North Shore Canoe Club product shines on sport’s biggest stage
Olympic gold medallist Tara Vaughan celebrates in France with little sister India (left) and highperformance kayaking friend and former Carmel College student Greer Morley.
Twenty-year-old Vaughan, who moved from surf lifesaving to kayaking while still a Westlake Girls High
School student, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the sport. But the transformation from typical sporty North Shore teen to top of the world with the New Zealand K4 500 team led by Olympic great Lisa Carrington, has taken countless hours of hard graft on Lake Pupuke, says proud father Steve Vaughan.
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Gruelling regime led to champagne moment
From falling out of her kayak at her first national championships four years ago, to stepping out of it as an Olympic champion, Tara Vaughan’s trajectory to being a world-beater is storybook stuff.
And each chapter has been character-building for the Castor Bay 20-year-old.
Her father, Steve Vaughan, said since Tara’s selection for the New Zealand K4 500 crew, “it’s been a pretty surreal two-and-ahalf years”. He has watched his daughter grow into her sport and develop her skills. It also took daily grind to succeed. “She did okay at surf-lifesaving, but nothing particularly outstanding – one of the crew really. But she has found a niche in a 12kg boat.”
Tara had a fierce determination to be successful. “She’s incredibly committed to everything she does and always has been.”
With family and an excited contingent of Kiwi supporters, Steve was in the stands as the K4 team gave kayaking great Lisa Carrington the first of her three golds at the Paris Olympics. “I’m pinching myself that I get to travel around the world and witness this,” Steve told the Observer from France.
The whole family, including Tara’s mother Claire, sister India, aged 14, and
brother Hunter, 18, were at the Olympics, along with her grandfather, Stu. “It’s the first time he’s travelled past Australia in 72 years,” Steve said.
The aftermath of the win was short and sweet. “After the race I got a cuddle and saw her for about 10 seconds, no more than that.”
Tara and Olivia Brett stuck to their winddown, joining K4 teammates Alicia Hoskin and Carrington as the duo prepared to go on to their K2 race. The Vaughan support team adjourned for “a quiet glass of champagne”.
It wasn’t until the next day that the family had a proper chance to catchup with Tara, before they all headed back to the venue to watch the K2’s gold-medal win.
The following day they watched Carrington’s imperious K1 performance, repeating the trio of golds she won in Tokyo, and taking her career medal tally to nine. “Lisa Carrington is a god in this part of the world,” Steve said.
Tara joined the New Zealand women’s high-performance set-up, based at Lake Pupuke, when just a year out of Westlake Girls High School. “Lisa has been incredibly open and supporting,” Steve said.
A life member of the Mairangi Bay Surf Life Saving Club, Steve, who met Claire
through the sport, said it was inevitable their kids would be involved. Tara transitioned from surf-ski to learning to kayak in her mid-teens.
The games build-up was a treadmill for the AUT sport and recreation student, he said. “Tara’s life is literally train and sleep and eat, and she eats a lot more than me.”
The five days a week routine has been based on three sessions a day: two paddling and one strength and conditioning in the gym. “It’s busy”. Further sessions with a bio-mechanist and physio are added most days.
After the Olympics closing ceremony, the Vaughan party headed to Lake Como in northern Italy to unwind with Tara for four days. Claire, Steve and their two daughters are now holidaying in Sri Lanka.
“It’s an opportunity to just relax,” says Steve. Like Tara he has been away for a while, having headed to Europe early in July to manage a team of paddlers at the junior world championships in Bulgaria.
He expected after a month or so off from serious training, Tara would get itchy feet – “they’re a bit addicted” – and want to get back in the boat.
He doesn’t want to speak for his daughter, but said: “She still has a long way to go.”
Penalty knocks WGHS basketballers out of play-offs
Westlake Girls High School’s back-to-back national-championship-winning basketball team has had 30 points deducted, destroying their hopes of winning a fourth Auckland Premier Championship in a row.
College Sport Auckland took the points – equivalent to 10 wins – off the competitionleading team for fielding an ineligible player.
Westlake had three new-to-school players on their roster when rules allow for only two. The deduction meant Westlake, which
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placed third at the ISF World Schools championships in June, finished the regular season in second-to-last place, missing out on competing in the final play-offs.
