Mike Greer Homes is proudly building quality homes on this prime piece of land at the Pukerua Development located off Hallmark Drive and Greenway Crescent, Richmond.
Mike Greer Homes will be building three or four bedroom homes, designed to compliment the sun and views all with outdoor living areas.
Perfectly designed for low maintenance living, these homes are ideal for year-round family living, impressive holiday retreats, investment or Airbnb rentals. Property sizes range from 430m² to 1086m². Land sizes like these are increasingly becoming a rarity in the Nelson region.
Keegan Murphy | 021 02610059 kmurphy@mikegreerhomes.co.nz
Kris Burns | 027 9568355 kburns@mikegreerhomes.co.nz
mikegreerhomes.co.nz
When one of your best friends tells you they have cancer, it’s like a simultaneous kick to the stomach and punch to the head. Your head is scrambling to centre itself because the news is so hard to comprehend, especially while that person is standing in front of you watching your reaction, having just delivered the news.
When my friend Nicky Kolk told me she had cancer it was during the 2020 Covid-induced lock down. We were standing in her driveway and my Covid “bubble”, so well maintained until that point, burst. I hugged her and cried, she cried, and it sucked.
As this month is Pink Ribbon breakfast month, we tell Nicky’s story and those of two other brave Nelsonians who have fought or are fighting cancer.
I’m proud of Nicky, and her story is wonderfully told by Nelson Magazine writer Britt Coker. I hope you enjoy this month’s edition.
EDITOR
Sarah Board | editor@nelsonmag.co.nz
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Tessa Claus | tess@topsouthmedia.co.nz
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Patrick Connor and Kylie Owens
CONTRIBUTORS
Justin Eade, Britt Coker, Adrienne Matthews, Amy
Russ, Matt Lawrey, Kate Dyer, Mackenzie Charleton, Sara Hollyman, Gordon Preece
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Kirsten Ammann | kirsten@topsouthmedia.co.nz PUBLISHER
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Jason and Linda Kroupa from House of Travel Motueka have been fortunate to have explored the wonderful wilds of Alaska. Nelson Magazine talks to them about their experiences.
What inspired you to travel to Alaska?
The lure of the spectacular scenery, wildlife and the hope of seeing ice calve off the glaciers into the sea.
What are the best things about traveling to such a wild and extraordinary part of the world?
Alaska is a place where adventures are everywhere. Pristine waters teem with humpback whales and bald eagles soar overhead.
Voyages with Oceania Cruises feature must-see destinations such as Juneau, Ketchikan and Icy Strait Point (Hoonah) – home to more bears per square kilometre than any other location in the world. We were also able to visit many ports that larger ships cannot access such as Homer, Prince Rupert, Wrangell and Kodiak.
Days ashore included dog sledding with a team of huskies, glacier trekking, helicopter flightseeing with local experts, aletasting tours, zodiac boat expeditions, wildlife safaris in ancient rainforests and so much more.
You chose to do a cruise aboard the ship ‘Regatta’.
What are the benefits of experiencing Alaska that way? It was the perfect way to experience the natural wonders of America’s last frontier on a luxurious small ship with just 684 passengers.
We sailed at night covering long distances and woke up to a raft of exciting new adventures.
The benefit of cruising is that you unpack once for the entire trip, allowing more time to experience the destinations and relax. Oceania boast the Finest Cuisine at sea with all restaurants available without surcharge. The food was amazing.
How much time did you spend ashore?
Travelling on a small ship allows more time ashore and shorter embarkation/disembarkation times. No need to rush, worry about crowds or wait in long lines. We were also able to visit smaller ports and spend longer in Alaska with itineraries up to 12 nights, rather than the larger cruise lines who predominately do seven night cruises. During our time ashore we could enjoy the township but also take an excursion to learn more about the area.
What time of year is it best to visit Alaska?
The season is short, from May to September, so anytime during our winter (the Northern summer) is great.
What were the highlights of your experience?
The amazing scenery and seeing bears whilst on a mountain bike ride on the old Russian Capital of Sitka.
I’ll never forget our Float Plane trip in Ketchikan over the Misty Fjords National Monument, the most serene place we have ever visited.
It’s New Zealand music month, which New Zealand musician are you listening to?
I’m here on holiday from the UK, but I would say Hayley Westenra. I went to see her live when I was a little kid. She played some Māori kids songs, one of which I play on the organ now.
My top two would be Melodownz and Home Brew. They do chill rap music.
Be in to win a Plant & Share gift box for rose lovers, valued at $120. Box includes a rose and geranium bath salts tube, rose and geranium body oil, rose face mist, Nelson sunkissed lip balm, Hogarth milk hazelnut chocolate log, and a dried flower posy. plantandshare.co.nz. Just email your best photo to editor@nelsonmag.co.nz
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More than 44,000 native trees will be planted on the Richmond Hills this winter, with several thousand of those to be planted by Keep Richmond Beautiful volunteers. This effort builds on the more than 62,000 trees that have been planted since the pine forests on the hillsides were harvested. The planting follows the Tasman District Council’s plan to eventually replace all the pine plantation on the hills with a mix of native and exotic trees, as well as improving recreational tracks for walkers and mountain bikers.
Britt Spencer, a volunteer surf lifesaver from Nelson, has made history, becoming the first Kiwi to paddle across the Cook Strait on a prone paddle board. Britt, who achieved the 22km crossing in just four hours and eight minutes, says the journey was six months in the making with many hours spent training. However, the challenge was not only for herself, Britt was also raising funds and awareness to the Nelson Surf Lifesaving club, she has raised over $13,000 to date.
Josh Dunn, a former Nayland College student, was honoured last month at Iron Duke Sea Scouts with the prestigious King’s Scout Award, a first in almost 80 years for the Nelson group. Over the past decade, Josh has dedicated himself to scouting, completing almost 100 community service hours, a residential project called Ignite’23, and a four day expedition up the Richmond Ranges. Now studying engineering at the University of Canterbury, the 18-yearold remains committed to scouting.
After stretching its helping hands throughout the community for 36 years, Hospice Nelson Tasman is asking for a hand of its own. NBS Hands up for Hospice appeal launches this month as the major fundraiser for the service that faces a $3.5m funding shortfall each year. Since 1987, the service has provided essential palliative care and support to patients with life-limiting illnesses and now assists around 210 patients and their whānau each month free of charge. With five main ways to get involved, the month will culminate with a ‘Heave for Hospice’ tug-of-war team competition on Upper Trafalgar Street on 31 May.
Nelson’s household cats are facing competition from local weka. Known for their garden digging, food theft, and roof jumping, the weka population in Nelson has boomed from almost zero, twenty years ago, to a now relatively high density. Scott Burnett, Te Tauihu/Top of the South regional conservation manager at Forest and Bird, says the rise is most likely due to predator control, favourable breeding conditions, and ample foraging opportunities. Although mischievous, Scott urges Nelson residents to cherish and protect the weka.
Meet Shannon Cassidy, host of her own Kiwi music radio show on Fresh FM, and member of the Nelson Sambassadors. Shannon talks to Nelson Magazine about her love for her daughter Everly, and our local music scene.
I will never shut up about... Kiwi music, to the point of having my own Kiwi music radio show on Fresh FM called “Homegrown Only”. There is something about the feeling music gives you, especially hearing a track for the first time. Then finding out the artist calls New Zealand home. We are so lucky here in New Zealand with our ridiculously large talent pool considering our population.
I’m a real nerd about... Being a mum, which I feel in itself is an extremely nerdy answer. My wee girl Ev is my absolute world and being her mama is awesome. There is nothing quite as incredible as getting front row seats to watching someone learn and grow. From the early days when I was in awe watching her take her first steps, and learning to clap her hands, to now listening to her singing Blackbird by the Beatles while brushing her doll’s hair. It still blows my mind that this was that tiny baby I took home from the hospital when we were fresh out of lockdown in 2020.
As a child, I was really into... Snare drumming. When I was nine, I asked mum for a drum-kit for my birthday. She said if I committed to lessons and proved it wasn’t a phase (like my recorder, violin, and guitar phases), that she would look into getting me some drums. Three years later, the burgundy red Pearl kit in Beggs window display got loaded into the back of mum’s Subaru station wagon and took pride of place in my bedroom, which I’m sure my sisters, and the neighbours, were thrilled about. The same kit is now in my home and my daughter is now showing the same passion I have for the most annoying instrument to move house with. Drumming continues to be a big part of my life, and I now get the honour to play the caixa which is the Brazilian snare drum, with my incredible samba family the Nelson Sambassadors.
When I need advice I go to... My mum, over everything. Whether it’s about where I can find my favourite coffee beans on special, through to life changing decisions, she’s my speed dial. My mum is an absolute legend and the queen of advice, and she’s always bloody right. Mum’s truly do know best.
The world would be a better place with more... Respect. I was lucky to work at a rest home when I was 16. A casual summer holiday job that became a part time postion which I juggled with high school, out of respect for my role and the people I got to assist. This job taught me another depth of respect, and showed me every day that everyone has their own story. Some of the most frail and quiet people I cared for had the most incredible stories. From a female pilot, war veterans, through to a woman who on her 102nd birthday I asked what she thought was the secret to a long life, and her response? “Never been married, never had kids”. Respect every person you cross paths with, you never know the journey they are on.
The most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done is... Spontaneous and permanent? My bestie Rachel and I thought it would be a great idea to get “matching” wine glasses tattooed on our wrists while in Wellington after a night out. Turns out they aren’t matching at all, but it’s a great conversation starter and an ode to our friendship and brilliant decisions.
One thing I’ll never do again... Is this, when I follow up on a previous question with not getting a tattoo while on holiday with zero thought or planning...
with Manoli Aerakis and Michael Parker
Award-winning local firm Malloch McLean Tasman provide vital business coaching and accounting services thanks to a multifaceted team with specialists across most industries, from tech and construction to agribusiness and professional services. Nelson Magazine talks to CEO Manoli Aerakis and director Michael Parker about the benefits of business coaching combined with sound accounting practices. on the couch
What is business coaching and where does your inspiration for helping businesses in this way come from?
Business coaching is about helping business owners achieve their goals through planning and accountability. 97% of businesses in New Zealand are small to medium enterprises and most of these are family owned and operated. All too often we see business owners who are burnt out, working too many hours, not being paid enough, and sacrificing valuable time with family. Business coaching is about helping to solve these problems and create smarter, better businesses, so they can achieve freedom – time freedom, financial freedom, and mind freedom.
I see that you’ve had quite a few clients who have won awards at the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce business awards. What is behind the success of these businesses?
It starts with dedicated owners who are passionate about their business and know their “why”. They have a clear vision of where they want to be in the future and an actionable plan to get there. They find ways to work smarter. They build great teams with exceptional cultures. They value their worth and protect their time. They surround themselves with the right people. They focus on what they do best, and delegate the rest. Most importantly, they take action when needed, and embrace accountability.
Running a business is becoming increasingly challenging with so many diverse skills required. What are some of the practical ways a combination of coaching and innovative accounting practices can help businesses and their people?
Having an outstanding team of accountants and bookkeepers using market-leading technologies such as Xero, Figured, and Fathom to provide clients with accurate, timely, forward-looking information is the key. As a business coach, having access to up-to-date, reliable financial information is essential to understanding the business and providing informed strategic advice to clients. It all starts with good quality information.
What advice can you give for businesses struggling to get ahead in difficult economic times?
They need to know their numbers inside and out –their margins, break-even points, cashflow levers and so on. Their business model needs examining closely to ensure that the right products and services are being offered. Pricing structures need to be analysed to make sure the business is making headway and every member of the team needs to understand the expectations required to be productive.
