Capital 83

CAPITAL Hay I’m home

From paddock to palace in Wairarapa

Brooklyn Danish Couple curates sweet living

Gossip grill

Smokey secrets from food insiders

Bye bye bungalow The quarter acre meets its maker

The build issue THE STORIES OF WELLINGTON $9.90

WINTER 2022

Matariki ki Pōneke Celebrate the Māori New Year with a stunning series of live and digital events 23–26 June Wellington Waterfront, Civic Square, and Te Papa Free entry wellington.govt.nz/matariki

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Study Photography The longest running photography programme in Aotearoa New Zealand Since 1975 we’ve celebrated the diversity of photography language, technologies and expression. Photography students can choose to gain expertise in art-based, commercial, and documentary skills.

Proud sponsor Capital Photographer of the Year – Rangatahi category.

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CAPITAL

The stories of Wellington

F

irst shall we look at the less attractive prospects for the year. Is Wellington facing a “winter of discontent”?

Across New Zealand we are looking at rising prices, supply chain issues, resurgent inflation after decades with none, and, on the other side of the world, war. Locally, we have issues with public transport, housing supply and building codes to itemise just some; and local body election campaigns which so far are very lacklustre.

Supply chain problems have affected us at Capital. Over the past year, we have often had to discuss the availablity of paper stock and prices with our printers, and in the past six months, massive printing price increases have rocked our world. We can’t just absorb it all. We hope you, our readers and advertisers, will understand and keep enjoying the magazine and supporting our local businesses.

Best to think local, always our favourite starting point. In this issue we talk to very different home owners: an urban couple enjoys a curated interior full of treasures from around the world, and a rural couple exemplifies local ‘can do’ DIY energy, having built a warm, eco-friendly straw bale family home in the Wairarapa.

Celebrated local architect Roger Walker discusses major new changes to town planning legislation and the city planning rules that will implement them in Wellington and elsewhere.

Rachel Helyer Donaldson talks to carver Tukiri Tini about keeping his art alive and his career move to the capital.

Chef Vicki Young eagerly stepped up to the grill and into the haze created by amateurs and chefs in pursuit of smokey flavours. Her report is here for your enjoyment and experimentation.

Congratulations to our regular Wāhine columnist Melody Thomas, who has just been nominated for another award, in New York. In this issue she urges mothers to care for themselves not just on Mothers’ Day but all year round.

All this, besides our regular features, should help alleviate the onset of winter.

See you in July.

Subscriptions $73.50 for 6 issues $119 for 12 issues New Zealand only

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+64 4 385 1426 editor@capitalmag.co.nz capitalmag.co.nz facebook.com/CapitalMagazineWellington @CapitalMagWelly @capitalmag Box 9202, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 31–41 Pirie St, Mt Victoria, Wellington, 6011 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.

Alison Franks Editor

Copyright ©. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of Capital Publishing Ltd.

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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

H A N N A H Z WA R T Z Writer

Art director Shalee Fitzsimmons shalee@capitalmag.co.nz

Hannah Zwartz is a professional gardener, garden writer, designer and teacher living on the Kāpiti Coast. Since her first job as an office pot-plant waterer she has been a longtime Dominion Post garden columnist, Botanic Gardens herb specialist, urban farm manager, and educator in schools, community gardens and prisons across the region.

George is an illustrator and designer from Palmerston North who is now based in Wellington. Drawing from his interests in music, skateboarding, and animation, he creates playful and bold visuals under the artist-alias 'B¥NN'.

You can find his work at bynn.space

CHRIS TSE Po e t

VICKI YOUNG Fo o d w riter

Designer Elaine Loh design@capitalmag.co.nz Writer Arthur Hawkes journalism@capitalmag.co.nz

G E O R G E N AY L O R I l lu str ator

Publishing coordinator Sophie Carter hello@capitalmag.co.nz Accounts Tod Harfield accounts@capitalmag.co.nz

Contributors Melody Thomas, Janet Hughes, John Bishop, Anna Briggs, Sarah Lang, Deirdre Tarrant, Francesca Emms, Dan Poynton, Chris Tse, Claire Orchard, Harriet Palmer, Jess Scott, Griff Bristed, 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, Josiah Nevell, Monica Winder, Craig Beardsworth, Olivia Lamb

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

Chris is the author of two collections of poetry published by Auckland University Press: How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes (winner of the Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry) and HE'S SO MASC. Chris and Emma Barnes co-edited Out Here: An anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ writers from Aoteaora.

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Vicki is the head pastry chef and baker at Floriditas and Loretta. She’s a mainstay of the capital’s food scene, having worked with a number of restaurants, and as a private chef. When she’s not doing any of these things, Vicki makes jaw-dropping celebration cakes. Find her on Instagram @vickieats.

Is racism hard-coded into visual FX? Where do you stand?

Raqi Syed Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation

The idea of a virtual human is something scientists have been thinking about for a long time, and it means different things to different people—a virtual assistant, a stunt double, or a character in a video game. But digital humans are almost always represented as white and male, with the algorithms used to create these characters centred around white Caucasian skin and straight hair.

So who gets to be a digital human?

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s Raqi Syed, a writer, visual effects designer, and researcher, studies the inherent bias and racism reflected across the spectrum of visual effects in global popular culture, with particular interest in how the digital human encapsulates these concerns.

Maranga ake ai!

Discover more from New Zealand’s #1 university for research intensity wgtn.ac.nz/wellington

C O N T E N T S

12 16 19 20 22 27

CHATTER NOTEWORTHY

BY THE NUMBERS NEW PRODUCTS TALES OF THE CITY CULTURE

33 Plastic fantastic

44 Harvest home

Soft Plastics on bad jobs and garage pop

39 New generation feels the pressure Tukiri Tini on carving his future

54 Wellington rising For Roger Walker, onwards means upwards

A homegrown homestead in Wairarapa

C O N T E N T S

78

Hunters and gatherers

The big smoke

Going bush

A magpie’s eye for design

Develop a new habit with our guide to food smoking

Tim hits it out of the park at Ōtari

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92

You’ve got knits

Heartbreak in the theatre

Join the woolly revolution

72 74 76

100

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LIFESTYLE BUG ME EDIBLES

We craft spaces to match your lifestyle.

Arts in the aftermath

96 99

BY THE BOOK REVERSE

104 GOOD SPORT 106 WELLY ANGEL

108 A Disney mother Parenting isn’t always a fairytale

110 CALENDAR 112 PUZZLED

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

D wa r f apple tree Names such as these Dwarf apple trees will not grow fast and only reach about 1.5 metres, making them perfect for unobtrusive urban fruit-growing. The dwarf varieties available to plant now, come in four main types: Teacher’s Pet, Little Rascal, Mischief, and Scallywag. The names relate to the M116 dwarfing rootstock which they have been grafted onto.

Let’s have a look These dwarf apple trees will grow well in a large outdoor pot. Pick a sheltered position on an apartment deck, in a courtyard, or in a sunny sheltered spot in your garden. Strawberry plants underneath around the base would help to use that valuable planting space. These varieties are loaded with delicate pink and white blossoms in spring. The fruit can then be harvested in autumn when the rose-red to dark-red fruit have reached full colour.

One M o n e y fo r M a h a r a The family of the late Avenal McKinnon (pictured, middle), noted art historian and writer, has made a substantial contribution towards funding the Mahara Gallery’s recent redevelopment at a $6.5 million cost.

The Waikanae gallery is now 95% there. Construction started in November 2021 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. Avenal was well known for her long service as director of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, and her knowledge of and interest in Frances Hodgkins. A significant selection of Hodgkins’ paintings, known as the Field Collection, will be held at the redeveloped Mahara.

Did you know?

The trees need to cross-pollinate, which is the process of applying pollen from one flower to pistils of another flower on another tree. In urban areas there are often trees growing close enough for cross-pollination. Pollination usually occurs with the help of insects and wind.

Two Glass collector In early March, Wellington City Council paused their glass collection service, and it’s meant we’ve all been taking stock – of our glass, and of how many empties we actually produce. Some have opted to hoard their stash until collections resume, amassing a mountain in the garage. Wine connoisseurs have been confronted by how much Wolf Blass and Cleanskin creeps into their curated glass bin; others have called it quits and gone to the tip. “I was at the landfill on the weekend and there was a line for the glass recycling,” said one local on social media, “it’s like the new Duck Island.”

TLC Train to a single or dual leader, creating a small bush. Do not allow more than two leaders.

They have good natural disease resistance which means little spraying is required and little to no pruning. Remove any suckers that grow from the rootstock.

Our plant of the month comes from Katherine Beauchamp, Palmers Miramar.

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C H AT T E R

New in town

Po p py 's p a s s i o n It’s a tale as old as time: you find a garment that fits your butt, but not your waist; fits your thighs, but sits too far above your ankles. Poppy Voon is the sustainable fashion label doing something about this clothing conundrum.

She offers ready-to-wear garments straight off the rack, designed for all body types, and made in Wellington from fabrics like linen, organic cotton, and NZ merino. She also crafts made-to-measure garments, offering a range of material and colour choices. Her new showroom, which has just opened at 85 Victoria Street, showcases her collection, also found online at poppyvoon.com

Three G l ow u p Try our latest ceramic collab, Glow. Capital has teamed up with Felicity Donaldson Smith, the Greytown ceramicist behind Wundaire, for our special limited edition offer: a ceramic candleholder and candles. The goodie box includes a hand-crafted Wundaire candle holder, two candles from National Candles, and the latest issue of our top-notch mag. Just like Capital’s stories, all of the Glow items are locally made, showing off the talented people who make this region shine. The perfect Mother’s day prezzie, or a personal treat. There are only 60 up for grabs, at capitalmag.co.nz/shop.

Four C h u f fe d

Chuffing good news: KiwiRail have announced that sameday passenger services from Wellington to Auckland, and Picton to Christchurch, are returning. Starting from 25 September, you’ll be able to train to Auckland three days a week with same-day arrival.

Poet Botanica ls Poet Botanicals is our new favourite self-care haven. At the south end of The Parade in Island Bay, you'll find their heavenly studio where they craft consciously designed, natural goods to inspire relaxation, including a sumptuous candle collection. The studio is open to the public from Wednesday to Saturday where they offer a beautifully curated selection of wellbeing brands, a new candle refillery service, and candle-making workshops. Their collection can be viewed online at poetbotanicals.co.nz

It's cool to kōrero A te wā o te Matariki, ka hui tahi tātou ko taku whānau.

I’m spending Matariki with my family.

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

F i ve

Wā h i n e winners Great news fresh out of New York! Wellington podcast production company Popsock Media took out a Gold Medal at the New York Festivals Radio Awards for their series The Lake.

Hosted by investigative journalist Aaron Smale, with music by Ben Lemi (Dawn Diver, French For Rabbits) and sound design by Marc Chesterman, The Lake explores what happened to the children and adolescents of Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital in the 1970s, under the supervision of head psychiatrist Selwyn Leeks.

It’s a beautifully told story: one of shocking abuse and neglect, but also adventure, skulduggery, and true friendship forged in the worst of circumstances.

Congratulations to our very own Melody Thomas (pictured) and Kirsten Johnstone of Popsock Media! The Lake was funded by NZ On Air and produced alongside Stuff NZ.

S eve n

Yo u ’ r e i n v i t e d !

Finalists in the second ever Capital Photographer of the Year competition will be exhibited from 29 June at Courtenay Creative, the old bank building, 49 Courtenay Place. At the time of going to print, entries had already exceeded last year’s total. The categories include Whenua (landscape/nature), Society (people), Structure (architecture), Movement (motion), Inside (interiors), and Rangatahi (young photographers). Courtenay Creative, 29 June to 3 July.

Six

Eight

Play Hutt

Gully a-go-go

Running for over 20 years, the Recreation Aotearoa Awards celebrate projects and people in New Zealand’s recreation sector.

The prize for Outstanding Project was recently won by Hutt City Council, for Play in the Hutt, a project which encourages children to get outside and explore. CEO Andrew Leslie says, “There has been a high calibre of work taking place over the last few years, even with the disruption of COVID-19, and it feels more important than ever to celebrate these.”

Two years after its projected completion date, Transmission Gully opened to the public just a day before April Fool’s Day. The verdict? It’s pretty damn good. Journey times up the coast are reduced, the road quality is great, and we’ve unlocked new views and nooks of the Kāpiti area – it’s almost as if all those grievances we had last month are just drifting by the window, fading, fading, almost out of sight now… Wow, Kāpiti Island looks great from up here!

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AUCKLAND | WELLINGTON | CHRISTCHURCH

B O C O N C E P T.C O M

N O T E W O R T H Y

P O R I R UA’ S N E W WA R D S Porirua City Council has established three new wards to cover the district. The two general wards Onepoto (electing five councillors) and Pāuatahanui (electing four councillors) will cover the areas north and south of the harbour, with the Parirua ward (Māori roll) covering the entire district and electing one councillor. In a meeting last year, Cr Geoff Hayward said, “We must not look like we are trying to gerrymander.” The council used the Local Government Commission, an independent body, to oversee the ward division to alleviate these concerns.

KĀPITI LOOKS UP

NEW TOWN IN THE MAKING?

PRAISE FOR THE POLYS

Kāpiti is expecting to grow by more than 30,000 residents in the next 30 years, says the council’s District Planning Manager, Jason Holland “we estimate we’ll need another 16,200 houses by 2051.” Government changes to planning laws were welcomed by the council.

Property owners can now build up to three three-storey properties on most residential sites. Kāpiti Coast District Council have drafted a change to their District Plan in response, to allow the intensification to proceed.

Wellington City Council wants to cut 150 car parks along Riddiford Street in Newtown for a new cycleway. More than 700 people signed a petition against it, started by local business operator Urmila Bhana, asking the council to put the brakes on the trial cycleway to allow more consultation. The planned cycle route will run from the intersection of Riddiford and Hall Streets (near the hospital) to the Basin Reserve. The northbound side would lose all its current parks if the plan went ahead as is.

Two Wellington polytechnics, Whitireia and Weltec, are increasing their support for Māori and Pasifika students in a bid to keep more of them enrolled in college. Six new staff across the two institutions will boost pastoral care. They acknowledge that the pandemic reduced the number of students enrolled, reflecting hardship in cashstrapped, multi-generational households, many of whose members have to share equipment. The completion rate for Māori was 48% in 2020, compared with 57% for other groups in New Zealand polytechnics.

Seaside Markets

DISCOVER THE TREASURES TO BE FOUND IN TARANAKI AN INITIATIVE OF VENTURE TARANAKI

Mothers & Daughters sculpture

N O T E W O R T H Y

REFUND M A NAG E M E N T Home builders in the Hutt Valley have been waiting up to nine months to get their resource applications processed. The only silver lining is the discount applied to slow processing. Under 2010 legislation, Resource Management Act applications that sit with any council beyond a statutory 20-day limit are entitled to a 1% fee reduction per day, up to a maximum of 50 days.

It is thought that Hutt City Council potentially owes thousands of dollars, but it admitted it has not paid out anything in the past six months.

