Capital 13 by Capital

Capital ta l e s o f t h e c i t y

food binge au g u s t 2 0 1 4

hutt felt issue 13

$3.90 haiku skies

N o t s o s av e a

Capital THE COVER: Winter, the perfect excuse to eat and drink too much.

made in wellington

Photograph: Nicole Franzen

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C o n ta c t U s Phone +64 4 385 1426 Email editor@capitalmag.co.nz Website www.capitalmag.co.nz Facebook facebook.com/CapitalMagazineWellington Twitter @CapitalMagWelly Post Box 9202, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 Deliveries 31–41 Pirie St, Mt Victoria, Wellington, 6011 ISSN 2324-4836 Produced by Capital Publishing Ltd

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The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any losses due to the use of material in this magazine. Copyright ©. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of Capital Publishing Ltd.

ugust has become food month for Wellington. The growth of the Visa on A Plate event is a welcome boost to local business at the end of the winter and another reason for us to enjoy good times with family and friends. The team behind the event and the Wellington City Council are to be congratulated for their efforts and support of the idea from concept to success. I have always been suspicious of people who have no interest in food. Who say they don’t care about what they eat. I like food. Cooking for my family, eating in or out, reading about food or watching food shows, all are an enjoyment for me. Those who know me would, maybe suggest that it is fairly self evident. In our food section we have given you a range of foodie news. Our food writer Unna Burch has just enjoyed a dinner in Auckland prepared by Master Chef judge Josh Emett and winners Kasey and Karena. The night out was the prize for the four winners of the Fisher and Paykel Gourmet Challenge. Michelin starred Emett was “so down to earth and funny” said Unna, “we just all talked all night about food.” This month Unna provides a colourful vegetarian option for home cooks, we highlight a few of the special foodie events in and around the city and we round up a lot of the news in and around the restaurant scene. In our new monthly feature John Kerr a keen and experienced science writer talks about energy benefits from our rubbish. David Cohen takes a reflective look at the Hutt Valley while Stephen Franks again asks pertinent questions about the benefits of the proposed local body merger. Our distribution has expanded throughout the Wellington region, we hope you are finding it easier and easier to get your copy of Capital. Do let us know if you have problems. I look forward to hearing from you. Alison Franks Editor editor@capitalmag.co.nz

contents

a l l ha i l the hutt David Cohenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home town essay

mission to de st roy

T h e ba b y hurricane

Jamie McAulay is a conservation junkie

Ardie Savea talks tatts and tantrums

10 Letters

12 Chatter

62 beet about the bush

14 NEWS

67 by the book

by the numbers

CHEERS

Moral Fibre

19 new products

71 subscribe

20 tales of the city

22 Opinion

74 life as a hunter

24 folding stuff

78 how big is your bus?

Sports briefs

27 CULTURE

WELLY ANGEL

BABY, BABY

42 OPINION

Torque Talk

45 study break

DIRECTORY

50 fashion

92 CALENDAR

54 edibles

95 top dog

WHAT THE FLOCK ROCKING IN THE DEEP

Haiku skies

Contributors

s ta f f Alison Franks Managing editor editor@capitalmag.co.nz Lyndsey O’Reilly Campaign Coordinators Haleigh Trower sales@capitalmag.co.nz John Bristed General Factotum john@capitalmag.co.nz Shalee Fitzsimmons Art direction and design shalee@capitalmag.co.nz Rhett Goodley- Hornblow

Design design@capitalmag.co.nz

Craig Beardsworth

Factotum

Anna Jackson-Scott Journalist Gus Bristed

Distribution

D avid C ohen Journ a li st David Cohen, a Wellington-based journalist and author, is editing The Hutt Anthology, a collection of writings to be published later next year by Makaro Press.

J odi P ullar Sty li st Jodi is a full-time hair stylist at Willis York. Coming from the quirky town of Dunedin, she grew up with a passionate love for editorial styling.

Stockists Pick up your Capital in New World and Pak’n’ Save supermarkets, Moore Wilson, Unity Books, Magnetix, City Cards & Mags, Take Note and other discerning greater Wellington outlets. Ask for Capital magazine by name. Distribution: john@capitalmag.co.nz.

Submissions We welcome freelance art, photo and story submissions. However we cannot reply personally to unsuccessful pitches.

J ohn K err Journ a li st John loves science and loves talking about it. After stints in research and academic publishing, he moved to Wellington three years ago to work at the Science Media Centre where he helps journalists get their heads around the latest research and science news.

A le x ander B isle y Journ a li st Alexander writes regularly for The Listener, North and South, RipItUp and The Guardian and is editor-at-large for Lumiere Reader. He is also a die-hard Hurricanes fan.

letters

A pleased reader

Holloway Dew

I am a frequent buyer and reader of Capital magazine and enjoy it very much. Congratulations upon reaching your first birthday, as mentioned in your latest issue. Many new enterprises fail in their first year and you look set for continued success. It is a treasure that Wellington is fortunate to have. All the best for the next year. B Johnson, Wellington

Fantastic fighting women I have done quite a few martial arts as sport or for get-fit programs. I have tried Muay Thai fighting and was very pleased to see the female fighters profiled in your June issue. Female sport does not get a lot of cover here. I loved the story. Thank you for promoting a sport that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get a lot of attention. Airini Gray, Auckland

Women to the fore Kia Ora. My friend and I were in your latest issue talking about Muay Thai and being female fighters. We loved the end result. Cheers! Thank you so much for taking the time to profile a sport that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get a lot of attention, especially the female participants in it. Sporting pair, Wellington

I have lived in many suburbs of Wellington and remember clearly school in Karori and happy university days flatting in Aro Valley. How I laughed when I spotted your fashion pages featuring Holloway Dew and Karori Fog. More of this please. P Smythe, Hutt Valley

So local Hey Capital. You people have got it right! The front cover is awesome and when I opened up the magazine, there was that interview with Taika. How many other mags can boast a 379-year-old interviewee? You are so very Wellington, and I love it. Alison Gilbert, Wellington

In top gear I enjoy reading motoring writers. Your writer, Mark Sainsbury, relates the cars he drives to his own situation and I enjoy the way he digresses. I wonder whether he might feel able to very briefly point out one or two features or improvements that he particularly likes or particularly doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like about the cars that he reviews and compare them with other cars in a similar bracket. That would be interesting for those of us who have it in mind to buy another some day. S Hastings, Lower Hutt

Letters to editor@capitalmag.co.nz with subject line Letters to Ed, or scan our QR code to email the editor directly.

CHATTER

ink inc.

karmic screaming Wellington digital artist Johann Nortje is helping Wellington let off steam. If you’ve got anger issues pent up, head down to Nortje’s Lux Light Festival installation and yell. Light travels down the ten-metrelong installation of diamond-shaped LED tubes in response to sound. He suggests having a screaming match “battle off” from each end. Wellington Waterfront, 22-31 August.

Heidi Lindenmuth Tattoos? Is the trend deeply etched into the city’s cultural canvas or will it fade? Heidi talks about colouring up.

rosie pioneer

What led you to getting a tattoo? A life mile-marker.

Just under 200 years ago, Sophia Harris made the fivemonth journey from England to New Zealand, keeping a special rose cutting alive inside a potato on the boat. At the end of last month, her descendants planted two carefully cultivated rose bushes in the Bolton Street Memorial Park. The roses were grown from the original rose Sophia brought with her. Apparently, this rose is a rarity, with old-fashioned qualities. Judy Bale, from Friends of Bolton Street Memorial Park, says it’s a “one-and-only, it’s a very pretty rose and with glossy green foliage.”

Art or rebellion? The first one was a bit of rebellion but all others are about the art and my way of mapping out my life experiences. Each one has a story behind it. Why did you choose the design? Tui was my symbol of New Zealand and my experience here. Where is the tattoo & why? Tui is on my back because I had a space that suited it and felt it needed filled to give me symmetry.

c hat t e r

welly words

JOLLY JOE Havana Coffee Works kindly allowed Capital to take over their digs recently so we could celebrate our first birthday in Cuban style. Owner Geoff Marsland was off conquering another part of the globe at the time but gave us free rein of the floor on the proviso that we kept revellers out of the roasting room. He didn’t reckon on Master Roaster Joe who happily conducted tours of all his machines in all their glory and developed a few more coffee devotees along the way.

kuni kuni honey It has sometimes been suggested to Wellyword that live theatre attracts a greyer, slightly wrinkled crowd. It was certainly not the case at the final night of Circa’s July production of Hikoi. Writer/director Nancy Brunning was supported by a very large (think multiples of 10) contingent of family members including Taika Waititi. A Wellyworder reports that the wrap party was wild – Waititi got up and played DJ... with his I-Pod. Sometimes the impromptu parties are the best parties

pop art Peter McLeavey, the doyen of the Wellington art world (some would argue New Zealand) is opening a pop-up gallery on Webb Street in August. He’s been peddling art and flashing that inscrutable smile in the same space on Cuba Street for over 40 years and never ventured out before so this is quite a thing. We reckon the next popup will come well before 2054.

Fishy business There’s nothing fishy going on in the New Zealand hake industry, a recent assessment revealed. New Zealand hake fisheries met all certification criteria for sustainable fishing, and are well on the way to achieving certification from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the world’s best standard for sustainably managed fisheries. While many overseas hake fisheries have been overfished, the MSC assessment showed NZ hake fisheries have minimal impact on the marine environment. “The MSC certification provides independent assurances to our customers that our product comes from a sustainable fishery,” said George Clement, the CE of New Zealand non-profit fishery organisation Deepwater Group.

NE W S SHORTS

Quicker Spending Toot to creativit y

Q ua c k problem The term ‘sitting ducks’ has become a literal problem for the caretakers at the Bontanic Gardens, as the regular quackers have wandered from the Duck Pond to the fountain amongst the roses. Leeanne Killalea, Botanic Garden manager begs visitors not to feed the Rose Garden ducks, but instead visit the feathery creatures at the Duck Pond in the main garden.

Designers’ and artists’ talents can be put to the test this month. They are asked to submit their most stylish designs to start-up car-sharing company, Shyft. The first two cars in the company’s fleet – two Toyota Prius C hybrids – are begging for an innovative paint design, the peak of Wellingtonians’ creativity. Get your creative entry into kate@ shyft.co.nz by August 10.

Back on the beat Greg O’Connor, President of the New Zealand Police Association, was reelected Chair of the International Council of Police Representative Associations at its biennial meeting in Cape Town. A Wellingtonian, he has chaired the world body since 2006. “An overseas perspective helps you to understand your own environment,” he says. “It helps you to understand where the issues lie.” Kenya currently has the most issues, and its police are trying to get the right to associate. Ten Kenyan police were killed while O’Connor was in South Africa. One of the organisations aims is to help countries with difficulties see how democracy can help their police force. “If the police are brutal, the country is,” O’Connor said. “Police associations can play an important role in preventing corruption by professionalising police. I often say: show me the police force and I’ll show you the country.”

Swiping the plastic card has taken on a new term now that Wellingtonians can click their way to payment of council related spends. The council has enabled online payment of most day-to-day necessities, such as dog registrations, building and resource consents, the hiring of Council venues, fees for parking your boats, and more.

Seeking council Four Wellington region councils are seeking counsel on the benefits and viability of shared information and communications technology (ICT). The Shared ICT Infrastructure Programme involves the Greater Wellington Regional Council, Porirua City Council, Upper Hutt City Council and Wellington City Council. A request for proposals to help develop a business case is open until 15 August to potential suppliers. If the case is approved later this year, the programme expects to include data centres and storage, servers, data and voice networks, telephony services, desktops, and an ICT service desk. “We believe our organisations and customers would benefit from having more responsive, flexible and reliable ICT infrastructure,” says programme owner Channa Jayasinha.

s encetw io s ns h hoe r a tdse r

Forces combined Two Wellington councils are proposing to combine their economic development, tourism, venues and major event activities into one agency. The new agency, Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency, would combine elements of the Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Councils. The public was given less than a month (8 July to 6 August) to express views on the proposal, so perhaps the council has already made up its mind.

Penny for your thoughts Contrary to popular belief that we are living short, unhealthy lives overfilled with social media, the recent census has told us that New Zealanders are living longer than ever before. However this means that more people need jobs for longer. And Wellingtonians are currently earning above the median household income for the nation – lucky us. While the New Zealand median household income is sitting around $64,000, Wellingtonians are banking just over $74,000.

Irony or innovation?

K e r b i n g t h e way The public is divided about the council’s cycle lane plan for the Island Bay to city cycle route. The current proposal places the cycle lane between the kerb and roadside parking, and runs the length of the Parade. Cyclists would need to re-join traffic at major intersections, which is where separate cycle lanes are most needed, cyclists say. They would also need to wait when luggage was being loaded or unloaded into parked cars. Councillors have nevertheless agreed kerbside lanes are the best option. They provide much greater safety for people on bikes, according to the council website. There will be another opportunity for the public to have a say in September before councillors make a final decision in December.

Casey Eden is hoping to reconnect neighbours in the ‘real world’ in true twenty-first-century style: via the internet. Neighbourly.co.nz is New Zealand’s first private neighbourhood website, aimed at fostering community and conversation between neighbours within suburbs. “We all want to feel more connected to the communities within which we live but we’re not sure how to do it,” Eden believes. A trial proved successful. “It’s being used just how we were hoping it would be,” Eden said. “Members find babysitters, sell sofas, give away fruit, set up groups based on common interests, discuss how to make their streets safer, organise street barbies and recommend good mechanics.” As is increasingly the case, the internet steps in as the middle-man. Or you could try some good old-fashioned conversation and a plate of scones.

by the numbers

Animal farm

staff employed at the SPCA across the Newtown and Waikanae branches

6,000

number of animals cared for each year

1884

year the Wellington branch was established

number of Animal Welfare Inspectors who cover the Wellington region from Otaki south

900

number of incidents of animal cruelty or neglect those seven inspectors answered last year

High on a hill...