In challenging times, many businesses pull back on marketing and advertising spending, whereas investing in appropriate marketing can propel a business forward and capture more market share.
mmcatasman.co.nz
This month, Pink Ribbon breakfasts are being held all over the country as fundraisers for the Breast Cancer Foundation continue fighting the good fight. Britt Coker talks to three Nelson women who are doing some fighting of their own.
Tessa Claus
Nicky Kolk’s cancer showed up like a bad magic trick. Nothing to see here folks and then, ta-da! There it is. A routine December mammogram gave her the allclear and then three months later she felt a twocentimetre lump in her breast. She was relaxed about it. Probably just a cyst. That’s what her doctor said too. Probably just a cyst, but we’ll take a biopsy just in case. That’s what the specialist said, too. Feels like a cyst, but just to be safe, etcetera. So, there is absolutely, definitely, nothing serious to see here, folks.
“So, I got this biopsy done. I ran into this lady from my work there. We’re basically yelling out to each other cause we've been separated in different rooms. ‘Oh yeah, everything's fine I've just got this lump on my breast.’ And she’s like, ‘oh God I’m really sorry,’ I'm like, ‘no, it’ll be OK, it'll be nothing,’ and it turns out it wasn't (nothing).”
Nicky’s diagnosis comes during lockdown. A time of uncertainty, in a time of uncertainty. The surrealness of masks and social distancing, meetings with doctors in carparks and empty post-op hospital wards. Nicky counts her blessings in that regard. No surgeries happening meant she could progress through the treatment stages quicker than she would have otherwise.
She was also fortunate to have her mother-in-law staying with her and her husband during lockdown. A mother-in-law who happened to be a nurse in a chemo clinic. Knowledge and know-how. Two things foreign to a typical cancer patient.
Caught early enough, Nicky had the choice whether to have a mastectomy or not. She chose not, opting for a Wide Local Excision to remove the cancer. There was still chemo and radiation as part of the process.
“At the beginning I had to tell my dad and he was getting radiotherapy himself down in Christchurch, during lockdown, and I had to ring up and tell him, ‘Dad I've got cancer, we’re cancer buddies’. I don’t think he found it very funny, I thought it was funny.”
Less funny, a lot of other stuff. The tooth infections that necessitated removal. The nausea, the hair loss. The body’s immune system takes the hit, where once minor ailments would have lost the fight like bullets bouncing off a bracelet wrapped around the wrist of Wonder Woman.
“I remember I got my hair cut when I was younger, late teens, and I’ve got three older brothers and one of my brothers was teasing, ‘oh you look like a boy.’ So, I just keep going back to that, I'm just going to look like a boy, I don't want to have short hair, but when it started coming out I went to my hairdresser and she shaved it off, and it actually looked kind of cool.”
Her husband Tim struggled with the diagnosis and found counselling really helpful. “Men don't do that type of thing. I mean they do, but they don't talk about it, and he went to counselling and he got this counsellor who was amazing. It really benefited him just having someone else to talk to about it. I'm proud of him for doing that.”
“Having cancer means having difficult conversations. First, medical professionals with you, ‘I’m really sorry to say that…’ And then you, to your partner, family, closest circle, “I’ve got bad news”. And then again, to acquaintances, coworkers, and perhaps even people you don’t know very well because ‘I’ve got a lot on at the moment’ sounds a bit lame, and your reason not to do that thing isn’t lame.”
Tim runs his own business and found being fully transparent with clients about why he couldn’t always assist with urgent work was the best approach. People were understanding.
Friends set up a meal train where people contributed home-cooked meals for the freezer. Nicky found it a Godsend in difficult times. After her chemotherapy treatment and radiation stint in Christchurch, life has now returned to a version of normal, though she is 3.5 years into a five-year stretch of hormone therapy.
She encourages women experiencing cancer treatment to accept offers of help, even if it’s difficult. People ask because it’s something practical to do and there’s not much else they can do except be part of a meal train or do a little light cleaning for an exhausted patient.
“I do it now. I don't know if I did it before I had cancer. People don't offer unless they actually want to help you, so let them help you.“
“Keep moving” is part of the recovery mantra these days. Light exercise only, and even if she’d wanted to, post-surgery basketball ball passes were well out of reach. Nicky is hugely grateful for the PINC & STEEL rehabilitation fitness classes that helped keep her sane in the months immediately following treatment. Unsurprisingly, she’s still in hypervigilant mode.
“I'm constantly doing checks on myself and if any of my friends say, ‘I've got this…’, I'm like, go get it checked out. Just don't waste time about it, just go get it checked out. If it's nothing, it's nothing.”
One last learning.
“I was surprised how resilient I was, but what was really nice was my dad and I were somewhere together and I didn’t have any hair and he said, ‘My daughter’s being treated for breast cancer. My daughter’s real tough’. A few tears, now reflecting on that moment. Tough woman maybe, but tough journey too.
At 45, Jo Watson knew all about breast checks. Her grandmother had passed away from breast cancer, so she’d been proactive for many years. Then in late February 2020, a month before the nationwide lockdown, she found a lump. At that time, along with her husband and five children, Jo called Southland home (they later returned to Nelson to be near family).
“I contacted my rural GP and got in to see him like, 10 days later, and he said, ‘yes, definitely a lump the size of about a fifty-cent coin,’ so it was a decent size.
‘I will refer you through to Invercargill hospital and you should hear from them within the next couple of weeks for an urgent mammogram.”
Jo had Covid to deal with, and a child with complicated health issues. “I was actually more concerned about him catching Covid and ending up in hospital than I was about myself. So, I just kind of went into mum hyperdrive.”
This now turns into a story of bad timing, bad communication and system failure. Eye rolls and gritting your teeth alert. Jo received a letter from
Invercargill Hospital saying she was going to be put into routine screening instead of an urgent check. “I was like, ‘OK, well if the hospital’s not worried about my lump, I won’t worry about my lump, and let’s focus on what’s happening here and now with the Covid situation.’
She had cause to call her GP about three months later, to explain the lump had grown rapidly. “But he wasn’t overly concerned. He actually gave me a course of antibiotics in case I had a breast infection which was kind of bizarre because I hadn’t breastfed a child for 10 years.”
Three more months passed and by now Jo couldn’t sleep at night or lift her left arm without incredible pain, so she contacted Invercargill Hospital. There was still a bit of toing and froing with the final result being a seven-month gap between her first GP appointment and the day she lay on the surgeon’s table with Stage 3C breast cancer. The 50-cent sized lump was now three breast tumours and cancer in the lymph nodes. Goodbye, left breast.
“It's just a horrific diagnosis going from this blasé, ‘oh, you know it's a lump, blah blah blah’, to Stage 3C. We are now hacking into you, removing a breast, cutting out underneath your armpit to remove a metastasised cancer and now we're going to throw you into brutal chemo because this is the best chance we've got for you.” Best chance was a 13% chance of survival after five years. That was four years ago.
“I did all of that for this 13% chance of remaining cancer-free and I would do it again in a heartbeat because I was 45 years old and hey, I'm four years down the track and although I'm living with some pretty chronic health conditions because of the treatment, I'm still here and that is what counts, and my children still have a mum.”
“Right at the beginning when they spelled out this treatment and spelled out my odds I was like, just give it to me. Keep giving me all the drugs. Just do what you need to do to keep me here for as long as possible.”
Jo’s on hormone therapy now, eliminating estrogen from her body because that’s the kind of thing her type of cancer loves to live on. She isn’t able to work at the moment and though her two eldest have left home, a life revolved around 11, 12 and 16-year-olds keeps her focused on others.
“I was quite a big breasted girl and the surgery that I had in 2020 left me incredibly disfigured. The nerve pain and the damage done to my chest meant that I couldn't wear prosthesis, so that means I had one very large breast and it’s been a big gap on the other side. And that's how I've lived for the last, nearly four years, and been incredibly disfigured. That does one hell of a number on your mental health and on your self-esteem.” She now weighs 3 kilograms less, is no longer walking lopsided, or needing physio. Taking control.
“If I've got to live life as a breast cancer survivor, this is how I want my body going ahead. I've lost the huge Lone Ranger - it was my nickname for the breast. The Lone Ranger and the human parted ways and I have not shed a single tear. I feel strong, and I feel empowered, and I feel like I had a say in how I wanted my body to be.”
“The Lone Ranger and the human parted ways last Friday and I have not shed a single tear. I feel strong, and I feel empowered, and I feel like I had a say in how I wanted my body to be.”
“I used to feel a lot of anger and I used to feel almost like a betrayal. I was severely let down and that's still relevant however, I've kind of switched that around now to it being a motivator for me to be quite vocal about what I'm very passionate about.”
“I am a positive person and believe you me, I have my tears, but overall, it's like, this is another knockdown and you get back up and you keep going, and I think it's your mum hat, isn't it? I've got children, they need me, it's not their fault I've got cancer, let's just keep boxing on.”
“You kind of lose yourself in the piles of hospital appointments and the whole shemozzle is brutal, and then you just start coming out of it and the fog kind of lifts away, slowly but surely.”
Last month, she said goodbye to her cancer-free right breast. It was through choice, not necessity, but circumstances made it easier.
Unsurprisingly, Jo has become a strong advocate for women taking control of the situation when they feel medical services are not moving quickly enough. Together, she and her sister Debbie, are holding an afternoon High Tea as a Pink Ribbon fundraiser this month. For more information email teamwatson@live.com
“It brings me so much joy to be able to a share the message and to get a whole heap of women together and have some fun, raise some funds for a really good reason and once again, just loudly advocating for our health.”
Ingrid Tapper was a 40-year-old man when she felt a lump in her breast. That is to say, she was dressed as a man. By day, a mum and early childhood teacher, by night, an occasional cabaret singer and Drag King. A September 2022 post-show removal of tape from around her breasts was painful. As she gave them a rub to ease the soreness, she felt a lump and thought, ‘Oh, that’s different, I’d better keep an eye on that.’ Within several weeks, the lump had grown. An examination by her doctor identified a lump in the other breast as well. She thought they were both cysts but referred Ingrid for a radiology appointment.
“I knew the moment the ultrasound technician was at my armpit, and he was there for quite some time, and then he was on my left breast for quite some time, because this isn't my first go round with cancer, I've had cervical cancer as well. So I had a feeling, I knew what was happening and he spent hardly any time on my right breast and he goes, ‘Oh, that’s a cyst’, so that was great and then he immediately asked ‘can I do a biopsy’ [on the left breast] and I was like ‘well yes, when?’ ‘Right now, if we can’, and I thought ‘OK, this is really serious.’”
She had the results within three days. Despite having experienced cervical cancer ten years earlier, and despite feeling like it would come back one day, she still felt the expected emotions of a serious diagnosis.
“I was definitely numb. I've got a very sort of black and white approach to things like that. I just went straight into problem-solving mode. OK, what step is next, what's after that, what's after that, and you kind of put your blinders on and just look forward, and that's really how I felt. I was like right, let's just get in and do this.”
Ingrid has Her2 Positive breast cancer. It’s an aggressive cancer, the type most likely to recur in other parts of the body. Twenty percent of people diagnosed with breast cancer are Her2 Positive. However, certain drugs are more effective at targeting this gene specifically.
“I was really lucky, with the cervical cancer I found it incredibly early, I only had surgery, so I didn't have to go through chemo… So it's kind of like a pinprick, is the cervical cancer, and like a bomb going off is the breast cancer.”
Ingrid and her partner Greg have two children aged 11 and 14. The couple were open with them, though they spared the kids the detail and kept things to more of a, ‘need to know’ basis. “We were honest with them. The fact is that this is what's going to happen. Take your cues from me. If I seem like I'm OK with this, then you're OK.”
