The Page Issue 8

APRIL · PAENGA-WHĀWHĀ '16

Spirit of Adventure Home-Grown and World Class thepagemag.co.nz

Eclectic.

Individualist.

Impressive. Snails Art Gallery is an artist-run space, created and managed by artists, for artists.

Appearing in popup retail stores, creating street art, getting amongst carnivals and hosting their own unique exhibits, Snails is grassroot arts growing wild.

Check out ‘Snails: Artist Run Space’ on Facebook.

the pages These pages are special. They’re our stories, our lives and our loves. It makes us happy to share them.

6 SNIPPETS 7

MESS MAKES FOR CREATIVITY Learning the craft of Oamaru stone carving

9 TURNING PALMERSTON NORTH DIGITAL

The man behind the camera 12

THE STORY TELLER A hilarious tale from Warren Jones

14

LIVING WITH A KIND HEART Daily acts of kindness go global

18 COEXIST

One small project, one big arts community 20

SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE Jemma and Adam hit the road

26

FOR THE LOVE OF LEMONS A tart taste-test

28

HOME-GROWN AND WORLD CLASS Champion canoe polo plays on

30 MERLIN’S WARRIOR

This Spitfire’s one hell of a girl 34

FEELING THE FEAR Photography to fashion for Ryan Meta

38

THYME FOR COFFEE The shipping container serves up

40

RIVER QUEEN Heike Schiele is watching the water

44

COOKING UP IN CUBA Café Cuba – the icon

46

LORD OF THE FLIES John Gummer isn’t your average 17-year- old

48

SCIENCE OF THE WORLD Scientist Dr Nicole Roy talks travel

50

THE FAMILY BEHIND THE CURTAIN It’s ‘Happy Days’ for these students

56

PLATE OF ORIGIN The best of New Zealand food

58

CREATIVE FORCE Tattoo artist taking art to new forms

60

FOOD AND FIVE FAMILIES The families that are changing their town

pagemakers APRIL � PAENGA-WHĀWHĀ ’16 ISSUE EIGHT Published by

Level One, 478 Main Street PALMERSTON NORTH 4410 PO Box 12005 PALMERSTON NORTH 4444 +64 6 350 1811 www.thepagemag.co.nz Editor-in-Chief: Lance Bickford Editor: Shivarn Stewart Designers: Llewellyn Annandale

Amy Fowler

Shivarn Stewart Editor ‘Kryptos’

Llewellyn Annandale Design | Photography ‘Buddy ’

Amy Fowler Design | Photography ‘Da Puss’

Tina Hodges Freelance Writer ‘Leo’

Printed by: K&M Print

To subscribe to The Page, or get the latest copies, contact office@ManawatuNZ.co.nz or visit www.thepagemag.co.nz

Paper from responsible sources Some trees were repurposed to make this magazine. We chose only the ones we knew would be replaced, because we don’t ever want to run out.

Kia ora! Nga mihi ki nga tangata me nga whanau katoa. The publishers wish to thank the individuals and families whose support and enthusiasm have made this publication possible.

ISSN 2253-5705 (Print) ISSN 2253-5713 (Online) © Copyright Destination Manawatu, 2016

A huge thank you to all of our contributors. Without you The Page wouldn’t exist.

Acknowledgements: Sarah-Kate Sinclair, Danielle Balmer, Emine Kokcu, Alice Landridge, Rhianne Tod, Kelvin Gilbert, Tammie Crompton, Sarah Moody, Kelly Evans, Toni Larsen, Jemma Cheer, Kristi Atkins, Brent Putze, Wildbase, Brenda Wormgoor, Paul Gummer, Mikal Carter, Mike Gannaway, Karen Ishiguro.

Inside front cover: Sculpture by Carly Thomas and image by Amy Fowler Page 5: Tammie Crompton Pages 10 and 11: Amy Fowler and Llewellyn Annandale Inside back cover: Sarah Moody www.instagram.com/moodymiss/

Start Afresh Tear the wallpaper down, rip it apart – find your own blank wall on which to concoct your own space.

Explore our pages, and discover the people who create, repurpose, and redesign the world around them.

SNIPPETS

CRAZY BEAUTIFUL The saying is ‘beauty is pain ’, but that’s not what beautician Amy May is about. At only 23 years old Amy has created her own nail and make-up business, Mayflower Beauty, based on gentler principles, and already things are booming.

“To begin with it was convenience – you can get your hair and nails done at the same time here. However, now that people realise the business and our products are completely vegan and cruelty-free the word is getting out and people are coming to me because of that. I think it’s a new concept for a lot of people. I just hate the idea of animals dying for cosmetic reasons.”

Not one to pick a single cause, Amy is also devoted to supporting New Zealand-made, with all the products she sells made here, and the more local the better. “I prefer to help small businesses – the one I just got in, Bossy Cosmetics, is a small business, and we’ve already sold out of about half the stuff I ordered in! They are based in Whakatane, it’s a husband and wife, just the two with the wife making it and the husband doing the admin and packaging. I’ve also got products made in Feilding and Levin; they’re really popular.”

That said, in order to create the funky nail designs that are so popular on Mayflower Beauty’s Facebook page, Amy is willing to hunt further for brighter, more outrageous supplies. Her newest toy is glitter syringes from the United States, which she admits she was “so surprised to get through customs!”.

Interestingly it is her more mature customers who are up for anything. “That’s what I love about having older clients – they look after themselves, and they always go for the crazy colours that I love doing! All the glitters, the wild stickers, the jewels.

I had an older, quite conservative lady come in the other day.

It was so sweet, she got this bright sparkly blue, and she was like, ‘I’m going to go all out, my husband’s gonna freak out. I’ve never done anything so crazy!’”

While Amy and her business are still young, she knows she’s made the right choice. “When I started it was absolutely terrifying, but now that it’s picked up I just want to do more! I’m always getting ideas about stuff I want to get in, things I could do. I’ve been working six days a week but I don’t mind it – when I have my one day off I get bored! I actually love coming to work.” www.facebook.com/mayflowerbeautyPN

THE COLLECTION BEHIND THE ARTIST Frida Kahlo’s eclectic, colourful portraits - and life - have made her a hero of the art world and one of the most recognised artists of the 20th century.

Now her personal collection of photographs is touring the world. Te Manawa in Palmerston North will be the only location in New Zealand to host the exhibition.

© Archivo Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo, Banco de México, Fiduciario en el Fideicomiso relativo a los Museos Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo

“Frida Kahlo is an icon,” says Andy Lowe, Te Manawa’s Chief Executive. “Her politics and passion, and the way she expressed these through her •6•

art, is a source of fascination for people all over the world. We are very privileged to offer New Zealand the unique opportunity to see Frida’s world differently, through the photographs she collected.”

Frida was a passionate collector, and with more than 200 images this collection offers an intimate look into the works she held dear, and the artwork that inspired the artist.

Frida Kahlo – Her Photos runs until 24 July.

SNIPPETS

MESS MAKES FOR

Creativity

Interview Alice Landridge Images Llewellyn Annandale In Carla Woollaston’s shed, mess is mandatory. If dust permeates every surface, and every fissure, it has surely been a creative day. Through the process of reductive sculpting, Carla uses hand tools to sculpt Oamaru stone.

Her passion lies not only in the art form itself, but in teaching the process and facilitating creative confidence in her students.

Quarried at Wilton, near Oamaru, at least one tonne of stone is shipped at a time to Carla’s home in Manawatu, where she holds regular sculpting workshops.

getting there’ and then finally there’s this moment when they go, ‘Ah!’” Inspired by Carla’s enthusiasm, I wanted to see what a novice like myself could achieve in a day at one of her workshops. At first the tools felt awkward to hold, while the stone, heavy but also fragile, made it difficult to know how much force to use. The stone is forgiving though, and as the process unfolded my daunting square slab disappeared along with any initial doubts.

It’s a tactile experience, as you touch and trace the new curves you slowly engineer. Sculpting can reveal seashells within the stone and variations in colour. “There are bits and pieces in the sediment. You can run across something incredibly interesting and you can run across something that completely dominates your design,” says Carla.

“The stone is dominant in my art now because it’s relatively cheap and it’s workable with hand tools, which means I’ve got hardly any barriers to who I can share it with. I’ve worked with home-schooled children as young as two and a half years old, through to senior citizens.”

A major part of the workshop experience is becoming acquainted with the tools, such as hand saws, rasps, and chisels, that often don’t feel natural to first-timers. “Those hand tools are being lost from our day-to-day syllabus.

Everyday life has ‘pay a man to use a skillsaw and cut you the thing you want’. We are disassociated with that stuff in our everyday lives.”