STREAM OF INVESTMENT

GREEN NO LONGER

HALL AND VOTES

To improve Te Awarua-o-Porirua (Porirua Harbour) a multi-million dollar funding package has been approved for riparian planting. The government will provide $3 million over five years, with Porirua City Council providing $4.8 million. The money will pay for more than 600,000 plants to be established along the banks of the 588km of streams that run into the harbour from all over the district. The 20-year project will protect the waterways, provide green jobs, and improve water quality and biodiversity by reducing run-off and erosion.

Wellington City Council’s Iona Pannett, a Green councillor since she was first elected in 2007, has announced she will not be standing for the Greens this year, and will run as an independent.

The councillor was voted out by a narrow margin at a Green selection meeting in April. Pannett says her commitment to heritage and character areas in the city was behind the snub. Most of the Green supporters favour new builds and increased density in the central city.

Masterton District Council’s new town hall has been a six-year saga since earthquake damage rendered the old one unusable. The proposed location for a new $31-million civic centre – which would replace recreational space, public swimming pools, and the War Memorial Stadium – has engendered tension, with about 1,000 people recently gathering in protest at the proposal. The Masterton Ratepayers and Residents Association and the Masterton Action Group would like to see the old hall demolished and rebuilt in situ at an estimated cost of $13.5 million.

Biance Lorenne

Be inspired by the arts and cultural scene in Taranaki.

Explore vibrant and contemporary Taranaki, and see for yourself the creative influence of Taranaki Maunga extending along the coastline. With so many local artists and specialty shops, you won’t be hard-pressed to find a creative keepsake of your time in Taranaki.

Taranaki.co.nz/visit

Go with the glow with this local goodie box

Per fec t f or Mot her 's Day Purchase yours from capitalmag. co.nz/shop

Two colourful candles from National Candles

An issue of Capital mag

CAPITAL

A hand-made ceramic candle holder by Wundaire

B Y

Room with a view Called The Wars of Independence

Matariki

Pie chart

T H E

N U M B E R S

46,000

10

48,899

164

price in NZD for 32 panels of the world’s most expensive wallpaper

the percentage of the NZ workforce who work in the construction industry

new NZ homes consented to in 2021

age in years of Nairn Street Cottage, Wellington’s oldest home

440

500

6

2

distance in lightyears between Earth and the Matariki star cluster

number of stars in the Matariki cluster

number of daughters Matariki is often said to have

tonnes of fireworks used in Wellington’s 2021 Matariki celebration

Only seven are visible to the naked eye.

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22

74

8

number of meat pies the average Kiwi eats each year

percentage of Kiwis who voted mince and cheese the best pie filling

million the number of pies eaten in NZ annually

dedicated pie shops in the Wellington region

CO M P I L E D BY S O P H I E CA RT E R

The daily commute

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77

470

2,800

percent decrease in bus and train passengers this year, compared to 2019

percentage of Wellingtonians that live within 800 metres of a regular public transport stop

number of buses serving the Wellington region

bus stops in Wellington

19 19

N E W

P R O D U C T S

2.

1.

3.

6.

5.

7.

4.

8.

10.

9.

Pumpkin soup

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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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

First as tragedy, then as farce

BY A RT H U R H AW K E S P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N N A B R I G G S

PLAYWRIGHT

MUSIC

SPORT

DIRECTOR

RUGBY TEAM

Arthur Miller

John Coltrane

Basketball

Akira Kurosawa

Highlanders

Hone, the theatre maker who puts himself through the hoops.

A

fter working with performers for the first time in two years, playwright Hone Kouka is exuberant, high on the energy of sharing space with other theatre makers, in the city he called home for 30 years.

Hone moved here from Dunedin in 1988 and lived in the central city. “At that time far fewer people were living there,” he says. The warehouse at 62 Ghuznee Street became an artery in the city’s creative scene, housing actors, artists, writers, and musicians. “Some arrived for a week and stayed for six months!” The collective Roots Foundation, the precursor to Fat Freddy’s Drop, was among many notable residents. Hone punctuated his theatre-making and study with late-night swims at Oriental Parade, enjoying plays at Taki Rua Theatre, and football matches “and the accompanying southerly” at Athletic Park.

The project that’s consumed him of late is Ngā Rorirori, which translates as “The Idiots”, at Circa Theatre from 18 to 25 June. The first work he has written and directed since 2015, it is a farce with dancing, music, audio-visual projection, and spoken word. The story follows a two-person iwi that discovers it has claim to a huge tract of land worth millions.

The last piece he wrote for theatre, Bless the Child (2018), painted a harrowing portrait of the child abuse epidemic.

“There were things I wanted to say and get out of my system at the time.” For Ngā Rorirori, he’s drawing on an earlier work for inspiration: 2015’s The Beautiful Ones, which had dancers, thumping electronic music, and an audience dance floor.

This lighter approach came from Hone’s survey of the theatre landscape during the pandemic. “My colleagues all felt so battered. It was difficult to come to terms with, so I

23

asked myself, ‘How can I bring joy to you?’” Farce and satire seemed a good vehicle for this, allowing humour into the thematic elements: Māoridom, capitalism, class, and what he calls “marae bureaucrats”.

Aside from the upheaval to the theatre world, much has changed in Hone’s personal life. In 2018, he and partner Mīria George moved from their place in Khandallah to Ngongotahā, where her family live. They live close to the lake. “I’m really happy. There’s space for my basketball court, and a beautiful back lawn that gets turned into a cricket pitch by the kids.”

They return to the capital often, for the two organisations they run here: Tawata Productions, which is producing Ngā Rorirori; and the Kia Mau arts festival. “We find it creatively enriching to come back. We put on our Wellington clothes, get into our Wellington mode. I think you can miss that good stuff when you’re grinding there all the time.”

As for his creative process, Hone admits he’s a night owl.

“I can write late on the couch watching a basketball game, or I make a playlist and play it continuously and just write to it.”

The first draft for Ngā Rorirori took 10 days. He sits on his ideas and ruminates, sometimes for years, before putting pen to paper. “Mīria will see me dancing around the kitchen and say, ‘You’re working on your play, aren’t you?’” Only when the idea is fleshed out, and partially acted and danced out, will he begin writing.

He says a recent Zoom reading through the script with 20 other playwrights reinforced the aspirations he had for the show, and his optimism. “Getting the joy into the work, and into the making of it, is really important. It’s good for our health and our wellbeing as artists.”

S P O N S O R E D

C O N T E N T

Queenstown’s Winter Wonderland

Nestled alongside the pristine waters of Lake Whakatipu and surrounded by majestic, snow-capped peaks sits Queenstown, the home of winter adventure. It is the perfect escape, whether you have an appetite for adventure, mountains, and fresh air or are more at home enjoying a delicious meal and fine wine next to

Choose from four different ski fields Queenstown is the perfect winter base to hit the slopes of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort, and Treble Cone, each located within a 20-90 minute drive of Queenstown. The four ski fields feature a variety of terrain and cater for different levels of experience, from beginner to expert.

Try night skiing at Coronet Peak; check out the home of freeride, The Remarkables; ski the Willows Basin at Cardrona which opened briefly in 2021; or head to Treble Cone, the largest ski area in the South Island.

a roaring fire. Every year from early June, the region transforms into a winter wonderland, attracting snow sports enthusiasts with its incredible lake and alpine scenery, crisp blue-sky days, vibrant après ski scene, and easy access to some of the finest ski and snowboard terrain in New Zealand.

Après ski scene

Take your skiing to the next level

Winter in Queenstown is just as much about après ski as it is about skiing and snowboarding, and the compact and vibrant town centre truly comes alive after dark. Stylish bars, sophisticated clubs, Kiwi pubs, and late-night hot spots make the après ski atmosphere second to none. Along with nearby Arrowtown, Queenstown is home to more than 150 bars and restaurants, offering an extensive range to tempt all taste buds, from fine dining to bustling eateries, family-friendly cafés, and boutique restaurants. If visiting local bars and trying new cocktails isn’t your thing, there are plenty more local activities to keep you occupied after you leave the ski field, including zipline tours, ice skating and plenty of indoor thrills.

Experienced skiers are well catered for in Queenstown, with ample opportunity to take your skiing to the next level. Queenstown’s four ski fields each have a range of double-black runs and off-piste terrain just waiting to be explored. Or for the ultimate powder experience, spend the day exploring the backcountry with a local guide or through one of Queenstown’s heliskiing operations. The helicopter ride up to the Southern Alps is spectacular, and provides access to pristine, untouched snow just waiting for you to make fresh tracks on.

Once-in-a-lifetime winter experiences Queenstown is the place to tick off those once-in-alifetime experiences, and there’s no time more scenic than winter to try them. Take an early morning hot air balloon flight above white-capped mountain peaks, paraglide from a ski field covered in fresh snow, or take a leap and skydive over the Southern Alps. You can also horse ride through fresh snow, bungy jump into an ice-cold river, or 4WD adventure into an abandoned mining village. The options are endless.

Beyond the ski field Queenstown is renowned for its high-octane thrills. If you’re looking for an adrenaline rush or want to push your limits, there are activities like jet boating, zip-lining, or quad biking – all guaranteed to get your blood pumping! For the ultimate in relaxation, especially after a day on the slopes, enjoy some ‘me time’ at one of Queenstown’s luxury day spas and yoga studios. A full range of treatments are on offer, and it’s the perfect way to revitalise the mind, body, and soul.

To plan your Queenstown winter getaway, check out queenstownNZ.nz

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C U L T U R E

ART ON SHOW The annual NZ Art show is an important avenue for local artists to sell their work. From crisp award-winning photographs by Brooklyn’s Catherine Cattanach, moody, atmospheric oil paintings by Jane Blackmore, chicken portraits by Paekākāriki’s Ronda Thompson and photorealistic landscapes by Ben Dellabarca the show assembles a wide diversity of styles and genres.

There are also 90 sculptures that have been selected for the RT Nelson sculpture awards, including carved clay vessels by Porirua’s Stevei Houkāmau (pictured).

At TSB Arena, from 3 to 5 June.

IN THE BAG

CRINGE REVERSE

Handbags, gin, and gelato – what’s not to like? Every Thursday in July, thow a glamorous bag over your shoulder and enjoy a free curator’s tour of Carry Me (with refreshments). The show brings over 50 luxurious handbags from private Italian collections – think “The Jackie”, Diana’s “Lady Dior”, or Carrie Bradshaw’s “Baguette” – to just one New Zealand venue, Upper Hutt’s Whirinaki Whare Taonga. Related events include a Retro and Vintage Fair at the gallery on 24 July. Carry Me: 100 Years of Handbags, from 14 May to 7 August, Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Upper Hutt.

In 2021, almost one in four songs on commercial radio came from New Zealand acts. That’s a huge jump from five years ago, when only 12 percent were locally grown. And there were over 25,000 radio plays of waiata reo Māori, up from 4,582 in 2019.

These record-breaking numbers were boosted by NZ On Air investment from the Arts Recovery Package, which funded over 400 music projects in 2021 and the next two years.

COFFEE & GREAT READS

RED MUSIC Violin virtuoso Amalia Hall (pictured) has performed as a soloist with many European orchestras, but May’s Passione concert will be her NZSO debut. Well known to chamber music aficionados, and as concertmaster of Orchestra Wellington, Hall will play John Corigliano’s Chaconne from his score for The Red Violin. James Judd, NZSO Music Director Emeritus, also returns to conduct two masterpieces, Strauss’s Don Juan, and Prokofiev’s score for Romeo and Juliet, in a night of grand, stirring, passionate music.

vicbooks.co.nz

C U L T U R E

A HA PPY BUILD? Can we build people happy? We absolutely can, said Stockholm architect Jan Inghe. His life’s work was to show how large-scale developments can create attractive, eco-friendly, people-centred urban spaces.

An Other City, a film on Jan Inghe and urban planning, shows at the Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival 2022 alongside films about opera, adobe, the world’s largest stained-glass window, Polish tractor factories, and the challenges of providing temporary shelter for refugees. From 19 May to 5 June. See the programme at rialto.co.nz

MULTI-PRONGED

TAONGA STORIES

DANCE AGAIN IN THE CITY

Matarau is the name for a multipronged spear used for fishing and eeling; also of a new exhibition at City Gallery, guest-curated by Wellington artist Shannon Te Ao (pictured) with artists Robyn Kahukiwa, Emily Karaka, Hemi Macgregor, Ming Ranginui, Kei Te Pai Press, and James Tapsell-Kururangi. Feeling their way in shifting, changing times, these artists call upon whakapapa, their environment, politics and love to create their art. Matarau, City Gallery Wellington, from May.

Taonga of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, including weapons, carvings and jewellery from Te Rauparaha and whanau, are being exhibited at Pātaka. Accompanied by sound and videos, they bring to life the stories of this local iwi, from its origins in Kawhia, the great heke (migration) south, treaty signings, settlements on Kāpiti Island and both sides of Te Moana o Raukawa, heroines, battles, and land sales. Whiti te rā, the story of Ngāti Toa Rangatira, at Pātaka, in Porirua.

Something of a drought of live dance performance in the capital is being broken by Dry Spell from Footnote (our longest-running contemporary dance company.) The show is the story of one night, five complex characters, and their experiences of fantasy and reality, desire and disgrace. “We look at the edge between fear and pleasure, and the tricks the mind plays,” says choreographer Rose Philpott. With sound design

by Eden Mulholland, Dry Spell has only one night in Wellington, 11 May at Wellington Opera House.

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C U L T U R E

WOM B I N T E R N AT I O N A L The globe is shrinking for couples seeking surrogate wombs – and for NZ audiences joining online Zoom theatre shows.

Global Belly_Zoom, by Berlin theatre company Flinn Works, is an online interactive performance about transnational surrogacy.

It questions and explores the complex ethics and emotions of the industry. Blessing of modern medicine, or neocolonial act?

What nationality or passport should the babies get? Professional agents, content surrogates, argumentative feminists, and loving fathers-to-be all have something to say in Global Belly_Zoom on 21 May, a limited-ticket event supported by the Goethe Institute (email info.wellington@goethe.de to register).

LOOKING GLASS

UNITED / TRANSFORMED

DARK SATANIC MILLS

See historic and contemporary glass treasures in Collect 22 at Whanganui’s Glassworks, running until June 26. The first show in an annual series displaying private glass collections, it’s drawn from the extensive 40-year collection of glass blogger, former museum director, and Heritage New Zealand manager Stuart Park. Round off your visit to Glassworks by watching red-hot glassblowers in action – or try your hand at making a vessel or paperweight at one of their beginners’ workshops.

“Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au.” In My River Goes With Me, Johnson Witehira brings stones from the banks of Whanganui awa, his ancestral river, to the Dowse Gallery, in an exhibition that runs throughout much of the year. Their mauri anchors the digital kowhaiwhai images and soundscapes flowing through the immersive installation.

A collaboration with Winnipeg-based Julie Nagam, My River Goes With Me celebrates the life-giving water that unites people and landscapes around the planet, providing sustenance and healing, uplifting, uniting and transforming.