An aggressive foe is met with aggressive treatment. Unfortunately, there was a frustrating delay due to Ingrid also requiring a biopsy and/or removal of ovarian cysts. But what was supposed to be a onehour keyhole surgery turned into five hours, six surgeons and a gynecologist, all struggling to find her left ovary. In the end they removed her right one, but the left one to this day, is still in hiding.
“It was so funny, I caught up with the gynecologist a few months later and she was saying to her colleague, ‘Oh this is the one I was telling you about’. Great, now I'm a hospital story.”
“I was really lucky, with the cervical cancer I found it incredibly early, I only had surgery, so I didn’t have to go through chemo… So it’s kind of like a pinprick is the cervical cancer, and like a bomb going off is the breast cancer.”
The ovarian surgery required recuperation before Ingrid could begin her breast cancer treatment. Then finally - chemo, breast conservation surgery, surgery again, chemo again, radiation. The second set of chemo (14 rounds) was brutal on a tired body. She’s been on drugs, the course ended 24 April (as Nelson Magazine goes to print), and then what? She’s not sure. It depends on the phone call with Christchurch oncology, but regular checks and the marking of time will be par for the course. And in the quiet moments, reflection.
“There's a lot of mixed feelings because it's been an incredibly long journey. There's a lot more to it than I thought there was. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, and so I'm very apprehensive that even though they say it's the last one, I'm like, ‘oh is it though?”
“I tend to hold a lot of things in that I really shouldn't. I've definitely become a lot more open. The first time I did this, I didn't tell anyone about my cancer until after I was healed and this time I've been pretty honest with it. I've been using my Facebook page as a platform to let people have a peek behind the curtain, so to speak.”
Ingrid, like Nicky and Jo, is good-humoured as she speaks to me, and I am struck by the positive attitudes of the trio. Their interviews are punctuated
by laughter about the funny-odd moments. Ingrid thought it was hilariously ironic that she was dressed a man when she discovered her breast cancer (men do get breast cancer too, but probably don’t find it because they taped their breasts down).
“I definitely have my harder days and definitely just acknowledging that those are going to be there as well. My partner's been amazing as a carer, and I've got a really strong family connection. They've been amazing, my friends have been amazing, my work was amazing, and I think also I approach life with a really good sense of humour. I’ll joke about it because if you don't laugh about it, then you're just going to go crazy.”
Local support services are rated highly by all three women. From free counselling services courtesy of Nelson Cancer Society to the Look Good, Feel Good Programme and PINC & STEEL. Plus, there are the important fundraising events like Relay for Life, and Pink Ribbon Breakfasts where money raised in the region, stays in the region.
One in nine New Zealand women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Reflecting on the vast numbers of female friends, family and work colleagues you know, this may inspire you to support the sisterhood this month, by hosting or attending a Pink Ribbon breakfast (or high tea). And don’t forget to check your breasts today.
breastcancerfoundation.org.nz
cancernelson.org.nz
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In case anyone was still unaware at this point, mountain biking is huge in Nelson, but what happens before the wheels start spinning and after they stop? Where do people congregate for their rides and where do they have a natter while out on the trails? Justin Eade talks to a number of riders and finds out their popular gathering spots, and what mountain biking means to them socially.
Nelson’s hills are home to some of the best mountain bike trails in the southern hemisphere and the Nelson Mountain Bike Club (NMTBC) is the largest sporting club in New Zealand, with some 3,100 members. It is estimated that 5000 to 10,000 people regularly go mountainbiking in and around Nelson, with 400 kilometres of tracks within 40 minutes of Nelson City.
And the benefits of the sport aren’t just confined to fitness and fun, climbing up hills is one huge unifying factor, with the need to pause at certain points creating social moments.
Tayla Carson, 28, events manager for the NMTBC and an active rider herself, extols the virtues of Codgers Mountain Bike Park, the Sharlands network, the Upper Maitai network and the Cable Bay Adventure Park Trails. She also rides often in Wairoa Gorge.
Tayla, an Environmental Planning Consultant from Matamata, considers herself a Nelsonian now. She got into mountain biking when she moved to Nelson three and a half years ago, as “that seemed to be what everyone does in Nelson”, and it was a good way to make friends. She’s an advanced rider now, but it’s been a steep learning
curve. Through a lot of coaching and riding most days she has gotten better quickly and can now ride everything in Nelson.
“I love riding at Cable Bay and the Gorge. I live in the Brook, so I’m extremely lucky to have amazing trails at my doorstep. The Upper Maitai Valley (backside of Fringed Hill) has some amazing trails that are my favourites – ‘Peaking Ridge’ and ‘Whaimana’, and in Sharlands, ‘Aorere’ is a classic.”
Tayla says it’s during a break on climbs, or at the end of the trails, that riders stop and have a chat. In Codgers it’s Andrew’s Farm carpark, the Jacks Track and
Middle Road intersection, Fireball skid site, the top of Firball (Firball Trig), the top of P51/Whanake, the Koata Rere skid site, the Take Me To Your Leader skid site, and the end of Hotbox. On Fringed Hill, it’s the waterfall on Fringed Road or at the top of the mountain.
Tayla’s met so many different people at these spots, as everyone is always keen for a yarn or wanting some local advice on where to ride. She’s met people from all around the world, including the UK, Italy, and Peru. “My best friend Jean, we met out riding in Codgers and instantly hit it off. One time an Italian guy needed an Allen key so I lent him mine, and he ended up towing me around the whole day with his e-bike, and I showed him all of the best trails. It was awesome. He’s a good friend now and I’ll be visiting him in Italy so he can show me his local trails. I’ve also met lots of rad chicks biking that love seeing other girls riding gnarly trails, especially at the Gorge. There’s an instant connection there just because it’s a male-dominated sport, so other girls get excited to see you riding.”
Tayla says the mountain biking community in Nelson is incredible. Everyone is inclusive and happy to be out riding the awesome network of trails. The community come together and volunteer for the events that NMTBC run, and it’s easy to make riding buddies and connections within the MTB community. “Even if you start a ride by yourself, it’s not long before you run into one of your mates.”
Like any club though, Tayla says there are issues facing the NMTBC. Forestry closures are an ongoing issue and access agreements can be difficult with different stakeholders. “There are essentially two part-time employees and eight volunteer committee members trying to keep over 3,000 members, landowners, council, asset owners and other recreational users happy. It would be great if more people got involved to lighten the load.”
Steve Sampson, 66, a locksmith from Richmond, rides a lot in the
Silvan Forest and Richmond Hills areas of Stoke and Richmond. He got into mountain biking because he loves cycling, and the great outdoors, so this was an enjoyable way to keep fit and to challenge himself. He’s been mountain biking for 31 years now and would class himself as intermediate level plus. Steve goes riding solo, or with his son Troy, or sometimes with other friends and groups. He rides during the day, but also sometimes at night, with lights. Steve says congregation spots are mostly at the carpark (near the top of Champion Road) for the Silvan Forest trails, and the Easby Park carpark in Richmond for the Kingsland Forest trails. Social spots afterwards can be the popular Silvan Forest Coffee Cart in the carpark at Silvan, or the Sprig and Fern Queen Street. And, of course, Eddyline is also a popular spot for bikers in Richmond.
On the trails, it’s the Silvan Steps skid site, the picnic-table skid site near the top, and at the very top of the Alpha climb. At Kingsland it’s mainly the start point near Bermed Monster, or Ejector, and the top of the hill where Terminus begins, plus the Fire Lookout point.
“It’s really incredible how big the mountain bike community is, and how it connects people from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life.”
Steve says he’s formed a great many acquaintances over the years mountain biking and probably six to ten lasting friendships. “I would say the mountain biking community in and around Nelson is friendly, helpful and strong. Our track choices are awesome.”
Alice Baker, 31, came here from England 10 years ago and now considers Nelson home. She leads tours for a small cycle touring company, and also dabbles in mountain bike instructing, mostly women's courses, through ‘Wheel Woman’.
“My partner, Ben, got me into biking back when we arrived in Nelson. We chose to live here on the basis of whispers about how amazing and underrated the riding was. After 10 years,
I’m an advanced rider and have given almost all the tracks around Nelson a go.”
Alice organises ‘Singletrack Sisters Nelson’, a social women’s mountain biking group aiming to increase participation, progression and community. Their regular ride night is Thursday but they’re planning extra activities throughout the year, the first a collaboration with the NMTBC to run the ‘Wāhine at Wairoa Gorge’ event.
The group rides in different spots each week from Silvan Forest to Cable Bay Adventure Park, and everything in between. “We are really spoiled for choice in Nelson!”
Te Ara Koa, Aorere, Gotten Rotten, and Jurassic. However, he also loves a cruise down Firball or a fun time jumping on Koata Rere.
He says people congregate at most viewpoints and trail heads. The trail head at Codgers always has people stopping and mingling as well as the look-out points… the top of Firball, the top of Fringe, and the top of Silvan. “Funnily enough, I almost always see people congregating at the roundabout on the corner of Nile and Tasman streets. It’s like a default meeting spot as you can access both the Maitai and Codgers trails from there.”
Alice also says good connecting spots are usually at the top of trails. “We are extra lucky that most of the tracks have amazing views from the top. We’re also lucky to have some cool base areas/ carparks now - the Maitai pump track and hub was a great spot to hang out so I’m looking forward to the rebuild.”
In town, good social spots and gathering points are Two Thumbs, The Free House, The Prince Albert, and in Richmond, Eddyline. There is also Alton Street Cycles for the pre/post ride caffeine hit on weekday rides.
“It’s really incredible how big the mountain bike community is, and how it connects people from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life. The majority of people I know in Nelson ride or have some connection to mountain biking and some of my best friendships have been formed through sharing time out on the trails,” says Alice.
Matthew Ball, 49, from Canada, is chair of the NMTBC. He started riding in his early 20s and is an advanced rider, riding pretty much everywhere around Nelson. Favourite trails in the area are mostly in the advanced category;
Matt says a lot of his friends have come from riding. “I belong to a group who ride once a week which is a nice way to connect, in fact, we even get together for the holidays and have social events for our whole families as a result. I’m quite active in the mountain bike community as such a lot of friends are also from the riding community.”
The NMTBC is 3100 members strong, and a large part of what they do is social. The events the club runs are a great way to get out there and meet people, however the club is also the advocate for trails and trail access in the region.
“The Long Term Plan for NCC is open for submissions so if you like to ride your bike in Nelson this is the time for people to let our elected officials know how important that is to them. A lot of our trails are on Koata Whenua, and without access to these trails the whole mountain bike scene in Nelson would change dramatically,” Matt says.
Shannon Higgs, 32, is the operations manager of Cable Bay Adventure Park. Originally from Tauranga, she’s been calling Nelson home for nearly four years, but got into mountain biking while living in Queenstown. “You’re almost surrounded by it there and it intrigued me for all the same reasons I now love the sport - it’s social, it has an uplifting, welcoming community, it’s physically active, it’s challenging, and it’s addictive.”
“The majority of people I know in Nelson ride or have some connection to mountain biking and some of my best friendships have been formed through sharing time out on the trails.”
Riders congregate and socialise at Cable Bay in the car park, Pineline skid, Rainbow Unicorn lookout, the CCR intersection, and the Base Cafe for post-ride goodness.
“Pineline skid site and the CCR intersection are definitely spots where you can connect with newcomers who may need some direction or a little bit of courage for trying something new for the first time. This generally gets followed up over a beer, and ‘sharing the stoke’ of a great ride, so friendships definitely form out on the trails,” Shannon says.