For Carla the reward is in the creative response. “It’s the moment, the point that someone sees it. They arrive here wondering if they can do it. I tell them with words that they can do it. They worry about the process and I reassure them, ‘That’s my job, to get you through’. They still don’t see it, and I say, ‘That’s all right, trust me, you’re

•7•

Having spoken with the other workshop enthusiasts throughout the day, I learn that different things had brought them here and had kept them coming back to create more. One gentleman completed a magnificent infinity sculpture within a day at what was his first workshop, while another had returned to work on a unique piece that resembled a curving candle flame.

Meanwhile, one student worked on a large curving sculpture and spent the entire day balancing the lines and smoothing a consistent shape. She felt no urgency to produce something right away, referencing a joke shared amongst the seasoned sculptors – “just as long as I walk away with more than a pebble”. www.fluffymilk.com

SNIPPETS

GOING WILD Wildbase Recovery, the proposed world-leading animal rehabilitation, hospital and education facility in Palmerston North, is becoming more and more of a reality. With nearly $3 million raised towards its $5.6 million goal, excitement is building, and with it plans for which guests will be lucky enough to earn a stay.

Sir Jerry Mateparae, with a kiwi during a visit

“People come to Victoria Esplanade and see exotic birds, but the aim from Massey is to be focused on native species,” says Chrissie Morrison, Wildbase Communications Advisor.

“A lot of people, like me, are naive, and don’t click that the ducks here are endangered species, and that Peter Russell, our aviary technician, is part of the breeding programme on a national scale. Some of the birds are quite elusive and hard to see, unless Peter is chasing them out for a photo opportunity. And it’s the same with the kaka because they are alongside

these colourful, noisy Australians!”

While the birds might be colourful and noisy, Peter still has space in his heart, and centre, for a few of the classics – budgies a particular favourite. “Budgies are important, because people can relate to them.

A lot of people as kids had a budgie!

The other reason is that Massey uses them – for new vet students and nurses they are a chance for them to learn how to handle a bird! They bite if you don’t hold them right, so it’s very much a learning experience and a good way of teaching students!”

The hope is that Wildbase will gain its final funding this year, so that earth can begin to turn early next year.

They encourage anyone interested to check out their fundraising page, as “All these things help!” www.givealittle.co.nz/org/ wildbaserecovery

KIDS GET CREATIVE IN THE KITCHEN The past year has been an education for Robert Hall and his budding chefs.

Students from Freyberg High School, Manukura and Feilding Intermediate School have been taking part in the Hands On Food programme run by Wholegrain Organics, researching, developing and cooking wholesome, healthy meals.

“Our method is based on kids coming into a commercial scene – taking their education into a practical learning environment for businesses with commercial equipment and real-life customers,” says Robert.

Robert saw a need for a programme of this nature thanks to his wife Amy, who is a food technology teacher and who saw a gap in school programmes. “It gave us a purpose, enjoying and creating food options that are healthy and affordable.”

The highlight of the programme was when his team of 12 students took over the Youth Space late last year and created a multi-course menu of healthy vegan delights for their supporters – family, friends, the Youth Space staff and members of the Palmerston North City Environmental Trust.

“I was so thrilled for them. It supported the hands-on learning motto we have. The joy that they got from the service they provided on the night meant they can take that joy and success into everyday life,” Robert believes.

The not-for-profit organisation is eyeing up some exciting new projects this year, and in the meantime is ready for its next crop of students.

“It is challenging but rewarding – as soon as you see the smiles on the kids' faces that’s it. What we’re doing here by supporting youth, it’s a real step in the right direction.”

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SNIPPETS

TURNING PALMERSTON NORTH DIGITAL Interview Sarah-Kate Sinclair Image Llewellyn Annandale

Videography is actually not in the dictionary; there’s no such word apparently. But it’s becoming common, and videographer Rob Edwards has turned his passion into a full-time job.

In the past four years he has been collecting video equipment, including the increasingly popular drone. “I’m self-taught and have a passion for film – huge movie buff!” is how he puts it, and his collection is definitely helping him get off the ground.

“I started to see that you don’t need a hundred people involved, you just need one person,” explains Rob. “I do the creative process, then envision it, and bring it to life.”

terrified. I had to wear a leotard! Marcel came out, called my name and watched me do all the mime actions, you know like ‘walking into the wind’ and that. So the next day we were going to find out if we got in, and I got in! ‘Wow’, I thought, ‘this is huge!’ I was going to travel around Paris for four years with Marcel Marceau. The big ‘but’ was, I couldn’t find the funds.

“I was originally going to spend four years in Paris with the Marcel Marceau mime school.”

“If I could have done it again I would have gotten the money and gone. That story is what has inspired me to do this; now I can do something that I’m passionate about. It keeps you young and keeps you creative.”

However, while real estate work is the bread and butter at the moment for Rob and his drone, he has a few personal dream projects catching his eye. A documentary on JK Rowling inspired Rob’s plan to ‘turn Palmerston North digital’ and create a short film on the history of Palmerston North.

“It’s a beautiful region. I walk around the city here and look up at the buildings and see ‘1920’ – there’s a lot of history out there, let’s go and find out about it! Palmerston North is a nut that I would like to crack; I’m not finished here yet.”

Becoming a videographer wasn’t his first passion in life though. The young Rob dabbled in the world of drama and even mingled with a famous mime, Marcel Marceau. “I was originally going to spend four years in Paris with his mime school. After finishing drama school at age 19 I was looking for auditions, and there happened to be one with Marcel Marceau. He was a very famous French mime artist! I went to the audition, couldn’t speak a word of French, I was

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Photographic art book by Alexander Hallag

Shh.... The Music is Talking

www.themusicistalking.com/store

“Photographing BB King… that was special”

• 12 •

The Story Teller Words Warren Jones Image Amy Fowler

“My connection to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II is through Porirua. It isn’t quite that I met the Queen, but I have a fabulous story of a beautiful little old lady called Judith Clooneys-Ross, whose portrait I’ve got on the wall, and who passed away a few years ago.

Judith Clooneys-Ross was a young mother with four children and a husband who, I think, was a grave-digger. They applied for a state house under the brand-new, in 1953, Government Housing Programme, later known as state housing. In a new development we know today as Porirua East, they were one of the lucky families that won a ballot to live in one of the new houses. Their home was in Champion Street, one of the first blocks to be built.

December 1953, the then newly crowned Queen, and her husband Prince Philip, embarked on a royal tour of the colonies and empire. Our Government wanted to show off all their new and wonderful things, so it was arranged that Her Majesty would be shown this brave new world that was Porirua East.

So the Ministry of Works was commissioned to make the place look beautiful. Every street was swept, whole hillsides were bloody denuded by an army of motor scrapers, frontend loaders and motor graders. The place looked like Mars – a barren, horrible, clay area. They decided that the Queen would officially open the next section, so the road was rapidly tar sealed, where roads were never tar sealed until later. Then someone said, ‘What if Her Majesty decides she wants to go to the loo?’ Ohhhhh bother.

But they had this cunning idea, to build a portaloo. The Ministry was prone to over-engineering, so it weighed eight and a half tonnes, 4m x 2m, a lovely two-roomed toilet that could fit on the back of a truck. There were three guys driving the truck, one of whom was a mate of mine, George. Now

• 13 •

George and his brother were given to getting thoroughly sauced on a Friday night. The dunny had to be on-site on Monday morning so they thought, ‘All right, if we put it out there in the Martian landscape, the kids are going to deal to it over the weekend, so we will be cunning’. George had a mate at the bowling club, and knew they could park the truck there so it would be safe over the weekend, and it was. In fact, on Monday it was still unmarked, miraculously. The thing that was not unmarked and totally unplanned was George and his brother. Thoroughly trolleyed, they decided to go to a cousin's wedding up in Wairoa – ‘We don’t need to go to work, it’s only Monday’.

So come Monday no-one can find George Robati or his brother Phil. Where are the Robati brothers? This is where Mrs Clooneys-Ross and the Queen come together. They arranged that the Queen would get to walk through a bit of the street with the homes in, after she declared this Martian landscape now open for the boldest misadventure in public housing. And she did that, and afterwards she said to her lady-in-waiting, ‘I think it might be nice if I could go to the toilet.’

You can only imagine the horror-struck looks on Government faces as they decide that the only honourable solution is to ask Mrs Clooneys-Ross politely if her Majesty can have a look inside her house, discreetly, so she can use the dunny.

And so at No. 37 Champion Street, Queen Elizabeth goes to the dunny. Afterwards she was overheard saying to her husband ‘Well, it’s rather small in there’ and left, much relieved, on her journey.

