NZH Plus February 2017

A New Zealand Herald Commercial Publication

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

30 YEARS ON THE ROAD Barry Saunders and The Warratahs

WALKING NEW YORK Tips from a local

+PLUS FOOD

Madam Woo wows +PLUS SCREEN

Paul Casserly on Rectify

INSIDE: GARDENING AND MY FOOD BAG GIVEAWAYS

E2

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

“I don’t have a worry in the world” We just want to feel safe, and it’s no different when we get older.

little more assistance, or if you need care.

At Ryman we understand. Our team has been doing just that for over 30 years, and we’re as passionate today as the day we first started.

Find out what makes a Ryman village so special, and why 30,000 New Zealanders have chosen to call a Ryman village their home.

Why not pop in to your local Ryman village for a visit, to meet the people and see for yourself.

We are still fiercely independent, but we are quite happy to let someone else worry about maintaining the property, and keeping our garden looking beautiful. And we don’t want to be a burden on our family and friends.

We also want to know there’s someone who’s ready and willing to help when you need a

A Ryman village

near you...

For your free ‘Welcome to a Ryman village’ book,

phone Josie on 0800 000 290

There’s no better time to take charge and start planning your future.

Evelyn Page Hobson nvillle

Bert Sutcliffe Edmund Hillary

Grace Joel Bruce McLaren

Gre eenllane Lynfie eld d

Possum Bourne 6550

From the day we are born we want to be surrounded by people who care for us and support us. People who we can trust to be there in good times and bad.

E3

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

+Plus Contents 4 30 years of The Warratahs

7

A history of violence

9

5-6 Walking New York

Next season starts now

10 Restaurant review: Madam Woo Win with Yates Yates’ new range of natural and organic products give nature a helping hand. Thrive’s new hose-on plant food, with all the goodness of fish and seaweed, delivers nutrients to your plants with the turn of a tap.

Nature’s Way Organic Weed Gun kills weeds fast and is suitable for organic gardening.

Rid your garden of pests fast and naturally with Nature’s Way Organic Vegie Insect Gun for use on fruit, vegetables and ornamental plants and Nature’s Way Natural Pyrethrum Insect Spray, which controls a broad range of insect pests quickly and effectively. Love your garden and reap the rewards.

Be in to win one of two Yates hampers each valued at $110 and containing:

● Thrive Natural Seaweed 2L HoseOn ● Thrive Natural Fish & Seaweed Plus Hose-On ● Nature's Way Organic Weed Gun ● Nature's Way Organic Vegie Insect Gun ● Nature’s Way Natural Pyrethrum Insect Spray To win simply send an email to plus@nzme.co.nz with Yates please in the subject line — please include your name and address in the body of the email.

Win with My Food Bag Market leading home food delivery service My Food Bag has always wanted its customers to spend more time enjoying family meals. And now the team has gone one step further, ensuring you can be in and out of the kitchen in 30 minutes or less —while still enjoying healthy and delicious meals.

Be in to win a My Express Bag valued at RRP$189.00. The bag

contains pre-chopped vegetables and meat, as well as pre-made sauces so you can prepare fast recipes the whole family will love in half an hour or less.

To win simply send an email to plus@nzme.co.nz with Express Bag please in the subject line.

Please include your name and address in the body of the email.

Editor Greg Fleming gregory.fleming@nzme.co.nz Advertising enquiries Ben Trethewey ben.trethewey@nzme.co.nz Contributing writers Greg Fleming, Paul Casserly, Sarah O’Neil, Andrew B. White, Alan Perrott Cover photo of Barry Saunders by Ted Baghurst The next issue of +Plus is published on May 23

FREE!

Tired of being tired…?

Get the best night’s sleep ever…

Available in: Single • King Single • Queen • King

Contact us

Core Cushioning Microcells

Original 8-in-1 Bambillo

Call NOW for your 30 day risk free trial*

0800 006 777

Comfort-Gel-Foam *Terms and Conditions apply

E4

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

+Plus Music

30 years of The Warratahs Alan Perrott finds the winning formula to a successful 30 years of making music

I

f anyone was having second thoughts 30 years ago, they’re not admitting to them now.

They’d have been understandable though — the view from the stage of the Cricketers Arms must have been somewhat daunting.

Paying little or no attention as the band counted in their first number were dancers from the nearby ballet school; wide boy, brick-phone toting admen, a fair contingent from Wellington’s nascent film industry, and the same hardened drinkers who lined the bar every night. It was the height of the 80s, when music was all glitz and hair and synthesizers.

Unfortunately, Barry Saunders and co were about to hit the unsuspecting crowd with tracks by the likes of Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell.

Yeah, fair dinkum country music, and at the time you’d struggle to find anything less cool, no matter if it was being played by past members of bands such as Human Instinct, Rockinghorse, Timberjack and the Fourmyula, not that many would have recognised them anyway.

Then a funny thing happened.

Maybe it was brushed drums or the acoustic guitar or the heartshredding lyrics, but the people tuned in and before you knew it, there was a dance floor.