445 122

height in metres of Mount Kaukau height in metres of the TV transmitter mast on top (without which we’d have poor TV coverage and have to resort to TALKING to one another)

500

number of participants in the yearly Kaukau Challenge organised by Khandallah School, in which participants walk or run up and down the hill

years since Dobbins office furniture opened

number of staff in their two stores

8,840

metres of second-hand furniture available (not counting all the new stuff)

250

refurbished chairs available

days Wellington on a Plate runs for in August

years it’s been running (I think it’s becoming a bit of a thing)

number of entries in the Battle of the Buns burger competition last year

118

festival events

blind dining events (participants get a free blindfold ... and a bib?)

the number of people who claim to have skied down the hill after the big snow of 2011

Furniture affair

Diners’ digest

A course of course

80 +

number of Victoria Continuing Education short courses offered each year

study tours offered to exotic locales abroad

years since the first courses were run (there were three courses in 1915 – we’re guessing graphic design wasn’t one of them)

1,259

number of students taking courses in 2013

Compiled by Craig Beardsworth

Bloody Waititi

years since Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi came up with the idea of vampire mockumentary What we do in the Shadows

8,000

age of Petyr, the oldest Vampire flatmate

125

hours of footage shot (it took a year to edit it down to the 86 minutes you’ve been cackling over)

1,762,256 box office takings so far in New Zealand

new products

gOLDEN dAYS Lady Million perfume, from $95, Life Pharmacy Queensgate | Tom Dixon polished brass base floor lamp, $2,705.00, ECC | Odi Moroccan Nights leather earrings, $39, Made It | Baylands Glasgow Slasher only at the MaltHouse from 18 Aug | Gold vase, $139, BoConcept | Plane table light, $1,265, ECC | Eject hi-top sneakers $379, Willow Shoes | Moroccan pouffe, $179.90, Let Liv | Retro $379 Minnie Cooper | Moda Di Fausto Italian boots, $449, Willow Shoes.

ta l e s o f t h e c i t y

Three beers f o r s ta c e y

E ats

A good steak with Mum

pet

Pan the Cat

kiwi holiday Nelson

read

Roald Dahl

E x ercise Running

Stacey Jane Walsh grew up in Dunedin, has travelled, done a bit of everything and is now the owner of two bars in Wellington. Little Beer Quarter, tucked away in Edward Street has shown surprising form and is a finalist in the Dine Wellington menu award.

“W

ellington and Dunedin hills look the same so I felt at home with the layout here. I don’t drive, so it’s a walking city which I really like. It’s the political centre, and also a sort of gay friendly city which always opens people’s minds a bit. There’s the design element, fashion students. Dunedin is a bit conservative. You can do anything in Wellington and people don’t blink an eye. I’m the owner of and very often the bartender in LBQ and actually I’ve got another one. That’s Basque in Courtenay Place – it’s a different market down there in Courtenay Place, it surprised me to find that Basque is more the 7.30pm eating crowd and it goes on until quite late. Here at LBQ we’re more a five o’clock rush. I’ve done lots of things ... business banking, travelled, worked in Scotland, but I’m good at running a bar. It probably began when I was about three. My Dad was always a beer drinker and we kids used to get his beers for him. My brothers and I raced to be the one to pour it for him. We liked to suck the froth off the top as we brought it back to him. Dad drank DB draught, but I’m not a beer snob, it’s always been shandies or beer. I’ve never been a wine drinker. The most essential bit of Wellington for me is Courtenay Place and Cuba St. Compare it with Auckland and London

which are so disjointed. Christchurch was good before the earthquake. In Wellington it’s so accessible, if there’s one place you don’t like there’ll be a good one next door. I love eating out, I’ve no particular best but I’ve just had lunch with Mum at Ti Kouka (it used to be Katipo) in Willis St, we had great steaks. Apart from work I run, I’ve done half marathons, I like running in winter, but I didn’t run yesterday – it was a filthy day; I got taken off on a whisky tasting. When I’m not at work I’m most likely to be found at Goldings or the Malthouse. If I’m at home I might be reading. I’ve just read Roald Dahl’s Going Solo, about his days as a younger man in Africa and the Royal Air Force. I’ve a pet. Pan the monster cat, rat eater. He’s fostered out at the moment because he likes to roam and I’m living in an apartment. Clothes: I’m a bartender as well as a bar owner, so I wear things I can work behind the bar in. My favourite NZ holiday spot is Nelson. I’m scared of flying so quick flight, great beer and friendly people. Overseas it’s probably an island off the coast of Thailand. I think I’d like a dog one day.

Photograph by Rhett Goodley-Hornblow 21

opinion

is t hi s really t h e r igh t way ? By Stephen Franks

Dear Wellington Chamber of Commerce – let’s see the business case: Why are you propagandising to replace our region’s local democracies with one region wide super-mayor? In your enthusiasm for “one voice” have you considered what happens if that one voice is stupid?

uckland might be showing us. But as a business organisation you must have done your homework. You’ll have an analytical business case. Can you show it to us members please? You won’t suffer the common delusion that amalgamation will cut spending on elected politicians. You’ll know that the Local Government Commission’s neutered but paid local boards would reduce Wellington region elected positions from 142 to 94. But with lots of Board chairpersons, savings would be only 3.32 % of the current spending on councillors, or 0.02% of total council spending. A reduction in governance quality could cost hundreds of times more. Our city is surviving the loss of head offices and the shrinking of government offices with the help of some outstanding individual business people, but every development involves struggle against a pool of doctrinaire objectors – people who define themselves only by who and what they and their friends hate – including change. I really want to understand how copying Auckland’s super-city might work for us on that problem. I wondered a year ago, in the first edition of Capital magazine. The bizarre arguments in favour a year ago

included that having one council would: • cost less – it is now clear there is no research evidence for this – there may even be size diseconomies for cities over 200,000 residents;, • give us “one voice” nationally - but democracy is all about “whose voice?” Why is it better to have all our democratic eggs in one basket? Wellington has specialised in endless revisiting of simple infrastructure decisions. Of course our neighbouring communities don’t want their votes subordinated to our paralysis. Sydney and Melbourne and many other dynamic cities thrive with multiple local scale councils smaller on average than ours. • “integrate” our economic development – if this is jargon for growing business, most business people would rather councils just got out of the way; • “reduce red tape” – ditto, • “have one single simple smart and sensible plan that covers everything we do” – how’s that working for you Auckland? – discussed below; • have “more consistency, more focus…more money

opinion

• Reserve Bank interest rates and lending restrictions hitting us all to limit the Auckland price bubble;

accountability that enables residents to influence decisions that affect their neighbourhood…”- as Goebbels taught, when you have to lie, make it a big one. The community/local boards have no power to hire and fire. They have tiny budgets for spending in their areas, and no regulatory powers. They are expected to channel messages up and down between their masters on the council, and the subject residents. Local boards will attract talkers who like politics, not doers.

• A unitary plan to bog down land use decisions for years. $30m cost already not counting the economic losses… Hearings will start on over 100,000 objection points… It will end in court; Constitutional warts, including: • 21 personal staff for the presidential mayor; • no clear role for councillors, and no duty for council staff to answer their questions;

Research supports the idea of amalgamating services but not democracy. Commendably our region is already on the way to securing size efficiencies in capital intensive specialist services like water and transport.

• an anti-democratic paid Maori Board with powers to sit alongside elected councillors; • Unitary Plan powers for mana whenua to interfere in uses of 3600 properties (and climbing). Before it acquired its new meaning in the Plan ‘mana whenua’ meant the customary law power of continuous occupiers to control their land. In the Plan it means a group that claims its ancestors once lived nearby. Property owners must ask them whether their intended use affects “cultural values”, and mana whenua have exclusive power to decide what those values are.

Let’s look at lessons from Auckland so far: • Super-city debt ballooning from $3.9 to $7.3 billion even before big transport and other infrastructure spending; • Blind commitment to a loss making vanity train set which can’t solve transport grid-lock; • 1510 staff earning over $100,000 and 113 earning over $200,000 last October, nearly three times the number since the super-city took over.

The Local Government Commission sees entrenchment of similar Maori political privilege as a feature advantage of amalgamations. Its twice postponed report for Wellington is now expected after the general election. In the meantime, dear Chamber of Commerce, please tell us how putting all our eggs in one basket will reduce the risk of being governed by fools? Could you instead promote ideas to end the lottery of election by name recognition, and make Council work more attractive for experienced leaders?

• Accumulated rate increases of up to 40% to shift costs to wealthier areas from the Mayor’s voting stronghold; • Higher business charges for water and other services to favour residential voters; • Projected service cuts or rate rises way above inflation; • Strong arm central government intervention to release new land for houses because Council won’t authorise building up instead of out in wealthy central suburbs;

f e at u r e

Folding stuff Written by Karen Shead | Photographed by Rhett Goodley-hornblow

Fraser Callaway and Oliver Ward are so confident in the strength of the cardboard desk they’ve designed, they are happy to stand on it. In fact, it is so strong it can hold up to 400 kilograms. That’s a lot of weight to put on a few pieces of cardboard.

in Cuba Street (and where they also run a separate design business), was born. “Eight months down the line, we’ve realised there’s a lot more work involved in setting up your own business that we’d thought,” they confess. The design is registered here in New Zealand and in Australia and they are just waiting for the trademark. They are working with a company in Auckland to get the desks produced and plan to use Kickstarter, a website which helps fundraise to get new projects and companies off the ground. They still have some decisions to make, such as how many to initially produce – “optimistically 15,000, realistically 500” – and how much to charge per desk: “we’ve realised our goal price of something like $100 is not realistic.” But they already have a good idea of their potential market, which includes design studios, event management, and disaster relief. “To see them used in disaster relief areas would be great,” Fraser enthuses. “It is not our goal to make lots of money, we want to design and make things which give something back.” But, what about that all important issue...the inevitable coffee spill? Won’t it ruin a cardboard desk? “We’ve made a table top which you can slot on for protection,” they explain. “And there is one which is coated with beeswax so it is waterproof. ” Problem solved. Who would have thought a piece of cardboard could have so much potential?

hese desks clearly aren’t your ordinary, run-ofthe-mill pieces of furniture. The two Massey University design graduates came up with the idea of a portable, foldable, sustainable desk as part of their final year degree project, and are now looking at making it a commercially viable product. The project, called co-nnection, looked at the transition for design students from university to getting a job in the creative industry. “We looked at ways to get students into studios for work experience and how to make it a positive experience,” explains Fraser. Most studios they spoke to didn’t have a desk available for a student on a work placement, so they came up with a motto: one studio + one student + one week + one desk. “We thought providing the student with a portable desk could help solve the problem.” The original design, which came about after a lot of small-scale desk designing, i.e. paper folding, was a stand-up desk – to fit in with modern trends and also to put the student at the same eye-level as colleagues – and could hold up to 150kgs. Since then, they have made several changes and it can now be a stand-up or sit-down desk, is slim enough to fit through a door after it has been put together, and is capable of carrying that aforementioned 400kgs. It takes seconds to put up, and folds down into a neat carrying case with a handle which doubles as a hole for computer wires. They continue to work with Massey on the co-nnection project, and it was at the university’s exhibition Exposure that the desk gained a lot of interest. This gave them the encouragement to set up a company to produce it. And that was how Refold, which has premises

Oliver and Fraser will be speaking at TEDxWellington on 24 August

w hat t h e f l o c k

Master Oystercatch er Name: Variable oystercatcher. Alternative name: black oystercatcher. Māori name: tōrea pango, tōrea tai, tōrea. Status: Endemic, recovering. There were about 2,000 variable oystercatchers in the early 1970s, and 4,500 reported in 2011. Habitat: Variable oystercatchers are widespread around the coasts of North, South and Stewart Islands but rarely seen inland. While rare, the bird will be familiar to many Wellingtonians as the greater region is a stronghold for the species. Look for them: Busily foraging in coastal habitats (i.e. on sandy beaches, shell banks and rocky shorelines) as well as inter-tidal mud-flats in estuaries. If you’ve never seen an oystercatcher round these parts before it’s only because you haven’t been looking hard enough. Keep an eye out for an all-black or mostly-black wading bird with a large, bright orange bill and red eye-ring. Call: Variable oystercatchers have a very vocal piping display that’s hard to miss once heard – head to nzbirdsonline.org.nz for some great examples. Feeds on: As their name suggests, variable oystercatchers love a good mollusc (think mussels, tuatua and cockles). They ingest them either by inserting the tip of their bills into an opening and twisting, or by hammering. English naturalist Mark Catesby coined the name in 1731 after seeing the bird eating oysters. Did you know? Variable oystercatchers come in a range of colour morphs – black, ‘smudgy’, pied, and even a rare albino morph – which had early bird enthusiasts confused for some time, believing them to be different species, forms or hybrids. Adding to the confusion was the fact that the proportion of all-black birds increases from north to south and that the pied morph looks incredibly similar to the South Island Pied Oystercatcher. If you’re lucky enough to spot a SIPO and a variable oystercatcher side-by-side, the SIPO is the smaller one. If it were human, it would be: A Bluff oyster shucker of course! Also anyone who loves to collect cockles and tuatua while swimming or strolling down sandy beaches. For the uninitiated – find yourself a sandy beach at low tide and walk out to half tide or a little way into the water. Dig your toes into the sand and wiggle round to get your toes in deeper, stopping when your feet find one of these delicious morsels. Keep going until you’ve collected your dinner, and don’t forget many of our shellfish need to be purged of sand before being eaten (unless, of course, you’re after the genuine oystercatcher experience).

culture

A modern chirp for orchestra Orchestra Wellington will be tweeting its strings this month, with mellow yet dramatic sounds for Song of the Nightingale. Also featuring Piano Concerto in G, The Golden Cockerel, and Symphony No. 83 in G minor, the mid-winter gala concert highlights the skill of New Zealand School of Music’s lecturer in piano, solo pianist, and chamber musician Dr Jian Liu. Michael Fowler Centre, Saturday, 9 August, 7:30pm.

