Canterbury Today Magazine Issue 159

Issue 159 | 2021

Sounding the alarm Voices of Hope co-founders Genevieve Mora and Jazz Thornton's mission to break mental health stigmas

Seven trends for 2021 Mapping out new territory for business, consumers and society

Riding the edge of change

Three steps to agile leadership

Navigating uncertainty The top 5 things on employers' wish lists for 2021 Your start-of-year legal to-do list

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Viewpoints

Management

Contents MAGAZINES TODAY OVERVIEW Academy Group has grown to be one of New Zealand’s largest privately owned publishing houses, with carefully targeted publications offering in-depth analysis of current issues, exciting profiles, interesting people, and details of the latest projects and products making news.

YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR BUSINESS HEAD OFFICE 38 Lowe Street Addington Christchurch 8011

AUCKLAND OFFICE

7: Navigating our new normal What to expect heading into a new working year 7: No more blind trusts How your trust operates and is regulated has changed 7: Staying on track in a pandemic Five ways to maintain your focus

9

Postal Address: PO Box 1879, Christchurch 8410

32

MAGAZINES TODAY MANAGEMENT Gary Collins MANAGING DIRECTOR Kylie Palermo GENERAL MANAGER OF OPERATIONS Monice Kruger CHRISTCHURCH SALES MANAGER Jonathon Taylor EDITOR Jarred Shakespeare ART DIRECTOR

Jo Pritchard Pamela Jarman

12 Sounding the alarm Voices of Hope co-founders Genevieve Mora and Jazz Thornton are bashing through mental health stigmas to advocate for change

16: New Zealand’s seriously sizzling property market COVID-19 did little to dampen New Zealand property prices

19: Online attraction Why you need to care about website optimisation as much as your digital advertising 21: Forces of nature New research to help businesses increase seismic safety

Melissa Sinclair Debbie Bennett Laurie Joannou

FOR ALL ADVERTISING ENQUIRERS

NEWSROOM Polly Nichols

PRODUCTION Carolynne Brown Jessica Ann

10: Your start-of-year legal to-do list Three big items that are helpful to think about at any time – but particularly now

18: Up and running Helping startups succeed as we navigate a new normal

SALES & ADVERTISING

Claire Wright Georgina Oldfield

10: Navigating uncertainty The top five things on employers’ wish lists for 2021

17: Education pays International students allowed back in country expected to make significant impact

ADMINISTRATION

Allan Buzan Connor Phillips Keith Laidlaw Clive Greenwood

9: Lifestyles Things to add a little style to life

15: Riding the edge of change Three steps to agile leadership – from reactive to creative

Phone: (03) 961 5050 Email: admin@academygroup.co.nz

Louise Keates Phillipa Cottman Taylar Whight

8: Seven trends for 2021 Mapping out new territory for businesses, consumers and society

14: Transition engineers First responders to the climate emergency

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In Business

Pages 8-21

Pages 6-7 6: How to turn good intentions into genuine commitment Figuring out what you need to succeed

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Pages 24-90 Destinations 24: Coromandel – where Kiwis holiday 26: South Island vineyard guide 28: A taste of Marlborough 29: West Coast – a paradise on your doorstep 30: Meeting marine life at Kaikoura 32: Indulging your sense of adventure

in Queenstown Focus On 43: North Canterbury 44: Selwyn 47: Rangiora 48: Halswell 50: Timaru Life & Style 58: Clean and green Juice Products 60: A quick guide to playing golf in Canterbury Society 60: Basic steps to planning a funeral 62: Rest homes: what to expect and

nothing less Property 64: Whittle Knight & Boatwood mark 50 years

in the industry 67: Keeping things spotless with Genie Clean Construction 68: Matiri Power station 70: RAD Building 72: Stockman Builders 74: Street & Cook Construction 76: Sheppard & Rout Architects 80: Ethos Homes 81: Juken New Zealand 83: Insulation Concepts 85: Five keys to create a healthy home Logistics & Transport 88: What you need to know about

forklift safety 90: Waltham Mechanical auto repairs

Contact the sales team on (03) 961 5083 | sales@academygroup.co.nz Contact the sales team on (03) 961 5176 | sales@academygroup.co.nz

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Management | Real Communications

Creating positive change Real Communications director, Gina McKenzie believes in providing more of a human approach to her storytelling.

Her company’s business model focuses on positive storytelling and giving organisations a platform to share their story in a real and authentic way, while providing more of a personal approach.

“We’ve got a strong focus on positive communication; rather than telling stories about what’s going wrong, we prefer to highlight the positive changes that people, and businesses are making to improve their communities.”

The company offers clients a wide range of services, with their main focus being communications and marketing strategy.

“To help a business to reach their target audience and to really understand who they’re trying to reach, we spend a lot of time brainstorming together, and coming up with a communications and marketing plan,” Gina says.

The plan helps clients increase their sales, connect with their target audience, and meet with the people that they need to connect with to give them an authentic voice.

“Often, I have found that people want to get the word out about their business, but they’re just doing random things without a clear direction or strategy to guide them.

“For example, someone will call them with an advertising opportunity and the business owner agrees without considering if the publication is read by their target audience and then they don’t get a return on their investment.”

Real Communications is focused on sharing the personal side of a business, which involves looking at the motivations behind the business, the passion, and reasons why someone started a business.

Gina has found that the motivation for starting a new venture is often very personal and being able to share these vulnerabilities can be very

“

“To help a business to reach their target audience and to really understand who they’re trying to reach, we spend a lot of time brainstorming together, and coming up with a communications and marketing plan.”

- Real Communications director, Gina McKenzie

”

“At Real Communications we are passionate about harnessing the power of positive storytelling to drive social change.

empowering, as it enables the business to connect with clients or customers on a deeper level.

videos were played and everyone started seeing that we all want the same thing, there was a change in people’s attitudes.”

“Based in North Canterbury we work with a broad client base in Christchurch and Canterbury, along with nationwide clients. These clients cover a range of industries from local government through to construction, IT, education providers, exporters, healthcare providers, patent law firms and non-profits.

Along with having a more personal approach, Real Communications takes the time to really listen to their clients and to develop an ongoing connection with them, while ensuring that their values align.

Along with sharing positive stories of people’s businesses, Gina has also been working on a series of complementary profiles on local businesses called Business Outside the Box.

“We choose to work with clients who share our values of actively supporting their local communities and taking action to create positive change.”

“We only work with clients who are doing something positive to create positive change in the community and who treat their employees fairly.”

Establishing her business in 2016, Gina has done a lot of memorable work, but a project that stands out to her is the four years she spent working with Environment Canterbury on Plan Change 7 (PC7) in Waimakariri.

“We went out into the community and created a series of videos of people from different cultural backgrounds and age groups, and looked at what water means to them.

“Our aim was to get a more diverse range of people to come along to these meetings and share their views.”

“People from all sorts of backgrounds came to the meetings. We had farmers, lifestyle block owners, new migrants, students, environmentalists, scientists and council staff,” Gina says.

“Originally there was a lot of anger in the room due to so many opposing views, but once the

The profiles which have been featured in New Zealand Business Magazine and in local media outlets help inspire business owners who have been impacted by COVID-19.

As well as Business Outside the Box, Gina also hosts a monthly radio show called Thrive Inspiring Women on Plains FM. “Each month I interview someone and it’s a great opportunity to give everyday people a chance to tell their story. We celebrate ordinary women who are doing amazing things behind the scenes.

“It’s a real privilege to share stories of businesses, projects and organisations, to delve deeper into an organisation or a business and uncover a unique story which makes them stand out from the crowd.”

Real Communications Gina McKenzie Director 022 355 7601 gina@realcommunications.co.nz www.realcommunications.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 5

Management | Viewpoints

How to turn good intentions into genuine commitment

Rob Clarke CEO of Learning Architects

So here we are again – getting back into gear at the start of a new year.

By now you’ve probably got your plan for the business year ahead mapped out and have held whatever meetings or planning retreats you use to bring your team together.

Looking back on changes made last year to this, maybe you’ve had to restructure your business, or change the way you work to navigate the uncertain landscape 2020 created.

Perhaps your business thrived amidst the disruption, or maybe you ticked on through as normal.

Whatever your circumstance, uncertainty still exists in 2021, so the impetus to succeed will likely be stronger than ever!

What do you need to succeed?

It’s no secret that with all the good will and good planning in the world, it’s not good intentions that get results, but commitment and action.

And we can’t do it alone. To succeed, leaders need our teams with us, all helping to row the waka in the same direction. So how might you discern if this is the case?

Have you got a highly engaged, high performing team? Or a group of people who are totally lacking in commitment, or – as is often the case – a bit of a mix across the spectrum?

And perhaps more importantly, what can you do to make sure that you get or, if they are high performers, sustain, their buy-in?

Is your team with you?

How people approach 2021 is going to be different for every individual and it’s helpful to gauge where everyone is at as early on in the piece as you can.

Wherever they sit on the engagement continuum, how you enable them to achieve greater results is a key consideration for any leader.

A critical component of this is enabling people to adapt to change – whether it’s regular planned development in the organisation, or change influenced by external factors (e.g. supply chain interruptions or up- or down-sizing of the business).

Helping people become open to and embrace change is more of an art form than a science.

You need insight, strategies, tools and techniques to support you.

It’s important to understand what is happening for different people There are a range of options that can be used depending on your situation. Some involve refining how you share your vision and strategy, while others are useful for helping prioritise resources.

Here are a few to get you thinking:

• If you are deciding how to implement a change and have a variety of responses across the team (e.g. from resistance through to acceptance and excitement), then applying a user-centric framework like the Concerns-based Adoption Model (CBAM), which provides a way of understanding how individuals respond to change as they undergo it can help.

• Thoughtfully applied, it will enable you to become more attuned to people’s needs and help you identify and apply practical strategies into your leadership practice to support them • If you are unclear about what to do when, or where to put your resources, then a grid-based system such as the Impact vs Effort matrix can help clarify ideas with your team • It is especially useful when people are able to openly discuss which issues are more or less important, as it enables you to prioritise resources and energy accordingly • If you have a team that is struggling, then I suggest you first look at how engaged they are. One-on-one or group coaching or a team, departmental or organisation-wide engagement surveys are helpful to see how individuals are feeling • If you have a high-performing team, it’s important to make sure that their commitment is sustained. So how to do that?

I suggest you use a tool that increases transparency, giving them different challenges, with immediate, real-time feedback to keep them motivated.

“

Looking back on changes made last year to this, maybe you’ve had to restructure your business, or change the way you work to navigate the uncertain landscape 2020 created.

A GANTT chart is great for this; make sure you build in regular opportunities to reflect on progress, holding team members accountable for their area(s) of responsibility.

These are just a few of many useful tools that can help you support your teams to thrive as they adapt to change in uncertain times, and you may already have others.

So now the question becomes – what will you do differently this year to support your individual employees, teams and overall organisation to be resilient and adaptable, so that you can turn good intentions into genuine commitment and achieve better results? Over to you. CT

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We have NZ’s largest line up of publicly playable Pinball Machines, Featuring Hercules – The world’s largest Pinball!

Our collection of Classic video games is always increasing.

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6 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Come down and show your kids how video games looked back in the 80’s and 90’s, Or chill out over a few drinks with your mates.

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”

Management | Viewpoints

Leeann Watson

John Shingleton

Martz Witty

Chief executive of CECC www.cecc.org.nz

Managing director of First Law www.firstlaw.co.nz

Chief strategist at Shi Martz Chartered Accountants www.shiandmartz.co.nz

Navigating our new normal

No more blind trusts

Staying on track in a pandemic

Tau hou hari Happy New Year! We have certainly come off the back of a very tumultuous year, with our lives upended by the arrival of Covid-19 heralding a new normal not only in the way we live, but also the way we conduct business.

On 31 January 2021, how your trust operates and is regulated will change when the Trusts Act 2019 comes into effect.

We are not afraid to use the “F” word. That’s right. The “F” word with the “u” and the “c” in it: Focus.

As we head into 2021, we are continuing to see and feel the impact of one of the biggest disruptors of our lifetime, with expectations that the pandemic will continue to remain the most critical issue for both Aotearoa and globally for the coming 12 months.

One of the aspects of the reform, which is of concern to existing trustees of trusts, is the obligation to give trust information to beneficiaries.

With ongoing waves of COVID-19 in many major global centres, we are seeing the real pressure on our exports, imports and the increasing vulnerabilities and disruption to our supply chains. There also remains an unease around COVID-19 cases in the community.

Locally, many key sectors fared better than expected. For the last quarter of 2020 our economy reflected overall increases year on year in local support and spending, and domestic visitation – not offsetting our international tourism, but certainly assisting our economic recovery.

However, some sectors remain significantly impacted, due to the ongoing border restrictions.

Following the general elections in October last year, it is important to remember that while we have the same Prime Minister as we enter 2021, we do have a new Government, which will want to get some immediate runs on the board.

So, in the year ahead from a Covid-19 perspective, all eyes will be on the ongoing management of our border and the way in which we engage with the rest of the world, and of course the eagerly anticipated vaccine roll-out.

Other big issues will be climate change, the acceleration of industrial relations reform, water reform and the well overdue overhaul of the RMA. On the global front, we have a new US President, increasing tensions between US and China, and the implications for UK and Europe post-Brexit – to name just a few.

Previous economic recoveries such as post-GFC have largely focused on getting the economy back to “normal”. However, this time feels distinctly different – instead of restoring yesterday’s economy, there is an opportunity to shape a fundamentally different and better future.

To make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity, it will be important that we continue to herald the mantra of buy and support local, and embrace our uniqueness, building on existing strengths and a willingness to incorporate new approaches.

Whether you are a trustee or beneficiary of an existing trust or looking at setting a trust up, you will need to familiarise yourself with the changes.

Trust information is defined as any information regarding the terms and administration of a trust, trust property and what is loosely described as information that it is reasonably necessary for the beneficiary to enable the trust to be enforced.

Section 51 creates a presumption that all trustees must notify beneficiaries of basic trust information, which includes the fact that a person is a beneficiary of the trust and the right of the beneficiary to request a copy of the terms of the trust or trust information.

But section 51 also enables the trustees not to make available the said information after reasonable consideration of a number of factors listed in section 53.

These factors include the expectations and intentions of the settlor at the time of the creation of the trust (if known), as to whether the beneficiaries as a whole, and the beneficiary in particular, would be given information, the age and circumstances of the beneficiary, the age and circumstances of the other beneficiaries of the trust, the effect on the beneficiary of giving the information, the effect on the trustees, other beneficiaries of the trust, and third parties of giving the information, the effect of giving the information on relationships within the family and the relationship between the trustees and some or all of the beneficiaries to the detriment of the beneficiaries as a whole.

Trustees are rightly concerned that instead of streamlining the administration of trusts, the legislation has instead created more compliance and cost.

It’s no surprise a number of trusts are winding up.

I have already advised a number of trusts on how to work around the presumption of notification.

First, the reasons for not disclosing information to one or more beneficiaries must be properly documented. Secondly, the reasons must be lawful.

As is often the case, loosely written legislation often ends up before the Courts. I anticipate there will be expensive litigation around certain aspects of the new legislation.

We know that this year will not be without challenges for employers, so it will be important that we continue to advocate both local and central government for an operating environment that is an enabler of business.

A year into the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s understandable many are losing their focus given the constant barrage of stress, anxiety, fear, unknowing and even anger.

Trying to run a business and perhaps juggling childcare amongst all this brings on the most wonderful case of brain fog in years. It follows that so many are likely feeling less than their usual productive selves.

We are hard-wired to deal with short bursts of stress. In fact, many thrive on it. But months and months of unrelenting stress wears down even the most hardy soul.

Knowing there is an issue is half the battle. How can we deal with it? Well that’s another story and potentially as individual as our fingerprints.

Nonetheless here’s a few well-known tips. Give them a go and perhaps you will feel better as a result.

1. Take some “me-time”. Care for yourself, care for the animal that is you. Get adequate sleep, exercise and eat well. It’s not that hard but it takes discipline. Accept you aren’t at 100 percent and then just do your best thereafter.

2. Set some goals. They are food for champions and set timelines that you can measure your performance. Maybe it’s just a goal for the day, the week or the month. It’s not important, just set some, test, measure and monitor your performance.

Baby steps are better than standing still.

3. Take time out. Take some breaks away from your desk or computer. Go for a walk (take the pup if you have one). Bind and be one with nature. That tree or flower isn’t remotely bothered by a pandemic, learn from them. They carry on regardless.

Embrace their energy and learn by their example.

4. Focus on self-full rather than selfish. It’s perfectly OK to put yourself first for a change. You’re no use to your workmates burnt out (or your family). Breathe, rest, relax. It’s not OK to tread on others to get what you want but it’s fine to work together for a better, harmonious group. We all cope with stress and the unknown differently. Respect the differences and embrace the diversity of alternative viewpoints. Just make sure you know what works for you and then make it happen.

5. Read the signs. Know when you’re up and know when you are flailing. Be alive and aware to those around you and help them too. Zig Ziglar is quoted as saying that for him to get what he wants in life he just has to help enough people get what they want. It’s rich and sage advice. Just remember to occasionally put yourself first so that you are in a position to be able to help others.

Helping you make the right choices in business.

Level 1, Unit 3 46 Acheron Drive, Christchurch 8040

PO Box 13-010 City East Christchurch 8141

info@shiandmartz.co.nz

+64 3 389 0777

shiandmartz.co.nz

0800 389 0777

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 7

Management | Trends

Seven trends for 2021 As the Covid-19 crisis redefines how economies and society as a whole function, human ingenuity has sparked a wave of innovation set to be the blueprint for the decades to come, according to a new report from global professional services firm Accenture.

The international business trends identified by the report will shape how New Zealand companies engage and do business in a world that has had a vastly different experience with COVID-19.

Accenture New Zealand managing director, Ben Morgan says, “Throughout history, after a global crisis, a new era of thinking begins.

“As we look to the future, a wealth of potential worlds opens up in front of us. Some are scary, some are exciting, and all of them are largely unexplored.

“What we do now will define the rest of the century. Businesses have the ultimate permission and space to think and do differently.”

The annual report found that the pandemic has brought clarity and surprises alongside its chaos and tragedies.

It has highlighted what is important to people and inspired community spirit and athome innovators.

As a result, a brand new set of challenges has emerged for businesses: how to respond from operational as well as communication perspectives, how to meet consumers’ constantly changing expectations, and how to stretch their empathy – all while fighting for survival in a precarious economy.

Providing practical advice on how organisations can help shape the 21st century renaissance, Accenture examines seven emerging trends expected to shape business, consumer behaviour and society.

Collective displacement How and where people experience things changed in 2020, leaving them with a shared sense of displacement as we collectively seek new ways and places to do the things we need and love to do.

“

Innovation is increasingly being driven by people’s talent for coming up with new ways, or 'hacks,' to deal with their challenges, from the home worker using their ironing board as a standing desk to the parent-turned-teacher.

Technology plays a new role – as facilitator for people’s ingenuity and as a result, people’s creativity is shining through.

With individuals from politicians to personal trainers repurposing platforms like TikTok and video games to stage concerts and get

People care deeply about what brands stand for and how they express their values. The pandemic has shone a light on many broken and unequal systems across the world – from access to healthcare to equality.

As we look to the future, a wealth of potential worlds opens up in front of us. Some are scary, some are exciting, and all of them are largely unexplored.

important messages out. Everyone wants better solutions, but the era in which a brand was expected to create a finished solution is transitioning to one where brands are creating the conditions for personal innovation.

Sweet teams are made of this Those who work remotely now live at the office, which is having a huge effect on the reciprocal agreement between employer and employee, and the many assumptions around it – such as who has final say over what people wear for a work-related video call in their own homes or whose responsibility it is to preserve homeworkers’ right to privacy.

Even with the promise of widespread vaccination on the horizon, a permanent shift How we work, shop, learn, socialise, parent and has taken place in the relationship between take care of our health has changed for many of people and their work and between employers us, and brands need to seek new ways and offer and their teams. new experiences to interact with people.

The future won’t be one-size-fits-all – a lot

Do-it-yourself innovation

Empathy challenge

of prototyping in the world of work can be expected for some time to come.

Liquid infrastructure Because the way people acquire products and engage with services has been displaced, organisations have had to rethink the supply chain and the use of all their physical assets and focus on points of delight – such as the immediate gratification many took for granted in store – in the last few feet before purchase.

This requires that companies build agility and resilience across their organisation so they can

8 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

”

adapt quickly to change. Expect more change to come, often driven by sustainability.

Interaction wanderlust People are spending much more time interacting with the world via screens and, as a result, have noticed a certain ‘sameness’ caused by templated design in digital experiences.

Organisations must reconsider design, content, audience and the interaction between them to inject greater excitement, joy and serendipity into screen experiences.

As a result, companies must work hard to manage the narratives that shape their brands, prioritising the subjects that matter most to them and building their behaviours around those subjects.

Rituals lost and found The cancelation and disruption of rituals – from celebrating birth to bidding farewell in death and everything in between – have had a significant impact on the greater collective’s well-being.

This trend points to the prime opportunity companies have to help people in their search for meaning through new rituals that bring joy and comfort. It starts with understanding the blank space left by a lost ritual and designing the right thing to take its place. CT

Lifestyles | Items of Desire

Lifestyles

By Claire Wright

1.

1. Papillon Sideboard Inspired by 1960’s American design, the Papillon Sideboard showcases a continuous sheet of Macassar Ebony veneer on its door front. The four doors, each neatly framed by a distinctive mitred profile, open with a hidden push catch.

RRP: $1070 www.my-furniture.com

3.

2.

2. Apple Watch Series 6 This newest iteration of the Apple Watch takes your health to the next level – you can now measure your blood oxygen level and take an ECG any time, anywhere.

With the enhanced Always-On Retina display, you can also see your fitness metrics at a glance.

RRP: $699 www.apple.com

3. Hooley Painting The original painting by New Zealand abstract artist, Kirsty Black, explores energetic and minimal brushstrokes, along with colour. During the past 15 years, Kirsty has presented her work around New Zealand, selling here and overseas.

RRP: $715 www.kirstyblackstudio.com

4.

4. Camden Walnut Cocktail Ottoman Perfect for entertaining guests before a meal at your dinner party, this cocktail ottoman upholstered in black leather comes with a tray for those wanting to keep their drink close at hand. Created by English manufacturer furniture Jonathan Charles.

RRP: POA www.interiorsfurniture.com

5. Ultrasofa Designed by French designer Frédéric Sofia, this sofa is an outdoor, two-seater sofa. With its straight lines and defined angles, this is perfect for lounging in the sun or getting cosy with someone outside.

RRP: $11,490 www.jardin.co.nz

5.

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 9

Management | Operations

Navigating uncertainty The top five things on employers wish lists for 2021 Finding staff, the difficulties of dealing with immigration, the increasing costs of business and compliance, and uncertainty, are the key issues facing business heading into 2021.

These are the findings from the EMA’s recent annual member employer survey.

While 35 percent of employers predict they will increase the number of employees they have in 2021, 58 percent of them are finding it difficult or very difficult to attract suitable candidates for skilled positions.

EMA chief executive Brett O’Riley says the fact that 47 percent of employers were very likely to invest in workplace training in the next 12 months was a positive sign that employers were keen to invest in upskilling their people.

“Increased assistance for training and upskilling staff was fourth on employers list of changes and that would be a significant step in government acknowledging and addressing New Zealand’s ongoing productivity issues.

“Increasing skills in the workforce will also mean a higher paid workforce as productivity increases with higher skill levels.”

It was also pleasing to see that 48 percent of employers had invested in employee wellbeing this year.

Brett says the immigration situation brought on by COVID-19 has exacerbated an issue that employers already had.

“Employers are having to transform and grow their businesses, often in ways they hadn’t planned, and they desperately need the right people with the right skills to enable that, many of which are either not available or plentiful in New Zealand.

“Fifty-two percent of employers would usually recruit migrants from overseas, 22 percent are finding the immigration process very difficult, and 12 percent say it is virtually impossible.”

Upcoming employment law concerns were also reflected in the survey, including areas like the proposed Fair Pay Agreements.

When it came to the key employmentrelated changes employers wanted, which reflected the increasing cost of doing business and compliance, they were:

“

Employers are having to transform and grow their businesses, often in ways they hadn’t planned, and they desperately need the right people with the right skills to enable that, many of which are either not available or plentiful in New Zealand.

• Reinstatement of the 90-day trial • No minimum wage increase

”

• No change to sick leave • Increased assistance for training and upskilling staff • Subsidies for new employees.

Eighty-two percent of businesses said if sick leave was increased to 10 days it would

have an impact on their business, and with that becoming a reality they need relief from other costs.

“SMEs have been carrying the country through the economic recovery and are hugely resilient, but 2020 has brought a decade’s worth of change in one hit, and that means timing of many of the proposed changes will be critical to business managing the impacts and costs of those changes,” Brett says.

“SMEs also want to see previous measures such as the 90-day trials reinstated, as that enables them to alter their workforces and adapt quickly to change, something that has been crucial this year.” CT

Your start-of-year legal to-do list

By Clive Cousins, Canterbury Legal clive@canterburylegal.co.nz

“

We all know a new year is a great time to try new things, or to attend to those tasks you might have been putting off. And that’s certainly reflected by the people who come through our doors in the first couple of months of any year.

We’re used to helping couples address prenuptial agreements and other relationship property matters with sensitivity. So, if you’re thinking about the next steps, get in touch with us.

”

Here are three big items we know are helpful to think about at any time – but particularly now.

