C will be a statutory entity. Oversight and control will be via a 12-person professional board. Six board members will be nominated by the 22 councils indirectly via a twostep process. Six board members will be nominated by mana whenua. The mega-merger is based on data and assumptions from the UK. The government’s consultants claim that evidence from Scotland, England, and Wales shows that massive investment is needed here ($120–185 billion over 30 years). They also claim that mega-mergers will reap similar outcomes to those in Scotland. For a number of reasons it is wrong to rely on Scotland and the UK as a model for New Zealand’s water reforms. A major reason is differences in our geography. New Zealand is highly urbanised, but has big distances

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between towns. Almost all our drinking and wastewater networks are separate from one another. Scotland, by contrast, has 80 percent of its population in the narrow band from Glasgow to Edinburgh and Dundee, and consequently more opportunity to save money from the centralised management of water services. The government also proposes a new regulatory system. It has already created the new water quality regulator to replace the Ministry of Health. This is positive, because the Ministry pursued only one prosecution in 60 years of responsibility for water quality. Other regulatory reforms lack detail. The government has said it wants to introduce an economic regulator but the detail has not been provided. Many mayors and other local leaders are unhappy with the proposals. They say the mega-merger, by centralising control, removes accountability to local residents. There are concerns with the speed, and lack of final details like the regulatory framework. Many councils are concerned with the quality of the analysis behind the mega-mergers, and what they consider implausible investment and cost-saving estimates. Councils that have invested appropriately and managed their water assets question the fairness of being required to surrender these assets and control because other councils have performed poorly. For example, Kāpiti Coast and Upper Hutt are widely regarded to have invested appropriately and adopted sound management practices. The mega-entity proposal will take away assets and put them under a governance and management regime that is not yet fully designed. Almost all the council leaders in our region have voiced concerns about the proposals. Key decisions are due to be made within the next month by government: whether to push through its mega-entity model, or cooperate with local government for a mutually acceptable solution. We should hope the government chooses cooperation. Cooperation could yield simpler and locally ap-

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propriate reform options. It might at least allow time for the regulatory details to be designed in concert with asset owners, to shape a regime that delivers appropriate investment levels for better quality services at least-cost. For locally appropriate options, we can look to our own Wellington region for lessons in making incremental yet important changes. We have a regional management entity – Wellington Water. It covers a region that has shared water resources and networks for decades. It is owned by five councils plus the regional council. Wellington city’s water has come from Wainuiomata since the late 1800s, and the regional council currently supplies bulk water and oversees wastewater discharge compliance, so shared management within the local region has an underlying logic. It works well, but like many things could be improved. For instance, Wellington Water as the asset manager could have more say in the investment decisions (currently made by councils), and therefore be accountable for compliance. Locally appropriate regional ownership and management models could be rolled out elsewhere without needing a centralised megaentity. Having a slightly larger scale, but shared ownership by councils, might improve management capability by pooling expertise. Accountability to voters could be secured through a direct shareholding in the entity by councils. Investment decisions (or failures) would then still be accountable to customers (ratepayers). Larger entities, while not as big as the mega-model, could ensure management and operational capability was increased – either by directly employing staff or by outsourcing. This improvement in capacity is needed to meet the oncoming water quality and environmental regulations. Pressing pause on the reforms to work with councils could give time to develop the regulato-

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ry framework. It is great that the government has already created the new water quality regulator (Taumata Arowai). But an economic regulation regime should be designed by policymakers. It would clarify the accountability and compliance framework for investment levels and maintenance by water providers. This would provide incentives to lift investment even in the face of opposition from water consumers and ratepayers to rates rises or more borrowing. With that in place, councils and the government could identify where regional ownership or shared management models on a smaller scale than mega-entities are needed. It is unfortunate that the debate over water reform has become reduced to the mega-entity model or nothing. A mega-merger from East Cape to Farewell Spit just does not add up. Equally, the status quo is not an option. Usefully, the reform process has produced an immense amount of data about current water services. It has also lifted awareness among councils and their communities that improvements on the current system are needed. It would only take a bit more effort – and a collaborative approach – to build on this knowledge and ensure that reforms based on sound evidence endure for the benefit of all. Andreas Heuser is a Director with Castalia, an international strategic advisory firm headquartered in Wellington. Castalia has advised Department of Internal Affairs, Local Government New Zealand, and a range of councils on the current water reform proposals.

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A LIFE IN LETTERS At the Aotearoa Book Industry Awards, Wellington’s Bridget Williams won the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognises an “exceptional and long-term contribution” to New Zealand books and publishing – in her case, 50 years of work (Oxford University Press, Port Nicholson Press, Allen & Unwin NZ, and currently Bridget Williams Books and imprint BWB Texts). With typical modesty, Bridget speaks about her work as a collective activity, acknowledging people in various integral roles, including tangata whenua authors and advisors who enabled her to publish various books on Māori history.

SPREADING LOVE

WORTH THE DRIVE

JOINT EFFORT

Richard Curtis, the British screenwriter/ producer/director of hit films including Love Actually, was born in Wellington and grew up a Katherine Mansfield fan. He and daughter Scarlett Curtis, an award-winning author, have penned the foreword to Woman in Love: Katherine Mansfield’s Love Letters. Edited by Nicola Saker, it contains Mansfield’s missives to lovers, family, friends, and fellow writers including Virginia Woolf. A fundraiser for the Katherine Mansfield House & Garden, it’s available there, at katherinemansfield.com, and in bookshops.