They clearly spent up too, because the band had barely finished when the bar owner began hitting them up for another show the following week: “And I want to advertise it in the paper too. What’s your name?”

Huh? They were a jamming band, a mate had set up this gig as a onenight-only affair, a chance for his friends to mess around with a live audience.

It wasn’t serious enough to need a name. Then bass player John Donaghue remembered an old slang term for the three-sided, black metal posts used for temporary fencing: “How about The Warratahs?”

In hindsight, they might have thought again — if the term had been used locally for a fair while, it’s undeniably an Australian import, has an indeterminate number of Rs, and leads many first-time listeners (especially Australians) to assume they’re from across the Tasman with an eccentric penchant for singing about Kiwi locations.

But no-one was bothered, because the band wouldn’t last more than a few gigs. Except those first two became four, then a two-year residency, and while we’re at it, why not not record some of Barry’s new songs and hey, what about a quick tour of the South Island?

Consider the context here, most of the band felt like they’d already had their shot at stardom; the Warratahs, if not a dalliance, was more of a chance to indulge some of the music they loved while they still could.

After all Wayne Mason’s 60s hit Nature was now a landmark recording and he’d already played most venues in the country, more than once — he had nothing to prove.

His co-founder, Barry Saunders, had first travelled to Britain where he played with two rowdy Irish bands before joining Mason in The Tigers for a crack at the arduous Australian pub circuit. These were hard yards of constant travel, low pay and fleapit accommodation, and while it honed them into a tight, rock ’n roll unit they struggled to rise above the pack of good-time guitar bands. Saunders

Barry Saunders, lead singer of The Warratahs (above); the band (right).

Pictures / Ted Baghurst; Supplied

ended up jaded, knackered, drinking too much, and while he didn’t know it yet, with hepatitis, so come the early 80s they packed it in and returned home.

So yeah, forming a band, and a country band at that, with any chance in hell of celebrating a 30th anniversary was pretty much the last thing on anyone’s mind.

And yet … here they still are and while many bands of their vintage would happily kick back and enjoy their legacy act status, The Warratahs continue to pump out new material.

Their last effort — in a time when the country’s roots music scene is stronger and rootsier than ever — even won New Zealand country album of the year.

How did it happen? Because it comes from the heart … these guys had done their time, played by the rules, and tried to appeal to the market, now they were doing it for themselves. After being worn down

by Australia, Saunders had found comfort in the music of his rural youth. It was honest, straightforward and paid little attention to trends, which was exactly what he needed, artifice required far too much energy.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was accompanied by professional musicians who knew how to work a crowd.

If there was likely to be a problem it was always likely to be between Saunders and Mason, with the latter understandably unwilling to settle for a supporting role in another songwriter’s vision.

Then there’s Nik Brown, because, says Saunders, if any past or present Warratah can call themselves a great musician, he’s it. He first heard the multi-instrumentalist at The Oaks brasserie in Wellington where, as luck would have it, his three-year residency with jazz combo, Hot Cafe, was about to end.

“I saw this couple come in dressed entirely in black and I noticed the guy

looking at me. Then I went to the bar during our break and I saw him walking towards me and I thought ‘oh shit, what have I done’?” Brown says.

“But then he put out his hand and said: ‘Hi, I’m Barry, do you want to join my band’?”

Straight away Brown’s musicianship became as vital to the Warratah sound as Saunder’s voice — it’s no accident that the pair are the only remaining original members — even if he downplays his role to “putting in the hooks, flavour and colour”.

That the combination paid off in chart success, album sales (including three ‘best of’ compilations) and popularity is undeniable there’s an industry truism that there isn’t a hall anywhere in the country they haven’t played.

And why not? says Nik Brown, they get as much of a charge from a great gig as any punter.

“Any concert becomes a highlight when it takes off … the energy, the way you can build it up, ease it off, then push it through the roof … I love playing to the bigger crowds, but sometimes you can’t beat those small, intimate gigs where everyone’s just jammed in there, doing it together.”

Still, if pushed, he has two big memories, both off stage.

While playing three New Zealand concerts with Billy Joel, their willingness to hump their own gear impressed the roadies no end and helped earn them invites to the troupe’s massive end-of-tour party.

“Christie Brinkley was there with her friends, they looked like blonde barbie dolls, and they had this thing where they danced to Supremes songs, with all the moves … then one of the bass players sat at a piano in a mask and played Ray Charles hits all night. That was a great night.”

But the one that still brings a lump to his throat occurred in their changing room under Athletic Park as they waited to take the stage in support

of The Highwaymen, a supergroup featuring Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.

“So we’re sitting there when the door opens and in walks Johnny Cash in that long black coat. He just walked up stuck out his hand and said: “Hi, I’m Johnny Cash.” I almost wet myself. “Then he stopped to chat with us, just the loveliest, most self-effacing guy.”

Still, the story of the Warratahs isn’t one long highlight reel. When Mason left the band in 1994, Saunders decided eight straight years on the road was enough, and the group went on ice. If they’d consciously stuck to their guns regardless of what the charts demanded, time now seemed against them. Their mid-period albums hadn’t turned out as hoped and they were copping flak for sounding samey. “We’d been living in a cocoon and I didn’t really realise that until I stepped away. I didn’t know any other bands or people really, just my family and the guys in the band, and I wasn’t listening to much music … 10 years had passed and I had no idea what was going on.”