Update your trust documents Do you have a trust? Then early 2021 is definitely the time to review and update it.

The first major Trust Act reform took place on 30 January 2021, and it’s introduced a number of changes that will affect your trust arrangements.

The reform includes things like changes in the nature of trustee duties; a requirement to be more diligent in keeping trust documents; and new rules around appointing and removing trustees.

you stand. Have a lawyer like us review your existing trust deed and let you know how the changes affect you.

Make or update your will When a lot of us think about wills, we think about death. Not the most positive way to start a year! But a will is really about giving you power.

It gives you the power to say what you want the legacy of your property to be – even though You might not run into complications straight away, but it’s important you know where you won’t be there to say it yourself.

10 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

They’re the best way for you to be certain your family, friends and loved ones are looked after the way you’d want them to be.

And while every New Zealander over 18 ought to have a will, less than half of us do. Sounds like the perfect thing we can attend to together at the start of a new year.

Entering a new phase of a relationship? Look at a prenuptial agreement Another way to give you power over your property is a prenuptial agreement.

Like a will, they might not seem the most upbeat topic to talk about. But although prenuptial agreements sometimes have a bit of a stigma, they’re actually a really straightforward and common sense move that’s worth discussing early on.

You might be entirely confident in your relationship right now, and there’s a good chance it’ll last the distance. But sometimes, usually years on, things change, or the unexpected happens. And if that happens, a prenup can be a real relief. It removes the prospect of uncertainty, conflict, or drawn-out legal action.

We’re used to helping couples address prenuptial agreements and other relationship property matters with sensitivity. So, if you’re thinking about the next steps, get in touch with us. CT

In your corner.

Every step of the way.

Our friendly and experienced Christchurch law firm has been here since 1991, helping people like you achieve what you want to achieve.

Whether it’s business, property, subdivisions, employment, investments, risk management, asset protection, family matters, trusts or buying your first home, our team will give you the answers, and we’ll make sure you’ve asked all the right questions.

The Trusts Act has changed.

That means your trust may not be operating the way you think it is - which means it’s time to act.

The first major trust law reform in more than 70 years came into effect on 30 January.

If you’re not sure how the changes affect you, or you’re interested in setting up a new trust, now’s the time to get advice.

That’s where we come in. We can review and update your trusts to make sure they’re operating in the best way for you, and to make sure you’re doing what you need to do.

Trust Canterbury Legal with your trust.

Talk with our team today.

We’ll help you achieve what you want to achieve.

Level 2 205 Durham Street South Christchurch 03 377 7092 www.canterburylegal.co.nz admin@canterburylegal.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 11

Cover Story | Gen Mora & Jazz Thornton

Sounding the alarm

By Claire Wright

12 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Voices of Hope co-founders Genevieve Mora and Jazz Thornton are bashing through mental health stigmas to advocate for change

Cover Story | Gen Mora & Jazz Thornton

An epidemic with deepseated roots rots New Zealand from within, not brought in from overseas like COVID-19, but one our society has grappled with across generations: suicide.

While the media and society are finally ready to talk about suicide, it fails to address one of the causes of suicidal ideation in the first place – mental illnesses that ravage our society at large.

When Genevieve Mora and Jazz Thornton founded Voices of Hope in 2014, what they were doing at the time was, and still is, radical – telling their personal stories to advocate and campaign for people with mental illness.

Genevieve and Jazz spent their childhood and adolescence fighting to overcome mental illness and trauma on opposite ends of the country, with Genevieve in Auckland and Jazz in Timaru.

When they founded Voices of Hope in 2014, no one in the media was talking about their struggles with mental illness or suicide.

Storytelling became the vehicle in which they advocated and campaigned for mental well-being and recovery, both in New Zealand and overseas.

Voices of Hope co-founder, Jazz Thornton says, “In the midst of our battles, we were just trying to find other people who had gone through what we had gone through and got through the other side. That’s the kind of hope you need when you’re struggling.

“Personally, I couldn’t find anything – I couldn’t find anyone talking about this.

“I couldn’t find anyone sharing their stories, and so when we decided to fill that gap, we found that there were hundreds of thousands of people who were struggling that just wanted to know that there was hope in other people’s stories, that it was possible to get to a well place.”

actress, where she has done work in theatres, short films and television commercials.

“It creates that safe place for them to do so with people who have been through it versus an individual and a psychologist. They get us and know that there’s no judgement. It’s a really good safe place.”

Beyond suicide, depression and anxiety While people are more comfortable and open about talking about their struggles with depression, anxiety and even suicide than they used to be, we have a long way to go.

Other mental illnesses, from Bipolar Disorder to OCD, are still mocked and ridiculed despite ongoing recognition of mental illnesses as a whole.

Even as mental health advocates, Genevieve and Jazz felt guilt and shame when it came to sharing their experiences with what the public considers ‘the usual’ mental illnesses.

Genevieve says, “I felt a lot of shame for fighting OCD and Anorexia Nervosa because of the fear of judgment and lack of understanding from others.

“The Forgotten Few campaign came from a number of things, we were talking about how the conversations around suicide, anxiety and depression had become more normalised, which is great but then we thought this campaign could be a good opportunity to bring light to other mental health conditions that aren’t commonly discussed.”

In regards to suicide, the public and media are willing to talk about it, to try and come up with solutions, without looking at the core cause of it.

are storytellers. And all of our lives revolve around stories.

Books and movies and everything. It’s something we’ve seen lots of people relate to.

- Voices of Hope co-founder, Jazz Thornton

at hospital, with people that we didn’t know, to help them navigate through the system.”

After spending eight hours a night multiple times in one week, a friend sat Jazz down and told her, “You have to find where your place is because there are people there to help the one, but there aren’t very many people that are in the position that you are to impact the hundreds of thousands, but doing both is going to destroy you. You have to pick.”

In the end, Jazz and Genevieve decided they would have greater impact working towards systemic change.

One of Voices of Hopes biggest goals for 2021 is to collaborate with other organisations in the mental health sphere. Despite having the same end goal, many mental health organisations don’t work together as well as they could.

For individuals looking for help, it can be confusing to know where you can turn for support and advice when there are so many organisations doing their own thing.

”

Jazz says, “If you’re not working together, you’re not creating significant change. There are things we do that are our specialty, like storytelling, and then there’s stuff that our friends at Revolution tour do on the ground in schools.

“Then we’ve got the Ministry of Health that are the brains. There are all these organisations acting as required for them. Everyone needs to be acting in their lane.

“It’s great that there are so many organisations doing this, but it’s like having the brain without the hands, or the brains without the feet.”

Genevieve Mora and Jazz Thornton released a book through Penguin on January 5th, 2021 – My Journey Starts Here: A Guided Journal to Improve Your Mental Well-Being. You can also download the Voices of Hope app for daily affirmations and mental health help.

For more information about Voices of Hope, visit www.voicesofhope.org CT

“If we want to break down these statistics and see them change, we have to be willing to look at these things and say things like, ‘It’s not just because they were depressed and anxious – there’s so much more than that.’

“And because we’re willing to have these conversations, we have to be willing to look at these and not label them as ‘crazy’ or ‘looney’, which people with schizophrenia and bipolar get.”

Her book, Stop Surviving, Start Fighting, was published by Penguin in March last year, and the documentary The Girl on the Bridge follows her personal journey as a mental health advocate.

Systemic versus individual change

“I think everyone relates to stories. Naturally as humans we are storytellers. And all of our lives revolve around stories. Books and movies and everything. It’s something we’ve seen lots of people relate to.”

Genevieve says, “Spending time with friends and family and prioritizing that has been very important. And putting boundaries and rules in place, as difficult as those are, to separate us from people.

Co-founder, Genevieve Mora says, “We’re in a unique position, too, that people will often come to us and tell us their full life story because they trust us since we have been so open with our own stories.

“Even though we really want to save everyone, it’s not our job to do that, and we can’t. I think that was one of the hardest lessons we’ve had to learn.”

Genevieve wrestled OCD and Anorexia Nervosa, which is still not frequently covered by the media here or abroad. She was named one of Westfield’s Local Heroes in 2019 due to her advocacy work; she also works as an

I think everyone relates to stories. Naturally as humans we

Jazz says, “What a lot of people don’t realise is that a lot of people that are taking their own lives are struggling with mental illnesses that are not suicide and depression. There’s a lot of Borderline Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, eating disorders.

Overcoming childhood abuse and multiple suicide attempts, as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder, Jazz and her story have very much been in the public eye this past year.

“There is a quote I love and that is ‘your story could be the key to unlocking someone else’s prison’. We have seen this first hand.”

“

As profiles have grown for the both of them, especially with Jazz, there has been greater external pressures and needs to prioritise their own mental health and wellbeing.

While they’ve been doing exciting things like books and movies, Genevieve and Jazz are very much on the ground, says Jazz, where they see kids struggling in their darkest moments. It’s been a process to take a step back.

Jazz says, “The system is very broken. You feel the weight of responsibility to help people navigate that. Gen and I, for a period of time, spent significant amounts of time with people www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 13

Management | The Environment

Transition engineers

First responders to the climate emergency

Dr Susan Krumdieck GATE co-founder

By Polly Nichols

Environment Canterbury declared a climate emergency on May 16, 2019 while the New Zealand Government declared a climate emergency over a year later. The differences in reaction times demonstrate needs can exist well before the policies to address the same issues are implemented.

When you really look at it, should government officials and policymakers be the first responders in a climate emergency? And if governments aren’t the first responders, who should be?

Global Association for Transition Engineering (GATE) co-leader, Dr Susan Krumdieck says that because needs exist well before policies are in place, needs must be addressed with action before policy.

With that in mind, Susan asks what other emergency would you declare that wouldn’t have first responders stepping up to take care of the emergency?

She puts forward that transition engineers should be the first responders in the climate emergency.

Transition engineering is an emerging field of engineering which addresses complex systems (referred to as wicked problems) with strategic changes resulting from the Interdisciplinary Transition Innovation, Management and Engineering (InTIME) method.

“I’m pretty sure if we all had this sort of training and spoke the same language the world will change,” Susan says.

Why transition engineering?

Susan received her PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. While looking for a change in scenery for her family, a position at the University of Canterbury opened up.

The position appealed to Susan because the university was receptive to whatever Susan thought needed doing – the perfect opportunity for Susan to take the discipline of engineering “back to basics”.

For Susan, getting back to basics meant flipping commonly held beliefs on their heads. Often in engineering, students are exposed to different ideas which are presented as cure-alls to wicked problems like climate change.

“I already worked on the ‘miracle-pills’ and the miracle pills weren’t working,” she says.

Already familiar with the pitfalls of miracle-pills, Susan pushed on to educate up-and-coming engineers in the ways of transition engineering by developing the InTIME methodology and writing the textbook, Transition Engineering: Building a Sustainable Future.

The InTIME method was developed to address wicked problems through seven steps. InTIME requires engineers to analyse the past and present so that they can project what is necessary to create a carbon-neutral future.

Transition engineering explained Transition engineering is an emerging discipline of engineering which many aren’t familiar with. Along with transition engineering comes new words and phrases including wicked problems and InTIME methodology.

Wicked problems address complex systems with strategic changes resulting from the InTIME method.

The Interdisciplinary Transition Innovation, Management and Engineering (InTIME) method is made up of seven steps. The seven steps include analysing the past and present so that engineers can imagine and innovate a way to a carbon-neutral future.

“

Think about it, just by using that word, by calling each other and accepting to be called a consumer – when I actually do valuable things in my community, consumption is not one of them.

There is no valour in consumption. But, to neo-liberal economics, me identifying as a consumer is essential to continuing that experiment.

- GATE co-founder Dr Susan Krumdieck

A crucial concept in the InTIME method is addressing the need. For example, a wicked problem often discussed is the fact that cars make up a large proportion of non-productive carbon emissions. Even hybrid and electric cars prove to be resource hungry with lithiumion batteries that use scarce, rare earth metals and are not yet widely recycled.

Significance of language Training engineers in transition engineering allows for engineers across the board to speak the same language and to create boundaries that can’t be contradicted or overstepped. Also, Susan says that word choice can influence the way we understand the world.

There are unutterable words and phrases At first glance, the need would seem to be in transition engineering including more replacing present day cars with carbon-neutral, sustainable, green, solution, and so forth. sustainably built alternatives.

We often hear these sorts of words and phrases However, Susan would say that cars aren’t because they don’t call for tangible goals or the essential need but what the car grants standards. Really, they’re pacifier words that us, which is access to essential activities make us feel good without the expectation of like work, school, food, family, cultural and delivering hard numbers or real results. religious activities.

Another unspoken word in transition engineering “There are reasons why we’re using cars, but is consumer. This is because it reduces the essential need is the access. Now you’ve people to consuming the planet instead of their changed the problem entirely just by seeing productive roles in society; for example, parent, that,” says Susan. teacher, volunteer, etc.

By developing and implementing the InTIME method, the cornerstone to transition engineering, students can then enter their careers as engineers knowing how to approach wicked problems and how to convey ideas using a standard lexicon.

“Already, there are people in engineering professions everywhere that want to be transition engineers but they don’t have the word for it.

“We have so many people who have spent 20 years in sustainability and they look up from theirs desks and go: ‘how has it been 20 years? We haven’t actually changed anything’,” Susan says.

Susan says, “Think about it, just by using that word, by calling each other and accepting to be called a consumer – when I actually do valuable things in my community, consumption is not one of them.

”

of these little duties of care but none of them really have to do with the carbon emission, fossil fuel problem.”

Everyone has a role in the InTIME method You don’t have to be an engineer to take part in the InTIME method. Embedded in the method is storytelling, history, planning and communicating the process of changing the outcome of a wicked problem.

As an example, Susan recounts a workshop she conducted for CEOs of local councils based on her textbook, Transition Engineering: Building a Sustainable Future. Of all of the workshop participants, not one of them was an engineer.

Susan says that the workshop worked the same for the council CEOs as it does for engineers. When Susan walked workshop participants through the InTIME method, participants gained clarity on how to move forward in addressing the wicked problems they brought to the workshop.

Provided the many moving parts to the InTIME method, engineers and non-engineers can explore ways to address wicked problems using hard data to achieve real results.

“There is no valour in consumption. But, to neoliberal economics, me identifying as a consumer “You essentially create this new doorway is essential to continuing that experiment.” through to a future that’s where you want to be at.”

Just as there are taboo words in transition engineering, there is also an emphasis on other words and phrases such as duty of care. Taboo words avoid responsibility and accountability while duty of care assigns responsibility and accountability using tangible and measurable standards.

From there, engineers experiment and crash test “There’s that whole group of people and they’re “Those are really important words: duty of ideas until they are able to provide an outcome very conscious of not getting stuck into a care. We have duty of care for safety, for that demonstrates at least an 80 percent decrease in fossil fuels. corner again.” environmental effects, equity – we have all 14 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

GATE supports the idea that in order to achieve a carbon-neutral future, engineers need to be trained in transition engineering.

Leaders in organisations and councils can support this initiative by opening up training opportunities to include InTIME methodology and appointing transition engineers in relevant leadership roles so they can lead the way to a carbon-neutral future. CT

Management | Leadership

Riding the edge of change Three steps to agile leadership – from reactive to creative “Leadership is the act of creating outcomes that matter most.” - Robert Anderson Mike, the head of data of a company undertaking a radical organisational transformation, recently told me: “It is clear now that I have no choice but to become an enabler rather than a blocker in this project. Even if I know the risks and people don’t give me any reason to feel confident, I want to positively contribute to what we want to achieve.”

Even if Mike knows well enough that change starts within him, the truth is he simply is on an ‘edge’ to change his inner game and take the bold step required to support the whole system’s change.

An ‘edge’ is defined by the line where a model, pattern or behavior begins or ends. Imagine this line as the tension between purpose and safety, between the creative part of us that wants to make a difference and be great which demand our deepest commitment — and the reactive part of us that is simply staying away from the risk (real or perceived) it represents.

Caroline Gasc

They won’t, however, help you as a leader, nor your team and the organisation to move forward into an innovative and engaging wecan-do-it (differently) mindset.

Agile leaders are able to shift gear along the line of change, from reactive to creative.

K-now your edge, i-dentify the risk Agile leaders know their edge by identifying what is at risk for them. According to Will Schutz (The Human Element), there are three basic needs that all human beings share: be significant, be competent and be likeable. The bigger the threat (conscious or unconscious), the greater the tension hence the resistance.

3 Steps to K-I-S-S your edge As a coping strategy, some leaders might put safety as a priority over purpose. This might express through three main reactive tendencies namely complying, protecting or controlling (The Leadership Circle framework

by Robert Anderson).

Each tendency has different ways to show up and are defined by past conditioning and habitual responses to fear or the need to protect one’s identity.

Agile leaders know how to shift from reactive to a creative. They have tools and techniques to shift from a life lived out of the fear of not meeting expectations to a life lived on purpose.

S-hift from reactive to creative

Agile leaders know how to shift from reactive Just like Mike, in the current context relentlessly to creative. They have tools and techniques challenging the status quo, many leaders are put to shift from a life lived out of the fear of not meeting expectations to a life lived on purpose. on an edge as they need to face the hard truth of their self-limitations when it comes to making They learnt how to transform their negative self-talk, emotions and deep ingrained patterns decisions for change or innovate in times of into creative competencies. uncertainty and model-less business.

So how do agile leaders overcome their edge and move from reactive (play-not-to-lose) to creative (play-on-purpose)?

“

S-tep into the competencies that support you Agile leaders choose the competencies that support them over the risks that they foresee.

These are the most critical behaviors and skill sets for leaders to succeed by maintaining the right balance between tasks, relationships and authenticity. In this process, they move from external validation to self-realisation as they access the voice of their creative mind.

The voice of the creative mind: “what would you do if you could?”

Agile leaders demonstrate the ability to manage their inner realm as well as the outer game at

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play. They know what their definition of success is (results to achieve and relationships to maintain) and take action to make it happen.

To enhance your confidence into competence:

”

Last but not least, remember “together we go further”. Develop an agile culture of creative leadership to accelerate and sustain your organisation’s transformation.

What would you do if you could?

Don’t let your trigger run your inner leader – what puts you on an edge? Know your triggers and their physical and emotional symptoms. Design a strategy to manage and overcome them.

Choose your purpose-led move – what’s your greater vision and purpose? Be clear on the mission and service you’re here to deliver.

Have a statement of it written down. Make it your guiding path. Be a selfless leader for the greater good.

Simplify leadership, simplify change. Enhance your team’s confidence into competence, with a unique framework, model and 360 assessment for leaders and leadership culture.

About the author

Caroline Gasc is an ex-CFO and executive, leadership and team coach, consultant and mentor. With 23 years’ experience in leading transitions in organisations she is an advocate for conscious and agile leadership. She Be bold and courageous – what are your has worked with over 50 countries and has values? Be in integrity with your values and developed her unique model of leadership, in alignment with your purpose, not with your fears. Speak up, share and implement your plan, K-I-S-S Your Edge to simplify leadership and learn from experiences. simplify change. CT

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 15

Management | Real Estate

New Zealand’s seriously sizzling property market

“

COVID-19 did little to dampen the New Zealand property market last year.

In Auckland we’ve started to see a change, with the large number of new homes being

• More people searched for property in 2020 than in any other year since 2016

built exceeding demand

• National asking prices up 10.7 percent on 2019

caused by population growth.

But supply is still tight

New annual data from realestate.co.nz shows that as prices soared, so too did demand with 23 percent more users searching for property nationally when compared to 2019.

because of the shortfall in previous years.

Also increasing by 227.8 percent, the number of people searching for property in 2020 more than tripled when compared to 2016.

Vanessa Taylor, spokesperson for realestate. co.nz, says that despite all the challenges that came with 2020, our love affair with property didn’t diminish.

“Up 10.7 percent to $775,976, properties in New Zealand, on average, cost $75,056 more in 2020 than they did in 2019. Coupled with the record demand, this tells us that people didn’t shy away from buying and selling last year.”

Vanessa says that all property listed on realestate.co.nz in 2020 totalled an asking price sum of $94 billion, up 5.4 percent on $90 billion in 2019.

Demand from users searching for property at realestate.co.nz rose in every region in 2020,

with the most significant increases seen in the South Island. Searches were up 46.1 percent in Nelson & Bays, 38.9 percent in West Coast and 37.6 percent in Marlborough.

fewer homes coming on to the market in the region compared to 2019. In Northland, new listings were down 15.9 percent on 2019 and in Nelson and Bays they dropped 14.0 percent.

However, the increase in demand wasn’t matched by the number of properties that came onto the market, Vanessa says.

“What we’ve seen quite clearly throughout 2020 is demand for property outweighing supply, which could have contributed to price increases,” she says.

Nationally, 109,128 properties were listed for sale in 2020 – a 2.6 percent decrease on the 112,007 properties that hit the market in 2019.

Marlborough property seekers were most squeezed for choice last year, with 16.2 percent

Only Auckland bucked the trend, with a 10.5 percent increase in listings in 2020, while Central Otago/Lakes recorded a marginal increase of 0.3 percent.

Average asking prices were up year-on-year in every New Zealand region in 2020, as well as nationally.

The largest price increase during 2020 was in Gisborne, where average asking prices were up 21.8 percent on 2019 to $526,948.

This was followed by Wairarapa and Manawatu/ Whanganui, both up 16.8 percent to $591,600 and $494,468 respectively. Southland prices increased 14.4 percent to $406,872 and Otago was up 13.7 percent to $526,609. CT

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Management | Education

Education pays

International students allowed back in country expected to make significant impact

By Claire Wright

For a group of a thousand international tertiary students degree level and above, specifically those who started their studies in New Zealand before Covid but were caught outside of our borders, the Government has approved an exemption class to allow them back into the country.

The expected economic value of these 1,000 international students alone is huge – an estimated $49 million in wider economic contribution and approximately $27 million in tuition fees.

International students will return to New Zealand in phases; 300 of them will be able to return from April, with the remaining students returning in phases throughout the year, depending on managed isolation availability.

Education Minister, Chris Hipkins says, “Our top priority continues to be the health, safety and wellbeing of all people in New Zealand.

“The need to carefully manage our borders is as critical now as at any time in the past nine months. We continue to learn more about the

virus and adapt accordingly with stronger and more tailored border protections, depending on risk.

“Within our safety-first framework, we also have a responsibility to carefully balance our decisions, to support New Zealand’s economic recovery.

“This border exception delivers on a part of the recovery plan for international education.

It underscores the Government’s commitment to the international education sector, which is important in the country’s long-term economic recovery from COVID-19.”

Industry bodies laud the move as a step forward to expand the economy while maintaining the stringent border restrictions that allow New Zealanders to live a mostly normal life.

ExportNZ executive director, Catherine Beard says, “International education has contributed $5 billion per year to the New Zealand economy at its peak, and we should do all we can to reopen to this global industry.

“International education provides critical knowledge transfer and revenue for institutions which have a massive job ahead in training up New Zealand’s workforce, particularly in this environment of reduced immigration.

“Part of ensuring the economy can continue to perform better than expected is making sure that businesses can get the skills and people they need to thrive. This requires both a strong and dynamic education and skills sector, and the ability to bring people in from overseas when those skills aren’t available in New Zealand.”

As New Zealand is drawing positive attention worldwide due to its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have been pressuring the government to allow more students in despite spaces at MIQ facilities ‘extremely limited’ until March. CT

Border exception details Students eligible for border exception must: • hold, or have held a visa to study in 2020 • be studying towards a bachelor’s degree level or above qualification • have studied in New Zealand in 2019 or 2020 toward their current qualification • be returning to study with their current provider • need to be in-country to complete their study.

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 17

Management | Startups

Up and running

Helping startups succeed as we navigate a new normal

By Haren Samarasekera

There’s no understating Covid’s impact on startups and small businesses in NZ.

Haren Samarasekera is the head of territory, New Zealand, at Amazon Web Services.

It’s been a difficult time, particularly for those still building their customer base and cash flow.

It’s likely the year they’ve just experienced was very different to the one they planned for.

But as we head into a new year, business leaders are reassessing their plans and projections to accommodate the ‘new normal,’ and creating opportunities for startups and small businesses.

Many startups already possess one of the qualities that could prove most beneficial in the post-pandemic world – business agility.

The capacity to change and adapt quickly is a key capability needed in any business’ survival toolkit now.

The urgent need for digital transformation During these challenging times, we are seeing companies of every size, including startups, express their desire to transform more quickly into the cloud as a way of breaking free of the legacy on-premises infrastructure that holds them back from trying new ideas.

For example, retailers, entertainment businesses and restaurants in particular, have raced to adopt digital tools to stay connected with their customers when they haven’t been able to open their doors.

By their nature, startups have less overhead and The education and health sectors have legacy business operations than established businesses do, meaning they can respond faster also embraced digital solutions in an unprecedented way. to a dynamic landscape.

Startups that are building their businesses on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud can double down on agility, ensuring their IT infrastructure responds as quickly as their employees and customers demand.

AWS lets customers quickly spin up resources as they need them, deploying hundreds or even thousands of servers in minutes, which makes the cloud the perfect place for startups to experiment with new ideas, and only pay for the compute power they use.

An example of edutech responding to changing business conditions is Enroller, a Kiwi specialist EdTech company focused on making it easier and safer for students to cross the world to pursue their learning goals. Enroller built a platform that would help education institutions speed up their admission processes, and also provide a more seamless and enjoyable experience for the student.

Enroller built their platform on AWS in 2019, and earlier this year the startup signed up to the AWS EdStart program, which helped them If an experiment fails, you can always debuild and scale their platform quickly to meet provision those resources without risk. This idea the rapid rise in demand they experienced. of low-cost, agile experimentation is embedded in the DNA of many startups, and is something Saving money cloud infrastructure easily enables.