All lit up WoW founder Suzie Moncrieff has lent light gowns to Lux light festival for some added magical fun. “There’ll be actors running around in the light gowns, interacting with people,” Lux producer Mary Laine said. Magic light pixies are just one addition to the festival for 2014. There’ll be pop-up installations by Wellington lighting designer Marcus McShane, and a lighting and sound exhibition by NZSM musician Mo Zhareei. A number of Massey students will also be participating, Laine says. “This year’s Lux light festival is the biggest yet.”

Moore to come Opera ingénue Isabella Moore featured on the cover of our second issue. Since then she has steamed ahead. In July she won both the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Christchurch Aria and the Hamilton Premier Vocal Award. Next stop is the Lexus New Zealand Song Quest at the end of the month – we’ll post results on Facebook.

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How long is a piece of string?

Sha k y b u s i n e ss The Wellington City Shake-’Em-On-Downers will open Jazz in Martinborough 2014. Most of the seven “native or adopted Wellingtonians” have played there before, but it’s the first time they will play as a group at the jazz festival. They’re very excited. “The atmosphere of the town during the jazz festival is always great, the audiences are incredibly receptive, and the wine flows freely – just as we like it!” says Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa, percussionist and drummer. Most of the seven met at the New Zealand School of Music, except the accordionist, whom they found “by burning sage and sacrificing a concertina during a lunar eclipse.” If their music is anything like their recruitment methods, Martinborough’s in for an interesting show. Jazz in Martinborough, 4–7 September.

Wonder women Okareka Dance Company draws on the true story of Te Aokapurangi, a young maiden from Mokoia Island, to create a dance performance about the life force of women. Taiaroa Royal, Malia Johnston and Taane Mete directed and choreographed the all-female cast. “We made sure to surround ourselves with women and Malia is a strong director,” Royal says of choreographing a show about the female experience. 13–16 August, Te Whaea, Newtown, Wellington.

Rachel Lenart read the script for Constellations in one sitting and knew the play had to be staged. “I had never read another play like it,” the Wellington-based director says. It’s about a relationship between two polar opposites, a quantum physicist and a beekeeper, with existential questions floating in the background. It’s “existentialism for the 21st Century,” she laughs. “What drew me was the relationship. It’s so honest and unromanticised. The play has so much going on – intellectually, philosophically, scientifically – but the relationship is what holds you, and then afterwards you see the other levels.” Wellington actor Erin Banks plays the quantum physicist, which involved a lot of research, she says. “It was a challenge to get my head around it. I had to give a presentation to the group on string theory” she said. They actually brought a cosmologist, Matt Visser, in from Victoria University. “He was very scathing about string theory,” Erin laughs. Until 23 August, Circa Theatre

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C r e at i n g wav e s Motherhood has not slowed the pace of soprano Madeleine Pierard. The former Wellington resident is flying in to sing Haydn’s The Creation (an oratorio) with the NZSO and Orpheus Choir in August. Her daughter Chloe is 10 months old and looking at Pierard’s list of singing engagements for 2014, the tot must be eligible for frequent flyer points. The Creation retells the origins of the world, taking inspiration from the Bible’s Book of Genesis and Milton’s Paradise Lost. The subject matter is epic, at two hours 10 minutes the duration ...Ben Hur anyone? 29 August, Michael Fowler Centre

fresh and Flirt y Allegro is art director Ethan Stiefel’s last season with the Royal New Zealand Ballet. He will return to New York in September after three years helping to expand and grow the RNZB. The RNZB is offering a sampler of ballet styles with its August show at the St James Theatre, from 15-17 August. “It’s a great option for those keen to see its various styles, from classical to contemporary works,” RNZB’s Managing Director Amanda Skoog said. The five ballets are the classically-styled Allegro Brillante; Les Lutins (the goblins), in which two male dancers competing for a female are joined by a violinist and pianist; Satellites, a fusion of electronic music, kinetic sculpture and dance; Mattress Suite, a series of love scenes on or near a mattress, and Megalopolis, a fusion of Broadway, club culture, fashion and burlesque.

Not set in stone Tectonic Clay works, aka “ceramics with attitude,” will be exhibited at Vivian Street’s Roar Gallery from 28 August. The work of 10 potters, including Len Castle, (above) the “godfather of NZ ceramic art,” will be on display. Local potter Maurice Bennett, better known for his ‘toast art,’ has curated the exhibition. “It brings to life the raw energy and truth of honest materials,” Bennett says. “It challenges form over function, and explores the essence of the earth’s crust.”

Celestial help needed A cocktail party at Parliament’s Grand Hall on August 7 will launch the fundraising for seismic strengthening at St Mary of the Angels in Boulcott St. The Cat 1 heritage building is not only a very pretty church its great acoustics are much appreciated by musicians. The parish needs about $3m to begin the work and approximately $9m to complete the project.

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b Make a whole lotta noise Once upon a time there was a little German boy called Andreas. Andreas always loved banging things and making big loud noises, which sometimes would drive his mother, his father, his siblings, and all his friends crazy. He would bang together whatever he could to make interesting sounds. The more sounds he discovered, the more he wanted to be able to put them all together to make one BIG sound. But it was hard to do that when there was only one person making the sounds. Andreas pondered this for a few years, still while creating more and more sounds, and then one day, he put together a band who could help him make even more noise. He got together people who also liked banging things, drummers and percussionists; he loved the big sounds of instruments you could blow into, so he added some brass instruments; he liked the sounds cat guts made when you pulled a stick across them (don’t ask how he knew this – he just did), so he added violins and double bass; he liked the sound of reeds when you blew into them, so he added accordions; and he liked the sound of vocal reeds too, so he added voices. And thus was created The Balkanistas, a 20 + group playing crazy, raucous Balkan gypsy music; they were the only Wellington band to play at this year’s Womad. This month, three members are travelling to the world’s largest trumpet event, at Guča in Serbia. The village of Gucha has a particular love affair with the trumpet, which began way back in 1831. Band maestro Andreas Lepper says GUČA is the “Balkan brass equivalent of Rio’s samba festival.”

Written by Sharon Greally

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Needles are in Who says knitting and cinema don’t mix? Certainly not the 140 knitters who go to the knitting and film sessions held at the Embassy. Duty manager Jessie Pottinger set up the bi-monthly Lights-Up Knitting sessions last April. Now knitters can sit and watch a film with the lights at trailer level, so there is enough light to see their needles and yarn. Jessie, a keen knitter herself, says: “Cinemas offer lights - up sessions for other groups of people, like mums and bubs, so why not knitting? People often knit in front of the TV, so why not do it in front of a film and make a night out of it, too?” I went along to one of the screenings, clutching my knitting needles and yarn. As soon as I walked into the Embassy I saw people knitting and chatting away – and they were happy to show me their projects and give me some knitting tips. As a novice knitter, I spent more of my time watching the film than knitting, but when I did knit a few rows, there was ample lighting, and my fellow knitters were avidly watching the film while knitting needles click – clacked merrily away. And if you think the sound of knitting needles is going to be a distraction, fear not. The sound in cinemas being what it is, not a single click or clack could be heard. The event has several local sponsors, and the price of a ticket includes a drink. And that’s not all. Main sponsors, Holland Road Yarn Company, provide a goody bag themed to the night’s film. I saw “What we do in the shadows” and there were plenty of vampire-inspired treats including a bulb of garlic, and some chewy, lolly vampire teeth. “We have many regulars and some come from the Wairarapa. It is establishing a real knitting community,” said Pottinger. It’s a rather nice, cosy and woolly (in a good way) experience. I’ll definitely be back – and I’ll try to get a bit more knitting done next time. Written by Karen Shead | Photographed by Ashley Church 32

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ALL HAIL THE HUTT Written by David Cohen | Photographed by ashley Church

One afternoon in the Hutt Valley back when I was a kid, a friend talked me into taking an illicit ride on a goods train. I wasn’t yearning to test authority, but the thought of enjoying another view of my childhood suburban expanse tempted me. I decided to take my chances.

We loafed around for a bit in the Upper Hutt freight yard. Eventually we found an empty carriage on a train that looked ready to roll. We clambered in. It had a thick covering of black grime on the metal floor. We hunched in the shadows. Then the train began to move. Soon we were flying—the wind zipping in, the clack clack clack of the wheels getting louder and louder. Familiar sights, including my own little house in Sutherland Avenue Trentham tumbling through a partially opened door in a whole new steely light. Then the land gave way to a bridge, the sudden narrow trestles of the railway tracks beneath changing to black water below sprinkled in white light, and then just as suddenly changing again to dry land next to a golf course, a steep gorge and— somewhere out in the distance—a soon-to-be opened television studio bafflingly located in the middle of a vast field. On and on we rode, relish-

t was the 1970s. As acts of youthful rebellion go, this one seemed particularly fitting. I was 11 or 12 years old. I lived next to the railway line in Upper Hutt. Already I was also starting to feel like something of a pipsqueak émigré. It wasn’t the apparently unrelentingly flat expanse of the capital’s satellite suburbs, and it wasn’t just the culturally conformant style of the era, and it wasn’t just my own place living on the wrong side of the economic tracks—but pulling all those considerations together seemed to make a strong argument for wanting to get the hell out. Already I had acquired an inkling of the great boyhood myth of riding the rails to some mysteriously shining city at the end of the line. When you’re a kid, it’s hard not to dream about trains anyway, but all the more so when you fall asleep to their sound outside your bedroom window each night. Rare was the time I heard it and didn’t wish I was on board too.

Cambridge Terrace, Epuni

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ing the great boyhood myth of sailing the rails to the spray-painted city at the end of the line. The Great Train Ride ended without incident. We disembarked in Wellington and headed for a pool hall. But a number of similar escapades didn’t end quite so well. Soon enough I ended up taking another trip down the railway lines, this time as a ward of the Youth Court. I ended up at Epuni Boys’ Home, a residential institution in Lower Hutt, a notorious institution at the time and more recently the subject of millions of dollars worth of claims against the Crown for heavy-handedness and alleged abuse. From there it was on to a bunch of other residences dotted around the Hutt Valley, in Naenae, Taita, and Petone. TODAY THOSE EXPERIENCES are just fleeting interludes, peak moments between infancy and adulthood, tucked deep into the recesses of the mind. And there they might have remained had I not belatedly acquired a much better recent understanding of what a lot of them meant. The insight began when I was invited to write a book for Random House detailing some of those earlier times. The subsequent work, Little Criminals, is currently being made into a feature documentary that will screen next year. Truth to tell, the initial assignment sounded a bit steep. Autobiographical excursions, even semi-autobiographical ones, are minefields at the best of times, let alone when they deal exclusively with far-flung formative periods.

What I did discover, rediscover and uncover, was that the Hutt Valley, far from being the ineffably dull proposition I had always tended to think of it as, boasts a history every bit as gripping as the city of Wellington. In the case of Petone, for instance, I learned for the first time about Honiana Te Puni, a Te Ati Awa chief who was among the signatories of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the deed of purchase of the land about Wellington. Epuni (as he was universally known, the namesake of the suburb) was just about the best friend the English settlers could possibly have asked for. Along with his nephew, Wharepouri, Epuni turned up in 1839 to welcome traders from the New Zealand Company on board the Tory, the first colonial ship to anchor in Wellington Harbour, assuring the newcomers that he would be only too pleased to do business with them. This he did, enjoining other Maori to follow suit; a strikingly benevolent attitude compared with the colonial land-grabbing soon to take place. No doubt it also helped lessen the bloodletting that would soon grip the new country. We still don’t know for sure what he made of his beloved tribal area being named after one of the New Zealand Company’s directors, Sir William Hutt, a key figure in annexing the Maori nation. For a time, the colonists had grand ideas about refashioning the area as a mirror image of old England: decorous, devout and imperiously mannered. It was something of a jolt to stumble on, for instance, early accounts of what became the rough-and-tumble neighbourhood of Epuni,

Westfield – Lower Hutt Woburn Station – Lower Hutt Crêpes A Go Go – Petone

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a bustling centre of horticultural commerce in its distant time. Here, according to one account, gentlemen of great means and prestige strolled the streets, semisilhouetted against the blaze of the imperial sun. Here tradesmen delivered their goods by horse-drawn carts and an occasional Chinese greengrocer, replete with pigtail, was seen with his baskets balanced on a pole across his shoulders. Here the children knew where all the birds’ nests were, who grew the tastiest tomatoes, walnuts and fruit, and, one writer marvelled, “the settlers were good hearted and industrious citizens.” A crash course in Naenae’s history also proved to be something of an eye-opener to what this corner of Hutt was to become. To outsiders, the suburb is sometimes dismissed as a local byword for relative cultural squalor and petty (and sometimes not-so-petty) crime, the suburban equivalent of something that has been dragged through the hedge backwards. In fact, as I discovered, Naenae was the country’s original “designer community”, a painstakingly planned model suburb and shopping centre that many government planners in the late 1940s believed could become one of New Zealand’s leading commercial centres, serviced by a system of river boats chugging up and down the Hutt River. For a time Naenae was one of the country’s fastestgrowing suburbs. Traces of that optimistic first flush

still remain. Its shopping centre still boasts one of the region’s nicest swimming pool complexes: the if somewhat grandiosely named, Olympic. One of the country’s best dedicated gyms, the Naenae Boxing Academy, run by former Australasian welterweight champ turned motivational speaker Billy Graham, does very brisk business indeed, especially among the young and restless, festooned inside with a galaxy of photographs from boxing’s golden era, the academy’s immaculate hall is a sight to behold for anyone appreciative of the sweet science. And Naenae is sociologically fascinating. It’s the buckle of the urban belt of the largest state-housing project ever undertaken in New Zealand’s history, stretching all the way from Stokes Valley to the Petone foreshore and dotted with points of interest. Among them: a lion’s share of the region’s kids’ playgrounds, one of the country’s oldest colonial churches and a mighty waterway. Not forgetting the scores of walkways and parklands—if there is one among them that is not picturesque, I’m yet to walk it—a personal favourite being the ones in Trentham, which, remarkably, retain forestation from the pre-colonial era. The great shame about the Hutt Valley is not so much anything indigenous to the area but the fact that so few Wellingtonians ever bother to see it. Even from the carriage of a fast-moving train.