Two-year-old Schrödinger’s Books in Jackson Street, Petone, “has it all”, declared the judges of the Nielsen NZ Bookshop of the Year Award. “It has a beautiful physical space, arresting windows, and merchandising excellence, a focus on personalised customer service, and commercial and community reach beyond their own doors… and a commitment to being quirky and offering something different.” “Much like Jackson Street itself!” says Schrödinger’s delighted owner, Mary Fawcett, whose win was announced at an awards ceremony held over Zoom.

Eleven students from the Whitireia publishing programme have collaborated with theatre-industry organisation Playmarket to publish an English-language edition of Maria Dronke: Glimpses of an Acting Life, a biography of a JewishGerman actress who fled from Hitler’s Germany to New Zealand, and helped shape our theatre scene. Victoria University lecturer Monica Tempian wrote the Germanlanguage biography and Sue McRae has translated it.

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I N T R O D U C E D BY TAY I T I B B L E

I am generally not a nostalgic person. The only thing I remotely have heart pangs for is that particular type of boredom you only experience as a schoolkid or teenager, which at the time sucked, but now appeals to me as some sort of luxury, that as an adult with bills to pay and a career to nurse, I can no longer afford. This poem by Vanessa Mei Crofskey, published in the new school-themed edition of Skinny Dipp (Massey University Press) talks to this particular type of boredom, exacerbated by the summer holidays, where the days are long and blur together boringly. It is enough to make you wish for the unthinkable – that you were back at school. In this poem, the speaker walks around the hot suburbs with an ice block. She is bored eating her ice block, and bored texting her friends, who are also bored, going to malls or sitting in a random field boringly. There are only so many compilation youtube videos to watch, so many fields to sit in. Vanessa makes starting the school year seem desirable by contrast. I love the way she intentionally picks sexy images to invoke this sense – “the lush first red kiss of a fresh 1B5” and “lipgloss scented stationery”. It makes starting the school year seem seductive, in a kind of femme fatale way, and also sapphic. In turn, it also reveals how desperately bored the speaker is, so desperate she is delusional enough to think school is hot. It’s obvious that what the speaker craves is contact and companionship, which makes the poem current, and relevant to our disgusting Covid times. My favourite line in this poem, a startling and pitch perfect simile, also resonates relevantly: “school sucks but all my friends are there / spreading colds as quick as climate change”.

Re-verse SCHOOL SUCKS BUT AT L E A S T U R F R I E N D S A R E T H E R E u can only walk around the suburbs so often on bright days so hot the concrete crackles n text ur friends at malls and fields and malls again before u start to get bored of running out of things to do & miss the lush red first kiss of a fresh 1B5 and the girls in ur class with lip gloss scented stationery & the boys who draw on their mates legs with sharpies & i guess learning new things every day school sucks but all my friends are there spreading colds as quick as climate change no one shares germs with me in the holidays in the holidays my outside voice wears jeans with grassy knees & watches compilation youtube videos on the highest volume & i walk around the suburbs on days so hot the ice block drips down my wrist with sticky fingers it feeds the crackling concrete By Vanessa Mei Crofskey Published in Skinny Dipp (Massey University Press)

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F E AT U R E

Neil Ieremia

Founder/artistic director of dance company Black Grace I’m currently reading: Grace Jones’ autobiography I’ll Never Write My Memoirs (Simon and Schuster). I picked it up at the Thames Market for $5 while on tour earlier this year. I don’t have any social media, so autobiographies and biographies are, generally, my equivalent of Facebook stalking! I choreographed a dance to Grace’s recording of La Vie En Rose for a recent show. Her album Island Life is still one of the best-ever compilation albums.

Bookmarked

I’d like to read next: Whispers and Vanities: Samoan Indigenous Knowledge and Religion by Tamasailau SuaaliiSauni (Huia). My eldest daughter Bella bought this for me for Fathers’ Day, probably hoping it’ll help me keep up during our numerous discussions over the BBQ this summer! In all seriousness, I’m interested in reading anything that can help expand my understanding of why and how I am who I am, and why I’m still confused about how I fit.

Seven Capital bookworms tell Sarah Lang about the books they’re giving for Christmas and what they’ll

I would like to give: Santa a copy of Urban Sanctuary: The New Domestic Outdoors (Thames & Hudson) by Anna Johnson and Richard Black, with a bookmarked page of the house I want to be gifted next Christmas!

be reading this summer.

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James Renwick

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Nicola Young

Professor of Physical Geography at Victoria University, and internationally recognised climate-change researcher and commentator

Wellington City Councillor

I’m currently reading: About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks (W W Norton Publishers) by David Rooney. It’s a fascinating tour through the last couple of thousand years, and details how time-keeping has been a scientific and engineering achievement and also a political tool. Rooney is a historian of technology and expert on clocks and timekeeping practices. I love clocks and the history of how we measure time, so this book is perfect for me!