The beauty of that story is that Mrs Clooneys-Ross dined out on the fact that the Queen stopped at her house somewhat intimately, for 10 minutes. The real story is every bugger in Porirua came knocking afterwards to sit on the same throne the Queen had sat on!”

Living with a

Kind Heart Interview Danielle Balmer Images Llewellyn Annandale

Leigh Rosanoski is a lady who, when she gets an idea, will do anything to make it happen. Bit by bit, and project by project, she is working to make the world a kinder place.

“An act of kindness could be as simple as giving a smile.” If you look up ‘kindness’ in the dictionary you should find the extraordinary Leigh Rosanoski there.

her followers a chance to learn more about the virtue.

People began to talk and the positive messages and feedback started rolling in.

At 60 years young Leigh has given so much to her community, and she isn’t done yet. “I’ll keep going ’til I’m 99.9, because obviously I want to live ’til I’m 100 – so that way I can have a bit of downtime. I'd better look after myself because I’ve got another 40 years to go,” she laughs.

“I started to think ‘there is something more to this’, so I decided to create a kindness project and call it the ‘Blissful Acts of Kindness Project’,” Leigh remembers.

Leigh’s kindness journey began on an average Thursday in January 2014. Running a personal blog and posting inspirational memes through her Facebook page left her pondering the word kindness.

“I was lying in bed trying to create my own meme and I started to think about how kindness isn’t just about giving but also receiving, and it just keeps going in these beautiful circles.”

This idea turned into ‘Our Miraculous Circle’, with every Thursday being crowned Kindness Thursday, giving

The first step was to have kindness cards, which could be passed on and would track the ripple effect of a single act of kindness in the community. Jason Cole designed the Kind Hearts logo and card, leaving room to write a message for an act of kindness, be it change for a parking meter or a pay-it-forward coffee. “Once you start using one you get hooked by spreading the news to have a great day,” Leigh believes.

“By March 2015 ‘I’ had become ‘we’, with a growing number of people taking the project to heart. More than 37,000 kindness cards are now in circulation around the world. The sponsorship came and the project kept growing,” Leigh says.

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• 15 •

“In April 2015 we changed our name to the Kind Hearts Movement, which is for everyone, everywhere, doing unconditional acts of kindness with no judgement or expectation.”

Her kindness cards have since gone international from Los Angeles to Venice to London. “You don’t get to know where or why, you just wonder.

“The goal is to spread the project globally and to encourage a kinder world. With local communities like ours helping each other, a lot can be achieved at a grass-roots level,” she says.

The Kind Hearts Movement has two ongoing initiatives. One initiative is 'BAK our Kiwi Kids’, which supports local schools by collecting food donations to help feed local children.

“Kids were coming to school with little to no breakfast in the morning and some teachers were paying for the Milo, toast and spreads out of their own funds. So I put 70 boxes out with simple requirements for food donations and they all came back overflowing.

The second initiative is one that rests close to Leigh’s heart.

Leigh has inspired and co-ordinated donations of home baking, magazines, food items and toiletries for parents and caregivers supporting their families in the children’s ward at Palmerston North Hospital.

“My grandchildren have had a number of admissions to hospital, so you experience arriving at all hours of the night, with countless hours in A&E hungry and tired. I approached the Charge Nurse and coming asked what I could do to help.”

“Kids were to school with little to no breakfast in the morning and some teachers were paying for the Milo, toast and spreads out of their own funds.”

“At the beginning of term four I set it up as an ongoing project delivering to four kindergartens, five primary schools and an intermediate and secondary school in Manawatu. It’s all about filling a gap,” she says.

The list grew, with donations in the form of a microwave, a toasted sandwich machine, a library of books, toiletries, and a number of food items. “We keep it practical, workable and simple. A number of cafés have since come on board to donate savoury quality food one day a week as well,” Leigh says.

“It has proven itself very quickly, but it has also meant that we can’t stop and, as long as we keep replacing it, we won’t stop. It provides a simple way for people in the community to help and share kindness.

“People ask me if I think the world is unkind – no, it is incredibly kind, we just don’t hear about it. We always get caught up in our everyday lives. Talk about it, spread the good news about it; if you’re in a position to donate that’s great but just go out there and be kind. It is as simple as a smile.”

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Coffee for Kindness - Coming to Cafés Near You Soon!

“When you go in to pay for your coffee, you buy two. The café will give you your coffee in their cup, while the second, the coffee for kindness, will be made in our beautiful Kind Hearts cup.

“You can do it as a random act of kindness, so you’ve got no idea who it is given to, or you could

give it to someone randomly on the street, or a workmate or friend or family member. We don’t make anything from this, it’s just another way we are spreading and inspiring kindness.”

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COEXIST Interview Alice Landridge Image Tammie Crompton

• 18 •

“We have this amazing group of friends who are musicians and artists, this amazing little community in Palmy.”

Loving the Coexist style, we turn the tables and ask Poppy and Remy to answer some of their own go-to questions:

In a sun-soaked studio space, wedged between an auto shop and a dance studio, we meet two vibrant young women who are working to create content for, and about, their community.

Both Poppy and Remy share an interest in social research, particularly in the way that the environment can affect creative people and projects. The blog provides an opportunity to reconnect with and celebrate the creative community they love, in a city that is inspiring and receptive.

Remy: “Coming back, I feel like there is so much support, in terms of collaboration, in places like Great Job! [music venue] and Snails [art gallery].”

“The people we have interviewed have been so supportive of this project. It becomes a reflection of the community, I think, as more people get involved,” says Remy.

Are there any insecurities attached to being young and living in a provincial city?

Best friends Poppy and Remy are the creative minds behind Coexist, “an online space where we encourage collaboration and networking by having conversations with creatives connected to our local community”.

Their friendship began while at secondary school in Palmerston North. After graduating with arts degrees in Auckland, they went their separate ways, with Remy spending a semester in Denmark and Poppy interning in Wellington.

However, come 2015 both Poppy and Remy found themselves back at home in Manawatu where a homecoming lull planted the seed for Coexist.

Coexist, as a name, reflects this desire to engage people and break them out of the ‘siloed communities’ that can develop within the creative arts. As Poppy puts it, “It’s a way for people to have a general interest in other human beings. In bigger cities like Auckland you don’t talk to many people, you kind of have your own friends. It’s just nice to have those conversations.”

Coexist has been launched as a blog and is also discovered via the Coexist Facebook page. Fresh and quirky in style, it features interviews with a range of talented locals, such as mixedmedia artist Azure Ellis, musician Grayson Gilmour, and designer Jemma Cheer. Social media was an obvious solution for engaging their readers. “I love social media for that reason. You can’t fight it because it helps so many artists, musicians and projects like ours,” says Remy.

Coexist is not the only project on the go for this busy pair. In fact, they have taken on some DIY in a studio space they plan to share with a group of local artists.

“Initially it will be a space to work on and create our art,” says Poppy.

Motivation comes easily, and their existing networks play a role. “We have this amazing group of friends who are musicians and artists, this amazing little community in Palmy,” says Poppy.

It’s another project they imagine will develop naturally, and looking past the paint cans they see plenty of possibilities. “We want to do something with it, whether it’s an exhibition, a DJ performance, or a film screening, but it’s very organic,” Remy adds.

“There’s no pressure – we have a purpose, there’s nothing contradicting that and we’re driven to do something positive.”

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How do you see Palmerston North in terms of supporting young creatives?

Poppy: “Snails is great for students because they can have a show there, plan it all themselves and I think it’s really supportive… it’s just a really great place to practise that.”

Remy: “I think it depends on what angle you are taking it from, and I think that’s where Coexist comes in. Obviously when you are young there are some spaces from which you can operate, but for some reason the idea is so dominant that you have to get out and live in a place that’s more inventive, more creative, with more opportunities.

Meanwhile, for a fact, Palmerston North has a huge number of commercially successful artists.”

How does the community contribute to inspiration and creativity?

Remy: “I think that the people here drive creative arts more than the space does. When you’re in a big city, you know a space, and that’s where you go to see things, network with others. It’s attached to people here, like Great Job! - while it’s a space, Cam Wilkes, David Stevens, and Harry Lilley [Great Job! founders] drive that space.”

Poppy: “They’re the ones constantly active in the music community, constantly finding new musicians across the whole country to come along and play.”

See what Poppy and Remy are up to at: www.coexistpn.wordpress.com

Spirit of Adventure Interview Tina Hodges Images Jemma Cheer

Jemma Cheer and Adam Curry are not the kind of people to take the path most travelled - in fact if they can find a way off the path, all the better!

Land Cruiser? Check. Innate sense of adventure?