The Hutt waking up The Dowse – Lower Hutt

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Mission to destroy Written By Melody Thomas

From weeding out pests on a New Zealand island sanctuary, to hunting invasive birds in the middle of the Indian ocean and joining the search for the elusive Grey Ghost on the South Island’s West Coast Jamie McAulay’s work takes him to places most of us will never get to see. He talks about adventures in conservation past, present and future.

or someone who’s just spent six months on an isolated island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Plimmerton-raised conservation worker Jamie McAulay seems quite at home, if not a little dreamy, sipping his flat white in a busy Wellington cafe. “[It] feels like… a kind of parallel reality existing out there in the middle of the ocean, with giant tortoises and flamingos and sharks. Being back here feels both normal and surreal,” he reflects. The island, called Aldabra – off Africa’s east coast. To get there you must first fly to Mahe in the Seychelles, then search out a 12-seater charter plane to fly roughly 1,000km south towards Madagascar, landing on the tiny island of Assumption. There you transfer to speedboat for a 50km journey across open ocean to Aldabra. The main research station is home to the island’s entire population – 15 to 20 research and logistics staff. This is where you’ll spend about a quarter of your time, but for the rest of it you’ve still got some travelling to do. “To reach the field site you then take a speedboat another 30km across the huge tidal lagoon, transfer into a dinghy for a passage up through the mangroves to a landing spot. From here the hut is an easy 45-minute walk inland. The kicker is the mangroves are only navigable on king high tides, giving access about six days a month,” says Jamie. It’s a long road filled with stops, starts and times for

pause – which isn’t a bad metaphor for Jamie’s own journey towards a career in conservation. A graduate of the New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch, Jamie was four years into his burgeoning career in radio when, in 2010, he decided to pack it all in. “I was 24 with no mortgage, no kids, no wife. I woke up one night and thought, nah, if I don’t like it I can actually just leave,” he says. With a bit of money stashed in the bank to tide him over, Jamie gave himself some time to figure out what to do next. He took up gardening, “tried” to surf and did some travelling, eventually heading to Fiordland to “help out” on a conservation project his then-girlfriend was involved with. It was here that Jamie found himself in the unlikely scenario that decided his future career path. “It was 2am in the South Island beech forest and I was trying to measure the forearm of a tiny 12-gram bat,” he laughs, “That was it right there.” Suddenly overcome with the desire to work in conservation, the next step was finding someone to hire a broadcasting graduate with few specialist skills “and a vague, newfound interest”. But Jamie applied for a few jobs with DOC and eventually one of his rejection letters - “DOC applicants will know these well” - came with a tiny glimmer of hope; an invitation to volunteer on Little Barrier Island in the outer Hauraki Gulf.

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“A few weeks later I was on the DOC vessel Hauturu sailing out of Devonport for Little Barrier,” he says. Jamie was recruited for two weeks, and his ‘in’ with DOC came just a week into the work, when one of the paid staff was forced to leave by a fear of heights – “Not a good thing on the razor–sharp ridges and steep sea cliffs of Little Barrier.” Jamie had shown that he was interested, passionate and could do the work, and thanks to a big dose of serendipity, found himself part of the team working in one of New Zealand’s most beautiful locations. “The island is free of all animal pests like possums, rats and stoats. Kakariki and kokako flock on the lawn eating clover flowers, while every night more than hundreds of thousands of seabirds crash ashore, kiwi roam and giant weta romp,” says Jamie. Recruited for the unglamorous job of weeding, Jamie spent the next two and a half months roaming the island searching for pest plant species, of which he found five or six in that entire time. It sounds like time and money wasted, but this is how eradication programmes go. “It’s not even worth getting rid of the first one if you’re not going to get rid of the last one. So you know from the get-go that you’re going to have to put a bit of time, money and resources into getting rid of those last few individuals,” he says. A lot of DOC work is in short team contracts over the summer field season. Jamie spent the next three and a half years various, filling the gaps between DOC contracts with work here and overseas. He worked on Stewart Island with a company that offers guided birding tours, shot up to Pureora (near Lake Taupo) to help monitor the criticallythreatened North Island kokako, flew to Ecuador for three months volunteering in the cloudforest around Mindo, and returned to New Zealand for a series of contracts around the King Country, working with kokako, kaka, frogs and bats. When these contracts ended, Jamie discovered the job in Aldabra. It takes dedication to sign yourself up for any job from halfway across the world, but that’s especially true when the job requires Survivor-style commitment and all you have to guide you is a website, Google maps and images, and a sparse collection of blogs. But Aldabra is a special island in terms of conservation. “Until recently,” says Jamie, Aldabra was the only island in the world to contain all native birdlife with no introduced species. A few years ago staff found an infestation of introduced birds that are much more aggressive and competitive than the endemic Aldabra fody and could eas-

ily threaten extinction if left unchecked.” On Aldabra his job was to hunt and kill the invasive fody (his words are “find and remove”), to protect the endemic variety. Mornings would be spent in the field spotting and capturing the birds, then by 11am it would be too hot to continue and the team would break for lunch and a siesta, or a dive if they were so inclined. “I took to snorkelling pretty hard… with green turtles, nurse sharks, squads of eagle rays, giant groupers, as well as all the usual tropical coral reef delights,” he says. After a break the team would “process” the birds caught earlier and compile data, then head back out into the field for a few hours before dinner. “Long days in the incredibly hot, harsh environment is really taxing on bodies and gear. I went through three pairs of good boots in six months. The harsh raised coral rock eats Vibram for breakfast,” he explains. The idea of killing one animal to protect another is difficult to swallow. Is it our role to step in and help prevent a species from dying off, or is it better to let nature take its course? For Jamie, who has spent hours upon hours crawling round in wet bush searching for minuscule frogs and weeks at a time combing treetops before spotting just one kokako, there’s no question this kind of action is sometimes necessary. “We can either sit and watch… or we can act. Humans introduced this threat, and unfortunately only we can remove it. The alternative is to lose the species forever,” he says. Jamie’s next contract will see him searching South Island forests for a bird until very recently presumed extinct – the South Island Kokako, otherwise known as the ‘Grey Ghost’. “Last year the South Island Kokako Trust forced a change from the [extinct] status after presenting a large body of data suggesting the birds really might still be out there, including more than one hundred reported encounters,” he says. The possibility of rediscovering a bird presumed longgone is exciting, but the reality of the work is more long hours searching confidential locations, for something that might never be found. “What keeps you going is that you know what you’re doing is really worth it. The work is important – to know more about these species and to try help save them. The tedium is going towards something good that you really believe in,.”

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study break

A nostalgic look at the winter study break. The books are long, the coffee is strong and the distractions are high. Styled by Jodi Pullar Make-up by Natalee Fisher Photography by Ashley Church Art Direction by Shalee Fitzsimmons Assisted by Rhett Goodley-Hornblow Models from Kirsty Bunny Ruby Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hagan, Emily Steel, Angus Riddle & Harry Dalton 45

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Stockists: Crane Brothers, Superette, Ruby, World, Moochi, Minnie Cooper, I love Ugly, Sass & Bide 49

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Whitney Nicholls-Pot ts

Rachel Lods-Holder

1. Wellington fashion needs more Tassels.

1. Wellington fashion needs more C.O.L.O.U.R! Wellington is a sea of black and drapey.

2. The best store in Wellington is Comrades Army Surplus (everything you want and nothing you need).

2. The best store in Wellington is Emporium, hands down best vintage wears.

3. My fail-safe fall-back outfit is My Birthday suit.

3. My fail-safe fall-back outfit is Band t-shirt, long red skirt, fun socks and Doc’s.

4. My best fashion accessory is A smile.

4. My best fashion accessory is My glasses – having broken eyes has its perks.

5. The one thing missing from my wardrobe is Spice Girls platforms – my mum never got me any and I never got over it.

5. The one thing missing from my wardrobe is A killer little black dress. I’m still yet to find “the one.”

By Ashley Church 50

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A head of roses

When in Rome Tymone Winter’s latest fashion label, Empire of Genius, is an edgy take on handbags and accessories. The Wellington designer grew up in Te Aro and studied at Bowerman School of Design and at Massey University. The bag collection mixes leather with recycled native timber and plywood, and the clothes, “a little bit of a Japanese influence and a little bit of luxury punk”, Winter says. Winter worked on Taika Waititi’s Boy and What We Do in the Shadows with costume designer Amanda Neale, who is also Empire of Genius’ stylist.

Teeing up Hohepa Thompson and Sofia Aroha have been selected to show collections at New Zealand fashion week. They are the Wellington selections from the Miromoda Fashion Design Competition. Thompson’s menswear collection, entered in the emerging section, is a really positive step up for him, said Miromoda cofounder Ata Te Kanawa. Sofia won the avant garde section at Miromoda.

Maybe, baby Aida Maeby is Wellington’s new women’s wear label. The 100% Wellington made label emphasises natural fibres, small runs and lasting designs. Their first collection, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, is named after the novella of the same name by Shirley Jackson, because both feature themes of good and evil. “It will be a recurring theme in all Aida Maeby garments,” said Jessica Matthews, the woman behind the wardrobe.

Mindy Dalzell’s latest bridal creations are floral headpieces “as heavy as a sack of potatoes,” Mindy laughs. The florist at Twig & Arrow took apple branches from her kindly neighbour’s property to create a deer-inspired theme. “I was always staring at them so I finally asked her if I could take some. They looked like antlers to me!” She was inspired by the World of Wearable Arts’ approaching show.

Midnight ladies Nada Piatek’s has launched ‘She arrives at Midnight’ under a new label, Beyond Tuesday. It is the sister label to deNada, Piatek’s main clothing line, and “is a move toward the edgier end of our market,” Piatek said. deNada moved to the former Witchery Man space in Featherston street in mid-July.

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Cot ton on Sam Millward has returned from a six year stint in India and she’s brought her clothing label home with her. Stamped draws on traditional woodblock printing techniques Millward learned working at Jaipur textile company Anokhi. The Lower Hutt local was inspired by the people she met in India who were keeping traditional, sustainable heritage craft alive. “There were nomads doing embroidery and vets helping the camels in Gujarat. Traditional musicians were jamming with Asian musicians, there was drum and bass from London, a Jewish harp and drum from Jodhpur and no other language in common,” she said. It was a melting pot of cultures. Now she’s home, mixing traditional techniques with modern marketing. “I’m using traditional methods to make contemporary clothing,” she says. “I’m not aiming towards traditional Indian designs.” The 100% cotton clothing is printed at Jaipur company Gitto with Sam’s hand-drawn designs. Millward studied clothing and textile design at Wellington Polytechnic and worked at Midnight Espresso when it first opened in the 80s before leaving New Zealand to live in the UK and India for 16 years.

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Visit our showroom to view an extensive range of unique wallpapers, fabrics, furniture, rugs, lighting and curtaining options and be inspired! We 2 are open to the public, 6 days a week 5 Or contact us to book a personalised interior design consultation for your home or workplace.

WALL St Designs, 352 Tinakori Road, Thorndon (04) 499 8684 3 6 www.wallstdesigns.co.nz

Cherry Orchard Antiques

A collection of fabulous pieces from England and France. Expect whimsical and quirky decorative collectables and lovely rustic country furniture. Pine two drawer dairy table c. 1870 P.O.A Open 10-4pm Tues to Sat11-4pm Sunday

As a contemporary jewellery designer and maker Natalie creates dramatic yet wearable bespoke pieces of work to adorn and decorate the body for both special occasions and everyday life.