I’m currently reading: Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (Pan Macmillan) by Patrick Radden Keefe. The Sackler family is famous for its philanthropy (billions of dollars) and infamous for its pharmaceutical company’s marketing of opioids like OxyContin, nicknamed Hillbilly Heroin. This is a shocking account of greed and robber barons. I’d like to read next: I adore historical novels set in Britain, where I lived for 20 years, and I stayed up very late reading Booker Prize winners Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, the first volumes of Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power in the court of Henry VIII. I'm saving the third, The Mirror & the Light (HarperCollins), for the holidays. It’s almost 900 pages long but, hey, I won’t have Council papers to read, which can sometimes be a similar length!

I’d like to read next: Utopia Avenue (Sceptre) by David Mitchell. I’m a big fan of David Mitchell’s writing, and a fan of late 1960s and early 1970s music – and that’s the topic of his latest novel. It sounds like a fairly straightforward story, about the band Utopia Avenue, but I expect that there will be supernatural twists and turns, which I love in his storytelling.

I would like to give: More New Zealand books to William, my three-year-old grandchild in London. Covid means I haven’t been physically with him since he was one, so I read to him over FaceTime. Hairy Maclary is a favourite, and I love that Lynley Dodd was first published by Wellington publishers Mallinson Rendel.

I would like to give: I hope I get hit by inspiration for the adults in my life! I may get my four-year-old grandson Puffin the Architect, Hound the Detective, or Moose the Pilot (Penguin Random House) by local author-illustrator Kimberly Andrews.

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Gabe Davidson

B O O K

Jessie Wong

Wellington Chocolate Factory proprietor

Founder/director of luxury leather goods brand Yu Mei

I’m currently reading: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Penguin) by Michael Pollan – an illuminating look at our global food system, how we’ve got it wrong, and some examples of a more sustainable way forward. It has me excited about how to live a better, healthier, and more sustainable life.

I’m currently reading: Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion. Published in 1968, it’s a collection of essays originally written for the Saturday Evening Post magazine. These are vignettes of 1960s California that reflect disarray and Didion’s dissociative observation of culture during that period. I wanted a glimpse into her life and thinking at that time. I’ve enjoyed her recent works, including A Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights, which are about her relationships and the loss, respectively, of her husband and daughter.

I’d like to read next: Entangled Life (Penguin) by biologist Merlin Sheldrake. It’s about the incredible world of fungi, neither plant nor animal – a kingdom I’m increasingly fascinated by. This bit from the book piqued my interest: “These endlessly surprising organisms have no brain but can solve problems and manipulate animal behaviour with devastating precision. In giving us bread, alcohol, and life-saving medicines, fungi have shaped human history... and their ability to digest plastic, explosives, pesticides, and crude oil is being harnessed in break-through technologies.”

I’d like to read next: I bought Barack Obama’s biography A Promised Land (Penguin) last summer, but my partner Jack poached it. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet; it’s pretty hefty. I hear part two is coming, so I’d better get a move on with the first book! I loved reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming (Penguin).

I would like to give: Anything by my favourite picture-book illustrator, Shaun Tan, to my six-year-old, Jimmy. The Red Tree is a reminder that there’s always something bright and brilliant to surprise you around the corner. Shaun’s books aren’t just for kids. They’re deep, moving, thought-provoking, and often simultaneously dark and beautiful.

I would like to give: The Gentlewoman: Modern Manners: Instructions for Living Fabulously Well (Phaidon) to female business mentors and friends who have supported and inspired me this year. It’s a witty new collection of conversational essays by contributors to The Gentlewoman magazine.

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Dan Tait-Jamieson

Denise Young Hutt Valley High School principal

Letterpress enthusiast and secretarytreasurer of the Print Museum

I’m currently reading: Shuggie Bain (Pan MacMillan) by Douglas Stuart, the 2020 Booker Prize winner. The novel, set in Glasgow in the early 90s, is about poverty, addiction, consent, and the bullying of those deemed different. Shuggie is the different one – a kind young man, who cares for his alcoholic mother.

I’m currently reading: Printer’s Devil: The Life and Work of Frederic Warde by Simon Loxley and David R Godine. Warde, one of the great book designers of the 20th century, was the husband of Monotype Recorder’s brilliant editor Beatrice Warde, and was also the creator of the beautiful Italic font Arrighi.

I'd like to read next: I have quite a few books on my Kindle and bedside table. Two have actually been waiting since last Christmas: the award-winning novel Auē by Becky Manawatu (Makaro Press), also Aroha by Dr Hinemoa Elder (Penguin,) about the timeless wisdom of Māori proverbs. A friend has given me Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling. Of course I’ll also be reading a thriller or two; something by Robert Dugoni, James Patterson, David Baldacci, Jonathan Kellerman, or Michael Connelly.

I’d like to read next: Letters of Denis Glover by Sarah Shieff (Otago University Press). Glover is my typographic hero. Without the Caxton Press and his influence on typeface selection, New Zealand would have had a much poorer printing heritage. I share Glover’s love of boats and alcohol but fortunately not his erratic, complicated private life. I would like to give: The Wairau Catastrophe, by James Mackay (Bedplate Press). This limited edition book is being hand composed from type made at our foundry. It’s from an unpublished manuscript written by Mackay to Maui Pomare in 1902, detailing the history of the tribes of the north of the South Island, and events leading up to the Wairau Catastrophe of 1843, also known as the Wairau Incident, Affray, or Massacre. I tracked down Maui Pomare’s greatgranddaughter, and it’ll be a joy to give her the first copy.