Shannon believes there’s a real strength around women’s mountain biking at the moment and women grouping together in support of each other, getting out there and entering events and social ride days. “It’s been pretty neat to learn of other mountain bike groups and things going on from others that maybe you wouldn’t usually hear of.” She’s just teamed up as a ride leader for Singletrack Sisters. Of Cable Bay Adventure Park in
particular, Shannon says they have the most amazing trail crew community there, and every Tuesday night two hours of digging is followed by a potluck dinner and a few beers to de-brief. “A standard night sees us with up to 20 people attending with clear summer nights reaching up to 35 –that’s a lot of trail we can develop in two hours! I’ve formed some amazing relationships with people via these dig nights.”
As someone once remarked, ‘I’ve never seen a negative person out mountain biking.’ So, if you want to get fit, see great scenery and make incredible friends, you can’t look past the mountain biking scene in Nelson.
Join NMTBC, or make a submission about trail access to NCC’s Long Term Plan under item 10 (other) on the subject ‘Recreation access to Ngati Koata whenua’.
Lydia Chadfield and Jess Patterson started Apex Accounting over a glass of wine, with a spark of an idea to create a service that could benefit other businesses using their extensive accounting and business skills. After two short years in operation, they are now proud winners of the Start Up Business section of the 2024 Nelson Pine Industries Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.
“We are thrilled with our win,” says Jess. “We put a lot of emphasis on our strategy and systems to ensure we had a solid plan going forward and we are thrilled the judges recognised that. Our goal is to fill the gap in the market for the small businesses who have felt disengaged from their accountants. We are finding that many people feel they are just a number, and we really want to change their opinions about accountants because there is so much we can do to help them succeed and reach their goals.”
Lydia was born with an aptitude for numbers and has been an accountant for 14 years. She likes nothing more than tidying up client’s accounting lives so they can get on with doing what they do best.
Jess worked in a few different industries and discovered that she had an ability for finding ways for businesses to increase profitability. She has been a farm manager and a successful business owner with her husband which has provided an abundance of practical experience.
Together the pair have formidable skills but operate in a warm and engaging way. “We aim to provide a safe and encouraging environment which can take the stress away from what can be the most challenging aspect of many businesses,” says Jess.
“We thoroughly enjoy getting to know our clients on a one-to-one basis,” says Lydia. “No one is just a number here. Relationships are so important, and we work together with all our clients on the basis that ‘two-minds are greater than one.’”
As ATAINZ accredited accountants and tax agents, the pair bring a high level of accounting expertise to their roles as well as practical business experience from their personal business success which is a strong point of difference from many other more traditional accounting firms.
“Initially we provide a free consultation to potential clients to assess their needs, establish a starting point and see that we are the right fit for each other,” explains Jess.
Lydia and Jess can take care of all financial requirements including end of year accounts, GST returns and reconciliations, company office administration and PAYE and payroll systems, along with insights and ideas for improving business outcomes..
apexaccounts.co.nz
Britt Coker interviews a World music maker who has travelled the globe, playing and teaching tribal music that has inspired people to go on their own journeys, seeking deeper connections with others, and the Earth.
It all started with a souvenir didgeridoo that wasn’t his. Teenaged Jeremy Cloake was at his friend’s place one day, and while Geoff struggled to get a sound out of his new instrument, Jeremy seemed to have a knack for it, so Geoff gave the didgeridoo to him. And that’s how Jeremy ended up onstage one day, jamming with the Doobie Brothers.
“I never really got into guitar. It always felt congested with the wrist movement and stiff on the [guitar] neck, and I played around on drums a little bit too. But the didgeridoo just had this kind of mysticism that as a 16-year-old I was kind of drawn into, which was great because it opened up whole other parts of me that were more connected to the Earth, and more spiritually inclined, I guess you'd say.”
After high school, Jeremy worked at an African arts gallery in Ponsonby and met many West African musicians through the gallery owner. His initial goal, aged 18, was to save enough money to make a didgeridoo recording (which he went on to do, ‘Resonance’ sold thousands of copies). But he was influenced and inspired to learn how to play West African percussion instruments. It was a natural transition then, for someone who loved music of the world, to leave New Zealand to discover it. With his interest in the didgeridoo, Arnhem Land in Northern Territory became his new home where he lived and worked for four years with the Yoingu people. He learnt their language, how to make and play the yidaki, and helped develop the local arts centre.
The art centre itself is a beautiful model for collaboration between both worlds and, in some cases, worlds that are radically opposed to each other, and you just have to find a solution.
The yidaki looks like a didgeridoo, but isn’t one. Didgeridoo is not an aboriginal name for the instrument but an early colonial christening bestowed for the sounds it makes. The people of the land have lots of different names for it, usually translating in their regional dialects the equivalent of ‘hollow log’. In Australia, the term yidaki is most commonly used, though it is a specific type of instrument made by the Yoingu people of Arhem Land in Northern Territory. To the untrained eye and ear, it looks the same but is played very differently and therefore produces a different range of sounds.
“The first thing that I did there, working with the yidaki makers, was to provide them with an outlet for their tradition so they could sell it and keep that tradition strong. It's mostly the young men that make the instruments and the young men are the most at risk, so having something that keeps them strong in their culture, and active, motivated and inspired is a really good thing when they are facing so many challenges and their community is being displaced.”
What did they teach you by living with them?
“Acceptance. Just allowing things to be, and forgiveness as well. People there can say some pretty outrageous things sometimes, especially when there's not a sense of the bigger picture, knowing what’s going on. So, there's a lot of tolerance and forgiveness. Living in the community itself is very challenging because there's a lot of social complexity with kids just having to find their way into a bicultural world that they're not necessarily prepared for.
“There's this insular aspect of their society which is really beautiful, and then it needs someone from the outside to kind of bridge it into the western world… The art centre itself
is a beautiful model for collaboration between both worlds and, in some cases, worlds that are radically opposed to each other, and you just have to find a solution.”
Jeremy’s work in Arnhem Land, promoting the yidaki and culture, took him around the world, performing, teaching, and facilitating workshops. In 2005, a tussle with cancer (he won) brought him back to New Zealand and serendipitously through a door into his ancestral past.
“I was driving back from my sister's wedding, and I got this feeling to stop in at Whakarewarewa and there was a taonga pūoro wānanga (forum on traditional Māori instruments) and I was like, ‘Wow, what’s this?’ Not knowing about it but stumbling across it, from the Māori perspective, is guided by wairua (spirit) and it really felt that way. I made a porotiti (spinning disc) and a couple of pūtōrino (flutes) with the help of Brian Flintoff [an acclaimed artist and carver] who became one of my kaiako (mentors). He’s an amazing man. That kind of kicked off my interest and involvement in taonga pūoro which is an expression of myself through my whakapapa from Puketeraki Marae, just north of Dunedin.”
Jeremy’s full immersion in taonga pūoro was a turning point for this gifted musician. Not just because of the stronger connection it gave him to his Māori heritage, but the responses he has subsequently witnessed as a musician sharing the unique sounds of Aotearoa with others.
“The responses to taonga pūoro are just so incredibly deep, and this is in the context of me working with instruments like the yidaki that you’re playing with traditional techniques. Instruments that I say have integrity within
1. Jeremy Cloake pictured in Los Angeles with N’goni (West African rhythm harp) and Yidaki (traditional Didjeridoo) 2013. Will Thoren Photography
2. Post filming with the BBC at remote Yolngu community outstation Dhalinybuy, North East Arnhemland, 2009. BBC world of learning.
3. Jeremy performing with Japanese drumming legend Kozo Suganuma, Sendai, 2010. Tetsuji Ueno.
“It was one of those musical moments of complete trust on both of our sides. There was no rehearsal.”
their sound. They are from a natural source and they remind us of our relationship to the Earth and to the elemental world. However, with taonga pūoro there's just this thing that catches people. It's difficult to encapsulate because it's so broad but it's a way of opening people into a deeper sense of feeling again.”
“People often just cry. And these are men in their sixties. They say things like, ‘I just never heard anything like that before, I don't know where this came from’. It's a mystery to them. It's often associated with the connectedness that is being reestablished because of how we live. A lot of people in urban environments are disconnected from the natural world they live in.”
“The first place I started working as a musician officially was Japan and my yidaki classes were full every time because people were exploring a sense of connectedness to the natural world by playing a musical instrument that is essentially as natural as it gets. A hollow tree trunk eaten by termites. Long term that turns into a kind of change in lifestyle for people, and their worldviews have changed. It opens up into an exploration of identity and connectedness with others - who am I and how am I living? All of these things come up simply through hearing a sound, playing a sound, becoming involved in the frequency of it. It's a wonderful thing to be part of and to witness.”
“Often we hongi our instruments first, so I've got a pūtōrino that I love to play. I always give it a little hongi first because it's Hine Raukatauri’s voice (goddess of the flute) and mine together. I provide the breath and she talks, so it’s a collaboration. It’s not me doing it, it’s us doing it and I like that conceptually, with all of the instruments that I play.”
Although he’s performed all over the world, Jeremy doesn’t actually see himself as a performer. Teaching is his happy place. Additionally, most of his audience members wouldn’t realise the significance, but much of the traditional music he plays is ceremonial rather than for light entertainment. Having said all that, he is the unofficial didgeri-doobie brother and still plays publicly, when asked.
“I was helping a friend out on the gallery in Manly and Pat Simmons and his son came in. He’s one of the original band members, they were looking at the didgeridoos and I just demonstrated a couple of them and they said, ‘Do you wanna come along and play tonight?’ So I showed up and played on this track and just the roar from the crowd was awesome. It was one of those musical moments of complete trust on both of our sides. There was no rehearsal.”
In January 2023, Jeremy discovered he had acute angle-closure glaucoma which has impacted his vision, but not his willingness to carry on making music. The diagnosis has been the impetus to write and record more music. So to recap, Jeremy is a world musical instrument maker, composer and teacher, a carver and player of taonga pūoro, leading expert and player of the yidaki and one-time band member of the Doobie Brothers. In addition, he plays instruments well enough to make grown men cry and/or reevaluate their lives. If you’d like that to be you, Jeremy has recently settled in Nelson where he plans to teach world music and move locals to tears for the foreseeable future.
jeremycloake.com
Alex Leal couch surfed her way into Nelson, cresting a hill with a “Holy Hell” of an exclamation as she laid eyes on the region’s sunlit coastline and mountain ranges. She had discovered a ‘mash up’ of the best parts of her early years living in North America, as told to Britt Coker.
I’m from Monterrey. It’s Mexico’s third largest city in the upper northeast. Monterrey, I would say, is the biggest industrial city in Mexico. Automotive is one of the biggest industries; we’ve got Kia and other big car companies. We have had massive events like Formula One there and we’re going to get the men’s FIFA World Cup games as well, because Monterrey has one of Mexico’s world-class stadiums.
There are two big mountain ranges across Mexico and one of them ends in Monterrey, so I grew up hiking since I was little. My dad is a hiker too. My mum is from Matamoros, so she grew up next to the coast and fishing for food and all that stuff, so I grew up with these two things in my life, mountains and beaches and when I visited Nelson 11 years ago, I was like, ‘Óh wow, you can have it all in one.’
Sundays you go to your grandparents’, you hang out with your family. You cook with your family. I think we’re quite outgoing and we love dancing and all of this.
I think there’s still quite a lot of macho culture in Mexico. But because of the nation’s economy now everyone has a job, but women are still - you cook, you do everything.
My mum is one of seven and my dad is one of eight, my generation, we now have around three siblings, that’s a big reduction.
Mexico has over eight ecosystems, we’ve got the mountains, the desert, the jungle, the forests, manglars, the Caribbean. Every region has their own dishes, their own dance style and their own different forests and jungles and all this, even animals. The diversity is insane.