Running a startup can be a stressful But being agile and moving fast is just the experience at the best of times, and one beginning. Startups also have to look for of the most critical factors underpinning opportunities to pull unnecessary costs out of their success is how well they manage their their business, forge new links to partners and cash. And that means making sure they customers, and ensure their employees are are only spending money on things they continually developing new skills. absolutely need.

With this focus, startups can lay the groundwork to survive and thrive in the new normal.

The cloud is already well-established as a cost-effective place from which to launch a business, but many startups grow at such a

18 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

fast pace, they don’t always pause to consider if they are using cloud services in the most efficient way.

AWS offers several ways for startups to save money on their cloud expenses.

AWS works with startup customers to make sure they are using the most cost-effective pricing models, and aren’t using more AWS services than they actually need.

For instance, its Savings Plans pricing model provides savings of up to 72 percent on AWS compute usage, while Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) Spot Instances offer up to a 90 percent reduction compared to ondemand pricing.

When the pandemic caused a nationwide lockdown in New Zealand and stopped all sporting events, professional and amateur cricket players turned to an app developed by sport tech startup Machineroad, which accurately records cricket bowling speeds using a smartphone, so both could still practice their bowling technique.

means Machineroad is able to keep costs down and maintain a lean team.

Attracting customers No startup will survive for long without revenue, of course, and now is a good time to build connections with potential partners and customers.

Many larger organisations are planning how they will navigate through the post-Covid world, and many will be eager to adopt new tools and services to help them build their future.

This creates a fertile opportunity for startups offering innovative solutions to address their problems.

We know that one of the hardest tasks of bringing a new idea to market is simply making people aware of it, and by identifying platforms to facilitate these introductions.

AWS regularly connects executives from large organisations with startups to hear about new solutions that might be of interest. These connections often involve ‘reverse pitches', where large organisations discuss their challenges and startups propose solutions.

To help players practice their bowling technique, the app uses a combination of augmented reality and algorithms to measure the speed and And finally, while we know that startups rarely have spare time on their hands, it is important to trajectory of bowling. never stop learning.

Key to this is Machineroad’s use of AWS’ S3 Keeping up to date with the latest products and Intelligent Tiering feature, a storage developing the skills to use them is more critical tool that automatically classes data as now than ever. frequently or infrequently accessed according to use, a significant cost-saver for a startup Now is the time for startup leaders to ensure like Machineroad. their teams are keeping on top of advancements in the latest technologies by building new skills.

Some users will only view balls a few times, whereas others will return more keenly to view progress, so the system moves data not accessed for 30 days to the next tier to save on costs.

The natural agility of startups gives them the capacity to adapt quickly to market changes and presents a chance to win new customers.

By using this time to take stock of their business The app also runs on AWS Fargate, a and the opportunities available to them, startups component allocating compute resources based can move forward with confidence into 2021 on real-time demand. Such automatic scalability and beyond. CT

Management | Marketing

Online attraction Why you need to care about website optimisation as much as your digital advertising

By Alex Jordan

Digital advertising is great for a number of things, but what marketers and business owners primarily like to use this medium for is sales.

Let’s put this in mathematical terms If we put $100 into an advertising campaign and get 100 users to a website for that cost, we may convert four percent of those users into customers, therefore getting four customers for $100 marketing spend.

All sounds great because if the market size is big enough, we can spend $200 and get eight customers, or $400 and get 16 customers.

Why? Because you can measure it.

But how about we don’t spend more money on ads and instead optimise our website so it has a better user experience for our potential customer?

If you put $1 into an advertising campaign you can easily measure the return on investment that $1 will generate you.

Sounds great right? That’s because it is.

Say we optimise this and double our conversion rate from four percent to eight percent. We can then spend $100 and get eight customers.

What’s even better is you can then optimise those advertising campaigns by testing more targeted audiences and different ad messaging to get even more return for each $1 you put into your advertising.

However, we often miss a beat when doing all of this because there is only so much you can optimise a campaign in Adwords, Facebook or DV360 until you are running a pretty smooth operation.

So how do you improve and continue to get sales while there are 30 other competitors all optimising and coming after your market share and customers therefore raising your cost of acquisition?

The answer is conversion rate optimisation, or in layman’s terms, website optimisation.

What is conversion rate optimisation?

Then if we double our advertising spend to $200, we get 16 customers and so on.

CRO and UX specialists earn their buck by increasing this number from one to two percent and beyond. The higher your website conversion rate, the more money you make.

How do you optimise your conversion rate?

This is the hard part; CRO is a specialist skill that only few really know how to do effectively.

It’s a mix of user experience design, combined with hard data to make decisions that improve website performance.

To really improve conversion rate, you need to Conversion rate optimisation is the practice of changing a website so that it converts users into implement testing programs where you A/B test what works and what doesn’t. sales or leads at a higher rate.

If you have 10 users to your website and one of them converts into a sale or lead, you have a conversion rate of 10 percent.

There is no rule book, different businesses and industries have different formulas of what will work.

All in all, we begin performing much more efficiently and effectively while giving our customers the best experience possible.

“

You will get to a point in any digital advertising campaign where you can’t optimise anymore and continue to get significant gains.

”

You send traffic from a particular traffic source, say Facebook to two different landing pages, and via statistical significance see which converts better.

In summary You will get to a point in any digital advertising campaign where you can’t optimise anymore and continue to get significant gains.

From here the biggest and foremost thing you can do is turn your eyes to your website/ landing pages.

Develop a testing program, improve conversion rate and you can get more out of your media spend.

Test often, pivot fast, be data-led and soon your advertising campaigns will work harder for you than you ever knew they could.

Alex Jordan is a digital and data specialist. www.jordanoptimisation.co.nz CT

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307 Riccarton Road, CHCH | Phone 0800 766 462 Email kahukuramh@gmail.com | www.kahukuramhclinic.com 20 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Management | Disaster Management

Forces of nature

New research to help businesses increase seismic safety More than 3,500 people were injured in the Canterbury earthquakes by masonry, bricks or other projectiles and researcher Dr Tracy Hatton says the 10th anniversary of the first earthquake in Darfield is a good opportunity to remind businesses to look at seismic hazards on their premises that are not related to the strength of the building itself.

Tracy and co-researchers Sophie Horsfall (both from Resilient Organisations) and Toni Collins (University of Canterbury) have been funded by the Earthquake Commission (EQC) to evaluate what safety measures different organisations have developed to reduce risks and find out whether seismic safety is a priority for companies.

“We are currently conducting one-to-one interviews with a variety of organisations of all sizes and are impressed with the level of engagement from organisations around earthquake risk,” Tracy says.

EQC chief resilience and research officer, Dr Jo Horrocks, says that as many New Zealanders spend a lot of their time at work, reducing risk in workplaces is vital.

“We know that most businesses are making sure they are in sound premises from a structural engineering point of view, but we don’t know how people are managing nonstructural risks like ceiling tiles, light fittings, falling cabinets and heavy items like air conditioning units,” she says.

“This research will give us a much better picture of where business are successfully “We want to know what they are doing, what reducing these other risks for their staff motivates them and what more they need to do.” and customers.”

She says there is no clear picture yet of whether seismic safety is a priority for Kiwi companies, but says that results from the research will help those who feel they need to do more, by learning from the experiences of others.

The initial interviews have pinpointed what businesses are interested in, and a wider nationwide survey will now collect more data that will help businesses keep people safe on their premises.

Tracy says it is vital that as many companies as possible participate.

Zealand and what methods and resources are being used by organisations.

“Even if you have not taken any steps and feel you have little to contribute, the survey will provide an opportunity for you to identify areas where the business community may need more support to better prepare for an earthquake. It will also help build a picture of how well-prepared New Zealand is across the board.”

“The research will also tell us what is helping or getting in the way of organisations taking steps to reduce risks and where improvements can be made.”

The research will result in a best practice booklet that will be shared with all participants.

She says Cantabrians have learned the painful way about the dangers of hazards like falling furniture and service equipment installed in ceilings, so the 10th anniversary is a perfect time to capture those learnings and remind the rest of the country to get prepared.

Tracy says the report will inform what earthquake risk reduction looks like in New

The survey can be found here: ww.surveymonkey.com/r/EQCOrgs. CT

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 21

been seen The people, their faces and all the right places - Canterbury

1. Cathryn

Allwood & Samantha Elise 2. Bruce Davey & Ran Boot 3. Clive Greenwood (Media Sales Group), Helen & David Rowling (Waimakariri District Council) 4. Ira Mitchell (Artist) & Val Carter (Home and Family) 5. Allanah & David James 6. Charne Christensen (Artist) & Lindsay Dodd 7. David Boot (EV City) & Sonia Hocking 8. Chris McGann, Heather McKain & Sandra Talbot

EV City hosted Christchurch Home and Family Society’s art auction, which raised thousands of dollars.

A number of Christchurch’s leading artists sold their paintings to raise money for all the incredible work done by Home and Family. For $20, guests could take a ride in a Tesla Model X.

(Isacc Theatre Royal)

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(Home and Family).

Oil Change King Papanui had a great turn out, full of both contractors and friends, that helped build the first of what will become a national chain of Oil Change outlets. Principals Carl McLean and Carl Wall have over 40 years’ experience in the automotive industry. They promise Oil Change King will be the fastest, best oil change to come to Christchurch and all of New Zealand.

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Carl & Janine Maclean Emma Lowry & Rae Bishop (Tradestaff Workwear) Russell Pitt (RPC Construction), Gavin Lawry (Marvin Properties) & Ian Kearnery (Kearney Lawyers) Sophie Giles (AP design) & Lisa Pitt (RPC Construction) Bill McKnight (Action Signs), Jeremy & Julie Wilson (Directions Advertising)

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Jackson (MTF Finance), Damier Fahey (Tabak) & Alison Duder Ian Woollett (Alemlube ChCh), Tim Yellowrees (Valvoline) & Craig Booth Stu Armitage, James MacLean (MacLean Painting) & Ritchie Howell (ANZ Bank).

CAN YOU SELL? DO YOU HUNT FOR PROSPECTS? IF SO WE NEED YOU, TODAY! • • • • • •

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Experience preferred - but not necessary as initial and on-going training and support provided Various remuneration packages available-made up of retainer plus commission, plus monthly bonuses, flexible hours and subsidised health insurance for you and your family.

Various remuneration packages are available comprising of retainer plus commission and bonuses.

Contact: Monice Kruger on: (03) 961 5083 or email sales@academygroup.co.nz | www.magazinestoday.co.nz

22 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Part of the

Images taken and supplied by Lynne Puddy-Greenwood If you have an event that you’d like covered, email Canterbury Today events co-ordinator on: sales@academygroup.co.nz

1. Nigel

(Dixon Marketing)

NZME’s Client Christmas Celebration was held at Welles Street Bar & Restaurant, where clients mingled with announcers and staff. They were entertained while enjoying drinks and nibbles.

& Michelle Dixon 2. Diana & Justine Lill (Homes by Parklane)

3. Matt

Bowess (NZME) & Rupert de Paula (Strategy) 4. Laura Hunter, James Daniels (The Coast) & Amy Green (NZME) 5. Marshall Brown & Caroline Gase (For See Change) 6. Carl Duxfield & Sharon Jones (Canterbury Equestrian) 7. Peter Cullen (Value Cars) & Gary Boote (The Pawn Shop) 8. Nellie McIntyre, Bill Toomey, Tyler Adams & Glenn Dwight (NZME).

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New Zealand-owned bank TSB celebrated the opening of its new state-of-the-art branch at the Cashel Mall and Riverside Development with a function. Canterbury is a key focus for TSB so the bank is excited to launch its new vision for branch care here.

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Matt Horncastle (WIlliams Corporation) & Blair Jackson (Christchurch Director Art Gallery)

Nichola Robertson (Bell Cross Robertson), Rhett Roberts, & Henri Loader (WIlliams Corporation) 3. Matt Withington, Anne Clark & Richard Clark

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Jeanette Trewin, Thanh Nguyen & Murali Bhaskar (Boon) Tony Martin & John Kelly (TSB) Mark Rackley-Gale, Leanne Morgan, Steve Kirk, Rose Walters & Christa Malzard (TSB Branch Team) Dean Brown (Winner of TSB Good Stuff), Liz Eden & Donna Cooper (TSB CEO) Aly MacLean (Aly MacLean Apparel) & Nicky Ashby (TSB) Lianne Dalziel (Christchurch City Mayor) & Donna Cooper (TSB CEO) Mark Rackley-Gale, Boyd Warren & Vaughan Luckman (Redvespa) Mike Miners (TSB) & Vaughan Luckman.

To celebrate the new commercial partnership between the Williams Corporation and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, the gallery held a special event full of Williams Corporation customers and the people of Christchurch. The champagne flowed and the evening was a great hit.

(Williams Construction)

4. Franceasca

Ferkavich & Cara Huxford (WilliamsConstruction) 5. Bruce, Madeline Davis, Grant & Blair Chappell (WIlliams Corporation)

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7. Mandi Ussher & Don Gould (Williams Construction)

8. Mark O'Keefe, Tess Meha,

Lisa Eriksen & Cameron Rutherford (Christchurch Engine Centre).

Planning an event? Hosting something special?

Celebrating a milestone?

been seen The people, their faces and all the right places - Canterbury

Images taken and supplied by Lynne Puddy-Greenwood If you have an event that you’d like covered, email Canterbury Today events editor on: sales@academygroup.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 23

Destinations | Coromandel

Where Kiwis holiday What is it about the idea of an escape to another place; a reset of our view of life and ourselves and where we fit in?

Or is it simply a warm climate, soft island breezes, azure clear waters bordering on lush green forests - a dream of casting away to tropical island paradise?

EPIC IS ABOUT EXPOSING THE BEST SKIPPERS FROM THE BEST FISHING LOCATIONS IN NEW ZEALAND, TO THE WORLD. We’re about a sense of pride and professionalism and an unmistakable passion for fishing adventures. Epic is synonymous with fishing sustainability and respect to the health of our fisheries.

Epic Adventures are New Zealand’s leading kingfish charter specialists, we have custom Senator boats in the Coromandel and Bay of Islands.

Book your charter today and get RAILED AS with Epic Adventures!

24 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

CONTACT US Email: info@epicadventures.co.nz Phone: 0800 EPICNZ (0800 3742 69) or +64 21 886 223 www.epicadventures.co.nz

Construction | Stack Electrical

Destinations | Coromandel

Customer service is everything Stack Electrical has been family owned and operated for over 35 years.

The company started from humble beginnings, with owners Allan and Judy Stack working out of their garage providing new home wiring, but has been growing, with the team now comprising of 21 electricians, apprentices and administration staff.

Since then, David Stack (Allan and Judy’s son) has taken over the business, helping to keep the family business roots alive.

Based out of two offices in Christchurch and Wellington, David and his team are committed to providing a service that meets and exceeds customers’ expectations.

Since we have all focused on staying home and enjoying our own playground, we have re-discovered that we have it all right here.

Forget Bali, the water here is turquoise, the beaches are deserted, and island life is sure good for your soul.

We can travel over seas to island getaways, soft white sands, deserted beaches where waves lap and fish abound. We can cross rivers to green valleys and cool forests, where kauri stand tall and abandoned tunnels beckon. To relax, snorkel, hike, and dine under the spreading limbs of ancient pohutukawa.

Treasure map of river canyons

The Coromandel is such a place. Our 400km of volcanic coastline shelters curved sandy bays, rocky headlands, secret coves and inshore islands.

The jagged, green backbone of the Coromandel ranges harbours canyons, dancing streams and ruins of golden treasure hunts. Set sail to where Kiwis holiday.

Many Kiwis will have driven through the spectacular deep Karangahake Gorge, with its network of trails and ruins to explore. Formed by the hard graft of fortune seekers in bygone days, such an intrusion is unthinkable today.

The quiet stealth of nature has reclaimed the deep valleys, rivers and mountains with her pristine beauty andstillness, broken only by the sound of tui and cascading waters.

Secrets of the Volcanic coast Cathedral Cove is a New Zealand must do but venture off the beaten track aboard one of the small boats skippered by locals, to share their secret spots.

Cast away to a Pacific island paradise

Skip east along the high white cliffs to sneak through the hidden cave into Wai Ora Ana.

A short boat ride from Whitianga and you can maroon yourself on a beach at Ahuahu, one of the Mercury Islands. Take a water taxi from Tairua to Slipper Island, to set up camp in beachside glamping tents and chalets.

Powerful ancient volcanic forces carved this blowhole, and the many other dramatic sea caves and sculpted rock formations along this sheltered stretch of the Mercury Bay.

Wake to the sound of the sea Always high on the list for family holidays, kiwi camping is alive and practised well in The Coromandel. Our holiday parks have welcomed generations of families.

“Whether we’re working for residential builders, commercial and industrial customers or individual home owners, we strive to provide a prompt and friendly service.

“Our focus is on our customers and being a family business, a lot of our clients have become our friends, which helps with creating that personal touch,” David says.

Achievements: Operations excellence award from Mobil New Zealand for their work during the Lyttelton landslide in 2014 Stack Electrical offer its clients a variety of services, including electrical renovations, switch board replacements, new home wiring, main replacement/installation, heat pumps, Solar PV, inspections and fuel storage facility installation and maintenance.

“

Whether we’re working for residential builders, commercial and industrial customers or individual home owners, we strive to provide a prompt and friendly service.

”

- Company manager David Stack

Along with having a personal approach with our customers, we also like to do a lot together as a team.

“We tend to hold quite a few events during the Along with continuing great customer service year to keep morale high and we try to give back and looking after our staff, we’re wanting to to the community as well. open a branch in Otago or Southland in the next We sponsor the Heathcote cricket club; we give few years to service some of the clients that we to the City Park Community Patrol and help with have down there, David says. the Academy School Books as well.”

“We want to keep giving our clients the best Keeping continuity of staff is a big key to our success. We have quite a diverse team of workers and the work we do is quite diverse, David says.

“If we bring subcontractors into a project, we’ll only bring on contractors that we trust and we know will deliver a high standard. We’re not the lowest price for our subcontractors, we get the ones that we believe can do what we need, to the standard we need it done.”

final product we can and we want to keep growing our business.” CT Stack Electrical 65e Brisbane Street Sydenham Christchurch (03) 379 4062 info@stackelectrical.co.nz www.stackelectrical.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

Located in the best spots, often right on the beach, from springy green grass straight over the dunes on to the hot sand, or a short walk across a pebbly beach to the calm waters of the harbour.

Taste of the place Tuatuas gathered on the beach at low tide, fish and paua fritters in the dunes, pizza at the rustic seaside shack as the sun sets over the surf; the fresh air makes it taste way better.

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 25

Destinations | South Island Vineyard Guide

By Claire Wright

Panoramic View of the Kawarau River Gorge, Cromwell and vineyards, Otago.

Let’s wine about it

A South Island vineyard guide breaking down one of New Zealand’s biggest export industries

By Claire Wright

Compared to the rest of the world, the wine industry in New Zealand is small but mighty. Accounting for one percent of total world wine production by volume, the industry export value is $1.8 billion as of 2020.

It’s no wonder when you hear about New Zealand wines abroad, the first image some people think of is a cheeky Sav on a blazing hot day.

Wineries that typically spring to mind are Cloudy Bay, Villa Maria, and Wither Hills. Oyster Bay also does well internationally, with its Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir taking home medals in both the United States and the UK.

Food pairing with South Island wine styles Sauvignon Blanc: This fresh and zingy wine complements seafood, as well as nice citrus and vinaigrettes.

Pinot Noir: This rich and deep wine goes well with savoury dishes as well as gamier meats, like quail, duck, veal and venison.

Riesling: This fruity wine complements drier salads and light seafoods, as well as white meats like chicken.

Pinot Gris: This well-balanced wine goes well with pork and white-sauced pastas, as well as white meats and seafood.

For the total of 39,935 hectares of vineyards across New Zealand, Marlborough alone takes up 27,808 producing hectares – Sauvignon Blanc accounts for 25,160 hectares of all the country’s plantings. That’s 63 percent of all of our wine in just Sauvignon Blanc.

North Otago

Central Otago Queen of the Pinot Noir, Central Otago is New Zealand’s third largest producing vineyard area at 1,930 hectares. Its flagship variety accounts for over 75 percent of its plantings; Pinot Noir takes up a total of 1,555 producing hectares.

Nelson While Nelson’s wineries only account for three percent of New Zealand’s total wine production, the region has high quality wines that aren’t beholden to any variety. From Pinot Noir to Chardonnay, from Sauvignon Blanc to Aromatics, Nelson also has a funky mix of other varieties on offer.

If you wanted to experience the full spectrum of a Nelson’s wineries in one day, the region’s compressed size (the vineyards have a total of 1,102 producing hectares) gives you the ability to visit most of Nelson’s wineries in a day.

“Outstanding wines from a truly unique vineyard, the best Cabernet Sauvignon in NZ” Bob Campbell, MW

When talking about North Canterbury wines, establishments such as Black Estate and Sherwood Estate are also often brought up.

Much like its neighbour in Central Otago, the subregion’s largest producing variety is Pinot Noir, but there’s also a good mixture of Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewürztraminer produced, among other white varieties.

Within the New Zealand wine scene, the South Island is full of powerhouse regions and wineries that rival some of the best in the world, boasting some of the largest and most notable wine regions in the country.

Home to 90 percent of New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc plantings, the Marlborough region accounts for by far and by large the highest producing vineyard area, as well as total wine production throughout the country. This is the flagship region that put New Zealand wine on the international stage.

Fiddler’s Green Vineyard & Bistro in particular, located in Waipara, is known not only for its fine wines but also for its high-class food and dining experience. Its namesake refers to 19th century maritime folklore about an afterlife for sailors with a fiddle that never stops playing and wine that never stops flowing.

A subregion of the Waitaki Valley, North Otago still catches a lot of attention for its tiny size and young age. Only with 59 producing hectares and less than one percent of New Zealand’s total wine production, a handful of passionate and inventive producers have put it on the scene, its first plantings done in 2001.

It’s still competitive with our English-speaking counterparts, though – for example, our neighbour and closest ally, Australia has an estimated retail market of $NZ834 million compared to our $655 million.

Marlborough

followed behind by Sauvignon Blanc at 394 hectares, among other varieties that make up a total of 1,369 producing hectares at 2 percent of total NZ wine production.

Beyond some of the world’s best Pinot Noir, Central Otago also comes up with plenty of vivid white wines, such as Pinot Gris.

Sauvignon Blanc grapes.

Himmelsfield Vineyard in particular has a rich history that echoes much of Nelson’s – the region’s vines have been cultivated by German settlers since the mid-1800s, and Himmelsfield Vineyard founder, Beth Eggers is the fifth-generation German descendant of immigrants who landed in Upper Moutere nearly 150 years ago.

North Canterbury

03 543 2223 | info@himmelsfeld.co.nz

One of New Zealand’s newer wine regions with its first production established in 1978, the North Canterbury region still turns heads with wines regularly achieving critical acclaim.

A change from the top of the south’s Sauvignon dominance, North Canterbury’s largest variety is Pinot Noir – 423 hectares worth – closely

26 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

It’s the lowest point in the world that is hospitable to growing grapes – beyond it, you can’t grow anything. There are plenty of subregions within the Central Otago area to cater to this fact, from Bannockburn to Cromwell, from Wanaka to Alexandra.

Each subregion has its own distinctive style and flair within it, with Gibbston producing wines typically light yet intense while Cromwell is known for its silky and rich wines.

One of the most famous wineries in the region is Two Paddocks, in no small part due to the fact that its owned by award-winning actor Sam Neill. Other well known wineries include Mt Difficulty and Valli Gibbston. CT The figures referred to in this article come from New Zealand Wine’s textbook and annual reports. To view more data about New Zealand’s vineyards, vintages and more, visit www.nzwine.com.

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 27

Destinations | Marlborough

Taste and see Marlborough The Marlborough region is rich in foods, experiences and scenery. There’s lots to drink in so be sure to take your time and enjoy all that the region has to offer.

Marlborough is abundant in food, drink and scenery. Events taking place throughout the region include: • Marlborough’s Summer Feast, February–March • The Havelock Mussel and Seafood Festival, 13 March 2021 • Whitehaven GrapeRide, 24 April 2021.

Visit marlboroughnz.com/events for more information on upcoming events.

Mark your calendar

As an alternative to driving, Cantabrians coming from Christchurch can make their way to Picton on the Coastal Pacific™ train.

The Coastal Pacific™ train recently launched its Scenic Plus service which incorporates beautiful views with some of the region’s best foods and beverages.

Summer is a season of plenty, a time to indulge in new experiences, foods and drinks.

Marlborough is bursting with events sure to please the most zealous foodies.

Once you step off the train platform you’ll need somewhere to stay. Thankfully, Marlborough is a hub of hospitality.

Image provided courtesy of Only Marlborough.

The Havelock Mussel and Seafood Festival celebrates local seafood including the New Zealand Greenshell mussel, New Zealand King Salmon and the Pacific Oyster.

If you can’t get enough of bike wine tours then the Whitehaven GrapeRide is perfect for you.

The event is made up of five different races ranging in length that take bicyclists through Marlborough Sounds and its vineyards.

One of its newest and standout accommodations includes 14th Lane Urban Hotel. What’s interesting about this hotel is that it was originally a coal merchant.

However, it was recently renovated, and it now exudes luxury.

Marlborough’s Summer Feast is made up of a series of events involving different venues and food producers.