Westlake Girls principal Jane Stanley told the Observer fielding the ineligible player was a “clerical and genuinely innocent” mistake, not intentional.
“We understand that the rules are there to ensure fairness for everyone. Naturally, we feel for everyone involved, particularly
HON SIMON WATTS
our premier basketball players, coaches and their whānau. However, we understand and support the College Sport decision.”
The team still has a chance to win a three-peat of national titles, when it plays in a separate qualifying tournament in late August and early September.
Next season, Westlake will have to play a promotion-relegation game against Auckland’s second-placed Senior A (second division) side to stay in the premier tier.
Authorised by Hon Simon Watts, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.
Pump up the volumes! Milford bookshop a winner
A Milford bookshop has been named the country’s joint best, recognition its owner puts down to its community connections.
The Booklover shared the honours in the Nielsen BookData New Zealand Bookshop of the Year competition with Tekapo’s Petronella’s Bookstore,
Olivia Spooner, who has owned the Milford Rd shop for five years, said she’s spent much of that time learning about her customers so she can stock books to their tastes.
She has also run events such as book launches, quiz nights and panel talks to help make it feel more than just a store.
The shop regularly works with local schools, including Carmel College, Westlake Girls High School and Milford Primary School, suggesting books for their libraries or classrooms while also sponsoring fundraisers and writing competitions.
Westlake Girls is running a short-story competition this year, with prizes for the top three entries provided by The Booklover.
The shop is also helping run Campbells Bay School’s book fair.
“We don’t get a lot of tourists, we don’t have a huge amount of foot traffic, so you’ve really got to be a major asset to your community,” Spooner says.
“We figured the more we support our community the more they’re going to support us.”
The reviews Spooner and her two staff write of books stocked in the shop have proved popular with the regular customers, she says. Their recommendations also feature on the Booklover Banter podcast, which was launched last year, providing a platform for talk about books and bookselling, and interviews with authors and others in the industry.
With “so many books out there” and not enough space, Spooner curates the stock to fit with what’s trending among customers –mostly fiction and New Zealand non-fiction, she says.
“New Zealand fiction authors as well, that’s grown.”
Spooner has also worked to make the shop interior feel welcoming, repainting the bookshelves green and opening up the space to make it feel more enticing, she says.
She worked as a pharmacist for 15 years before having her third child and becoming a full-time mum until her youngest started primary school.
A writer herself, she has published three books of her own. Her most recent, The Girl From London, has been a number one New Zealand bestseller. More novels are in the pipeline.
Proud owner... Olivia Spooner outside The Booklover in Milford, which was named joint winner of the national Bookshop of the Year competition in the Book Industry Awards.
Briefs Motorist pleads guilty
A teenage motorist whose car nearly hit a restaurant worker on the footpath of Anzac St in Takapuna has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving. The 19-year-old was charged after the incident, caught on CCTV cameras, outside Botticelli Restaurant, when the waitress was taking an evening break. He pleaded guilty in the North Shore District Court on 2 August and will appear again on 11 October for sentencing. Interim name suppression continues until then.
Healthy Waters no-show
An Auckland Council Healthy Waters representative failed to turn up for a scheduled public briefing last week on a water-quality improvement project in the Wairau catchment. Seven people left the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board workshop they had attended especially for the briefing after the Healthy Waters staff member could not be tracked down. Board member George Wood said he was “underwhelmed” by a tabled report on the topic, which focused on installing pollution traps. Healthy Waters said the staff member had been unable to attend at short notice due to illness. The briefing would be rescheduled.
Quick eatery switch
Hospitality group StarSocial took less than two weeks to fit-out a new business in a prime spot overlooking Takapuna Beach. Mexican restaurant Rosie’s Red Hot Cantina, which opened last Friday, takes the place of Franc’s, which was kept open until the end of the Winter Lights festival to maximise business before the fast-turnaround switch.
Planning for Takapuna Library revamp given a hurry-up
Pressure is on to fast-track design and consultation for a combined Takapuna library and community hub at the existing library site in The Strand.