I tell people I’m a Mexican introvert. I joke and cook and host and do all that, but then I’ll go home and read my book for five hours. I think it’s quite rare to meet a proper introvert in Mexico. I think I have 30 cousins overall, so we’re definitely often surrounded by people and that’s another thing I’ve noticed here. Now that my dad and brother are visiting, I want all of my friends to meet them, but I haven’t met my friends’ brothers or parents which is, I think, a big cultural difference.
Mum’s got a second cousin that moved to New Zealand in the late 90s so I was aware of New Zealand before Lord of the Rings, which I think changed things for a lot of people.
I chose to travel first and so I met a few people through couch surfing, and we did a massive road trip in the South Island, January 2013, the first time I came to Nelson and stayed a few nights and I was amazed, it was just beautiful.
The mash-up of having mountains and outdoors with the ocean, I was not expecting that, I knew New Zealand had that, mountains and oceans, but Nelson - the whole region - I just couldn’t believe it. I did come to Nelson last April on a bike packing trip. Going over the Maungatapu Saddle and looking at Nelson just bathed in sunlight, I was like, “Holy hell!” and my friend said, “You need to live here”, and I was like [wistful] “Yeah…”
I have a dog here and I’ve had friends that live in Nelson with dogs and it’s so dog friendly, that was another main thing, and the mountain biking, that was probably the other main reason. The local community, it’s so open, I’ve never experienced that multicultural openness [elsewhere], and the mountain bike community, they just became my friends immediately, whereas everywhere else it’s taken me quite a few years to properly integrate. They’ve been amazing.
Compared to other cultures [when living overseas], they immediately try and look for their own, Mexicans don’t. Every Mexican I meet, we want to make Kiwi friends, we want to fully integrate.
I love fresh produce and that’s my Mexican side of how important food is. In one of the small food stores in Nelson city I found fresh jalapeños and that opens up so many dishes. One of my favourites would be enchiladas, but real enchiladas, not Kiwi-Mex mix. It’s based off dried Mexican chillies, so you make this red sauce and then you dip the tortilla in, and then you fill it, and it’s a corn tortilla.
Lots of Mexican food is not about being spicy hot, it’s about flavour. So, most of our chillies are non-spicy, children can eat them. Mexican food is one of the first to be awarded the UNESCO World Heritage [Cuisine of Intangible Cultural Heritage]. There are still people making them the way they were made 400 years ago.
I feel Mexican food and family, it sort of feels like in the Māori culture as well - food brings people together. I had to learn how to adapt here, though I don’t buy bread, I buy tortillas. Some friends now have quesadillas instead of toasties.
Sundays were for barbecues and families. Monterrey is the barbecue capital of Mexico. Saturday with the friends, Sunday with the family, and just around the barbecue, talk with everyone, prepare all the food together. I have a little charcoal BBQ [here]. I got invited to a friend’s place for Christmas Day and I made Mexican corn on the cob which is grilled corn with Mexican spices and things, and they know how to do it now.
You guys are so open to learn how to cook other foods. The amount of friends that cook curries from scratch, it’s pretty cool to see how open you are.
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Hairdresser Anna Wilcox talks to Nelson Magazine about adding drama and colour to her outfits, why she loves autumn and what celebrity’s wardrobe she would raid, if she could.
What are you wearing today?
My Cooper coat is from Pre-loved Style on Trafalgar Street, my top is Repertoire from Christchurch, jeans are McGuire from Los Angeles, the bag is from online store travelbagNZ, and my hat is from Barkers.
What is your style?
I love to add a bit of drama to any outfit with bold vibrant colours, and very ‘matchy matchy’.
What is most of your wardrobe made up of?
A rainbow of colourful dresses, bold colours with individual flair.
What are you loving at the moment?
Autumn, as it’s my colour palette.
What are you dressed for today?
Catching up with my sister, Clare Wilcox, for lunch at The Brick Eatery.
Where do you buy most of your clothes from?
In Nelson, I love Karen Jordan, Pre-loved Style and The Rock Box. Zara from London days, and TAD Design Clothing Boutique in Rangiora.
What is your approach to shopping?
Knowing your colour palette and body shape is so important to enhance your figure, so you feel amazing and positive inside.
What is your all-time favourite purchase?
A bomber coat I got in America six years ago from a designer called Sam New York, I still love it today and wear it every winter.
What has been your worst clothing disaster?
Getting hair colour on my favourite clothes and shoes.
What wardrobe item should everyone invest in?
A beautiful long coat is essential as we head into the cooler months. I add a new one to my wardrobe every few years, and it’s always the piece I wear more than anything.
Do you have a style rule you always obey?
I try to never wear all black, it’s just not my personality.
If you could raid one person’s wardrobe, who would it be?
Carrie Bradshaw from the Sex in the City series. Finish this sentence – You would never catch me wearing… Crocs, I have to say.
Tessa Claus
1. Beautifully presented formulations, infused with Rosa Damascena to tone, nourish and hydrate the skin, carolpriest.com, 623 Rocks Rd, Nelson.
2. Beautiful bouquets made to order. For local delivery or visit our Flower Farm shop. 418 Appleby Highway, Richmond theflowerfarm.co.nz
3. NZ made sheepskin water bottle covers, $62, littlebeehive.shop, 263 Hardy Street, Nelson 4. The bag designed to hug the natural curve of the back, distributing the weight evenly down the spine. $139.90, Soul by Mariposa 5. Wave earrings, bracelet or ring set, from $59.99, Moochi, Morrison Square 6. The Flower Farm’s shop has a delightful range of gift solutions, perfect for Mother’s Day. theflowerfarm.co.nz
7. Jens Hansen Sik Wave pendant with polished finish, in yellow gold, from $649, jenshansen.co.nz 8. Three mini icicles beautifully nestled in natural wood wool and white gift box with matching satin ribbon and swing tag. Living Light, 219 Trafalgar St, Nelson Central Arcade. 9. Deduce leather bags from $329.99, Moochi, Morrison Square 10. Gift vouchers for delicious food and beverages in an idyllic rural setting. Book online, bookings essential. mouterehillsrestaurantandcellardoor.co.nz 11. Emu Mayberry sheepskin crossover slipper $89.90, Taylor’s We Love Shoes weloveshoes.co.nz 12. Treat your mum to a beautiful pre-loved outfit. Designer labels for everyone’s budget. Facebook: Preloved on Woodstock
Taking care of your skin should be an essential part of every man’s grooming routine. Undertaking daily skin care correctly prevents skin problems in the future. While skincare products can help address individual issues, Kate Dyer says having a basic daily skin care routine will prevent most issues from occurring in the first place.
The baseline routine:
1. Cleanse twice a day. Use a face wash first thing in the morning, to wash away any residue of products applied the night before, as well as any sweat and pore-clogging bacteria accumulated during the night. Then cleanse each evening, as part of your bedtime regimen. Apply to damp skin and massage in circular motions for about a minute before rinsing.
2. Exfoliate twice a week. This step removes dead skin cells and discourages ingrown hairs caused by shaving. Just don’t overdo this step, twice a week is enough. Lastly, it’s best to exfoliate in the evening (after cleansing, but before applying moisturiser), so that skin can recover as you sleep.
3. Moisturise morning and night. Moisturiser works not entirely by adding moisture into the skin, but rather by preventing water evaporating out of the skin, which leaves skin vulnerable to infections. Don’t skip this step if you have oily skin, producing additional oil is your skin’s way of trying to treat dehydration.
4. Make daytime SPF use a priority. This step will prevent most skin issues from ever occurring and is one of the best investments you can make in your skin’s future health. There are so many to choose from, but the best sunscreen is one you are comfortable wearing and will reach for daily.
The choice of skincare can be confusing, and there is no need to only buy products targeted for men. Instead, choose products based on your skin concerns. For example, look for skincare that says “noncomedogenic” (won’t clog pores) if you have acneprone skin. If your skin is sensitive, gets red easily or products sting when applied, look for ‘fragrance-free’ products because these can irritate sensitive skin and cause dryness.
Careful shaving is also important, particularly for those with sensitive skin, as shaving is essentially removing several layers of skin cells. Apply moisturiser afterwards to restore the skin and change blades or razors often to avoid introducing any sources of infection to the skin.
Everyone’s skin is different and changes with each season and as we age, so routines and products may need to be updated a few times a year. It’s never too late to start a new routine, or to build on the one you’ve got. Doing so is an investment in your health and self-confidence.
Kate provides personalised skincare consultations through her blog at beautyandthebiome.com
My name is Casey Havik, I am a NZ Registered Nurse, I worked in Primary Health and Emergency for 4 years before following my dream to specialise in Appearance Medicine 7 years ago. Being able to give people confidence and boost self-esteem is so rewarding! I pride myself in tailoring treatments specific to my clients to ensure the most beautiful, natural results.
- Anti wrinkle injections
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Phone (03) 546 8474
nelsonappearancemedicine.co.nz
3 Alma Street, Nelson (In Buxton Square)
Nelson Tasman will be abuzz in September as organisers gear up for the 18th Merrell Spring Challenge. The brainchild of renowned adventure racers Jodie and Nathan Fa’avae, this will be the fourth Spring Challenge held in the area and the couple are thrilled to welcome participants to their home turf, promising an unforgettable experience. As the creators behind Ten Events Limited, Nathan and Jodie say the ‘World’s Biggest Adventure Race’ the Merrell Spring Challenge has become a staple in the adventure racing calendar. “We are excited to host it in our home region,” says Nathan. “Tasman’s diverse landscapes ensure each event carries its unique charm. Previous local venues included Nelson Lakes, Motueka, and Golden Bay, however, we keep the location under wraps until the eve of the challenge itself to add an element of surprise. The familiarity of our home region makes organising seamless, and we value the support from local authorities and the community.”
Catering to individuals of all skill levels, the Merrell Spring Challenge prides itself on inclusivity. Teams of three women are invited to embark on an adventure that combines a range of challenges. With an anticipated turnout of 450 teams, Nathan says of those already registered, 186 teams consist of first time participants. For newcomers, the organisers ensure a supportive environment, providing guidance and assistance every step of the way. The Merrell Spring Challenge caters to participants of all levels, from women who have never done anything like this before, to professional athletes. There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced categories. First timers can anticipate an hour each of rafting, biking, and hiking, alongside a navigation and orienteering challenge. As teams comprise three women, individuals can contribute diverse skills.
The event promises to be a dynamic showcase of athleticism and camaraderie and organising requires meticulous planning and preparation. “Typically, we
plan and prepare approximately 18 months in advance, already setting sights on our 2025 events. The process involves significant time and effort. As the event approaches, there’s an intense 10-day period where the full staff team is on location, finalising preparations, event delivery and pack up,” says Nathan.
Comprehensive training programs and gear lists are available on the event website, ensuring teams are well-equipped for the challenge ahead and registration remains open until September 20, or until full capacity is reached.
“As adventure racers, we are continually inspired by the participants,” says Nathan, “Many women exhibit tremendous courage by stepping up to the challenge and overcoming obstacles along their journey. Witnessing their achievements and the competitive spirit is always remarkable.”
The Merrell Spring Challenge Tasman 2024 promises thrills, challenges, and unforgettable memories, inviting participants to embrace the spirit of adventure and discover the beauty of the Tasman region like never before.
springchallenge.co.nz
Craigs Investment Partners raises $25,000 for Rescue Helicopter
In March 2024, Craigs Investment Partners held a company-wide fundraiser for the fifth year running to raise funds for New Zealand’s regional rescue helicopters. Teams or individuals challenged themselves by cycling, running, walking, or swimming to complete 50kms per day. The concept started in the Craigs’ Nelson office five years ago and was so successful that it’s become a nationwide initiative.
This year, Craigs’ Nelson employees raised $12,500. With the company generously matching donations dollar for dollar, total funds raised locally of $25,000 will be donated to the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter.