This expansive feast will have foodies from all over coming back to Marlborough again and again throughout February and March.

A nearby must-do is the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre. The centre has both WWI and WWII aviation exhibitions with the WWI supplied by Sir Peter Jackson’s private collection and developed by Weta Workshop.

For more information, visit marlboroughnz.com/ events, to stay up to date on upcoming events happening in Marlborough. CT

Both exhibits tell stories of fighter pilots and the planes themselves. Personal items belonging to famous fighter pilots like the Red Baron bring the exhibits to life.

Destination Marlborough PO Box 29 Blenheim (03) 577 5523 info@marlboroughnz.com www.marlboroughnz.com Take to the skies and schedule a joy flight in either of the three iconic propeller planes available.

Inside one of the rooms at 14th Lane Urban Hotel.

— Advertising Feature

For Cantabrians who love the water, a cruise through the Marlborough Sounds is a must.

Different water taxis can take you through the Queen Charlotte and Pelorus Sounds to meet the locals and to see the wildlife at places like Motuara Island.

EXPERIENCE MARLBOROUGH We offer a range of motel accommodation options: Queen studio units, spacious splitlevel family units and modern two-bedroom units, all fully self-contained.

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Covered in native wildlife, there’s lots to see on Motuara Island. Along with being a reserve, the island is also home to a kiwi creche and is quite special to behold.

Back on the mainland, another great way to spend your holiday is doing a wine tour by bike.

Near Blenheim there are about nine wineries within a six-kilometer radius – known as the Golden Mile.

There are numerous bike hiring services which enable bicyclists to explore Marlborough one cellar door at a time.

Motuara Island; image provided courtesy of MarlboroughNZ.com – Mike Heydon

LUXURY BLENHEIM HOTEL ACCOMMODATION 97 High Street, Blenheim | Phone: 0800 752275 or (03) 578 0064 | Email: chateau@chateaumarlborough.co.nz | www.marlboroughnz.co.nz 28 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Destinations | West Coast

Coastal paradise on your doorstep We live in paradise here on the West Coast and I think after the unprecedented year that was 2020, we appreciate it more than ever.

We have enjoyed hosting our domestic tourism market and I believe that we have been discovered as more and more Kiwis find out just how much beauty they have on their doorstep.

The Grey District is the perfect base to explore and is at the start or finish of one of the top 10 train trips in the world, the famous TranzAlpine, which is now back on track and gearing up to launch its premium experience.

A stopping point for the TranzAlpine is Lake Brunner – the jewel in the crown of the Grey District – and at Moana the local hospitality, fishing, water sports and outdoor activities is pleasure in this untamed natural wilderness.

The majestic, rugged Coast Road that connects us to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes is classified as one of the top 10 drives in the world.

From Punakaiki you can now enter the Paparoa Track, the new addition to New Zealand’s Great Walks which is dedicated to the miners and families of the Pike River tragedy.

The track connects to Blackball, one of our historic mining towns where you can find the famous Blackball Salami and formerly the Blackball Hilton.

“

The majestic, rugged Coast Road that connects us to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes is classified as one of the top 10 drives in the world.

”

By basing yourself in Greymouth there are many other beautiful places you can visit.

Take in our local hospitality and rich pioneering history. However, the West Coast is also on the look-out for skilled workers in many areas including healthcare, primary industries, engineering, education and trades.

With the average house price averaging $250,000 it is possible to have your own slice of paradise on a lifestyle block with a very quick daily commute, and you could be the only person on the beach or have just a 10-minute drive to the bush.

We have heard from real estate agents that people around the country are moving here and bringing their jobs with them and working remotely – something that has been made possible by the major technology upgrades in rural connectivity that we have seen this year on the West Coast.

The Wildfood Festival taking place in Hokitika in March 2021 has announced that Stellar will be their lead act and Greymouth has also secured the Spring Challenge for next year.

DP1 Open 7 Days for Breakfast, Lunch and Cabinet Meals

So, come and visit us and see for yourself what we have to offer.

Article kindly supplied by Grey District Council Mayor Tania Gibson. CT Grey District Council PO Box 382 Greymouth (03) 769 8600 info@greydc.govt.nz www.greydc.govt.nz

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 29

Destinations | Kaikoura

More marine life The town of Kaikoura’s name can be broken down to two te reo words: kai and koura. Kai means food and koura means crayfish as a result of the abundance of crayfish found at the discovery of Kaikoura.

According to DOC, there are about nine species of seals and 43 species of porpoises, dolphins and whales that are regularly found in New Zealand waters.

Along with the New Zealand fur seal, or the kekeno, you can also find Hector’s dolphins, humpback whales, blue whales, sperm whales and more.

Another Kaikoura visitor and migratory whale includes the world’s largest animal, the blue whale. Due to the blue whale’s small numbers, encounters with the blue whale are considered a real treat.

What also sets Kaikoura apart from other towns in Canterbury is its unique geographic characteristics. Imagine discovering Kaikoura and seeing the mountains jut straight out of the water in front of you. Nevertheless, what you can’t see is the canyon which runs kilometres beneath the water’s surface.

The unique geography of the region and abundance of food facilitates Kaikoura’s active, marine wildlife. For that reason, there’s always something to see throughout the year along the coast of Kaikoura.

According to DOC, there are about nine species of seals and 43 species of porpoises, dolphins and whales that are regularly found in New Zealand waters.

You won’t want to miss the Ohau Point New Zealand Fur Seal Sanctuary which is just a 20 minutes’ drive from Kaikoura.

During breeding season, you can find fur seal mums nursing their pups or potentially giving birth. It’s fun to watch fur seals play and interact with one another.

Although it’s exciting to get a close glimpse of wildlife, it’s best to stay calm and keep a safe distance when observing fur seals for their safety and yours.

A rare treat you might find near the mouths of rivers include Hector’s dolphins. Hector’s

dolphins are a spectacle to be seen because, according to Whale Watch Kaikoura, Hector’s dolphins are endangered with about 300 located near Kaikoura and about 15,000 Hector’s dolphins throughout New Zealand.

Along with Hector’s dolphins, various species of humpback whales are found throughout the world. A particular species can be found resting near Kaikoura as it migrates to warmer waters for the winter.

Kaikoura is home to the world’s most studied sperm whales. However, if you do spot one, it is most likely male. This is because male sperm whales are found along the coasts of Kaikoura year-round but females and calves are found in warmer waters further north.

If you want a closer look and more information on the ocean’s inhabitants, services like Whale Watch Kaikoura and Encounter Kaikoura can get you close up to whales and dolphins in the area.

Looking along the coast and at all of the animals that call the waters of Kaikoura home, the town proves to be a place of beauty above and below the water’s surface. CT

THE JOINER SHOP At the Joiner Shop we create high-quality joinery and provide a range of products and services for your new build, renovation or commercial needs.

Let us help you with your next project in Kaikoura, Canterbury or Marlborough.

Phone: 03 319 5562 | Mobile: 021 244 8005 | 19 Beach Rd, Kaikoura Email: info@thejoinershop.co.nz | thejoinershop.co.nz 30 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

If you just wing each interview, the direction, tone and outcome of each conversation can vary wildly, making it more difficult to compare candidates to each other. The outcome of this can be that, despite spending all that time interviewing people, to a certain extent, you’re still none the wiser.

Then, the chances are, when it comes to deciding who to hire, you’re going to go with your gut, as you won’t reliably be able to compare one answer to another because you didn’t ask each candidate a few standard questions you can compare them by.

So, a little planning can go a long way towards helping you make an informed and considered choice of who to hire, as opposed to just sitting down with each individuals, having a completely random chat, and then hoping you get it right.

Mistake 2

- Overvaluing experience

It is risky to bet too heavily on how much experience a person has, when there are so many factors that determine whether someone will be successful in the role and a good fit for your organisation.

An applicant’s skills, knowledge, aptitude and personality all factor into the equation.

Because experience is a tangible and measurable component, it is very easy to overvalue it above less easily measurable factors such as intelligence, drive, and other components of raw talent.

Experience accumulates with time in the role and skills can be learned and acquired.

Hiring new employees is not an easy process.

You’ve got to wade through a mountain of applications, weed out the few you’re interested in and then interview all the candidates – all while still running your company.

But if you want your company to grow, you need to hire the right people.

You need people that are not only right for the now but can also help you move the business towards bigger and better things in the future.

This is especially so for smaller businesses and startups because they have fewer employees and a limited income with which to work.

Your next great employee might be someone with limited experience, but who has fantastic aptitude and flexibility.

Placing too much stock on a heavy list of qualifications in your job description, or only considering applicants with x amount of experience and not considering other factors, means you might be turning a blindeye to someone better suited to the role and your company’s culture.

However, this is a double-edged sword and there is a flip side.

If you’re looking to hire someone without any experience in the hope of finding someone cheaper – you might be buying into a false economy.

Ignoring a candidate with what you consider to be necessary experience in the hope of saving a few thousand dollars a year by hiring an unproven person, might not actually save you anything, due to the amount of on-the-job training and potentially decreased productivity the less experienced employee will deliver.

So, as with all aspects of running your business, you need to find a balance.

For these companies every single dollar they spend on finding and hiring an employee can affect their longer term success, meaning it’s vital that they avoid making major mistakes while hiring.

But it definitely pays to consider more than just the experience a candidate comes with.

You want someone with the potential to grow into the perfect for your company.

But the trouble is that running a small business is hard work and there often simply isn’t the time to commit to a thorough hiring process; and as result, corners get cut.

Mistake 3

The good news is that your competitors are probably making these mistakes whilst hiring as well. This means there’s an opportunity for you to seize; to waste less time and money by hiring right so you can get back to running your company.

This is a common mistake many small business owners make.

Mistake 1

- Not having an interview plan

The single biggest hiring mistake small business owners make is winging it or not having an interview plan. At best they’ll have a few questions written down on a piece of paper, but little else.

You need to treat an interview like a deductive science. You’ve sorted through all the resumes and selected the best individuals to be interviewed – but now you need a better way of evaluating their suitability for the role than just having a chat and going with your gut.

You achieve this by having an interview plan.

- Assuming the hiring process ends once they’re hired

An employee’s productivity is comprised of 50 percent ability [the reasons you hired them], and 50 percent of what happens once they’re in the workplace.

So conducting a good interview, offering that promising person the job and them saying ‘yes’ is only half the task.

Employees need to be properly induced and introduced to your company, well trained and supported.

It doesn’t matter how impressed you are with someone’s potential – poor training, insufficient access to resources, and little feedback will add up to poor job satisfaction and this will impact their performance.

So recruitment doesn’t stop at the ‘welcome aboard’ handshake – you need to make sure they are introduced, trained and supported every step of the way.

First – decide what questions are the most important, and ask them to each candidate.

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This doesn’t have to be an iron-clad, exactly repeatable process – but it does need to have some consistency to it so you can accurately assess candidates’ answers in relation to each other.

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Second – know what answers you’re looking for. Then you can assess each answer objectively and place candidates in pecking order.

CY PAC

If you would like to talk to one of our consultants about your recruitment needs, please contact us on

0800 88 00 18 | info@nzrecruit.co.nz

www.nzrecruit.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 31

Destinations | Queenstown

Indulging your sense of adventure

Of all the seasons, autumn is perhaps the most magical in the Queenstown Lakes District.

It’s the perfect time to indulge all senses in the colours and flavours of the season.

It’s a bit cooler at sunrise and sunset, but the warm sunny days are ideal for exploring the region and enjoying the activities and attractions that make this the perfect holiday destination.

No matter how many times you’ve been down our way, there is always something new to discover.

Challenge yourself to try something new, whether that be a local photography course, cooking or pottery class, or attempting a challenging hike, yoga class or biking trail.

Autumn is a fabulous time to explore local vineyards, breweries and wineries by bike or to relax by exploring local galleries, our beautifully presented retail stores, cafes and restaurants.

The crisp evenings are perfect for sipping a glass of award-winning local Pinot Noir beside a fire. Here are our top ways to enjoy Queenstown in autumn.

Food and wine Queenstown is a true foodies’ paradise, with over 150 bars and restaurants, the food scene is always buzzing here.

Whether it be new craft beer bars, cafes or restaurants popping up, food tours, or inventive new dishes, there’s always something new, creative and exciting to try.

Queenstown’s pedestrianised town centre is packed with restaurants, cafes, bars and plenty of places for dessert.

Why not create your own bespoke walking food tour, visiting one restaurant for entrée, one for main and the last for dessert?

To taste the delights slightly further afield; hop on a shuttle, bike around the vines, or go on a guided beer and wine tour.

There’s all sorts of ways to taste the terroir, and plenty more to eat, see and do along the way.

32 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

“

There is a seemingly endless supply of worldrenowned adventure activities perfect to challenge yourself with in autumn.

”

Destinations | Queenstown If you like what you see, why not carry on over the Crown Range and visit Wanaka?

The iconic Rippon Vineyard is a spectacular place to soak in beautiful views over Lake Wanaka whilst sampling the wine produced lovingly on the Mills Family farm.

If you decide to stay for dinner, the fabulous Bistro Gentil brings the delights of French gastronomy to Central Otago and will not disappoint.

If you’re wanting to try something a little closer but equally as impressive – there is a collection of beautiful winery-restaurants dotted around Lake Hayes including the likes of Amisfield Bistro & Cellar Door, Akarua Wines & Kitchen

by Artisan, and Wet Jacket, an easy 20-minute drive out of Queenstown central and five to ten minutes from Arrowtown.

Arrowtown

As well as the unique heritage precinct, shops and great food and wine, Arrowtown is also renowned for being one of the most amazing places in New Zealand to experience the colours of the four seasons.

In any season the town is a photographer’s dream and Arrowtown is renowned for its stunning autumn colours providing hues of gold and orange on the hillsides and surrounds during April and May. A walk through Arrowtown’s carefully preserved main streets feels like a step back in time or a step into an old western film, however, each of the hotels, restaurants, galleries and boutique retail stores will set your senses alive.

The town is full of artists, talented chefs, florists, and shop owners with an eye for

beautiful, unique and quality boutique pieces for their stores.

A visit to Arrowtown on any given evening in autumn is a must-do, with live music, restaurants and bars brimming with people.

Experience Te Anau With

Aden Motel FREE WIFI FREE BBQ PETS BY ARRANGEMENT BREAKFAST AVAILABLE LAUNDRY FACILITIES PLAYGROUND COOKING FACILITIES TV IN UNITS

“

Queenstown is a true foodies’ paradise, with over 150 bars and restaurants, the food scene is always buzzing here.

ADEN MOTEL, ACCOMMODATION IN TE ANAU, NEW ZEALAND Your hosts, Irene Benfell & David Herron, welcome you to Aden Motel, situated in the beautiful Te Anau township. Aden Motel is a 12-unit, ground-floor complex consisting of 7 studio units, 3 x 1-bedroom units and 2 x 2-bedroom units. All units are spacious, smokefree and offer cooking facilities. Plus we now offer a 3 Bedroom Cottage (sleeps up to 8 People) next to the Motel called Heron’s Cottage. Our rooms have a Kiwiana theme.

Most units have full cooking facilities. Ample parking, guest laundry, playground, car and luggage storage and a BBQ for those lovely summer nights is available. Free wireless internet in rooms. Pets by arrangement, please ask.

Phone 03 249 7748 www.adenmotel.co.nz

”

Let us help you to organise day trips to Milford/Doubtful Sounds, glowworm caves, horse trekking,

jet-boating and many more activities Te Anau offers.

Nestled beside one of New Zealand’s largest lakes and surrounded by magnificent scenery, Te Anau is the one true gateway to the Fiordland National Park. Whether you have come to enjoy the spectacular Milford or Doubtful Sounds or to hike the Milford, Kepler, Routeburn or Hollyford tracks, we know you will leave with fond memories. Aden Motel is the ideal place to stay while you’re experiencing this magical part of New Zealand.

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 33

Cladding for Life

So, if you’re looking for a cladding that’s new, stylish and modern then please visit Flashclad.co.nz or give me a call.

Flashclad and Flashman is an integrated aluminium window flashing and cladding system that is smart, sophisticated and modern.

Shayne Cross | Flashclad Central | 021 296 8388

The engineered window flashing system enables them to be 100 percent waterproof without the use of silicon, foams or scribers, and the trims give the windows and doors a sleek perfect finish.

With multiple styles and many colors to choose from there’s a fit for any home. The powder coated finish comes with a 20-year warranty giving the home owner peace of mind that there home will look great for many years to come.

After being in the building industry for over 30 years I consider this cladding to be the most stylish, robust and attractive cladding on the market today.

Being two to three mm thick this cladding wont buckle, warp, bow or split and the aluminum off cuts are recyclable so there is zero building waste.

The Flashman window flashing system was created by New Zealand builders for New Zealand conditions and with the claddings creates a very watertight envelope for the life of your home.

Created to with stand very high winds this cladding ideal for hill tops, exposed sites and commercial buildings.

All our franchises are owned and operated by LBP builders to ensure that quality and workmanship are of the highest standard.

Flashclad Central is a friendly crew that prides itself in working with building contractors and homeowners to make cladding your home a smooth and enjoyable experience for all.

34 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Open spaces, stunning lake and mountain views and privacy.

What setting could be better for your 2021 conference, Executive retreat, or new product launch?

Edgewater Lake Wanaka is a versatile venue with multiple options to accommodate meetings, dinners, and events from 2 to 140 delegates. “Our experienced team of conference staff and dedicated conference manager take all the stresses away from an event, contributing to its success”, says Catherine Bone, Edgewater’s General Manager. With easy access to transport links, activities and attractions, the four-star plus premium full-service property on the shores of Lake Wanaka, Edgewater is the perfect location for your next event.

0800 108 311 events@edgewater.co.nz www.edgewater.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 35

Destinations | Queenstown Wednesday nights are popular in Arrowtown, with live music at Blue Door being a weekly event for visitors and locals alike.

Why not try dinner or a movie at Dorothy Browns in Arrowtown?

Find your adventure

There is also a seemingly endless supply of world-renowned adventure activities perfect to challenge yourself with in autumn, ranging from skydiving, bungy jumping, jet boating and paragliding to aerobatic flights, horse trekking, rafting and 4WD, quad bike or off-road tours.

Cycling tours and mountain biking trails in Queenstown are a great way to explore and discover remote parts of this beautiful region!

The Queenstown Trail has over 130kms of off-road trails taking you from Queenstown to Gibbston via historic Arrowtown.

If you’re looking for a new challenge, or perhaps you’re more of a thrill seeking rider, Queenstown has three lift-accessed mountain bike parks: Cardrona Alpine Resort, Coronet Peak and Queenstown Bike Park, where you can enjoy all of the downhill MTB fun without worrying about the uphill climb.

Autumn is an excellent time to attempt a new hike in the region.

Nearby Arrowtown is full of excellent walking trails, which are laden with red, gold, orange and yellow leaves in autumn.

For a brisk, steep, but rewarding walk, try Tobins Track (one hour return).

Queenstown Lakes District Council Mayor Jim Boult opening Ferg’s Bar.

Affordable Rates Spacious Units Free Wi-Fi Close to Shopping Centre 5 Minute Drive to City Centre

678 TAY STREET, INVERCARGILL PHONE (03) 2176065 0800 422 436 EMAIL - info@haciendamotel.co.nz www.haciendamotel.co.nz 36 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

The half hour walk to the top of the track will reward you with views of Arrowtown, Lake Hayes and the Wakatipu basin in the background.

“

Of all the seasons, autumn is perhaps the most magical in the Queenstown Lakes District. It’s the perfect time to indulge all senses in the colours and flavours of the season.

takes you along the Arrow River, through grassy fields, and eventually through beautiful forest with a variety of scenery along the way.

”

Sample local produce Queenstown has three local markets, each with their own unique vibe and offering.

The Arrowtown and The Remarkables Market both run through the warmer seasons, starting on Labour Weekend and running up until Easter each year.

The Remarkables Market is held each Saturday and includes a number of delicious local food, craft and produce stalls, the perfect spot to head to on a Saturday morning and collect some goodies for an afternoon picnic.

The Arrowtown Farmers Market runs on Sundays and also includes an array of local food and produce stalls, with a smaller selection of high-quality craft stalls, an ideal spot to visit for your morning coffee For a slightly longer challenge, why not try the Sawpit Gully loop (two to three hour loop) which on a Sunday.

Destinations | Queenstown

The Queenstown Creative Market runs throughout the year, at Earnslaw Park on Queenstown’s waterfront, showcasing the crafts of talented locals.

Events

Make a long weekend of it singing along to some real kiwi classics.

Wheels at Wanaka is a biennial event, alternating every odd Easter weekend with Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow.

We already have some great events locked in for It combines individual vehicle shows including; autumn 2021.

Vintage Fair: steam and stationary engines, If you’ve never experienced a Gibbston Valley tractors and farming heritage, cars, motorcycles Concert before, the legendary Crowded House and trucks – vintage, classics and exotics, is playing here among the vines on 13 March. earth movers and heavy machinery.

Arrowtown - A Riot of Autumn Colour

Buzzing with energy, Wheels at Wanaka has over 50 acres of entertainment all located at Three Parks just minutes from the Wanaka waterfront.

Getting there

Arrowtown Autumn Festival runs from 22 – 26 April and brings together an amazing array of heritage, art, food, music and family fun.

Air New Zealand and Jetstar provide scheduled daily domestic flights to/from the international gateways of Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

I can almost guarantee there is something for everyone in the Queenstown Lakes in autumn.

Why not join us and make magical autumn memories that will last a lifetime.

Queenstown has an international airport which is located a handy 10-minute drive from the town centre.

Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Qantas operate regular trans-Tasman flights direct to Queenstown. CT

© Arrowtown Autumn Festival

Arrowtown’s Autumn Festival celebrates 36 years over 6 days from 21 – 26 April. Here’s the perfect time to come back.

Arrowtown was recently named New Zealand’s most beautiful small town in the 2020 Keep New Zealand Beautiful Awards and Autumn’s the best of all the stunning seasons to enjoy the beauty.

The charm of the Akarua Arrowtown Autumn Festival lies in its grass roots community focus which also attracts visitors nationwide and from overseas.

It creates a platform for local artists and musicians, all set among beautiful mountain scenery amid vibrant autumn colours. The iconic tree-lined avenue is a backdrop to the family ASB Saturday market day and parade and the Sunday Pie, Pint and Pinot event with other events popping up around the town. You’ll be spoilt for choice for things to do. Many are free.

The Lakes District Museum not only hosts the stunning Art Exhibition and Photography Competition Display, it’s the best place to start your visit with heritage stories of the 1860s gold mining heritage.

Here you can pick up maps of the many nature and mountain trails for cycling and walking.

The recent Beautiful Awards Arrowtown award showed the caring and inclusive community of which the Autumn Festival voluntary work is a fine example. The top environmental and heritage work elements of the award relied likewise on hard working and passionate volunteers from across the community.

Arrowtown - We’re ready for you. Just 20 minutes from Queenstown. www.arrowtown.com

www.arrowtown.com Email: info@arrowtown.com Phone: 03 4421824 www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 37

A Local Kiwi Company To Take You Beyond The Extraordinary Local, family owned, boutique helicopter operator Heliview Flights have made it their mission to show visitors the best of Central Otago’s wine and food scene – both on the ground and from above. “COVID has made us pause and reflect on what is important to us. Family and supporting local are coming up tops every time.”

This sentiment stirred them to launch a brand new helidining experience to inspire you to #supportlocal! There is no doubt that Central Otago’s epicurean produce is second to none – so they have crafted their High Country Heli Picnic to bring together local producers and curate the best picnic the region has ever seen.

Taste Central Otago With Its Orchards, Vineyards & High Country As Your Backdrop There is something spectacularly unique about being able to enjoy a picnic overlooking the landscape from which all its contents originated. Guests take off and soar above

the orchards where the local fruit is carefully grown. Fly within cork-popping distance of the vineyards that line the landscape and produce the bubbly Quartz Reef Methode Traditionelle that you’re sipping.

Their experiences focus on you first and foremost and are based on what visitors love the most. Choose from helidine experiences, to heli-bike adventures to the ultimate heli-gold-wine tour by helicopter and Jeep Wrangler.

Heli Gold Wine Adventure – The Gold Standard In Wine Tours Get picked up by Jeep Wrangler before soaring above and beyond. Choose up to six wineries. Landing on the lawn at the Cloudy Bay Tasting Shed is an experience not to be missed – aside from feeling like an absolute rock star there is no better way to get a true understanding of the surrounding landscape and sheer scale of the Central Otago wine region.

Get in touch with the team behind the (mountain) scenes It’s easy to get in touch with Heliview Flights – being a family run company either Pilot Richard or his wife Jolanda (the real boss) will answer the phone and be able to help you. Check them out on instagram @heliviewflights, give them a call on 0800 435 426 or check out the website: www.heliview.co.nz.

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Hospitality | Luciano Espresso Bar

Hospitality | Gatherings

Cooking with the seasons On the corner of Bealey Avenue and Papanui Road you’ll find the fresh and everchanging dining experience called Gatherings.

This small restaurant and wine bar is sure to leave a big impression with its sharing-style menu and locally sourced ingredients.

What makes Gatherings different from most other restaurants is its seasonal menu.

Gatherings owner and chef, Alex Davies says, “Our dishes are dictated by the farms, not the other way around. Usually, a chef will design a dish and then seek the produce; kind of have an idea of the seasons but seek out produce.

“Whereas, we will say, ‘what’s available this week?’ We’ll get lists from our suppliers and then we’ll build menus around what’s available.”