Devonport-Takapuna Local Board members urged Auckland Council staff to meet, or better, a timetable for the new facility staff outlined at a board workshop last week. They want to give final design sign-off on the project – with or without an added storey – by mid-2025, before the local-body elections.
The aim is to then have the hub built and open in two to three years.
Staff warned the timeline was already tight and said they were overlapping planning steps where they could.
Public consultation seeking input into what the facility should include will start within a few months, they said. Drop-in sessions are planned for the library and Takapuna market in September. Starting this month, community-group leaseholders of council-owned premises and other key stakeholders will be consulted. “We want to reach as many people as we can,” said council service and asset planning specialist, Sophie Bell.
Board member Gavin Busch noted almost six months of consultation was provided for, before detailed design work and again, for reaction, after it was done. He wondered if the time could be truncated. “The cost to build is only going to go up,” he said. “We don’t want to hear there won’t be sufficient funds.”
Northern area operations manager Sarah Jones said: “If all of the board are on a similar page it will help – we can move ahead more easily.”
Board members unanimously voted in May to look at two options for the hub, using money for design and initial work from the
$3.2 million sale of the former library building at No. 2 The Strand and the planned sale of the vacated and rundown Mary Thomas Centre on Gibbons Ave.
To fully fund construction, a decision would need to be made later to sell the Takapuna Community Services Building next to the library. The buildings would also need to be structurally separated.
Jones said available budgets were unclear until assets were sold by council property arm Eke Panuku. The ability to build an extra storey rests on funding.
How community tenants in the services building might fit into a reconfigured library is being considered as part of the design. Flexible shared spaces are envisaged, along with areas the public could hire.
Staff said book-collection and event and programme requirements would be reviewed with librarians, along with consideration of how the regionally significant Angela Morton Collection of art books is supported.
Board chair Toni van Tonder urged council staff to come up with a communications strategy to engage the community in the project. Board member George Wood said it would be good to get a photographer up on the roof to establish the potential view from building up.
Van Tonder agreed: “Seeing the views out to Rangitoto, people can say I see myself with a book in a nook looking out... and going, oh wow!”
Member Mel Powell predicted librarians would be fighting to work in the new space. Wood had questions on parking availability, and on whether development in the area might block views.
Staff will return to the board in October with an update, including on the initial round of consultation, and structural assessments.
A Culinary Odyssey Through Vietnam’s Flavours
Embark on a culinary adventure that celebrates the rich tapestry of Vietnamese cuisine, woven with stories and traditions that have spanned generations.
Our menu is a testament to the enduring legacy of Vietnamese cuisine, showcasing both classic dishes that have graced tables for centuries and contemporary creations that reimagine beloved flavours. Each bite is a whispered memory of a homeland rich in history, a harmonious blend of heritage and modernity, a love letter to the culinary artistry of Vietnam.
Keeping it casual
Takapuna has plenty of wonderful places for catching up and hanging out with friends and whānau. We’ve picked some of our favourite low-key places for memory-making moments, top conversations and good times.
BARS WITH MORE
For after-work drinks or an easy midweek dinner with the family, The Elephant Wrestler has you covered. The menu is all about family-friendly favourites, and a ‘bits and bobs’ section with options that go down perfectly with a beverage.
If you’re after a venue with stunning ocean views, you can’t go past Regatta Bar and Eatery. Order some plates to share, grab a cocktail – choose from alcoholic and zero-alcohol specialities –and enjoy the vista.
New kid on the block Rosie’s Red Hot Cantina brings its take on Mexican street food. With ice-cold beer and frozen margarita slushies, a few tacos or a burger, or some guacamole and nachos to share – and sea views – this is the spot for a lazy afternoon.
Footy on your mind? We recommend Takapuna Bar. Find a possie in front of one of the high-definition televisions, order a round and enjoy the game. Don’t worry if the league and rugby clash –the TB crew can put on three different games in the three rooms.
Florrie McGreal’s is your local neighbourhood pub with ultra-friendly service and honest grub. Tuesdays are quiz nights and if you feel like putting your dancing shoes on, Florrie’s hosts live bands every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
The crew at Burger Burger elevates the humble burger by using top-quality ingredients and great combinations. You can book a table or pop by, vegans are well catered for, and there’s a surprising selection of non-burger options.