Investment adviser Jason Craig participated as an individual, cycling 50km a day, totalling 1,554kms and raising over $7,500. “The Regional Rescue Helicopters are a crucial part of our communities; we all know someone that has needed their help. The Craigs 50km a day challenge is a one-month commitment to helping them, when they are there to help us every month,” says Jason.
To date, the Nelson Branch will have contributed over $90,000 to the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter Trust.
Craigs Investment Partners is one of New Zealand’s largest investment advisory firms and has been providing New Zealanders with quality investment advice for 40 years. A relationship-based approach with a focus on quality assets, diversified investing, and well-timed business innovations has seen Craigs grow from a small broker in Whakatane to one of New Zealand’s leading wealth management firms with over 180 advisers located across 19 branches from Kerikeri to Invercargill.
Investment adviser Karl Williscroft reflects on Craigs progression over the years. “Although a lot has changed since the doors opened in 1984, one element that has remained steadfast is our focus on our clients. We take huge pride in being able to guide our
clients throughout their financial journey, providing support and expertise to navigate everchanging market conditions relative to their situation and objectives” he says.
“The investment plans we build are based on what matters to our clients, with personalised solutions every bit as unique as they are, and personalised investment advice backed by our Private Wealth research teams’ in-depth market insights”, adds Jason.
Investment adviser Tanya McMurtrie says that Craigs is committed to its clients for the long haul and also to the Nelson region and the local community which they serve, whether it’s through educational seminars or active support for organisations such as Top of the South Community Foundation, Brook Waimarama Sanctuary Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nelson, and Track Cycling Nelson, or our local regional helicopter trust, Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter. “Ultimately, we love helping people. It is very satisfying seeing someone develop an understanding of their own financial situation as we explain their options and help their investments grow to achieve their goals, whatever they might be.”
The advisers at the local Nelson branch take pride in being able to walk alongside their clients throughout their financial journey, providing advice and expertise to navigate different market conditions.
Whether you are ready to invest right now or are thinking you need some advice to help prepare for your financial future, the advisers at the Craigs Nelson branch are here to help. Reach out to the local team on 03 744 0100 or nelson@craigsip.com.
Craigs Investment Partners Limited is a NZX Participant firm. Jason, Karl and Tanya’s adviser disclosure statement is available on request and free of charge. The Craigs Investment Partners Limited Financial Advice Provider Disclosure Statement can be viewed at craigsip.com/terms-andconditions. Please visit craigsip.com.
When real estate agents Chris Davies and Jodine Twose saw the historic home on Maple Crescent was for sale, they instantly knew it was their next project.
Tessa ClausWe live on Maple Crescent in Richmond, we bought the home in January 2022, after moving here from Blenheim.
When we bought the home, it came with a photo dated 1880. We believe it was called Cresswell House and was one of the first in the area, originally owned by the Cresswell family. The other notable name was John Gosney, the landscape artist, he bought the home in the 90s’ and basically rebuilt it from the inside out. He worked on Smugglers in Tahuna, and you can see similar characteristics of his work in this home with the large timber beams and the boulders and fire pit in the garden, he also made the kitchen with a chainsaw.
We think of this place as a sculpture – a piece of art – because John Gosney’s contributions can be seen all over the property. We love that and love houses with stories.
We describe our home as rustic, homely and unique, with plenty of character.
We were inspired by its history and wanted to stay true to its character. We believe houses tell a story through their scars and scratches and we’ve always preferred older homes for their warmth and character. We like anything country, Jodine is from a farm and rides horses and likes hunting, so we are influenced by that as well. You’ll see hares, hounds and stags around the home which gives it an English country feel.
We’ve always loved antiques, but it wasn’t until this house that we really started to buy pieces for a home. Being on the property ladder, we have moved quite a bit, so we never bought too much for our homes, but over the years we have collected antique pieces that we really love and that suit our style. They’re now at home here.
ABOVE: Jodine Twose and Chris Davies with their basset hound Moose.
We frequent (almost fortnightly) Richmond Antiques and Curios. Aart does most of our buying for us! We also go to Eclectic quite often, and visit Simone at Cinnamon House in Blenheim whenever we’re back over that way.
In high school, my classics teacher Mr Oliver had a bust and I always thought it was really cool. When I saw Leopold at Cinnamon House, I knew I had to have him. [Chris]
Mine would be a painting I picked up from Richmond Antiques, it’s really old and there is just something about it that I just love. [Jodine]
We’ve done a lot of work on the home. When we moved in it had already had work done to it over the years to modernise it. We stripped the timber beams on the ceiling back to their original state and painted cream on the walls, added a neutral wool carpet and removed most of the gardens, ready to replant in more of a cottage style.
The kitchen and the bathrooms are the next biggest projects. We want to keep the kitchen true to John Gosney’s design and keep what he has done, but add some modern elements. We’d love a deck out from our upstairs bedroom and a pool in the backyard would be great…
Go antiquing – and have fun with negotiating! Don’t try and force it, take your time and find the things you really love for your home. For the work – roll up your sleeves, get in and do it yourself.
We enjoy being together here as a family and with our extended family. A special memory is cooking marshmallows around the firepit in the backyard and when we first moved in, we had nights with all the family staying over on airbeds in the living room to help us with the renovating.
FWe have recently been stocking up on fertiliser for our maintenance and soft landscaping projects. We use organic products, or as close to certified as we can get. We have found that sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad for plants and soil, sometimes it is tempting to use more than recommended or increase the concentration – however I’d like to discuss why little and often is better than lots in one go.
ertilisers come in two forms, liquid or solid, usually granular, tablet or pellet form. Both have their applications and uses. Typically, the liquid form is a more instant ‘hit’ of nutrients for the plant in either a foliage (leaf) spray or sprayed around the roots of the plant. These are great for once you have identified what the soil or plant is lacking. These liquids are usually as a concentrate for delivery and reduced weight – however, as the plants wouldn’t naturally have evolved to deal with this strength of liquid we need to dilute this to reduce ‘burning’ the plants cells or roots. The liquid form is easier for the plant to absorb. However, rain and irrigation can further dilute and wash away.
This is where solid fertiliser has a benefit. If they are placed on top of the soil they are slowly broken down by rain and organisms making nutrients available to plants as they do. The same applies to adding granules into the hole you are planting; the idea is that each time you water the plants it can have a little more fertiliser right where the plant needs it.
Not all plants and gardens are the same, however, if you would like more vigorous plant growth, plants to be less likely to suffer from disease, produce more flowers or better fruit, then you will want to fertilise. We fertilise all the gardens we maintain and plant out, the minimum cycle you could introduce into your garden would be seasonally. This is due to each plant having growth, recovery, flowering, and there may be
dormant stages, however the fertiliser will help the plant to recover from a previous growth or prepare for the next one. Just remember, like all of us, things tend to slow down over winter so don’t go and over fertilize your plants and soil. Less is more. Plants and soil need time to react to fertiliser and process it. If there is too much or it is too strong then this process may not even happen and cause leaf drop, stem and leaf discolouration, plant death and fungal growth in the area as the soil tries to break down the excess. If you have over fertilised, then you will need to dilute the area with watering.
Finally, living compost is a great natural soil conditioner full of life, not just nutrients and minerals. If you can have both synthetic and natural fertiliser in your garden, you will see great results over time.
Would you like to win a 1-hour consultation with Tim and a report tailored to your garden worth $190+GST? Then simply send us a gardening question and you’ll be in with a chance to win. To enter, email your gardening question to nelsonmag@timsgarden.co.nz with the word ‘competition’ in the subject heading.
Refinery Artspace
Changing Threads Contemporary
Textile Fibre Art Awards
17th May - 15th June
acn.org.nz/the-refinery-artspace
Hawks Valley
Sculpture Gallery
190 Williams Rd, Tasman
Open most days, a call is appreciated 021 267 1127 laurenkitts.co.nz
Peter Copp
Meadowbank on the Awaroa estuary
Clayridge Gallery
77 Pine Hill Rd, Ruby Bay 027 491 5187. Please phone before visiting petercopp.co.nz
The Coolstore Gallery
Showcasing New Zealand art and design at Māpua Wharf
Open 7 days, 10am – 5pm 03 540 3778
thecoolstoregallery.co.nz
Natalie Kere Art
Wahine Matike Collection 027 667 7911
nataliekereart.com
Nelson Classic Car Museum Museum Store
1 Cadillac Way, Annesbrook
Open 7 Days, 10am - 4pm 03 547 4570
nelsonclassiccarmuseum.nz
Nelson City Framers & The Gallery
Artist Lisa Grennell
42A Halifax St, Nelson Mon-Fri 8:30 – 5pm, Sat 10am - 1pm
nelsoncityframers.nz
Stacey Whale
The modern artisan of fine jewellery
1381 Moutere Highway, Upper Moutere
Tue - Fri, 10am - 3pm
Sat - Sun, 10 - 4pm
027 975 9204
staceywhale.com
Arty Nelson Gallery
126 Trafalgar St
Open Mon – Sat, 10am - 4pm Sun, 11am - 2pm
021 022 90996
Christine Hafermalz-Wheeler
The Artist Goldsmith
Trust Christine to refresh your jewellery box. Text/call David on 021 817 209 to arrange.
theartistgoldsmith.com
Protean Art Gallery
First floor, 181 Bridge St, Nelson Visit the website for opening hours. 027 548 5003
proteanart.co.nz
The Suter Art Gallery
208 Bridge St, Nelson
Open 7 days, 9.30am - 4.30pm 03 548 4699
thesuter.org.nz
Founded by seasoned business owners Sue and Erin Roughton, Protean Art Gallery unveiled its new space to the public early in the new year. Now located on the First Floor at 181 Bridge Street, the move marks a significant milestone in the gallery’s journey. Sue says the decision to relocate from Tahunanui and establish a new gallery space in the Nelson CBD stemmed from a dual purpose. Driven by the planned development of their old site, the couple aimed for a smaller, more functional space that would be more sustainable and reduce the carbon footprint of the business. The move also strategically positioned the gallery as part of the esteemed Nelson Arts Trail, enriching its accessibility and exposure.
The gallery serves as a platform not only for the couple’s creations but also for a curated selection of New Zealand-made artworks. Sue’s artwork is complemented by Erin’s captivating photography, creating a harmonious blend of visual narratives. Maintaining a space where the couple produce their work while also showcasing the talents of selected artists, their collection is a dynamic fusion of recommended and approached artists, ensuring diversity and constant evolution.
Central to the principles of Protean Art Gallery is Sue’s journey of self-discovery, inspired by her birth story and late-life revelation of her mixed Middle Eastern and Celtic heritage. Her artwork delves into the complexities of identity, cultural amalgamation, and the poignant adoption experience. Sue’s mixed media pieces resonate with the joy and confusion of embracing newfound cultures intertwined with the fractured and ever-evolving nature of her own identity. Her work also explores the triad of loss that encompasses the adoption experience for the birth mother, adoptive mother and birth child. “This journey sits behind my whole ethos for art, creating work that expresses the complexities of life and trying to make sense of it all. It is an interesting way to explore the mediums,” says Sue.
Art is not just a passion for the couple but a lifelong dedication, as Sue’s creativeness traces back to her childhood and a lifelong involvement in theatre, while Erin’s love of photography revolves around capturing the essence of New Zealand’s natural splendour. This passion led them to curate the boutique gallery that promotes talented New Zealand artists and offers
visitors an intimate experience with original and diverse artworks. “We believe it is important to support our New Zealand creators”, says Sue. “It is great to get behind these small businesses and support them as much as possible.” At Protean Art Gallery, art isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about storytelling, self-discovery, and fostering connections. As Sue aptly says, “Art helps me make sense of the world.”