Cooking seasonally encourages sustainability and decreases the restaurant’s environmental impact. Sustainability is a high priority for Gatherings, which is why it partners with suppliers like Streamside Organics and Cultivate Urban Farms.

Most chefs build menus with dishes they would like to cook and then seek out the ingredients. However, that’s not the case at Gatherings.

The restaurant’s chef and owner Alex Davies cooks seasonally, which means he bases the menu off of what is available.

Cooking seasonally is sustainable because it doesn’t rely on coal-heated greenhouses or international imports.

At Gatherings, you’ll enjoy dishes made up of organic and locally sourced ingredients.

Providing the perfect blend Award winning barista Luciano Marcolino knows his way around a coffee machine.

“

We also challenge ourselves to innovate with

Along with being organic, the short distances between the restaurant and farms means less fuel is required to deliver produce, therefore, decreasing Gatherings’ environmental impact.

But the secret to his business success?

the freshest ingredients

It’s the whole package, the founder of Luciano Espresso Bar says.

available, offering you

Continuing on the theme of locally sourced goods, Alex likes to use Old French Road olive oil which uses olives grown on Banks Peninsula.

“The food, the coffee and the customer service, that’s what I think we are good at, trying to cover all the bases.”

Gatherings’ main staples are vegetables and fish which makes olive oil the perfect accompaniment.

Originally from Brazil, Luciano moved to Christchurch with wife Melissa in 1998 and instantly knew it was a place he wanted to call home.

Eating together Recently, Alex has realized the importance of bringing loved ones together to share in good food and company.

To explain, Alex says, “We realised that cooking is togetherness after lockdown and being together as friends and families. So, we’ve done large format dishes, big seasonal kinds of plates.

He went on to complete a diploma in hospitality management, pursuing his passion for the coffee industry and working for a café, where he quickly became more and more passionate about coffee.

“

Our dishes are dictated by the farms, not the other way

Want great food?

“People come in and they all dine together and they all share and order bits and pieces off the menu and eat as they would at home.”

around. Usually, a chef will

There’s quite a buzz about Gatherings, so be sure to book a reservation ahead of time to ensure you and your party can enjoy all Gatherings has to offer.

the produce; kind of have an

The food menu at Luciano Espresso Bar has been created by its passionate chefs, who know how to create meals with flavors that fill and satisfy.

design a dish and then seek idea of the seasons but seek out produce.

- Gatherings owner and chef Alex Davies

”

Alternatively, bring a bit of Gatherings’ familystyle dining home and order the fish supper takeaway. A popular choice with restaurant patrons, many enjoy the whole line caught fish, the selection of salads, sides and sauces which can feed two to three people. CT

Cultivate is a Youth Development and community organisation operating as an urban farm that produces high quality organically grown produce for business and residents in Christchurch, delivering solutions for climate change recovery, biodiversity, positive youth development and food supply.

156 Peterborough Street, Christchurch Email: hello@cultivate.org.nz www.cultivate.org.nz

Gatherings 5/2 Papanui Road Merivale Christchurch 021 029 35641 info@gatherings.co.nz www.gatherings.co.nz — Advertising Feature

Phone 027 233 4230

Come in for brunch or lunch and choose from an extensive menu, or the culinary surprises in the cabinet.

Luciano’s kitchen carries all the café classics, and some new twists on old favourite’s.

something new to try.

”

“That was my biggest achievement, I gained a lot of credibility for those awards.”

After 15 years in the industry, Luciano has set up Strange Bandit by Luciano, a second café in Christchurch with Melissa and Zhen Xu (Q) his business partner, and says he has plans of expanding when he can.

“The whole situation at the moment with this pandemic around the world is making life hard for everyone, but eventually I would like to have a bigger café.

“It has to be the right location, the right place, there are all those little things that have to be almost perfect.” CT Luciano Espresso Bar 76 Moorhouse Avenue Christchurch (03) 961 1153 www.lucianoespressobar.co.nz — Advertising Feature

“We also challenge ourselves to innovate with the freshest ingredients available, offering you something new to try.”

He then moved to work for a coffee roaster, where he became the barista trainer for the company and helped to develop a coffee blend with the team, for the customers.

“New Zealand was the first time I represented in the coffee world champs and it all started from there really,” Luciano says

FARM’S CHICKEN

After eventually choosing to leave the roastery he was working for, Luciano set up Luciano Espresso Bar in 2007 in Christchurch and continued to rack up many awards for his barista skills.

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He won the New Zealand Barista 14 Hands Road, Middleton, Christchurch Championship three times and made P: (03) 3480086 E: info@farmschicken.co.nz seventh and 10th respectively in the world www.farmschicken.co.nz barista championships. www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 41

Less waste, low carbon, great quality of life!

We do use fun group activities, relevant web-links and accurate science

We don’t use guilt or fear, confusion, or free gift junk

work experience and build confidence in the work force but we can also offer the opportunity to train while you work through to management positions.

The business has enjoyed great success since first opening back in 1997 and continues to grow in popularity, with a bright inviting restaurant for family and friends to enjoy a bucket of the Colonels Famous Finger Lickin Good Chicken, the unforgettable taste of his secret 11 herbs in spices.

KFC RANGIORA was opened for business 30th April 1997 by Franchisees Garry & Carol Haskett and continues to be family owned and operated with their son Brad now involved in the management of the business. KFC Rangiora is one of only a few independently owned and operated KFC’s in New Zealand.

Currently employing 35 employees within the Waimakariri District and offering a range of positions suitable for all ages with flexible work hours. An exciting opportunity for high School students looking to gain

42 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

What makes our chicken taste so great... Fried chicken is our pride and joy, we receive the freshest locally sourced chicken, this fresh chicken is then hand prepared yes that’s right hand prepared by our trained cooks, its then pressure cooked in small batches for the right amount of time at just the right temperature to lock in those famous 11 herbs and spices creating that Finger Lickin great taste that Kiwi’s know and love.

Because we work with fresh ingredients daily, food safety is our number one priority, starting with a culture of food safety that resonates from the top down and includes regular audits of our suppliers, distributors and restaurants.

Focus On | North Canterbury

Hurry to Hurunui Most of the time when people visit the Hurunui District, it’s to enjoy Hanmer Springs.

With the new waterslide, Conical Thrill, it’s easy to see why. However, there are lots of reasons to visit the Hurunui District.

Just over an hour’s drive from Christchurch, Flaxmere Gardens is a gardener’s dream.

This slice of paradise is the result of 50 years of cultivation and care. Throughout your tour of the garden, you’ll be amazed at the carefully planned garden and its picturesque views of nearby mountains.

In regard to accommodation, you have your choice of powered and unpowered campground sites, cottages and hotel rooms. Also functioning as a restaurant and café, you can sip on a glass of wine from the hotel’s very own vineyard.

Heading into the Waipara Valley you’ll find Fiddler’s Green Vineyard & Bistro. Food featured on the restaurant’s menu are European with a Kiwi twist.

Along with featuring its own wines, you have the opportunity to taste about 60 other wines found in the Waipara Valley that don’t have their own cellar doors. In addition to food and wine, you can meet the alpacas responsible for maintaining the surrounding lawns.

By the end of February, most of summer’s roses will have gone but heading into autumn the garden begins its transformation as trees go from green to red and orange. No matter the season, it’s a sight to behold so be sure to secure a booking!

The Hurunui District has lots to look forward to heading into autumn. Some events taking place throughout the region include: • The Honour Festival, 27 February 2021

While taking in the views and traveling through the district, why not stop by the Hurunui Hotel located on State Highway 7? Whether you’re looking for a place to stay or a bite to eat, this historic hotel and surrounding scenery is sure to satisfy.

• Harvest Dinner Dance, 6 March 2021

Established in 1868, the hotel is known for holding the longest, continuous alcohol license in New Zealand.

For more information, check out www.visithurunui.co.nz.

• North Canterbury Wine & Food Festival, 7 March 2021 • Hanmer Springs 4 & 8 hour MTB Challenge, 20 March 2021.

In fact, Fiddler’s Green will be hosting its Harvest Dinner Dance on 6 March 2021. At the event you can expect a night of dancing and music provided by a 15-piece orchestra.

Canterbury foods and wines while also enjoying a day of entertainment.

At $200 a person, guests will appreciate a complete dinner with each course paired with Fiddler’s Green wines. Plus, a shuttle service from Christchurch and onsite glamping can also be arranged.

Make it a weekend of merriment by attending the North Canterbury Wine and Food Festival taking place the very next day under the oaks at Glenmark Domain.

At the ‘coolest little wine festival’ you can meet the people behind your favourite North

Standard and sober driver tickets are available for purchase. Both tickets allow festival attendees to purchase non-alcoholic beverages, foods and access to events and entertainment but sober drivers are required to wear wristbands to prevent the purchase of alcohol.

There’s lots to do in the Hurunui District not listed here so be sure to hurry on over to relish in all that the district has to offer. To stay up to date on events happening in the district check out visithurunui.co.nz. CT

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Focus On | Selwyn – Rolleston

Life is a highway

Take a road trip through Selwyn District and take in the sights along the way For those who want to step away from the hustle and bustle of the cities, cruising through Selwyn is a recipe for success.

It’s the perfect time for a road trip as summer is in full swing without the usual thrum of international tourists buzzing about.

The Great Alpine Highway The Great Alpine Highway, or SH73, takes you from Christchurch to the West Coast on a three-and-a-half-hour scenic tour of Selwyn’s splendour – towering alpine vistas, the Canterbury Plains, past takes and rivers into Arthur’s Pass National Park.

On top of Arthur’s Pass, Selwyn District’s most well-known views are Kura Tawhiti/Castle Hill.

Whether you want to go for a hike or a bike ride, there are camping areas to stay the night.

There are also cheeky keas hanging around the campsite trying to convince you for a nibble.

Whether by road or train, the scenic views are endless and varied as you move across the plains and into the foothills and mountains.

When leaving Christchurch, you can stop by the wineries in West Melton and Burnham to taste some locally produced wine.

On the road in the valley between mountains, Arthur’s Pass.

“

This drive through New Zealand’s heartland will give you views in four distinct districts that include Selwyn. The farmlands of Hororata transform into the Southern Alps.

”

With wineries like Melton Estate, which is known for its modern winery overlooking its Pinot Noir wines, you can also experience a boutique wine experience.

If you wanted to experience views closer to the ground, horse trekking is available in the high country.

State Highway 73 is also the gateway to Selwyn’s six ski fields, boasting slopes available for beginner to advanced skiers, with the season ramping up around June and ending in October.

The Inland Scenic Route, also known as SH72, travels both ways – south to north or vice versa.

The Inland Scenic Route

With the expansive landscape available, there is also plenty of room for paragliding and taking in the breath-taking views from above.

This drive through New Zealand’s heartland will give you views in four distinct districts that include Selwyn. The farmlands of Hororata transform into the Southern Alps.

Continued on page 46 >

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Smart electrical systems for smarter kiwi homes With the advancement of technology in the past decade we are seeing more and more smart devices introduced into our homes. Whether it is your smart phone, smart television or smart whiteware, as homeowners we are starting to utilise more of these devices to make our everyday living comfortable and convenient.

While these devices have progressed along the technology curve our electrical

systems in our home have remained stagnant as we continue to wire our homes in the same methods developed decades ago.

At Selwyn Electrical Contractors we encourage our clients to look outside then norm and future proof by adding a Smart Electrical System to their new home.

By integrating all your devices in your home into one Smart Electrical System you have complete control over your

electrical loads, including your lighting circuits, ventilation, heating, and air-conditioning systems, audio/visual systems, and security systems.

There and numerous benefits to adding a Smart Electrical System to your new home build like simplicity of control over multiple systems and devices and energy reduction as the Smart Electrical System controls when your electrical load is required.

At Selwyn Electrical Contractors we have completed multiple online certified KNX webinars as well as the KNX course to design which enables us to install and integrate the KNX Smart Electrical System into your new home.

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Focus On | Selwyn – Rolleston

Bridges over Rakaia River, Rakaia Gorge.

From the Rakaia River to the Waimakariri River, Gorge bridges – the campground is run by the family-owned farms and small towns dot the the Rakaia Gorge Society as a non-profit with region in a way that enhances the landscape.

58 permanent sites for casual stayers and tourists alike.

The Rakaia Gorge, with its wide shingle beds that resemble the Waimakariri River until it squeezes through a narrow cavern in the Canterbury Plains, is one of the best places to camp in the South Island.

The Rakaia Gorge camp ground sits on a plateau directly above the Rakaia River at the

Within the Selwyn District, there’s so much to see and do – historic buildings and unique insights, such as the Homer Simpson donut in the town of Springfield, short walks and long hikes, and similar activities for the ultimate outdoorsperson.

Boutique cafes and eateries, like the famous Sheffield Pies along the Great Alpine Highway, bring people far and wide for a taste.

Grab your keys and hop on the road for the full swing of summer in Selwyn.

Visit www.selwyn.nz for tips on what to do, where to stay, and what’s on during your trip to the Selwyn District. CT

Events in Selwyn District for summer 2021: • Selwyn Wine & Beer Festival – 20 February • Selwyn Sounds Music Festival – 6 March • Rakaia Basin Glacial Trip – 7 March • South Island Field Days – 24-26 March • Malvern A&P Show – 27 March.

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Focus On | Rangiora

Rollicking through Rangiora The Rangiora Museum has multiple rooms staged in a way that is representative of what it was like to live in Rangiora in the early 1900s.

Similarly, the Northbrook Colonial Museum has a display of what a street in Rangiora would have looked like in earlier times featuring various shops.

Just a 30 minutes’ drive from Christchurch, Rangiora is often referred to as the hub of the Waimakariri. Even though it’s considered the largest town in the district, you can still escape to Rangiora for that rural get away you’ve been looking for.

Sunday markets Sunday markets are the perfect opportunity to support small businesses and a chance for you to bring a little bit of the country back home with you. Thankfully, Rangiora has a couple of Sunday markets to choose from – or why not try them both?

Located in the Blake Street carpark in Rangiora, the Rangiora Sunday Market is held twice a month during the months of September through to May. At the market you’ll find a range of goods including food, plants, jewellery, household items, firewood and kindling. Plus, for a small fee, children can play in the club rooms as you do your shopping.

Since its European settlement in the 1850s, Rangiora has grown to be the largest town in the Waimakariri. Its abundance of outdoor activities, shopping and entertainment often draws people in to Rangiora from nearby towns.

A walk in the park Interestingly, Northbrook Wetlands wasn’t always the reserve we all enjoy today. Years and years ago the land hosted flax mills, a tannery and a brewery. However, in 2002, the site was converted to a wetlands reserve and a stormwater treatment area.

According to the Waimakariri District Council, Northbrook Wetlands treats 60 percent of urban Rangiora’s stormwater including runoff from main roads, the railway and industrial sites.

With over 12,000 native plants in place, Northbrook Wetlands is home to local wildlife like pukeko, fantails, paradise ducks and others. Puschchair and wheelchair friendly, the whole family is sure to enjoy a stroll about the reserve.

Local history Museums have a sacred duty to their communities and patrons. Local museums like

Kids also have fun at the North Canterbury those in Rangiora hold the special responsibility Sunday Market kids’ corner. This market of keeping and maintaining records and even the takes place every Sunday and is located at the family histories of Rangiora residents.

Rangiora Racecourse. At the market you’ll find In Rangiora there are two museums you can stalls featuring a variety of produce such as visit, one of them being the Rangiora Museum. fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and eggs.

At the Rangiora Museum you’ll find an archive of photographs recording the town and its For more information on events or things to do inhabitants’ history. Some families have lived in Rangiora and the Waimakariri, check out: in Rangiora for generations and, in a way, the www.visitwaimakariri.co.nz. CT museum preserves family histories as well.

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PO Box 54, Kaiapoi Mobile: 027 245 8140 Email: J_amatthews@xtra.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 47

Focus On | Halswell

Walk it out A guide to Halswell Quarry’s eclectic combination of recreational walks, historic sites and botanical gardens Sister City walks These beginner walks are easily accessible and connect botanical collections from six of Christchurch’s sister cities – Adelaide, Australia; Christchurch, England; Gansu Province, China; Kurashiki, Japan; Seattle, United States; and Songpa-Gu, Korea.

The Sister City walks represent the landscapes of Christchurch’s different sister cities, as well as the Canterbury region here in New Zealand.

Each garden’s landscape was planned with extensive consultation with each sister city.

Every botanical collection has 1,000 square metres of land that celebrate the diverse nature from each sister cities’ region, with native plants from all of them.

The old quarry buildings contrast the stunning view of the Southern Alps as well as Christchurch. Information panels dot the track to indicate historic features of the quarry with viewing points and seating available to rest.

The track starts in the main car park and up the hill to view the quarry from a high vantage point. It links to Kennedys Bush Track along the way, eventually descending to Findlay’s picnic area and back to the main car park.

The Quarry Rim Track spans a kilometre and is meant to be a 40-minute circuit. Dogs are allowed so long as they’re kept on a leash.

Kennedys Bush Track

There are various 15-minute walks where you can explore the reserve, wandering by the ponds from the sister cities.

Kennedys Bush Access Track provides a route from Halswell Quarry Park up to Kennedys Bush Road.

These tracks can also link up for a longer walk that takes about an hour or so. Dogs are allowed so long as they’re kept on a leash.

This walk is longer than other access tracks, spanning 25 minutes one way. Dogs are allowed so long as they’re kept on a leash.

Quarry Rim Track Previously the oldest continually operated quarry in Australasia, this walk takes you on a tour of the vast quarry face and former facilities.

Cashmere Road shared use track. Copyright Christchurch City Council.

Starting at Findlay’s picnic area, you can follow the track uphill through scenic gum trees and sleepy sheep paddocks. Once you reach a zig-zag section, that will take you onto Kennedys Bush Road.

Quarry view. Copyright Christchurch City Council.

Findlay’s Walk The aptly named Findlay’s Walk track provides access up to Findlay’s picnic area.

Sister City walks. Copyright Christchurch City Council.

The track will take you to the Crocodile intersection leading into the pine forest.

Canterbury Wetland Walk

From the main entrance, you can follow the path Halswell Quarry was the source of the blue-grey alongside the road and up past the Visitor Centre stone seen in Christchurch’s older buildings. and the main car park. Keep walking until you reach Findlay’s picnic area.

When it ceased operation and became a 60-hectare conservation area in 1999, its Findlay’s Walk is 10 minutes one way, with dogs restoration involved creating wetland areas and allowed so long as they’re kept on a leash. extensive native planting, specifically for birdlife.

The track is 400 metres and is meant to be a Cashmere Hill Loop 15-minute circuit.

The Cashmere Hill Loop is a great option for those who want to go on a walk or run with limited time. It offers green views with striking trees and shrubbery – dogs are allowed so long as they’re kept on a leash.

You can start from the Visitor Centre. From there, cross the road and take the path over the wooden bridge. Meander through the plants and observe birds in their natural habitat.

From the entrance at Cashmere Road, you can No dogs are allowed on this track to protect the access the loop through the Seattle Gardens and local wildlife. up above the Gansu Gardens, which you can view from the Cashmere Hill Loop.

Quarry View Follow the path downhill until the intersection with the shared use track. You can follow this all the way back to the Cashmere Road car park where you began.

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This is meant to be a 20-minute circuit.

Cashmere Road share use track This track leads into Halswell Quarry from a different entrance – Cashmere car park – and connects with the Crocodile mountain biking track. This track is 10 minutes one way.

This short walk is five minutes one way, providing a stunning 360-degree view of the entirety of Halswell Quarry.

The easiest way to get there is to follow the road uphill past the buildings from the main car park.

Taking the track up to your left up the small hill is where you’ll find the best view from the top.

From there, you can observe the inner quarry from above. If you follow the track around the other side of the hill, you get a good view of the park – specifically, the Sister City Gardens. CT

Starting at the Cashmere car park, you take the path through the main gates. From there, you follow it past the wetlands alongside the Seattle For more information on various parks you Gardens to continue up past the Gansu Gardens, can visit in the Christchurch region, –visit: www.ccc.govt.nz/parks-and-gardens. much like the Cashmere Hill Loop.

CUSTOM CAKES & CATERING FOR ANY OCCASION Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, Baby Shower, Gender Reveal, etc.

Orders Essential Whether you’re hosting an event or planning a boot party at the races, the team at Halswell Bakery can provide catering to suit your requirements.

From tasty club sandwich platters, bacon and egg slice, quiche and savouries to donuts, sweet treats and custom cakes, everything is freshly handmade on-site. They can even put together a grazing platter for you, and can assist with providing for those with dietary restrictions.

With a focus on fast, friendly and efficient service, the team want you to know that they understand how valuable your time is, and they are here to make your life easier. “our food is fresh, simple and delicious, and our cakes are definitely made for eating!

Check out their website for the catering menu and online ordering www.halswellbakery.co.nz, email shop@halswellbakery.co.nz or give them a call on (03) 322 4600 to discuss your requirements.

HALSWELL BAKERY & CAFÉ - Open 7 days 346 Halswell Rd • Phone: 322-4600 • Email: shop@halswellbakery.co.nz • www.halswellbakery.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 49

Focus On | Timaru

Caroline Bay

One of the South Island’s most family friendly beaches Caroline Bay is the most widely known of all the parks in the Timaru District. When speaking to some from outside Canterbury about Timaru they will usually mention Caroline Bay, whereas locals will often refer to it as ‘The Bay’.

The beach is sheltered by the harbour breakwater and is the only sandy beach between Oamaru and Banks Peninsula. March 2014 saw Caroline Bay beach being voted the most popular beach in the South Island.

Allied with the popular swimming beach is the annual summer carnival run by the voluntary Caroline Bay Association.

The carnival has been operating for over a hundred years and draws people from around much of New Zealand to attend or assist with its operation. The carnival is a traditional family affair with free concerts, rides and sideshow style games.

The Piazza straddles the railway line and provides access for pedestrians via a grand staircase or via a lift, which is unique for a public park in this country. Caroline Bay covers an area of 34 hectares excluding the beach.

Coastal area The dunes of Caroline Bay were awarded the Best Dune Re-vegetation Project trophy in 2010 after they were revegetated with native sand binding plants.

Today the established plantings are likely to be the most diverse in the country and Caroline Bay itself is located between the Pacific studied by university students.

Ocean and the Timaru Central Business District, being separated from the main shopping area by Little penguins have now established a colony in and around Caroline Bay. the South Island Main Trunk Railway lines.

Caroline Bay activities Caroline Bay is the most popular outdoor events centre in South Canterbury as well as being a very popular recreation area.

There is a destination sized children’s playground, two free barbeques, outdoor gym equipment, large open spaces and plenty of infrastructure to support its various uses.

There are also beach volleyball courts, mini golf, tennis courts, skate park and a small train offering rides. The various walks are enjoyed on a daily basis by many people and are also used for events such as triathlons Timaru is also lucky enough to have the Trevor Griffiths Rose Gardens with the roses flowering from November until July.

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Timaru has a fine collection of Old Roses. These are a style of rose that is bred to have a shorter flatter flower, rather than the taller tapering flower of Modern Roses.

This is largely as a result of the legacy of the late Trevor Griffiths, a local rosarian, who specialised in growing and writing about old roses.

The first 50 years An excerpt from Caroline Bay’s Diary of Major Events 1876 – The Terrace footbridge opened 1894 – First working bees to lay out area 1902 – First beautification plan began 1904 – The band rotunda opened 1906 – The Palliser fountain presented 1911 – Marine Parade opened First

Christmas carnival 1912 – Piazza erected 1913 – Tennis courts, pavilion; cliffs levelled 1915 – North end playground opened; hot

sea water bathing complex; clock

mounted on rotunda 1923 – Pavilion replaced by Bay Hall 1926 – First lighting erected.

On the Timaru District Council’s website, www.timaru.govt.nz, check out Diary of Major Events that have occurred on the Bay over the years from 1876 under Related Documents.

Public artworks such as sculptures and a mural, along with items of historical significance, make a visit to Caroline Bay a culture and educational experience.

Caroline Bay also contributes to the landscape by giving world class views over its green area and across the sea to the distant mountains which are often snow covered in winter. CT

Ample carparking and indoor venues complement the outdoor venues to cater for many events.

For more information about Caroline Bay, visit: www.timaru.govt.nz. Copyright for this content belongs to the Timaru District Council.

Champion support for a better game Golf coaching and equipment

Whether you’re new to the sport and looking to build confidence and ability, or you’re a seasoned player who wants to shave a few shots off an already decent game, we’ve got the advice and the gear to help you achieve your goals.

DRIVING RANGE

Whether it’s to improve your game, give golf a go or have some fun, our new purpose built driving range is the place for you. Visiting Peter Hayes Golf driving range is a great idea for social gatherings, work groups and events, families, friends, churches, schools, holiday programmes, special needs groups, sports teams and youth groups.

Gleniti Golf Club 36 Oakwood Road, Timaru 7974 P 03 686 0305 M 027 436 2919 E info@peterhayesgolf.co.nz peterhayesgolf.co.nz

Treat yourself

A hidden gem. Shine offers you classic spa and beauty treatments as well as an atmospheric day spa.

SPA | BEAUTY | WELLBEING

Level 1, Oxford Building, Corner George & Stafford Streets, Timaru 7910 Phone: (03) 684 7699 Email: shinesalonspa@xtra.co.nz www.shinesalonspa.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 51

Focus On | Timaru

In full bloom

Timaru Botanic Gardens full of traditions and history The main entrance to the Timaru Botanic Gardens is on Queen Street near the corner of King Street.

