The Hobson August 2020

august 2020

the male gaze: art from lockdown p arboreal surprises local news, views & informed opinions

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The August Issue, No. 70 8

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the editor’s letter

the teacher

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Judi Paape considers the impact of this very disrupted year for schools

the columnists

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the sound

the village

Lyrical musical genius or monotonal wailer? Dickens on Dylan

What’s going on with that tree trimming? Words rise up about dirty water, Meet the Teacher, and more

32 the candidate

20 the politicians

Labour candidate Camilla Belich takes a run at the seat of Epsom

Updates from local MPs David Seymour and Paul Goldsmith

34 the experience

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Rawhiti Village finds some of the changes wrought by lockdown are not all bad

the councillor The councillor for the Ōrākei ward, Desley Simpson, shares her news

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the menu

the plan

Our food editor Lauraine Jacobs makes good use of seasonal citrus

Auckland’s water supply is parlous, and forward planning doesn’t fill Hamish Firth with confidence either

38 the magpie

25 the investment

Our bird likes to keep herself tidy over the winter

STAT on that! Warren Couillault has a word about investment choices

40 the district diary

26 the suburbanist

What’s going on around here this month

Tommy Honey may be stuck at home too, but his travel ideas are visionary

46 the cryptic

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Māyā’s puzzle of the month

the arriviste We take berm care seriously around here, as Colin Hogg discovers

28 the second act Sandy Burgham turns art gallerist for one memorable evening, and the results are extraordinary for everyone involved

'Murder at Midday' polyptych, oil on Beehive matchboxes, part of Men in Isolation, 2020, by Mikhail Gherman. See The Second Act, page 28

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issue 70, august 2020 Editor & Publisher Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz Art Direction & Production Stephen Penny design@thehobson.co.nz News Editor Mary Fitzgerald maryfitzgerald.thehobson@gmail.com Writers This Issue Kirsty Cameron, Gretchen Carroll, Calum Hughes, Wayne Thompson, Justine Williams

he difference between Sandy Burgham and a lot of us is that when she has a ‘good idea’ about something, she will, after a bit more ruminating, do everything she can to bring it to life. I think that’s how she’s arrived at the work she does today, which is leading a contemporary professional development practice. And it’s also how she came to host an art show.

As Sandy writes in her column, The Second Act, it was an intersecting of all kinds of interesting threads in her life that brought her to the idea of turning gallerist. ‘The Male Gaze’ was a one-nightonly event of outstanding work produced by 12 men. The 12 had once been art students, but over the decades, many had drifted away from the practices that once gave them so much pleasure. To pick up their brushes again was challenging, and confronting.

The result of their efforts over lockdown were not just on the walls, but in the joy and lightness of spirit many found in unleashing their creativity. Which was one of the points of the exercise, and is why she’s urging us all to remember what we once loved doing, how far we’ve drifted, and how to come back to finding that spark. Her story about the idea that gave life to new art is on page 28. (And you can find out more about Sandy’s professional practice at playclc.com)

Sub-editor Dawn Adams Columnists Sandy Burgham, Warren Couillault, Andrew Dickens, Hamish Firth, Paul Goldsmith, Colin Hogg, Tommy Honey, Lauraine Jacobs, Judi Paape, David Seymour, Desley Simpson Photographers Stephen Penny

Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz 0275 326 424 Facebook: The Hobson Magazine Instagram: TheHobson

Cover No Dogs, 2020 oil on canvas, 1010 x 1215mm,

by Steven Saussey.

See ‘The Second Act’, page 28 THE HOBSON is published 11 times a year by The Hobson Limited, PO Box 37490 Parnell, Auckland 1151. www.thehobson.co.nz F: The Hobson Magazine I: @The Hobson Ideas, suggestions, advertising inquiries welcome. editor@thehobson.co.nz

THE HOBSON is Remuera, Parnell and Ōrākei’s community magazine. We deliver into letterboxes in these neighbourhoods, and copies are also at local libraries, cafés, and at businesses including the Vicky Ave and White Heron dairies, and Paper Plus Parnell. For more about us, see The Hobson Magazine on Facebook.

The content of THE HOBSON is copyright. Our words, our pictures.

Don’t steal, and don’t borrow without checking with us first.

We aim for accuracy but cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies that do occur. The views of our contributors are their own and not necessarily those of THE HOBSON. We don’t favour unsolicited contributions but do welcome you getting in touch via editor@thehobson.co.nz to discuss ideas.

The Hobson Ltd is a member of the Magazine Publishers Association This publication uses environmentally responsible papers.

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Bouquets to the Parnell Business Association and friends, who beautified a long-empty retail space in the midst of the Parnell Rd shops.

Owned by an offshore landlord and vacant for around eight years (there are no council penalties for this), it was a dead stretch of dirty windows and dust bunnies until the cheerful vinyl was applied last month.

The Columnists

Left to right from top row: Sandy Burgham (The Second Act) is a brand strategist and an executive coach with a special interest in midlife change and transformational behaviours. She runs a central Auckland practice. www.playclc.com Remuera resident Warren Couillault (The Investment) is chairperson and CEO of Hobson Wealth, one of New Zealand’s leading private wealth advisory groups. He is also the chair of kōura Wealth, a registered KiwiSaver scheme manager.

Andrew Dickens (The Sound) is a host on Newstalk ZB. For 13 years he was the breakfast host on Classic Hits.

He grew up in Remuera.

Hamish Firth (The Plan) lives and works in Parnell and is principal of the Mt Hobson Group, a specialist urban planning consultancy. www.mthobsonproperties.co.nz Mary Fitzgerald is The Hobson’s news editor. A Mainlander who transplanted to Remuera, she is passionate about hearing and telling our stories.

Urban design critic Tommy Honey (The Suburbanist) is a qualified architect-turned-academic. The Remuera resident is a regular guest on RNZ National, discussing the built environment.

Author, music writer, columnist Colin Hogg (The Arriviste) was born in the deep south. He spent many years living in other parts of Tāmaki Makarau, before relocating to Remuera from Wadestown in recent times.

The Hobson’s food editor, Lauraine Jacobs MNZM lives in Remuera. A former food editor for Cuisine and the Listener, she has published several best-selling cookbooks. She is a passionate champion of NZ ingredients.

Judi Paape (The Teacher) is a parent, grandparent and highly-experienced teacher and junior school principal.

A Parnell resident, her column appears bi-monthly.

Contributing writer Wayne Thompson is a former The New Zealand Herald journalist, covering Auckland news. He has been a resident of Parnell for 34 years.

Contributing editor Justine Williams (The Magpie) is an interiors stylist, writer and fashion editor. The Remuera resident has been the editor of Simply You and Simply You Living.

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the village

Wayne Thompson

Town & Around

ENTRUST US ON THIS Bizarrely-shaped trees along main roads in Parnell and Remuera are stark reminders that a project to clear streets of poles and wires has stopped with only half the job done and without a date for completion.

Up to $10.5 million of annual profits from electricity lines company Vector was spent on removing power poles and placing cables underground at the behest of Entrust, the community trust which holds the majority of Vector shares on behalf of 338,000 consumers.

However, the ‘undergrounding’ crews working in Remuera, Parnell and Ōrākei have left for western parts of Entrust’s territory, where they are transforming upzoned neighbourhoods between the Unitec campus and the Mt Albert shops. That work complements the $12m of undergrounding done in nearby Sandringham.

Switching resources elsewhere has left Parnell and Remuera with half the streets of its premium real estate locked in to 1920s-style poles trailing thick black lines. Below them are mature trees, which — with each growth spurt — threaten to touch Vector’s lines and cause an outage in the power supply.

Recent pruning work prompted a reader of The Hobson to complain about what he calls “gutted” trees. The ugliness and the cost of pruning are unnecessary, he says, because lines should be underground outside homes levied from $4000 to $10,000 in Auckland Council rates. For that money, a better standard of street amenity is expected.

“It looks like a hippy who has just joined the Marines,” observed Ōrākei Local Board chair Scott Milne, after inspecting a tree with splayed branches on Shore Rd, opposite the Burwood Cres corner.

He sought an explanation from Auckland Council, which is responsible for maintaining trees on berms. “The arborist says that to have left the tree would have seriously undermined its health,”

says Milne, “and with the storm season there was the risk of falling branches causing outages. The tree is hideous but it’s the worst it will look. When the lines go, its middle branches can grow back.”

Milne says examples of deformed trees on Shore and Upland roads will be used to put pressure on Vector for undergrounding of all lines. The sooner the lines go, the better, says Mels Barton, of The Tree Council. “It’s a nightmare. We are lucky they just don’t cut the trees down. Pōhutukawa seem to cope remarkably well with the awful hacking but it doesn’t make for a pretty sight.”

Auckland Council uses tree contractors to trim trees in road corridors, noting branches must be within a certain distance of lines to comply with the Electricity Act. “The result of the trimming is not expected to affect the tree health,” a spokesperson said.

In Brighton Rd, a row of spindly trees modified to accommodate lines are reminders of how Parnell looked before 21 of its streets had most poles and lines removed. The difference can be seen in the form of vibrant trees lining Alberon St. “They used to applecore the pūriri trees,” recalls Luke Niue, of the Parnell Community Committee. “It was a sore issue and Alberon was on the waiting list for 10 years. About 85 per cent of residents agreed to pay from $2500 to $7000 as a contribution to the cost. Not enough money is allocated for undergrounding, given its aesthetic and safety benefits.”

A Vector spokesperson says its deed with Entrust committed $10.5 million a year to undergrounding. However, this sum is now shared with spending on new technologies promoted by Vector, such as solar and battery. Since 2001, poles and lines have been removed in 135 projects across the Entrust district, including 18 streets in Remuera and 10 in Ōrākei. Projects scheduled for the next 18 to 24 months are west of the Southern Motorway.

Entrust chairman William Cairns says about 55 per cent of the

the hobson 12

trust’s area has the benefits of underground projects. “Each year we do a little more. Everybody wants more undergrounding but it’s a tremendous cost. We have to spread it out over Auckland.”

— Wayne Thompson p

BRIGHTON BLUES The wooden safety fence on the Brighton Rd hill has long been a source of interest for regulars among the 10,000 motorists a day who pass by, because there is always some part of it under repair.

Cars have damaged the Parnell fence five times in the past three years — the last was in July last year at a spot above the Newmarket Stream. That latest gap in the fence was filled by Auckland Transport with hired plastic barriers, at a cost of $1300 to late June.

In response to The Hobson, AT initially said that repairs to the fence were programmed to occur within two months, but not long after we inquired, repairs were made last month. An AT spokesman says the agency is aware that some drivers have lost control there, and it has installed a driver feedback sign near this location to encourage slower speed. AT is also planning some investigation of the lower section of Brighton Rd, to the roundabout at Ayr St. This was delayed due to lockdown. The only serious crash in the street reported to AT by the Police was a car hitting a fence and a parked car near Elam St in 2017. The weather was fine and in that case, the report suggests that sun strike was a factor. — Wayne Thompson p

A BOUQUET FROM ROBBIE’S DAUGHTER The Hobson’s reporting of the campaign to keep Parnell’s DoveMyer Robinson Park as green space has brought to us this letter from Heather Levack, one of the late mayor’s daughters.