I would like to give: Imagining Decolonisation (BWB Texts) to anyone who wants to understand or learn about the true impacts of colonisation. It has seven authors, including Mike Rose, whose wisdom and guidance I’ve relied on to ensure tikanga (culture) and kawa (protocol) are understood and respected at our Kura (school).

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Stream line P H OTO G R A P H Y BY M O N I CA W I N D E R

Aro Video’s Andrew Armitage talks to Sarah Lang about facing the future of film.

f you’re a big film fan, or have lived nearby, you’ve probably stopped into the Aro St Video Shop (at least until you got Netflix). Since opening the doors in 1989, proprietor Andrew Armitage has amassed a whopping 27,000 titles. The shop, and the similarlysized Alice DVD Library in Christchurch, have the largest movie collections in the country, with many titles unavailable elsewhere in New Zealand or even via the internet. Andrew is a little hard to read. When asked questions, he looks upward thoughtfully. “I’m taking long pauses so I don’t waffle too much, and give succinct answers.” He is a self-confessed “terrible punner”, and signs off an email with “Merci Beaucool”. He can come over as intense – particularly regarding films – but is also frank, friendly, and charming. When I walk into the shop, he’s chatting with a customer who has an annual subscription ($420). The various other options include 10-trip concession cards, and a triple-disc TV series for $8. The “adopt-a-movie” scheme allows someone to donate a favourite DVD, give Aro Video $35 to buy the DVD, or adopt a film that the shop already has (which includes “naming rights” on both the physical case and the online listing). Aro Video Online (established 1997), the business’s website, offers nationwide homedelivery rentals and sales. These services and promotions have helped keep the doors open, but fewer and fewer customers are coming in. “More and more content isn’t available on DVD,” Andrew says matter-of-factly. He totally gets why we succumb to the pull of Netflix, Apple TV, or Amazon Prime from the comfort of our couches. “It’s so easy.” But not so easy for him.

“In March, having to cut back staff hours again, I was pretty despondent and pretty much out of ideas.” He’d earlier been approached by Shift72, an internationally-connected New Zealand streaming service company, which suggested setting up a site to stream his films. He initially said no, balking at the cost. “But I had to try something.” He had one last-ditch idea: holding a DVD fair to raise funds for a movie-streaming site. Andrew called for people to donate unwanted DVDs, and the fair was held in the Aro Valley Community Centre on 15 May. Thousands of DVDs were donated, and many were bought. “We exceeded expectations by raising $18,000 – and it showed that DVDs and the store are still valued.” “Then, pursuing the streaming offer became a no-brainer. I didn’t really have a choice if I was to stay in business. The idea has been met with unanimous enthusiasm. When your customer base has been eroding, it’s gratifying to hear people, especially former customers, say ‘This is a really good idea’ or ‘Sign me up’.” Launched in July this year, Aro Vision (aka Aro Video On Demand), is a pay-per-view streaming service, so customers pay for a movie, not a subscription. It streams Andrew’s selection of 1000-plus titles “including Hollywood classics, foreign films from the 1960s, plus new releases that aren’t on DVD here”. It has 2000 members. This way, people who don’t want the bother of picking up a DVD can benefit from the value of Andrew’s curation, while also supporting a local business. Andrew for years thought of himself as yesterday’s man. “Now, I feel that a boutique, niche streaming service is the lifeline that can sustain the physical

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store.” He doesn’t want to cannibalise it. The idea is that regulars and other customers will still come in – particularly for recommendations, and the more obscure films unavailable elsewhere – while people who live further away stream the movies. “The philosophy of the store has been a focus on film-festival fare, high-quality films, and some obscure films, but not completely shutting off things that many people are interested in: action films, commercial comedies, more mainstream fare. But I’ve turned down tons of terrible movies. We don’t need every Adam Sandler movie ever made.” He got his own rom-com. About two years ago, he met graphic artist/author Sarah Laing [Ed’s note: not this article’s author] when she “adopted” the movie Pretty in Pink. “That was the inciting incident!” Andrew says. Sarah designed the Aro Vision logo and illustrations for the website and social media. Andrew lived in central Wellington for 30 years – 16 of them on Aro Street – but moved to Paekākāriki in late 2019, after his marriage broke up. He has three adult children. He’s in the shop three days a week, and works two days from home. “I moved to Paekāk to reset and try to put some distance between myself and the store after three decades of intense dedication, with not much time off.” He calls himself, “a bit of a control freak. I’m not terribly good at delegating”. Andrew has made 20 podcasts about people who adopted movies, runs the annual Paekākāriki Film Festival, and does a monthly “film/music” radio show, Cinema Without Pictures, at Paekākāriki 88.2 FM. He has quite the radio voice. He’s also a burgeoning singer-songwriter. “I love the craft of song-writing.” He has done open-mic nights and a little public performance and would like to do more. “Sarah plays the cello, so we’ve been working on a double act, and as a trio with a friend. It’s not an alternate career option, but it’s very good for the soul.” Would he leave the store to pursue music or do something quite different? “Well, this job is draining, but