Ph (04) 499 8533 344 Tinakori Road (behind Sprig & Fern), Thorndon www.cherryorchardantiques.co.nz

Natalie Salisbury’s Jewellery Collection is available exclusively at Lazule. 151 Cuba St, open 7 days, 385 8418 www.lazule.co.nz

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fond hearts Written and photographed by Sarah Burton

She was a regular patron ordering Falling Waters and he was the charming barman. Love blossomed under the mellow lights of Wellington’s favourite bar. Now talented duo Christian McCabe, former part-owner of the Matterhorn, and illustrator Kelly Thompson, call Melbourne home.

cCabe’s new venture is The Town Mouse in the suburb of Carlton. He enlisted Matterhorn architect and friend Allistar Cox to design the setting for his trademark impeccable service and exciting fusion dishes. And Thompson’s creative brand has gone from strength to strength with her sumptuous illustrations of used by brands like Escada and publications like The London Sunday Times. McCabe and Thompson’s professions can both bring moments of beauty to someone’s day. “Our work is about sensory experience,” says Thompson. Both industries are viewed as superficial by a lot of people,” adds McCabe, “but which actually are some of the most enduring cultural artifacts of human societies, going back thousands of years.” The nature of Thompson’s work means she easily takes on New Zealand clients, as well as ones further afield. McCabe, on the other hand left a bona fide institution behind and has given himself the task of creating something new from scratch. So how does one create a celebrated institution? For McCabe the answer is found firmly in the community. “It’s like the community living room, I think that’s what an institution is,” said Christian. “The late 90s / early 2000s will be looked back on as a golden age in Wellington’s cultural history, so much came out of that era, and a lot of it was played out in the city’s bars and clubs. We were lucky enough to be a focal point of all this at Matterhorn, and later on at Mighty Mighty. “That was the cool thing about the Matterhorn, says Thompson. “We could go there when we were university

students and we were out rampaging, and there’d also be an old guy in the corner having a date with his wife.” Their approach with The Town Mouse was to find a site that had soul and build something that engaged the locals.“There’s been restaurants in there for over 100 years. The neighbourhood is a traditional restaurant area. Lygon Street is where first the Jewish and then the Italian immigrants moved to. It was a little haven where they could establish their own communities.” So what differences has McCabe found between the hospitality scenes in Wellington and Melbourne? “Melburnians really know how to dine, it’s a national sport and it’s taken very seriously by a lot of people.” “Coming from a smaller city with fewer influences there’s definitely an element of being slightly star-struck which makes you excited about what’s on offer, and very keen to please. But I guess that’s a lesson that you need to keep yourself fresh if you want to stay at the top.” While McCabe was raised in Wellington, Thompson grew up in a small town, “where you really have to fight for something if you want it.” Her upbringing has given her great perspective. “I always think to myself that it is a bit of a luxury to work as a full-time illustrator, so I never expect anything to come to me that I haven’t worked hard for. it keeps me positive and it makes me push myself.” The thing both of them miss from the city where they met is something every Wellingtonian knows well. “The intimacy that comes from living in such a compact village. You get to see all the people you like to see just by walking down the street or going to a cafe.”

edibles

Christian & Kelly in their home with Billie the beagle. In the background is a photo of the Matterhorn mountain (in Switzerland). 55

edibles

Part y in the house The Malthouse celebrates 21 years this month with a weeklong line-up of celebratory beverages. From 18–24 August they have birthday-themed specialties, such as a brew made with the core ingredients of a birthday cake and a barley wine made with 21 different types of malt – one for each of their 21 years!

Not just a pret t y space Prefab on Jessie St has opened a functions centre. They’ve had “a good smattering” already, from fundraisers and long lunches to fashion shows and French antique pop-up shops. “We’re keeping it as varied as possible,” says events manager Rob Wilkinson. “The idea is not to be pigeonholed as solely a corporate or wedding venue,” (although it has been both). Next up is their Wellington on a Plate pop-up restaurant, PigFish, a collaboration between Prefab, Rachel Taulelei of seafood company Yellow Brick Road Ltd, and Martin Bosley.

A l o t o n y o u r p l at e Wellington on a Plate 2014 is bigger and more popular than ever before. New businesses and events add to the success of the annual food festival, says Gerard Quinn, chief executive of Grow Wellington, One of these events is Hannah’s laneway banquet, a mini street festival put on by the businesses on Eva street. It sold out in 15 minutes. Guided tours of Lux light festival installations followed by a meal at a Wellington on a Plate participating restaurant, were doubled in number when the first two sold out in 24 hours, Lux producer Mary Aline says. The Producer Awards, announced August 15, also had more entrants this year than any pevious year.

A hop, skip and a jump Beervana gets an infusion from Portland, Oregon for the first time this year. Award-winning Portland brewers Widmer, Gigantic and Commons, will showcase their brews at a Taste of Portland area at Beervana. Portland chef Paul Kasten will present food and beer matches at Taste of Portland seminars. Portland is considered to be the beer capital of the USA.

edibles

Spilling the beans L’affare has spilled the beans. Their book, How To Make Really Good Coffee, was originally a guide for their barista courses and is now available to the public. The manual covers different types and processes to ensure you’re awake throughout the day...or until your next infusion is due.

b o oks & brunch Vic Books cafe is now open for Saturday brunch. They are aiming for small but perfectly formed meals, says general manager of the university bookstore Juliet Blyth. “It’s all the good stuff. We want to get the right balance between an affordable breakfast for students and encouraging the local neighbourhood to come down and join us,” she says.

N o t h i n g tat t y about it Ryan Tattersall, chef and owner of Lower Hutt restaurant Cobra, has won the Fine Dining category in this year’s NZ Vegetarian Dish Challenge. His dish was goat’s cheese, lavender and honey cannelloni with artichoke egg, artichoke puree, butterkin (a new cross between pumpkin and butternut) and fig. “Vegetable dishes are no less challenging than meat dishes,” he said. “The challenge lies in finding creative things to do with the vegetables. We use different cooking techniques, use different produce that people don’t use day to day at home and often add layers of flavour by preparing one vegetable a number of different ways for a dish.” And he doesn’t want to offer risotto as the only vegetarian choice. “Or if there is one,” he says, “it should be amazing.”

A light meal Wellington on a plate lights up the month of August for many participants each year, but this year Lux gives a helping hand. The annual Wellington night lights festival has joined forces with the foodie event, offering a guided tour of some of Lux’s light installations followed by dinner at a Wellington on a Plate restaurant.

forest cantina

Easy as pie Gemma Noys and Sean Black were sick of bad pies, so began making their own. They bought retro caravan café Lady Luck, positioned it in the Placemakers carpark along Hutt road, and have been serving homemade goodies to “the tradies” for the past 18 months. They make everything on site, as they go. “Fresh is best, that’s our policy,” Sean says. “It’s simple food that everyone likes.” And their fame is spreading; they are seeing commuters on the Hutt Road who are calling in regularly. They offer slices and muffins, sweets and savouries, but gourmet pies are what they’re known for. Gemma, a chef for 13 years, made up the recipes. “There’s a bit of this, a bit of that, a bit of love, some mushrooms,” she says. Gemma bounced between the food and coffee industries before she and Sean bought Lady Luck. “I get bored,” she says. They settled on Havana coffee because it’s “nice and strong, for our strong, tough tradesmen,” she jokes. The coffee company’s family-oriented approach also appealed. They even gave their eight-month-old daughter, Stella, a Havana onesie. “She’s pretty famous. Everyone always asks how she is – what about us?” Gemma laughs. Sean took over the reins while Gemma was at home with Stella, learning the recipes and working on a chef’s apprenticeship. Now they’re looking for a shop in Miramar, with space for a catering kitchen and to expand their product range, Sean says. It’ll be a change from the neat space they currently work in, but even in a caravan they make it look as easy as pie.

Written by Anna Jackson-Scott | Photographed by Rhett Goodley-Hornblow 58

cheers

wow f or beer By Kieran Haslett-Moore

y day David Cryer imports malt from the northern hemisphere, keeping the brewers of New Zealand and Australia supplied with the ingredients they need to keep making complex tasty beers. By night, when he isn’t collecting comic books or indulging a passion for Tony Robinson’s Time Team show, he organises the Beervana beer festival, the biggest event on the craft beer calendar, which brings beer lovers from across New Zealand and the world to Wellington to drink, think and talk about beer. David established Cryer Malt in 1993 when his cousin married the director of the Scottish malting company Bairds and the idea struck him that the newly established craft breweries like Harringtons and Emersons might want to use high quality malts from Europe. The company thrived as the New Zealand craft beer scene grew, and received a boost when the Canterbury Malting Company closed its Heathcote Malting in 1999. When David began the company in 1993 he didn’t know it but the brewing industry ran in his blood. David’s great grandfather Richard Stent established the R.Stent & Co Brewing Company in 1897. The brewery was located in what was called Quinn St. Long since disappeared lane situated where the World Trade Centre Building is now, to the south of Left Bank. The company marketed itself with the slogan “Make Life Worth While and Drink Stent’s Pale Ale or try Invalid Stout.” Adverts from the time offer home deliveries of casks and two-gallon jars to Eastbourne, Petone, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt on Thursdays. Perhaps there is a business opportunity for Parrotdog and Garage Project there! The brewery operated through World War Two, suffering extensive damage in the 1942 earthquake, it was renamed O’Halloran’s Brewery in 1946 but had made way for the Woolworths loading dock by 1950. David also descends from “The Father of Wellington” John Plimmer of Plimmer’s Ark fame. The Plimmer family ran pubs across the city and astutely married into the brewery-owning Stent family. In 2011 David Cryer purchased the Beervana Festival from the Brewers Guild of New Zealand. The guild

had decided the festival was too big a drain on the guild’s resources. David took the festival and moved it to the stadium a venue which lacked the aesthetic class of its former venue the Town Hall but allowed the festival to serve food from some of the best restaurateurs in Wellington rather than being limited to one contracted caterer. Since the move Beervana has gone from strength to strength, each year adding more beers, more seminars and tasting events and has each year attracted more ticket sales. This year the festival has brewers coming from as far as Portland, Oregon to take part. It includes a mayoral welcome and beer degustation dinner for the Portland brewers hopefully beginning a long sister town relationship between our craft beer capital and the craft beer capital of the US. This year will also see for the first time a bar dedicated to the Pink Boots Society, an international organisation of woman brewers who have pink gumboots as their trademark. David says running Beervana is a huge effort on top of the normal business of running his malt importing company. However he says it is all worth it and he has firm goals as to where he wants the festival to be. “I want Beervana to be the best beer show in the southern hemisphere, to be a place where all that is done and said is good about beer. Where anyone can come and find something to enjoy and leave with more knowledge and appreciation of beer and its goodness. I want it to be like the Beer World’s World of Wearable Arts.” The World of Wearable Arts comparison is not as unlikely as it might first seem. Last year Aro Valley’s Garage Project worked with the Royal New Zealand Ballet to construct a film-set like-bar where they served an exotic range of festival-only beers that had as much to do with the beer you can buy throughout the year as a WOW costume has to do with what you can pick up in Glassons. When Beervana opens its doors on 22 August David will be walking in the footsteps of his forefathers, continuing the story of beer in this city.

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the forest cantina

Beet a b ou t t he bu sh by unna burch

t’s no secret that i’m a bit of a food geek, and beetroot is one of my favourite ingredients. I love the taste and the way they look. We often have the Chioggia striped beets growing in our garden, and, I also have a beetroot tattoo! I think the love of beets came from my Grandmother. She was an amazing cook and preserver and she would have rows and rows of jarred fruits and pickles in her pantry. Beetroot was one of them. Every Sunday for my brother and me (because we would beg for it) she would shallow fry slices of cold potatoes cooked the night before and we would eat them with pickled beetroot. That hot crispy potato and cold vinegary beetroot was amazing. If there was just one dish that made me nostalgic, it would be that. Growing your own, especially from seed, is a labour of love and often I don’t have the time to stay on top of my gardening. So when I saw that Moore Wilsons had three different types of beetroots I had to buy them ALL and

make a salad. I bought baby Chioggia’s, the common red ones and also golden beets. If you find it hard to source these and you want to have colour in your salad, use some golden kumara with the common red beetroot instead. This was the perfect dish to cook for a vegetarian friend coming to dinner. Served with some fresh bread and butter and our honey it’s such a yummy light meal. Beetroot and goat cheese is one of those perfect pairings because the beets, when roasted, are sweet and the goat cheese has a sharpness to it. I also added honey roasted walnuts for texture, but you can also use toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds instead. This salad also goes really well with roast chicken and red meats and is great to take along to a pot luck BBQ in the warmer months. It stores well in the fridge so you can make it the night before and take it along to work for lunch. Add a can of drained lentils to make it more of a filling meal on the go if you want.

Method Serves 4 6 medium beetroots, all red or a mix of red and golden small bunch baby Chioggia beetroots (optional) olive oil salt/pepper 100g goats milk feta ½ cup walnut halves 2 tspn honey small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped For the dressing 2 tspns lemon juice 3 tspns good olive oil 1 tspn runny honey flaky salt and pepper Note if you are interested in growing your own heirloom beetroots, I buy our seeds online at www.kingsseeds.com

Preheat oven to 200°C fan bake.

If using Chioggia beetroot, clean and set aside. Don’t roast these as once cooked they lose their stripes. Serve raw in the salad, very thinly sliced.

Wrap each beetroot up individually in tin foil, drizzling with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Cooking the beets whole gives their skin gives an amazing flavour and they don’t dry out. Cook for 40mins or until a knife can go through the centre of the beetroot with ease.

On a separate baking-paper-lined tray, add your walnuts to the centre and drizzle over the honey. Bake for 6 minutes or until golden and toasted. Remove and cool. Once cool, roughly chop.

Once the beetroots are cooked, remove from the oven and carefully open them up and allow to cool. Peel the skins (use gloves if you don’t want pink hands).

Slice the beetroots up, ( I do some disks and some wedges) and pile into the centre of each plate. Crumble over the feta, the flatleaf parsley and add the chopped walnuts. Add the thinly sliced choggia if you have them.