“I would like to commend your columnist Wayne Thompson for his expert handling of the tricky case of the Erebus Memorial in the Dove-Myer Robinson Park.

As Robbie's daughter, it humbles me that so many people are prepared to stand up and fight to preserve his park as a tiny emerald jewel in the midst of a growing city. Robbie’s direct family numbers only a couple of people now, none of us have the energy or resources that are needed to win this fight. We are reliant on the kindness of strangers, and I am continually amazed that there are a lot of strangers ready to put their hands up (and in their pockets) for what should be our family's fight. Jo Malcolm and Annie Coney have worked amazingly hard to stop this travesty from happening.

The whole schmozzle is so complex with so many players. Wayne has written the article so that anyone can read it and understand what has been going on. Apart from a sense of outrage that such deviousness is allowed to go on, one can only shake one’s head. I have vowed, that if it comes to the point, I will chain myself to the pōhutukawa tree that grows adjacent to the proposed site.

[Ministry for Culture and Heritage spokesman] Brodie Stubbs stubbornly maintains that [sculpture] Te Paerangi Ataata is so specific to the park that it cannot be placed elsewhere. I would like to know why not? What is so special about the design, or the park, that it cannot be placed elsewhere? And to have ordered the steel work to be made before landowner permission was given, is in my mind an act of audacity beyond belief.

It is now 40 years since the crash, why did [the government] deem it necessary to erect a memorial now? Everyone agrees that the Erebus families deserve their own memorial; how come nothing was said in the intervening years?

There are so many twists and turns in this whole saga; thank goodness for a skilled journalist who is able to put it in such a way that the narrative is straight forward, and understandable.”

— [signed] Heather Levack. p

the village

MOVED TO WORDS

and in the upcoming election, is number 58 on the Labour list.

Before lockdown, she took Mary Fitzgerald’s questions.

A reminder that there will be a community gathering t to raise awareness of the state of the water flowing into Hobson Bay. All are welcome to attend the event, from 2pm on Sunday August 23, at the Newmarket Playcentre on Hapua Reserve, Shore Rd. There’ll be lots of great info, interesting speakers, local MPs, a sausage sizzle, and more. See hapuathrive.nz for further information.

One local resident, Piers Davies, has been moved to write about the worsening waterways. A published poet, Davies is a regular walker around the area, and noticed that while this year has been particularly bad for the waterways, the ducks don’t seem to mind.

Noting the signs posted on Portland Rd warning of no swimming or shellfish collecting, Davies wrote the following and sent it in to us for all to enjoy. p Two white ducks ignore this edict and arise from the condemned stream shaking their wings fetid drops sparkling.

— Piers Davies 2020

MEET YOUR BOARD MEMBER Kerrin Leoni (Ngāti Paoa, NgaiTakoto, Ngāti Kuri) is deputy chair of the Waitematā Local Board, which she joined for her first term at last year’s election. She has been a central city resident for 15 years,

What is your working background?

In 2001, after finishing my Bachelor of Māori Development specialising in social work, I spent five years working for Child Youth and Family [now called Oranga Tamariki]. I had completed my AUT workplace experience there, and enjoyed tackling social work from a community-based approach, as well as an institutional angle. In 2006, after completing my Master of Arts in Youth Development, the time had come to travel the world. New Zealand’s leading role in social work meant that I easily found employment in the United Kingdom, my new home. In the UK I set up my own consulting company, Matariki Ltd, enabling me to contract as a social worker and facilitator in places like the Channel Islands, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. In 2015, I founded Mana Aroha, a not-for-profit organisation focused on empowering Māori and Pacific youth. Mana Aroha selects two applicants each year to travel to London for a 10-month work experience. When they come back to New Zealand, they then visit low decile schools and talk about their experiences. The programme focuses on leadership and international opportunities, leveraging the contacts I developed over nine years in the UK, as well as the New Zealand and Māori community in London.

I also have experience in funding and contract management, working with NGO national providers across New Zealand.

Tell us a little about your family I have three-year-old twins who keep me on my toes, and they enjoy city centre living.

Why did you stand for the local board?

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TIMING IS EVERYTHING.

I am passionate about providing outstanding community services for Aucklanders including housing, education, and addressing poverty. I am also passionate about the culture, community and the arts in the Waitematā.

What board portfolios are you responsible for?

I’m lead for Arts, Culture and Events, and also work on the Environment and Infrastructure portfolio.

What do you consider to be the top two projects you will initiate and complete in your role to directly benefit the community?

Ending homelessness and having significant community engagement with iwi mana whenua, and Māori living in the Waitematā.

Tell us something about yourself that will surprise your community I have two masters degrees and twins so I tend to do things in twos!

I have also been to more than 60 countries and have a passion for culture and travel.

If you were prime minister, what would you do to improve Auckland?

Push through with the City Centre Masterplan refresh, and invest in carbon neutral infrastructure.

What is your favourite escape in Auckland?

I love Silo Park as it has a great play area for the twins but also great restaurants and good vibes for locals. p

There’s plenty of interest in real estate. The month of June just ended with traffic to our website up over 50%. This translated to strong enquiry, big open home numbers and sales in June up month on month, year on year. It’s now very evident that Covid-19 has had little impact on the residential market. With over 23,000 Kiwis already having returned from overseas and interest rates continuing to fall, it’s hard to imagine any significant downside in the Auckland residential market in the short /medium term.

Quick summary, yes, it’s mid-winter - cold, wet and blustery, but the market is actually hot. They say timing is everything – if you’re thinking of selling right now is genuinely a great time.

If you’re thinking real estate please give me a call let’s have a chat!

ROLE CALL In a new story each issue, we spotlight a teacher at a local school, whom the school community believes goes that extra mile. Kirsty Cameron spoke to Rob Griffiths, Head of Faculty, Languages, at St Cuthbert’s College.

Latin and classics teacher Rob Griffiths may be a familiar face to those beyond the St Cuth’s community. When the news broke in February that the Ministry of Education was recommending Latin be dropped from the NCEA curriculum, Griffiths lead the roar of “absit!”(an emphatic no!), from both his perspective as a passionate teacher of the subject, and as president of the New Zealand Association of Classical Teachers (NZACT).

“This goes against the grain of everything that is happening internationally,” he says of the move to scotch Latin, the only

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the village

subject the ministry’s review has recommended dropping altogether. “In the UK alone, more than 1000 non-selective state schools offer Latin. Yet critics would say it’s a private school thing, that it’s an elitist subject. But the evidence shows it’s not.”

The crime, as Griffiths sees it, is that more young people don’t have the opportunity to study Latin at a young age. “Not enough students have the opportunity to do it.”

So, why should any child study Latin? It’s a question Griffiths is well versed in answering. “When I hear that Latin’s a waste of time, I say to parents that just as you go to the gym for your physical body and strength, Latin does exactly that, but for the mind. It’s a mental workout. Latin trains the brain — it’s essentially a code, and it builds such transferable skills: patterns, logic, close reading, analysis.

“I tell parents that any job your daughter does in the future, she will be drawing on those skills. Latin and maths skills do have a lot in common — it’s about decoding.” (The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, attributes his success in coding and logic to having studied Latin.)

Submissions to the ministry on the proposed NCEA changes — NZACT garnered support for the retention of Latin from top universities and institutions globally — have been pushed out to an extended deadline of July 20. “We just wanted a twoway conversation about this. I sent them questions well before lockdown.”

Shortly before the end of Term 2, Griffiths and NZACT representatives did finally get to sit down with the ministry to put their case. It was a three-hour meeting, and to date, the extent of consultation with the teachers.

Gladiatorial battles with the ministry aside, Griffiths absolutely loves teaching. He knew from the age of seven that he wanted to be a teacher and he’s never wavered. Developing a passion for Latin and Classics — the study of ancient Greece and Rome — was a happy surprise at King’s College, where it was compulsory for third

formers. “I was captivated by it, by the stories.” He took Latin for all of high school, adding classics in Year 12, and went on to study further.

Griffiths joined the teaching staff of EGGS as a Latin and Classics teacher, before moving to St Cuths in 2013 (where he also transferred his skills in an unrelated field — at EGGS and now St Cuths, he’s manager of the premier netball team).

Away from school, Latin is part of the fabric of his life — his fiancée, Bianka, is a lawyer, a profession redolent with Latin terms, and his sister, Elizabeth, jokes that as a doctor, she wishes she’d studied Latin. He credits Bianka and his parents, Donna and Peter, for a lot of support and being very understanding about school commitments.

Lockdown was spent teaching from his Meadowbank home — Griffiths marvels at the technology that allowed online learning with a few mouse clicks. “We had meet your pet day, dress-up day.

We managed to have the amusing, fun part of online learning with a surprising amount of productivity. But nothing replaces the face to face interaction in the classroom.”

And while he gets to work teaching subjects he’s passionate about, it’s the students who he says are the reward.

“They are so engaged and interested in learning. I am lucky to teach at this school, but the highlight of my career are the students themselves.” Many of his pupils are with Griffiths on a five-year journey, as they take his subjects from Year 9.

“They open their minds to a whole new world and over that time I get to know them as people, not just students. Once they leave, many of them will keep in touch. Getting an email or a message gives you such a buzz.

“The workload’s intense, but I love my life.” p Do you know a teacher you would like to nominate for a story in The Hobson? Contact editor@thehobson.co.nz

Griffiths (with students in his classroom), includes many modern references in his teaching: the Latin language use in the Harry Potter books is "a great teaching point for Year 9".

Coronavirus presented its own lesson: 'corona' is Latin for crown (which refers to the appearance of the virus particles), 'virus' is Latin for poison, or venom. Photo: Simon Watts, BWmedia

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King’s School

Open Days 18-20 August 9.00am Register at kings.school.nz Accepting applications for 2022

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the hobson + remuera

Remuera Knows Home Style !

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Remuera Village offers many goods and services, and one of its specialities is things to make your home beautiful.

From the best in chairs, soft furnishings, decor objects and items to make a house a home, Remuera has it all.

It’s never been a better time to check out what’s available right here in Remuera.

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1. A quick way to bring joy to a winter room? Flowers. Iain Stephens Floral Design creates beautiful arrangements for the home, weddings and special events. Master florist Anna won the 2020 Interflora Pacific Cup for her work, so you are indeed in great hands. 326 Remuera Rd, ph 0800 501 202. nzflowers.co.nz 2. Order new curtains at Living at Home, and you’ll receive free lining too, for the month of August. There’s a wonderful range of fabrics from which to make your selection, including vibrant Orla Kiely prints (pictured) to chase away the winter blues. 419 Remuera, Rd, ph 524 9986. livingathome.co.nz 3. Settle back in the Westbourne Chair, custom made for you by Gracious Living.