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it’s something I still enjoy.” He can’t see himself closing up shop. “But I’m 56, so once I hit the big Six-O, who knows? I’ve never properly travelled, and have an awful lot of books to catch up on.” Andrew grew up the eldest of three boys in Manor Park, at the bottom of Haywards Hill in Lower Hutt, where his parents settled as newlyweds. His mother looked after the boys, while his British father worked in admin, and ran the Lower Hutt City football club. “Dad was a football nut who kept game scorecards and stats, so organising and cataloguing is in my blood.” From age nine, Andrew kept log-books of records owned, books read, football matches played, and movies seen. “I also kept ‘pop-charts’, listing the week’s bestselling singles on an old typewriter, and making up pop-charts from my preferences. Mum influenced my love of pop culture.” Music and movies were always dual passions. For five years, from age 19, Andrew was a record-store manager, starting at the EMI shop in Upper Hutt. The UK parent company HMV paid for him to study retail management for a month in England. He brought back videos of films unlikely to be found in New Zealand, for his personal use. “I thought, ‘why not open a video store?’” In 1989, he rented the street-front room of the building at 79 Aro St, later moving to number 97. No, he never renamed it the Aro St DVD Shop. He describes having to re-buy everything on DVD as “a pain in the butt”. Does he feel a responsibility for looking after the films and keeping them circulating? “I do. I feel a civic responsibility for their availability to Wellingtonians, and perhaps more widely for New Zealanders. It’s a guardianship. When I let go of this business either by death, or by choice, I want to make sure the films are looked after and preserved as a collection. As new releases come out exclusively online, and are scarcely printed onto physical media like DVDs, this collection – this archive – will be a shrine to the past.” In the meantime, it’s stream time.

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ON YER BIKE Local cycling hero Jonathan Kennett travelled across the country meeting collectors, historians, manufacturers and everyday Kiwis to rediscover old bicycles and unearth new cycling secrets. His book The Bikes We Built: A journey through New Zealand made bicycles, out this month, explores the history of New Zealand’s bicycle industry. “As soon as you find just one seemingly solitary bicycle collector, you are automatically connected to an obscure social labyrinth of eccentric individuals, without whom the history of New Zealand’s cycle industry would inevitably have been lost,” he says.

BIG AIR, BIG RESULTS

BIG W

ALL-STAR ACCOLADES

Wellington cheerleading team Big Air Elite watched by livestream as they took out the International Federation World Championship this October. Having qualified for the event in August last year, finally seeing their hard work come to fruition was a joy for coach William Davenport. “There was plenty of screaming and yelling and tears.” The Tawa team submitted their performance for the International Open Small Coed 6 division 10 days before learning of the result over a live video feed.

The Wellington Phoenix will launch New Zealand’s first-ever professional women’s football team for the Australian W-League in December. The team’s first signing, Goalkeeper Lily Alfeld was “over the moon” to confirm her enlistment last month. A monumental moment for women’s football, Alfeld is excited for what it means for the next generation. “Young girls can now see they can play professionally and they can do that in their country.” The new Phoenix team will debut against the Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney, on 3 December.

New Zealand’s first ever NBA player, champion, and now general manager, Sean Marks, has his eyes fixed on another accolade in the 2021/22 season. As General Manager of the Brooklyn Nets, he will look to capitalise on his team’s superstar roster to go beyond last season’s semifinal loss against current champions the Milwaukee Bucks. One player making that task more difficult is all-star Kyrie Irving. His recent refusal to be vaccinated means he will be ineligible to play home games in New York because of the state’s vaccine mandate.

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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

strained but maybe start a regular garden walk or a treat in town with your granddaughter. Just the two of you. She might like to talk or might not, but make the contact and give her some space to talk. Don’t ask but listen. She needs to know who will listen and be there for her. Her whole family are part of this and it will be a long road to travel. Be kind.

C H R I S T M A S DA D

VEXING TIMES

I can never think of a good Christmas present for my dad. If he wants something he just goes and buys it. Any suggestions? (He has plenty of socks.) Anxious, Kelson

How do I manage friendships with people with stridently opposing views on vaccinations? Do I pick a side? Ban discussion in my presence? Or? Over-it, Whitby

A treat happening might work for your dad. A day out doing something – a visit to a golf driving range, a movie, skydiving, day trip by ferry to Picton, or a lovely lunch or dinner? Plan a really special outing – with you, the family, or friends. You can give him the tickets or create a Promise Card. The Festival of the Arts is in March. Events are tricky at present, but Wellington has been very nimble in challenging times. Or take a different approach – have dinner delivered at regular intervals for a year? Or his favourite marmalade? Good luck and have fun drawing your personalised card/voucher. Hugs!

There is no excuse and it is a no brainer – we are responsible not only to ourselves but to everyone around us and vaccination is our best way to get our lives back. My tolerance would be none – I hope I can trust that everyone I pass is vaccinated. I have friends with one family member not jabbed and they have made a stand – not welcome for Christmas. Tough love, but I agree.