Heritage woollen crafts are having a revival; She Shed showcases seven contemporary makers at Petone Settlers Museum. Vita Cochran’s Offcuts Rug, hooked from old woollen garments, reflects Cochran’s recent discovery that three of her great-aunts migrated from Manchester in 1913 to work in Petone Woollen Mill. Lizzy Leckie’s woven pieces, dyed with plant material using methods she first learned foraging with her grandmother, are also among the works chosen by Dr Bronwyn Lloyd, 2021 Blumhardt Curator.

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S O C I A L

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M U S I C

Plastic fantastic P H OTO G R A P H Y BY L E W I S F E R R I S

Sophie Scott-Maunder, Jonathan Shirley, and Laura Robinson formed their band, Soft Plastics, on the cusp of covid. They talk to Francesca Emms.

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S

oft Plastics released their debut EP on the same day Jacinda Ardern announced the first nation-wide lockdown. But rather than getting down about the pandemic, they saw it as a blessing in disguise. Their first few gigs didn’t go ahead, giving them more time to fine-tune their songs, write more, and even bin some.

Postponed performances are the norm, but Sophie, Laura, and Jono have earned an excellent live reputation and shared the stage with the likes of The Beths, Silicon, King Sweeties, and Wax Chattels.

Describing themselves as garage pop with a nostalgic twist, Soft Plastics sound fuller than you’d expect from a three-piece. Jono’s guitar and Laura’s drums rise and fall with Sophie’s nuanced vocal performance: from soft, tender, and vulnerable to large, loud, and powerful.

Each member brings specific skills to the group.

With a Masters degree in screenwriting from the International Institute of Modern Letters and a certificate in filmmaking from The New Zealand Film and Television School, Laura is the obvious choice to produce their music videos. As well as playing drums and singing she also keeps track of their accounts.

Sophie is a co-curator of Eyegum Music Collective and is a core organiser of Welcome to Nowhere, an indie music festival which has been putting on events in the Whanganui region for the past six years. She’s the lead singer, bass player, and administrator/organiser for the group.

Then there’s guitarist Jono who studied at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, completing an honours degree in Sonic Arts. He has since contributed to a wide variety of musical outfits including experimental electronics ensembles

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and post-punk trios, and composing for film and theatre. He’s also the go-to for technical feedback.

Earlier this year, with a grant for new music from NZ on Air, Soft Plastics filmed their first music video. It’s for their single, Day Job, which is about disliking the boring aspects of your job. “I think most people can relate,” says Sophie. In the video she sings, “If I had my dream job, I’d quit my day job… then I wouldn’t have to work for you” as her character goes about the mundane tasks of her notso-mundane job. “It’s not about my current job, and I’ve had to explain that to my manager,” she laughs.

“It’s about working, in general, and feeling like you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

But it’s not supposed to be taken too seriously, and the music video helps reinforce that. It’s supposed to be tongue in cheek.”

Soft Plastics are working on a debut album.

Written collaboratively, many of their songs are moody (one is referred to as “Sophie’s Sad Song”) while others are more silly. Most are so catchy you can’t help bopping along – just try to get I Love My Wife out of your head.

Flying Nun have declared Soft Plastics one of their “current favourite local bands”, saying the trio “takes 90s shoegaze and 2010s alt-rock in its stride, and turns heartache into killer pop hooks.” Soft Plastics have also caught the notice of RNZ, who’ve labelled them “Ones to watch” for 2022, describing them as “one of those bands who are going to go places.” They hope to live up to expectations.

Soft Plastics’ new single Day Job will be released on 6 May. Upcoming gigs include a Flying Nun event at Vogelmorn Bowling Club on 12 May, and opening for Fur Patrol’s New Zealand tour later in the year.

F E AT U R E

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F E AT U R E

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F E AT U R E

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N O T E S

New generation feels the pressure

When Tukiri Tini talks about whakairo, or carving, his kōrero is rich with the whakapapa of master carvers from his iwi and whanau back in Te Whakarewarewa geothermal valley. Now the Rotorua-raised artist is creating high-profile taonga and carving out his own place in the Capital. He talks to Rachel Helyer Donaldson.

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

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N O T E S

A

t 26, artist and carver Tukiri Tini (Ngāi Tahu, Tainui and Te Arawa) has contributed to taonga that are held around the world, from Beijing to Chile, Los Angeles and Rarotonga. Tukiri is proud of his work overseas, but his main focus is “to create authentic taonga Māori for our people here, in our homeland”.

It’s one of the driving forces behind his business, Toi Whakairo, which translates as the art of carving. Set up with his partner Kāmaia Takuira-Mita (Ngāti Rongomai, Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāi Tahu, Sāmo) in 2017, Toi Whakairo aims to “develop, design and share the art of whakairo with whānau and friends”.

Working eight-hour days from his garage studio in Miramar, Tukiri creates taonga – from weapons such as taiaha, tewhatewha and patu, to larger pieces like poupou (wall panels), and waka huia (treasure containers). Depending on the

piece, he uses hard woods like maire and rata, or softer timber like tōtara, rimu, and kōpara.

Most customers come to him via word of mouth, or through social media. Tukiri’s pieces are specifically made for his customers. A bespoke taonga is for life: “It will be handed down, generation after generation.”

He is driven by the need to perpetuate his art form, once in danger of dying out. Growing up in the centuries-old geothermal village of Whakarewarewa in Rotorua, Tukiri was very aware of the great whakapapa, or lineage, of master carvers from the area.

Tukiri studied with master carvers Clive Fugill and James Rickard at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Craft Institute (NZMACI), part of the huge tourism venture Te Puia, in Whakarewarewa. They were once students of master carver Hōne Taiapa – a student of the first Wānanga Whakairo, set up

by Sir Āpirana Ngata in 1927 to ensure the survival of Māori carving. After graduating, Tukiri spent four years alongside Rickard in Te Puia’s marae restoration team, helping iwi across Aotearoa to restore and preserve their whare. Tukiri has since completed a second degree in whakairo at Te

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Wānanga o Aotearoa, in Huntly, studying with master carver Hohepa Peni who learnt under master carver Tuti Te Kaokao.

At Rotorua Boys’ High School, where he was a prefect, Tukiri studied painting, and he started out as a graffiti artist. It taught him how to achieve scale in his carving. Whakairo was similar to graffiti in the way it’s laid out his tutors explained, “but in a Māori form and manaia [figures], representing tūpuna and ancestors and kōrero”.

Tukiri aspires to be like his cousin Tony Thompson, a master carver and tutor at NZMACI. “He’s the most amazing carver. He’s a real generational carver – he could do his style, he could do all the other carvers’ styles”. Whakairo passes on the kōrero, or history, of each tribe. Every iwi has a different way of carving, so it’s important to know every style. “Our goal through Toi Whakairo is to keep the art of whakairo alive, to provide a safe place for our people to purchase authentic taonga Māori.”

Some people can feel “whakamā, too shy”, to receive a taonga, particularly if they don’t know their whakapapa or don’t speak te reo Māori. “I want to break that. If you're Māori, that, to me, is enough for you to receive a taonga.”

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S O C I A L

As an artist, there are several pieces he’s particularly proud of. He carved two taonga in memory of his late uncle, Te Arawa rangatira (leader) and historian Mauriora Kingi. They are used as trophies at the Te Arawa regional kapa haka competition and the national kapa haka competition Te Matatini.

Last year Tukiri was a finalist in the inaugural Kiingi Tuheitia Portraiture Award for a pou, exhibited at New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata. It was in honour of his father, a descendant of Tainui. “It was a symbol of thanks for the history and knowledge that he's passed down to me.” The pou itself was a symbolic representation of his tūpuna, Hoturoa, and his voyage across the Pacific on the Tainui waka, “and a nod to the Kiingitanga [the Māori King movement]”.

His latest work is his biggest. Tukiri spent much of 2021 at his father’s house in Rotorua working on a pou whenua of his ancestor Umukaria, a great chief of the Tūhourangi tribe. The 4.2-metre, 800-kg pou was one of five taonga commissioned by Rotorua Lakes Council. Tukiri was amazed, he says, to be given the job of carving the main chief, over his older cousins.

“My auntie Watu Mihinui, one of the main kaitiaki of Te Whakarewarewa, said it was time for a new generation to come through and share their interpretations of how we would display our ancestors.” He was “really honoured and privileged to do it, but man, I felt the pressure”. It was a tough seven months,

N O T E S

but whānau bolstered him with their support. Umukaria now stands in the Te Pūtake o Tawa forest hub. Tukiri is proud of creating something lasting. “I’m still lost for words. But it was an awesome experience.”

Since then, the commissions have been non-stop. Kāmaia, 27, handles the business side of Toi Whakairo, and also works as a mātauranga Māori adviser for the Ministry of Education, and runs a sustainable and ethical clothing line, Ara. In future the couple (who had their first date at Kāmaia’s Nan’s house in Whakarewarewa in 2016) hope to undertake collaborations between Toi Whakairo and Ara, and get into tā moko (tattooing).

Tukiri moved to Wellington two years ago, to advance his business. “It was hard in Rotorua when there’s a carver or ta moko artist or flax artist or weaving artist on every street, every corner.

I didn’t like standing on any of my elders’ toes, I'll come back when the time’s right.”

Coming to Te Whanganui-a-Tara was “the best decision for me”, he says. Miramar, where he and Kāmaia flat with a friend and Tukiri’s nephew, is a “very awesome community”. So is the whole of Wellington. “It's a very artsy city.” Meanwhile Tukiri’s name is getting out there. “It's so funny how this all works out. Part of me was thinking, I'm going to miss my home. But I got down here, and this whare reminds me of home. I feel really safe here.”

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YEARS AND COUNTING

F E AT U R E

House

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F E AT U R E

Harvest home

BY A RT H U R H AW K E S P H OTO G R A P H Y BY O L I V I A L A M B

Edward and Auriga Martin have built the offgrid eco home they always dreamed of, from natural materials sourced from the local area.

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F E AT U R E

E

dward and Auriga Martin’s straw bale home project began eight years ago, when they purchased a secluded Martinborough paddock. The house they built there is almost entirely crafted from natural building materials that were sourced within a few kilometres of the property.

As Edward describes the testing three-year build, he smears a clay mixture onto straw bales which have been stacked like bricks to form a wall. They sit between wooden bucks – strong uprights of parallel timber with horizontal supports. Before the demo, he has sprayed the wall with a thin clay and water mixture, which grips to the layer he’s now daubing with his hands: a viscous paste of clay, water, sand, and straw, which will dry to form a sturdy plaster.

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While straw feature walls are increasingly common, Auriga and Edward wanted to have all the walls, interior and exterior, made from straw; to have the frame of the house made entirely from wood; and to have earth floors throughout. The only man-made material in the core build is the concrete for the two bathroom floors, and Edward even experimented with making Roman-style concrete from lime, but this proved a bridge too far.

“Every single thing took longer than expected, and nothing was easy about it. You couldn’t really turn to people to ask, as it was all so specific. When I started it I was probably the perfect combination of naive and arrogant to actually think I could do it,” Edward laughs.

Almost all the materials he used come from the Wairarapa: the barley straw is from a local farm, the wood was collected and stored in the course of Edward’s work as an arborist,

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F E AT U R E

the clay is dug from the ground around the property, and the sand is from a nearby river.

Their electricity and hot water come from solar panels and a wetback wood burner.

The roof and bucks were completed by a local builder, then Edward took the reins and did almost everything solo over two years, while Auriga juggled the development of the interior with her busy work life. “This was about using the materials around us,” says Edward. “It’s all here and you can build houses with it.”

Local timber is a feature throughout. Cedar French doors open onto a hefty raised deck at the front, which is sheltered by extended eaves supported by thick macrocarpa beams and Douglas fir pillars. An open-plan living area and kitchen, heated by their wood burner, sits in the middle, with a traditional ceramic sink and black granite counter tops from Early Settler.

F E AT U R E

Three bedrooms and two bathrooms are nestled away to the sides of the house.

The earthen walls and floors are treated with natural oils like linseed and orange, which seal them and repel water. “We can actually mop our earth floors – it’s so cool,” says Auriga. At the rear of the property is another substantial covered deck, which looks out onto surrounding forest.

A wood-fired cedar hot tub lies a few metres beyond the tree line. They feed the tub’s furnace on days when someone fancies a restorative soak, which is fairly often as they live an active life.

Edward is a keen skier, and competes in gruelling multi-sport races when he is not working. Their girls, 12 and 10, are competitive mountain bikers. Auriga works long days as a manager in the financial sector. She opened the Ventana art space in Martinborough. Much of their art collection is from her time there,

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F E AT U R E

including several colourful ceramic works by fellow Californian Lorien Stern. For a family that gives everything to their work and their passions, the home they’ve built is a sanctuary.

The couple met in Greece when they were 20. “He was on his Kiwi multiyear OE,” says Auriga, “I was doing my American single-year trip. I was going to art school and being productive, and he was DJing and living in a tent! We’ve been together ever since: it was love at first sight, and that was 23 years ago.”

They lived in the USA during their twenties; month-long trips to Bali became a staple after their first child was born in

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2009. The French doors, built by Wellington’s Well Hung Joinery and installed by Edward, have a Balinese design incorporated into the frame. “We love Bali,” says Auriga.

“This detail reminds us of happiness and vacation.”

Between moving to New Zealand in 2007 and moving into their straw bale home in early 2021, the Martins lived in a traditional farmhouse in Martinborough, the town which Edward’s ancestor John founded in 1879. It got cold in winter, and their newborn would develop an endless cough. “It was stressful as new parents. We just wanted more warmth,” says Auriga. “That was even part of our wedding vows: he said, ‘I promise that you will always be warm’.”

When the style of home they wanted crystallised, Auriga found a course offered by a company called Sol Design. Edward, who admits he is no builder, spent a week in Geraldine with the owners of Sol, Sven and Sarah Johnston, learning the techniques needed to build with straw.

The interior of the property continues the celebration of natural materials. It isn’t too fussy: the exposed wood and textured walls are features in their own right. Some are coloured with plant-based paint from the Natural Paint Company in Christchurch – light blue for the pantry, green for the bathrooms. The red gum used for

F E AT U R E

the bathroom surfaces comes from a huge tree that once stood on the site of their kitchen.

The bathroom tiles are from Moabell, the project of Moroccan-born Mohamed Belkouadssi from Whanganui. He makes each tile using an encaustic cement method with sand, marble powder, and natural pigments. The bright tiles, exposed wood, and colourful artworks are reminiscent of the Californian straw bale homes that Auriga grew up around. “It’s quite common to use straw bales to save money in parts of the US,” she says, “so there’s a lot more of it going on – in the warmer states things dry really quickly. It’s great to see it catching on more here.”

Auriga points out one slightly bowed wall. “That’s a pretty common feature of straw bale homes, but we wanted to avoid it, especially around the window and door frames.” Edward devised a method using pieces of old carpet, which he stretched over edges and backfilled to create smooth, even lines. “He’d drop stuff off at the dump, get weighed, and then come back heavier because he’d taken so much old carpet!”

After the huge effort of the build, the only thing the family needs to do now is add the odd log to the wood burner. “It’s not high maintenance,” says Auriga. “We’re off grid. We choose to keep the fire going when the weather’s not great, but that’s about it – we love it.”