It can be created in any upholstery fabric or leather, with a rolled or pleated arm, tapered or turned leg, with or without castors — the choice is yours. 384-386 Remuera Rd, ph 520 1735. graciousliving.co.nz 4. Hedgerow has been part of the Remuera community for more than 20 years, offering a beautifully curated collection of homewares and gifts. New instore are stylish Beija Flor Vinyl Mats from Israel, from $175. 371 Remuera Rd, ph 524 0843. hedgerow.co.nz 5. Pop in to say hello at the Sitting Room’s new location, 1A St Vincent Ave. Owner Ming is a specialist in custom-made loose covers, cushions and locally made furniture, like this two-and-a-half seater loose-covered sofa ($4200). 1A St Vincent Ave, ph 520 2200. ming@sittingroom.co.nz

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the politicians

David Seymour

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here’s been talk in Hobson-land about my party’s position on firearm laws. I wrote about this topic in my November column, but now it is election season. People will say many things for many reasons and I’m grateful for the opportunity to write directly.

The most recent chatter has been around the elevation of Nicole McKee who, I’ve been interested to read, was the head of the so-called ‘gun lobby’, to an electable position on the ACT list. (Latest polling shows there will be four ACT MPs if reelected in Epsom.)

It’s true, shooting is Nicole’s sport. She has been a national champion. When she was called on by her colleagues to speak calmly on a divisive topic, she won a ‘Communicator of the Year’ award. She is of Ngāpuhi descent and well connected to rural New Zealand, where she has built her own business teaching people who use guns in the country how to do so legally and responsibly. She is a mother to three daughters and one son. She’s as proud as any mum that they are variously at medical school, nursing school, have been deputy head prefect, and so on.

New Zealand has no ‘gun lobby’ in the American sense. There is not a hardcore of people with a caustic philosophical bent (obsessed with God, guns and gays, as they say in America).

There is a diverse range of Kiwis who share a common hobby.

They feel scapegoated for something they’re as horrified by as anyone, often more so. I’ve been amazed at how many people have a firearm licence. I estimate it would be at least 2000 in the Epsom electorate.

Ironically, those using inaccurate monikers about a ‘gun lobby’ have imported American-style politics to our shores.

Caricaturing and dehumanising are traits of American politics — Crooked Hillary, Sleepy Joe. We shouldn’t be importing American paradigms right at this moment. We should be solving our own problems in a deliberative and practical way.

What happened? How? What next?

What happened is that a deranged foreign criminal exploited New Zealand’s security and laws to commit an atrocity. He was fresh off the plane, with a recent travel history that included Pakistan, the Balkans, and North Korea. He was a single male living alone. He purchased several rifles and high capacity magazines (the rules for the former had been eroded by successive court decisions and the availability of the latter was opposed by the firearm community for some time). Then police signed a form allowing him to mail order 3000 rounds of ammunition.

Nobody was employed to analyse and say: “That’s an odd pattern. Maybe we should talk to that guy?” Worse, the Royal Commission on the tragedy will likely report that even the laws we do have weren’t followed. Allegedly, his ‘referees’ were just acquaintances from internet chat rooms, interviewed by phone. I watched his ‘video,’ while sheltering with students at the University of Canterbury, wondering if we were next. You can see the guy’s a creep just by looking at him. Where was the face-to-face process?

The government’s changes have not fixed any of this. The attempt to just ‘get rid of the guns’ predictably failed. The police advised that 240,000 firearms were outlawed last April. Last year’s ‘buy-back’ netted about 60,000. Where are the rest?

We should all be outraged at the government’s lack of effective response.

What the government has done is collectively punish people who hunt, collect, and target shoot for hobbies, or use firearms for ecologically vital pest control (the alternative is usually poisoning). Those people are understandably hurt and disenfranchised. I am not a gun guy, but I know populism when I see it, I know bullying when I see it, and I know bad policy when I see it, and they were all on display in the government’s response.

That response was ineffective, divisive and, until the Royal Commission tells us what went wrong, premature. We can do better, and ACT is campaigning to start again with a mature and inclusive process that fixes the loopholes that led to March 15, while respecting law-abiding New Zealanders who’ve done nothing wrong. Whether you own firearms or not, that is a process that every democratically-minded New Zealander should see merit in.

David Seymour is the MP for Epsom

Paul Goldsmith

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he Epsom News isn’t a publication to rival The Hobson.

It’s just a pamphlet we deliver around the electorate twice a year, with a questionnaire attached. Since the latest edition was delayed by the lockdown, I missed the pleasure of a few feijoas from my favourite trees on my route this time.

We have a team of volunteers who deliver to the 24,000-odd across the electorate. This time, we endured the irritation of finding a taxpayer-funded rival publication from another party (clue – it was red) in most letterboxes at the same time. We prefer voluntary effort to state funding.

The feedback from the questionnaires is mostly polite.

The most frequent response to the question: “What is the most important local issue?” was a variation on: “Getting the economy back to pre-Jacinda levels and an increase in jobs!”

The economy will naturally dominate over the next few weeks. The current government emphasises state-funded

the hobson 20

30kph as we approach the CBD. The mentality of Julie Anne Genter and the Greens has overtaken the country. People say, oh but you can’t go 50kph anyway, because of the traffic. But there are 24 hours in a day. Sure, roads are congested for two or three hours. The rest of the time we can get around – or we could if there weren’t cones everywhere.

The slower speed limits seem to me to be a metaphor for the country at the moment. Somehow, we should regard going backwards and being less productive as progress. That’s a fantasy. Now’s the time to put our foot down, to rebuild our economy and restore our prospects.

Paul Goldsmith is a National list MP based in Epsom and the Opposition spokesman for finance

Have your say on the future of Ōrākei and Waitematā Our local boards have come up with three-year plans outlining the key initiatives they want to focus on to help their communities thrive and support the recovery from the impacts of Covid-19.

Now we need your help to check if we’ve got it right.

So love local and get vocal about your local community, and don’t forget to provide your feedback before 4pm, Thursday 13 August.

For more information, a copy of either the Ōrākei or Waitematā draft Local Board Plan 2020 and to provide your feedback go to akhaveyoursay.co.nz/lovelocal

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Toget her we can love local the hobson 21

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programmes to generate jobs – whether it’s planting flax bushes or killing possums. We see an important role for government investment also, but the basic rules haven’t changed – it’s the quality of the spending that counts. Is it going towards something that will strengthen the competitiveness of our economy and, especially in the case of infrastructure, will it be delivered? Or will it be another big promise, like the slow tram down Dominion Rd that has been quietly parked up.

Beyond debt-fuelled government spending, we emphasise the role of the private sector in reviving our economy. The thousands of businesses, large and small, deciding to invest to rebuild and expand their businesses.

That requires less tax, not more. Our proposal for instant writing-off of new investments up to $150,000 per asset will turbo charge investment.

Regulatory restraint is needed now, more than ever. Two out for every new regulation, and a pause on new imposts, so businesses have a chance to get back on their feet. More pragmatism is required on foreign investment. Notwithstanding the recession, the world is awash with capital looking for a good place to invest. We need to attract some of it.

Another thing winding up respondents to my surveys is the council’s mania for slowing us down at every opportunity.

It appears the 30kph speed limits in the city infuriate more people than just me.

I still believe in progress. I can’t understand why, when cars have never been safer we suddenly have to crawl around at

the councillor

Desley Simpson

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s if navigating our way out of a global pandemic wasn’t enough to contend with, Auckland is also experiencing the worst drought in its history.

Following an extremely dry summer, the levels of water stored in our reservoirs fell below 50 per cent for the first time in 25 years. As a consequence, Aucklanders were asked to reduce their water usage where they could.

Despite our best efforts to conserve water, and the relief of some much-needed rain, reservoir levels have remained between 45 and 55 per cent — a significant difference from the historic average of 70 to 80 per cent for this time of year. In a further effort to restore our water supply levels, council voted to put mandatory restrictions in place from May 16, which prohibit the use of outdoor hoses and water blasters as well as limiting commercial use to non-potable water.

These restrictions are enforced by Watercare, the organisation which is responsible for both providing the water that 1.4 million Aucklanders use, and managing what happens with it after we’ve used it. They are what’s known as a council-controlled organisation (CCO) in that that they are entirely owned by council, but we don’t fund them or receive dividends from them. Legislation dictates that we also do not set the salary of their CEO either, that is done by the Watercare board. Watercare’s income comes from fees and charges they set, and all the money they receive goes into maintenance and expansion of their network of pipes and other infrastructure, such as pump stations and treatment plants — see the chart here on how Watercare funds projects.

Many of you will be asking how we found ourselves in this water crisis? I too have asked the same thing, in fact, I have been quoted in the media asking this directly to the board of Watercare. I feel it is important that I voice my disappointment with what feels like a lack of strategic planning from Watercare.

At the time of writing, I remain unclear as to the full impact of Watercare’s borrowing needs on our Emergency Budget. I find this unacceptable and will continue to advocate for more accountability from this organisation.

While across the years Watercare has remained dedicated to low water rates, I am not convinced they have fully considered the financial impact on council’s budget when faced with a situation like a one-in-200-years (or 300) drought. And while we will do all we can to respond appropriately to this crisis, investing in necessary infrastructure, we must scrutinise the steps that have led us here.

We currently take 150 million litres of water per day from the Waikato River – the maximum amount currently permitted. Back in 2013, we applied to Waikato Regional Council to take more, but unfortunately, we’ve been stuck behind 106 pre-existing applications (the WRC is bound by the Resource Management Act to review applications in the order received).

Council also requested Watercare’s Waikato River ‘water take consent’ be included as project number 12 on the government's

Covid-19 Recovery Bill. Instead, the government announced a slightly longer process, sending our application to a board of inquiry for consideration. This still means we will be able to take more than the current amount, which will provide us serious relief.

In the meantime, we expect Watercare to explore every solution to increase Auckland’s supply and better conserve water to avoid us facing a severe water shortage next summer. A number of projects have been identified to assist, including a plant in Waikato with an additional 25 million litres to be completed in August, an Onehunga plant with an extra 4 million litres per day ready in September, as well as a further 11 million litres per day from two existing bores by December 2020. Further options for consideration include de-salination of saltwater and treating wastewater.

To provide you with some balance, I do wish to acknowledge Watercare’s work in other areas, particularly progress on the central interceptor. The Ōkahu Bay separation project is another good example of the work Watercare and council conduct together to help improve the quality of our water/waterways. The $15.5 million venture due for completion at the end of 2021 is a collaboration between Auckland Council, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, and Watercare which will greatly improve the quality of water discharging into the bay, which is currently very poor.