When it’s time for an easy-breezy breakfast or brunch catch-up, head to Catch 21 Eatery. Order from the menu or hit the wide selection of cabinet food. Don’t forget to grab a poochaccino for your doggie friend.
For an option that’s healthy, customisable and never compromising on flavour, look no further than Poké Poké. You can take your bowl down to the beautiful Takapuna Beach, or dine in-house.
You can check out the FULL list of all the amazing places to eat and drink in Takapuna at ilovetakapuna.co.nz
Fancy some healthy wholefoods? Make a beeline for Street Organics. Everything on the menu here is made from scratch, using local organic ingredients wherever possible. Try their plant-based smoothies with your choice of organic dairy or alternative milks.
A bowl of hot ramen is perfect for these colder months. Head to Ajisen Ramen where the vibe is on point with timber décor and Japanese art and you’ll find some fancy-pants exotic ramen options along with your classic shoyu and miso ramen.
Florrie McGreal’s
Takapuna
Sixteen-year-old breaks into Farah Palmer Cup team
Carmel College student Ella Henderson is playing for the North Harbour Farah Palmer Cup side.
At just 16, she is the youngest player in the team named to play in the national provincial women’s competition. And she is doing it in the key playmaking role of first-five eighths.
Ella told the Observer that while being the most junior player was slightly nerve-racking, her more experienced teammates had made her feel comfortable in the environment and would help her adjust to the higher level of play.
“I’ve always got someone to go to if I’m stuck, which is pretty cool,” she said.
Henderson debuted in the team’s season opener last Sunday, a narrow 21-24 loss to the Otago Spirit.
“It definitely is a privilege,” Ella said. “I’m lucky to be able to slot into that spot, especially when there are lots of talented 10s.”
Her main aim this season is to perform well to maintain the coveted starting role.
The year 12 student, has been playing rugby “pretty much her whole life”, from ripper youth grades through to turning out for Silverdale’s top women’s side this season.
As well as playing for the prems, she played for a Silverdale composite side from multiple schools that finished third in North Harbour’s top 12-a-side secondary school girls grade.
Ella said that although she is a shy person, her position requires a lot of communication, bringing her out of her shell on game days, when she has to do a lot of talking.
Playing for the North Harbour Hibiscus will mean a lot of travelling and training, which she was looking forward to, although she knows it will be a balancing act with
school work. “I’ll make sure I can focus on school when I can and stay on top of my tasks so I don’t get behind.”
Ella is excited by the growth in popularity of the women’s game and the opportunities that come with it. Her main rugby goal is to either play for the Black Ferns or the Black Ferns Sevens at the Olympics.
Westlake’s top XVs target Harbour Stadium showdowns
If Westlake Boys High School’s first and second XVs win their respective North Harbour school rugby semi-finals this weekend, both will play NPC curtain-raisers at North Harbour Stadium the following week.
Westlake host Rangitoto in the 1A semi-final on Saturday at midday, after the second XV hosts Northcote in the 1B semi.
Rosmini, who have also had a brilliant
season, with 11 wins from 13 games, hosts Whangarei in the other 1A semi-final, while Kaipara takes on Orewa to decide the second 1B final slot.
Westlake’s first XV, which has been dominant in North Harbour schools rugby in recent years, has not had it all its own way in 2024, losing to Rosmini in round two.
Coach Robin Mildenhall said overall the
Harbour teams had been more competitive this season. Rangitoto had enjoyed a top season and Whangarei Boys were always tough opposition. “The semi-finals are going to be hotly contested matches,” Mildenhall said. The finals of both the A and B divisions will be played at North Harbour Stadium ahead of North Harbour’s NPC match against Waikato on 25 August.
Young gun... Ella Henderson in her North Harbour strip (right) and in action for Silverdale during the club season
Bollylake... Dancers in action at the inaugural Westlake Indian cultural night last week
Schools’ Indian students combine for cultural showcase
Westlake Boys and Girls High Schools hosted their first Indian cultural night last week, showcasing their growing diversity.
Students have been keen to hold the event and won approval this year as the Indian student base and Indian community associated with the schools was big enough to justify it.
More than 400 attended the 8 August evening to see traditional and modern Indian dancing, a fashion show and skits, and enjoy Indian food.