Check. No planning done whatsoever? Check. Sure, it’s not your typical way of travelling but it’s the kind of travelling that Jemma Cheer and partner Adam Curry live for. “It’s a running theme amongst our trips I guess!," says Jemma. "We definitely have some points we need to get to but what happens in between those points is a pretty open book. We’re guided by whatever we’re enjoying.”

Jemma and Adam met by chance in Adam’s shop, Central Bike Studio. Like all good love stories, it started as a friendship and soon blossomed into a relationship. “Our first design-bike transaction happened within the first couple of months,” says Jemma. “I painted a mural on the wall of the shop.

It was kind of like the first thing of mine up in his shop, and in return he did a lot of nice things to my bike for me.”

Adam, an avid cyclist, opened his bike studio after working in the bike industry for a number of years. “I

started riding bikes when I was a kid and then I got into more competitive cycling when I was about 14. I came through school racing and national racing and sort of spent the next five years racing, travelling between New Zealand and America.”

In comparison to Adam’s racing lifestyle, Jemma, a graphic designer by trade, is an artsy soul, writing, singing and performing her own music. “I love the arts in general. I’m really into music and I like bike riding.

I play guitar and I’ve got a band called Robin with my sister Katie; we wanted to choose a native bird and Robin was a name that wasn’t taken, but we also liked the story behind it.”

While they each have their own creative talents and interests, their relationship together has definitely highlighted their shared passion for travel. Their first trip overseas together was to Europe, and the year after that America. “Both of those trips were awesome, but we were left wondering about our own country.”

So they decided to tour the South Island, and what better way to see New Zealand than by picking up your new cruiser and driving it all the way home? “We bought a Land Cruiser, picked it up from Queenstown and drove it home. We were mesmerised by everything we saw. Especially me, just driving along the West Coast made me feel like an idiot for thinking that the West Coast of America was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, because New Zealand just trumped it immediately,” says Jemma.

nights and just had a glass of wine.

“I feel like it’s important to leave your plans open if you’re travelling, to experience culture, and to discover things that aren’t being advertised. The only way that you can do that is to arrive and figure it out, whether that be staying a couple of nights or talking to a random person in a bar to direct you.”

For Adam their attitude is about understanding what they really want from life. “Some people can’t wait to buy the house and get the new “We have been to so many big cities, it whet “Both of those trips car, and sometimes I think that might our appetites for that big-city life, the dining be standard expectation. But we have a were awesome and the arts. But, in a way, we had kind of huge expectation on ourselves to travel seen what these great big cities had to offer, and experience. It’s just, do you go down but we were left and a lot of it was starting to merge into one. the route of acquiring assets or do you go The world started to feel a lot smaller to us wondering about down the route of acquiring memories? and strangely enough going down south was So I think it’s what is really important our way of opening it back up to ourselves.” our own country.” to you, and to date the memories and So the pair returned, this time travelling bit experiences we’ve encountered have by bit from Golden Bay to Queenstown, stopping off at a half fulfilled us much more than acquiring assets has.” a dozen spots along the way before returning back up the For Jemma and Adam, it’s the small things that they want West Coast. “It wasn’t intentional but the weather was just to continue to harness. “Furthering our crafts, continuing perfect, it was kind of 15 degrees and clear blue skies every to grow, being good to the people around us and having day. a positive influence on our communities. If we are able to “I really liked Punakaiki, the place we stayed was very cool, achieve as much as we have achieved in the past five years, really laid back and there was a beach we could walk to. You we’ll be happy.” looked on one side and it was a sandy beach and the other www.ccmatter.com side, dramatic cliff faces. We watched the sun set a couple of • 23 •

LUSCIOUS LEMON SLICE

Barista Literally too pretty to cut into, this slice is number one for gorgeous style. The roasted coconut is a great addition that others lack, but more lemon tartness would make the Luscious Lemon our favourite.

For the...

LOVE OF LEMONS We’ve scoured the city for the best lemon-filled goodness we can find.

LEMON MACAROONS

Alexandre Patisserie & Chocolaterie For those who love a bit of crunch, the feeling of biting into these (you can never have just one) is pure delight. Could use a bigger ‘ pop’ of lemon flavour, but fab for a grab-and-go morsel of naughtiness.

LEMON SHORTCAKE

Moxies Cafe With a mellow, sweet biscuit base and almost jam-like top, this one was a pleasant surprise. Perfect for those just wanting a taste of lemon, not to suck one. You will not be able to keep yourself from stealing another bite.

LEMON & GINGER

The Coffee Club Made fresh, this isn’t your standard syrup mix and is a great blend of sweet and sour.

Results may vary depending on the barista, but for those in the know an extra hit of ginger is the perfect touch.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Verdict Cafe Our near unanimous winner - cutting into this is like carving into a mammoth glacier, thanks to the full, flavoursome meringue. This delivers, and surpasses, the full lemon overload we were all craving. Warning: with a flavour this decadent, any time is dessert time.

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HOME-GROWN

AND WORLD CLASS Interview Danielle Balmer Images Kelvin Gilbert

Fast, aggressive, tactical – this is where the modern-day Vikings come to play. Making big waves on the global stage, a huge majority of New Zealand’s best canoe-polo paddlers are improving their skills at the pictureque Hokowhitu Lagoon in Palmerston North.

Currently playing for the New Zealand national team, the Paddle Blacks, James Mitchell is the longest-serving paddler, having played every game since the Paddle Blacks re-formed in 2002 and captained the team on three tours. Now five-time national open champions and ranking third in the world, these players live and breathe canoe polo at every level. More than that, they have their eyes on the international scoreboard, with world championships in Italy just around the corner, in August this year.

“We are going to have the best team we have ever fielded,” says James. “The key is to have a team that includes a strong base of younger players with impressive skill levels, and everything you want in an athlete coming through. Since I have been involved internationally the depth has increased and that is exciting.”

size you are.” James isn’t kidding about the ‘challenge’ either – as anyone who has watched a game can attest, it’s one of thrashing white water, with boats clashing, banging and sometimes tipping in the battle!

While he may be a Paddle Black, James is also devoted to his local patch. As part of the Manawatu team, the Vikings, James and his warriors are often found out on the lagoon “training stupid amounts of hours”.

“Having 50 percent of the national players in New Zealand coming out of our Manawatu club is massive for us,” James says. “The easiness of this city cannot be emphasised enough. We have the convenience of training at an elite level coupled with the opportunity to have three training sessions throughout the day. If you did the same thing anywhere else you wouldn’t have time for any lunch sessions, and you couldn’t be on the “Having 50% of the water with your team mates at the national players in New same time.

Zealand coming out of our Manawatu club is massive for us.”

Having arrived on our shores some 30 years ago, canoe polo is growing fast, with nearly 3,000 paddlers now competing nationally. For James, his passion started at the source – thanks to working, in all places, in a kayak factory. “I thought it looked cool, so I started white water and polo at the same time. It soon became a lifestyle and an addiction! I was paddling every weekend at the beach and in the rivers around the area.”

Now 10-ish years later – James loses track of time, no doubt having too much fun – this is still the one for James. Like most Kiwis James had the traditional childhood playing all sorts of sports, but this one stands out for him. “There are so many skills you can learn and use. It’s a challenge for a wide variety of people and sizes. You can still be effective no matter what • 29 •

“We have such an inclusive club which plays in five divisions of our national league. It means that players can compete at any level. In our third division this year we had 13- to 14-yearolds funnelled into elite-focused teams competing against teams in our club like the ‘Dad’s Army’, a bunch of older men whose kids have played in the same division. There is a space for everybody, and it is that sort of philosophy that works in our club.”

Throughout the year the club is also a New Zealand host, with 40 to 50 teams coming from all over the country for tournaments. “For many of us it is a year-round occupation.

Overseas, they can’t train for up to three months because of snow-like conditions, so that’s where we have the advantage,” James believes.

“We’ve got our hopes and dreams; we just need to figure out a way of making them happen.”

Merlin’s

WARRIOR

Interview Llewellyn Annandale Images Mike Gannaway, Llewellyn Annandale

Gorgeous and statuesque, this girl’s a Spitfire. The pride of Brendon Deere’s collection, at more than 70 years old this plane has quite the history to share.

There she stands, serene and elegant. No hint of the fury she was once capable of, or the growling Merlin engine that rests inside her. She hides her age well, even though she turned 70 just over a year ago. She is surrounded by her friends, of whom none is particularly young any more, but all of them have such interesting stories to tell. You could stay all day and listen to their tales of battle, of the magic of soaring through the skies and of how they have all now come home, to a small hangar at Ohakea Air Force base, near Sanson, to find some peace in their old age.