While I remain committed, as do my colleagues, to strong and robust relationships with our council-controlled organisations, I also remain committed to keeping them honest and ensuring they deliver for you, our communities. As we focus on responding to the immediate needs of Auckland and its water needs, I will ensure I continue to ask the right questions on your behalf.

Desley Simpson is the Councillor for Auckland representing the Ōrākei ward

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the hobson + st cuthbert’s college

A Girl's Own Adventure

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t St Cuthbert’s, we are dedicated to growing happy, capable and resilient young women who recognise their unique talents and forge lifelong friendships.

An important pillar is the expansive outdoor education programme at all levels of the school, with the highlight being the Kahunui experience at our remote campus.

Kahunui – meaning ‘big hawk’ in te reo Māori – is a St Cuthbert’s owned and operated 141-hectare property located in the Bay of Plenty, where our Year 10 girls spend four consecutive weeks.

Students take part in an all-encompassing outdoor education programme designed to strengthen essential life skills. During this time, the girls are unplugged – no phones, laptops or devices, with the only communication back home being via post.

Run by a dedicated team of academic/outdoor instructors, Kahunui welcomes the Year 10s in groups of approximately 24 students, in a number of intakes across the course of the school year. Living in groups of eight, they manage their own house, including cleaning, laundry, menu planning, budgeting, gardening and cooking.

Girls also give their all to outdoor activities ranging from tramping, kayaking and blow-carting; to fishing, small boat handling, fire lighting and survival camping.

“Kahunui is a unique and very special part of what we offer at St Cuthbert’s to develop well-rounded young women,” says school Principal Justine Mahon. “The experience helps our girls become aware of just how resourceful they are, how they can achieve whatever they put their mind to, how they can feel the fear and do it anyway, and how to be at one with the environment.

“It expands friendship groups, creating strong bonds and helping girls realise they can confidently face life’s challenges.”

Every Year 10 student spends 28 days at Kahunui and we can say without exception that our girls love this facet of their education. Parents find their daughters returning home invigorated for the challenges ahead. “The girls were all glowing when we picked our daughter up,” comments one

Amazing discoveries

parent. “They’ve had a life-changing, irreplaceable experience. It’s hard to summarise our elation that our daughter has had the opportunity to participate in such an amazing adventure.”

To learn more about Kahunui please view our video at www.stcuthberts.school.nz/kahunui-difference

the plan

Dam Troubling Times

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ater, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.”

Those famous words from the “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” ring clear when we are going through another ‘water crisis’. By the time you read this, I suspect it will have been resolved for the moment by a typical Auckland winter (lots of rain) and some sort of deal to take more of the Waikato River.

We have been reminded daily that our water storage levels are very low and severe restrictions may apply. But the last time we added water storage by way of a dam was in 1977, with no others considered since. Since 2002 — the last water crisis — the Waikato River has been part of Auckland’s water supply, providing about 33 per cent of our water over the last year.

Auckland’s population in 2002 was 1.25 million people.

According to Auckland Council’s numbers, this had grown to 1.66m in 2017 — a 30 per cent increase with no commensurate increase in water supply. The population of Auckland in 2031 is estimated to be 2.1m — a 68 per cent increase since 2002.

I read a 2018 council document, ‘Our Water Future’, which notes that the Waikato River is the only proposed future source of water, after discounting 80 other options (though I can’t find any of these options or the background research online). Only two pages were dedicated to future water supply, with only one paragraph and five bullet points dedicated to ‘Proposed Actions’. One comment stood out — it noted that by becoming more water efficient, we could put off having to increase the supply until 2031. Water efficiency was considered the best answer to a medium-term water supply problem. So, the population has grown over 30 per cent since the last crisis and is estimated to grow by 68 per cent before any new supply was expected. That sounds like a problem waiting to happen.

And then there is the current resource consent application before the Waikato Regional Council for Auckland to take more water from the Waikato. It has been in the pile for seven years, waiting to be processed. So, this year the mayor writes a strong letter to the Ministry for the Environment complaining about how long the processing of the consent is taking. I suspect most Aucklanders who have ever lodged a resource consent would have laughed out loud at him getting a taste of council’s own medicine. And I will quote back what Auckland Council tell us as they drag their heels on ticking the boxes — “We are very busy right now”. Which is code for “shut up and wait”.

Council’s water agency, Watercare, is headquartered on Remuera Rd and its CEO gets paid over $700,000 per year.

He is paid this much because water is very important, and you have to pay this much to get talent. So, we have had a resource consent lodged for seven years and ‘water efficiency’ as the only medium-term water supply solution, and we have a water crisis. There appears to be no Plan B. In the real world, a board of directors may have found such performance wanting. Instead, we as ratepayers bear the brunt.

If it takes a crisis triggered by six months of low rainfall to be the way to a solution every time a problem arises, then us ratepayers are mugs and deserve what we get. Where are the voices on council, those elected officials who are our representatives, demanding better from Watercare?

When ‘efficiency’ is the short-term answer and the Waikato River the medium-term solution to our water supply surety, and when we run low of stored water after six months of dry weather, serious questions need to be answered. We are not cursed with a lack of fresh water, we are cursed with what looks like poor planning. Take care and please do your part to save water. — Hamish Firth

We recently conducted a funeral for a 102-year-old lady. Her niece pointed out that she was born during the 1918 flu pandemic and died during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic – her life was book-ended by significant world events. Her funeral was an example of how beautiful a small, simple service can be. There were around 20 people there, it was relaxed and informal. The speakers included her Age Concern worker, who had visited her twice a week for five years, and a neighbour who spoke of the kindness she had shown them when they arrived in NZ as refugees 10 years ago. It was a privilege to be part of caring for someone with such a long and interesting life.

At Aroha Funerals, our personalised approach ensures each family is treated with compassion, kindness and empathy.

09 527 0266 0800 276 420 www.arohafunerals.co.nz

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the investment

Get a STAT on That

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ne of the many things that has really troubled me over the past few months is poor decisions being made by ill-informed investors, through no fault of their own I might add. It was saddening to learn that $1.4 billion of KiwiSaver balances switched out of growth funds and into conservative funds while markets were at their lows. This means KiwiSavers that did this have largely missed out on the 30 per cent-plus rebound in growth markets. And this rebound is of such magnitude that it may take years to recover or make up the difference, which may have a significant detrimental effect on someone’s retirement.

To put that in perspective, one would need to earn an additional annual return above that of the market or a comparable portfolio of 5.4 per cent for a whole five years to make up the shortfall incurred while switching at the wrong time. Sadly, I would say that is nearly impossible in the current interest rate and market yield environment. So, where was the advice when these people needed it the most?

Unfortunately, investment advice is difficult to come by, particularly if the investor has less than $1 million to invest. And for KiwiSaver it is even more difficult as the average balance is still not quite $25,000, which is just too small for a financial adviser to spend much time with. But people need financial advice as discussed in my comments above. I would recommend various online tools, such as sorted.org.nz, for assessing your investment risk appetite, objectives, etc, to determine where and how is best to invest for you. I am the chairperson of an online digital advice KiwiSaver provider – kōura wealth (kourawealth. co.nz) – which we specifically designed to provide quick, clear, simple advice to KiwiSavers. And at Hobson Wealth we established the Navigator Service to get proper financial advice and investment portfolios to those with as little as $50,000 to invest. Visit navigator.hobsonwealth.co.nz — and let me know what you think.

In the absence of you finding a human or a computer to provide you the necessary financial advice, I would recommend

you at least be aware of a set of principles that I have followed, particularly in difficult markets: Sensible, Trust, Access, Transparency. Together they make the acronym STAT, and describe the key things to look for when considering making an investment at any time, let alone times such as these. (In fact, STAT can be used in many situations in life, not just the investment world.)

Sensible: Does the investment you are considering seem sensible? Easy to understand, it’s not hare-brained or far flung?

And you have to go with your gut instinct here as there is no scientific approach or black and white. Does it feel right, does it make sense?

Trust: You have to be able to wholeheartedly trust what you are reading and/or what you are being told. If you cannot completely trust the person, the products and the organisation to which you are about to hand over a good chunk of your savings, why would you do it? Reputation of the provider is of paramount importance in the ‘trust’ decision.

Access: By this, I mean both access to your investments and (hopefully) access to an adviser. At any time through your investment life you must be able to communicate with your adviser. He or she will most likely be closer to the action than you – they are investment specialists after all – and will be your first and likely best source of information relating to your investments, particularly in choppy waters. You must always have access to your investments too. This means ensuring you can transact whenever you want or your adviser recommends, and you can price and value your portfolio readily so you know what your worth is at all times.

Transparency: Very important, nothing hidden in the way of fees and other costs, valuations, portfolio composition — nothing must be hidden. It is your money, and you need to see where it is and how it is invested.

So with financial advice: get it! If you cannot, at least be aware of my STAT guidelines. I hope that helps.

— Warren Couillault

Paul Goldsmith

National List MP Based in Epsom 107 Great South Road, Greenlane 09 524 4930 paul.goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz paulgoldsmith.co.nz paulgoldsmithnz

Funded by the Parliamentary Service.

Authorised by Paul Goldsmith MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

the hobson 25

the suburbanist

Virtually a Tourist

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hen, in years to come, we look back at this year, this period, this era, what will we call it? Perhaps it is too early to speculate. We didn’t call the global financial crisis ‘the GFC’ when we were in it. It was the Great War until we had a Second World War and needed, grammatically at least, a First.

Curses that Covid begins with a ‘C’. We can’t call life before 2020 ‘Before-Covid’, because BC is already taken; PC? For ‘Pre-Covid’? What about Post-Covid? Who gets to decide?

Maybe the time before is less interesting than the time we went through – will we talk of ‘During Covid’ and ‘After Covid’? A DC/AC world . . . ?

Perhaps this time will be known not for what caused the world to change but for the change that resulted. My money is on TGR, The Great Reset (remember, you heard it here first . . .). We are already seeing the world of work shifting on its axis, with working from home now so established it has its own acronym, WFH. There have been greater, less visible repercussions, with the absence of air travel reshaping how large corporates engage with their related businesses, particularly across the Tasman. Where once business managers flew to Sydney for a lunch meeting with their counterparts, now Zoom is doing the business, saving time, airfares and the planet. Not to mention lunch, now had at one’s desk.

This new class of business will be felt most keenly by the airlines, for whom business class is their bread and butter, subsidising the seats given away in the price wars in the main cabin. A rising tide will lift all fares.

With the world’s borders fractured, international travel will get more expensive and, for a while at least, be mostly essential or business-related. Currently, this too is exacerbated by the repatriation of citizens caught out, or in the wrong place at the wrong time. Trotting the globe isn’t as much fun as it used to be.

So how will we have global fun again? In an AC world, going there will be less attractive than staying here. In recent years, as

a reaction to growing consumerism, there has been a trend to paying for experiences instead of things. How will we do this if we can’t travel to have experiences?