Westlake Girls teacher Lucy Boyd-Bell, who helped facilitate the event, said the students were very enthusiastic about the night, organising the performances, obtaining sponsorship and promoting it. “They’ve done everything.”
Well-known online teacher Subash Chandar was a special guest
invited by the students.
The schools have previously hosted Korean, Chinese, Pasifika and Filipino nights. Some evenings have attracted more than 1000 families and friends.
Boyd-Bell said that since 2011, when she arrived at Westlake Girls, the demographic had changed from being mostly Pakeha, Maori, Pasifika, Korean and Chinese to having a wider range of cultures, including many Indian and Filipino students and others from countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Boyd-Bell said the school’s cultural nights helped the students feel more seen and included in the school, as well as connecting wider communities. “It’s super important to embrace the diversity of the students and the communities they come from.”
Best feet forward... Westlake Girls students Vaishnavi Kamath (front) and Kavya Parikh performing traditional Indian dance. Right: Internet-celebrity maths tutor Subash Chandar, who was a special guest at the event.
Takapuna pool will remain council run, but cuts loom
Takapuna pool will stay under public management after a decision by Auckland Council against further outsourcing of the operation of its pools and leisure centres. But council has set a region-wide target to cut $3 million from their annual operating costs.
Twenty-two of the 42 publicly owned centres are council run, with the remainder privately managed under contract. Council staff had proposed outsourcing them all to cut costs.
Councillors voted against this recommendation behind closed doors on 1 August. Details of how cost savings are to be made are unknown.
North Shore ward councillor Richard Hills said afterwards that the vote provided certainty, including for staff, “while ensuring we have affordable, accessible centres into the future”.
Lake
Pupuke
Before councillors went into a confidential meeting for the vote, Mayor Wayne Brown said he was all for saving money and was not opposed to changing the operating model inherited with local body amalgamation.
“However, I’ve listened to our elected representatives and the community and believe it’s important that we find a compromise.”
He noted, the PSA public sector union, which opposed outsourcing management, had indicated a willingness to work with council to find savings.
Council head of value for money, Chantelle Subritzky, told councillors the review of operating models was triggered because contracts of the privately operated centres needed renewal. It found issues with contracted management, she said, including “third party providers not providing a living wage and weak enforcement tools for poor
performance in the contracts”.
New contracts would be negotiated to address these issues, she said.
Chief executive officer Phil Wilson said renegotiation offered a cost-savings opportunity.
Responding to Observer inquiries last week, council area operations manager for Devonport-Takapuna, Sarah Jones, confirmed the former childcare centre at the Takapuna centre remained vacant following closure of the council-run facility last year. A commercial tenant has been sought.
Jones said a $92,000 overhaul of pool equipment and pipework renewal was carried out in the last financial year, while another $387,000 had been spent on renewal work that included replacement of the spa pool and surrounding deck, plus a new shade canopy for the spa pool.
canoe club among North Shore grant recipients
North Shore Canoe Club – the Lake Pupuke training base for Olympic paddlers including Dame Lisa Carrington – is one of the biggest local beneficiaries of a gambling grants allocation.
The club received $10,000 from the New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) to put towards contractor costs.
The Takapuna-based Tania Dalton Foundation, which provides scholarships for aspiring female athletes, also received $10,000, for rent.
Other local sports groups to benefit from NZCT’s latests quarterly regional allocation, totalling $440,365, were:
• Pupuke Golf Club, $10,000, for maintenance.
• Northern Rovers Football club, $8693, towards equipment.
• Westlake Girls High School, $5000, towards travel and accommodation costs for a trip to basketball nationals.
• North Shore Squash Rackets Club, $5000, towards a salary.
• Surf Life Saving Northern Region Inc, $5000, salary.
The only non-sporting grant for a group with a North Shore base went to Glass Ceiling Arts Collective, a charity that started locally but now works across the country providing opportunities for diverse people of all abilities. It received $2000 towards contractor costs.
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JOHN & BEV Ryman Residents
Silk and skills do the business for like-minded duo
Castor Bay schoolgirl Mariko Parker and her classmate Amelie Lewis are tackling a business studies project by drawing on their shared interests and backgrounds.