To enter you pass through the ornate Gloucester Gates which were opened by the Duke of Gloucester in 1935.

A brief history In 1864 Canterbury Provincial Council was asked by the people of Timaru to make a reserve out of unsold land known as Government Town at the south end of Timaru.

This consisted of just over one square kilometer of land between Domain Avenue, North Street Craigie Avenue and the ocean.

The Government lifted 23 hectares of land from ‘waste land regulations’ and surveyor Samuel Hewlings set aside two hectares for Botanic Gardens.

$200 pounds was set aside in 1872 for a ranger’s cottage and advertisements soon appeared in the Timaru Herald inviting the public In 1867 the area was placed under the care of the Borough of Timaru Park Commissioners, the to make donations of trees, shrubs, flower roots, bulbs and seeds. following year the planting of trees and shrubs got underway.

Continued on page 54>

52 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

“

The Timaru Botanic Gardens provides some very attractive vistas as well as a year-round interest for plant lovers. It is a photographer’s delight.

”

TIMARU’S LITTLE PENGUIN JEWELLERY RANGE

a bracelet, charm and brooch/tie pin, all available in sterling silver or gold. A portion of the proceeds of each sale is set aside for donation, in cooperation with the Timaru District Council, to projects which directly benefit the local penguin population.

Korora/little penguins have the conservation status ‘at risk-declining’ making their presence along the Timaru coastline, and Caroline Bay in particular, significant from an environmental perspective. It is the fact that they are so accessible to the curious public in spite of their reputation for being hard to spot (due to their small stature – they are the world’s smallest penguins – and the fact that they are nocturnal on land), though, that has given them virtual celebrity status in Timaru.

By day the penguins are generally out at sea, fishing and feeding. They congregate in small groups, or “rafts” offshore at dusk. Visitors to Caroline Bay, particularly in the summer months, have the privilege of observing them making their way in from the sea to their nesting area adjacent to Marine Parade. There is often a sizable crowd of onlookers, comprising locals and tourists, as well as a number of generous local volunteers who give so much of their time to ensure the penguins are safe and the interested public well-informed.

Since its launch in 2018, The Ringmakers’ penguin jewellery range has become a wearable reminder of Timaru for locals, ex-pats and visitors alike, with the added bonus of supporting the protection of Caroline Bay’s korora/little penguin population. The range, which features variations of a simple penguin design, includes pendants, earrings,

The Ringmakers’ owner, Brent White, who designed the jewellery range, is delighted with its continuing success. He believes that combining a positive environmental message around preserving our precious coastal and marine ecosystems with a well-made, fun item of jewellery that represents Timaru ticks several boxes for his customers. “Buying something that you get enjoyment from which also supports a tangible local environmental initiative is a win-win, and definitely has the feelgood factor.”

Protecting our precious ecology is a community effort and The Ringmakers are proud to work in partnership with the Timaru District Council to support projects to ensure the continued growth and safety of our little penguin population.

WHY SETTLE FOR THE ORDINARY? With three manufacturing jewellers on site, The Ringmakers offers obligation-free designing and quoting, along with the opportunity for close involvement in the selection of stones and refining of designs throughout the manufacturing process.

The end result?

EXQUISITE HANDMADE JEWELLERY THAT IS UNIQUELY YOURS. 270 STAFFORD ST, TIMARU P 03 688 1362 | THERINGMAKERS.CO.NZ www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 53

Focus On | Timaru Timaru Botanic Garden key features: • Graeme Paterson Conservatory and Fernery • Ornamental ponds • Interpretive centre • Aviary • Cenotaph and War Memorial Wall • Anderson Rose Garden • Band rotunda • Children’s playground • Species Rose Garden • Native plant collections • Threatened plant collections • Ornamental plantings • Pinetum • Queen Victoria Garden.

The majority of early planting was carried out with convict labour from the local Timaru Gaol and floral fetes were organized to raise money for development of The Gardens.

The first glasshouse/conservatory was constructed in 1905 around the time when the south side of The Gardens were still being leased for the farming of crops and the grazing of sheep.

The Band Rotunda was added in 1912 to commemorate the Coronation of King George V. The following year the marble statue of renowned Scottish poet Robert Burns was donated to the people of Timaru by former mayor James Craigie. By 1916 tennis courts and a bowling green had been laid down.

In 1938 land for the Timaru Hospital was subdivided from the Botanic Gardens providing patients and visitors with a lovely environment for rest, recuperation and reflection In 1988 the Shakespeare Trail was laid out and the Graeme Paterson Conservatory was

For more information about the Timaru Botanic Garden, visit www.timaru.govt.nz.

Copyright for this content belongs to the Timaru District Council. built in honour of the former Director of Parks and Recreation In 2014 the Timaru Botanic Gardens was recognised as a Garden of National Significance by the New Zealand Gardens Trust.

The Timaru Botanic Gardens provides some very attractive vistas as well as a year-round interest for plant lovers. It is a photographer’s delight.

A highlight for children is feeding the ducks on a Saturday, by Sunday they are usually too well fed to be interested. CT

What sets Makikihi Fries apart most .. is undoubtedly our golden, Agria potatoes .. and our 100% natural, great taste.

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A commitment remains to ‘keeping things simple’ - with minimal, natural, high-quality ingredients, Gluten-Free, and a proud commitment to being Carbon Zero.

Oh .. and did we mention the Great Taste?

Think Local .. Buy Local • GLUTEN FREE • CARBON ZERO • 100% LOCALLY-OWNED AND OPERATED • 100% LOCALLY-GROWN INGREDIENTS

54 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

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Are you looking for a different kind of automotive workshop - one that is focused on helping you, rather than increasing the size of your bill from the moment you walk in the front door?

Well, The Muffler & Auto Shop in Timaru is that automotive workshop, we are a small business that offers its quality workmanship at reasonable prices.

Our services include: • WOF Inspections

• Brakes

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• General repairs

• CV joints

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• Clutches

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Phone 03 688 9412 www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 55

Focus On | Timaru – Geraldine Signs & Branded Kiwi

Full-service branding company opens branch in Timaru Owner operator Sean from Branded Kiwi is expanding his business into Timaru.

Branded Kiwi is a division of the wellestablished signage company Geraldine Signs and is located at “The Complex” 300 Hilton Highway (formerly Ken Wills).

Branded Kiwi is your full-service branding solutions for your business, including professional signwriting and graphic design, websites, social media and now safety signage and clothing.

The flagship – Geraldine Signs – was established in 1992 and since then the business has grown steadily servicing the high country and throughout South Canterbury.

This growth meant that a second premises was needed to keep up with demand and increase the profile of Sean’s three businesses: Geraldine Signs, Safe Tradie and Branded Kiwi.

A “good news” story for Timaru, this move is providing new employment in South Canterbury, as well as more choice for existing and new businesses when making their branding decisions.

Branded Kiwi has now opened at the Timaru site.

To find out more check them out online at: www.geraldinesigns.co.nz, www.branded.kiwi, www.safetradie.co.nz. CT

Branded Kiwi owner and operator Sean.

“

A boutique agency geared to assist Kiwi-owned small businesses with branding and website design. From brand concept to product conversion, Branded Kiwi helps you get started the right way.

56 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

”

Branded Kiwi 0800 2 27263 choice@branded.kiwi www.branded.kiwi — Advertising Feature

TIMARU SHUTTLE & TRANSFERS Timaru Shuttle offers a Door to Door service between Timaru and Christchurch, operating Monday to Friday.

We can also pick up along SH1 at Temuka, Geraldine, Ashburton and all points along this route.

Comfortable vehicle and friendly drivers from your place to Christchurch airport or a destination in Christchurch city.

Easy online bookings at www.timarushuttle.com or call us on 021 344780 for your personal requirements Private transfers can be arranged 7 days a week

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 57

Life & Style | Juice Products NZ

Clean, green New Zealand Famed for its clear lakes and rolling plains, South Canterbury is the prime spot for growing quality produce here in New Zealand.

It’s no wonder that Juice Products NZ (JPNZ), based in Timaru, is the largest carrot juice processor in Australasia and the second largest worldwide.

Juice Products NZ sales and marketing manager, Michael Brown says, “Our carrot juice is a very high quality, and a steady, constant supply.

“For example, in the states there is a massive processing plant, and they produce triple what we would. But all their carrots are by-products of baby carrots, and our carrots are grown specifically for juicing, meaning our production is more stable.”

Juice Products NZ’s main competitor, Bolthouse Farms, uses the shavings left over from creating baby carrots, so its juice is dependent on how many baby carrots are sold.

Proud to be the Strategic

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Due to the fact that more people are staying at home in the US due to Covid, they’re turning to whole carrots for cooking, which means there’s less by-product left over from producing baby carrots.

JPNZ sees this is an opportunity to slide in to fill that gap and showcase the security in the amount of product it has, especially as the company just planted the crops based off of its yearly forecast.

“Our bestseller is 50 Brix Orange Carrot Juice.

It’s a concentrate of orange carrot juice. That would be far and away is the largest product we deal with,” Michael says.

While 90 percent of its production involves carrots, JPNZ’s juice concentrates – as well as fruit and vegetable pulps and purees – uses other core crops such as beetroot, blackcurrant and more.

artikelandswint.co.nz

In terms of diversifying its offerings, JPNZ is implementing its ‘green trials’, moving into

green, leafy vegetables in partnership with one of its customers.

JPNZ fast facts:

To start off, the team is growing a modest crop of 300kg in kale for juicing. If this trial is successful, JPNZ would expand to much larger commercial volumes.

• The largest carrot juice processor in Australasia

The company also works closely with local farmers and transport companies to ensure it has an efficient and well-run network throughout all aspects of the process.

• JPNZ uses more than 70 percent of the carrots in NZ

Michael says the company likes to keep everything “as local as possible”.

JPNZ’s customers are mainly other businesses that use the ingredients for products like fruit and vegetable-based drinks that eventually hit the retail market.

Considering the global impacts of COVID-19, the company is in a solid position for the future and is still turning a profit.

• The second largest carrot juice processor in the world

• Carrots represent 90 percent of JPNZ concentrated juice production • More than 80 percent of JPNZ’s customers are in Japan • Customers also based throughout Asia, America and Australasia • Established originally in 1993 in Timaru • JPNZ was acquired by Sumitomo Corporation in 2014.

Continuing to support local industry with the latest technology LOCATION: 52 BANK STREET TIMARU POSTAL: PO BOX 554 TIMARU TELEPHONE: 03 688 5310 24 HOUR SERVICE: 027 243 8479 FACSIMILE: 03 688 5924 E-MAIL: ICSC@ICSC.CO.NZ WEBSITE: WWW.ICSC.CO.NZ 58 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

• Process automation • Industrial electrical services • Inhouse design and build • Data, communication and control networks • Turnkey project management • Realtime process tracking • Industrial database development

Life & Style | Juice Products NZ

JPNZ is looking to expand above and beyond what they’re doing now, such as streamlining processes and bringing more facilities in-house.

At its processing plant facilities in Timaru, it now has its own cold stores to keep its products fresh in their frozen form. Previously, its products were being stored at a third-party facility. Not only that, but as of March 2020, the company has in-house loading docks for containers.

This has given JPNZ leeway for last minute changes – previously, containers needed to be locked down a week before it was due to ship, while now products can be manoeuvred two to three days before.

The latest innovation from the R&D team Quality control and product innovation are at the forefront of what Juice Product NZ does.

These rigorous processes make sure its products maintain the premium quality that the company is known for worldwide.

Both the technical/quality team individually tests products. Each batch number tests against physicochemical, microbiological, and residue specifications. JPNZ maintains full traceability in the off chance something goes wrong in the process.

Clarified carrot juice, or carrot juice with the pigmentation taken out, is a popular product that JPNZ is looking to improve further.

When it comes out, it still has a slight off-white hue. As customers want a natural sweetener without the carrot taste, the clarified carrot juice is perfect for sweetening a variety of juices and products.

Previously, JPNZ used lemon to clarify the carrot juice with its natural acidity. The R&D team has been experimenting with different enzymes to make this further clarified product.

“

One thing we also do with clarified carrot juice is we put a special enzyme to ‘depectinise’ the carrot juice and filter to

”

assist with removal of the colour.

“One thing we also do with clarified carrot juice is we put a special enzyme to ‘depectinise’ the carrot juice and filter to assist with removal of the colour.

“We’re looking at different ways to do that, on top of increasing efficiency. That’s so we can do it quicker and for our customers, that means we’re reducing our bottom line so we can get it to them cheaper as well,” Michael says.

More than ever before, people are health conscious and are focused on general wellness.

Customers want 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices and other products, and Juice Products NZ strives to meet the demand for “wholesome New Zealand clean green products”. CT Juice Products NZ 55 Sheffield Street Washdyke Timaru (03) 687 4170 michaelb@jp-nz.com www.jp-nz.com

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Phone: 036839099 www.brosnantransport.co.nz

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www.coolpak.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 59

Society | Funeral Planning

Sport & Recreation | Canterbury Golf Courses

Basic steps to planning a funeral

Getting into the swing of things

The game of golf, like many things, is simple but not easy.

Herein lies the attraction and challenge of golf – arguably one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

There are a lot of good reasons to get into the game; as Love Golf NZ says, “A round of golf is four hours of fresh air, equivalent to a 5-6km run, burns 2,000 calories, increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain, and connects us to nature. Sounds like a great excuse to get out of the house and get onto your local golf course,” – which pretty much sums it up.

With perhaps one or two exceptions only, the game in New Zealand simply doesn’t suffer from the ‘grass ceiling’ effect.

Canterbury, with its diverse landscapes and open spaces, offers a plethora of options for both seasoned players, people who are new to the game, and anyone in-between.

If you don’t have your own equipment, the majority of clubs have hire equipment available at very reasonable rates – just make sure you check with the club first before arriving unannounced to avoid potential disappointment.

Be it resort-style courses such as Terrace Downs, Clearwater and Pegasus, city courses like the Christchurch Golf Club, Russley Golf Club, Waimairi Beach, Harewood, Coringa and Waitikiri, or wonderful rural clubs dotted all across the region in wonderful spots such as Methven, Hororata, Ashburton, Rangiora, Amberley, Temuka, Timaru, Geraldine, Fairlie, Hanmer Springs, Kaikoura and basically anywhere else you care to name – there’s a course not too far away from wherever you are.

While the game can have a somewhat stuffy and exclusive reputation in various parts of the world, primarily due to it being old game with a rich history in population-dense regions, which can make it expensive – this isn’t the case with the game in Canterbury, or New Zealand as a whole.

In fact, far from it. Clubs warmly welcome anyone wanting to join or visit and memberships and green fees are, by international standards, very easy on the wallet.

But before you take a single step onto any golf course – be warned; golf is horrendously addictive. One shot out of the middle of a clubface can have you addicted for life.

Planning a funeral for a loved one is something that no one ever wants to experience; it is an emotional, unsettling and often costly process.

There are 100 decisions that have to be made and there is no rulebook.

Because of the difficult nature of the conversation many people choose to avoid having the conversation in the first place, which may mean you are left with a lot of different options to consider and not a lot of guidance.

While often difficult to make decisions at a time when you are grieving, funerals help family and friends to remember and honor the person’s life, Another reason is because it is truly difficult to master. Yes, it’s easy enough to access and play while also providing people with the opportunity to say goodbye. (especially for those of us lucky enough to live in a place like Canterbury), but like anything, The following list outlines some of the steps becoming very good requires dedication. that are often included in a traditional funeral So why not venture out onto a course for the first time – be it as a complete novice new to the game or an accomplished player visiting a new course; the air is fresh, the scenery lovely, and it’s good for your body and mind (well, mostly).

See you out there.

CT

service, which may help with making the planning process a little bit easier.

Pre-arrangements Before you begin planning the funeral it is important to look at whether the deceased wrote down their wishes in the form of a funeral plan or spoke to someone about what they were wanting.

If their wishes were never spoken about, these steps may help with some of the planning.

Waimairi Beach Golf Club enjoys a strong reputation as a professional, friendly club welcoming all players of any ability.

Elegant Christchurch venue that offers a magnificent backdrop for corporate functions and special events

Members and visitors to the club take advantage of extremely competitive rates, a great course and modern facilities. Grab your golf clubs and head on down to the Waimairi Beach Golf Club to christen one of the newest course’s in town, situated the eastern suburb of Parklands, Christchurch and enjoy a challenging yet enjoyable round of golf.

45 Horseshoe Lake Rd, Shirley, Christchurch Phone: +64 3 385 9506 Email: admin@christchurchgolf.co.nz www.christchurchgolf.co.nz

460 Bower Avenue, Parklands, Christchurch Phone: (03) 383 0307 To make a booking, please book on DotGolf or call the Pro Shop www.waimairibeachgolf.co.nz

60 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Funeral home When it comes to what funeral home to use, there is no right or wrong. It all comes down to your budget and the different services they provide.

Funeral director A funeral director is the first place to start, they can help with the logistics of planning the funeral, so you’re not having to do it all on your own.

Things like where and when the service will be held, cremation or burial, or transportation of the body are all some of the ways that they can help.

Personalisation of the funeral These days funerals are becoming a lot more personalised, helping to reflect the deceased’s life and personality.

Some of the options you can look out is whether the deceased was religious.

If they were, there are ways of representing this through various elements, including hymns or scripture readings.

Were they musical? Maybe they were in a band or loved a particular style of music. If they had a particular type of music that they enjoyed this could be played at the service.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list, hopefully it helps with some of the planning involved.

If you are having to organize a funeral for a loved one, make sure you are looking after yourself and reaching out for support when you need it too. CT

John Rhind Funeral Directors – playing a vital role in the Christchurch community John Rhind Funeral Directors, established in 1881, has compassionately served generations of Christchurch families and retains a special connection with many of the city’s residents today.

John Rhind understands that organising a funeral can be a trying time for a family, but it is also an opportunity to organise a memorable service to celebrate the life of a loved one.

“A funeral is a tribute and a celebration of life, bringing family and friends together at a time of mutual sadness.

By sharing their sorrow and paying true tribute, it can help them look ahead to the future.” – John Rhind website

130 Years in Christchurch Not many companies can claim to have served Christchurch for well over a century. John Rhind has built a strong

reputation and a certain rapport with its customers who appreciate the dignified manner in which they handle funeral services.

General manger Tony Garing says the company can be as versatile and diverse in the way it handles funerals as anyone. “We can offer traditional, modern or alternative funerals - we can tailor our services to suit the client.”

The company is back and fully operational after the December earthquakes damaged the catering lounge facility. During the year, while consents and designs were being obtained for the refurbished catering lounge, a temporary marquee was erected next to the chapel so the company could continue to provide the full onsite catering service.

This onsite catering is an important aspect of John Rhind’s services which can be completely tailored to suit dietary and or budgetary needs of the guests.

The professional, experienced team at John Rhind can help plan and conduct a memorable funeral from casket selection to catering. With 130 years of industry experience the company has become a benchmark for high standards which even extends to the selection of the hearse.

“We run a varied fleet of vehicles, from the ultra-modern imported Cadillac to a recently restored classic 1974 Pontiac hearse – it’s another example of our range of choice,” Garing says.

Being a long serving company has allowed John Rhind to evolve into the brand it represents today, a brand distinguished by quality and its undeniable longevity.

Continuing tradition

Award winning grounds

Located on the east side of Christchurch, the company suffered the effects of the earthquakes as did the local families and friends of John Rhind.

“Like everyone in Christchurch we’ve had our hardships in these trying times but we’ve persevered,” Garing says.

“We’ve actually had earthquakes while services have been held, five of our staff lost their homes, but we have carried on and stayed strong.”

The London Street chapel is famed for its gloriously well kept gardens which befit the beauty and grandeur of the John Rhind premises. During the years the company has been the recipient of numerous awards for its manicured gardens which offer an added sense of comfort for the guests.

After 130 years, Tony Garing is quick to point out the reasons for the continued success. “Our staff are amazing, we have three of the Rhind family still working in the business, representing the fifth generation to do so. We have a lot of long serving staff including funeral directors that have been present for generations of the same families, that’s comforting for those people.”

All aspects of the John Rhind service are conducted to meet the needs of their clients during an emotional time, but the comfort of having a loved one’s funeral organised by a company that has served the Canterbury community for 130 years, is priceless.

John Rhind Funeral Directors 15-19 London Street Christchurch T (03) 379 9920 www.johnrhind.co.nz

At Rhinds, it’s the extra service that makes the difference Our team is passionate about providing a professional and caring service, helping families design a funeral service that is a unique and personal remembrance, while providing the highest standard of service.

Our commitment is to listen, guide you through the options and then take care of all the details to make the funeral service meaningful. We understand the needs of families and friends going through the stress of a bereavement.)

15-19 L ondon St r eet, Chr istchurch

•

(03) 379 9 920

•

w w w.johnr hind.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 61

Society | Retirement Villages

Rest homes: what to expect and nothing less Care subsidy or private funding, rest home or private hospital – there are various options when it comes to choosing a retirement village.

Choosing an aged-care facility is not a task met with eager anticipation, yet a significant proportion of us will have to cross this bridge at some point in our lives.

The hard part lies in knowing where to start, with boxes to be ticked and pages of legal small print to be analysed. It is a big step for all involved, and not one to be taken lightly.

First steps The first priority for those seeking to secure a place should be a needs assessment. This aims to ascertain what degree of care is required and can be achieved simply by way of a GP referral.

Aspects such as health requirements, difficult tasks and the level of social support available will be considered. If such needs cannot be met safely at home, the assessor will authorise entry into residential care.

An advocate or support network is essential to help wade through the process. There is a lot of information to sift through when you go into a rest home, and given that many older people do this at a time of crisis and stress it is often difficult for them to take everything in.

The Ministry of Health developed a comprehensive list of certified facilities and associated audit reports to help streamline the procedure.

Some homes also require residents to have a signed Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) before admission. This is not a legal necessity however.

The final Admission Agreement is perhaps the most important aspect, as it lays out the responsibilities of both parties.

The legal document stipulates all terms and conditions, for example liability for damage or loss of personal belongings, safety, extra costs and complaint procedures. It is advised to read the Agreement in full, making sure all points are understood.

The Residential Care Subsidy is paid to those with assets found to be equal to or below the applicable threshold.

Privately paying residents who do not meet the criteria for funding are obliged to pay a Maximum Contribution rate. This is the same for all residents despite care levels, unless extra services have been agreed to in the contract.

Expectations Choosing a rest home can be likened to buying a house, so do not expect to like the first one you come across.

The first residential care facility you visit may not meet your needs. This means you will need to look around to see what is on offer and how accurate your expectations are.

Finances

Whilst visiting a potential facility, people should ask themselves if they feel welcome, how well the staff appear to treat residents, and to what degree they are provided for.

A financial means evaluation has to be obtained in order to gauge what level of Government funding, if any, is available to the resident.

It is also important you are happy with the look of a facility and to compare the size of the bedrooms, the grounds and gardens,

VILLAS & APARTMENTS If you seek to simplify your life.

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Phone: 0800 845 524 or 03 693 8340 Email: sales@mlv.org.nz / www.mlv.org.nz

62 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

The big decision – a nursing home or retirement home?

Moving into a residential care or nursing home is a major decision and not one to be taken lightly. There are financial, welfare and psychological aspects to be considered and very often it is a last resort.

The difference between care/nursing homes and residential retirement villages is the type of need you have.

If it’s help in doing things because your mobility is restricted – then a care home is required. If, on the other hand you have a condition that requires medical supervision, then you will need a nursing home.

What’s the difference between a nursing home and a retirement home?

Many people consider that a nursing home and retirement home is the same thing.

Although many people believe that they’re just different names for the same thing, there are fundamental differences.

Nursing homes Nursing homes have qualified nursing staff on duty 24 hours a day to support needs that are too complex to be met within normal residential homes.

The importance of making the right choice Some people may assume that going to a nursing home must be better but choosing a nursing home for someone who doesn’t need it can have a massively detrimental effect.

Retirement homes are, for the most part, all about the empowerment of the individual.

For example, if a resident can dress themselves then they should be able to choose to do so. They will be allowed as much independence as they can achieve, with the added benefit of a watchful eye.

Help is on hand as and when they need it.

Residential care homes and retirement villages

Many care homes specialise in a specific type of care, for example, alzheimers/ dementia. Sufferers of these conditions can often be reasonably independent for periods of time so a care home specialising in the condition and staff specifically trained for their needs can provide more favourable conditions for them than a nursing home.

Residential care homes provide help and support to those unable to remain in their own home, even with the aid of a comprehensive support package. Care homes provide service from trained care staff and give access to visiting nurses.

If in doubt ask advice, talk to the managers of the care/nursing homes on your list, talk to your relatives/loved ones or your doctor – they will be able to give you the information and advice or the answers you may be looking for.

Its easy think they are the same as both provide accommodation, meals, care and support from staff 24 hours a day. Also you can see a doctor in both types of home and both have to be registered.

privacy and the availability of extra services such as en-suites.

Make a short list of potential homes that meet your expectations, then return a second time to see if first impressions still hold true.

While visiting the facility it is important to ask questions about daily living and life in the home, and staff to resident ratios.

If you move into a facility and discover it is not the right place after all, it is possible to transfer. CT

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Living a life with soul www.canterburytoday.co.nz

February/March 2021 | 63

Property | Whittle Knight & Boatwood

Celebrating 55 years in the property industry Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd have been providing real estate sales and property management services for over 50 years.