Protean Art Gallery
First Floor at 181 Bridge Street proteanart.co.nz
Ursula Bowman found her favourite artwork, a Victorian era lithograph of orchids, in a backstreet stall in London. Originally purchased as a present for someone else, Ursula quickly realised she couldn’t bear to part with it. She tells the story to Matt Lawrey.
Ursula Bowman’s favourite artwork was originally bought as a present for a good friend’s 30th birthday but she liked it so much she kept it and bought her friend a pasta maker instead.
The landscape architect was living in London and found the Victorian botanical lithograph of orchids in a backstreet stall in Angel seven years ago.
It was bought for her friend Alana.
“I got home, and I thought ‘I really love this,’ and I decided to keep it for myself instead,” she laughs.
Ursula bought the artwork unframed for £80 (she spent £100 on Alana’s pasta maker).
“I got a bunch of artworks over there and I used to go to these framers in East London who were super cool and tried to do economic framing for up-andcoming artists.”
The lithograph by the famous firm Day & Haghe (lithographers to Queen Victoria) kicked off the start of a collection of botanic prints with Ursula buying more on trips to France.
“I want to build up to a wall’s worth.”
The artwork hangs in the living room of the Victory home she shares with her husband Pierre and their children Sofia and Louis.
The orchids depicted in the lithograph, stanhopea wardii, come from South American cloud forests.
“I love orchids, they’re one of my favourite flowers,” Ursula says.
Wellington-born and bred, Ursula went to Lincoln University and spent seven years based in London from where she enjoyed a remarkable international career.
“I was really lucky with a family contact that hooked me up with a job and it ended up being a pretty epic opportunity and it’s how I met Pierre.”
“I love that the work’s mixed and that we’re progressive in the field. I guess we’ve got a softer touch. Rather than using engineering solutions, we use the natural systems within the landscape to solve issues like stormwater treatment.”
Sitting on the sunny deck at the back of her home, Ursula is also clearly enthusiastic about pottering around on the family’s section.
“I love gardening, I love my vege garden and I love experimenting with permaculture techniques. It’s also pretty cool to experiment with plants here for my work. I’m pretty into drought tolerant species and super hardy species that we’re, obviously, going to have to use in the future.”
“I got home, and I thought ‘I really love this,’ and I decided to keep it for myself instead.”
Ursula’s work took her all over the world working on large scale landscaping projects in places as varied as Montenegro, The Middle East and China. It also led to her spending a year working in Singapore.
“The coolest job I worked on was Oman Botanic Garden, which is being built now. It was really nice to see them celebrate their culture and identity in landscape. Kew Botanic Gardens went around the whole of Oman and collected every single plant species and propagated them on site.”
So, after all her offshore adventures, how does it feel to be living and working in little old Nelson?
“I think it’s been perfect for the time of life I’m at with a young family. It’s really nice to have more of a connection to the landscape and I like the way that here you’re close to the client. You don’t have that same direct relationship with international work.” These days Ursula works for the company RMM.
In addition to being married to an architect, she has members of the profession on both sides of her family. Her grandfather was the prominent architect Alec Bowman whose designs included the Trafalgar Centre, the Nellie Nightingale Library, the Golden Bay Cement Works and the old Nelson Airport. Ursula’s father, Ian Bowan, is a Nelson-based conservation architect who works across the country, and her brother, Piers, is an architect in Saudi Arabia. Not only that but her great, great grandfather on her mother’s side was the prolific Nelson architect William Beatson who designed, amongst other things, the Anglican Church in Richmond, St Barnabas Church in Stoke, the original Nelson College and, coincidentally, the building Ursula works in today, the Red Gallery building on the corner of Bridge St and Haven Rd.
Unlike all the architects on her family tree, Ursula was drawn to landscape architecture because she always loved biology and art at school, and felt it was a career that would help her to make a difference.
“I guess I branched out by getting into landscapes. I didn’t want to do architecture because I liked the natural environment and what you can do with it,” she says.
www.lawnrescue.co.nz
There is no better time than the autumn and winter months to add an outdoor living space, especially in Nelson which often has plenty of winter sun to enjoy.
Owners of Archgola Nelson, Russell Lawson and Marie Hatton, are passionate about the way Archgola canopies can bring a natural semi-outdoors extension to daily living. “There are a wide range of ways to make outdoor spaces accessible all year round,” says Marie. “Not only are they a great place to entertain family and friends but they can add an extra outdoorsy room for busy children in all weather.”
Every ‘Signature’ Archgola is custom built from super strength, New Zealand sourced, electro-galved steel. A specialised sealing and powder coating system delivers a high level of protection and a superb finish in any of the Dulux™ powder coating range.
This range of canopies includes the Suntuf™ brand roofing that comes with a whole host of benefits. In the summer months it offers protection from the harsh sun which filters out harmful UV rays. This product has special additives that reflect heat, keeping the spaces below cooler while still letting light through.
The new ‘Oasis’ Archgola is designed to reflect the clean lines of modern New Zealand architecture with a clear view of the skies above. A combination of quality materials and an engineered design also allows for wider spans - meaning fewer posts. The new Oasis canopy brings shade, shelter, UV protection and style to your home.
There are a range of roof styles to suit any residential or commercial building and Archgola’s products are engineered by a structural engineer specifically for each site. They are designed and built for the tough New Zealand conditions, suitable for high wind zones, and even offer protection from hail damage.
Archgola isn’t just for a covered entertainment area for your patio or deck either. “Carports or entrance way covers can be constructed with the same system.
Another option provided are outdoor blinds which can be incorporated into the canopy design to completely enclose the space when required. There is no doubt the couple love their job. “It is so interesting because each project is unique,” says Russell. “There is a great deal of satisfaction in seeing our customers thrilled with the finished product. Most say they wish they’d done it years earlier because it adds so much space and value, enhancing their quality of living.”
“We always get rushed off our feet when spring and summer arrive and to avoid disappointment people are best to get in touch with us beforehand to discuss the possibilities for their outdoor living project,” says Marie. “They will have their Archgola for the summer months but will also quickly realise how fantastic it is to have the benefit of it through the winter months as well.”
Archgola Nelson
027 759 9522
archgola.co.nz
A K Joinery
Bays Joinery
Brightwater Cabinetmaker & Joinery
Cantwell Joinery and Window Centre
Complete Kitchens
Cooper Webley
ITM Joinery
James Neal Joinery
Matai Joinery Nelson
Motueka Joinery
Nazareth Joinery
Orange Building Group Joinery
Prestige Furniture & Joinery
Re Space
Ruby Bay Joinery
Simply Joinery
The Custom Space
The Sellers Room
Viking Furniture & Joinery
Waimea West Joinery
NEW BUILDS
EXTERIOR DOORS AND WINDOWS
VANITIES TIMBER JOINERY
STAIRS WARDROBES WE CAN WORK WITHIN ANY BUDGET REQUIREMENTS
The Nelson Pine Industries Joinery and Design Awards (JADA) were held at the Granary at Founders Park on March 22. The region has many highly talented and skilled joiners and the annual event is an important opportunity to celebrate some of their finest work.
Words: Adrienne MatthewsFirst held in 2015, JADA was the brainchild of the secretary at the time, Philip Thompson. “There were awards for architecture and building but no real acknowledgment of joinery, which is such a vital part of construction projects,” says Philip. “I gathered a group of enthusiastic people together and we worked to establish what has become an annual celebration of the incredible work produced in this region.”
Any designer, joiner or joinery business is able to enter, and this year there were 186 entries representing 54 individual joinery projects, a far cry from the 14 entries the award’s first year attracted. There are 16 categories and the five judges from the architectural and interior design worlds have the substantial task of choosing the winners in each. The level of workmanship, use of materials, complexity of the project and visual appeal are all taken into consideration for each entry, a challenging task when there is such a high level of excellence being produced.
“This year’s entries indicated that many projects demonstrated a frugal outlook to design with optimisation made of the materials used, innovative use of locally supplied materials and a clever local manufacture,” says Philip. “The finished projects were such a high standard they could sit comfortably in homes anywhere in New Zealand. There was careful consideration of cost implications in the core design process and it was exciting to see new talent clearly on show in the Best Apprentice and Best Emerging Designer categories.”
The Best Apprentice was Ricky Fry of Bays Joinery. “Ricky came to us as a mature person and has been with us for three years,” says owner George Molnar. “He’s doing a fantastic job and we were thrilled at his success. Training apprentices is an important part of our industry to ensure there will be skilled craftspeople in the future.”
Amongst their five awards, Bays Joinery also scooped the Myles Sellers Supreme Award, named after the late Myles Sellers of The Seller’s Room. “This was the
second time we have won the Supreme Award, and it is a special one for me personally,” says George. “Myles and I were fierce competitors for over 20 years, but we were also friends.”
Cooper Webley received four awards. “The JADA Awards are very important to us,” says certified kitchen designer Craig Hooper. “They reaffirm to us what we try to deliver to our clients and although we’ve been successful over many years, it is good to have the quality of our work recognised by our peers.”
Owners of The Custom Space, Meg and Jack Wells, were delighted with their Manufacturer’s Craftsmanship Award for a detailed staircase with hidden drawers. “All of our 22 team members worked on the project at varying stages of the design and install,” says Meg. Courtney Bailey’s talent with a diverse range of kitchen designs also gifted the company the Emerging Designer Award.
Best Visual Impact Ward/Best Colour
Winner: Cooper Webley
Best Use of Lighting
Winner: Cooper Webley
Best Creative Small Space project
Winner: MAKE Furniture
Best Door or Window
Winner: Orange Joinery
Best Benchtop award
Winner: Granite Design Works
Customer Journey Award
Winner: Cooper Webley
Sustainability Award
Winner: ITM Joinery
Best Kitchen Design
Winner: Bays Joinery
Best Kitchen
Winner: Bays Joinery
“It takes great skill and thought to make a design stand out while keeping to a tight budget,” says ITM Joinery Manager Paul Rusbatch.” Having recognition of a well-designed kitchen for well under 30k is a fantastic effort by our design team and shows that you don’t need a second mortgage to have an award-winning design. Our award for sustainability reminds us how important it is becoming to build in sustainable ways and it recognises a joinery team who can still ‘craft joinery’ from solid timber.”
“Our win for the Best Commercial Fitout for Advanced Dental is a celebration of the co-operative way we work with local design professionals in our commercial and residential joinery projects,” says Margarette Sellers from The Seller’s Room. “I am so proud of the consistently high standard our team achieves.”
MAKE Furniture’s Libby and Will Slack won the Creative Small Spaces Award for their joinery work on a tiny home. “Receiving the Best Small Space Award is a testament to our innovative design and efficient use of space, showcasing our dedication to creativity and functionality,” says Libby. “This recognition validates our commitment to crafting environments that excel in both form and function, maximising the living space and how you use it.”
This year’s JADA Awards were certainly a success. “It is very clear that the region remains at the top of its game in the joinery and design sector, producing high quality design and workmanship that could compete with the best anywhere,” says Philip.
Best Kitchen – under 30K
Winner: ITM Joinery
The Centre for fine Woodworking awardBest Apprentice
Winner: Ricky Fry, Bays Joinery
Manufacturer’s Craftmanship award
Winner: The Custom Space
Best Kitchen – under 30K
Winner: ITM Joinery
Best Kitchen 30-70K
Winner: Cooper Webley
Best Commercial project
Winner: The Seller’s Room
Emerging Designer
Winner: Courtney Bailey, The Custom Space
Designer of year
Winner: George Molnar, Bays Joinery
Myles Sellers Supreme Award
Winner: Bays Joinery
Words: Amy Russ | Tim Williams, Lumiere
With vistas of rolling hillsides and glimmers of the shining sea, a jewel of a home lies conveniently situated between the Coastal and Inland Highways. Its view is rurally peaceful, the decor is tastefully exquisite, and its palette is sublime. Built by the experienced team at Craig Finnie Builders, homeowners Matt Gaines and Emily Harvey say the collaboration between them and their architect Jason Anderson culminated in a dream home that perfectly fits the needs of their growing family. “We had been looking at lifestyle properties for a while as we wanted to have space around us. It was important to us to have land for our children to grow up on, but was still close to town and this location suited both of those wants.”