Shake all the dressing ingredients in a jar until the honey is combined. Spoon over and around the salad. Season the salad with flaky sea salt and pepper.

cheers

P e r i o d i c a l ly s p e a k i n g

On e man’s tr ash… Written by John Kerr

My weekly wander down the driveway to put out the rubbish is always coloured with a twinge of guilt as I look down the street at bag after yellow bag stuffed full of suburban refuse.

ellington does quite well in minimising its nonrecyclable waste. We produce the least rubbish per person in Australasia, generating just 250kg of trash a year, well below the regional average of 427kg. But don’t crack out the champagne just yet -- that is still a lot of garbage winding up in a hole in the ground in the region’s landfills. However there is a silver lining to all this buried rubbish and it can be found in a green shipping container parked next to the landfill in Happy Valley, just south of Brooklyn. The container is the Happy Valley Landfill Power Station, an initiative set up in 2008 by the city council and a couple of power companies. Although the station’s original bright green paint job has faded, the unit still ticks along, running a custom-built electricity generator powered solely by the tonnes of rubbish buried near Wellington’s south coast. Whenever you head to Happy Valley to dispose of recycling, or peruse the tip shop’s collection of obsolete phone chargers and out-of-date magazines, take a moment to gaze at the container and the various pipes and attachments hanging off it, and marvel at the technological ingenuity of extracting energy from the city’s decomposing waste. The fuel for the generator comes from landfill gas, the byproduct of microbial critters breaking down the waste. As bacteria digest the food scraps, paper waste and other biodegradable material buried underground they produce a highly flammable gas, composed largely of methane. This gas is collected by a network of pipes crisscrossing through decades’ worth of buried rubbish and carried to the station. Here it powers a grunty V20 combustion engine (like a V8 car engine, only more awesome) connected to a generator unit which feeds electricity into the local power grid. Annually, the commercially competitive power station puts out a sizeable eight gigawatt hours of energy, enough power to meet the demands of a 1,000 homes. And the fact that the electricity is generated locally means less energy is lost in transmission. 64

The real kicker is that methane is a potent greenhouse gas and if not burned by the power station it would eventually seep out of the landfill into an atmosphere already crowded with heat-trapping gases. Compared with carbon dioxide, methane rates about twenty times worse on the bad-for-the-environment scale over a 100-year period. And we are talking about a lot of methane here; the system collects and burns almost five million cubic meters of landfill gas every year. That is about enough to fill the Westpac Stadium five times over. In this way the power station prevents greenhouse gas emissions and generates electricity in the process. While it would be ideal to not have gigantic piles of buried rubbish in the first place, it’s a win-win situation given the circumstances. And it doesn’t end there. As the city’s population and consequent waste output grows, there is potential for the scheme to expand to produce more power from increased landfill gas. There are a number of similar landfill gas plants around the country and other councils are looking into setting them up. Unfortunately methane creeping out of landfills is only small slice of the New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. In total, waste processes such as landfills make up just 5% of our emissions. Carbon dioxide and methane from the agricultural, energy and transport sectors are the real culprits in our contribution to climate change. One little carbon-neutral power plant isn’t going to save the world. But initiatives like the Happy Valley Landfill Power Station typify the environmentalists’ mantra ‘think globally, act locally’. All the small efforts to limit our impact on the planet can add up to a cleaner, greener future. I can’t hide from the fact that the stupendous amount of refuse we produce is an ever-growing issue, and turning to more sustainable ways of living is the only real way it can be addressed. But I take solace in the knowledge that the faded green container in Happy Valley is still chugging along, making the best of a bad situation.

by the book

upside d own for diets Her book is challenging the core of weight loss convention, turning everything we thought we knew about calories and dieting upside down. Health and weight loss guru Dr Libby Weaver will be taking Wellington by its waist in August as she tours the country showcasing ideas from her new book, Dr Libby’s The Calorie Fallacy. Tickets are $30, and audiences can be sure that they will leave without the burdening desire to count calories. With her aim for you to ‘stop dieting and start thriving’, take hold of this delicious advice that is not as stale as you think. August 21, 7pm, Old Saint Pauls’.

It speaks volum e s

N e w c u r e f o u n d f o r M o n day i t i s The International Institute of Modern Letters’ program Writers on Mondays continues throughout August featuring writers active in Wellington and further afield. Events include: Waha | Mouth: Hinemoana Baker (above) discusses the effects of retelling traumatic events, 4 August; New Zealand at War: Kate Hunter & Kirstie Ross. The two historians discuss their research journeys as they wrote Holding on to Home, a history of New Zealand’s war experience, 11 August; Nine New Zealand poets read their poem selected for Best New Zealand Poems in anticipation of National Poetry Day, 18 August; From Sprint to Marathon: Craig Cliff and Tina Makereti - discuss the switch from short story to novel writing, 25 August; Mondays 12.15-1.15pm, Te Papa Marae, Te Papa. National Poetry Day, in association with the NZ Post Book Awards, is on 22 August.

The Downtown Community Ministry Bookfair is the organisation’s most important annual fundraising event. “The organisation supports the most vulnerable people in Wellington to break the depressing cycle of life on the street and put their lives back together,” coordinator Matthew Mawkes said. The annual fair is the largest of its kind in Wellington, with 90,000 books, CDs, DVDs, vinyl and puzzles. It has been going since 1996. 16,17 August, TSB Bank Arena

Bit dicey Geoff Cochrane’s short stories have been collected into one volume, Astonished Dice. His two limited edition short story books and early novella Quest Clinic are joined by more recent stories for the VUP publication.

m o n e y ta l k s

Morel fibre photographed by Evangeline Davis

Jenny Morel is a venture capital manager, a pioneer of the sector in New Zealand, and a former investment banker. She’s also been a director of a range of companies including NZ Rail, Centreport, and Trust Bank. In 1999 she founded No 8 Ventures Management, a venture capital firm that invests in young New Zealand technology companies and helps them to go global. Think the Martin Jetpack, Rex Bionics and its robotic legs for wheelchair users, and the ikeGPS device which records infrastructure data. She talks to John Bristed about work, making money and spending.

What made you start your own business? I guess it was frustration at being on other peoples’ agendas , deciding in the end that I’d learnt a lot about doing deals, I had a lot of contacts and it was going to be a lot more fun doing deals on my own. I set up Morel Financial Services and went out looking for work ... the first thing I did was evaluate a property investment for Frank Pearson. I did freelance corporate finance work and I was lucky enough to get a number of board directorships . Later when my elder son was 12 (it frees you up a bit) – I turned it into an investment bank to work with technology companies. It made some money which was nice, but we folded that after a few years because I’d become so involved with my technology start-up company No 8 Ventures.

Who influenced your attitude to money? The people I worked with rather than family... My parents wanted me to have a good education but I don’t think they influenced me as regards to money. I had to earn my own pocket money working at the local petrol station or the baths. What is your attitude to money I’ve got a broader attitude here. People often talk about wanting full employment, whereas my goal for New Zealand is that we should all be rich, that would be better than being poor, and that means that I want people to be able to accumulate assets and I want them to be in high paying jobs. And have you passed that on to your children? Well my elder son is doing pretty well in terms of a high paying job, my younger son is driven by a mission to end factory farming in America, and this is not a mission which is going to make him much money but it is certainly a driving force in his life. He’s pursuing it with a passion, It’s the passion that’s important, and life’s not all about making money.

Is all that fun? It’s great fun looking before you’ve invested in companies, but once you become involved it’s a long hard slog because you know you’re in there for a seven year journey. You have to make it work. There’s agony and there are obviously some great moments, but it’s not constant fun for seven years. The real pleasure is when we get results. At the

by the book

m o n e y ta l k s

moment we’ve a sense of fruition. We’ve had Rex Bionics list on the sharemarket in the UK earlier in the year, we’ve got ikeGPS listing here in July, and maybe something else listing later in the year. Did you borrow money to start off? No. I funded myself from the beginning to set myself up, but these ventures don’t get going until you’ve got the funding from partners. It’s not something you can do with borrowed money. Does money make you happy? It’s the way of keeping score isn’t it? If you’re successful at what you do it should make money. My youngest son said devastatingly when he was about 12 that my job seemed to have a lot of input but not much output. Making money is the output from the work that you’ve put in. It’s a measure of success. I certainly don’t think that money brings you happiness. What’s the biggest frivolous luxury you’ve bought? Once when my husband (who objects to me even buying another washing basket because we don’t need more “things”) was away I saw this gorgeous large tv in a hifi shop and with my son’s help (he liked it too and I needed him to get it in) we bought it. It’s great, we all love it. How would you suggest people invest their money? I’m a great enthusiast about index funds. [A type of mutual fund with a portfolio constructed to match or track the components of a market index, such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500). An index mutual fund is said to provide broad market exposure, low operating expenses and low portfolio turnover.] Warren Buffett who is one of the greatest fund managers the world has seen, says when he dies the money that goes to his wife will be 10 % in cash and 90% in index funds. Would you recommend Kiwisaver? Yes because the Government subsidises them. You ought to pick that up. Forcing yourself to save is a good thing because it just happens in the background. But the Government’s default provider options are appalling. The default

providers are forced to have 70% of their funds in fixed interest but that is not a sensible pension fund allocation. The NZ Super Fund, - that’s THE big one here - you’ll see it’s approximately the opposite – 70 % in growth assets and 30 % in fixed interest. As would any serious pension fund be. The Government seems to think the default provider should have very low risk, but that’s not consistent with the best long run returns.I remember comparing the Australian and New Zealand default providers. Over a 20 year timespan you’d be twice as well off with a normal pension fund. The Government is actually letting you miss out. What are your investments? I’m heavily invested in No8 Ventures, we have some in the share market, and we have our own home and a holiday home. Why do women/girls seem to get less traction in business than men? I wonder if that’s because they’ve got a different attitude to risk. There’s some classic work that shows that males until about the age of 35 don’t have a properly developed sense of risk, this is useful if you want to be a warrior, but it probably also helps if you want to go into business. At No 8 we don’t see many ventures started by women. Is it good to be philanthropic? If you make money in the USA, there is a very strong philosophy of giving back to the community, setting up foundations. And there are good drivers in their tax system so that the foundations can’t just sit on their money. They actually have to give a certain percent per annum or they become taxed. We should bring that in here. Does No8 Ventures give money away? No we don’t want our companies giving away our investors’ money, businesses are there to make money for the shareholders. We want them to succeed so that their owners/shareholders can give away all they want to. What single decision has made the most difference in your working life? Keeping working.

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From left to right, top to bottom Grey vase, $29.00, BoConcept Avenue black placemat, $6.90, Corso deâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Fiori Tealight holder, light pink, $19.00, BoConcept Teal and black teacup, $6.99, Trade Aid Round black bamboo platter, $29.99, Iko Iko Fuck yeah melamine plate, $39.90, Iko Iko Teal and white bowl, $24.99, Trade Aid Coconut wood chopsticks, $3.99, Trade Aid Little big trivet, $42.90, Iko Iko Teal and white teapot, $29.99, Trade Aid

The wind is still, the sun is low and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a hint of something ominous rolling in from the South. Murky blues, plenty of texture and a touch of melodrama.

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O r i e n ta l Dusk

From left to right, top to bottom Hoshigame IN-EI, $421.74, ECC Wooden sculpture, $89.00, BoConcept Woven Reagle placemat, $5.90, Corso de’ Fiori Danbo chopping boards, from $74.90, Corso de’Fiori Tom Dixon quill, $30.43, ECC Tom Dixon bowl set, $147.83, ECC Tom Dixon bowl set, $247.83, ECC Small bottle/vase, $29.00, BoConcpet Coconut wood chopsticks, $3.99, Trade Aid Tealight holder, light pink, $19.00, BoConcept White sculpture, $49.00, BoConcept

Inspired by a winter’s sunset hitting the city. Washed out pink, splashes of gold and puffs of the last clouds. It’s quality over quantity, glimpse it and it’s gone.

Styled by Shalee Fitzsimmons Assisted by Madeleine Wong & Jeremy Turner

ho u s e

Life as a hunter written by Kelly Henderson | Photography by Patrick Bowler

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” These words come to life in George Bowler’s Miramar home. Adorning each room with collectables and antique-fair finds, he really has used what others saw as junk to create a very special mid-century design for his home.

“I

’ve always been drawn to mid-century design, particularly that from New Zealand, partly due to my beer budget, but mainly because it’s a little bit trashy,” explains George, who is manager of WORLD Beauty on Victoria Street. “Don Sofas and Formica cocktail cabinets have always held more appeal to me, over Eames Chairs and Danish teak sideboards.” Mid-century design is the term used to describe furniture, interior design, graphic design and architecture from the mid-20th century (around 1933 to 1965). Looking back, George traces his fondness for this kind of styling right back to his grandparent’s Waikanae bach. “The bach had remained relatively unchanged since it was built in the ‘60s, with faded gold carpet, plastic wicker bar stools, pictures of the Pope and Wombles wallpaper in the downstairs toilet,” he remembers. “The master bed had a candlewick bedspread, and next to it was an old rum bottle in the shape of a nude lady reclining against a palm tree. My grandfather had converted it into a lamp and I thought it was the best thing ever.” The time spent at the bach clearly left its mark and George has been creating his own mid-century interiors ever since. 74

“It made a lasting impression, as you can see in my home’s ‘everyman’ aesthetic, which I like for its accessibility, inclusivity and familiarity,” he says. Discovering his eye for design at a young age meant that George began accumulating bits and bobs early on. He remembers tagging along to antique fairs at the former Overseas Terminal (now the Clyde Wharf apartments) with his parents. “Art Deco was my thing, back then, and I’d spend whatever pocket money I had on Depression Glassware and Bakelite,” he says. When George moved out of home and went flatting in 1997 his penchant for mid-century design continued to grow, spurred on by the convenient location of his first flat, a rundown Victorian apartment on Cuba Street. His bedroom window looked directly across the street into Simon Manchester’s secondhand store, Trash Palace. The store, which George describes as “resplendent in its garishness,” was filled with all sorts of “trash” that was perfect for decorating his new abode. And the best part? It was all within the beer budget. “Although mid-century design was gaining in popularity at the time - the recently re-opened Matterhorn celebrated its 1960s vintage - most people saw it as tasteless junk, meaning that it was still incredibly cheap to buy,” George says.