MORAL CONSCIENCE

FA M I LY P R O B L E M S My granddaughter is anorexic and bulimic. It is a great worry for us all. It will be a stressful Christmas with her parents on edge and her siblings fed-up. We are not good as a family at open discussions. They have mentioned it, briefly, as a concern but don’t really ever discuss it. What is my best role in this? Do I demand answers? Ask questions privately? Pretend it’s not happening? Or discuss it with the other siblings? Concerned Gran, Wairarapa This is a big issue and statement. Do you know it is true? Try to establish the facts and behave non-judgementally. Everyone needs to be there for her. Communications seem

Is it hypocritical for my friend to accept a cash grant for study and performance from a fund that she and most of our friends condemn as institutionally racist and sexist? Black and White issues, Thorndon You do not say whether she has applied for this grant. If so, any moral right or wrong needs to be thought about at this point. If it is awarded, the recipient can choose to not accept. Hard to comment with such light information. It is your friend’s choice and she needs to make it honestly. Talk to her. Let her decide.

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

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WĀ H I N E

Future forcast BY M E LO DY T H O M AS

t’s hard enough to write for a future reader in “normal” times, but that much trickier with Covid in the picture. I don’t know if these words will find you swanning about double-vaxxed at beaches and festivals (in the sunny patches), or planning your first lockdown Christmas. Hopefully the former. But even if lockdowns are a thing of the past, this summer is going to be different from any we’ve had before. Trips will be postponed. Gifts may be fewer and farther between thanks to shipping delays or money being tight. There will be family members stuck abroad and missing from our Christmas roll calls. We may find ourselves looking back at past summers longingly; trying to make Christmas as normal as possible; or doing whatever else we need to distract ourselves from what is undeniably a weird and frightening time. I’ve spent a lot of time in these pages championing the abolition of New Year’s Resolutions (in favour of doing something similar at Matariki instead), because summer feels more suited to action and hedonism than goalsetting. Summer is for eating all the foods, drinking the drinks, lying about like cats in patches of sun, dancing alongside strangers, floating face up in the ocean, and devouring novels that don’t require too much of us. Who wants to be setting goals at a time like that? But, at the risk of sounding too much like an aspirational poster, this summer, it feels like taking time for reflection, connection, and intention might be really important. We don’t know what lies waiting for us in the future, and that’s scary. Even if we weren’t in the middle of a global pandemic there’s a whole host of other major stuff to worry

about (I’m not going to list it all, you know what I’m talking about). Many of us exist in a state of constant alternation between paying close attention (endlessly scrolling news feeds and entering into heated discussions because we feel it’s not right to look away while others are suffering) and not paying attention at all (thrusting our heads into the sand when it all becomes too overwhelming, before either guilt or anxiety compel us to look again). But this toing and froing is exhausting, and it has me wondering if there isn’t a better way. A middle ground. A place where we can be sure-footed and at peace, while also remaining engaged and informed. Recently I was lucky enough to disappear to a little hut in the bush for three days on my own, with just the tūi, fog, and occasional hiker for company. Every evening at sunset I walked to a little bench seat overlooking a winding coastal road, and watched as the sky turned from bright, wide blue, to gold and pink, to moody and bruised. Sitting in the land of clouds and birds had an incredibly calming effect, placing the struggles of humans in the context of a vast interconnected web. We like to see ourselves as separate from or even above our environment and the other creatures that share it, but we’re not. We are just another organism trying our best to survive. Knowing this doesn’t make all of our problems go away but, at least for me, over those three days, it did provide some reassurance that whatever we’re in we’re in it together, that no matter what happens life – in some form – will go on, and that there is more power in gratitude for all that we have than in regret for what we feel we have lost. I hope the end of 2021 brings you similar moments of peace and perspective, and opportunities to connect with nature, with yourself and your loved ones. I won’t go as far as saying “Bring on 2022” (I think we’ve all learned our lesson there), but whatever happens, I hope we face it recharged, reconnected, and with the sun of a “good Wellington summer” showing on our skin.

Christmas is a time to celebrate with your loved ones and to reflect By leaving a gift in your will, your legacy lives on on the things that are important to you. Leaving a gift in your will to the Cancer Society helps ensure that we will always be there to offer help and support to people who need us, so that no one has to face cancer alone.

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C U L T U R E

The Toi Three Sixty

D I R E C T O R Y

A first for NZ film

Natasha Cousens at Aratoi

Looking for an opportunity to start your own art collection or expand on your current one? See what the residents of Toi Pōneke have been up to in our annual cash & carry exhibition. All work $360 or lower. Artists include Bailee Lobb, Laura Woodward, Chora Charlton and others. Love Local!

Ngā Tohunga Whakatere — The Navigators is a family-friendly animated 30-minute immersive planetarium show that’ll take you on an unforgettable adventure across the Pacific Ocean. Discover the story of Māori, Pasifika and, later, European navigation towards Aotearoa through the eyes of budding star navigator, Moko.

Imbued with visual storytelling and wonder, Natasha Cousens’ exhibition draws on notions of emotion, spirituality, life and death, purposely blurring the lines between reality and the surreal. Full of symbolism, these sculptures suggest links to shared emotions and experiences whilst allowing the viewer to create stories of their own.