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O P I N I O N

Wellington rising Coming soon to back yards near you. Roger Walker makes a case for urban intensification and against castles on quarter-acres.

Some bizarre things have been tried but sensible thinking has mostly prevailed.

When I arrived the District Plan sited the highest buildings on ridges such as The Terrace, with permitted heights lowering towards the water’s edge, to maximise harbour views. But corporate power compromised this concept by building high on the Quays.

The population of Wellington is predicted to grow by 80,000 in the next 30 years. Where are we going to put all these people? This is a formidable challenge, which legislators and local planners are trying to meet on two fronts, building upward and covering more ground.

Roger Walker was born in Hamilton, and graduated with honours from Auckland University in 1967.

He has been self employed as an architect in Wellington since 1971 and was elected a Fellow of the NZIA in 1987.

In 1999 he received an ONZM from the Queen, for Services to Architecture. In 2018 he was awarded the NZIA Gold Medal. He has appeared on various TV programmes, including Mitre 10 Dream Home, The AA Torque Show, and recently Designing Dreams with Matthew Ridge. He has recently embarked on a parallel career as an artist. The advantage of that he says is that neither Resource nor Building Consents are necessary.

Going up

R

eforms to the Resource Management Act, passed with cross-party support, take effect in August of this year. So the City Council is busy rewriting its District Plan for the first time in 20 years. Of nearly 3,000 submissions on the draft plan, the majority were in favour.

About 60% of the local provisions for implementing the legislative reforms are already in force. Those providing for housing intensification are being fast tracked. The result will be the most far-reaching changes to the physical form and appearance of our city since the arrival of the motor car.

Living and working in Wellington for over fifty years, I have seen many district plans come and go.

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My first job in Wellington was working for Michael Fowler. He once took me to meet with the caretaker of our Lambton Quay building. The caretaker loved his house on top of the building. He had light and sun on four sides and views in every direction, two minutes in the lift from Lambton Quay. I will never forget Michael’s reaction: “More people should be living like this.” And he instigated the colonisation of the city as a place for living as well as working.

Wellington is now the envy of cities whose residents live scattered far from their urban attractions. And the enviable trends will continue under the new District Plan, which will focus half of the projected growth in the CBD. Height is the less controversial dimension of intensification. There has always been an upwards thrust. A 70s “arts bonus” allowed extra floors on any building that provided a sculpture set in

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open space in front of it. The hope of preserving said open spaces was optimistic, witness the Green Man bar standing at the corner of Willeston and Victoria Streets, on the site of an unloved former sculpture.

The District Plan has now evolved, to permit additional height in exchange for design excellence, for which read interesting tops and facades.

The city should include nature. I would like to see balconies made compulsory for new apartment buildings; roofs could be greened, veges grown, birds attracted, colour introduced, and the changing seasons expressed.

The “death of cities” is predicted because of post-covid working from home. But the more office buildings empty out, the more apartments will flourish, as buildings are converted to residential use. Such dwellings are cheaper than new builds, and typically warm, dry, quiet, fire-resistant, affordable, and rentable.

The District Plan is also intended to make the city carbon neutral as soon as possible. Many CO2 emissions come from the manufacture of building materials and construction, another reason to consider adapting and re-using existing stock.

While we still have a love affair with the car, their use in the CBD will decline naturally and alternative transport options will flourish, because buses, taxis and Ubers, cycles, scooters, and skateboards will simply be more efficient ways of getting around. In the 60s, carparks were compulsory for all developments, even bars! The new District Plan has no carparking requirements whatsoever. That’s real progress.

Roads are for cars, but streets are for all. Car movements through the city will be progressively curtailed, and Dixon and Ghuznee Streets will be closed to through traffic. Slow-speed traffic and pedestrians, even jaywalking ones, can co-exist. So we can expect livelier, more resilient, safer city streets.

NIMBY 3x3 The other half of the projected growth will be outside the CBD. This is where the nimbies live, and cling to the quarter-acre mentality that plants a standalone house in the middle of a green donut of dubious use. The infrastructure costs of providing individual services to such sections are huge, and the social rationale is back to front.

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The original inhabitants of New Zealand built marae incorporating levels of privacy and community, providing environments for needs ranging from isolation to societal interaction. Just the necessary land was used. The results were true communities.

But European settlers were often fleeing poverty and overcrowded slums. They saw apparently endless land and sought to carve it up between them. People were not seeking community; they built their own little castles as far away from their boundaries as possible.

Many first home buyers in New Zealand cling to a image of the suburban house they grew up in. It’s an unsound concept, and now unaffordable.

Now that now the RMA permits three 3-storey houses to be built as of right on each quarter-acre, it has been suggested we are going to end up “like Mumbai”. With its density of 21,000 persons per sq km, this is clearly preposterous. The current density of persons in Wellington per sq km is 2,000. Sydney and Melbourne are around twice as dense. Yet there are ample green spaces and public areas in those cities, and on average living conditions have improved rather than declined.

Our land use must improve. Moving from lowdensity to medium-density living may mean terrace housing to reduce land waste. But this need not entail any loss of amenity. Acoustic and visual privacy are actually more easily attained with a solid wall between houses, rather than airspace between facing windows.

We should embrace the changes. The evidence is that young voters do, but those who already have their quarter-acre paradise can guard it selfishly. They resist change, they lawyer up, and cite effects on heritage, sunlight, and shading.

District Plans have preserved the quarter-acre model, using blunt instruments such as site coverage limits, recession planes, and height limits. Such controls have been abandoned in many countries, and replaced by the oversight of expert planners. They are qualified to understand real, rather than imagined, effects, and exercise site-specific discretion rather than stopping non-compliances.

Well designed insertions into flabby suburbia are highly desirable. People who can afford their rates and large gardens are not going to be forced to subdivide.

The district plan is all about incentives.

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Heritage is not necessarily threatened. Historically significant areas are specified in the District Plan.

They can easily be protected, and even enhanced by sympathetic design. View shafts can be established where there is something worth looking at.

In the CBD before the RMA was introduced a developer could transfer the height potential of a nearby heritage building to gain extra floors for a new one. This could be reinstated – it’s an excellent way of preserving a heritage building without adding anything unsympathetic. This country seems to have a demolition mentality, especially regarding seismic risk. “Pull it down and start again” thinking is apparent in the recent demolition of the Athfield-designed Arlington public housing and the close call with his City Library.

Councils seem to want to pre-empt earthquake damage. In the 80+ years from the 1931 Napier event to the Christchurch quakes, and without making light of tragedy, there were fewer than 500 earthquakerelated deaths – and over 12,000 road fatalities. Most seismic closures are less about saving lives than saving insurers’ profits.

Physical necessities aside, our crucial need is to create beauty. Billy Connolly said of the undisputed beauty of nature, “…what interests me more is how we humans added to or detracted from it.”

As an architect, I see imaginative design as imperative.

Physical necessities aside, all new buildings should be made as beautiful as possible for the sake of joy and delight. Humans need beauty. It makes us feel complete and in tune with nature.

We have some beautiful buildings already, but we need many more. Heritage buildings tell our stories, and we are building our future heritage. Wellington’s setting and natural attributes are widely envied, not just in New Zealand. This new district plan is a perfect opportunity to enhance our good fortune.

The opinions expressed in my writing are my own, and not intended to cause offence, or to slight any person or institution.

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Until 16 Oct 2022

She Shed installation detail photo. Mark Tantrum.

E D I B L E S

You’ve got knits

BY S O P H I E CA RT E R

Put down your phone and pick up your needles — Jo Morris’s purls of wisdom.

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eeding only needles and wool, knitting is a take-anywhere hobby. Cast on on the bus, purl in front of the TV, or knit and natter with other devotees at a club. Knitting has been shown to relieve stress, lower blood pressure, and reduce anxiety. Outshining yoga and pottery, a recent study showed the craft to be the most relaxing hobby, decreasing the heart rates of study participants by 18.75 percent. Not only cool and clever, this ancient skill is also eco-conscious, and follows the slow fashion movement, creating items that last. All this, and a piece of cosy clothing to be proud of – even if it has a few dropped stitches otherwise known as holes, just call it a statement.

We’ve got a great knitted vest pattern to get you started. Grab wool and needles and head to capitalmag.co.nz to improve your mind and your wardrobe.

Maintaining tension on the yarn will keep your knitting nice and even. Do this by wrapping the wool around the little finger on your right hand so that as the wool passes around the needle it isn’t slack and keeps a consistent tension.

Jo Morris first picked up knitting needles to bag a Brownie badge. With her mother on hand to rescue dropped stitches, she made a hot water bottle cover, and was hooked. Now Jo helps others with their crafting dreams and dilemmas, as the owner of Wellington Sewing Centre in Kilbirnie. Thoroughly woven into the public sector, Jo was previously the chair of the Broadcasting Standards Authority and a member of the Waitangi Tribunal, and was awarded an OBE for her services. Swapping her lawyer’s work for a focus on handcrafts, Jo took over the sewing centre in 2016.

Patterns are based on the tension of the average knitter (described as x stitches and y rows to a 10cm square).

Discover if you are “average” by knitting a 12cm square, measuring the central 10cm, and counting the stitches.

Fewer, you’re a loose knitter, more, a tight knitter.

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The pattern will indicate which size needles to use. However, if you are a tight knitter you should use slightly larger needles,slightly smaller if you are a loose knitter to get the right tension (as little as one size or 0.5cm either way should work). Needle size change can dramatically change your result.

Wool

Why ‘ply’? The ply of yarn refers to the number of spun strands that are plied or twisted together (e.g. eight-ply means eight fine strands of wool) to form the yarn. This will determine the thickness, texture, and weight of the garment.

The most common yarn is 100% wool, but there are many others to choose from. Mixed fibres such as wool/nylon are great for socks; wool/mohair works if you are going for fluffy; and wool/linen makes lighter-weight garments.

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If you’re a knitting novice it’s probably best to avoid very fluffy wool as the stitches can be hard to separate to correct mistakes.

Using chunky wool (such as 12-ply) can be a good way to start – your project will be quicker to complete, giving you impetus and confidence.

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H O M E

Hunters and gatherers

Jess Godfrey, manager of Vic Books, and freelance art director Sven Wiig have curated an interior that celebrates their love of New Zealand art, their travels around the world, and the pieces of modern design they’ve collected along the way. Jess shows us around.

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

H O M E

S

ven and I don’t always see eye to eye about interior choices. Basically we each think we have the better taste. I knew Sven would object to that wall light so I bought it without talking to him about it. Given it’s such a feature that was quite risky, but I got it where I wanted it in the end and he seems to think it’s ok now. The bottom work is by Wellington artist and friend Ben Buchanan.

The top is a Derek Henderson photograph, a leaving present to me from Caffe L’affare. I feel I’ve had some of the coolest jobs in Wellington – from Caffe L’affare, Acme & Co cups, International Marketing Manager of Coffee Supreme, and am now General Manager of Vic Books.

Cafés and bookstores – there is no better combination!

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B O O K

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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H O M E

I took Sven on a pilgrimage to Copenhagen to stay at the SAS Radisson, the hotel entirely designed by Arne Jacobsen. Sven and I both share Danish ancestry. I thought we’d go to the Louisiana Museum or Tivoli Gardens – you know, usual touristy things – but we spent most of our time in the second-hand shops.

This, Svend Mittelboe “Verona,” is the largest and most spectacular of the seven vintage Danish lights we had to somehow get on our Ryanair flight back to London. Then to Wellington after that!

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We used to live in a cupboard of a house – it was super cute but tiny and I had always wanted plants but there wasn’t enough space. The entrance to our current house has windows and glass doors on both external and internal sides which makes it look like a conservatory – I knew straight away I would fill it with plants and that Italian terracotta pots would work.

H O M E

The Boot Room! Where you take off your shoes or remove your rain coat before entering the hallway. The lettering came from a movie set that Sven worked on in 2006. He was Art Directing Taika Waititi’s short feature Tama Tu. They had to recreate a war-torn village and those letters were on the wall of a building that was going to be torn down just days later. Sven saved them.

The aluminium coat rack came from a Paris flea market. We store things and find a use for them years down the track.

Our coffee table is 1.2m square and came about because we couldn’t find anything we liked that was the right scale for the room. So we designed and built it ourselves. I wanted fine metal legs, and Sven came up with this shape which a colleague fabricated for him. And the marble we decided upon by walking around the Slab Gallery in Seaview. We bought a whole piece and used the off-cuts for two smaller side tables. I count it as our most successful collaboration, and it required very little negotiation between us.

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Our New York City corner. The Eames rocking chair was purchased on a trip to New York, we really wanted the original fibreglass seat rather than the new plastic ones. We found this army green colour at a shop in Soho and spent all the money we had before realising we couldn't afford to send it back on DHL. So we found some empty boxes on the side of the road, borrowed some tape from the hotel and put it in the hold of the flight we were coming home on. It arrived with a couple of dings but luckily intact!

The framed Manhattan destination blind was salvaged from the Redbird subway cars that were wrecked to form a coral reef.

H O M E

Our white ceramics collection began with a vase inherited from my grandparents – it had been a wedding present. The first time Sven came to the family home he noted we had a basil plant sitting in a piece hand potted by Keith Murray for Wedgwood – a New Zealand-born architect who found fame in the UK. Sven soon bought a handpotted Ernie Shufflebotham Crown Lynn vase to complement it and the collection just grew over the years – we added modern John Parker works, and more Keith Murrays that we found in the UK, and Shufflebothams bought online and in secondhand shops. Sven had this display case in his props store for years. The painting was something Sven and Karl Maughan talked about. My only contribution to it was that I didn't want too much purple in the colour work. I was totally chuffed when Karl finished it and announced it was called Godfrey Road!

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H O M E

Previous page, top: So much to love in this photo because it’s a very good combination of Sven’s taste (Omega sign and New York subway) contrasted with my items (the Scandinavian candlesticks, Ruth Buchanan paperweight artworks, and small artworks purchased at Precinct 35).

Previous page, bottom: Easy access to all our cookbooks. The large copper work is by Auckland artist Gidon Bing. I saw a picture of it online, made the store put it on hold, and told Sven I’d found my birthday present. The light darts off it beautifully.

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Blue and green should never be seen!

We took a long time to find the right wall colour – our living and dining rooms get so much natural light that when we were testing colours on the wall we kept having to find darker colours. We settled on this grey. It’s pretty neutral, and has good contrast against the white doors, windows, and ceilings, which I always like in a room.

And it doesn’t clash with the incredibly lush but hideous carpet we inherited from the former owners.

H O M E

The collection I thought might break us up! I asked Sven to stop at about ten vases and we have over 40 now. Mostly Holmegaard with a bit of Murano and other modernist coloured glass. The sideboard is G-Plan – we found it at a funny shop in Hastings called Better Used Furniture. The painting is by Tom Sladden – I had told the former owners that I wanted it about ten years before I managed to purchase it from them. They were moving to a new abode that didn’t have a wall big enough.

The JS Parker on the left is the first painting I ever bought, I think. There was a very large JS Parker outside one of my law lecture rooms. There was something about seeing it three times a week for a whole year that clearly had an effect on me, because when I saw this smaller piece of his I had to have it. I knocked on the door of the gallery the day it was being installed and had purchased it before the opening event. Martin Poppelwell top right and a Wayne Youle I bought for Sven bottom right. I like the way the three pieces look together.