As one of only three flying Spitfires in New Zealand, this beautifully restored 1944 Spitfire Mk IX is something to behold. It took the team, including owner Brendon Deere, more than five years and 35,000 man-hours to rebuild, finally taking to the skies again on 18 March 2009.

Originally built in Castle Bromwich, outside Birmingham (UK) in September 1944, she served in the final six months of WWII, based with the Royal Air Force in Northern Italy. She obviously liked the weather, because she stayed on after the war with the Italian Air Force, before being sold to the Israeli Air Force. Three years, and a refurbishment later, she was sold to the Burmese (Myanmar) Air Force where she saw battle once again, this time against the Chinese in the border war.

This old girl has travelled a fair bit.

Retirement from active duty came in July 1956, but what followed was nothing short of insulting. She spent the next 26 years perched on top of a pole, serving as a gate guardian in Burma. But it wasn’t the end for this restless warrior.

In 1999, she was one of three wrecks that were sold to an American collector. The plane came to New Zealand for restoration at Taonui Aerodrome in 2003. “It’s not for the faint-hearted,” says Brendon Deere of the restoration project.

When talking about the first post-restoration flight in March 2009, Brendon says, “We weren’t expecting it to fly. I thought the pilot was just going to taxi about a bit”. The pilot had other ideas though, so the Spitfire took to the skies for the first time in more than 30 years. Since then, the plane has been flying to displays all over New Zealand and is still a huge draw card for enthusiasts.

The plane was “modelled after my uncle’s plane, when he was a wing leader at Biggin Hill in 1943,” says Brendon. The uncle in question was none other than famous Kiwi WWII pilot, Air Commodore Alan Deere, DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar (12 December 1917 – 21 September 1995) who flew for the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain.

In front of the Spitfire sits a 1942 American Harvard, an advanced trainer used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force • 32 •

“We weren’t expecting it to fly. I thought the pilot was just going to taxi about a bit.”

(RNZAF) from 1941 to 1977. This particular plane “has a continuous flying history”, meaning it hasn’t stopped flying for 73 years! These three-tonne beasts would have been used by pilots as young as 18 or 19 years old for advanced flight training, so retirement, while a distant future, must have been appealing.

Next to that stands a 1945 Grumman TBF Avenger, a plane that was designed to operate from aircraft carriers as a torpedo bomber. It towers above you, wings folded back, an exercise in brilliant engineering. This particular plane, which would have weighed nine tons when fully loaded, first saw service with the United States Navy, being stationed at a number of bases including Pearl Harbor. She spent 20 years as a crop duster, was restored and sold to the Alpine Fighter Collection in Wanaka, then sold on to an Australian collector • 33 •

in 1998, before being bought by Brendon and flown back to New Zealand in 2012. “The most expensive part was going to be shipping it, so we flew it across the Tasman instead.”

None of the planes in the collection is cheap to run. The Avenger costs around $1,200 an hour to fly, consuming around 330 litres of fuel an hour when cruising. This private collection is financed by Brendon, who also owns Integration Technologies, a Palmerston North-based company that produces and sells retail automation products to petrol stations all over the world. With 16,000 service stations in 56 countries running his products, the softly spoken Brendon may be watching the skies, but he has his eye on the ground too. www.spitfirepv270.co.nz

FEELING THE FEAR Interview Amy Fowler Images Ryan Meta, Karen Ishiguro

Ryan Meta is a man who lives for creativity – becoming a professional photographer at one of the best studios in New Zealand. However, what do you do when you realise that what you’re doing, amazing as it is, isn’t what you love?

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Not all that many people are fortunate enough during their founder of Red11 modelling agency, offered him advice that lives to find their passion and work in that field. We dream he took to heart – “move home and figure out what it is you and wish and, for some reason, it doesn't happen and we should do”. So Ryan returned home to Palmerston North, are led down different paths. Flying high as a photographer and started again. Hiring out a studio in the Square Edge for Kingsize Studios in Auckland, Ryan Meta had it all – a building, he started working on pursuing his life-long dream growing professional portfolio, the talent to go further and of becoming a fashion designer. the who’s who of the design world around him. “It was every With endless designs drawn he started photographer’s dream – Remix Magazine is simply, producing them on transfer paper coming in, BLACK Magazine, Karen Walker is "That first time and ironing the designs onto t-shirts himself. just like sitting on the couch and I’m just like He popped back to Auckland where Amanda - I saw it on the ‘Oh my gosh’.” helped see his dream come to life with But the heart wants what it wants – and after model and had a her models. "That first time - I saw it on years of pursuing photography, one evening the model and had a ‘goosebump’ type while tidying up the studio Ryan burst into ‘goosebump’ type moment." Now his first clothing line is ready tears and realised the terrifying truth - “I for sale, through his newly launched website, moment." don’t want to be a photographer”. and Ryan is moving forward. As he puts it, "Now I'm not lying to myself”.

“It’s just not what I was put on this Earth to do. I have always known, but was like, ‘Oh yeah, fashion “It’s been a long journey of figuring out and being truthful design is just way too hard, so just do photography because with what I want to do. Feeling the fear and doing it anyway.” you will be involved with fashion’. I didn’t know what to do.” www.ryanmeta.com Consoling him the next day, Ryan’s friend Amanda Betts,

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Thyme for

COFFEE Interview Kelly Evans Images Toni Larsen

It reappears overnight – the migrating black 20-foot shipping container slash coffee shop. To those who eagerly await its appearance, it’s About Thyme.

During the summer About Thyme and its owner and operator Louise Donaldson do what most of us wish we could – they park up at the beach, Riversdale in particular, serving locals and holiday-makers only a stone’s throw from the roaring waves.

are old doors, paint boxes and crates, while old timber has been used to create the café counter top. Whitewashed interior walls help bring that beach vibe aesthetic inside along with an eclectic mix of plants, copper, timber, and terracotta detailing.

However, as summer turns to autumn, Louise and the shop resettle in their second home, Palmerston North.

While bouncing back and forth may be unusual for most businesses, for Louise it’s only natural, having spent a number of years travelling, taking on eclectic jobs and meeting amazing people.

When in Palmerston North, About Thyme can be found occupying the corner of Main and Lyndhurst Streets, on the doorstep of home-ware store Marigolds. Slowly but surely word has spread and business in the city is growing.

During the day Louise caters to a variety of customers, from those with food sensitivities to the regular work commuters stopping by. As she puts it, “I have had many years of cooking in cafés and working in bars. I love to cook – it’s my happy place, also because I love to eat!”

“Travel is a huge passion of mine and something that will always be a big part of my life. I love the stimulation you get from new experiences; the sights, smells, tastes and wonderful stories from those you meet along the way.”

As a holistic nutritionist and with a degree in naturopathy, Louise’s focus is on creating delicious food made from highquality, organic ingredients that are free of any nasty numbers.

It’s not surprising then that Louise now spends her days creating that very experience for her customers.

A creative at heart, Louise wanted to showcase that side of her while combining it with her love of good food. “That is partly how the container design came about. Rather than go the regular route of opening a roadside coffee cart, I fell in love with the versatility and design aesthetic of the container.”

After seeing an advert online for custom shipping containers, Louise contacted Aaron from West – Earth Technicians and together they worked to create her dream eco-café.

Stepping inside, the mantra of ‘eat a little greener, live a little greener’ continues with the interior design and furnishings.

Sourced from second-hand stores, and all repurposed, there • 39 •

Using locally sourced, including organic fair trade ingredients, Louise creates her own gluten, dairy and refined-sugar-free food, with options for vegans as well. Raw caramel slice and beetroot and paleo carrot cakes are all favourites of her visitors.

To Louise, it doesn’t feel like work. It’s an opportunity to bring what she loves from her days travelling to her doorstep back home. A chance to meet interesting people, hear more great stories and enjoy some seriously good food.

To see more of this story and the gorgeous About Thyme, visit www.thehomescene.nz

� River Queen �

Interview Lance Bickford, Emine Kokcu Images Amy Fowler, Llewellyn Annandale

Heike Schiele is a woman of many ‘hats’ – businesswoman, community activist, and relapsing academic. Now working as an agent for change, Heike is passionate about what she calls the ‘life force’ of New Zealand – our water.

It was a chance visit to New Zealand that piqued Heike’s interest in our country, a place she felt was worlds away from her home of Germany and the environmental issues it was facing. “One of the key reasons I immigrated to New Zealand was that it seemed to have everything right that we had gotten wrong in Europe. I came here on a student exchange in the early ’80s and up until then it hadn’t occurred to me that you could drink out of a river! I mean our rivers in Germany were so polluted at the time, you just couldn’t even imagine that you would be in there drinking, fishing. It just appeared to be this amazing country where you could jump in the river and swim!”