What if the future of tourism was to be found in virtual experiences, disconnected from any need to travel? Imagine a virtual trip to Venice where you would take a week off work and ‘travel’ to a facility in your home city, a hotel equipped with purpose-built media rooms, where you spend your days in a VR headset, and your evenings in a restaurant eating food from your destination country. This would be more than simply a fancy digital travelogue – it would be a curated experience, planned with a travel agency in the country you are experiencing. In Venice, say, there would be a local guide with a camera, responding to your instructions, going where you want to go, and leading you to places you might not have found – all of it ‘experienced’ in your headset. You might ‘take’ the trip simultaneously with friends in another country. No visas, no 18-hour flights, and the tourism economies of both countries benefit.

Preposterous, but possible. We readily accept the suspension of disbelief in the theatre, the impossibilities brought alive by CGI in film – maybe it is time to accept the impossibility of travel and still be a tourist, in a world where possibility is in such short supply.

Perhaps we need to separate out travel from tourism; we tend to think – and our economy depends – on a tight connection between the two words. There are of course travellers who look down on tourists as a way of elevating their own experience.

In The Sheltering Sky, Paul Bowles wrote, “Whereas the tourist generally hurries back home at the end of a few weeks or months, the traveller belonging no more to one place than to the next, moves slowly over periods of years, from one part of the earth to another.”

The travellers are hurrying home and it will be a long time before we move to another part of the earth, even slowly.

— Tommy Honey

David Seymour MP for Epsom

For an appointment, please contact me on 09 522 7464 or mpepsom@parliament.govt.nz

Epsom Electorate Office Level 2, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket the hobson 26

Promoted by David Seymour, MP for Epsom, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket

the arriviste

Cul Horreur

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e seem to be settling in happily at our new Remuera address, though I might be wrong about that.

Our quirky old house is “creepy”, say some of my grandchildren when they come to visit. It’s so creepy, they’ve booked it for a Halloween party later in the year. I can’t wait. I’m to play the creepy guy who opens the door.

We fell for our house the first time we saw it. It was the only place we’d encountered on the Auckland real estate market that wasn’t painted all white, or a shade there-of, on the inside.

There’s no white at all on the inside of our new place, though there is almost every other colour. There are clouds painted on the ceiling of our bedroom. “Perfect”, we said when we first saw the house and we haven’t stopped saying it since.

Our street, also, is quirky. It’s a cul-de-sac, but it is not as other cul-de-sacs. Mais non. It is, at times, a very popular cul-de-sac.

Very popular indeed. It’s the footie fields down at the end that change the vibe, which is, otherwise, sleepy. But if there’s a big game on, then brace yourself.

We’ve been enjoying it, though the major games bring in major crowds, not many by foot, of course. Cars block the street, the spectator car park fills and jams and the traffic spills back up and into every nook and cranny. No verge is sacred, though it seemed, perhaps, that ours was. Or at least, someone at our place thought so.

“You won’t be happy,” my wife said, coming in the door after queueing half an hour to get down the street to our drive. There was a car parked on our verge apparently, but I didn’t really care.

Though I did note, when I went out for a look, that its wheels had spun on the soft, previously-unsullied grass. I still didn’t care all that much. I don’t seem to have the verge domination gene, though it turns out that the beloved might have – a bit. She dashed off a note to the cheeky parker and popped it under their windscreen wiper. It was a pointed piece of prose which started something like, “You must be the most important person in the world . . . ” and tightened the screws from there. I wasn’t sure this was a wise move and said something along those lines. “Some big rugger bugger will come to the door, request the man of the house, tear my head off and place it somewhere else,” I wailed in the tone, it must be said, of a coward, a softie, not the sort of chap who should live in a house in a cul-de-sac with rugby fields at the bottom.

But I shouldn’t have freaked because it turns out that we have a better class of rugger bugger in our street. An hour or so later, there was a timid knock at our door. “You answer it,” I shouted from under the bed. And she did, to find two polite young chaps, apologising profusely for invading the verge and wondering if she might move her car, which, apparently, was blocking them in. It all ended in such a friendly way that I’m now quite looking forward to the next big game.

In other recent personal discoveries in Remuera, I’ve been on board the number 75 bus, a beautiful double-decker number which takes you all the way downtown and, if you’re lucky, offers wonderful elevated views from a front seat upstairs. Up there, you feel like you’re flying, looking in all the first-floor windows and out over the Grafton Bridge. When I used to live in Auckland, I never darkened the door of a bus. I had to move to Wellington to discover the joy of buses, having previously felt they were beneath my dignity. But down there was a bus that stopped right by our letterbox.

While here in Remuera, the 75 stops right at the top of the aforementioned cul-de-sac, which seems an offer too generous to resist. So I don’t. See you on the 75. — Colin Hogg

Lifting the lid on dirty water The time is now to show you care.

Testing shows that dangerous levels of sewerage is continuously flowing into local streams and Waitaramoa / Hobson Bay. We believe there is no solid plan to address the problem. Bring your friends and family to learn the facts and encourage accountability.

Public health, cultural and environmental issues will all be addressed. Your local electoral candidates will also be in attendance to answer questions.

Sunday 23 August 2020 at 2pm Newmarket Playcentre, 2 Hapua St www.hapuathrive.nz

the second act

Learning to Play Again

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nce upon a time, around 40 years ago, twelve young lads, teenagers most of them, entered an art or design college in various parts of the world, from Leicester to Townsville to Auckland. They didn’t really know what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives, but fortunately parents back then didn’t seem to be that invested in overmanaging their children. So the boys followed their instincts and interests and went with something that sounded fun and do-able. After all, they had been quite good at art stuff at school.

At art/design college, they learnt not only how to tailor their craft but fuelled by the collective energy of the likeminded, lived Einstein’s assertion that “imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” They had nothing to lose and everything to express.

But, alas, this was to be a moment in time, albeit a formulative one. Soon each answered the intoxicating call of the system with its promises of money and fame, power and glory, and got what is now called “a real job”. Over the years, it has been my good fortune to meet each of these men on my own journey of discovery and meandering career path.

Some have had the mixed fortune of being married to some of my more sassy, sharp-tongued, whip-cracking girlfriends.

One had even found himself married to me, the gentle soul that I am.

Then through a series of events that took place a few months ago, a seed of an idea was conceived. I had been quietly observing one of the guys for a while. He is known to have the Midas touch in the creative industries but I always suspected there was something else lurking beneath his spectacular career. Meantime, I attended a lunch when another guy presented a sketch he had whipped up as a gift to the host. Then the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon — when something you’ve just noticed crops up everywhere — kicked in. I started noticing men, a dozen of them in fact, whose creative genius had been somewhat tamed by life. An idea presented itself to me.

I had just read Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic, which encourages acting on an idea as soon as you have it, before the idea escapes you and looks for a new host. Being open that the idea itself is not yours, but is nurtured by you, means that the idea can have a life of its own and not be dampened or restricted by the confines of your current imaginative processes. For it is the idea activated that will stretch your own boundaries.

“I will have an art show,” the idea whispered and probably because I have spent years studying gender, the show would be called ‘The Male Gaze’. I would invite 12 men to return

to their roots — older, supposedly wiser, but with a whole lifetime of male-gazing-by-default to draw from. Re-entering an art practice in the ripeness of their adult years might be the start of something beautiful. After all, Paul Cézanne was a failed artist until his later 50s. Claude Monet hit the ground running in his 40s, after his wife died, and anyway, it’s often not an artist’s early work anyone bothers with.

I contacted all, told them the idea that had come to me, and asked them to play. They all agreed without question, some more nervous than others. Only two had kept up some sort of painting practice over the years, and for many, painting itself had never been their original medium. But they had to paint something for the show and there was a completion deadline. Then the universe conspired with a two month lockdown, so I saw little excuse for them not to paint something!

So last month, I turned my apartment and the office next door into an art gallery for an evening, and lived out a fantasy of being an art curator and gallerist. In the run up to the event most involved, including me, were a bit jittery in a pre-wedding nerves sort of way. My son, home for the uni holidays, took one look at me, rolled his eyes and remarked “stress mode activated”, because the guest list was growing daily and I realised I didn’t really know what I was doing. We had the show. Was it a success? Was it fun? It was more than that – it was magical.

Not only did I realise that the event itself was my own creative expression, but the collective creative energy seemed to spark something in everyone who attended.

Of the 12 participants whose work was on show, for many, they remembered the joy of painting, and will continue to do so.

Once upon a time I was a strategist, thinking for a living, and it is hard to shake this reliance on intellect over instinct.

But this event was not over-thought, it was simply activated.

It was not lost on me that mid-life reinvention is a great part of what I now am involved in, and is indeed the subject of this column. But I hadn’t thought to write about this until afterwards, but this idea continues to be evolutionary.

So what can I share about your own Second Act from this experience? Simply this – if you are asking yourself “what do I want to do for the rest of my life?”, you will not find the answer in logic and linear rational thinking. In fact, you are asking the wrong question. It’s not what you want to do for the rest of your life that counts, but what kind of person you want to be.

Forget about what success looks like for the future, and start remembering who you were at the beginning, how you loved to play, and act on that. The outcome will be beyond what you currently imagine.

— Sandy Burgham

The Male Gaze works: left to right, top row: Steven Saussey (Elam), No Dogs, oil on canvas; Luke Nola (Elam), You Can't Always Get What You Want, acrylic on canvas; Jacob Faull (Elam), For Leonard, Rosebuddy; acrylic and oil on canvas with LED lights. Second row: Damon O'Leary (ATI School of Design), Rose III, oil on canvas; Jason Ross (Swinburne), Hey man, what are you really looking at?, acrylic on Joubert Gaboon plywood; Stephen Penny (Elam), Global Faultlines #1, acrylic on canvas.

Third row: Mike O'Sullivan (Leicester Poly), Quite literally, soft pastel and gouache; Russell Chambers (ATI School of Design), Mr Peepy, acrylic on canvas; Pete Force (Townsville TAFE), Tomtit (Miromiro) and Rifleman (Titipounamu), pastel on paper. Fourth row: Matt Campbell (Christchurch Poly), Blue Man 1986/2020, acrylic on canvas; Mikhail Gherman (Elam), work from the Men in Isolation series, oil on Beehive matchboxes; Bryan Buxton (ATI School of Design), Grey Lynn Lockdown, oil on canvas. All works 2020.

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the hobson 29

the teacher

Pathways to Success

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good education changes people, while a good teacher changes the world. Such a true statement and I am sure you can recall at least one good teacher who ignited learning in you, or will have changed your life.

Schools recently finished Term 2, after unprecedented challenges. Most teachers were able to manage the transition to online learning during lockdown, and it was deemed highly successful in many schools. We can rightfully celebrate the dedication and long hours of teachers who worked so hard to make it work for their students, making sure they stayed on track throughout.