Soren Magnus Balthazzar Wiig – world’s cutest dog. Sven and Otto, and even Otto’s grandparents campaigned for a dog for our family.

I wasn’t keen but decided if we had to have a dog I’d have to find the breed that worked for our lifestyle.

I settled on a miniature schnauzer because they don’t shed hair, they’re small which doesn’t freak anyone out and they only need a reasonable amount of exercise each day. Turns out I am even more crazy about him than Sven and Otto.

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L I F E S T Y L E

P I N BA L L WIZARD Ye Olde Pinball Shoppe is the new kid on Bond Street.

For two dollars a game you can plunge, flip, and slingshot on 20 pinball machines, with themes including The Flintstones, Guns N’ Roses and Jurassic Park.

The arcade will also be a dedicated venue for pinball competitions, which can be certified by the International Flipper Pinball Association. They want to promote pinball as a non-screen-based social sport that can be enjoyed by all ages. The first of their monthly tournaments, Pōneke Pinballers, will begin on 5 May.

MADE IN KĀPITI

SOFT SPOT

BAG OF WEED

Kāpiti desinger Danni Rose is fighting fast fashion. Under her label Danni Rose Designs, she creates made to measure garments, aiming for as little environmental impact as possible.

Growing up in Whanganui, Danni became interested in clothes early, altering op shop finds to create something new. Her garments are made using natural dyes and deadstock fabric.

Off-cuts are given a new life as bags or scrunchies or feature trimmings.

Danni provides free alterations.

Kelsey Brown is aiming to make Pōneke a little cosier. Her recently launched brand Wellington Knits celebrates the city with pieces personalised by suburb, such as the Island Bay jumper and the Roseneath sweater. Beginning each piece on a vintage domestic knitting machine and hand finishing them, Kelsey creates garments that use local wool (some of it from Wairarapa sheep and spun in Upper Hutt).

If you notice eerie big black sacks on your next walk through a Pōneke park, don’t be alarmed. These 1.8m x 2.4m bags are filled with soft seedless weeds, which have been left in the sun to break down into compost within six to twelve months. They are popping up in reserves around the capital, including Skyline Reserve, Monaghan Road Reserve and Mākara Peak. The bags mean that herbicides aren’t required, and carbon emissions are reduced as the weeds don’t have to be transported for disposal.

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Crane fly

BY M E LO DY T H O M A S

Name: Crane fly. Also known as daddy long-legs (not to be confused with the daddy long-legs spider) and mosquito hawk.

Māori name: Matua waeroa Scientific name: “Crane fly” refers to any insect of the family Tipulidae Status: New Zealand has at least 600 endemic crane flies, including the New Zealand Giant crane (Austrotipula hudsoni), Aotearoa’s largest fly, with a body length of about 30mm.

of habitats, including mosses, leaf litter, decaying plant materials, and putrefying fruits. Some crane flies are described as agricultural pests, as their larvae feed on the roots of crops, weakening or killing the plant. The European Crane Fly, for example, is on Biosecurity New Zealand's current priority list of pests and diseases to keep out of Aotearoa, having already spread to the US and Canada.

Look/listen: If you’ve found yourself looking at something which appears to be a cross between a mosquito and a daddy long-legs spider, chances are you’ve spotted a crane fly!

Description: Matua waeroa are medium-sized flies with 10–15mm-long, slender bodies and gangly legs (which, incidentally, are sometimes described as deciduous, as they can be shed in times of stress or to escape predators). Crane flies are poor fliers, and tend to wobble a lot when attempting to do so.

Habitat: Adult crane flies don’t bite humans, and feed on nectar if at all, the adult life span being 10–15 days long and dedicated exclusively to mating. Crane fly larvae, however, live in all sorts

Tell me a story: In 1935, Lord’s Cricket Ground in London was infested by tens of thousands of crane fly larvae (also known as leatherjackets), making the wicket unplayable against spin bowlers. In the first eight days of the season, 135 wickets fell, a groundsman lost his job and “leatherjackets” became a batsman’s pre-prepared excuse for being dismissed early.

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IT SEEMS THE JUDGES WERE STUNNED. GolD aT THE BREWERS GUIlD of NEW ZEalaND aWaRDS.

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E D I B L E S

KAI REQUIRED Kaibosh Food Rescue is running their regular Give a Meal in May campaign once again. Despite their rescuing up to 80 tonnes of surplus food each month, marketing manager Alex MacGibbon says demand is growing. “We supply food to over 125 charities and community groups across the region, and these groups are seeing an increased need for kai all over Wellington.” Kaibosh has recently enlarged their sites in Kāpiti and Lower Hutt, and teams of staff and volunteers are reportedly busier than ever.

GRAZE A GLASS

PROHIBIT POP

WONDROUS WHITTAKER’S

Chef Max Gordy and wife Stina Persen, both formerly associated with popular joint Hillside, have launched a new venture in Kelburn, a wine bar and pescatarian bistro called Graze. The duo have built the business around sustainability: every ingredient will be sourced within the region, from the line-caught fish right down to the small stuff, like flour and homemade sauces. Max says changing the menu regularly and seasonally will avoid supply problems and keep the ecological impact minimal.

The banning of sugary drinks in primary schools has recently been proposed

by Minister of Education Chris Hipkins.

It is now up for public consultation.

The move follows concern about the effects fizzy drinks have on health, dental hygiene, and classroom behaviour. Dr Rob Beaglehole of the Dental Association says “the evidence is clear” fizzy drinks are bad for kids’ teeth.

Beaglehole wants the ban extended to secondary schools, stating “this should be done once, done properly.”

Porirua’s very own Whittaker’s has been rated one of the most ethical large chocolate brands in the world, following a major study from Macquarie and Wollongong universities in Australia, and The Open University in the UK. Assessing chocolatiers in six categories, the researchers used a four-colour rating scale. Whittaker’s rating were all green (the best) apart from the deforestation category, which was yellow, the next tier down. The worst offenders included Unilever and Godiva, with Kellogg’s earning the worst possible score of six reds: clearly a Special K-se.

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E D I B L E S

DONUT L E AV E Jackie Lee Morrison (Cap#76), the baking guru behind Lashings Café, has announced “with much sadness” that she will be shutting up shop for good, after a four-year run, on 30 April. The announcement prompted an outcry, then a public outpouring, as Wellington’s donut lovers went through the five stages of grief. Morgan Allan-West, co-owner of nearby café Milk Crate has also just closed up after almost 17 years in the Wellington coffee game.

Jackie attributes her decision to a changing economic landscape, Morgan attributes his to lease issues.

CALVAD OS COMEBACK

PANDEMIC PIVOT

RUTHER TASTY

If you’ve ever visited Normandy in northern France you’re likely to have tasted Calvados, an apple brandy with a warm, syrupy bouquet. According to a number of food sites, and culinary contacts in London, the drink could be about to enjoy a resurgence in popularity, as gin did at the beginning of the 2010s. Try the Bloody Mary at Egmont Street Eatery (there’s a glug of calvados in each one), or head to off-menu specialists Poquito and ask to try some.

Wellington’s Reusabowl, launched in 2020, began offering reusable containers for takeaway food, but some customers have grown lax about returning their bowls for reuse. Co-founder Bobby Lloyd says they now offer reusable packaging to dozens of workplaces – from large ones like Deloitte, to small co-working spaces. Staff can now take a Reusabowl from the workplace’s supply out for a meal, then back to work.

“Making reusing more convenient is the absolute key principle here,” says Lloyd.

The Upcycled Grain Project is a Wellington initiative that rescues grain used in the beer brewing process and converts it into tasty snacks. They’ve partnered with Rutherford and Meyer in Lower Hutt to release a new range of crackers made from steeped malted barley, which has previously been used to give body and flavour to ales.

These salvaged grains are mixed with 100% natural ingredients to produce the range, available in flavours fig and cardamom, cranberry and coconut, raisin and rosemary, and orange and sesame.

E D I B L E S

The big smoke We explore the craze for low and slow smoked deliciousness, from our grill to yours.

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Now we're smoking

Caramelised smoked white chocolate and lychee cake

Field notes: Chain smoking

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E D I B L E S

Now we're smoking I L LU ST R AT E D BY G EO RG E N AY LO R

It’s time to elevate our BBQ. We’ve cooked up this guide for smoking, with the help of an expert in the field.

Equipment needed BBQ gloves

You’ll be moving your proteins, adding wood, and handling hot grills and metal.

Heavy duty tin-foil For wrapping your proteins to lock in the moisture towards the end of a cook.

Digital thermometer Some can even send the temperature to your phone via Bluetooth.

Protein Now you’ve got your grill, you need to think about what proteins to use. Certain woods pair better with different proteins. Fish or chicken will take the smoke more intensely than a large piece of brisket. See the chart for a complete guide.

Grill Sort your grill. Ask yourself how much time you have to commit. The best results are from low and slow cooking, but this means you might have to tend the grill for several hours.

Otherwise, a simpler charcoal grill could be the answer. See below to see what grill suits your needs.

How to smoke Types of grills

Matt Grace, the Urban Lumberjack, is the guy with all the tips you need to start cooking up delicious hotsmoked food on your grill. A life-long lover of being outdoors, lighting fires, and chopping wood, Matt switched after 20 years in telecoms to supplying a range of high-quality smoking woods (think peach, pohutukawa, pear) for the booming New Zealand BBQ industry.

“Over the past four to five years, specialist barbecue has established itself in New Zealand. The community around it is fantastic, there’s so much interest in it” You can find the Urban Lumberjack online at ulj.co.nz

Grills come in all shapes and sizes. The offset and pit barrel smokers have their roots in the Deep South of the USA, where the cheaper cuts like ribs and brisket needed to be cooked slowly, to get them soft and tender. This is where the low and slow smoking method was born, and you can do it too. First things first, you need a grill.

Offset smoker Cook time: Very long Results 10/10

Pit barrel smoker Cook time: Long Results 9/10

• Uses charcoal and smoking wood in a separate firebox.

• Low-and-slow-style grilling, long cook times: the traditional method for Texas-style smoking.

• Proteins can be grilled or hung, thanks to the smoker’s size.

• Charcoal and wood go in the bottom, and smoke rises up over the meat.

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Wood The wood goes on once you have the charcoal burning efficiently. This is where you impart the smoke flavour, so it’s important you use the right pieces and research which wood goes well with your protein. Less is more when experimenting (you can always add an extra piece next time).

One or two chunks placed over the charcoal is a good place to start.

Cook time The protein you’ve chosen will affect the fuel and wood you use.

For cooking larger pieces like brisket or ribs you want bigger charcoal that will burn for longer; for fish, sausages, and steaks, smaller charcoal will burn quicker, achieving higher temperatures faster.

Peach and pohutakawa wood are the most popular because of their sweet, distinctive flavours

Wood type

Beef

Lamb

Pork

Poultry

Seafood

Apple

Rub Once you know what you’re cooking, season it and explore flavour options like rubs. You don’t need too much, though, as the smoke will do a lot of the work. The popular Texas BBQ style is predominantly just salt, pepper, and oak wood smoke.

Peach Pear Cherry Feijoa Plum Oak Pohutukawa French oak Puriri

Ceramic charcoal smoker Cook time: Medium to long Results 8/10

Charcoal BBQ Cook time: Medium Results 7/10

Gas grill Cook time: Medium Smoke flavour 6/10

• Popular charcoal grill which can easily incorporate smoking wood.

• Internal ceramic bricks retain heat, keeping the temperature consistent.

• Your standard backyard BBQ, ubiquitous and iconic.

• Can take chunks of smoking wood on top of charcoals.

• The most convenient option, but results in less of the smoke flavours.

• Can take a piece of wood directly on the burner or in a metal tray to infuse some smoke.

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E D I B L E S

Caramelised smoked white chocolate and lychee cake

BY J O R DA N RO N D E L

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ou might think liquid smoke is only suited to savoury settings, but it’s actually a wonderful ingredient in desserts. In this recipe, I toss white chocolate buttons with some liquid smoke (a little goes a long way, so use it sparingly) and then roast them to caramelise the sugars and enhance the smoky flavour. When these golden buttons are stirred through the cake they impart a gentle smokiness and the result is pretty incredible. Liquid smoke is in most supermarkets, as are tinned lychees. I urge you to give this recipe a go!

A completely selftaught baker, Jordan founded The Caker in 2010. She began selling made-toorder cakes, but has evolved with other offerings, all focused on celebration. Writing recipes remains Jordan's favourite part of her job.

For the cake 100g white chocolate buttons 2 teaspoons liquid smoke 150g butter, room temperature 120g caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 free-range eggs 125g spelt or all-purpose white flour 75g ground almonds 2 teaspoons baking powder Pinch sea salt 125g full-fat unsweetened Greek yogurt 1 can of lychees, drained and cut in half For the vanilla bean cream cheese icing 150g butter, softened 110g icing sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 100g cream cheese For the decorations Handful of white chocolate buttons

Serves 12

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray and 2 x 22cm cake tins with baking paper.

2. First, make the caramelised smoked white chocolate. Combine the white chocolate with the liquid smoke and spread evenly on the lined baking tray. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the buttons are golden in colour. Set aside to cool.

3. Next, make the cake. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs in one at a time, waiting until each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.

5. Combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In two parts, add the dry ingredients. Mix after each addition until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.

6. Gently fold through the yogurt and the smoked caramelised white chocolate buttons.

7. Divide the batter evenly between your two tins and dot in the lychee halves, pressing them down lightly.

8. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden in colour and springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

9. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

10. Meanwhile, make the icing. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, icing sugar, and vanilla together until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the cream cheese until smooth.

11. Once the cakes are fully cooled, ice one layer and then place the other directly on top. Neatly ice the top of the cake and decorate with a handful of white chocolate buttons.

12. Serve at room temperature. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days.

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Field notes: Chain smoking P H OTO G R A P H Y BY JOSIAH NEVELL

We sent Vicki, an experienced pastry chef, to explore the smoking life. She delved into the mysteries of smoked food with passionate home experts and experienced chefs, and even talked to smoking hot cocktail mixologists. We produce her field notes so you can enjoy the adventure.

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Meet Will

Will Thompson is an engineer by day, barbecue and smoked food enthusiast, home brewer, and foodie by night. By night, I mean he wakes up in the middle of it and tells partner Sophie about his food epiphanies. “The next food experiment,” he exclaims. He tells me his curiosity about food developed early, as he grew up with parents who were creative cooks.

We laugh as he shows me a picture from his childhood, a blond toddler fearlessly wielding a huge chef ’s knife, surrounded by button mushrooms.

He greets me at home, tongs in hand, wearing a cargo apron and a big smile as we spend the afternoon charring peppers on the grill. The peppers are a nod to his Dad’s cooking. The char draws out the natural sweetness in the capsicum, and the smoke is just enough to give it a touch of savoury flair. According to Will, a dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice and olive oil

is “all you’ll ever need,” and as I slurp down a few glistening strips of red and yellow, still deliciously warm from the fire, my tastebuds agree. There’s something so primal and comforting about cooking with fire, honouring the vegetables’ natural sweetness and the savoury quality that smoke imparts.