However, as Heike has further studied our waters as part of her PhD in integrated fresh water solutions at Massey University, recent trends have her worried.

“New Zealand now seems to be 20– 30 years behind, doing all the things they shouldn’t be doing, whereas the rest of the world, or Europe at least, has cottoned on that it gets too expensive to clean up the waters, and it’s better to keep them clean upfront.

“When the cost to clean it up becomes prohibitive and you still can’t drink it, you’re really up the creek without a paddle. That’s why I’m very passionate about finding ways to think about business in a different way, and see how we can actually work with the environment to create a profit rather than against

it. That’s what drives me. I haven’t really wandered off my business track and become a tree-hugging greenie like people suspect, it’s just common sense.”

This merging of business and sustainability is a repeated theme with Heike, who has an extensive corporate background. If anything it was her work for innovative companies that ignited her interest in sustainability. “When I worked for Hewlett Packard in the late ’80s to early ’90s they did huge models to understand the risks of their supply chains and the raw materials that might get scarce or too expensive.

That was such an ’aha’ effect – you don’t look just at your little plate but at the whole big picture, not only at your company but at everybody else out there competing. When you look at water you know it’s the lifeline for people, it’s the dairy industry, it’s the tourism industry, it’s just everything!”

The first step towards progress is changing attitudes, and Heike believes that one of the most telling signs of how people feel on an issue, and feeding into those feelings, is how we talk about the subject. “I think we need to change our language. Some people think they have to defend something – you hear it in the language they use, having to ‘give up land’. In my mind it is about diversifying and taking out future options, rededicating, recreating – it becomes much more attractive to think about.”

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“It’s about bringing people back and bringing the joy back to being in the water. That’s why Te Apiti Manawatu Gorge plays such an amazing role here – you just have to look at the busy carpark, every day of the week! You see families, kids of all ages, smiling.”

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While Heike’s focus may be nationwide, she is just as active in her home patch, championing and participating in many community improvement programmes, which she considers a vital part of sustainability. “One of the key focuses for me is how the community can actually make a difference and get involved. I think the Manawatu River Leaders’ Forum is a beautiful example of how it can work when everyone wants to get around the table and work it out together. Up and down the river people are starting to engage in a different conversation on how we can create opportunities that might not be as profitable, but might be the thing that gets people reengaged, reconnected and self-sufficient.

“It’s about bringing people back and bringing the joy back to being in the water. That’s why Te Apiti Manawatu Gorge plays such an amazing role here – you just have to look at the busy carpark, every day of the week! You see families, kids of all ages, smiling. You even see people on crutches walk there! Because it’s

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accessible and they can go in there and they can enjoy the bush exactly as they remember it.”

Heike may be making a big splash on this topic, but she is the first to highlight that the work she is involved in is so much more than her. When discussing her PhD and the chance that she will soon have to call herself ‘Doctor’, she has stern thoughts on the topic. “I won’t use it, and I can tell you why - because this PhD was written in a collaborative project. It wouldn’t have happened without the incredible generosity and help of all the iwi and hapu of source to the sea, and their incredible generosity in sharing their insights and views with me. And so I’m feeling, ‘Here I am, I’ve written it up and I get a title and what does everybody else get?’ I feel the title should be for everybody but Massey doesn’t do that, so I won’t use it either.

“It’s just one of those things – how can you find a better way going forward to acknowledge that who we are and what we are is actually the wisdom of the collective?”

Cooking up in

Cuba

Interview Tina Hodges Images Llewellyn Annandale

Woody loves golf - so like any smart man would, he gifted his lovely wife, Darlene, golf clubs for Christmas. However, when exactly this golfing duo will get a chance out on the greens is up in the air, as life is always busy for the pair behind Café Cuba.

A local favourite, with good reason, Café Cuba seems to be everyone’s first choice on a weekend morning. The café has carved itself a place as an iconic piece of Palmerston North social life, and Woody and Darlene have no desire to see it retire from its reign any time soon.

Known colloquially as the ‘new owners’, despite the fact that they have now owned the café for more than three years, Darlene and Woody’s passion for the café is as fresh as the day they signed the paperwork. Before then Darlene had been the manager of Café Cuba, and when the opportunity arose to take it on, the couple jumped at the chance. “Sometimes it’s surreal that we actually own it!” says Darlene. “Sometimes I think that I’m just working here, like I’m still just managing it. But I’ve always put my heart into it; whether you own it or manage it, you treat it like your own anyway. You have to ask yourself, ‘Would you be happy with this if you owned it yourself?’ That’s the attitude I’ve always had.”

While Darlene was already part of the Café Cuba team, Woody was actually working measuring and quoting carpet.

“When we took over Woody was going to stay there for a year or so but some of the work was very stressful for him. I didn’t want him to have a heart attack or stroke because of the stress, because he took so much on board himself.”

So as any ‘concerned’ wife would, she persuaded him to join her full time at the café. “We have fun here – even though it can get intense, as with anything. But here we get along well together,

we play music, and I felt he was missing out on that fun!”

While the music may be blasting, the duo has their serious side too, and commitment to quality is a big pet project. “I will admit, I like things done in a particular way,” says Darlene. “I like the same thing done the same way every time. For instance, if you order eggs benedict, I want you to have the exact same thing each time – same amount of sauce, same consistency of egg.

Consistency to me is really important.” No surprise then, about Café Cuba’s most popular offering? The classic eggs benedict with bacon.

The real ‘home-style cooking’ element to their menu has also proven popular with café-goers. “We listen to our customers; and I have put a few new items on the menu from what I feed my family at home. The bubble-and-squeak dish is something I grew up with; Mum and Dad would make it for us on a Sunday morning, left-over potatoes and that fried up.”

With cafés aplenty in the city, and George Street in particular, the pair seem surprisingly unfazed by the competition. “I don’t worry about how any other café or restaurant is going. I don’t worry about the competition because I should be doing as best as I can for my own café. My old employer Mark Donaldson taught me that – ‘Never worry about your competition, worry about what you are doing in your own place’.”

At the end of the day, while the customers are their focus, it is clear for anyone to see why Café Cuba has taken over Darlene and Woody’s world. In a word, devotion. Or, as Darlene puts it, because “nobody is going to love your place as much as you do”. www.cafecuba.co.nz

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“Sometimes it’s surreal that we actually own it!”

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LORD OF THE FLIES Interview Emine Kokcu Image Paul Gummer

John Gummer is not your average 18-year-old. He does meet some of the typical expectations – he recently graduated from Palmerston North Boys’ High School, works full-time at Manawatu Hunting & Fishing and has a passion for the outdoors. However, John is also a successful fly-fisher, having recently returned from competing at the World Youth Fly-Fishing Championship in Vail, Colorado. But being one of the youngest competitors from New Zealand definitely doesn’t worry him; he is just as much at home at an international competition as he is fly-fishing on the Manawatu River with his dad.

John started fly-fishing as soon as he could open his eyes. His father Paul used to take him out in a baby carry pack on the Manawatu River, which the pair believe is New Zealand’s best-kept fly-fishing secret. “I can’t remember not fishing. A friend from England gave me a fly rod when I was five years old and that’s when I caught my first fish,” says John.

For those not in the know, the aim of fly-fishing is to imitate the way a fish would naturally catch its prey, rather than using a baited hook as is done with traditional fishing methods. “It is more of an art than a science; it’s the art of learning to read the river to find the perfect catch,” says John. “For me, fly-fishing is knowing that 90 percent of the fish are in 10 percent of the river, and using your intuition to find that 10 percent.”

Fly-fishing in New Zealand is not a very popular competition sport, with only 30 to 40 people throughout the country taking part at a national level.

True to stereotype, most people who partake in the sport are older. In America the sport is more popular, with hundreds of people involved and stacking the

odds for the States’ reputation as world champions of fly-fishing. However, Paul is confident that his son is as good as any of them. “He is one of the best, he definitely has what it takes to go far in this sport.”

John’s recent performance competing in Colorado cements this; he came home after achieving 31st place individually. Of the five sessions fished, he also managed second place in his final group session.

Even better, there are still more fish in the sea (well, river) for his competition future. John has been selected to travel to Canada with the New Zealand Senior Team and compete in the 2016 Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships. He is the youngest person competing in this team by 40 years. John is hoping to qualify again next year for the World Youth Fly Fishing Championship in Slovenia, and rise up the ranks.

Meanwhile John’s part-time job is also keeping him busy – he is building up his tour business, taking fishers of all ages and skill levels on guided tours to try to land the big one.

His dream is to open up a fly-fishing lodge and give guided tours to fly-fishers from all over the world. “I would love to guide in Alaska and the central USA, as well as saltwater fly-fishing meccas such as the Florida Keys.”