With the Compliments of

LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENTS (REAA 2008), AUCTIONEERS, VALUERS & PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

PO Box 8030, Riccarton, Christchurch 8440 Phone 03 348 4149 Fax 03 348 4138 email: wkb@wkb.co.nz www.wkb.co.nz

A 731 Main South Road Christchurch E sales@hiltonpress.co.nz W hiltonpress.co.nz Proud Suppliers to Whittle Knight & Boatwood Congratulations on 55 years in business 64 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Property | Whittle Knight & Boatwood Our aim is to always recognise each of our clients as individuals and to take great care in delivering a customised service that meets their needs in every way. Canterbury Owned and Operated Since 1966.

Premium and personal service

Our status within the local business network is unequalled and for many years we have also enjoyed very close links and associations within the wider community.

We continue to provide the latest marketing and real estate innovation to present your property to the highest standard. Aerial technology was first introduced by Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd to Christchurch real estate.

Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd is a motivated team of professionals that you can trust for their reliability and knowledge.

For 55 years we’ve been helping property buyers and sellers as well as managing a diverse portfolio of properties on behalf of owners throughout Christchurch, New Zealand and internationally.

As one of Christchurch city’s longest running independently owned companies, the business continues to be regarded as one of the best in the field, with on-going client referrals and exceptional customer service at the forefront of every sale.

Company co-director Gill Knight says his business success comes down to having good staff who value their relationships with their clients.

“We are an agency that genuinely cares for its clients. Our team takes a bespoke, individualised approach to each client, listening to your needs, researching the

You and your needs are put first, our aim is to provide a hard-working, uncompromised and honest service.

Innovation and presentation

Uncompromised Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd always put your needs first and provides the most value for you in selling property.

Commitment With Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd - “Your Investment is our Investment”.

market, providing honest advice about property values and recommending the most appropriate marketing options for their property.”

Established in 1966, Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd was originally founded by Les Whittle, Wally Knight and Vic Boatwood.

Now Gill and Ian, the second generation of Knights are managing the business, having joined their father in the 1970s.

Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd is a thirdgeneration family business, with Thomas Knight following in the family’s footsteps as a licensed real estate agent.

Along with two brothers Gill and Ian Knight, the trio leads a team of agents and property managers.

The company always ensures that the client is satisfied with the job by providing ongoing feedback to the client, Gill says.

Being a family-owned business is our biggest point of difference, Gill says. “All staff become a part of the family.”

“We’re determined to ensure everyone achieves their goals, that for each satisfied vendor there’s a delighted buyer, pleased to have purchased the property they desired.”

Over the years we have developed a highly successful property management division, while still maintaining our core sales base, Gill says.

“We are always looking for opportunities and the beauty of being a small niche company is that we control our own destiny and we can react quickly.”

While working in the industry for 55 years has meant there has been a constant change in technology, with increasing legal and compliance obligations, Gill says the changes have led to better access to information and sales data.

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 65

Property | Whittle Knight & Boatwood

“

We are an agency that genuinely cares for its clients. Our team takes a bespoke, individualised approach to each client, listening to your needs, researching the market, providing honest advice about property values and recommending the most appropriate marketing options for their property.

- Company co-director Gill Knight

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Whittle Knight & Boatwood Ltd property division manager, Tania Ellis, as quoted in Avenues Magazine says that “with the advances in communication and technology over the years, people’s thirst for instant information is at an all-time high, and as such we need to be able to meet that expectation by being easily accessible and forthcoming with information”.

To offer transparency and reassurance to owners and tenants the team has an independent auditing service for an individual’s portfolio on offer.

A property is monitored and reviewed every three months, and although this is not a legal requirement for property management, Tania says “it is a best practice procedure”. CT Whittle Knight & Boatwood Cnr Riccarton and Clyde Roads Upper Riccarton Christchurch (03) 348 4149 wkb@wkb.co.nz www.wkb.co.nz — Advertising Feature

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Property | Genie Clean

Providing a family, friendly service for over 20 years When Frances Watson’s husband, Derrick, passed away six years ago, the idea of continuing the business herself was a daunting one, but with the help of her brother Winston Posthuma, they have carried on his legacy.

After growing tired of working at his desk, Derrick left his job in 1998 and bought a window cleaning company.

While it started from humble beginnings, with two staff armed with little more than rags and squeegees, Derrick’s attention to detail and efficiency earned his customers loyalty fast and Genie Clean quickly became recognized as one of the best in the business.

More than 20 years later the company remains family owned and operated with the same commitment to reliability, honesty and quality workmanship in everything they do.

“The customers’ needs always come first and that has always come through in the loyalty,” Winston says.

“Derrick established that when he first started the business, I’ve just come in and we’ve grown it and that’s been our whole basis for moving forward”, Winston says.

Working for you Whether it means an urgent call for cleaning help to get your business/home sparkling, or a plan for regular, reliable service you don’t have to worry about – we put our customers first, and tailor our services to meet your needs.

Genie Clean’s services include construction cleans from large commercial projects to residential builds, window cleaning including multi-storey buildings, commercial office and shop cleaning, spouting cleaning, water blasting and hard floor resurfacing and polishing.

Along with always putting their customers’ needs first, Frances and Winston also prioritise looking after their staff.

Over 20 years later Winston and Frances have grown to meet the demand with 18 staff and nine vehicles out on the road.

We see our team off every morning and welcome them back at night, and if we’re not in the office at the end of the day, one of our staff members, Tennika sorts everything.

“Nothing scares us, we have a can-do, never say never attitude. Getting a call in to clean the town hall, was a daunting feat. That would be the biggest challenge we’ve had from a technical side, and we did it with ease,” Winston says. CT

“We grew up in a large Christian family where there were high expectations, an excellent work ethic and good values instilled into us,” Frances says.

Genie Clean Limited Unit 5 7 Nga Mahi Road Sockburn Christchurch (03) 343 6500 office@genieclean.co.nz www.genieclean.co.nz

Along with these values and Winston’s previous operations management experience, it has helped to grow the company further.

— Advertising Feature

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 67

Construction | Matiri Power Station

Power in numbers At first glance, it’s easy to take for granted all that is required to construct major works like that of the Matiri Power Station.

Looking at the power station you wouldn’t realise that nearly 800 cubic metres of concrete was poured into the structure.

Putting things into perspective, Adams Construction director, Mick Adams says that in order to deliver the high volume of concrete, 160 truckloads of concrete were necessary because each truck could only carry about five metres of concrete at a time.

In order to pour all of the concrete needed for the build, Adams Construction relied on multiple concrete professionals such as Concrete Pump Services Nelson, CJ Industries in Matueka and Pearson’s Contracting in Westport which includes concrete and earthworks alongside its other services.

Recalling the experience, Mick says, “Some days we were pouring 70, 80, 90 cubes. We never had a concrete pour where we had to wait for a turnaround because it was too far.

They all had to travel about 120km. That’s one way.

“You couldn’t pour that five meteres out of that truck and say, ‘well, you go home and get

another load.’ Because it’d take them two hours to get home, then they got to batch up and it’d be about five hours before they got back to the site.”

Along with concrete, 114 tonnes of reinforcing was put into the build. When broken down into truckloads, each truck and trailer would carry about 28 tonnes of reinforcing which means four full trucks and trailers were essential for the job.

The numbers are impressive enough on their own, but considering the isolation inherent to the green site, the coordination and cooperation necessary to complete the job is even more impressive.

Initially, Adams Construction was enlisted for the construction for the construction of a bridge located at the Matiri West Branch. However, the main contractor at Pioneer Energy liked Adams Construction’s work which led to more work on the substation and the power station itself.

Mick says, “I was pretty chuffed getting offered the opportunity to build it. We ended out just carrying on and on, until 15 months later, we drove out of Matiri Valley.”

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The discharge tailrace where water will go after going through the turbine.

Overcoming challenges as a team Provided the nature of the site and its location next to the Matiri River, building the power station proved to be challenging.

The site is just six metres away from the river and Adams Construction worked 14 metres in the ground which meant the team was four metres below river level.

On reflection, Mick says, “It was quite challenging in the fact that it was also 14 metres in the ground, which means we were working four metres below the river level.

“We had to work out our pumping system and the pumps were running basically from February right through to July to keep the site dewatered so we could work in there.”

“Everyone did their bit and it all worked out really well.”

In addition to meeting the unique demands of the building site, Adams Construction and other subcontractors involved in the build had to adhere to conditions instigated by DOC and the Tasman District Council.

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Phone: 03 347 8609 | Email: info@proreo.co.nz 3 George Holmes Road, Rolleston | www.proreo.co.nz 68 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Construction | Matiri Power Station Considering the efforts taken to dewater the site, it’s surprising to learn that everything that was pumped had to be filtered then contained.

The Tasman District Council did not allow anything to be discharged into the river.

Furthermore, Pioneer Energy was required to keep the building site open to the public to people like trampers, trout fisherman and the like.

Mick says, “Anyone who wanted to walk through our building area, we had to stop what we were doing and let them come through and help them through. It was quite well run, on Pioneer’s part, right from the word ‘go’ I thought.”

Together with Pioneer Energy and everyone else on the project, Mick likes to point out how helpful Murchison Excavating was in their role.

Murchison Excavating did all the digging and roading for the project while also supporting Adams Construction and others in their endeavours.

“Every contractor or subcontractor that came on the site had restrictions in place. You got be clean, you got to be tidy, you got to have access for the public at all times,” says Mick.

The construction of the Matiri Power Station was an exercise in collaboration and numbers. The power station required 800 cubic metres of concrete.

With each truck carrying five cubic metres of concrete, that means 160 truckloads of concrete were needed to complete the project. In addition, 114 tonnes of reinforcing was used which translates to four trucks and trailers.

Looking at the numbers and the isolated nature of the site, the power station couldn’t have been built without the high-level cooperation exhibited throughout the many stages of the project.

4.8 mega watt generator and turbine at the bottom of power house.

In order to keep tracks near the construction site open to the public, Pioneer Energy utilised site huts to hold communication facilities so visitors could contact contractors and announce their arrival. This was to ensure visitors’ safety while passing through the area.

Even with the high-level of collaboration necessary to complete the power station, Mick says, “I think on a whole we all did quite well.”

Actually, if you were to ask Mick what his favourite part of the job was, he’d say it was the collaboration and comradery he experienced throughout Adams Constructions’ involvement in the project. CT Adams Construction PO Box 281 Westport (03) 789 7824 mick@adamsconstruction.co.nz www.adamsconstruction.co.nz — Advertising Feature

The power house being built over turbine and generator.

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Construction | RAD Building

The power of why

RAD Building’s emphasis on strong teamwork and developing employees a key component to its success

Lindis Lodge, Ahuriri Valley. This building went on to win both national and international architecture awards for its one in a million design by New Zealand’s very own Architecture Workshop.

Located in the Mackenzie Basin, RAD Building has been providing high-end custom building, renovations and beyond since 2013. Over the past eight years, RAD Building owner-operator, Rob Davis has focused on developing his team.

Rob says, “The guys on my crew all take ownership of the company and all take accountability of their role.

“They realise and understand the responsibilities they’ve got and who they are, too. This makes us a very valuable unit and a great, approachable team to work with.”

understand that they’re ‘not just carpenters’ – they have a valuable skill set that is even more valuable when the team works together.

“We’ve got a great culture. We’ve got a great set of values. The team care about everyone in our project delivery process, including our clients, our team and our trade partners.”

The team is currently working on some great projects including new homes, dream holiday baches, sheds for storage out of the harsh Mackenzie weather and re-building following the recent fires at Lake Pukaki and Lake Ohau Village.

The Mackenzie Basin is a unique environment to build in and comes with technical building requirements and a challenging climate to work in.

“We have developed efficient ways of building in the Mackenzie and having been in the area for some time; we understand the environmental challenges well. We love creating buildings that can endure the Mackenzie conditions.

RAD Building is starting this year with a team of “One of our focuses is to bring our clients’ a dozen carpenters, and Rob couldn’t be happier plans to life in an innovative way. We take about seeing his team grow even further. pride in talking with our clients and aim to One way Rob does this is by helping the team build their ‘why’, rather than their ‘what’.

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70 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Aoraki/Mt Cook Village.

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We have developed efficient ways of building in the Mackenzie and having been in the area for some time; we understand the environmental challenges well.

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Construction | RAD Building

“

There is a difference between just swinging a hammer and working with your client to bring their ideas and dreams to life, whether it be a new home, or renovating to turn their existing home into what they really want.

- RAD Building owner-operator, Rob Davis

“This understanding and relationship with our clients has led to consistent feedback about their excitement about what we build for them and in exceeding their expectations.

“We’re a service industry – we’re not in a production industry.

“I believe the wider construction industry has a focus on production, whereas we consider we are providing a service.

“There is a difference between just swinging a hammer and working with your client to bring their ideas and dreams to life, whether it be a

”

new home, or renovating to turn their existing home into what they really want.

“We truly love living in the Mackenzie and have a passion for construction so that our clients can enjoy living here too.” CT RAD Building PO Box 167 South Canterbury (027) 291 0369 radbuilding@xtra.co.nz www.radbuilding.nz

Proud to support and be suppliers to Rad Builders Timaru ITM 33 Seadown Road, Washdyke, Timaru, 7910. PO Box 149, Kaiapoi 7644 Phone 03 688 8074 Mobile 027 230 4060

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 71

Construction | Stockman Builders

A first for Stockman Builders After two years of careful planning, the team at Stockman Builders has completed its first commercial new build in the Christchurch CBD. The original heritage building, located at 135 High Street, was badly damaged in the Christchurch earthquake and could not be saved.

It has now been demolished and rebuilt as a three-story office building with ground floor retail space, as well as a 2.4 metre cantilever that pops out over St Asaph Street.

The commercial project is a first for Stockman Builders co-director, Matt Stockman, who has previously completed restorations on a number of inner-city heritage buildings.

Matt did everything behind the scenes, including liaising with the architect for the design, demolition of the old building, the new building construction, as well as all the interior designing on site, co-director Jamiee Stockman says.

The project took about 12 months and was finished in early 2020.

Award winning work Stockman Builders completed restoration and strengthening work on the Oamaru Stone Bonnington House building at 225 High Street which won a Christchurch Civic Trust Award before the 2011 Earthquakes.

“This resulted in the building only requiring cosmetic repairs after the earthquake.”

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72 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Stockman Builders was established in 2011 by Matt, who, after the Christchurch earthquake got straight to work in the Christchurch CBD on earthquake strengthening heritage buildings.

Matt is really passionate about his work; everyday he’s working on site ensuring that all staff are delivering a great product and a great service, Jaimee says.

“He’s on the tools every day, he just can’t pull himself away from it.”

Matt and his team are now in the preliminary stages of another commercial rebuild of the old Cotters Building at 158 High Street.

The building’s façade is currently sitting behind shipping containers and is being preserved.

“Matt is going to build the new three level commercial building on the back and reattach the façade.”

He expects the building will take at least 14 months to finish. CT Stockman Builders PO Box 9160 Tower Junction Christchurch 021 440 394 stockmanbuildersltd@xtra.co.nz — Advertising Feature

RESIDENTIAL SAFETY NETS SPECIALISTS ezinets is a Christchurch based company specialising in safety nets for residential properties.

All nets are certified in accordance with BS EN 1263 1-2.

All ezinets site supervisors have been FASET trained and certified. ezinets is owned and operated by Brent Hobbs, born and raised in Canterbury where he continues to operate.

Brent’s experience in the building industry goes back 35 years. First as a builder, then 20 years as a roofing contractor and most recently 7 years as a roofing contracts supervisor and now the roofing contracts manager.

With Brent’s extensive knowledge in the building industry and onsite experience, he is aware of dangers associated with working at height and the importance of ensuring appropriate safety procedures.

mobile: 021 399 501 | email: brent@ezinets.co.nz | www.ezinets.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 73

Construction | Street & Cook Construction

A new build to add to Street & Cooks' portfolio Street & Cook Construction is excited to get stuck into their next building project in Christchurch early this year.

The new Laneway Apartment development, situated on 150 Tuam St, is located directly across from the Justice and Emergency Services Precinct and features 44 apartments with a retail space on the ground floor.

Marketed by Harcourts, the building will commence early 2021 and will have the same emphasis on quality as the recently built Latimer Apartments, Street & Cook Construction general manager John O’Mahony says.

While New Plymouth based, Street & Cook has already made its mark on the Christchurch construction scene, having completed their recent Latimer build on 272 Barbadoes St. Latimer featured 34 apartments, ranging from one-to-two bedrooms and each are generously proportioned with high-end kitchen appliances.

All the balconies and courtyards are also well sized, with most facing north.

The companies Garden City Air Centre project is, however, what brought them into the city.

“

By adopting a partnership approach with our clients and consultants we endeavour to be proactive in offering

“It goes back quite a few years when we were invited down to the Christchurch Garden City Aviation Centre.

solutions to the many

“We really enjoyed working with the local subcontractors, and the city in general; some of our crew have actually relocated there.”

themselves during the course

The aviation facility and group headquarters is the largest of its kind in Australasia, offering a fully integrated, single-purpose emergency medical service air ambulance facility and a purpose-built reception gateway base for the rapidly growing tourism and corporate jet market.

The project was particularly complex for the team as they had to fly in a specialist group of carpenters, welders, joiners and scaffold staff to help construct the unique Garden City Air Centre facility.

Despite the challenging working environment and true to the company’s repute, the 18-month build was accomplished to schedule and with Street and Cook’s typically high-quality finish.

challenges that present of a construction project.

”

About Street & Cook Construction

Street and Cook Construction is a longestablished firm with over 35 years in the industry. They have a reputation for completing complex projects to a very high standard safely, on time and within budget.

The company has substantial knowledge in the field of commercial construction, refits, upgrades, residential and seismic upgrades.

They also have considerable expertise in overcoming logistical challenges in the safest, most economical and time efficient way available.

“By adopting a partnership approach with our clients and consultants we endeavour to be proactive in offering solutions to the many challenges that present themselves during the course of a construction project. Our repeat business from long standing clients is testament to this.”

A well-established company with over 50 years experience We operate throughout New Zealand, with a proven ability to successfully undertake structural steel projects of any magnitude. Our new modern and well-equipped Christchurch workshop extends to more than 14,800m², providing covered facilities for every stage of the fabrication and finishing processes.

18 Sir James Wattie Drive Hornby South, Christchurch 8042 Phone 03 366 8679 • www.jjsteel.nz

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74 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Our aim is to be our clients first choice for their construction needs.

We put our clients first. We set a high standard and we take pride in our professional and collaborative approach. CT

Awards Latimer Central Apartments: Street & Cook Construction was awarded with a silver award in the New Zealand Commercial Project Awards in 2019.

Garden City Aviation Centre: Street & Cook Construction was awarded with a Gold Award in the New Zealand Commercial Project Awards in 2018

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Street & Cook Construction 55 Centennial Drive New Plymouth (06) 751 2299 admin@streetandcook.co.nz www.streetandcookconstruction.co.nz — Advertising Feature

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Phone: 027 557 0999 | E-mail: reuben@greenbuilders.co.nz Website: www.greenbuilders.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 75

Construction | Sheppard & Rout Architects – Majestic Church Project

Repurposed spaces A Best Design Silver Award winner for 2020, the Majestic Church project – designed by Sheppard & Rout Architects – balances elements of raw existing industrial material with modern functions and special connections.

The space, using the collection of warehouse buildings in central Christchurch, is constructed with timber roof sarking, along with brickwork and concrete elements.

The structure’s spatial and acoustic layout suits its needs as a multifunctional space, especially as Majestic Church’s former theatre building was irreparably damaged from the 2011 earthquakes.

The sheds, previously used for machinery fabrication, were earthquake strengthened, decontaminated and transformed into various multi-purpose spaces, such as an auditorium, a foyer, and dance and arts studios.

A key part of the design process was making significant connections with the existing spaces and identifying where new spaces could be added; connecting the church spaces to the public realm and enhancing relationships to the community, Sheppard & Rout Architects associate director, Matt Gutsell says.

“The fundamental approach to the site connection was to provide a layered integration from the street into the heart of the Majestic space, being the main auditorium and performance space.

“A courtyard space between the existing buildings provides a connection from foyer and informal gathering spaces to an entry deck/ terrace, with concrete pillars to the street frontage creating a layered delineation to the street frontage.”

“

A key part of the design process was making significant connections with the existing spaces and identifying where new spaces could be added.

The Majestic Church multi-purpose spaces include: • Foyer

• Dance

• Youth

• Arts studios.

”

• Recording “The layered GRC façade provides a strong focus to the site and forms a relationship to the various gable facades on the site and other concrete work.

“Lighting of the façade provides a vibrant identity for the Majestic space within an otherwise forgettable neighbourhood of industrial buildings, a mall carpark and a next door supermarket building.”

Existing building elements of value were strengthened using cantilevered steel columns to support existing concrete post and beam with brick infill structures. The columns, tied through new concrete slabs, bring the floors above floodplain levels.

The Majestic Church refurbishment’s focus on spaces for the community to come together informed the project’s inclusive vibe with an industrial twist. CT

“The main auditorium gable is conceived as a series of scales which step back from the street frontage to the courtyard and are punctured by a steel framed diamond shaped window, creating a connection into the auditorium from the footpath,” Matt says.

Sheppard & Rout 104 Salisbury Street Christchurch admin@sheprout www.sheprout.com — Advertising Feature

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Directory | Need Help?

Need help?

To avoid expensive mistakes, it’s better to hire a professional and get

Contact us on: (03) 961 5083 www.magazinestoday.co.nz

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please contact our highly experienced staff

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CALL US: 0800 832 866 EMAIL: admin@tectonix.co.nz

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Construction | Affordable Concrete and Paving

Helping build a region Affordable Concrete and Paving is out to prove that affordable doesn’t have to mean subpar.

car parks, they offer a full hard landscaping package to our commercial, civil and residential clients.

During the last 16 years their scope of services has expanded to cover all forms of concrete, paving, decking and asphalt, as well as specialised finishes.

Servicing Christchurch, Rangiora, Rolleston and West Melton with specialist asphalt and concrete services they are rebuilding Canterbury one pour at a time.

Affordable Concrete and Paving has been contributing to the Christchurch rebuild through its residential earthquake repair work all over the city. And they can do the whole job, from demolition and excavation, to the laying of the new concrete.

New builds, renovations and earthquake repairs are part and parcel for the team, whose developed skills transfer across all concrete and hard landscape applications.

They also work with Christchurch’s builders, housing companies and construction firms on new residential builds and commercial premises.

With roots in the concrete construction and decorative concrete areas, their scope of services has grown to include all forms of concrete, paving, decking and asphalt as well as specialised finishes.

Their mission? To lead the hard landscaping industry with integrity by providing outstanding value, employee development and client relationships.

“As we are a family run company, the loyalty and competitive nature of any family extends to our ever-growing team.

“This shines through in our team members. All staff are developed and trained from within the company with our key staff always striving to find ways of adding value to our clients.

“We aim to provide a perceived, relaxed attitude towards each project to always put the client at ease.”

About the company Affordable Concrete and Paving is a family affair that has been servicing Christchurch and its surrounds for nearly two decades.

Established in 2000 by John Grant and his son Scott, the firm now employs around 25 staff

– quite a few of whom are family members: sisters, uncles, cousins and brothers-in-law.

The common denominator is that they all have a real passion for what they do and provide the very best up-to-date services at exceptional value.

When it comes to concreting, Affordable Concrete and Paving can provide the full range. Whether it’s concrete driveways, patios, paths, pool surrounds, playgrounds or

You can see their hard landscaping handywork in many locations – around Mike Greer Homes, the Rangiora PAK’nSAVE, the Halswell Library, University of Canterbury, the Sumner Surf Lifesaving Club and the Waltham Pool.

Affordable Concrete and Paving also provides free quotes and can usually visit clients within a week of being contacted. CT Affordable Concrete and Paving (03) 354 2140 sales@affordableconcrete.co.nz www.affordableconcrete.co.nz — Advertising Feature

• Driveways • Earthquake Repairs • New Home Specialists • Patios & Paths tel: 0508 873 7483 email: sales@affordableconcrete.co.nz www.affordableconcrete.co.nz www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 79

Construction | Ethos Homes

Proven performance The Passive House standard is the benchmark for exceptional comfort, unsurpassed energy efficiency and reliable quality assurance.

With thermal-bridge free, air tight construction, and a mechanical ventilation system, a Passive House is able to maintain its comfortable temperature, with minimal heating or cooling required.

A fairly new concept in New Zealand, with only 34 certified passive houses, passive houses have been built and enjoyed in Europe for many years.

It was in Germany, where Ethos Homes director Peter Bielski, was first introduced to Passive House.

Peter is a certified Passive House tradesperson and together with an exceptional team, Ethos Today Peter and his wife Amanda own and Homes built two certified passive houses in manage Ethos Homes, a Christchurch based residential construction company specialising in 2017 and another two built in 2019 and 2020 are awaiting certification.

Passive House and low energy homes.

Passive House is the world’s most rigorous quality assurance standard for energy efficient buildings, Amanda says.

Providing the perfect finish...

in the home is lost and replaced through gaps and cracks.

All homes built by Ethos are independently blower door tested for proven performance, and Peter is also strongly advocating that they are modelled for thermal performance.

“

We feel really privileged to have built beautiful bespoke low energy homes for really lovely people;

Among other things for a home to meet Passive House standard it requires a blower door result of .6 or lower air changes per hour.

Despite the quantifiable science-based criteria that is involved in designing and building a Passive House, some of the greatest benefits of living in a Passive House are harder to measure, Amanda says.