13–22 Dec 61–69 Abel Smith St, Te Aro. toiponeke.nz

2 Oct–24 Dec 40 Salamanca Rd, Kelburn. thenavigators.spaceplace.nz

27 Nov–20 Feb 12 Bruce St, Masterton. aratoi.org.nz

Art for Christmas

Graduation Season 2021

Jane Hyder's work is influenced by the Fauve Movement and 'pops' with colour and verve. Recent work depicting cheerful New Zealand village and city scapes will be exhibited at the annual Toi Pōneke Residents group exhibition Toi 360. Online sales from 1 December and at the gallery 14–22 December.

Experience classical ballet and contemporary dance performances celebrating Aotearoa's creative talent and visionary artistry. A programme of remarkable choreography by New Zealand-based artists, including seven newly-commissioned works, performed by the next generation of dance talent. A must-see on Wellington's vibrant arts calendar.

14–22 Dec 61 Abel Smith St, Wellington. janehyderart.com

12–27 Nov, Southward, Paraparaumu, Te Whaea, Wellington. nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/graduation

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Trouble in Paradise Trouble in Paradise shines a spotlight on the devastating impacts of climate change on the Pacific. Visitors will see the winning images of a competition run by the UK Government to document the climate crisis. Through these powerful photographs you'll see first-hand what is at stake for our closest neighbours. 4 Nov–30 Apr National Library of New Zealand, 70 Molesworth St, Wellington. natlib.govt.nz

C A L E N D A R

November

TOI KORU Work by Sandy Adsett Pātaka Art Museum, Porirua, until 7 November

RETURN TO ORDER Work by Dick Frizzell Page Galleries, until 6 November

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS Capital E Play HQ, Queens Wharf, Mon-Sat

TARANAKI GARDEN FESTIVAL A spring celebration Various events around Taranaki, until 7 November

1 ALL SAINT’S DAY DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

POP UP CHARITY ART SALE Donated artworks available for sale Mary Potter Hospice Shop, 264 Cuba St, until 7 November

2 ASTRONOMY ON TAP Grab a drink, then sit back and relax in the digital full-dome planetarium Space Place, 8pm

STILL LIFE | WILD PLACES Works by contemporary female artists, including taxidermists, jewellers, and painters Katherine Mansfield House and Garden, Thorndon, until 13 November

4 DIWALI Indian festival of lights 5 TARANAKI ARTS TRAIL Local artists open their studios to the public Various locations around Taranaki, 5–7 November

SLEEPING NEAR THE RIVER Exhibition of new works by photographer Marie Shannon Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, until 14 November THE NAVIGATORS Family-friendly animated 30-minute immersive planetarium show Space Place, Kelburn, until 24 December TOHE | PROTEST Exhibition about the '81 Springbok Tour Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, National Library Building and online at ngataonga.org.nz TE ARA: THE STORIES OF OUR STREETS Significant stories behind the streets of Upper Hutt Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Upper Hutt

12 GRADUATION SEASON New Zealand School of Dance annual graduation show Southward Theatre, Paraparaumu, 12–14 November Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre, Wellington, 19–27 November 13 HE TANGATA THE PEOPLE Paintings by Star Gossage Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui 19 THE LITTLE MERMAID Simon Leary and Gavin Rutherford give the story of the Little Mermaid a new twist for Circa’s annual Pantomime. Circa Theatre, Wellington Waterfront, until 23 December HOLE The second play in Lynda ChanwaiEarle’s Antarctic Theatre Trilogy Circa Theatre, Wellington Waterfront, until 18 December

THE ARTIST’S NEEDLE New embroidery works by members of the Mana Embroiderers’ Guild Pātaka Art Museum, Porirua, until 12 December

20 A PORTRAIT OF A LANDSCAPE Work by award-winning photographer Esther Bunning Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton

6 EXPOSURE Massey’s College of Creative Arts annual graduate exhibition Massey University, Wallace St, until 9 November

POLISH CHRISTMAS MARKETS Food, entertainment, and shopping The Polish Association, Riddiford St, Newtown, 11am–5pm

11 DON’T MIND IF I DON’T Work by Ed Bats Page Galleries, until 4 December

RE-CEIVE URBAN HALF-DAY RETREAT Classes and events to celebrate Nowbreathe’s first anniversary Nowbreathe, Bay Road, Kilbirnie, 3–8pm

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C A L E N D A R

25 FACE TIME Portraits from the 1980s New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata, Wellington Waterfront VIC BOOKS CHRISTMAS PARTY Bubbles, nibbles, free gift wrapping, and 10% off all evening Vic Books Kelburn, 4.30–7pm CHRISTMAS NIGHT MARKET Shopping, live music, a cash bar, and giveaways Te Papa Foyer, 6.30–9pm

4 HILMA AF KLINT: THE SECRET PAINTINGS Abstract painting by the Swedish artist-mystic Hilma af Klint City Gallery Wellington KHANDALLAH CHRISTMAS MARKET Unique and hand-made gifts by local artists and crafters St Barnabas, Khandallah, from 10am 6 HANUKKAH ENDS

