GREY LYNN AND AROUND

October rocked in a Grey Lynn released from lockdown, embracing a stable political landscape, and tangible evidence of three Grey Lynn & Around business-led community focused projects coming to fruition.

Our easy course would have been to have a “cuppa tea” but that’s not our style and most certainly doesn’t fit with our vision of making Grey Lynn the most sustainable inner city suburb in Tamaki Makaurau.

Fittingly leading the way is the “Greening of Grey Lynn”, followed by our ARTWEEK Grey Lynn Papatu anuku art trails, and finally a celebration of the story of our Grey Lynn foods under the umbrella of the ATEED “Elemental” food festival. They say life is a journey not a sprint. In acknowledgement of Grey Lynn’s very strong Maori and Pacifica heritage, including the great ridge line walking trail of Te Rae-Okawharu, we have commenced planting at the intersection of Great North Road and Williamson Ave with bright colourful pots, plants and trees. The design and paint of the pots was part of our ARTWEEK 2020 collaboration with Amiria Puia-Taylor of The People Weaver, who as well as leading the project, took the time to share her family history and memories of growing up in Grey Lynn. A big shout out to Bunnings and Resene paint professionals for contributing to the success of the project. Grey Lynn has the greatest number of creatives in the inner city and even though ARTWEEK has officially finished you can still visit a large number of the cafe’s and restaurants where artwork is for sale in the lead up to Xmas. Of course our great gallery prescient around Arch Hill is open throughout the year and there’s an ever changing line up of great exhibitions to enjoy and challenging new art and artworks to purchase. If we could curate a Grey Lynn where sensory overload is combined with our fabulous natural wholesome food available from a wide selection of café’s, burger bars and restaurants, our work would be nearly complete.

This work formed the basis of our third pillar of activity for the month with over 20 of our food establishments participating in “Elemental”.

Go to Heartbeats Grey Lynn Around for a list of participating eateries.

What distinguishes Grey Lynn are two food facts. Firstly, we are the vegan capital of Auckland. Convincing a certain nameless breakfast show presenter to eat vegan donuts made by the wonderful team at Tart Bakery on nationwide TV was a simple task, but we’re on a mission to tell our story of embracing natural foods aligned with a lifestyle choice of protecting and nurturing the environment.

Secondly we can vouch for the fact that the food sourced from each of the 20 participating “Elemental” establishments is great value for money. The food is city class with village authenticity and quality. And that doesn’t change now we are in November.

And so we look to really forge ahead to 2021 continuing this momentum; it’s about adding value to the businesses who serve our community.

After a super successful networking event at 300 Richmond last month we encourage all businesses in Grey Lynn and Around to join us at our AGM hosted by Romulus and Remus from 5.30pm onwards on 12 November and for a pre-Christmas pitch and mingle setting businesses up for a support local, shop local, stay local campaign.  PN

www.greylynn-around.com

Personalisation is key to Kiwi Blade Knives

The world is pretty shambolic at the moment but Willie van Niekerk of Kiwi Blade Knives is on a mission regardless – to defy the plague of sameness and fly in the face of the modern ‘throw away’ world, one knife at a time.

“I like to produce things that last. It’s what I value. Quality has to be at the centre of everything that I do,” he tells us.

He’s never been one to run with the pack, and his knives are the same. A fusion of the tradition of craft with art, and a dash of personalisation, Willie’s customised knives are a collaboration of everything his customers could wish for in a knife, sculpted and moulded with skill into what is achievable.

“Not everything is doable,” he says, “but I try my best. And I’m always intrigued by a challenge. I’m a bit of a magpie like that.

“A bespoke knife is something unique. It should say as much about the person who it is designed for and the person who commissioned it as it does about the process and the knife maker, him or herself. “My knives have a lifetime warranty because I believe in longevity and family. You should be able to pass your knife on through the generations.

“Family is the reason I came to New Zealand from South Africa”, adds Willie, who is now a fully bona fide New Zealand citizen.

“That is where the name for our business came from actually – my love of New Zealand. New Zealand gave me another home for myself, and my children, and I will always be thankful for that.

“Heirloom is the only way to go.”  PN

www.kiwiblade.co.nz #defyingtheplagueofsameness www.facebook.com/kiwibladeknives