That said, growing his business is a gradual process and John is in no rush. “The best way to spend the day is standing in the river, letting life’s worries float away. Every day spent fishing is a day that your life is extended by.”

To book a tour, contact John on his Facebook page, John Gummer Fly Fishing, or through Hunting & Fishing Palmerston North.

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SCIENCE OF THE WORLD Interview Shivarn Stewart Images Llewellyn Annandale

Dr Nicole Roy, Principal Scientist and Team Leader for AgResearch, has travelled halfway around the world, and back again, many times. Over the years her study of nutrition and food science has taken her to Singapore, China, Belgium, Hungary, France, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Spain, the United States, Italy and more, though as she puts it, “If you want to travel there is probably a more straightforward way to do it than a PhD!”

permanent scientists and PhD students. Instilling in them the same passion she has found, Nicole is full of praise for the mentoring process. “It brings a lot of fresh blood and dynamic thinking to the team. Mentoring is not about telling them what to do, but helping them to become confident as scientists. A lot of it is about the fact that you can be a good scientist on your own, but more and more it is about teamwork.”

It was her studies, in fact, that helped jump-start her travel, Nicole’s work, focused on gut microbes, may sound with the Canadian native heading to Nebraska to complete microscopic, but in reality it is about much wider effects. the final year of her PhD. “I started my PhD and didn’t want “The gut is very complex. There are a lot of nerves that affect to leave my supervisor, because we had many parts of the body, including the brain, just started a project, but the university and they often refer to it as the ‘second “A lot of it is about was very keen for me to finish my PhD brain’, because that’s where most of your outside Canada – they prefer that you nutrient system is. We try to understand the fact that you can the relationship of what is happening in it – don’t stay in the same university, so that you create connections. We reached a what causes tension or pain, which can be be a good scientist compromise that I would spend a year in extreme. Then it is about studying how you a different lab. I didn’t want to leave my can mitigate or lessen that discomfort with on your own, but supervisor in the lurch and say, ‘Oh bye food designed to assist.” more and more it is I’m going!’ I was planning on going back This concept of designer food, and the value there to teach, and it might have been a of science within food production in general, about teamwork.” bit frosty if I had!” is a growing opportunity for New Zealand.

After a year in Nebraska though, Nicole “The economy really depends on food was bit by the travel bug. Soon it was off to Scotland for exports. In our research it is very important to understand the postdoctoral studies, where she met Warren, her nowconsumer and the culture they live in – most of our exports partner of nearly 20 years. “That’s how I ended up in New are to Asia, and it’s not just one culture but many, so research Zealand. We pretty much flipped a coin, because we both is hugely important. I’ve not been trained in consumer had positions, he in AgResearch and me back in Canada. It research; I can read things like anybody else on the web, but ended up being decided based on whoever found a job in is it the real thing? So that’s where the connection to other the other country first, and I found one here pretty much sciences is hugely important.” within three months. I don’t think he even submitted an She credits FoodHQ, the collaborative partnership between application in Canada! But I was already speaking two nine New Zealand research organisations, as a step forwards languages, whereas he spoke only English and to work in in creating those connections. “I think we are in the early Quebec you really have to learn French. So that’s how I days of FoodHQ, but it has the potential to bring people ended up here – didn’t plan it at all!” together in the multidisciplinary way – bringing sciences, food However, the chance decision certainly seems to have technologists and people in the industry under an umbrella ended well, with Nicole now having worked for AgResearch where we can share knowledge and what we do. I think for 18 years and leading a team of 25 staff, including people really aspire to it.”

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The Family BEHIND THE CURTAIN Interview Rhianne Tod Images Llewellyn Annandale

Lights, camera - amazing. The students of Palmerston North Boys’ High School and Girls’ High School, led by Head of Drama Chris Burton, are working to create yet another showstopping production.

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“We’re not here to piss about. We’re here to do a job, and we’re going to do that job well.”

“We’re going to get the audience back in touch with middleclass 1950s’ America,” explains Chris. The musical was written by Garry Marshall, creator of the original TV show; One might expect these words to have leapt from the mouth of the production is riddled with the humour and the charisma Steve Hansen while training his team for the 2015 Rugby World of the audience’s favourite characters, such as the Fonz.

Cup. Perhaps it wouldn’t surprise you to hear these words have “The students are really aiming to maintain the integrity come from a teacher at Palmerston North Boys’ High School. of these characters. They jump online to watch clips of the But these words haven’t come from the sports department – sitcom over and over so they can bring this is the motivational speech to the the mannerisms of the characters Happy Days production company from “Without fail, I cannot to the stage.” The audience is also the Head of Drama Department, Mr a good night of music with Chris Burton. think of a single student guaranteed live band, The Real Dialtones, taking The man with a 21-year teaching who hasn’t developed as on the compositions of Paul Williams career admits he hardly has to say - the famous writer of hits for Barbra those words any more. “A culture has Streisand and The Carpenters. a person through these really developed over recent years in Spending nearly six months every year productions.” the combined Palmerston North Boys’ with his drama students to create a High School and Girls’ High School polished show, what is it that keeps productions,” says Chris. “The students are pushing the up the director’s enthusiasm during such a stressful time? standards up. Off their own bats they are attending singing “The most rewarding part of these productions is to see the lessons, even just to audition for the shows.” students learn about themselves, to see themselves grow as It’s the determined attitude of these students, along with people. Without fail, I cannot think of a single student who Chris’ direction and the help of many other enthusiastic hasn’t developed as a person through these productions. A adults, which has earned the combined schools’ productions production is just a vehicle for teaching young people about a sterling reputation since their beginning in 1997. Those themselves under pressure.” behind this year’s musical rendition of the 1970s’ sitcom There is one student Chris remembers who epitomises the Happy Days are confident that it will be no different. whole experience of the schools’ productions. “Francesca • 53 •

“A production is just a vehicle for teaching young people about themselves under pressure.”

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Baan came into workshops three years ago too scared to sing,” he explains. “We managed to get a squeak out of her and discovered this beautiful voice. We immediately made her the understudy for the female lead for Whistle Down the Wind in 2013 - the first time the show had been played in Australasia. The first time she sang on stage in rehearsals she asked for the theatre to be emptied.

Her passage over the past few years is one that will stand out to me for all time.”

Despite the fact that she didn’t continue with a performing arts career, Francesca’s learning to love musical theatre and what she could do if she overcame her personal barriers, reinforced the importance of these productions for Chris. “It’s the most fantastic feeling of a family working together to achieve something, supporting each other all the way.

I say to the company, ‘Enjoy every moment of this.

Watch the process and see how things grow – how people are growing.’ It’s important in life to enjoy the process, not just the highlights here and there.”

Throughout the rehearsals and performances of this latest musical it is likely that many more students – cast, crew and band - will have their Happy Days.

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Interview Shivarn Stewart Images Brenda Wormgoor, Llewellyn Annandale, Amy Fowler

Pans sizzle and there is excitement in the air, along with a collection of amazing smells. Things are heating up for the new cuisine competition Plate of Origin.

local goat cheese, zucchini flowers and even wild boar. The opportunities were endless.”

Meanwhile, Guy Sargent had his own juggling to do, with two Gathering together 20 of the best chefs in New Zealand, Plate of his Manawatu restaurants taking part, The Fat Farmer and of Origin 2016 is a new annual competition showcasing the Aberdeen. For him the competition was where the fun was to best food from across New Zealand. Hosted in Manawatu, be had. “There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly rivalry. It 10 local restaurants each randomly paired up with another gives everyone some inspiration to be a bit different and think region from around the country then partnered with a outside the box.” restaurant in that region to collaborate Bigger than the chefs and restaurants on one dish celebrating the flavours of themselves though was the chance for their represented location.

“There’s nothing wrong national and international attention For Ryan Marshall of Table 188 in on what New Zealand has to offer, with a little friendly Palmerston North, who was partnered with Plate of Origin part of the 2016 with Marcus Berndt of Provenir, rivalry. It gives everyone New Zealand Agri Investment Week.