It wasn’t just vegetables. Will conducted other smokey experiments. As he lifted the lid on the barbecue, I felt like a kid at a friend’s house playing with all the cool toys I wished I had.

We tasted little aluminium foil boats of Whittaker’s Blondie chocolate, freshly ground coffee, herbaceous baby potatoes, pickled mussels and eggs (yes, you can smoke an egg!). I was so excited for our BBQ play date, I even brought along my smoke gun and some lacto-fermented stone fruit, as well as some freshly made caramel (spot the over-eager pastry chef!). We swapped 87

childhood food memories, compared notes on the way the smoke transformed each item, and bonded over Brad Leonie (correction: fan-girled – really, do look him up), while we plated a wee grazing platter to share in the garden by the grill. We finished with a cuppa joe, freshly brewed with the smoked coffee, the pecan wood imparting a subtle bacon quality that was a perfect accompaniment to the smoked caramel and stonefruit dessert.

A feast for the senses, all inspired by smoke and fire.

After so much fun experimenting, I left feeling as if I had spent the afternoon at an old friend’s house. That’s what I love about cooking: not only does it bring people together, but also the craziest food combinations. Will talked about how he loved giving every food experiment a go (at least once). That’s the beautiful thing about cooking – there are no rules.

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Cinderella and the embers

The name Cinderella comes from the Italian cenere meaning ash, or cinder, and the Cinderella bar and bistro in Willis St is very much a reflection of the folk tale. I found moody dark walls reminiscent of ash, dancing flames in the courtyard fireplace, and food cooked over embers.

General Manager Patrick Ferrier greeted me, and as he tended to the fire, the smell and crackle of burning firewood filled the courtyard. In the kitchen I could see coals smoking away for the evening service ahead.

The kitchen was full of the lovely smell of fresh bread. Chefs Frank, Tom, Zac, and Revo welcomed me with smoked fish frames for a delicious base as they made up their signature Catalan-style dish – clams cooked over embers, swimming in a flavoursome stew with layers of manuka smoke and the flavour of the sea. The chefs cook in front of me, carefully placing pops of fish, octopus, and gooey fondant potatoes through the dish.

A celebration of chestnut, portobello, and enoki mushroom accompanies the main, their natural sweetness teased out with a refreshing spritz of sherry vinegar, with fresh green herbs to top. Simple ingredients with their natural flavours skilfully coaxed out by the fire.

These chefs are masters of the dance in the kitchen (from their Matterhorn and Bresolin days), cooking by intuition and touch, calm and focused as manuka smoke fills the smoker, and pots of stock and sauces bubble. They produce layers of flavour with added fat, smoke and fire, a spritz of acidity, and a herbaceous garnish of tarragon, dill, chives, and parsley. It’s beautiful to watch the final touches added before the dish gets whisked away to the dining area, leaving lingering smoke and mouth-watering smells.

Freshly baked bread, the crust crackling and blistered from the heat, accompanies the dish, and, if you know how to conclude your meal the right (and only) way, then fare la scarpetta it is, using the bread to mop up the remaining liquid.

But, my focus here was meant to be their smokey cocktail. I heard about Cinderella’s smokey espresso martini when they opened more than a year ago, and I am here for Fisher, the bartender, to teach me how to create the bistro’s signature drink.

As a pastry chef I couldn’t help but see similarities with dessert, where every component has been thoughtfully added, layers of toffee caramel from the dark sugar syrup, coffee liqueur as dark and fragrant as vanilla 88

beans, and a touch of mezcal to enhance the gently shaken cream. The cream is given a coal smoke infusion (20 minutes according to the bar’s experiments, no more no less).

Fisher adds a touch of sugar and salt to lend a sharpness to an otherwise flat creamy note. The result is a symphony of smoky cream and bittersweet coffee. It looked and tasted truly indulgent.

If you prefer something lighter between post-work and dinner, the smoked Negroni with seasonal fruit infusion was another offering I fancied. Fisher infused the gin with smoked, lacto-fermented nectarines. As I lift the icy glass to my nose, the scent is a fleeting memory of late summer. With just a sip, I felt like I was walking through a nectarine orchard laden with fruit ready to fall.

As I sat down with my Negroni and the clam stew (and bread waiting, of course), I thought back to the way I was taught to cook by my grandmother, using intuition and my senses, and how she learnt to cook, over coals and fire.

I’m always amazed at how food can bring such moments of joy and nostalgia. Food trends come and go, but this type of cooking with smoke and fire will always stay.

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Smoked and Pickled

You know you’ve found your thing when you spend every waking hour thinking about it. Well, Alice Lafosse did say that Craig Burgess was up all hours of the night watching BBQ videos on Youtube.

Alice is French, and the two of them met at Meow in the heyday of open floor jazz night Wednesdays.

Craig, I discovered, was the chef who produced – a decade ago, way before pests were cool and trendy to eat – the delicious wallaby wontons served there. Back then, Craig was already breaking down and using the entire wallaby (from suppliers down south), making stock from the bones and cooking the meat in its own fat.

Last September, the pair decided to take the plunge and start up Smoked & Pickled, in a ghost kitchen based here in Wellington.

With support from friends, they made the 4am smoke-dreams a reality, and have since relocated to the Kāpiti Coast, where they offer pop-ups and collaborate with local breweries such as Tuatara and Duncan’s Brewery. The Duncan’s pastry stout is on the

menu, cooked low and slow into a Smoked and Pickled BBQ sauce which is delicious with their signature ribs.

I spent the afternoon chatting about hospo with them. Their passion for the industry is inspiring and contagious (in the good sense of the word). We spoke about why we do what we love to do, despite the long hours and the stress: and the reactions of the diners and the happy faces. “It makes it worth all the swear words,” says Craig, as we sit out by the wood-fire grill that puffs out wafts of mesquite, pecan, and applewood smoke.

We geeked out a bit on the temperatures and timings that are the makings of a perfect brisket, smoke flavour profiles, and how to add layers of flavour with the specific types of wood pellets used.

It turns out BBQing and pastry are quite similar after all, with the precise application of time and temperature, and incorporating flavour. Craig lifts the lid on the Traeger and shows me the smoked sea salt he’s been working on, dotted with pops 90

of coriander and chilli. “Goes really well with fish,” he tells me, and his eyes light up at the thought of the next project. “So what’s the next thing?” I ask them, and they beam as they share their big plan to expand Smoked & Pickled: more pop-ups, events, and eventually a return to France to start another one in Lyon, Alice’s hometown. She sighs at the lack of BBQ there, and says her chef friends are already eagerly awaiting their arrival, BBQ in tow.

As Craig pulls the ribs from the grill, the wonderful aroma hugs our tastebuds on a chilly Welly afternoon. Alice appears with a jar of their notoriously spicy birds-eye house pickles: large emerald green gems dotted with chillies, dancing around in a big vinegar jar.

We gather around the mouth-watering array of smoked meats and glistening pickles, and I ask them if they ever get tired of this meal. “Never,” Alice grins. “The brisket toastie is my favourite eaten hot or, when I have finished my shift, cold!”

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What’s on at Circa Theatre

His/Herstory

I’ll Tell You This for Nothing

by Kate JasonSmith Milord Goffredo by Jan Bolwell $25–$54

22 Apr–14 May

Kate JasonSmith’s acclaimed show, I’ll Tell You This for Nothing, is the dramatic and often humorous tale of her mother’s life about war, courage, danger and romance.

Milord Goffredo is Jan Bolwell’s dynamic re-creation of her father Geoffrey’s WWII exploits – a Dunedin butcher who became ‘a bloody legend’ in a small northern Italian town, where he lived in a cave for two years after twice escaping from his German captors.

Cringeworthy – The 80’s

Nga- Rorirori

14 May–11 June

$25–$45

A slice of Kiwiana in the 80s!

Directed and Devised by Andrea Sanders $25–$54

Cringeworthy is back, baby with a brand-new show! A righteous, stellar, fantabulous blast from the past that is equal parts nostalgic and hilarious.

Following on from the highly successful Cringeworthy [the 70s] this show takes you back to NZ in the 1980s. It’s a feast of contagious Kiwi songs served with a side of spandex, a huge dollop of cheesy comedy, and stunning vocals.

Made possible with the help of Centrepoint Theatre.

Image by Stephen A’Court and Design by Jemma Cheer.

Indigenous. Dance. Theatre. Farce.

PREMIERE SEASON Directed by Hone Kouka Presented by Tawata Productions

18–25 June

A tale of greed and aroha, told through choreography and clowning, Ngā Rorirori is the new work from the writer-director Hone Kouka, of landmark theatre productions Waiora, The Prophet and Bless The Child.

Ngā Rorirori pushes the boundaries of live performance as we know it.

Image by Aneta Pond.

Wonderkind

Endless possibilities for wonder and joy lie in true friendship.

Devised by Timothy Fraser, Kerryn Palmer, and Emma Rattenbury Directed by Kerryn Palmer General Admission $15 Under 2’s free Family pass $50 (4 tickets) ECC/Schools Pricing $12

9–30 July

Wonderkind is a non-verbal show for children aged three to seven. With original music by Craig Sengelow, design by Sean Coyle and puppetry by international puppeteer Ana Lorite of Naranjarte, Wonderkind promises to be a magical theatrical journey for children and families.

Image by Rebekah de Roo.

Shows daily Tues–Sun 1 Taranaki St Wellington 04 801 7992 I circa.co.nz

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Heartbreak in the theatre How to cope during and after covid. Sarah Lang talks to the sector about coping.

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ince covid came calling, it’s been a rough tough spell for the arts sector. Shutdowns of shows.

Cancellations. Postponements, with no new dates to pencil in. Performances not financially feasible, because of caps on numbers. Getting events ready with little certainty they’ll go ahead, let alone break even. At those that more recently went ahead, attendance has largely been poor. Rather than going out for dinner and a show, many of us have succumbed to Netflix.

For arts practitioners the situation has taken a toll, with livelihoods under strain – in addition to frustration, isolation, and stress.

Theatre-maker Eleanor Bishop had created and rehearsed boundary pushing show Aliens & Anorexia for the 2022 New Zealand Festival. But the festival had to cancel most events. “That was devastating,” Eleanor says. “Entering year three of this pandemic, my main feeling is frustration: it’s frustrating not to get to practice one’s craft. Theatre is an art form that relies on communion with an audience in front of you.”

Dancer-composer Lucy Marinkovich feels similarly.

“Since March 2020 I’ve had international performances, residencies and choreographic collaborations cancelled, and a fair bit of rescheduling for Aotearoa projects and residencies. The big cancellation for Borderline Arts Ensemble was having our work Strasbourg 1518 cancelled part-way through its premiere season at the 2020 New Zealand Festival.”

“Performance cancellations are heart-breaking.

Months or years of work, energy, and ideas liquefy and melt away without being seen by the intended audience. It’s a deeply disappointing anti-climax.”

Performance cancellations, are still sad, but are now to be expected for the performing-arts community, says Lucy. “Knowing how to move forward, safely, with your

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arts practice is difficult and daunting.” She’s getting on with whatever doesn’t yet involve performance, including research for two choreographic works, and taking a business and leadership course.

The performing arts have been hardest hit, but it’s also been tricky to put on visual arts events safely.

Linda Lee, a Māori-Chinese artist, creates artworks exploring identity and family histories, through installations, raranga (Māori weaving), and book forms. She mainly works in production roles for arts events, which often take place under the umbrella of wider festivals including the Hutt Winter Festival and CubaDupa. She presented What If The City Was a Theatre, a city-wide programme of pop-up art and performance, for the 2021 Performance Arcade.

She’s also co-manager, with her life partner Jason Muir, of Urban Dream Brokerage. Established by Sophie Jerram and Mark Amery in 2013 as an arm of Letting Space (which commissions and curates art projects in public spaces), UDB literally serves as a broker. It approaches owners of empty or under-used properties and spaces seeking permission for creatives to use them temporarily to bring vitality and a sense of community to the inner city.

UDB brokered 120-plus projects from 2013 to 2018.

Linda and Jason (who had met at a related event) relaunched it in 2020.

“Urban Dream Brokerage and Letting Space changed my whole view on the arts regarding collaboration, being community-focused, and using unconstrained spaces,” Linda says. She’d come from an “institutional background”: teaching in schools, studying at universities, and briefly working in art galleries. “I found it frustrating working in ‘white-box’ spaces with predetermined ideas about what art was.”

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Linda is also the founder/manager of the Shared Lines Collaborative, which emerged from the earthquakes that devastated Canterbury, and Sendai, Japan, in 2011. Shared Lines is now a collective of 140-plus artists and arts producers. It has promoted artistic exchange between, and staged events in, earthquakeaffected cities: Sendai, and Christchurch, Kaikōura, and Wellington. Linda, who has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury, later studied at Massey University’s Joint Centre for Disaster Research to understand art’s role in building resilience.

When New Zealand’s 2020 lockdown was announced, Linda and Shared Lines co-producer Audrey Baldwin were in Japan, having taken with them New Zealand artworks for an exhibition in Sendai (which went ahead, but without them). “We got home just before lockdown.” A tour/artist exchange was canned. “I was going bonkers, thinking ‘what will we do instead?’”

As for covid’s impact on arts practitioners, “I can’t talk on behalf of everybody. But I think many people just have broken hearts. You put so much time and energy into creating work, thinking about how it will be received, so not seeing its impact on an audience is really disappointing.” There’s been a lot of waiting to see how things play out.

In the covid era, some people think the arts are a “nice to have” rather than a “must have”. However, Linda says the arts are even more crucial during difficult times – not just for arts practitioners, but also to bring communities together.

Throughout her life, Linda has learned to adapt to the unexpected and the difficult: when she moved around as a child in an army family; when she found out aged 19 that she was adopted (by Māori relatives via whāngai); when she returned from overseas to her “broken” hometown Christchurch post-quake; when in 2012 rheumatoid arthritis forced her to quit her career as a high school art-and-photography teacher; when she moved to Wellington for love but the relationship didn’t work out. In 2015, Linda completed a graduate diploma majoring in event management to allow her flexible working hours for health reasons, and to build a career as an arts producer. For years, the condition severely restricted her mobility, but she’s managing better with new medication.

Linda, who is immune-compromised, hasn’t let covid prevent her presenting public arts events. Might she have transferable tips for safely staging other events?

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She has used the keep-art-outdoors-to-reduce-risk approach. An artistic response to Covid-induced isolation, Shared Lines: Pūtahitanga (“convergence”) is a 72-metre-long artwork (think a horizontal banner) wrapped around Te Ngākau Civic Square’s vacant buildings. Sixty artists countrywide each contributed one work on uniformly sized bamboo paper using mediums of their choice, including digitised images of 3D works. Given measurements including the previous work’s finishing point, artists made pieces that joined up with their next-door neighbours. The work is on display for several more months, and there’s also an online exhibition.