27 A VERY WELLY CHRISTMAS Free events and festivities Midland Park and Lambton Quay, 27–28 November

7 ASTRONOMY ON TAP Grab a drink, sit back, and explore the night sky Space Place, 8pm

BEYOND THE RED FLOWERS Exhibition of works by Natasha Cousens Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton

11 DESTINATION MARS Interactive outer-space experience combining gaming and live action Amokura Gallery, Te Papa, 45 minutes, for ages 6+

28 HANUKKAH BEGINS ADVENT BEGINS MELVIN DAY: A MODERNIST PERSPECTIVE Exhibition covering seven decades of the painter’s practice Pātaka Art Museum, Porirua

December

2 LOVE, LINDA A one-woman-show about Mrs Cole Porter, performed by Georgia Jamieson Emms Gryphon Theatre, 2–4 December, 7.30pm 3 THE LORD OF THE RINGS Twentieth anniversary screening Roxy Cinema, Miramar, 6.30pm

A KID-FRIENDLY CHRISTMAS DRAG SHOW A festive drag show hosted by Hugo Grrrl The Fringe Bar, 3.30pm CHRISTMAS CAROLS IN THE PARK Hosted by the Karori Business Association Ben Burn Park, Karori, 4.30–6.30pm 12 CINDERELLA Performed by students from Tarrant Dance Studios Opera House, 4pm and 7pm 13 THE TOI THREE SIXTY Toi Pōneke’s annual cash and carry exhibition, all work $360 or less Toi Pōneke Arts Centre, Abel Smith St, until 22 December

14 A STARRY CHRISTMAS NIGHT Grab a beer and paint a masterpiece Waitoa Social Club, Hataitai, 6pm 17 RITA ANGUS: NEW ZEALAND MODERNIST Drawings, watercolours, and paintings celebrating 40 years of Angus’ work Toi Art, Te Papa A VERY SILLY CHRISTMAS COMEDY SHOW Festive, filthy, funny, and fabulous antics, improv, and silly songs The Fringe Bar, 8pm, R18 18 ON THE STREETS Photographic work by John Crawford throws the spotlight on the rise of homelessness Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Upper Hutt TITAHI BAY CHRISTMAS FAIR Whitehouse Road Shopping Village, Titahi Bay, from 10am 22 SUMMER SOLSTICE Southern Hemisphere LEGENDS OF THE WINTER SOLSTICE A presentation on legends associated with the solstice, programme includes viewing the sunset over the Summer Solstice Heel Stone Stonehenge Aotearoa, Carterton, 8pm 25 CHRISTMAS DAY 26 BOXING DAY 31 NEW YEAR’S EVE FIREWORKS Wellington Waterfront

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Ac ros s

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3. “Since we’ve no place to go, let it ____” (4) 6. Seven swans’ activity (8) 9. Carol, ___ in a Manger (4) 10. Feeling of fear and wonder (3) 12. A lowly cattle shed stood in this royal’s city (5) 14. Follow it to find the baby (4) 15. Group of three (4) 16. Five of these were golden (5) 17. Incessant pa-rum-pumpummer (6,7,3) 21. Māori word for god (4) 22. Oh little town, how still you lie (9) 25. He’s coming to town (5,5) 27. Grandma was run over by one (8) 29. Traditional festive tree (3) 30. Known as Stille Nacht in Germany (6,5) 31. Move stealthily (5)

1. The Pogues song, ____ tale of New York (5) 2. Religious folk song, often Christmassy (5) 4. Crosby dreams of such a Christmas (5) 5. Repeated syllable in Deck the Halls (2) 7. We wish you this kind of Christmas (5) 8. Opposite of well behaved (7) 11. Pop duo behind Last Christmas (4) 13. Gift on fourth day (4,7,5) 18. Hark! Who’s that singing? (3,6,6) 19. It rings in celebration (4) 20. Holiday, in te reo (7) 23. Number of lords a-leaping (3) 24. Third reindeer listed (7) 26. Heavenly beings we have heard on high (6) 28. Sound of bells ringing

33. Danced to in Mean Girls (6,4,4) 34. A Hebrew name for God (6) 36. Spanish phrase meaning “Happy Christmas” (5,7) 38. Wenceslas was a good one (4) 41. This Frank released two Christmas albums (7) 43. Made by elves (4) 46. Tiny Tim says, “God _____ us, Everyone.” (5) 47. Santa’s vehicle (6) 50. Relating to hymns, or sacred lyrics (6) 51. Dog pilot who faced the Red Baron (6) 52. Mary’s son (5) 53. First note when Julie teaches singing (2) Answers will be published online at capitalmag.co.nz/crossword

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on high (4,4) 29. Shepherds watched them by night (6) 32. Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, Christmas at ___ (3) 35. Hail Mary in Latin, ___ Maria (3) 36. Famous snowman, a jolly happy soul (6) 37. Mammal that carries a heavy load (6) 39. Hedera helix, associated with holly (3) 40. Used as a crib for baby Jesus (6) 42. Famous poem starts, “____ the night before Christmas” (4) 44. In Beethoven’s 9th, ___ to Joy (3) 45. Boxing Day bargain time (4) 48. Overnight lodging (3) 49. What Mariah Carey wants for Christmas (3) 51. Fifth note when Julie teaches singing (2)

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