This was especially important for senior students having to face internal assessments and examinations, and wanting and needing to succeed in whatever curriculum they are studying in their final years — the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) or the International Baccalaureate (IB).

However, there has to be a cost that we have yet to see. We cannot know the effects of the lockdown on our children yet; for children who live in homes with limited resources and materials, not to mention the lack of motivation and encouragement for learning. I can pretty much predict that the effects of this will go on for a very long time. We will see a great number of our schools calling on services to support them in issues we may not even know about yet. We could also assume that many of these still-to-come complexities will contribute to effects on our economy in the future; the fallout that Covid will have left us with. Let’s hope the Ministry of Education is already preparing for this!

One of the biggest issues will be around wellbeing and mental health, and this will not only involve our children. Many schools are preparing for this and are already looking at health and safety policies to prepare for a possible increase in all matters relating to wellbeing.

In my experience, teachers are very in tune with their students, and can quickly notice any changes in behaviour that maybe concerning. Children are unable to learn if they are not happy, are hungry or unhealthy, physically or mentally.

I am pleasantly surprised at how quickly the many students presently in my life have settled into their learning after returning to school. I put this down to them all loving being back with their friends, and realising that being face-to-face with a real life teacher is the best way to learn.

At this point in the school year, senior students will be thinking about the many decisions they have to face.

Teachers will have spent much of the holiday preparing for this stage of the year and will be mindful of what the responsibility of being a good teacher holds — to prepare students for a successful and happy future.

What does that actually mean? The valuable early years are a gradual introduction to learning the basic skills of reading, the arts, writing and mathematics, not to mention the important social skills of learning to share and get along with others. To best prepare students for the future, good teachers will help and encourage them to develop the persistence to push beyond basic recall of content, and engage them in a productive struggle and deeper levels of thinking, as they find that there is always more than one answer to anything. We want them to find their ‘voice’ and to learn to use it appropriately for the betterment of all.

I recently had a thought-provoking conversation with a student who debated with me the success, or not, of the different curricula taught in our schools. What is wrong, he said, with the [general NZ] curriculum, is that it is taught very successfully up until Year 10, and then students, for some reason, may decide to study Cambridge or IB, rather than NCEA, thinking they are getting something better. I was impressed with his thinking and his arguments (and his reasons for choosing NCEA, wanting to support local).

Many secondary schools have taken on a dual pathway, offering students a choice of NCEA or another path, and choice is good. But it is often made under the illusion that the alternative offers more challenging curriculum than our local NCEA, and that the student will be accepted into an overseas university more readily than if they had studied NCEA. I’m not advocating that one is any better than the other, they all offer a challenging pathway for whatever courses students choose to pursue. And even better, all overseas universities accept our very own NCEA Level 3 — as university entrance it is a highly regarded qualification.

All three pathways are as rigorous as each other and all three offer an opportunity for a highly successful future.

Enjoy this new term! — Judi Paape

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the sound

Rough & Rowdy Love

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n a development that surprises even me, I find myself sitting down to write about the words and music of Bob Dylan, on the occasion of the release of his latest album. Already it seems a pointless exercise as millions, if not billions and very probably trillions, of words have been written about Bob’s music so why on earth would the world need 900 more.

Especially as I’m not really a fan. Because, I tell you, a Bob Dylan fan is a FAN! It was my burden to work with John Hawkesby in the 80s, and he’s a FAN! Which meant long conversations about lyrics, meaning and melody about songs I thought were OK — but which were, in fact, manna from heaven, allowed to be heard by mortals. But Bob was just not my guy.

It all changed in 1997 when he released Time Out of Mind.

The first song, “Love Sick”, is as dark and light and electric as any punk song. The album crackles with anger and the beauty of observations of conflict and regret. In the middle there’s a song called “Make You Feel My Love”.

You’ll know it, Adele covered it. But she made it melancholic sweet. Bob is railing against a girl who hadn’t made her mind up yet. Adele’s version is romantic, Bob’s is desperate.

It’s storytelling.

All of a sudden I had the Dylan Damascus moment.

Everything relates to everything, it’s contextual.

The words are important, it’s literary. The music is just a conduit and the appropriate sound suits the lyrics and the context. And who cares if he can’t sing classically when you can wrap your lips around words and phrases as expressive as his.

So let’s consider his new album, Rough and Rowdy Ways.

Contextually, he’s 79 and there's a lot more albums that have been, than will come. He’s always sung of death but now it’s just a little bit more in the foreground than before. This is the first album of originals since Tempest eight years ago. But in between, there are three albums, including a triple album of pop songs from the 40s, that he croaked through. It was curious why he did that but with hindsight he’s just setting clear the music that he evolved out of. It also said to the world, “get ready because I’m a crooner now”. Unlike any crooner you’ve ever heard before.

It also sets the context on what he evolved from, and reminds of how much evolution Dylan has been through. From a political folk singer to a rocker, to born-again Christian, to croaky voice troubadour. He was always insightful. Now his experience gives him a heavy wisdom.

And then there’s that Nobel Prize for Literature, which confused some, including Bob. But go back and listen to his

acceptance speech. It’s him ruminating on the literature that inspired him, including All Quiet On The Western Front. He begins to inhabit the book and insert himself. Meanwhile, as he purrs his thoughts, a piano twiddles and twinkles. It becomes a new form of literature. This spoken rumination on the times is where he’s come to. And all this comes to a place with Rough and Rowdy Ways.

The album opens with “I Contain Multitudes”, a line he’s stolen from Walt Whitman. He rolls it around, highlighting his complexities and contradictions. In the poem, Whitman says, “I am large, I contain multitudes.” Dylan’s large.

The song is a sing/speak 30s country strum with instrumentation sparse and his gravelly voice close mic’ed. It ticks off people and events from his life and cultural events at large, things like the rise of the Beatles and Bowie and the Stones. People like William Blake and Anne Frank. He apologises for nothing and then repeats.

“I’m a man of contradictions, I’m a man of many moods, I contain multitudes”. I love it.

What follows is beguiling and swoozy and hypnotic and shocking. His voice to the forefront, easily understandable, gently crooning, whispering tales and histories of love and evil into your ear. Three songs in comes a sort of murder ballad, “My Own Version Of You”. Bob is cruising the morgues and the monasteries of the world to dig up the body parts to make a new version of you. But it’s his chance to put histories in place. The song name checks Troy and the Crusades; Brando and Pacino; Freud, Marx, Leon Russell.

Then there’s Liberace and St John the Apostle. He throws in Judgement Day as well. All in a darkly sexy song about being Dr Frankenstein. Add to it all Bob rapping — as rap might exist in the 1930s. I love it.

And this is all without mentioning the last song, “Murder Most Foul”, a song reminiscent of his Nobel speech. It was a 17-minute surprise release at the beginning of lockdown, and incredibly, Dylan's first number one song on the charts. Ostensibly, it’s about the killing of John F Kennedy, but half the song is like an appendix of the mid-20th century, a list of zeitgeist artists, songs and personalities. And, a gentle anger at the affront of the murder. The murder most foul. I love it.

Bob’s done it again. He’s found a new voice. It’s quiet and low.

He’s found a new wisdom and he’s telling it slow.

He’s made me speak in rhyming couplets. Damn it, the man’s a genius. — Andrew Dickens

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the candidate

The Camilla Campaign Camilla Belich is the Labour Party’s candidate for Epsom at the coming election.

She talked to Calum Hughes about her run into the blue zone

S

he’s a Labour candidate, of a similar age, a mother, and strives for kindness, fairness and equality. But Camilla Belich laughs at being likened at all to the PM, while noting the comparisons are not wildly off the mark. “I really admire Jacinda and would be flattered to be likened to her at all.”

Belich, who has impeccable Labour connections — her husband is former party general secretary Andrew Kirton — has been placed at number 32 on the Labour list, so is highly likely to make it into Parliament, based on current polling and pundit views. It will mean spending more time in the city she grew up in, as well as leaving her job as an employment lawyer.

Belich was raised in a Labour household in Wellington, where her progressive parents challenged her with dinnertable debates on the issues of the day. Her grandfather was Jim (later Sir James) Belich, the first Labour mayor of Wellington. And yet Belich says she was not particularly interested in party politics as a young adult. She instead found herself drawn towards supporting individual issues, protests and specific policies she believed in rather than backing one party over another.

While studying law and te reo Māori at Victoria, Belich worked for three years towards securing interestfree student loans, a policy which she had researched extensively. She discovered the compounding and crippling effects loan interest could have, particularly on those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. It became clear that removing interest would change for the better how people accessed education. When the policy was adopted by the Clark Labour Government in 2006, Belich’s attention was drawn directly to the party, and she found more similarities between its policies and her own beliefs.

During her time as a student, Belich was also a founding member of Evolve, a mental health support service primarily run by young people, for young people. “People involved in using a service are often the best ones to help design that service,” she says. Evolve began by employing primarily young people who understood what their network of clients could be going through. It is still running today with the same core principles.

From university, Belich worked in legal practices until she and Kirton moved to London in 2008 for “typical OE reasons”. Both enjoyed career success and London living, and the planned two years away turned into seven, before they returned to NZ, this time as the parents of two small children, now aged seven and five.

Ordering a warming honey and lemon drink in lieu of a third coffee for the day, Belich is engaging and effusive, chatting in a Mt Eden café. That morning, she had walked through Parnell to look at the impact of Covid on the shops there. She was cheered to find ‘closed for business’ signs were minimal. “There seems to be a really good feeling from shop owners and locals.”

Of the electorate, she believes Epsom’s identity is held in the “small town, village feel” of its component suburbs.

Belich is unfazed by the fact that it’s held by high-profile MP David Seymour for the ACT Party in a ‘we’ll sit this one out’ deal with National. She wants to keep this campaign about politics rather than personalities, and put aside the widely-held view that Epsom voters are deeply conservative.

“I think an important aspect of Epsom is that the people here really are independent thinkers. What I am keen to do is just put forward the option of supporting Labour, and leave the decision up to them for what they think is best for the country.”

One thing she would rule out as a sitting MP is to try and follow in Seymour’s cha-cha’ing footsteps as a Dancing with the Stars contestant. With work and family commitments taking up much of her time, spare moments are enjoyed running, or listening to podcasts and music — her current favourite tracks are by New Zealanders Nadia Reid and Aldous Harding.

While she’s not wild about dancing for a televised audience, Belich is happy to be living back in Aotearoa, raising her children here and now, stepping up for public service as an MP. Kiwis, she says, are known internationally for their forward-thinking ideals and acts of social good — she cites as examples women’s sufferage, our nuclear free-standing, gay marriage legalisation, and more recently, gun ownership reforms and the Covid-19 response. “New Zealanders can be quickly and effectively responsive to changes in the social climate both locally and globally.”