The two self-described “international kids” teamed up as friends at Kristin School last year, after finding they have much in common.
“We understand each other,” says Mariko. “We really match each other’s vibe.”
Both have lived in Asia, gone to international schools and learned to navigate different cultures at an early age. For Mariko, who has a Japanese mother and an American father, home was Singapore for nine years, with stints in France and the United States. Amelie, who has a British background, lived in South Korea for five years, before her family settled here.
The 16-year-olds’ interests in fashion and sustainability came into play for their Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) venture as part of the Year 12 curriculum. They make fabric bags, skirts and tube tops from second-hand silk kimonos, sourced through Mariko’s grandmother in Japan.
The YES programme is undertaken each year by thousands of New Zealand senior school students to help them learn about setting up and operating a company. The girls say marketing food products had been popular among students, but the pair wanted to do something unique and personal to them.
They also wanted to ensure their items would appeal to culturally aware shoppers, whom they are targeting through Instagram and online sales, including orders.
They have named their company, Mirai, a Japanese word for future, which Mariko’s grandmother suggested. Mirai’s branding reflects a bridge of tradition and tomorrow.
“We’re using the fabrics, but with modern design,” says Amelie, who began sewing as a child. “The first thing I designed was an ugly black dress when I was six-year-old.” Now she deconstructs the kimonos and creates items that are partly sewn on a machine and partly hand-sewn.
They like to use all the fabric. This follows a Japanese concept known as “mottainai” – or to waste nothing. “It’s a big part of Japanese culture,” says Mariko.
When the girls finish high school next year, both are considering study overseas.
Amelie is tossing up between fashion design courses or taking psychology and politics courses in the United Kingdom; Mariko is thinking of business studies in the US. Despite her strong connections to Japan, Mariko says does not see herself settling there, although she visits regularly.
The school project, drawing on her heritage and an arty family background has, however, underlined her links. “I think my grandma really likes it,” she says. •To view further: itsmymirai.company.site
With over 20+ years of experience, we bring expertise and precision to every project. No subbies or contractors, the owner is personally on the job, overseeing every detail. Avoid the cowboys and work with the experts!
Schoolgirl entrepreneurs... Amelie Lewis (left) and Mariko Parker with the fashion bags they have made for a business venture, using upcycled kimono fabric sourced from Japan
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Good year for the poses at Milford planting day
More than 40 local high school students and a handful of contestants from a Mrs New Zealand pageant were among a big crowd digging in at a recent community planting day at Brian Byrnes Reserve in Milford.
The “massive turnout” of 131 people, allowed for eight cubic metres of mulch to be spread and hundreds of trees planted, said Pupuke Birdsong Project coordinator Tabitha Becroft.
The contestants, some wearing sashes, joined local residents on the morning of Saturday 3 August, in what is an ongoing effort to establish native species in the reserve.
Becroft said she understood the women were fulfilling volunteering requirements for pageant participation. Good numbers of students from Westlake Boys High School and some from Carmel College were also willing helpers, in a similar quest to meet service hours set by the schools.
Becroft said alongside adults responding to calls for volunteers it was heartening to have so many next-generation helpers. Some Westlake students had helped at an earlier estuary clean-up, and word had now spread.
Planting focused on an area between the Milford Bowling Club and a waterway along the side of the reserve.
Plants supplied by Auckland Council included species that yielded bird food through berries and flowers.
It was hoped nearby residents would not be tempted to trim them as they grew, Becroft said, as had happened in some areas where residents have become concerned about losing views. “We chose plants that aren’t forest giants.”
Bruce Ward, who lives in a property overlooking Brian Byrnes Reserve and was recently recognised by the DevonportTakapuna Local Board for his environmental volunteering efforts, said the work and the turnout was impressive.
Digging in... Contestants for the Mrs New Zealand title were among scores of volunteers at a community planting event in Milford earlier this month
Next up for Pupuke Birdsong is an estuary clean-up of Wairau Creek on Sunday 18 August, with the YMCA’s Raise Up youth crew. Local schools are also being invited.
On Saturday 7 September, the group will combine with Milford Mariners on the final estuary clean-up of the year, ahead of the bird breeding season. Work on the estuary will resume in April or May next year.