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ho u s e

And so he set about turning his new room into a “seedy motel unit,” with Lynch ladies, Gaylite lamps and a drinks trolley. George recalls the day he purchased the room’s “crowning glory” from Trash Palace: a threepiece veneer and white vinyl bedroom suite, complete with bedside lights. He enlisted store owner Simon Manchester to help him carry it across Cuba Street and up the “near vertical” fire escape to his flat. “Most of the swear words I know, I learnt from him on that day,” says George. Eventually George headed off to Auckland where he lived for seven years. Upon his return to Wellington in 2011 he began looking to purchase his first home. He was looking for a 1960s-style apartment close to the city, but when he came across this Miramar property with its stunning views and grand garden, he decided the suburban life was for him. “Mostly thanks to the film industry, Miramar had turned from a sleepy suburb into a vibrant community, with local cafés, restaurants and even its own cinema,” he says. “Plus, it has the only supermarket I know where they check your eggs for you and help old ladies to their cars on windy days.” The location got the nod, and so did the house itself. The previous owners had retained a lot of the property’s original character, from the kitchen cupboards and fixtures, to the doors, hardware and joinery. They had also opened up the kitchen, created an earthy interior colour palette, and developed a beautiful native garden. George did some extra renovation work before he moved in, polishing the matai floors and adding mid-century light fittings throughout the house.

And he’s not finished yet. “I have big plans for the bathroom involving pegboard and hospital-grade linoleum,” he explains. “All I need now is a 1960s bathroom suite to incorporate into the design.” Most of the furniture has come from George’s years of collecting. However he does have a couple of newer pieces as well. His 1940s lounge suite was on its last legs and was too large for the compact space, so he had Eleanor Steel of ES Design source the New Zealand-made Don sofa and wingback chairs. “She then helped me select fabrics and had them restored to their full mahogany glory,” he says. With a home so full of interesting pieces (that come with equally interesting back stories) it is hard to choose favourites. For George though, some of his most treasured possessions are the artworks that friends have done for him. “Above my cocktail cabinet hangs ‘Lola’ a pastel by Melbourne-based artist Kelly Thompson,” he begins. “Facing her is ‘Otso’, an oil of a bear in a Swandri by Auckland artist Ross Hamilton. Above my bed (to reinforce the seedy motel aesthetic) is a cross-stitch by Angela Myer-Blacksmith entitled ‘Are You Disrespecting Me Slag?’” For George, it’s the small luxuries like being able to hang these paintings wherever he pleases, that make living in his “very own bachelor pad” so enjoyable. “I love being able to hang my own pictures and rearrange the lounge to my heart’s content…just because I can.”

Letliv 77

Abroad

How big is your bus? Written & Photographed by Harriet Palmer

The recent council decision to axe the trolley buses has caused controversy despite promises of new buses, and routes. Harriet Palmer reviews her experiences of public transport around the world.

e’re all standing bum to bust on one of Berlin’s clattering U-Bahn trains. This one is old with fake-wooden joinery and upright seats covered in sticky plastic. We got on at Kottbuser Tor, a busy station that’s been open since 1908 and is known affectionately as Kotti. It’s actually a dive. We get there via viscous tunnels packed with ticket hawkers, mystery puddles and guys clicking their tongues in an effort to sell you drugs. But we love Kotti. Its primary appeal is that once you’ve made the five-minute walk from the Kreuzberg apartment we’re renting, and you’re past the dog shit, the beggars with their Rottweiler, the passed-out punks, the hipsters, the drunks smashing beer bottles, the youngmum gentrifiers, the 51 burger and kebab joints, and you’ve wound down those dirty tunnels, Berlin is yours. Really, yours. Kotti is our gate. Jump on the U1 or the U8 line and within half an hour, you could be anywhere in this rambling city for no more than NZ$4. Compare that to your average Wellington suburban transport hub and you can see how we, a travelling family with roots in Lyall Bay, came to be so enamoured with one of Berlin’s skankiest train stations. Who cares about the shambling trains and beaten up bench seats when they’re the gateway to a system which is not only affordable, but also reliable and frequent? Monthly passes in Berlin cost NZD$45 compared to $150 in Wellington, and while the locals may whine about it, the service is incredible with trains running 24 hours a day. On this summery German morning, my mother, my partner, my three-year-old son and I stand in the doorway with a group of Turkish youths, a guy in a slim black suit, and perhaps a dozen stern-looking fraus, one of whom is holding a wooden ladder.

Her husband, an uncharacteristically smiley character, carries a bucket. It is a typical midday ride on the U-Bahn, an underground rapid transit system with 143 stations, ten lines and a total track length of more than 150km. Everyone is on it. Look down at the roads and you might see a few shiny Audis and a swathe of bikes, but largely, they’re empty. People are on the U-Bahn, or they are on the S-Bahn – the city’s above-ground rapid transit system. Baxter, the three-year-old, is whining. He’s hot. He’s sick of staring at the backs of legs. No one is standing up for him; he’s not into being carried. People are starting to murmur. And then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he’s perched way above our heads, quite happily, on the ladder. A whoosh of the doors and he’s holding the bucket. The frau and her husband have their hands around his legs and are greatly amused by the little Kiwi demonstrating his German language skills. (This mainly involves counting to ten very loudly and very precisely). No one else takes any notice, they just keep going, but Baxter, he’s on top of a ladder! He’s having the ride of his life! Our stopover in Berlin is a two-month break from a year travelling around the world. In cities across Asia, Europe and Central America we make the most of the public transport. We become experts at the different types of tickets, ticket machines, and little the coloured maps showing which track or line or U we’re on. And at every stop, on every tram, train and trolley we ask ourselves ‘what is wrong with Wellington? Why are we missing out on a system that gets people from A to B quickly, efficiently and cheaply?’ 78

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Abroad

Of course, they’re not all perfect, but they do manage to pull off one of the three things that make public transport great. London is efficient, but it’s not cheap. Sri Lanka is cheap, but it’s not quick. San Francisco is quick, but it’s fragmented with multiple systems that don’t all link up. Paris was clunky, old and smelt like garlic but it was dependable. We evoked stares and pursed lips when we got on with backpacks. Barcelona, Washington DC and Stockholm all felt swish and new, with stylish stations and quiet carriages. Vienna was polite and uninspiring. Lisbon was strange – straddling old and run down and architecturally brilliant – the stations had incredible modernist roofs. The city was also full of beautiful graffiti-laden trams perched at the top of steep hills Chengdu was out of this world. It’s about the newest system on the planet and moved without sound. People queued in straight lines to get on and off and everyone was dressed impeccably, complete with designer handbags. In Jerusalem, a city of 780,000 that feels very similar in size to Wellington, there was light rail, or HaRakevet HaKala Birushalayim. Currently this is made up of one line stretching about 14km straight through the heart of the city. Buses from suburbs feed directing to this line so it’s always full and runs constantly. It was completed in 2010 and costs just over NZ$2 a ride. It’s always packed and almost impossible to get a seat. It’s exactly what we need here. Our first time riding one of these super-clean, supermodern trains, we stand opposite a group of Russian Orthodox Jews. The woman have dark-brown wigs cut into long bobs and wear knee-length skirts and stockings. The men have curling locks down either side of their faces, black broad-brimmed hats and black suits. Together, they gently rock while mouthing passages from prayer books they hold in one hand, while using the other to steady themselves against the back of seats. Then, as the train comes to an unscheduled halt, they lift their heads from their hands and simultaneously start shouting. Prayer is out the window, they are furious. Actually, the whole train is furious. Everyone is yelling and continually bashing the button to open the doors. They are getting off and getting on and shaking their fists in the air. They are fighting as someone tries to get off while another

tries to get on. They are using prams to jam doors open and set the siren wailing. The driver has his head turned round and is shouting back at the lot of them. It’s the kind of thing that would inspire a low murmur among bus passengers in Wellington, but here, boy, it’s high drama. We sit quiet and bemused. Our fellow passengers keep trying to explain the situation and are puzzled when we don’t get off and join in the yelling. A young female soldier with a lot of eye make up works out where we’re from and repeats an old army saying, chanted when someone complains about Israel: “Where do you think you live? New Zealand?” Another city where life from the streets flowed directly onto the transport system was Mexico City. It got you places but it was chaos. And one day, we thought it might actually kill us. The train had stopped between stations. We were pressed in a carriage with hundreds of Mexicans from all walks of life. Nothing was happening. People opened windows to let exhaust-fume-scented air in. Then they started talking. Thirty minutes later they began to go pale. One giant tattooed man was bent forward in his chair. His tiny girlfriend and trussed up-mother rubbed his back. He took off his shirt, then his singlet. We were looking for escape routes and talking softly to Baxter when with a great wrenching sound the train started up again. The man sat back in his chair and poured water down his face and over his belly. From that year of travel, we have thousands of stories about undergrounds, over-grounds, trains, trams, trolleys, tubes, buses and vans. They make up some of our most vivid memories: the man in Harlem who shook our son’s hand and called him brother, the little girl in Colombo, Sri Lanka who gave him her seat and then her sparkly bracelet, the old US school buses on Ometepe, an island in a Nicaraguan lake. They were brilliant, those journeys. Not only did they take us places, but they told us so much about where we were. So now, we’re home, and we stand at the bus stop waiting for the irregular, expensive and sometimes cancelled Mairangi 23 every morning and we ask, ‘why we can’t have what people the world over have? An affordable, efficient and reliable public transport system that acts as the veins of our city?’

G ood SP O RT

the baby hurricane Written by Alexander Bisley | photo by Ashley Church

Ardie Savea’s massive, muscular arms are formidable. The open side flanker’s sitting next to me at Hurricanes training HQ in Newtown.

e has an attention-grabbing tattoo on his left inner arm, a beautiful Samoan woman. “This is my mother when she was young,” he confides. “These hibiscus flowers, they’re my grandmother’s favourite flower.” His tattoos pay tribute to his family, his father is further up his arm. “These guys are the reason why we’re here, me and Julz, they mean a lot to us.” He won’t let these tattoos be photographed, but the one on his neck − staunchly “Savea”− is often shot. The other Savea − Julian in the 11 jersey − recently got a hat trick for the All Blacks’ thumping third test win over England. “It’s always good to see one of your siblings doing well. Growing up you have that rivalry but you grow out of that. We’ve always had our rivalries but I guess that’s made us who we are now. We’ve been successful in our own ways. Julz has come a long way and it’s good to have him as a bro and seeing him do really well. I’m hopefully trying to follow in his footsteps.” Likeable and earthy, Ardie’s a major talent. He has played in the Sevens, Junior All Blacks, and Wellington Lions and was a star of the 2013 ITM Cup, which recommences in August. His strength, speed, dynamism and thoroughness augur well. “I love running off the ball. I reckon it’s just doing the little things right. I’m focussing on quality tackles and my clean-ups around the break-down at the moment.” Currently weighing in at 100kgs (and standing 188cms), the 20-year-old loves playing in South Africa with the “Canes.” “Beautiful people, beautiful places. The players are ginormous, very physical. That’s one of my work-ons: get physically good, bigger, so I can play the 82

game at the Super level. Super level is a way different level than ITM.” The self-described “baby of the team” already has seventeen ‘Canes caps. Hurricanes Captain Conrad Smith says Ardie will command the yellow 7 jersey. “Great dude, big potential. He’ll play a lot of games for the Hurricanes, I think. He’s freakishly powerful and fast for his age and size.” Masina and Lina Savea’s sons’ passion for rugby is intense, like their passion for their family. Ardie used to go sleep on Friday in his rugby kit, and at least once in his rugby boots. “I think my dad over-exaggerated that,” Ardie laughs. “I was always looking forward to playing. I always chucked my uniform on. I was one of those ones who couldn’t sleep because I was so excited about playing. I’d wake up, it’s only two o’clock in the morning, back to sleep, wake up at four o’clock. Every time I woke up I’d move the curtain to see if it was raining or not, because when it’s raining games are [sometimes] cancelled; so I was hoping that wouldn’t happen. Every time the game got cancelled, urgh! I’d force my Dad to go down to the park and double check.” This was quite an effort, as the Savea family didn’t have a car as the boys grew up. “We walked everywhere. We grew up over the hill in Berhampore. Our club was in Miramar so it was two bus trips or we’d walk to Newtown and bus from Newtown to Miramar. Everywhere we went either walked or bussed until Julz got his first Super Rugby contract, that’s when we bought a second-hand car. ” It was good for fitness. “It kept us active. Even though me and Julz always threw paddies because we