Post-lockdown life is an opportunity for us all to explore, discover and support local businesses, culture and the natural world, she says. She feels lucky to be in a part of Auckland that is so rich in culture and history. “Each suburb of Auckland has its own distinct identity. And we don't have to look further afield to be the type of country we want to be — we can just tread our own path.”

For more about Camilla Belich, see Camilla Belich for Epsom on Facebook, or labour.org.nz

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The Epsom electorate's newly declared Labour candidate, Camilla Belich. Photo: Stephen Penny.

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the experience

Lockdown’s Legacy The Hobson has called for stories of lockdown experiences — here, director Guy Eady and Helen Martelli, general manager of Remuera’s Rawhiti Estate retirement village, share their story of new practices, 99-year-olds organising activities, and a renewed appreciation too. By Gretchen Carroll

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ockdown was anything but an isolating experience for the residents of Rawhiti Estate. The boutique village has 65 people who call it home, divided between fullyindependent apartment living, and assisted care suites, which cater for a range of care needs. During lockdown, these groups were kept as two separate bubbles within the village.

General manager Helen Martelli moved out of her own home and into a room at Rawhiti for six weeks over lockdown. She says the community became more self-reliant and caring towards each other, and she saw many magic moments. “On my last night living in the village I heard singing in the atrium, and found the care companions and residents having a sing-along — one of the staff had a guitar and another a ukulele.”

The sing-alongs are one thing to have continued into Level 1.

During levels three and four, Martelli says the residents would connect with their family on Rawhiti’s tablet, or via their own phone — and then get on with the community’s activities. One 99-year-old set up a reading group, and another person started a card group, which also continue on. Some of the assisted-living occupants also organised evening drinks within the bubble.

“It was lovely to see them take control of what they want to do,” says Martelli. Along those lines, ‘chair yoga’, taught by a care companion who is also a yoga instructor, was initially just a lockdown activity, but residents have asked for it to continue.

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Helen Martelli, above, and Guy Eady, photographed at Rawhiti Estate by Stephen Penny.

Another legacy of the lockdown is new seating arrangements in the dining area. Tables had been arranged for groups of six to eight, but had to be reduced to twos to enable social distancing. Residents found though that this improved conversation, and was more appropriate for their needs.

New skills were also picked up, sometimes with a bit of trial and error. There were bananas shared around after one independent apartment resident taught himself online grocery shopping. He thought he’d ordered eight bananas, so when eight kilos turned up, it was a bit of a surprise.

(Apartment residents had daily ‘how are you?’ check-ins with staff.)

Thinking a little more laterally about lockdown-safe activities, Rawhiti director Guy Eady and his wife, Mel, were able to offer up some creative ideas. Rawhiti is close to their Remuera home, and registered nurse Mel took on the role of overseeing the Covid-19 response, managing personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene protocols at the village. A keen cook, she also joined Guy for a whitebait fritter cooking and sampling demonstration, hosted a Mother’s Day afternoon tea, and spent time with memory-loss residents making floral wreaths.

Martelli says she noticed some of the residents’ speech improved during lockdown as they needed to articulate what they wanted, without their families’ help. No one significantly deteriorated, and many families were surprised how well their loved ones coped.

The legacy from lockdown is the village is more connected, says Martelli, and now that the families are back visiting, the strong community ties remain. The whole experience has confirmed Martelli’s resident-driven care philosophy. “The level of trust between the staff and residents is much stronger now, it’s palpable.”

R AW HIT I’S HE LPING HA ND S The Covid-19 crisis has left many senior citizens without the essentials they need to make it through the winter. Rawhiti Estate is working with Age Concern to provide struggling seniors in the wider community with winter care packages. Specifically needed are: • Warm blankets • Warm socks, gloves and scarves • Shortbread/biscuits, soft chocolates, and sugar-free items • Hand moisturiser • Packets of tea • Jams New items are greatly appreciated, and cash donations are also welcome: please bank to 12-3030-0668486-00. Reference: WCP and your surname.

Items can be delivered to Rawhiti Estate, 14 Rangitoto Ave, Remuera, as soon as possible.

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the menu

Sweet As

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e’re so lucky in the north of New Zealand to have a temperate climate and plenty of keen horticulturalists and orchardists. Each season brings with it an array of sweet, fresh, seasonal fruit that we can feast on.

Right now, with the onset of winter chills, locally grown citrus fruit laden with vitamin C are arriving in stores, just in time to make warming drinks to chase the cold and flu bugs away. Citrus fruit ripens on the tree and unlike stonefruit and pipfruit, will not become any riper or sweeter once picked.

Many of us have an abundance of fruit trees in our gardens, trees that produce a crop we too often take for granted. I remember times long gone when my parents would pack up a box of surplus grapefruit and lemons to send to friends in the far south who were forever grateful. As we take to apartment living, it’s simple to grow a large potted lemon tree on the balcony so there’s always some fresh fruit on hand.

The citrus season starts with sweet little mandarins, but those loose skinned, seedless varieties are all but over now.

Those fruit are followed by limes, lemons, grapefruit and tangelos in their many varieties. For some reason the fruit I have encountered this season has been far juicier and far sweeter than any other year in memory. I suspect it’s the long

hot summer followed by late-season rain that allowed the fruit to swell at exactly the right time.

June and early July brought the start of New Zealand oranges, the absolute stars of our citrus season. Both navel and Valencia varieties can be found now, and both are perfect for juicing and eating. The navel orange can be identified by the little navellike dimple at its base and slightly pebbly skin. It is easy to peel.

It’s usually seedless, a rich orange colour and is deliciously sweet. The Valencia is paler, has a smooth skin and is the perfect orange for juicing.

Although the little stickers on the fruit can be annoying, they are there to identify the grower and are the best proof that the oranges are local and haven’t been imported from USA or Australia. Citrus fruit should stay fresh for up to two weeks at room temperature, and will keep longer in the refrigerator. But remember to take it out 15 to 30 minutes and stand it in warm water before you use it to extract the maximum juice and flavour.

One of the most valuable tools in any kitchen is a very sharp knife. Salads can be perked up with the addition of orange segments, but if you peel the skin by hand the pithy, stringy look of the natural segments is not great. Instead, use your very sharp knife to remove all the skin and pith from the orange.

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Start by cutting the top away, and then either cut around and around, collecting all the pith as you go, or start at the top and take thin strips off the orange vertically.

Then cut or slice the orange into neat segments. The fruit will add a glistening, jewel-like sparkle to your salad. This is especially true in a good old-fashioned fruit salad.

The other tool for the kitchen really worth having is a sharp zester. Microplane graters are invaluable and are made for many different uses. The first one I ever bought was a citrus zester that makes a wonderfully fine, almost dust-like cloud of zest. Orange, lime or lemon zest is so easy to make and can be added to almost any dish to add that little punch of acidity that makes food so much more interesting.

This recipe produces a wonderfully fragrant, moist muffin. You will need to buy about three or four fresh New Zealand -grown oranges as one whole orange (skin, flesh and all), is used in the muffin and there’s extra orange juice that makes the muffin batter truly moist.

— Lauraine Jacobs

Orange & Date Muffins Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter a 12-cup muffin tray.

Sift 210g flour, 1 teaspoon each of baking powder, baking soda and salt together and put aside.

Pulse 100g pitted dates in a food processor with 50g brown sugar until the dates are coarsely chopped. Wash 1 whole orange, cut into 8-10 pieces and add this to the food processor, pulsing until all is finely chopped. Add 100g brown sugar, 110g chopped butter, 1 large egg and ½ cup orange juice and blend well.

Add the sifted ingredients and pulse until they are just mixed, taking care not to over process.

Divide the dough among the muffin cups and bake until firm to the touch and lightly browned. (About 15 minutes.)

Makes 12 muffins. Serve warm with extra butter.

Dinner Made Easy!

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Pop in for dinner tonight to discover these delicious meals, and many more, at your local Farro food store.

MARBELLA ON THE MENU

The Farro version of the New York classic chicken marbella, which stays true to the sweet and tangy flavours of the original. We’ve done all the hard work - simply tip and roast! Perfect to serve with Farro potato gratin and your favourite greens. $24.00 each Serves 4-6

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SENSATIONAL SIDE

The creme de la creme of all potato dishes, Farro’s potato gratin is made fresh in the Farro kitchen in Orakei and makes for the perfect side dish. Everyone loves the layers of finely sliced potato, cream and cheese with a hint of garlic, fresh parsley and thyme. $9.99 each Serves 2

3

A VEGETARIAN FEAST FOR 4

This moreish vege lasagne is made with a creamy ricotta, layers of roasted pumpkin and spinach with a Neapolitan tomato Lasagne sauce topped with parmesan and thyme. Meatless Monday never tasted so good! $23.99 each Serves 4

FIND YOUR LOCAL FARRO FOOD STORE AT FARRO.CO.NZ the hobson 37

the hobson 38 Liam Simpson/Unsplash

the magpie

Winter Wonderful The Magpie does a fly-by places you need to know about for seasonal self-care

Good beauty habits start at home. REN’s Atlantic Kelp and Magnesium Salt AntiFatigue Exfoliating Body Scrub is epic, and not only because we are also mindful about what’s going down the drain after it's done its work. Use in the shower, every three to four days. Your skin will thank you, and the waterways don’t suffer either. $67, meccabeauty.co.nz

Hear this . . . nothing beats a good professional ear clean at Total Ear Care.

Stress can cause an increase in wax production and while you might think you’re good-as-gold, you might be surprised at what you’ve been missing. Book a consultation at Total Ear Care, Shop 10, Remuera Mall, 319 Remuera Rd, 027 331 4527. totalearcare.co.nz

Too much fur for your comfort? Prescription Skin Care in Remuera is your first port of call (you will need eight) for laser hair removal.

It’s the perfect time to put yourself in the highly-trained hands of a professional with the best laser for the job, well before your face, armpits or places south see the light of a summer’s day. Free consultation, prices depending on what and where is being done.

Prescription Skin Care, 243 Remuera Rd, 529 5784. prescriptionskincare.co.nz

Get ready to put your best foot forward — nobody wants to see your cracked heels and callusly bits come summer. Podiatrist Kaisarah Babwani is up to the job and waiting to meet your feet. $95 for the first visit and $85 after that, her medical pedicures are unbeatable. Kaisarah’s at the Jones Family Chiropractic & Health Centre, Level 1, 360 Remuera Rd, with free patient parking above the ANZ, 524 4360. joneshealth.co.nz

Now to hair we want to keep. There’s nothing quite as restorative as a great new cut and colour. Whether you’re looking for just an enhancement or something totally new, the guidance, skill and professionalism at Stephen Marr is always en pointe. And check out the salon’s own sunny new hues too. 16 Morrow St, 524 6702. stephenmarr.co.nz

Possibly a little indulgent, and while the results aren’t visible on the outside, boy do you feel good after a Bliss Reflexology treatment. Try the sublime 85-minute reflexology massage, $138, or a full body massage, $148, or one of the hot stone treatments. No mucking about, super clean, super professional and so, so good.