Accompanying Pūtahitanga initially was Shared Lines’ pop-up maker space Awakening the Taniwha, in a street-front space on Courtenay Place, thanks to Reading Cinema. A miniature version of Pūtahitanga could be viewed along the walls, and the public could create Taniwha-inspired art with help from and conversations with Linda (a raranga teacher), weaver Frank Topia, and other artists. Master carvers Natanahira Pona and Ngaroma Riley created resources.

“Taniwha,” Linda says, “can be a metaphor for the pandemic, vaccines, mandates, protests, and more”.

Linda avoided catching covid at the space. “We wanted to be welcoming but also protect ourselves.”

They handed out masks. Those without vaccine passes were offered a RAT test to take home, and could return if it was negative (no one took them up on this). Groups could book if they wanted the space to themselves.

Linda also created click-and-collect packs, leaving kete outside so people could take home then return art materials. (You can still download DIY “maker” resources.)

Will going out to arts events become more normal as covid becomes endemic? That’s the hope, but no one’s sure.

One thing’s for sure: artists have needed extra support. In February, the Government announced a $121-million Omicron package. The existing Arts and Culture Event Support Scheme was boosted by $70.7 million (in addition to an initial $22.5 million).

In effect, if an arts/cultural event set to take place before 31 January 2023 is pre-registered and later cancelled, organisers can get funding to meet their own and contractors’ expenses. Linda was paid this way for her producer role for a giant-puppet parade at the cancelled 2022 CubaDupa. “We’re lucky the government’s done that for us; in the past when things didn’t go ahead we just didn’t get paid.”

Also in February, the government’s Cultural Sector Emergency Relief Fund got a further $35.5 million (after an initial $5 million) for “a last-resort fund” providing financial support for cultural organisations, including sole traders with employees “at clear risk of no longer operating viably”. This fund also includes $5,000 grants for adversely affected selfemployed arts practitioners.

In March, Creative New Zealand – which provides hotly contested arts grants – announced its first Remuneration Policy for Artists and Arts Practitioners, which commits to supporting and promoting arts practitioners’ right to fair remuneration. This includes advocating adoption of the policy’s principles by funders – including other central and local government agencies, trusts, foundations, and the private sector. CNZ Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright says the policy “recognises the value of the arts, creative and cultural practice to the social, cultural, economic, and environmental wellbeing of Aotearoa New Zealand”.

“The challenges of maintaining a sustainable career in the arts and creative sector include low rates of pay, a lack of job continuity, limited ‘safety nets’ and the thin margins many arts organisations operate on, and therefore a lack of resilience in response to shocks across New Zealand’s arts ecosystem,” Wainwright says.

And covid clearly counts as a shock. “The impact of covid-19 on the arts sector is significant and is being felt keenly by our artists and practitioners.”

Meanwhile, the Wellington City Council’s Living Wage for Events Fund, running from 2021 to 2024, enables (non-council) event organisers to provide the living wage for themselves, staff, and contractors including participating artists, by giving top-ups.

Linda would like the government to introduce a basic weekly income payment for artists, similar to the 2001–2012 ‘Pathways to Arts and Cultural Employment’ scheme.

Is it feasible to be an artist right now? “Don’t underestimate the resilience of artists. We’re used to living on the fringes of society, and being resourceful.” Also, adversity may actually spark creativity, she says. “The way we interact with art will probably change.” While it’s not clear what will unfold, she’s confident she’ll adapt, with resilience.

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A F R E S H L O O K AT ROBIN WHITE At Elam in the late 60s, Colin McCahon presented his class with two images: Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles and The Descent from the Cross by a 15th century Dutch master: – their uncanny similarity introduces a formative lecture on structure. This is one of the fascinating details in a new book on artist Robin White (pictured). Something is Happening Here, from Te Papa Press, comprises numerous essays and reproduced artworks – from her paintings of 1970s New Zealand to recent works from her Masterton studio.

THE PERSONAL PARTNER

BEDTIME STORY

KIM THE ILLUSTRATOR

Dr Karen Nimmo, a clinical psychologist, has seen many people in her Wellington therapy rooms. No matter why they come, she says it’s always about their relationships. Her new book The Good Partner is about how you can understand your strengths and vulnerabilities by first understanding your relationships. The goal? To figure out who you are when you are in a relationship, and how to be content and relaxed with your partner. Whose turn was it to make dinner again?

Read NZ has revealed that Kiwis love reading to their children. In a recent survey, the reading advocacy group found that 82% of respondents read with their children, aged 10 or younger at least once a week, with 39% of families making time for daily reading. It’s a different story for men’s habits: the proportion who’ve read at least one book in the past year has dropped consistently for the past four years. It now sits at 79%, down from 84% in 2017.

Goose the Artist, out 10 May, is the latest in Kimberly Andrews’ series of awardwinning children’s books. Goose is an artist desperate to win a local painting competition. “Eventually he comes to realise that actually finishing something, no matter how imperfect, is the true reward,” says Andrews. Originally a scientist, she earned a Russell Clark Award in 2019 with her self-taught illustrations. The Canadian-born illustrator has spent time in London and Borneo, and now lives in a custom-built tiny house in Days Bay.

Protect those you love in your will Consider including a gift to the Cancer Society to help ensure that cancer patients and families like yours always have access to critical support and care.

Make the first move today.

For your free Will Guide, call us on 04 260 4569 or email bequest@cancersoc.org.nz

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Rialto Cinemas Newmarket 5–25 May

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Wellington

The Embassy Theatre, Light House Cinema Cuba & Petone 19 May–5 June

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Dunedin

Rialto Cinemas 2–15 June

Pastorius Waller Theatre at The Suter Art Gallery 26 May–1 June

Christchurch Deluxe Cinemas 9–26 June

Havelock North Event Cinemas 9–22 June

New Plymouth Event Cinemas 16–22 June

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About the author: Poet and painter Rebecca Hawkes grew up on a sheep and beef farm near Methven and now lives and works in Wellington. She is an editor for literary journal Sweet Mammalian and co-editor of the forthcoming climate change poetry anthology No Other Place to Stand. In 2020, she was the NZ Young Writers’ Festival Writer in Residence and held a NZ Pacific Studios Ema Saikō Fellowship.

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

In brief: The world famous in New Zealand Peach Teats sign on State Highway 1 serves as the unlikely inspiration for this evocative poem about dairy cattle and modern farming practices. If you’ve ever driven past the sign with its coy illustrated calf, you too may have wondered whether calves do indeed love ’em. According to this poem they sure do because these teats deliver all that they need to quench “their pure thirsty thoughts”. Rebecca Hawkes imbues an otherwise business-as-usual day on the farm with a dash of romanticism, paying tribute to innocent animals who are seen as machines that consume and produce on demand.

P E A C H T E AT S (calves love ’em) so much suckling frothy spittle and grunt a crescent of devotees hunched at the steaming trough barely able to breathe and drink at once in quenched surrender to the rubber teat their pretty eyes their pure thirsty thoughts no useless knowledge no wondering where

Why I like it: New Zealand literature’s troughs are overfilling with poems about farms and the countryside, but Rebecca has truly made the genre her own, eschewing rose-tinted pastoral scenes for vistas that are much more confronting and beautifully grotesque. The bulk of her debut collection Meat Lovers is inspired by her childhood on the farm, and includes poems about the effects of farming on the environment. Beyond its central theme, “Peach Teats” also bears the linguistic hallmarks of Rebecca’s poetry, such as the blending of the visceral lyrical (“suckling frothy spittle and grunt”) and the disarmingly prosaic (note her borrowing of Peach Teats’ own marketing lines in the penultimate couplet). Rebecca’s poems are sometimes much longer and more elaborate, revelling in excess and sprawling imagery. Here, she succinctly captures the contrast between the crushing claustrophobia of the feeding trough with the blissed-out peace of a herd of cattle happily feeding, doing what they’re expected to do.

their mothers are only hot sweet powdered milk and the unique patented internal collapsing flap valve self cleaning leak resistant flow regulating like any perfect body or machine

by Rebecca Hawkes From Meat Lovers (Auckland University Press, 2022)

Read more: Rebecca is a prolific poet and has had work published in numerous journals. “Softcore coldsores”, a small selection of her poems, can be found in the joint collection AUP New Poets 5 and is the perfect introduction to her maximalist style and many interests.

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Going bush P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N N A B R I G G S

Return to childhood memories. Tim Park talks to Hannah Zwartz about his work with endangered species.

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aiwharawhara stream flows from headwaters in Zealandia, through Ōtari/Wilton’s Bush and down Ngaio Gorge, to join the harbour by the Interislander car park. It’s the part of town where Ōtari’s Kaiwhakahaere (manager) Tim Park grew up. As a child he played on the boulders of the Alpine Garden at Ōtari. “When this job came up, strong memories of time spent here as a kid were part of the attraction.” Ōtari is still a great place for a bush walk, with or without kids. There are now supplejack tunnels on the cabbage tree lawn and hedge mazes by the lookout, or there’s still the time-honoured tradition of playing by the stream. As well as recreation, there’s learning and inspiration aplenty.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in ecological protection and restoration, the aptly named Tim Park has been instrumental in projects including Predator Free Wellington and the Forest in the Heart of Wellington.

Since joining Ōtari in January 2021, Park has overseen a redesign of the visitor centre and a major expansion of the plant conservation laboratories, which study the best way to store and grow native seeds.

International seed banks, such as those at Kew Gardens, are doing similar work across the globe, but they don’t specialise in New Zealand plants, says Park. “We still don’t know much about how to store many of our native species.”

The lab controls environmental conditions – temperature, light, humidity as well as fungal associations – to determine the optimal conditions for storage and propagation. Some of the endangered species conserved in the laboratory are down to one or two individuals in the wild. One such is Pennantia baylisiana, commonly known as Three Kings Kaikōmako or Kaikōmako Manawa Tāwhi.

Work like this puts Ōtari in the handful of Gardens of International Significance designated by the New Zealand Gardens Trust. The country’s only public botanic garden dedicated solely to native plants, it’s an important part of our national plant conservation network. And it’s crucial to local ecosystems. “If you want to see the true Wellington forest, this is the biggest and best bit left,” says Park. With 98% of our old-growth forest gone, the seven hectares fenced off by Job Wilton in the 1880s is extra rare in that it’s on a sunny, north-facing slope.

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S O C I A L

Around that forest area in 1926, Dr Leonard Cockayne established an open air native plant museum. He had the foresight to create ecosystems from around Aotearoa, not just collections of plants. While some beds are traditionally “botanical” (for example where different types of Veronica or Hebe are growing together, showing their wide range of adaptations from Chatham Island ground-huggers to dainty alpine whipcords), plants are also grown in ecosystem gardens, recreating the plant associations found in nature. There’s the Wellington Coastal Garden, the Rainshadow Garden, the Black Beech Forest, and the 38 Degree Garden with plants from northern parts of New Zealand.

The Black Beech Forest is one of Park’s favourite areas at Ōtari. Even under the large trees, there’s a light, airy feeling. “What I tell people gardening at home is, think about the feeling

N O T E S

you’re trying to create with plants. Lush plantings with nikau palms and rengarenga give a warm, tropical feeling, while tussocks en masse can be a bit bleak, creating more of a cold, alpine feeling like being in Waiouru.”

His other tip for home gardeners is to cover the ground with a layer of mulch. “It’s the key to reducing maintenance – it saves you time weeding and watering.”

The new visitor centre has been given the name Tāne Whakapiripiri Tāne who shelters the many identities of the atua of forest, humans, and birds.

The relationship with mana whenua is important to Park. “We’re in a process of decolonising, rethinking and reframing the wider perspective of our relationships with nature. It’s not a change of direction but ongoing respect and a deepening of our appreciation of mana whenua.”

Some of Tim Park’s favourite plants at Ōtari Wilton’s Bush Hīnau Elaeocarpus dentatus: An “unsung hero” for Wellington’s climate (the original name for the Kelburn ridgeline was Pukehīnau.) An important ecosystem tree, home to epiphytes and birds.

Hīnau was also used medicinally and the fruits were soaked, crumbled, and baked in hāngi to form a sort of cake.

Whau Entelea arborescens: A coastal tree with large light-green leaves.

“It’s fast-growing and great for privacy; a sprinter rather than a longdistance runner.

It starts to fall apart after five to seven years, so plant another tree alongside it at the same time to take over.” Sometimes called New Zealand balsa, the wood is very buoyant.

Kuta Eleocharis sphacelata: An extremely soft sedge, found in local wetlands, whose soft fibres were used to weave undergarments (maro), hats and delicate kete.

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Kōhia Passiflora tetrandra: New Zealand passionfruit has fragrant yellow flowers followed by orange fruits which are favourites with the birds. Humans seem to have a hard-wired aversion to vines, says Park, but they add another dimension to gardens, often supporting insect and bird life and in this case appealing to the sense of smell.

Raupō Taranga Xeronema callistemon: “I love this plant for its tenacity; it literally grows clinging to rock, on cliffs on the Poor Knights Islands.” The bright red flowers look great crowded into pots in a frost-free, sunbaked spot.

Be inspired and create an impact in your home.

We have lots of interior inspiration across our Miramar garden centre, with a great selection of pots, decor and houseplants to add to your collection.

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RIDE IN STYLE

DON’T WEAR WHITE

ON YOUR MARKS

The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride is a most dapper charity event. Riders don their finest suits and ride vintage motorcycles to raise funds for men’s mental health and prostate cancer research.

Founded in Sydney by Mark Hawwa in 2012, the event now happens in 115 countries, and about 340,000 riders have participated in total.

They have raised 46.4 million NZD, and this year they hope to raise a further 8.8 million NZD. The ride will be held on 22 May in Wellington, and in other centres In New Zealand and around the world.

Release you inner swamp monster for the 2022 Wellington Touch Guy and Gal Challenge. Face tunnels, hurdles, water crossings, net climbs, and a whole lot of mud. This year’s 20th anniversary event will be held at Camp Wainui, Wainuiomata on 28 May, with a choice between a six or 12-kilometre run. It can also be run as a group or corporate team event. Fear not, there’ll be hot showers at the end, so you shouldn’t have to sit on a bin bag for the drive home.

The Wellington marathon returns for the 25th year on 19 June. The run heads through the CBD, along the waterfront, to Scorching Bay, and back.

If the full 42km doesn’t take your fancy there’s also a half marathon, a 10km run, and the Kids' Magic Mile. All entrants start and end at the Sky Stadium, the ramp up to the stadium being the only hill on the course (phew). Run for charity, or as a personal challenge, or just relax and cheer them on from the finish line.

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W E L L Y

What would Deirdre do?

A N G E L

and are pretty sure of your feelings. Is there a retirement home nearby so that visiting would be easy etc but your partner’s mother would still have her own home to go to? Or can she find an apartment close by? You do not mention why this has come to a head now or any other reason for the lack of options. It may indeed prove to be necessary for her to live with you, but don’t let it “just happen”. You need to decide together.

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

LEAST SAID I have two adult children and I love them and their father, however I know with absolute clarity that I would be just as happy if I had not had children. How do I convey to them the importance of feeling free to make whatever choice they wish for, children or childless, without making them feel unwanted or hurting their feelings?