Northland, the challenge was one Visitors from around New Zealand some inspiration to be he leapt at. “When I heard about it, and the world sampled the dishes, I knew Table 188 had to be involved; reminded of our international a bit different and think being it’s an experience we couldn’t pass up. reputation. “We have access to worldWorking with Marcus was great too; he class ingredients right on our doorstep outside the box.” produces amazing food.” and we wanted to make the most of this,” says Bradley Hornby of Arbour, With everything from Cloudy Bay Marlborough. “New Zealand products are among the best clams to Cilantro Chevre goat cheese and Garage Project in the world and they deserve to be shown off,” adds Darren craft beer, the chefs’ creations featured the high-quality Wright of Chillingworth Road in Christchurch. food products that are the heroes of New Zealand’s cuisine and food export industry. In fact the chefs agree that one Just who has succeeded in this head-to-head battle is still up of the hardest parts was actually deciding which products in the air, but one thing is clear – it was a win for anyone who should be featured! “Nelson has so much great produce got to taste-test! it was hard to select the best key ingredients,” says Kevin Discover the Plate of Origin champion in the May issue of Hopgood from Hopgood’s in Nelson. “Andrew from Amayjen Cuisine magazine and at www.PlateofOrigin.co.nz [Feilding] and I discussed wild rabbit, snapper, mussels, • 56 •

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“Dissolution” NZIPP Gold Award 2011

Interview Tina Hodges Image Mikal Carter

“I think of creativity as this universal force within everyone. We’re all creators but we all find different outlets for doing that.”

Mikal Carter is that kid you’d always see drawing those epic Dragon Ball Z characters. You know the child I’m talking about, right? The kid who’d get lost with his ballpoint pen and take you to other worldly dimensions through his log book.

He’s that kid who became a teenager and his creative talents seemed to somehow go unnoticed through high school. Well Mikal is now all grown up, and at 27 years old he’s transferred his talents to the art of tattooing.

Mikal’s journey is an interesting one, as the path to tattooing was a rather roundabout one. After high school he first took up a Bachelor of Science majoring in Computer Studies at Victoria University. “I was going to pursue physics; I didn’t think of art as a career even though I was really creative.”

However, he soon found his degree wasn’t for him and switched to a Bachelor of Music; he enjoyed music as a hobby but then discovered that this too was not something he could do as a full-time profession.

Instead the spark was lit when a friend eventually suggested that Mikal take up tattooing. Intrigued by the idea, Mikal ordered his own tattoo guns and jumped right in. “The first real tattoo I did was on my knee. I kind of wanted to take my own tattoo virginity. I wanted to be the first one to do it, to feel it and to know what it was like before anyone else.”

On a friend’s recommendation he started the Bachelor of Applied Visual Imaging (BAVI) course at UCOL in Palmerston North, which saw him sail back to his creative roots. Immersed in the world of design, animation, photography and illustration, Mikal took to it like a duck to water. His skills in a range of art forms developed, particularly with his photography, which even won a New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography Gold Award. However, Mikal still had his sights set on his true passion. “Illustration was so helpful to tattooing; that’s really where I took my tattooing to the next level because it was all about that image making. It was that colour work and composition; it was me telling a story.”

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Initially Mikal had no desire to do colour tattoos; his influencers were all monochrome masters. “I was always philosophically set on black and grey. I switched because I couldn’t do certain native birds in black and grey. If you look at a kaka in black and grey it looks exactly like a kea.” It was whilst tattooing a kokako that his interest in colour ignited.

“I pumped in the colour for the waddle and that kind of got me wanting to do more colourful things, softer things, sort of breaking away from that traditional look of a tattoo.

“Colour takes more skill, everything will stem from black and grey. A lot of stuff from my medium stems from my ability to draw, and how I create shades. My own techniques of drawing applies in other art forms.”

With an affinity for native birds, Mikal admits he loves to experiment and is still finding his own style. “I basically love doing creatures and animals, and with my illustration background I like doing pictures and scenes. If I could do an animal every day I’d be happy.” Recently Mikal has started infusing celestial elements into his tattooing. “I call it my ‘Celestial Series’ where I bring in spacey stuff, things like nebulas, because you can get quite creative with the colour work.”

One favourite example of this was a kakapo he tattooed with the hat of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings. “I always thought of them as the wizards of the forest. They just roll around with these beards and don’t fly. I was like, man, if there was a story about the native birds they would be the wizards.”

Mikal recalls always having a vivid imagination, something he says he’s held on to from his childhood and is utilising even more today. “I guess I was kind of introverted; I liked to act out my imagination in games and stuff like that. I suppose a big part of what I enjoy now is that I still have that inner child alive in me; it’s still there and very imaginative.”

And his advice for budding tattoo artists? “Draw every day.

Sculpt your craft and genuinely pursue what you love. Find your purpose, follow that. Don’t wait for anyone else to enable you to do something. Find what your path is, only you can answer that question.”

FOOD AND

FIVE FAMILIES Interview XXX XXX Images Amy Fowler

Interview Sarah-Kate Sinclair Images Amy Fowler

Nestled in the heart of picturesque Kimbolton stands Hansen’s Café and Bar. A proud building with a deep heritage, this rural café embodies classic New Zealand living. Handmade wooden furnishings, coupled with immaculate styling, make it a fresh and original location, while the finely crafted menu utilising raw and natural products highlights the authentic tastes of those behind the café. In the air rich aromas blend to showcase a classic Kiwi lifestyle that is slowly being forgotten.

The owners of Hansen’s are practically a tribe - five families looking for the Kiwi dream who sold their houses and left their jobs in Nelson to create a fuller life. Chief spokesperson for the group, Jared Wayman, says that all the owners come from different working backgrounds, which provides the unique touches that make Hansen’s Café and Bar so delightful. “When circumstances come up in your life, you have to make a decision on what way do we go? So we all really wanted to make decisions that would nurture life for our families, our children, and grandchildren.”

A desire for community living brought these five enthusiastic families together. “My wife Tressa and I met Eddie and Rachel Rimmer through a regular church setting in Mapua about 10 years ago, then Peter and Tammy Macfarlane joined that church about six years ago. We were all very close but we still had a desire to live in a closer community. We’d known Ralph and Fleur Lattimore since soon after we’d met the Rimmers, and Rob and Jo Crozier met us about 15 months ago and had been looking for this kind of community for many years,” says Jared.

The group didn’t discover the Kimbolton gem until a

year after they had made the decision to relocate, and it was all thanks to a country drive through Hunterville!

“My wife drove through Hunterville and loved the scenery,” says Jared. “I don’t know if you notice this, but when you drive from Feilding the road just kind of keeps climbing up and up towards Kimbolton, and we really liked that you know? Then you look to the right and it’s quite dramatic, looking down into Pohangina Valley. Everyone loved the rural feel, so we thought, ‘Could this town be a possibility?’ We loved the building and saw it was for sale.” And suddenly, Hansen’s Café and Bar was on the road to being reborn.

With restaurant premises purchased and no master plan, the families got to work. “We didn’t know where it was going but we just started making changes. We knew something was going to happen!”

Focusing on atmosphere and service was the café’s goal. That, and being able to make a really good coffee!

“We all had to train up to be baristas! It was quite intimidating,” laughs Jared. “We did a course with one of the top guys who came seventh in the world champs.

We went there and thought, ‘What have we gotten ourselves into!”

“There really is a lot to it, I mean you can really mess it up right royally. I’m very fussy with my coffee; I know if I go to a place where it’s not good, I won’t go back. That was one of the things we knew we had to get right.”

The other key priority for the group was creating a beautiful, inviting environment. “We couldn’t just say, ‘Let’s buy this place, but only spend $2000 on painting it’. You would have walked out of here. We wanted to express the creativity that comes from having all of this

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done by people who have never done it before. None of us is an interior decorator.” And indeed they have - Eddie has delighted diners with handcrafted tables and chairs made from recycled timber, old telegraph poles and barn boards. Musical recordings of him and Rachel playing together now feature on the café’s soundtrack. Meanwhile stunning paintings done by Hansen’s chef, Lorraine Taylor, are proudly displayed on the walls. “Ideally we will replace everything in here with all the things that we make.”

But at the heart of it all, home and hearth, and the chance to ‘relate to others’ are what it is all about for these families. Hansen’s stunning open log fire has heard stories from across the world. “There are going to be people coming through, and if we only have three or four families in here, we’re still happy. It’s about meeting people who travel from all over the world.” Those who have links to the historic building are also a big hit. “We get a lot of people who come through that used to work here when it was a general store. We had one lady in particular whose mother worked here 65 years ago; she’s been back five times and each time she brings memorabilia from the old store,” says Jared with a smile.

Planning and plotting aren’t stopping any time soon though, with the team expanding their side business to make homemade goods for everyone. “This building in this town provides a place for us to work and serve the community. If someone wants a nice fence, park benches, planter boxes, you name it and we can do it.”

The barn behind the café is also on the project hit-list, with the aim being to turn it into a workshop for kids to visit during school holidays. Children will be able to explore painting, sewing and woodwork, and maybe even how to make a coffee!

The future is looking bright for the new Kimbolton tribe, and these families are more than happy to invest in it. “We didn’t know we were doing a café, but we’re doing it!”

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“We all had to train up to be baristas! It was quite intimidating.”

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