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had to walk everywhere.” If games were cancelled, Ardie threw the “meanest sook. I was quite gutted.” Three years his junior, Ardie was playing under tens while Julian played under thirteens. “My game would be earlier so I’d play my game and I’d quickly run over to his game to see if they were short on numbers to try and play for them. Sometimes I got on.” Wellington’s Eastern Suburbs have always been a special place for the former Rongotai College head prefect. “Born and bred here. We’re quite close with my grandmother and my granddad and they lived in Kilbirnie. So we were always there with all the family. Mum’s got about seven sisters and two brothers, all with a minimum of two kids. All residing in Miramar and Strathmore. Sundays or every Saturday we see each other when we watch club rugby cos everyone’s down there supporting. All into rugby. Uncles played rugby, cousins playing rugby. Our family’s sport based so it’s quite cool.” The brothers have always been into flamboyant dancing, too. “We always used to have our battles, just to entertain the family. Quite competitive us two, we wouldn’t let anyone have the last say, so it carried on. As we’ve been older Jules has stuck to the dancing scene, while I’ve just laid back a little bit. I don’t think he’s done a celebration this year yet; I still love to have a dance now and then.” Last year, Ardie captained the Junior All Blacks at the Junior World Cup, under Chris Boyd, the incoming Hurricanes head coach. “Obviously we didn’t get the result, not winning it, but I really think that it was a big learning curve. It was the best experience leading the team out.” Leading the haka, drawing on its power and tradition, was invigorating. “It’s always good doing the haka, especially when you’re doing it for your country. It’s indescribable, but just to have all your brothers behind you actually giving the challenge out to the other team is pretty awesome.” The Saveas are now living together in Julian’s Kilbirnie home. “Julz has been staying there for a while but we moved in last year – Mum, Dad and me. Julz took us in,” he laughs amiably again. Fashion is another shared passion. The brothers are investigating setting up a menswear line. “We don’t know whether to start it or join another clothing company that sponsors with rugby. The hardest thing is that we have no

study qualifications in fashion. It’s just something we like, so it’s quite hard. We work with some of the people that are here [Hurricanes development staff] that help us. It’s a slow process, because we’re so busy with rugby and stuff.” Being able to afford some sharp threads is another bonus of a Super Rugby contract. “I do like to look good when I go out.” Savea is outgoing and lively. “I like to socialise with people and stuff like that.” He describes the family sense of humour as dry. In a family television interview Ardie is seen asking “Mum, can you stop telling these embarrassing stories?” “Yeah,” he recalls. “She knows everything. The mothers know everything about us.” Ardie describes the current black number 7 Richie McCaw as a “a legend in the game. What he’s done with the 7 jersey has raised the bar so high.” Ardie gestures voluptuously with those big arms, raising them towards the heavens. “It’s a good challenge and it’ll be good to try and play against.” Ardie has been mentioned as a strong shot at replacing Richie McCaw when the time comes. Characteristically guarded All Blacks Coach Steve Hansen cited him as “huge potential” and took him as “the apprentice” on the 2013 end of year tour. “That was a pretty overwhelming experience. Being a part of everything, being a part of the team and the environment was quite special; makes me want to be in there properly. But I guess that will take time. Watching how everything processes and what goes on to be the best in the world, it was quite remarkable. I did everything except play − training, everything.” He must have picked up a bit from McCaw, doing that? “Mainly just learnt off him through watching him. Didn’t really get a chance to talk much. But yeah when I did talk to him, genuine guy, a nice guy. It’s pretty surreal actually, watching him when I was little and now being next to him having a chat.” As we finish the ‘Canes media manager Hannah comes over with a jersey. “Can you please sign this, Ardie? It’s for Taika [Waititi], he’s obsessed with you.” Ardie Savea will be playing at 7 for the Wellington Lions through the ITM Cup.

sports brief

Tickets lapped up for coastal challenge Fitness junkies snapped up all 700 spots of the rugged Tora Coastal Challenge in less than a week, ensuring the complete sell-out of Wairarapa’s newest running and walking event. Unsurprisingly, event manager Rachael Fletcher says they are thrilled at the level of interest. Fletcher has run the trail herself, and says that people are in for “quite something.” The run is on Saturday, 6 September.

Route to see wheels shortly

back to black and yellow

Taking life to new heights

Although it is taking longer than expected to complete, cyclists in Upper Hutt will be happy to know that an asphalt path along the Hutt River stopbank will soon take them straight to the city centre along a more scenic route. While most of the cycle route is ready, not all of the sealing is finished. Council roading manager Horace Parker is waiting on some sun to finish sealing the track. The approximately 3km route begins at Moonshine Park, and ends at Poplar Grove.

Local star Ma’a Nonu began playing rugby as a schoolboy, and for Wellington in 2003. He contributed to the success of the team in his 110 matches until 2011, when he left for Auckland. Now he is back and signed on for the 2015 season with the Hurricanes. Ma’a Nonu says he is grateful, and is looking forward to seeing his whanau. “I’m very happy to be heading home to the family again.” He’s not the only one who is stoked, with coach Chris Boyd excited to have Nonu back in the team.

For Mt Vic man Nick White, living life at the next level means scaling the slopes of Mt Fuji Japan, in the annual Fuji Mountain Race, while fundraising $1 for each metre he climbs (he hopes to raise more than $3000). Each dollar is going back to the centre that helped him through his journey with cancer, the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute. Nick has just marked the fifth anniversary of his major surgery to eliminate head and neck cancer, to join only 50 runners who qualified for the mountainous challenge held on 25 July.

W ELL Y AN G EL

what wou l d Dei r dre d o? Got a problem? Maybe we can help.

with them as they are young and growing. I am afraid I am going to side with your Welly Angel Deirdre Tarrant, mother daughter and son-in-law here. I have been in trouble for over-stepping the mark and of three boys, founder of the former not realising. I let a four year old eat a Ungrateful chocolate coffee bean − Mama Mia I was Footnote Dance Company and in trouble and pulled up in no uncertain children teacher of dance to generations of terms! Fair enough, clearly that bean I pick my two grandchildren up from by the naked fluffy (without chocolate) Wellingtonians, will sort out from day care and school and take them was for me. Times have changed and it home to my place two days a week to is a wonder my children survived the your troubles. help my daughter and son-in-law. During randomness of my parenting but they did school holidays and if they are sick, and your experience will be appreciated Worried about sometimes I have them all day. I have on so many other fronts so I would say the kids arranged my work around their timetable you should follow their wishes. Food is so and I am happy to help. However now I different now, allergies seem a way of life, My husband watches a lot of soft porn have my daughter and son-in-law telling sugar and fruit drinks are a real concern, online. He says it doesn’t affect “us” at all. me what food I am allowed to give them and good on your daughter for wanting I disagree but am also worried about the and what activities they must do. I think to get it right. You only grow up once impact it might have on our children as at my place it’s my rules. If I babysit (but a few Grandmother treats that are they get older. He says they won’t know. for them at home then I would follow "approved" are fine. Like jelly! ) Do you think I should be anxious? whatever their parents want. They don’t Anxious, Wairarapa have allergies or any health problems. Don’t waste your energy being ‘anxious’ What would you do? but concern should certainly be in the Cowed, Northland If you’ve got a burning picture and your children unquestionably question for Deirdre, email Grandchildren are the joy of my life at the stand to be influenced as they always are angel@capitalmag.co.nz by their environment and by their parents. moment so I totally relate to this question with Capital Angel in the big-time. You sound like a wonderful It seems that the immediate effect is more subject line. help and how lovely to be spending time about your relationship as this is definitely worrying you, so see if you can have a talk that goes wider than being critical – easier said than done, but this will escalate between you and needs to be sorted!

rasch and leon

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PARTNERS Ramona Rasch LLB David Leong LLB 1st Floor Kilbirnie Plaza 30 Bay Road | PO Box 8 6 14 304, Kilbirnie, Wellington 6241, New Zealand Tel 04 387 7831 | Email lawyers@raschleong.co.nz | www.raschleong.co.nz

b a b y, B a b y

Se e ks perf ec t spac es by melody thomas

lthough she’s been walking and technically a ‘toddler’ for a few months now, the past couple of weeks have seen our firstborn graduate to all-out, rascally, undeniable toddlerhood. It’s a cute age − full of syllabic garblings and mimicry, experimentation and newfound independence. The full-blown tantrums are yet to come but we are lucky enough to have the odd preview - screams and flailing limbs erupting from nowhere if we dare try to, oh I don’t know, tell her she can’t kiss a strange dog or take away the piece of half-chewed steak that’s her new BFF. But Sadie’s transition to toddlerhood signals something else for Baby Daddy and me. It’s getting near to decision time − to try for another or wait a while? Of course we could stop at one. Every now and then we bandy about the idea, enticed by the notion that we’d be well on the home straight to sleep-ins, freedom to travel and banishment of all nappies forever from our lives if we decided to stop now. But as one of four myself (or nine including step and half-siblings) I’m predisposed towards wanting something similar for our daughter − the company and closeness and camaraderie of it all. Plus there’s the selfish hope that eventually the children will entertain each other, requiring less of us. We’ll probably stop at two. It seems enough to hedge our bets should one grow up and decide to live on the other side of the world or take up base jumping or join the Hare Krishnas, but few enough too that we’ve a chance at getting out the other side with some semblance of our old lives and identities intact. So provided fate decides to give us another baby at all, let alone exactly when we want it, what’s the ideal period for child spacing? I’ve always thought that consolidating the sleep-deprived, nappy-ridden, ‘when-will-it-ever-end?!’ phase is the way to go, and we’d planned to start trying again just after Sadie turned one. When that time rolled round we obviously realised we’d been, as my mother would say, ‘nucking futs’. 87

There are so many wonderful moments in that first year but there’s also a strong element of just getting through. I imagine ‘two under two’ to feel like making your way through a nearimpossible labyrinth and surviving the Bog of Eternal Stench, finally reaching Goblin City and winning your baby back off of an evil-but-sexy-and-tight-of-pants Bowie only to be told you must go back to the beginning and do it all over again. Only this time you must take a toddler with you on the journey and also, BTW, make sure it doesn’t die. No. Thank. You. So I asked Google and the mothers in my friend group what gap is the best gap. Apparently two years is good for friendship between children and means a confident mother who hasn’t forgotten what it is to look after a newborn, but it also means running round after a rambunctious toddler while exhausted/sick/hormonal/alloftheabove from pregnancy, and is apparently peak sibling-rivalry time. A three-year gap is good for physical recovery between pregnancies and means the elder child is more understanding of the process, but rivalry is still intense and, at this age, more likely to come across as physical aggression. Four years means a handy little helper who’s much less inclined to jealousy, but perhaps a lessened bond between the children, plus a return to sleeplessness and nappy changing after too many good years without. Also, for those who waited until later in life to start their families, this kind of spacing sometimes isn’t realistic. I learned that there’s not really any best time to wait between kids. Nine months, two years or ten − that decision (or lack of) will screw them and you up in some ways, while simultaneously making life much better in others. It’s a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation, which might not be the answer you were hoping for but it’s liberating . The ‘ideal’ period for child spacing is: whenever you feel like it. Go forth and prosper, do it on your own terms, and keep in mind that some don’t ever get the opportunity to have this discussion, and you’re damned lucky to have one in the first place.

t o r q u e ta l k

Home on the R angie written By Mark Sainsbury | Photography by Rhett Goodley-hornblow

Okay I’ll admit it. I’ve become obsessed. The object of my obsession is the Range Rover.

ears ago we leased one. It was a runout model when BMW took over and it was both the best vehicle we’ve ever had and the worst. Best as in driving position, sheer comfort, looks and a joy to travel in. Worst? Well ask anyone who had an older one, The transfer case blew up when we took a rare trip to the mountains, and coincided nicely with my son going into a diabetic coma. Tales of the electronic suspension being possessed by demons are pretty consistent from nearly every owner. But. And it’s a big but. There is simply nothing else like it. And after getting the new dog, the urge was there to get something more rugged for doggie activities. Once my thoughts turned to another Range Rover I simply couldn’t get them out of my head. I camped on Trademe, I pestered dealers, pored over ads and forums and despite all the warnings I read, I was determined. What I was after of course was something old and cheap. To reengage with a new one was simply out of my league. But in the middle of my “crisis” it was hard to ignore the call from Simon O’Reilly. He had a brand new 4.4SD V8 Vogue SE … did I want to test it before it was dispatched to its new owner. What? What would possess Simon to hand over someone else’s $210,000 Range Rover? Well the new custodian was Rick Armstrong, the owner of Armstrong Prestige, which explained the dealer’s generosity in making it available but also left me slightly nervous as it wouldn’t be a flash look to stack the boss’s personal car. Not that there would be too much chance of that. The modern era of Range Rovers boasts every conceivable bell and whistle from queue assist to blind spot monitors, and every extra that has several

random letters. It is supremely safe, fitted out like a Bentley, and still has one of the best reputations in the world as a four wheel drive. The Range Rover of 2014 is like a Supercar that climbs mountains. I suspect many of these will never see a blade of grass taller than those on a polo ground, but are Aston Martins or Lamborghinis truly used to their full potential? People have Range Rovers because they can. And best of all, Rick’s soon to be new car was a diesel. Not that you’d know: the 4.4 litre V8 diesel is so smooth and quiet you simply forget. Except, you hope, at the pump. So, I had seen the best on offer but sadly the Capital Mag management were reluctant to let me put one on expenses. But they did come through in other ways. Right next door to Capital’s offices in Wellington is Sven. Sven is a bit of a genius with Range Rovers. Old ones I’m talking about. The very first of these iconic machines. Because before privacy glass and dvd monitors and lane assist and automatic gearboxes the original Range Rovers came with two doors, rubber floors, a clutch and springs. They were a sensation, being a supremely capable all-terrain vehicle with comfort and class. So I have found myself an old school model. The green one you see here is Sven’s, but the one he’s found me is very much like it, and after a bit of investment it will become even more so. So everyone’s happy, Rick got his beautiful SDV8 back in one piece, I got a nice old Rangie which turned out, as is always the way, to have been owned by someone I knew, a magic guy called Denis. Capital doesn’t have to chase me for my column and Danny the dog is just loving the view from the huge Rangie rear window.