Membership concessions are available, which gives you a discount—you’re going to want to come back. Level 1, 255 Broadway, 520 6818. blissreflexology.co.nz

Pressed for time? Swing into Skintopia for Pro Skin 30, a half-hour bespoke facial that doesn’t require you to get your kit off, just relax into a reclining chair. So good for a quick glow-up, it’s a cult offering from this Wellington salon, now open in Auckland. If you have a bit more time, LED LightTherapy is also incredible for firming and tightening.

Pro Skin 30, $80, Level 2 at Commercial Bay. skintopia.co.nz

The finishing touch is always a lovely nail, so enhance your paws with a gorgeous gel polish at Verdo. One of the best in the business, Amber’s gorgeous and conveniently located salon is the perfect place to add a little personality to your hands. Gel manicures from $70, 245 Parnell Rd, 303 3732. verdonails.co.nz

the hobson 39

the district diary

August 2020 1 ACG Parnell College’s open day gives you an opportunity to meet teachers and senior staff, chat to other parents and students, and take a tour of the facilities across the co-ed school’s campus. 9.30am1.30pm, 2 Titoki St

full schedule of concerts at lewiseady.co.nz Both the Ōrākei and Waitematā Local Board three-year plans are open for submissions and review. Consider the key initiatives for each board area

‘Enchanted Worlds: Hokusai, Hiroshige and the Art of Edo Japan’ exhibition, at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Tickets from eventfinda.co.nz, 5.30-6.45pm

Pile the family into the car and enjoy Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory on the giant outdoor screen at MOTAT’s Drive-In. Tickets from eventbrite.co.nz, food trucks on site. Aviation Display Hall, Meola Rd, Western Springs, 6.30-9.30pm

It’s a very creative weekend: the St Heliers Craft Market is also on Saturday, offering the handmade and food too.

Tamaki Ex-Services Assoc. Hall, cnr Turua St and Polygon Rd, free entry, 10am-2pm 23 Come along and join other locals concerned about the state of our neighbourhood waterways. There’ll be lots of info, engaging speakers, local MPs on hand, as well as food (bring gold coins) and fun.

2pm, Newmarket Playcentre on Hapua Reserve (corner Shore Rd). hapuathrive.nz

2 Bring your furry critters down to the Wynyard Pavilion Garden Bar for the Dog Days family event and help raise funds for Pet Refuge NZ. Doggy treats, photographers and services will be there. And Little Creatures Brewing will make sure pet owners are rewarded for good behaviour too! Free entry, 17 Jellicoe St, CBD, 11am-1pm

24 Buckle up for a fast, fun-filled ride through the fabulous 50s with Bonnie, Karl and Russell from Operatunity, accompanied by a live band. Tickets include lunch, Somervell Presbyterian Church, Remuera Rd, 11am-1pm. operatunity.co.nz

6 What those lions’ eyes have seen: enjoy the tales and memories of The Civic with a bespoke tour that tells fascinating stories and visits areas normally off-limits to the public. 11.30am-12.30pm, ticketmaster.co.nz 7 St Cuthbert’s College welcomes you on campus today, to discover what a St Cuths’ education can offer your daughter. 9-11am, register via stcuthberts.school.nz 8 Lewis Eady is celebrating 140 years of music with a series of concerts through till November. ‘Two Pianos, Four Hands’ features Lawrence Wong and Naoki Toyomura playing Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Francis Poulenc. 75 Great South Rd, 7.30-9.30pm, tickets from eventbrite.co.nz,

22 The Baradene Art Show runs all weekend, 10am-4pm at the school, 237 Vicky Ave. With more than 800 works for sale from 130 artists. (left, I’d Rather Be Saving The World

by Melissa Sharplin, oil on canvas, $6500.) Free entry, see baradeneartshow.co.nz

and if you wish to submit, the deadline is 4pm, Thursday August 13. It’s all online at akhaveyoursay.co.nz/lovelocal 9 Aotea Square has been transformed into a playground for all ages with The Space Maze. Races, mazes, puzzles and after-dark glows for the whole family. Until the end of August, free, Queen St 11 Japonism in Fashion: 1930s to the present day is a lecture by textile and dress historian Angela Lassig, as part of the

16 The Pakistan Association of NZ invites you to celebrate Pakistan’s 74th Independence Day. Entertainment, artists, food stalls and more. Free community event, Barfoot & Thompson Stadium, 203 Kohimarama Rd, midday4.30pm 18 King’s School knows boys — meet teachers, pupils and find out more about the school at open days today to Thursday, 9am. See kings.school.nz for further info

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26 Join winemakers from the unique terroir of the Gimblett Gravels wine-growing district on the Heretaunga Plains for a wine tasting showcasing over 70 wines. The Wine Cave, 104 Carlton Gore Rd. R18 event, from 5pm, tickets from eventfinda.co.nz 30 Tiptoe through the tulips and into spring at the Eden Garden Tulip Extravaganza. Plant and art sales, onsite cafe, tickets at the door (kids under 12 free).

24 Omana Ave, Epsom, 9am-3.30pm

the kiosk H A RV E Y

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G A R D E N S

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Come and join the team — get fit, stay fit for life.

Adult (masters) morning swim squads, for ages 21-91 in mixed and women’s squads at the Olympic pool.

Whether you’re training for an event, want to get fit or stay fit, Rick and the team welcome you.

Come for the swimming, stay for the camaraderie! www.rickwells.co.nz @RickWellsSport

GALA NIGHT FRIDAY 21 AUGUST

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC SATURDAY 22 SUNDAY 23 AUGUST 10AM – 4PM ENTRY IS FREE

BARADENE ART SHOW 2020

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TECHNICAL CONCIERGE SERVICES Priority Apple Tech Support • Fast Reliable Secure WIFI • Technical Advisory Services Ph: 020 4 5POINT info@5point8.nz

CURTAIN CALL

2,500 curtains needed for homes this winter!

OUR PROUD SPONSORS

The Parnell Rotary Club is helping Habitat for Humanity to put curtains into homes that have no curtains and need the extra warmth.

What we need Curtains

Curtain Fabric

Time

The curtains need to be in reasonably good condition.

To be made into curtains at the curtain bank.

If you are a keen sewer, volunteer your time to help Habitat for Humanity repurpose the curtains.

How you can help Contact Avis Nelson avisnelson@xtra.co.nz or 021 289 7893

the cryptic by māyā

Set by Māyā. Answers will appear in our next issue, September 2020.

Can’t wait, or need help? Visit https://thehobsoncrossword.wordpress.com

ACROSS 1 Note king chasing cleric westward to get powdered 23 (9) 6 Thanks dad for appetisers (5) 9 Refuse to be terrible in conversation (5) 10 Employed staff to influence storm? (9) 11 Ode to Lorna, novel writer and allround genius (8) 12 Time to record Scottish exclamation?

(5) 14 Horrified to find Silver has Tonto's head (6) 15 Uncle for example has right to happiness (8) 16 Swiftean work of Satire? Definitely (3) 17 Fortified by a short dash, perhaps? (8) 19 Indigenous person to echo Oscar: “Move lightly in between” (6)

22 Chairman pushing bible study for indigenous people (5) 23 HagS without a verbal prohibition to evildoers (8) 25 Worry over misplaced emphasis? (6,3) 26 Sin with cubs? (5) 27 Family took drug to become shapely (5) 28 Replaces drink factories (9)

DOWN 1 Old instrument I’ve hidden in book (4) 2 Training for new student in the act of seeking advice (9,6) 3 Rocks net aboard space station (7) 4 Centre seeking location of patient (6) 5 Squeezed, so liquid gold flowed uphill (8)

6 Fabric used to make raised fat cheese (7) 7 Epitome of erotica in Spin Doctor (15) 8 Rocket scientist cried foul in a 15 across (10) 13 Was “Singing in the rain” written for King George? (5,5) 15 Two-tone description of nature’s projections (3) 16 They tend to respond concerning those who do (8) 18 Lawbreakers making TV appearance for deep 15 down (7) 20 Remove pate with letter opener (7) 21 How part of the foot marches? (6) 24 Shapes of uneven sheep wash (4)

JULY CRYPTIC CROSSWORD ANSWERS Across: 1 Candle, 4 Game show, 10 Renovator, 11 Sonic, 12 Coma, 13 Stereotype, 15 Bitcoin, 16 Lascar, 19 Bedsit, 21 Overall, 23 Reassigned, 25 Igor, 27 Zorro, 28 Outhouses, 29 Landsats, 30 Stucco. Down: 1 Corncobs, 2 Nanometre, 3 Love, 5 Auroral, 6 East of Suez, 7 Handy, 8 Wicked, 9 Statin, 14 Horseshoes, 17 Analgesic, 18 Alfresco, 20 Tug boat, 21 Omerta, 22 Brazil, 24 Apron, 26 Goat.

the hobson 42

Stunningly curated outdoor furniture from Italy, Belgium, France, Indonesia and the Philippines. Before you purchase anywhere, you owe it to yourself to compare. Prices. Design. Quality. You will be so pleased you did. All products are in stock, fully assembled, and available for nationwide delivery. Sunbrella® cushions are included with the purchase of our deep seating pieces as shown on our website.

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Kauri Ridge Estate - Country Grande

481 REDOUBT ROAD, MANUKAU

Of a mind-blowing scale, this grand, luxury estate comes with separate 10 car garaging, in addition to the three car internal garage. A car collector’s heaven! The exceptionally comfortable, high quality, modern home rises from lush irrigated grounds with 360 degree views – at the highest point in Redoubt Road.

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Resembling a country lodge resort, it enables large scale entertaining. Grand lounges with twin gas fires and cedar ceilings act as majestic viewing platforms. Expansive decks look across the extravagant pool/gym complex with its own kitchen and bathroom to Auckland and its harbours. An enormous party room downstairs extends to a sun drenched terrace and outdoor fire.

Fitted with state of the art electronics, the home is ultra-cosy warmed by underfloor heating and central heating. The main bedroom suite boasts an almost surreal view over the valley. A breath-taking sanctuary, finely tuned for an incredible lifestyle and a convenient 25 minute (approx.) drive to Auckland’s vibrant metropolitan heart.

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LAND AREA: 1.746 ha (more or less) FLOOR AREA: 807 sq m (approx.)

TENDER Closes 4:00 p.m. Friday 14 August 2020 (unless sold prior by private treaty) VIEW: nzsothebysrealty.com/NZE11246

PAUL SISSONS M +64 27 432 5220 paul.sissons@nzsir.com AMANDA PLATT M +64 21 756 699 amanda.platt@nzsir.com

nzsothebysrealty.com Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. Browns Real Estate Limited (licensed under the REAA 2008) MREINZ.