Veering from their original plan, Matt says that the father and daughter building duo, Craig and Cydnie Finnie, were a huge inspiration with the design. “They specialise in the traditional villa style home which we thought would be perfect for the location, and this classic style doesn’t date. We wanted to bring in
elements of this style with the exterior weatherboards and then the colonial architraves/skirtings inside and Hardi-groove features. This is mixed with a modern twist in other areas of the home such as the kitchen and bathrooms.” Working closely with Jason from Anderson Architecture to bring the plans together, the result brought to life the exact design that the couple had envisioned. “It was certainly a team effort with everyone coming together on the final design.”
Carefully executed with every room being thought out, the space feels like a home that can be lived in and is also practical for all types of people at varying life stages. Key elements were that the home would cater to a growing family’s needs and lifestyle for the years to come, and for entertaining the kitchen would be the ‘hub’ of the home. “The kitchen and living area are our favourite areas, with the large windows and sliders all along, which also achieves a great indooroutdoor flow. Also, the entranceway with the double doors completed the entrance and villa-style that we were looking for.”
The home is the ‘epitome of timeless style’ says Cydnie. “Everything from the expansive windows, the light airy tones, the high ceilings and quality finishes really set this home apart. Matt and Emily came to us back in 2022 with plans for a large modern home for a beautiful rural section. As a young growing family, they wanted a home that was spacious and liveable, but was still stylish and a reflection of their taste and personality.”
As time progressed, the style changed from ultramodern to the more classic villa style with a modern twist, however the key elements they required remained the same.
“The highlights for us had to be seeing the finishings getting installed, it was so exciting to see Matt and Emily’s vision come to life, a lot of time was spent playing around with colours and finishings to make sure everything was perfect. A lot of love and care was poured into this build, to see it start to come together was a great feeling.”
“We really couldn’t have done it without them,” continues Matt. “Craig Finnie Builders were absolutely outstanding. We couldn’t fault a single thing about them, and they made us feel like this build was their own home. They were hands-on from the initial meeting and that carried throughout, the care and thought of executing the build was well curated and they were always available for contact. Their communication throughout the process was absolutely phenomenal, we feel privileged to have worked with them. All of our suppliers were fantastic, and we will be forever grateful to them. Dino at Hubbers Flooring & Furnishings was so passionate about this build and made sure every element in the flooring space was perfected. Craig Hooper from Cooper Webley was
“The construction industry is everchanging and evolving, and every project brings new challenges and problems to solve.”
Let our talented design team create attractive and functional storage solutions to optimise your space.
amazing from our first meeting to the final result, and Contour Roofing and Windows – they were a dream to deal with throughout the process, especially with bringing the option of the double doors to the table, which has made the entrance way we were looking for.”
Building or renovating can be a daunting process but, Cydnie says, from the first meeting to handover the team at Craig Finnie Builders are by your side. “The construction industry is everchanging and evolving, and every project brings new challenges and problems to solve. But being able to overcome these challenges together and create beautiful homes for our clients is
such a fulfilling feeling. We understand that every job is personal, your ideas will be listened to, and we will ensure the final outcome is something you will feel proud to call home.”
With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Craig Finnie Builders have worked with an array of styles and have extensive experience with both new builds and renovations. But their passion lies with villa-style homes. “We have renovated and built multiple villastyle homes and are self-proclaimed experts in the style! Seeing them come to life is a really rewarding experience,” Cydnie says.
Rabbit Island Coffee Co. is a fully functioning coffee roastery, as well as an emporium of beautifully curated specialty products sourced within the region and around New Zealand. Pop in and enjoy a freshly brewed bottomless filter coffee, cold brew or sweet treat when you’re next visiting the Māpua Wharf.
With three great locations you can enjoy Indian Cafe’s delicious food no matter where you are. Head in and find out why Indian Café is the favourite choice for anyone looking for the highest quality food and a memorable cuisine experience.
All venues offer intimate restaurant dining and courtyard settings and takeaway options.
With great indoor/outdoor dining areas, bring your friends, family or workmates along to enjoy their mouth-watering menu, which includes their famous steak sandwiches, pizzas, platters and seasonal plates to savour.
Live music on Thursdays and sports all weekend long on the big screen.
Open Tue - Sun
Open 10-3pm Daily rabbitislandcoffee.co.nz
Alberta’s Café
All day breakfast from 7.30 – 2.30pm, seven days a week. Exceptional coffee and views to match. Pop in and enjoy their delicious breakfast menu or a bite to eat from their tasty cabinet of house-made delights. Gluten free, dairy free and vegan options available, they cater for all. Dine in or takeaway.
94 Collingwood St, Nelson | 03 548 4089 266 Queen St, Richmond | 03 544 8979 201 Songer St, Stoke | 03 547 0008 theindiancafe.co.nz
Anchor Restaurant and Bar
Top quality food is best served with amazing ocean views! Blessed with a fantastic spot on the water, you will feel welcomed and won’t want to leave.
Specialising in local seafood and steaks, there are also delectable choices for non-meat eaters, people with special dietary needs and kids.
660 Main Road, Stoke 03 547 0329 mccashins.co.nz
Join us on a culinary journey through the streets of Thailand with a symphony of flavours that capture the essence of authentic Thai street food.
Choose to dine in or takeaway with a taste sensation from our extensive menu. Our Thai buffet starts from just $9.50 and offers a delicious selection, perfect for when time is short or a lunch on the run. And to make it even better, we’ve just added fried chicken, burgers and fries to the menu.
Shed 4, Mapua Wharf 03 540 3933
albertas.co.nz
62 Vickerman St, Port Nelson 03 546 6614 anchorrestaurant.co.nz
105 Hardy Street, Nelson 03 539 1426 nbmasianeats.co.nz
For all your fresh fish and seafood favourites for nourishing winter chowders, paellas and your delicious fish curries, keep it local with Solander. The very best seafood available in Nelson and NZ, accessible to you via online order. Select from the finest seafood and other gourmet products, to ensure that your dining experiences are healthy, delicious, and incredibly well priced.
Local flavours meet idyllic vineyard views. Our chefs create seasonal plates, long boards, platters and more, served with craft beverages for a complete dining experience to ignite your senses.
Bookings essential.
Open Wed - Sun, from 11am.
Open for breakfast, lunch, and snacks throughout the day, choose from their fantastic menu full of all your favourites. Dinner is sorted with fabulous take home family pies ready to heat and enjoy or pop in the freezer, plus takeaway cakes for dessert. A great place to have a work meeting or breakfast, then indulge in one of the many tempting treats. Their amazing coffee will add a bounce to your day too. Open 8am to 3pm.
gourmetseafood.co.nz
Your go to for the best burgers in town. It’s all about the culture, with a new beer house inside it’s the perfect place to enjoy delicious kai and Hop Federation beer with family and friends.
279 Trafalgar St, Nelson
Open seven days 11.30 - 9pm culturenelson.nz |
42 Eggers Road, RD1, Upper Moutere mouterehillsrestaurantandcellardoor. co.nz |
Pastries and treats are baked in house, and their small menu features seasonal produce from local suppliers. A great spot for breakfast, lunch or coffee.
Open Tue – Sun, 7am – 2pm.
68 Aranui Rd, Mapua 03 540 3656
mapuavillagebakery.co.nz
Come and indulge in Nelson’s finest buffet, featuring a variety of everyone’s favourite breakfast delights.
Oceano breakfast buffet is open every day from 5am – 10am (Sat & Sun until 10:30am).
Don’t forget, locals can dine with us for only $25! (excl. public holidays).
Kids up to five years old dine free, and just $17.50 for up to 12 year olds.
Level Two, Rutherford Hotel Nelson 03 548 2299 Rutherfordhotel.nz
At our modern funeral home on Champion Road, Richmond, we have everything you need to celebrate the life of your loved one in their unique way. Reach out today to find out how we can help you.
For updated information visit itson.co.nz
Thursdays OPEN MIC NIGHT
Showcasing some of the regions finest up and coming musicians, first timers and travellers. Always fun and always different. Come down and sign up on the night for your spot. Plus enjoy live music every weekend. Contact the bar or check out Facebook for this week’s events. All events free entry.
Red16
24 May – 4th July GROW – ART EXHIBITION
Botanical themed group exhibition including artworks that evoke and instigate positive change, presenting viewers with the opportunity to feel joy through the life of plants.
Exhibition opening: Thursday 23 May, 6pm – 7.30pm
The Coolstore Gallery, Māpua Wharf
10 May SAVAGE ANGELS
We want to empower girls aged 11 – 17 years old to hold core values that will allow them to stand strong in the face of social media and peer group influences. This event has the potential to make a huge difference in girl’s lives. Bookings essential. eventbrite.com.au
Greenmeadows Centre
9 May
MOTOV8ING BOYS
An event to inspire, inform and instruct boys aged 11 – 17 and their parents how to make smarter, more informed decisions in life. This could be the night that changes your son’s life changes forever. Booking essential. Tickets from eventbrite.com.au
Greenmeadows Centre
22 - 25 May
VINEGAR TOM
The play examines gender and power relationships through the lens of 17th century witchcraft trials in England. Contains adult themes, R15. Tickets available at Theatre Royal.
Theatre Royal
Great people, great atmosphere, great products in a beautiful park setting. Come and experience this cheerful market. 10am – 2pm. New $10 Car Boot Market on the first Sunday of the month. Enquiries to Penny Cameron 027 926 9429.
A&P Showgrounds
11 May
LUNCH WITH A VIEW
Pop in for a coffee or enjoy lunch on the deck, and the best view in Nelson on the day of Blessing of the Fleet. Open from 10am until 2pm, bookings advised. Ph 03 548 7646.
The Boathouse
Harvest Kitchen
1. Ali Staite and Jacintha Atkinson-Manson
2. Taylor Mant, Tiana Ferguson and Electra Trewavas
3. Chris Varvoda and Rina Lindgreen
4. David Measures and Lillie Broster-Turley
5. Kenny Eggers and Nick Langridge
Rarely does a villa come to the market that has undergone such an extensive and exquisite renovation. Meticulously restored and refurbished to the very highest calibre, this 113 year old stunning villa exudes luxury at every turn whilst sympathetically maintaining all the charm and period features of her day. Commanding a beautiful vista over Tasman Bay, and sitting front and centre as she overlooks Haulashore Island, this location is quite simply unmatched.
The interior of the home caters for living your best life. A brand new, state of the art kitchen blends seamlessly with a welcoming dining enclave. The central bathroom and ensuite are both cavernous and articulately designed providing complete luxury and decadence. The stunning lounge area takes in the expansive views, opening out through French doors to a private wrap-around deck. The perfect spot to soak up the ever-changing panoramic seascape. This epic blue vista continues from almost every window. The home is warm and snug having been fully reinsulated under renovation, fully double-glazed throughout. In addition, there is a new gas fire plus three heat pumps to ensure perfect comfort no matter what the season.
For viewing and questions contact:
Debbie Cooper-Norriss
021 0252 8294
debbie@thecoopergroup.co.nz
Mr and Mrs Smith
Richard 027 300 1764
Lisa 027 300 9033
thesmiths@thecoopergroup.co.nz