Pupuke Birdsong, which is administered by Takapuna North Community Trust, is on the verge of signing a contract with Auckland Council to pick up ongoing estuary work previously done by the Conservation Volunteers group. Trust manager Natasha Geo said securing contracts was an opportunity for the trust to become more sustainable in the wake of council funding cuts. Grants
were also proving tougher to secure in tight economic times, she said.
Corporate volunteering is also helping support local environmental efforts, with Takapuna-based research company Neilsen having booked a third session for its staff this year. They have helped plant a steep bank below Milford Primary School.
Pupuke Birdsong is also working with the Sunnynook Chinese Association to spread the word about its activities there and in Forrest Hill. A litter clean-up is being held in Greville Reserve on Saturday 17 August, from 10am to 11.30am. Volunteers are invited to meet by the Forrest Hill Rd car park. Mandarin speakers will be on hand to offer advice on preparing gardens to be more resilient to flooding.
WHAT’S ON @ Takapuna Library
We want to thank all our wonderful patrons for their patience during the closure of our car park entrance via The Strand.
We are pleased that this work has been completed and access has been restored. Hurrah!
TUESDAY 27 AUGUST, 6PM
Sacha Jones, author of The Fatter
Sex: A Battle Plan for Women’s’ Weight, Heath & Humour, will be in conversation with acclaimed writer Stephanie Johnson. The pair will talk about women’s complex quest for body positivity and why it’s a feminist issue in the modern Western world.
THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER, 6PM
Join high-profile Milford-based integrated medical doctor Frances Pitsilis to celebrate the release of her book, Well Woman.
Well Woman reveals the shortand long-term changes women can make to maximise their well-being.
WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER, 6PM
Ryan Bodman’s beautifully illustrated first book Rugby League in New Zealand: A People’s History won this year’s non-fiction prize in the Ockham NZ Book Awards.
Bring the whānau to hear Ryan discuss some key moments in the New Zealand codes’ rich heritage and its powerful cultural journey.
For more information about any of our upcoming events or to RSVP send an email to: TakapunaEvents@ aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Eavesdropping playwright relishes
Prolific New Zealand playwright Gary Henderson enjoys listening in on audiences at performances of his plays.
He takes satisfaction from hearing how people relate to the subject matter. “That’s what I enjoy, when it resonates,” he says. “When it relates to their day-to-day life.”
In the case of Home Land – the Henderson play being staged by Company Theatre at the Rose Centre in Belmont – the central conundrum will be familiar to many. It tells of a family grappling with putting their fiercely independent but increasingly frail father into care, far from his beloved Otago farm.
Despite this wrenching challenge, Henderson (pictured) says: “There are chuckles all the way through it. I think they’re the chuckles of recognition.”
He has seen the play staged a number of times since its premiere in Dunedin 20 years ago, and intends to be at the local opening on Saturday 17 August.
He is confident his script is in good hands, with veteran North Shore director Sian Davis back for her 13th play with Company, having previously helmed Home Land at the Howick Little Theatre.
Henderson caught up with Davis at Company’s last production, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. She later invited him to sit in on her first read-through of
Home Land, which has former Bayswater resident Max Golding as the elderly farmer Ken. Ken’s son and daughter, their spouses and a city-bred granddaughter are the other characters.
Henderson says he wanted to avoid making any of the family out to be “bad guys”.
“Everyone in the story is trying to do the right thing,” he says. Widower Ken is “kind of resigned to being uprooted from the land he loves, but doesn’t want it to happen”.
In writing the fictionalised story, South Island-born Henderson, who has lived in West Auckland since the late 1990s, drew partly PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY
real-life reactions
on personal experience of dealing with his own father’s health challenges, his mother moving into a rest home, and aging in-laws who farmed in Otago.
His father, who required regular dialysis, was at the premiere of Home Land. “When he saw the play, he took it quite seriously, as if they weren’t fictional characters.”
Henderson says if he were to write the play today it wouldn’t be exactly the same as he himself has changed. However, he hopes for a reaction similar to that of two women he overheard leaving the first show. Rather than talking about the acting or set, they were recounting real-life parallels, with one saying of their own parent, “And this morning we had the business with the walking stick.”