It’s all about me, Ngaio Gosh, seems like you may be turning this into an issue too late. Is this about them or you? They are adults and have grown up loved and that is what counts – they will make their own decisions now, and your opinion is just your opinion. Sounds like a contradiction as you write it and not relevant now. There is no need for you to assert this opinion – they can decide for themselves.

N O T K E E N T O N U R SE My partner wants her mother to come and live with us. It is really the only option for her mother, (feckless siblings etc), however I know I don't want her to live with us and I don't want to take care of her. Call me heartless, but I've always known it will be a struggle for me if my partner needs care in later life. I have tried over many years but her mother has never been happy about our relationship and has made it clear that she does not like me. I think sharing a house will ruin our 20-year relationship. Do I make it clear now, before the decision is taken, or do I let events run their course?

Nurse Ratchett, Lower Hutt You need to sort this now and your partner and you need to be united. Your relationship is important. You certainly need to be more committed to looking after each other as life goes on. You sound as though you have considered this a lot

PA I N F U L T O WAT C H My 13-year-old started a new school this year. I recently went to a school event and witnessed a group of kids bullying her – lots of name-calling and belittling. She didn’t seem too bothered and I don’t want to make a storm in a teacup. Do I talk it over with my child or let her carve her own path?

Anxious mother, Kelburn Definitely let her know that talking it over is good and that you witnessed it and are there for her. Bullying is not acceptable at all in any circumstance and is so NOT a storm in a teacup. She needs to cope and to be able to talk about it both at home and at school. Try to agree to tell the school as they can help also.

A N OV E R A S SE RT E R I got an email last week from my brother saying he no longer wants to see me because I'm “overbearing and cause him great stress”. I admit I can be stubborn and assertive at times, but didn’t realise it had come to this. Although his decision is dramatic to me, I'm keen to fix our relationship.

How do I go about mending it?

Humble, Miramar Talk to him and say exactly what you have written! Try to agree on some social parameters, have lunch once a month, and apologise! You clearly acknowledge you can be difficult and believe it is in your power to be different. Reach out and check your tendency to over-assert. Good luck.

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

A Disney mother

BY M E LO DY T H O M AS

T

he mother is a complicated and contradictory figure: simultaneously divine and domestic, devalued and sentimentalised, and to her children a source of both the greatest comfort and sometimes the deepest pain. But come Mother’s Day, the mother is given a Disney-style glow-up, crowned in fresh-picked flowers, and sent cards that celebrate her unwavering patience, kindness, thoughtfulness, and wisdom. On this day, no-one mentions how she yells when overwhelmed, never reads the school newsletter, and forgets her children’s birthdays when filling out forms. For 24 hours, Mums are given our full, rose-tinted attention, before we return en masse to a normal which would falter and fall apart without her, but where her efforts are resolutely ignored.

Before I continue, I know that fathers are incredibly important, and that they, too, must sacrifice much on the altar of parenthood. I’m aware that many families have two Mums, two Dads, some grandparents, and resilient aunts or uncles, and that single Dads exist, as do shitty Mums. But as a society, our expectations are still formed along gendered lines and the things mothers are simply expected to do are the same things for which fathers are heaped with praise. It’s why women minding their kids are parenting whereas dads are “babysitting”, why a woman who spends time with her children is just a mum but a man who does is a good dad, and why, despite huge strides in increasing the number of women in paid employment and narrowing the gap between their pay and that of men in the same jobs, the “housework gap” hasn’t narrowed in any substantial way since the 1980s.

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Which is why, for me, Mother’s Day can bring some complicated feelings.

As my own children come into my bedroom bright-eyed with pride over a wobbly breakfast tray, I can’t help but think of the mum of three I met at a party, who told me she gets up all through the night with the baby and at 5am with the toddler because her husband “isn’t a morning person”. Of the women I see in Facebook parenting groups begging other women for advice about how to get their partners to contribute, who cook every night of the week, including weekends, even though their partners also have two arms and, presumably, brains enough to follow a recipe; of the ones who “give” their partners sex to keep them from nagging; those forgoing a haircut or a pair of nice boots because the kids need shoes more; and the ones who always seem to get sick first, so they’re stuck nursing everyone else before they are fully well. We may have come a long way, but there are still too many women for whom motherhood means a kind of indentured servitude which allows no space for them to grow, play, create, explore, or simply rest with the company of their own thoughts.

I’ve said before that mothers need active encouragement from their partners when it comes to reclaiming themselves after babies, as the expectations heaped on them can mean that stepping away even for an hour brings about debilitating guilt. But we also need to get better at advocating for ourselves, and what better time to do that than Mother’s Day? Do you need rest? Go to bed. Fun? Go out dancing.

Time to paint or write or wander aimlessly around the coast looking longingly to sea? Give the kids to somebody else, go get what you need, and refuse to feel guilty about it for even a second. Yes, you are a mother, orbited by precious little satellites who rely on you to thrive, but you are also a person. You deserve a life that feels full, which leaves you satisfied, and where you are listened to and seen; and your children will only benefit from seeing you make that a priority.

C U L T U R E

D I R E C T O R Y

NZ Art Show 2022

MAHARA iti launches new space

Global Belly_Zoom

Aotearoa's favourite art event, representing the best of NZ art. The NZ Art Show showcases 100s of contemporary NZ artists, cementing its reputation as leader in its field. A curated art experience not to be missed. Buy tickets online or at the door.

Mizuho Nishioka launched our temporary space while Mahara Gallery is being rebuilt. Her show, till 6 May, celebrates her exhibition during this year’s Venice Biennale with the European Cultural Commission. Birgit Moffatt’s ‘Safe Space’ runs from 13 May. Ceramics by Jenny & Tanya Shearer, and Harriet Bright, also on display.

This interactive online performance portrays people embroiled in the surrogacy industry.

Professional agents meet content surrogates and argumentative feminists encounter loving fathers-to-be. With its ethical complexity and emotional polarisation, its legal grey zones and its medical realities the industry comes alive on the Zoom stage.

Duration: 90 mins, followed by Q&A.

3–5 Jun 10am–6.30pm daily TSB Arena, 4 Queen's Wharf. artshow.co.nz

May–Jun 2022 2 Mahara Place, Waikanae. maharagallery.org.nz

21 May 2022 8pm Online. goethe.de/nz

Meet the Making

{Suite} Westra Museum

Just as Katherine Mansfield used subtle observations and descriptive details to allow readers to step into the world of her characters, this exhibition will enable you to step back in time and ‘meet the making’ of historical textiles and garments selected from the collection by guest curator Leimomi Oakes (The Dreamstress).

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

23 Mar–26 Jun 25 Tinakori Road, Thorndon. katherinemansfield.com

Tue–Fri 10am–5pm Sat 10am–4pm 241 Cuba Street.

Instagram: @answestra suite.co.nz

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SGCNZ National UO Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival Experience the exceptional talent of students from around NZ as they present their courageous and creative interpretations of the Bard's work. Delectable bite-size 5 and 15 minute performances will fire your imagination and bring Shakespeare to life in fresh and fascinating ways. See website for details.

4–5 June, Michael Fowler Centre. ticketmaster.co.nz

C A L E N D A R

HIS/HERSTORY Double bill exploring male and female experiences of war, as told by their kin Circa Theatre, until 14 May GENUINE ARTICLE Annie Mackenzie’s post-TyleeResidency textile exhibition Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, until 22 May THERE IS NO OTHER HOME BUT THIS Two textile artists explore their Parsi and Hazara ancestry Govett-Brewster, New Plymouth, until 19 June THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE Mixed-media exhibition of artworks related to aliens and UFOs The Dowse, Lower Hutt MĀORI MOVING IMAGE Booth showing video works by five Māori artists The Dowse, Lower Hutt TAI TIMU! TAI PARI! Group video exhibition exploring indigenous histories and language City Gallery Wellington TEETH, TALONS, AND TAXIDERMY Exhibition of taxidermy, pelts, skins, teeth, and claws Whanganui Regional Museum MATARAU Group exhibition of contemporary Māori art, curated by Shannon Te Ao City Gallery Wellington

May 8 HURRICANES v FIJIAN DRUA Super Rugby fixture Sky Stadium, 3.35pm 11 DRY SPELL Footnote New Zealand Dance The Opera House, 7.30pm 13 CERAMICS Works on show from Harriet Bright and Jenny and Tanya Shearer Mahara iti, Waikanae PASSIONE NZSO plays Strauss, Prokofiev, and Corigliano – Amalia Hall solo violin Michael Fowler Centre, 6.30pm CRINGEWORTHY: THE 80S New Zealand in the 80s, captured in dance, music, and comedy Circa Theatre, until 11 June 14 ROOFTOP JUNGLE PARTY Cocktails, a Southeast Asian tasting menu, and DJs Mockingbird, 7pm GLEN HAYWARD: WISH YOU WERE HERE Carving, painting, and installation exploring absurdity and anti-art City Gallery Wellington 19 RESENE ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN FILM FESTIVAL Annual festival of international films about architecture and design Embassy and Lighthouse Cinemas, until 5 June

20 WOVEN TAPESTRY Exhibition of contemporary tapestry art from New Zealand and Australia Pātaka Art + Museum, until 26 June GLOBAL BELLY_ZOOM Online theatre about transnational surrogacy, hosted by the Goethe Institute Online via Zoom HURRICANES v REBELS Super Rugby fixture Sky Stadium, 7.05pm 27 WAIRARAPA FILM FESTIVAL Shorts, features, and talks celebrate local film Regent 3 Cinemas, Masterton, until 30 May 28 BLUE DRAGON BOOK FAIR Charity book sale, $3 for your first five books, $2 each afterwards Ngaio Town Hall, 9am, 28 and 29 May URBAN WINE WALK Restaurants and bars partner with wineries to host tastings.

Queenstown, multiple venues, noon 29 OUR HERITAGE GARDEN Free 90-minute walking tour of native forest and plant collections Founder’s Entrance, Botanic Garden,11am 30 THE BRONX American punk band San Fran, 8pm

C A L E N D A R

31 TOM SAINSBURY: SNAPCHAT DUDE Live comedy with impersonations and stand-up The Opera House, 7.30pm HYSTERICAL Olivia Hall and Carrie Rudzinski tour their feminist poetry show BATS Theatre, 6.30pm, until 3 June

June

5 NO TRACE FESTIVAL: THE RABBIT HOLE Boutique electronic music festival with acrobats, fire spinners, and visual projections Kawarau Bungee Centre, Queenstown, 6pm

OP

24 MATARIKI Public holiday celebrating rising of the Matariki star cluster and lunar new year 26

JAPAN FESTIVAL Biennial Japan Festival TSB Arena, 11.30am

4 FRESH OFF THE PAGE Proudly Asian Theatre present contemporary performance works BATS Theatre, 7.30pm

LY

12 THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT Film festival of short films related to cycling from around the world Penthouse Cinema, Brooklyn, 6pm, until 13 June

18 NGĀ RORIRORI Hone Kouka farce about an iwi’s claim to land and riches Circa Theatre, until 25 June

3 RARE BEER CHALLENGE Eighteen breweries compete for the best beer brewed using unusual methods Fortune Favours, Leeds Street, 5pm

9 JU G N I EN

21 HE MĀORI Waiata, jokes, anecdotes, and monologues celebrate reclaiming identity BATS Theatre, 7.30pm, until 23 June

15 SHAMANIC SOUND JOURNEY Sound artist Sika produces live sound and visuals Kāpiti Uniting Church, 7.30pm

2 ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE Orchestra Wellington and singers recreate Beatles hits The Opera House, 8pm

6 QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY Public holiday celebrating the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II

11 NACHTMUSIK NZSO presents chamber music featuring Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Carterton Events Centre, 7.30pm

19 NZ CHAMBER SOLOISTS Katherine Austin (piano), Lara Hall (violin), and James Tennant (cello) perform Czech works St Andrews on the Terrace, 3pm WELLINGTON MARATHON Full marathon around the waterfront, with shorter runs available TSB Arena, 7am PORIRUA ARTISAN CRAFT MARKET Market offering handcraft from 50 Porirua creators Pātaka Art + Museum, 10am

THE WORLD OF MUSICALS Compilation of hit songs from musicals The Opera House, 7.30pm 29 CPOTY EXHIBITION Public showing of the Capital Photographer of the Year finalists Courtenay Creative, Courtenay Place, until 2 July 30 MOUNTAIN FILM AND BOOK FESTIVAL The 20th iteration, with film screenings, speakers, and presentations on adventuring Queenstown Memorial Centre, until 2 July

July

1 WINETOPIA Wine festival with tastings, talks, and live music and comedy TSB Arena, Queen’s Wharf 9 WONDERKIND Non-verbal puppetry and music show for children aged three to seven Circa Theatre, until 30 July

V E R DI

L A TR AVIATA 9 –16 JULY

ST JAMES THEATRE WELLINGTON

EMMA PEARSON VIOLETTA OLIVER SEWELL ALFREDO PHILLIP RHODES GIORGIO GERMONT TIANYI LU CONDUCTOR SARA BRODIE DIRECTOR BUY TICKETS NOW AT

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Brain builder Answers will be published online at capitalmag.co.nz/ crossword

Acros s

Down

1. Moon (5) 3. Use to fire pottery (4) 7. Material which most NZ homes are made from (6) 9. Used to hang wallpaper (5) 10. Comfortable atmosphere (4) 11. Adjust cushion stuffing (5) 13. Portable shelter (4) 14. Blanket (5) 16. Government house, designed by Sir Basil Spence (7) 18. Renovate (9) 20. Colour of the house in Eiffel 65s 1998 hit (4) 23. Furnishings and fittings (5) 25. Small outdoor platform (7) 26. Celebratory light display (9) 28. Tidy (4) 29. Tallest building in New Zealand (3/5) 30. Bringing the outside in (5) 33. Inside (8) 35. Toy, building bricks (4) 38. Star, in te reo (5) 39. Animal, classically lives in a hole in the wall (5) 40. Apartment (4) 41. “There was an old women who lived in a ____” (4) 42. House, te reo (5) 43. “Home, ___ home” (5)

2. A star of Matariki associated with wind (8) 3. Room typically used for cooking (7) 4. Lights up a space (4) 5. Cabin (5) 6. Cockney slang, “brick and _____” (6) 7. Roof made from straw (8) 8. Used to cover the floor or roof (5) 12. Aussie TV renovation competition (3/5) 15. Woven floor covering (3) 17. Building designer (9) 19. Wire or rod for receiving TV signals (6) 21. Liquid, used to add colour (5) 22. “Can he fix it?” (3) 24. Hired vehicle to transfer belongings (7/3) 27. Invertebrate that carries their home (5) 29. Room to move (5) 30. Connects water into the home (5) 31. Collectable, vintage furniture (7) 32. “There’s no place like home” (7) 34. Sells houses, _____ agent (6) 36. Land, adjoining a house (6) 37. Month of Matariki 2022 public holiday (4)

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TAONGA

AT T E PAPA STORE At Te Papa Store believe everyone should be able to have taonga of their own, so we have collated Aotearoa’s best carvers and makers to bring you a beautiful selection of treasures.

The perfect gift for Matariki, or a personal celebration, the range is now available at our Wellington Airport Store, as well as at the museum and online.

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