The average house has five to eight air changes per hour. At five air changes per hour, every hour about a quarter of the entire volume of air

With improved air quality reducing the levels of dust, moisture and pollen, no room, daily or seasonal temperature variation, and no drafts;

healthy homes is to make

• Supply, fix and stop of plasterboard • Level 5 specialists • Batt supply and installation • Residential and commercial projects • Free Quotes

Leaders in drywall services Proud to work with Ethos Homes

(03) 341 7922 PO Box 33 116, Christchurch office@laip.co.nz www.laip.co.nz

80 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

we see the key to helping more people into these them more cost efficient.

”

home owners attest to reductions in asthma, eczema, allergies, illness and doctor visits, and with improved thermal comfort, report a greater sense of wellbeing and happiness.

Ethos Homes’ mission is to build strong relationships with their clients to deliver warm, comfortable, healthy and energy efficient homes.

From design to landscaping, they walk with the client through the entire process, ensuring they deliver on their clients’ dream.

Construction | Ethos Homes

Construction | Juken New Zealand

The ultimate showcase: a custom-designed J-Panel feature wall

Homeowner Annemieke Becks began her renovations with the goal of transforming her adobe looking house in Paraparaumu into a more sustainable home for New Zealand weather conditions.

“Clients come to us through word of mouth and industry reputation. We introduce them to our preferred Passive House designers and work with the client, designer, engineer and other consultants from the beginning to ensure their home is designed proficiently to get the outcome level of performance they desire.

“Our process differs from current practice, but this approach is necessary in an Ethos home to allow for MVHR system integration, thermal bridge free construction, specialised building details, airtight vapour barrier detailing, optimal building form factor and recessed high performance windows and doors.”

their homes so others can come and experience The expansive living room called out for a large for themselves the comfort of a Passive House. feature wall, and Annemieke knew exactly what she wanted, and who to work with to bring her Hundreds of people have been through the ideas to life.

Pitkin-Douglas Certified Passive House plus over the years, Amanda says, and in early “I approached Montage Interiors due to the November we had both the Sole and Martin history I have working with Simon Fuller and his Residence homes open up as well. team previously.

“We feel really privileged to have built beautiful bespoke low energy homes for really lovely people; we see the key to helping more people into these healthy homes is to make them more cost efficient.

To reduce design costs of Passive House construction, we are currently working on It’s not just Peter and Amanda who are a replicable design, in addition to bespoke proud of the homes they have built and their healthy, low energy homes, we hope to deliver performance; their clients are so passionate a more cost-effective option for Passive about the benefits of Passive House and sharing House construction.” CT their journey that they open their homes up to Ethos Homes the public, Amanda says.

021 444 717 “The International Passive House Association amanda@ethoshomes.co.nz selects two weekends a year where it www.ethoshomes.co.nz encourages Passive House residents to open up — Advertising Feature

Ventilation for high performance homes.

“I showed Simon a picture I drew of the five wall units, each with their own complexity of vertical and horizontal lines, and he was excited about the project,” explains Annemieke.

Her intention was to source sustainable pine wood grown in New Zealand. Pine offers all the characteristics Annemieke wanted, as it is light in colour with contrasting grain, and is easy to work with.

Vertical lines with more defined horizontal lines broken with white rectangular and square surfaces, create a playful look. And our books, vinyl and artefacts contribute to a homely and lived-in look.

Dave Banks from Montage Interiors suggested using J-panel, which is a sustainable wood product made by Juken New Zealand.

Dave showed Annemieke a sample of the pine that could be used for the feature wall shelving, and she was impressed by its quality.

“Pine, when just cut, is very light in colour but over time it turns to a dark honey colour. The white staining process I used for the shelving unit will prevent this natural process.

“White stain was applied to the wood so that the grain is still visible. This creates an effect of white wood.

“A coat of polyurethane makes the surfaces more durable and cleaning friendly, and a final white stain coat provides a light hue for the overall effect of the feature wall.

“The finished product and overall impression of the feature wall is more than I ever expected. It’s so unique in its overall appearance.

stiebel-eltron.co.nz

“

”

“The collaboration between Montage Interiors, J-panel and myself has led to an exceptional end product. It has been an amazing journey and I would like to say thank you to all parties involved for their enthusiasm in completing this project,” Annemieke says.

For more information on J-Panel and what you can create with it, visit jnl.co.nz, or head to www.montagenz.co.nz, where Montage Interiors is producing high-quality commercial furniture using J-Panel. CT

Juken New Zealand Level 3 AMP Centre 29 Customs Street West Auckland 1010 (09) 373 3933 info@jnl.co.nz www.jnl.co.nz

“Vertical lines with more defined horizontal lines broken with white rectangular and square surfaces, create a playful look. And our books, vinyl and artefacts contribute to a homely and — Advertising Feature lived-in look. www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 81

J-Panel is a general-purpose solid wood edge laminated panel manufactured by Juken New Zealand Ltd (JNL) from 100% renewable Radiata Pine plantation forest. Typically used to manufacture furniture and kitchen componentry, J-Panel is a popular choice with both Builders and Joiners.

To find out more go to jnl.co.nz or contact us on (09) 373 3933

sales@jnl.co.nz

82 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

Construction | Insulation Concepts

Taking care of all insulation needs

“

Insulation is often overlooked when building a new home.

Whether you’re building a new home or retro-fitting

You really only get one chance to access hardto-reach areas like internal walls. However, with Insulation Concepts, you won’t be leaving your insulation needs to chance.

an existing home, Insulation Concepts is there to

Insulation Concepts is 100 percent New Zealand owned and operated, specialising in all aspects of insulation sales and installation.

help create the best

The team runs a complete in-house operation for all commercial, residential and industrial properties.

to keep your house at

Whether you’re building a new home or retro-fitting an existing home, Insulation Concepts is there to help create the best thermal envelope possible to keep your house at optimal temperature.

During the design, planning and build of new homes, the team finds that insulation is often an afterthought with many settling for the minimum requirement.

Some see insulation as an area to save money without understanding the consequences a lack of insulation entails.

A small amount of the overall budget can make a dramatic difference to a property’s thermal and acoustic performance.

Ceiling and underfloor insulation can be increased at a later date. On the other hand, when it comes to insulating walls, you only get one shot to get it right for the life of the building.

thermal envelope possible optimal temperature.

There are many ways that these thermal and acoustic values can be planned and enhanced.

The team at Insulation Concepts believes its range of products provide some of the best performance indicators for a great price. The team is happy to consult on plans to develop a package for your build that will greatly enhance your new home’s livability and energy efficiency.

In regard to retro-fitting, Insulation Concepts offers complete insulation checks and carries out assessments for the compliance of existing insulation.

These services are available to provide a certificate of inspection where it meets the residential tenancies new regulations.

According to Tenancy Services, private landlords must ensure their rental properties comply with the Healthy Homes standards within 90 days of any new, varied or renewed tenancy starting July 1, 2021.

Except for boarding house tenancies provided

by Kainga Ora and community housing providers, all boarding houses must comply with the Healthy Homes standards.

Insulation Concepts can provide quotes where insulation is required to bring a property up to code.

Proclima Insulation Concepts is excited to offer Proclima as a part of the business’s product range.

”

than 40 countries and promotes healthy living conditions by protecting building structures from external and internal moisture damage.

Proclima’s extensive range of high-performance weathertightness and airtightness systems help create draught-free, long-lasting and low-allergen emitting surroundings for families, schools and businesses. CT Insulation Concepts 2A Lock Crescent Hillsborough Christchurch 0508 INSULATE admin@insulationconcepts.co.nz www.insulationconcepts.co.nz

Proclima operates across the globe in more

— Advertising Feature

20 YEARS COMBINED EXPERIENCE

PRODUCT RANGES COME WITH

Helping you achieve Warmth & Health in your Home & Business We are 100% New Zealand owned and operated, specialising in all aspects of insulation sales and installation. We run a complete in-house operation for all commercial, residential and industrial properties.

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admin@insulationconcepts.co.nz | www.insulationconcepts.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 83

Construction | Healthy Homes

Get in early: make sure your winter firewood is ‘good’ We know it may seem counterintuitive to look forward to the freezing temperatures of winter, but if you are planning on using a wood burner to heat your home this Winter, then the sooner you buy firewood, the better. dry, seasoned wood. If not, they will ensure their Judith Earl-Goulet, Environment Canterbury’s operations manager in Timaru, has some tips on customers know how ‘green’ the wood is and what to look out for and what to avoid, to ensure when it should be ready for use. your wood is ‘good’.

Earlier is better Buying wood early allows time to dry your wood before using it and is usually cheaper. Generally, it takes one to three years for wood to dry properly, so if you’re buying wood to use next winter it needs to be pre-dried or seasoned.

Burning wet wood is not an option as it won’t get hot enough to produce efficient warmth in your home and it leads to smoky chimneys and air pollution.

Buy from a reputable source We recommend buying from a wood merchant which is part of our Trusted Good Wood Merchant programme. Merchants are audited annually and testing the moisture content of their wood supply is part of this process.

They usually have a good supply of

Choose a ‘better burning’ wood

Do you know what wood burns hottest and with the least amount of smoke? Plantation pine, Douglas fir and blue gum are the best woods to use and mix to get your fire just right.

Old man pine tends to smoke a lot, so we recommend you use this only for kindling and burn it with other wood.

Finally…

Store your wood under cover and allow air flow.

A small woodshed is great, or under some eaves or along a fence line Keep your wood burner well-maintained and look after your chimney and flue to remove build-up of soot. Again, now is a great time to get your chimney/flue cleaned and beat the Autumn 2021 rush

Now’s good for wood!

Buy your good wood now, so it’s dry for a smoke-free winter.

Get it sorted early - it’ll be cheep...er!

Get yours from Canterbury’s Trusted Good Wood Merchants.

Find out more at www.warmercheaper.co.nz

If you’re not sure about your burning, don’t let it ruffle your feathers! Get in touch and we can help you sort things out.

If you’re thinking about replacing your existing wood burner, now would be a good time to make enquiries with local suppliers and fitters.

For more advice on choosing good wood and burning better check out www. warmercheaper.

84 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

co.nz, to help you burn smoke-free, including demonstration videos and a step-by-step guide, along with a list of Trusted Good Wood Merchants. You can also get in touch with us for personalised help and support by calling 0800 329 276. CT

Construction | Healthy Homes

The five keys to create a healthy home

“

Most buildings are built or renovated with functional design in mind, and today this is especially so regarding health, wellbeing and comfort.

By positioning your windows correctly, you can enjoy the benefits of natural ventilation that will rapidly improve the indoor air

So here are five key components to creating a healthy home.

quality in your home.

Correctly positioned windows make the most of fresh air open windows No one can live without fresh air − and the same goes for your house.

External noise from rowdy neighbours, and internal noise from heating/cooling or ventilation systems, should therefore be kept to a minimum. And even lower noise levels are needed at night.

More often than not, we cannot sense pollutants in indoor air, but they will affect our health and wellbeing.

This is why our houses should offer protection from the hidden pollutants we discharge when we cook, or that are given off from building materials and furniture.

By positioning your windows correctly, you can enjoy the benefits of natural ventilation that will rapidly improve the indoor air quality in your home.

The right amount of daylight at the right time Waking up to natural morning light, plenty of daylight throughout the day and darkness at night are crucial to our health and comfort.

”

Take control of indoor temperatures

Light and darkness are key elements in keeping our internal body clock and circadian rhythm synchronised.

When building a house, it is worth considering having at least one outdoor or semi-outdoor space − such as a garden, terrace or balcony.

So investing in appropriate measures at home to provide daylight and darkness, such as windows and blinds, can pay big dividends.

Another option is to make sure that the house provides you with a generous view of the sky and ground; this brings nature inside too.

Bring nature inside

Rid your home of stressful noise

We spend 90 percent of our time indoors, so make sure that indoor temperatures follow the same rhythm as those outdoors, which rise during the day and fall at night.

Living in close contact with nature improves your mood, creates better health and reduces stress, which is why we need to bring nature inside our houses.

Apart from being a source of irritation, unwanted sounds, like loud traffic, can cause stress and have a direct negative impact on our wellbeing.

Because our bodies are designed to follow the rhythms outdoors, this will automatically achieve what we feel is the most comfortable indoor temperature. CT

One of the factors most crucial to our indoor comfort is avoiding unpleasant indoor temperatures.

• Heat Pumps • Ventilation • Insulation • Fans • Tenancy Act Compliance Certificate Air Con Christchurch is a supplier of services to Environment Canterbury Loan System for rate payers up to $6000.00, and also audits and provides quality reports on tenancy Healthy Home Compliance.

Our inspections detail ALL aspects from insulation to bathroom and rangehood compliance with MBIE designed heating compliance, all issued with a certificate to meet landlord requirements whilst being able to supply over 5 brands of heat pumps.

Call Air Con Christchurch on 0800 161 162 for all your requirements.

WWW.AIRCONNZ.CO.NZ

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 85

Latest news from Telford – Agriculture, Equine, and more

“

Telford, the Balclutha campus of SIT, had a year of A new paper is being consolidation in 2020. designed in consultation with Telford carried out infrastructure upgrades, technology and programme development, to ensure the successful delivery of quality education for its students, well into the future.

Telford’s core rural programmes remain the same, and the provision of government funding (TTAF) in mid-2020, means there’s never been a better time to train or upskill in a new career.

With a strong tradition in producing graduates capable of entering sectors which require employees with particular skill sets, Telford’s emphasis in hands-on learning includes work placements incorporated into a number of its programmes.

Allan Roxburgh is Telford’s Work Experience Co-ordinator, and tutor; he is passionate about placing students into the right work experience, then helping them find employment after they graduate.

While it’s not unusual for Telford students to graduate with their employment secured, he’s noticed increasingly, Telford students are valued in the workplace because they have such a strong practical component during their training, where practical skills are taught from day one.

Equine Veterinarians and the wider Equine industry to meet their specific needs, and has a strong focus on Equine breeding.

”

“Farmers from Canterbury will ring us looking for graduates, saying they prefer to take our students because of the practical element taught here” he said.

TTAF at Telford Some of Telford’s most popular programmes are available to study in 2021, under the Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF). Study any of these selected programmes with no course costs: • Massey Diploma in Agriculture (Level 5) • Certificate in Farming Systems and Equipment (Level 3) (Dairy, Sheep and Beef) • Foundation Certificate in Agriculture.

86 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

New Zealand Certificate in: • Apiculture (Level 3) • Horticulture (Level 3) (General) • Organic Primary Production (Level 3) • Organic Primary Production (Level 4) (Crop Production or Livestock Production) • Sustainable Primary Production (Level 4) • Apiculture (Level 3) – Online Distance Learning.

Rural Animal Technician and Equine Courses This year the New Zealand Certificate in Animal Technology - Rural Animal Technician (Level 5) will incorporate equine health and breeding content - alongside its emphasis on production animals.

The qualification provides a pathway from the lower-level equine skills and farming systems programmes, and to give graduates more diverse employment options.

“We identified an industry need for Rural Animal Technicians with more advanced Equine skills.

“A new paper is being designed in consultation with Equine Veterinarians and the wider Equine industry to meet their specific needs, and has a strong focus on Equine breeding,”

says Anton van Schalkwyk, Senior Tutor in Equine at Telford.

He says “watch this space” as approval is sought this year for the specialised Equine Veterinary Technicians elective.

The Rural Animal Technician and Equine Skills programmes will be eligible for the Zero Fees Scheme, which means no tuition fees; the student only pays course material costs, and accommodation if residing on-campus.

Secure your place at Telford, enrol now or 2021. Enquiries welcome - phone 0800 835 367 or visit: www.sit.ac.nz/campus/Telford, to view the full range of courses available.

The SIT Zero Fees Scheme (ZFS) is subject to NZ government policies.

YOUR NEW CAREER STARTS HERE. Join us in 2021 for Certificate and Diploma level studies in Agriculture, Rural Veterinary Technician, Equine and more.

Live on-campus or as a day student and become part of the Telford experience.

Programmes Starting Semester 1 - 2021 Massey Diploma in Agriculture (Level 5) 22 February to 05 November 37 weeks, Full-time

Farming Systems and Equipment (Level 3) (Dairy, Sheep and Beef) 09 February to 02 December One year, Full-time

NZ Certificate in Animal Technology (Level 5) Rural Animal Technician

NZ Certificate in Equine Skills (Level 3) (Sporthorse Stable Assistant)

01 March to 02 December

01 March to 18 June

One year, Full-time

16 weeks, Full-time

Foundation Certificate in Agriculture 22 February to 18 June 17 weeks, Full-time

NZ Certificate in Organic Primary Production (Level 3) 01 March 2020 to 09 July 17 weeks, Full-time

Take advantage of the Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund that will allow you to study select sub-degree courses at no cost.

For more information call 0800 835 367 or visit www.sit.ac.nz/Telford

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 87

Construction | Education in the Sector

Logistics & Transport | Warehouse Safety

Forklift safety Industry support through free trades training On July 2, 2020, the Tertiary Education Commission announced the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF) as the Government’s response to Covid and the ensuing job losses.

As a result, many are considering retraining and changing career paths.

Using a forklift presents a number of hazards, and each work environment may require training to suit its individual needs.

Here are some simple tips to follow to ensure safe operation of forklifts. Although these tips are simple and quite basic, they are a good starting point to support workplace health and safety guidelines.

1. Operators must be qualified

Although many employers made it a point to train up apprentices for their future business needs before the pandemic, other employers were not as keen to take on the costs and responsibilities that apprenticeships entail.

Operating forklifts should only be done by individuals who have been trained properly and contain a licence to operate the equipment.

2. Wear appropriate clothing

6. Operate at a safe speed Never exceed the speed limit. Take any turns slowly to minimise risk of tipping.

Make changes in direction or stops gradually and slowly.

7. Ensure the load is stable and secure Do not lift or move loads that are not safe or stable. Make sure loads are correctly stacked and positioned across both forks. Check for any overhead objects before lifting or stacking loads. Use securing measures such as ropes or bindings if required.

8. Forklifts are for load carrying only Operators must not let others ride on the equipment unless another seat is fitted safely to the forklift for a second person.

9. Keep clear of the mast

Ara Institute of Canterbury Ltd is one of a number of organisations that make up ConCOVE, the new Centre of Vocational Excellence for the construction and infrastructure industries.

Operators should wear appropriate safety work wear, such as a safety shoes, a hard hat, and hi-visibility jackets. Ensure this work wear is reasonably fitted, as loose clothing can get caught on machinery.

Do not authorise anyone to stand or walk under the load or forklift machinery – the load can fall causing injury or death. Keep hands and feet clear of the cross members of the mast – serious injury can be caused if the mast is lowered while your hand is on it.

One of the main goals of the national consortium is to help industries manage disruptions like the pandemic.

3. Examine the machinery before use

10. Ensure the forklift is not over-loaded

Do a routine check before driving any forklift.

Check for faulty brakes, steering, controls, warning devices, mast and tyres.

Know the capacity of your forklift and any attachments being used and never exceed this capacity. An overload can cause the rear tyres to be raised off the ground and may cause the forklift to tip over.

Ara Institute of Canterbury Ltd head of department - Trades, Dennis Taylor says, “The Covid pandemic has highlighted the need for a solid pipeline of trainees across all areas of the construction industry.

”We are currently seeing an increase in construction related apprenticeship opportunities for our students enrolled in construction trades-related programmes.

“Even before the pandemic and the introduction of TTAF, construction companies have struggled to maintain a steady workforce. Once the pandemic occurred, many worried about the future of construction overall.

“A number of students have withdrawn from pre-employment programmes to take up apprenticeships. While by one measure, it’s a loss from our programme of study, but by all other measures, it signifies success for the apprentice, the employer and the industry.

“It has also reiterated the need for a longerterm view towards career pathway choice and training and development for New Zealand residents, as opposed to solutions weighted towards a quick fix through imported labour solutions,” Dennis says.

Also known as free trades training, TTAF is a government fund that covers the costs of certain vocational training opportunities and apprenticeships, especially those in the construction sector.

Reflecting on TTAF, Dennis says, “The construction industry is currently seen in many ways as a ‘land of opportunity’. ”For many people who have had their opportunities dashed by their employment situation in other sectors, the construction industry will be seen as an attractive proposition.

According to Dennis, the hope is that employers involved in the support programme will realise the long-term benefits of apprenticeships and will continue to support training and apprenticeships in the future.

Dennis says, “The key to success will be the wider support given to those employers to enable the success of the apprentices and contribute to the success of their business.”

Although it’s too soon to know exactly what the pandemic means for the construction industry at large, TTAF gives us hope for the future of trades. CT Ara Institute of Canterbury Ltd PO Box 540 Christchurch Mail Centre Christchurch 0800 24 24 76 info@ara.ac.nz www.ara.ac.nz

“The attraction becomes even greater when there is a solid form of support in place by way of the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund.

88 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

— Advertising Feature

4. Starting the forklift An operator should not start a forklift until they are correctly seated with their safety belt fastened and all parts of their body are safely inside the operator’s cabin.

5. Check your surrounds Pay attention and follow any work site rules and guidelines. Observe all signs, especially those on maximum permitted floor loadings and clearance heights. Be aware of the height of the load, mast and overhead guard of the forklift when entering or exiting buildings. Be careful when operating a forklift near the edge of a loading dock or ramp – the forklift can fall over the edge – keep a safe distance from the edge.

Do not operate on bridge plates, unless they can support the weight of the forklift and load.

11. Ensure the load is evenly distributed Do not lift or move a load unless both forks are fully under the load. Do not lift a load with one fork. Use pallets and skids that can withstand the weight of the load. Do not use damaged, deformed or decayed pallets for holding loads.

12. When you’ve finished using the forklift Ensure the forklift is parked in a designated or authorised area. Lower the forks to the floor and apply the park brake. Do not leave a forklift running when unattended.

For more information, visit the WorkSafe website: worksafe.govt.nz. CT

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www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 89

Transport | Waltham Mechanical

Auto repair with a personal touch Choosing the right mechanic is a tough decision every vehicle owner has to make at one point or another, whether it’s for regular maintenance or major work.

Sometimes the deciding factor includes the people behind the counter and in the garage working on your vehicle.

The personnel at Waltham Mechanical make the difference. They do their best to make customers feel comfortable enough to bring their vehicles in for quotes and repairs by prioritising transparency.

The team makes sure that customers are aware of everything that is happening with their vehicle and why.

Another one of Waltham Mechanical’s strengths is that the team has a vast range of knowledge.

The shop regularly services a variety of different vehicles and does not specialise in any one brand.

The age of a vehicle makes no difference to the team as they are accustomed to working on old and new vehicles including hybrid and fully electric vehicles.

Waltham Mechanical owner Hayden Spatcher says, “We do a lot of jobs that a lot of

workshops nowadays do not do. We do big and little jobs and everything in between.

“Waltham Mechanical has been around for a long time. I’ve owned it since 2004 and it’s been a massive learning curve and an evolving process. We’re always looking to improve, always looking to change as motor vehicles do.”

Hayden likes to point out the importance of regularly servicing your vehicle. Unlike the average vehicle owner, mechanics often have the vantage point since they are able to put vehicles on hoists.

With that in mind, regular servicing allows Waltham Mechanical’s team to forecast issues before they come up to ensure that your vehicle is running as efficiently as possible.

Change of season tips Waltham Mechanical services and repairs a wide range of vehicles.

Services you’ll find at the repair shop include: • WOF inspections and repairs • Full Automotive servicing • Warranty Service and repairs • Computer scanning and diagnostics • Engine overhauls • Courtesy vehicles available by request.

As we head into autumn, Hayden and his team want to make sure drivers are as safe as possible when on the road.

Differences in temperature wear on various parts of vehicles so some things to check with change of seasons include tyres, wiper blades, brakes, and batteries.

“Batteries, for example, could let you down with the change of seasons. Going from warm weather to the cold weather may create a greater demand on the battery and if the battery is aging or weak this may lead to a failure to start the vehicle.

“Our routine service schedule here at Waltham Mechanical includes a battery test and print out,” says Hayden.

Of course, the team at Waltham Mechanical can tell you what you need to prepare for autumn the next time you bring your vehicle in to be serviced or repaired. CT Waltham Mechanical 102 Coleridge Street Sydenham Christchurch (03) 365 5169 walmech@xtra.co.nz www.walthammechanical.co.nz — Advertising Feature

WALTHAM MECHANICAL’S TEAM OF FULLY QUALIFIED MECHANICS FOLLOW A PRECISE VEHICLE SERVICING CHECKLIST TO ENSURE EACH SERVICE IS AS THOROUGH AS THE LAST. Waltham Mechanical has over 15 years’ experience servicing the vehicles of Christchurch.

The dedicated mechanics at Waltham are passionate about cars and they love their work, which means you will always get qualified service, realistic quotes and accurate advice along with excellent customer service.

Phone: 03 365 5169 / Fax: 03 365 5169 Cellphone: Hayden - 021 319 113 www.walthammechanical.co.nz 90 | February/March 2021 www.canterburytoday.co.nz

www.canterburytoday.co.nz February/March 2021 | 91

WE’RE HERE TO KEEP YOU

GROWING

Prompt, comprehensive service and parts support to keep your business growing.

While you’re working hard we’re committed to keeping you going with our dedicated service and parts support. Because we understand farming is a seven days a week job; a highly skilled and qualified service technician is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the harvest season. In addition to a comprehensive parts inventory, we provide an industry–leading support system designed to keep your gear in the field.

Call your local CLAAS Harvest Centre dealer now to book a service and ensure your gear is season-ready.

claasharvestcentre.com 0800 42021 CLAAS 92 | February/March www.canterburytoday.co.nz