Henderson passes on to students the lessons he has learned in his decades writing 20-plus staged plays. He teaches at Unitec, gives the odd lecture at the University of Auckland and makes an ongoing weekly trip to Wellington to lecture each Friday at the South Seas Film School at Victoria University. He also runs the private Graduate Studio to mentor talent.
After early days in Geraldine and time in provincial cities, he settled in Wellington for a time, working as an intermediate teacher. This was when he first dabbled in writing drama, and it prompted him to take theatre studies.
By 2003, he found himself in Dunedin for a year, teaching theatre studies at university for the first time, while also enjoying a writer’s residency and working on a commission that became Home Land for the now defunct Fortune Theatre’s 30th anniversary in 2004. He was then commissioned to pen Peninsula for the Christchurch Arts Festival and went on to direct it at the Court Theatre in 2005.
His best-travelled play is Skin Tight, which after winning a prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was staged in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. In 2013, he received the $20,000 Playmarket Award, recognising his contribution to theatre.
Auckland Theatre Company staged Henderson’s Things that Matter last year, which was adapted from the memoir of retired intensive-care specialist Dr David Galler. He is working on a new play for the Court Theatre.
“Plays last that touch on quite a deep human truth,” is his observation.
Family is an enduring theme, and sense of place is important to his work. He and Davis explored shifting the action of Home Land to Taranaki, which she is more familiar with, but Henderson said Otago’s landscape and biting cold added to the isolation and dislocation. Ultimately, though, he says “you can never control what the audience takes away from it.”
Being a playwright, he adds: “You do kind of hand it over – to the company and then to the audience.”
• Home Land, 17-31 August at the Rose Centre. Tickets $30 from iticket.co.nz.
I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse...
Starting August 15th, we’ve teamed up with two top Italian restaurants in Takapuna to bring you an unbeatable combo: For a limited time, when you purchase any meal from Al Forno Restaurant or Botticelli Restaurant & Wine Bar, you can purchase a ticket to see The Godfather 1 or 2 for just $10
We have a Royale deal for you it’s so good, we are calling it the Royale With Cheese
From the 22nd of August, we have teamed up with the two best burger joints in
Botticelli Restaurant & Wine Bar
FATHERS’ DAY 2024
All regular movies for dad are $10
Special screenings of The Lion King and Pulp Fiction. Treat dad to a couple of hours of relaxation, entertainment and fun for all the family.
09 666 0714
Facebook and Instagram @takapunabeachsidecinema www.takapunamovies.co.nz
Takapuna to offer you the best burgers AND one of the best movies, Pulp Fiction*.
*MOVIE RATED R18
INTRODUCING GRAEME MCPHEAT
Operating across both selling and leasing of Commercial and Industrial real estate I am committed to providing the best possible professional service to all our clients.
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CLENDON PARK | 459 ROSCOMMON ROAD
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Premium Real Estate Limited (commercial), is pleased to invite offers for 459 Roscommon Road, Clendon Park, Manurewa, Auckland on a confidential ‘Price by Negotiation’ basis. The property forms part of the Clendon Shopping Centre constructed in stages from the early 1980’s through to the early 2000’s and contained on a Fee Simple (freehold) 2.2678 (more or less) hectare site and zoned Business - Local Centre under the Auckland Unitary Plan. Featuring a mixture of ground floor retail and first floor office accommodation
premium.co.nz/80579
VIEW | BY APPOINTMENT
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JOHN HUBBARD 021 355 825
RICHARD SIMON 021 749 995 OFFICE 09 916 6000
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LICENSED REAL ESTATE SALESPERSON 021 736 733
GraemeMcPheat@premium.co.nz GRAEME MCPHEAT
TAKAPUNA | 164 HURSTMERE ROAD
Unique Apartment & Investment Opportunity
Featuring a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment on the first floor plus two retail shops on the ground floor, 164 Hurstmere Road is a truly special and rare freehold offering in the heart of Takapuna. Positioned just a couple of minutes walk from beautiful Takapuna beach, the residential and retail demand in this location is very strong and with new developments either planned or under construction in close proximity, this property is perfectly positioned to benefit from the growth occurring in Takapuna.