It was another four years before they felt the itch to play again: “It’s like living with someone for ages,” he

says. “It’s not going to be great all the time, but I ended up missing our sound and being part of something … that moment when we’d count a song in and bam, that’s the Warratahs, that’s what I love about the band.”

But the band celebrating their 30th anniversary is a different beast again, and maybe it was the now-65-yearold’s exposure to the down-and-dirty styles of the Lyttelton country scene, but their sound has been stripped back down to its bones.

Their last award-winning album, Runaway Days, was recorded in just two days in a Devonport art gallery.

“That was a real lesson to me,” says Saunders. “I’ll never get involved in a big production number again and I should have learned that years ago.”

He's back in his happy place with Brown and three former Tigers, the band that coulda shoulda and then damned near broke him.

As for Brown, he’s stoked he can still find common ground with the new generation: “I think some kind of critical mass has been reached in country and we aren’t a million miles from it. The whole vibe around this music has really picked up, but it’s still about being honest, tuneful and having a good feel. There’s something in the water and we want to keep being part of it.”

E5

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

+Plus Travel

WALKING

NEW YORK

Brooklyn Bridge.

Picture / Andrew B White

Follow ex Auckland musician and designer Andrew B White as he takes a stroll around his new hometown

T

alk to anyone who lives here or has visited and you will get a thousand different ideas on the best things to

do.

For me, New York City is about walking. Walking, walking and more walking. Combined with the subway, which is inexpensive, safe and reasonably easy to navigate, walking can be the best way to see and experience what the city has to offer.

Of course, the great thing about walking, aside from exercise, is that it is free. You can choose to explore one neighbourhood — such as the Lower East Side — at your leisure, or trek from lower Manhattan all the way up to Central Park via Broadway and 5th Ave. The possibilities are endless, and there are many designated areas designed for walking, including the Highline running alongside 10th Ave to the Whitney Museum and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Stretching from Brooklyn Heights to DUMBO under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, with its landscaped paths and outdoor art, Brooklyn Bridge Park offers excellent views of lower Manhattan. Here, you can also find the entrance to the walkway over the Brooklyn Bridge — a romantic way of seeing the city as you cross over the river on this iconic bridge. Just keep the hell out of the way of the cyclists who guard their bike lanes with vigour!

PARKS It is fairly obvious why Central Park is so popular with locals and visitors

alike. This huge expanse of park in the middle of Manhattan is full of places to explore and reflects New York’s four distinct seasons: the spectacle of changing colours in the fall and a transformed winter wonderland in winter snow, while spring is a sea of green and the summer heat is perfect for people watching.

The park’s proximity to several major museums makes it a great interim pit-stop or a picnic lunch spot.

With a lake and more expansive meadows, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park offers a similar refuge.

Prospect Park sits between the brownstones of Park Slope, the Brooklyn Museum and Botanic Gardens and the blocks of gracious Victorian houses south of the park, all equally worthy of a visit in themselves.

Brooklyn is home to many other parks, both old and new. The 748-acre historic Green-Wood Cemetery, bordering the Sunset Park neighbourhood, features winding paths at the highest point in Brooklyn and is the resting place of Civil War generals and well-known figures, from artists to baseball legends. Sunset Park’s Bush Terminal, converted into a public park in 2014, offers unique views of lower Manhattan and some breathing space from the Manhattan crowds.

RIVER CRUISES Boat cruises abound on the Hudson, East River and New York Harbour.

Investment rate from 6.25%*

Just because you’re relaxing doesn’t mean your money should.

Need a better return?

• Investment rate from 6.25%* • Flexible terms: 6-12 months • First Mortgage secured, over residential property • Minimum investment $10,000** • Zero fees Investment rate subject to change. Southern Cross Partners Ltd is a licenced Peer to Peer lender under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. ** Subject to availability *

Phone 0508 246 837 for a brochure or email victoria@scfl.co.nz | www.scfl.co.nz

continued on E6

E6

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

continued from E5

If you head to the South Sea Port you can take a return trip on the Staten Island ferry – for free.

The ferry runs every 30 minutes (off peak hours) and the trip takes around 25 minutes each way.

Spectacular views can be had of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey and the Statue of Liberty, and it’s hard to believe it doesn’t cost a dime.

Adjacent to South Sea Port, in the summer you can catch a smaller ferry to Governors Island for $2 return (free on weekends) and spend some time discovering historic sites and the newly developed Hills Park overlooking the Statue of Liberty.

Staying with island experiences, Roosevelt Island between the Upper East Side and Queens offers an interesting and quaint excursion to what was once a hospital and prison facility.

Use your subway Metro card to ride the elevated tramway, which takes you over part of the East River to the island. You’ll find the ruins of the old smallpox hospital and the newly developed Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, with views of the United Nations building.

CONEY ISLAND Brooklyn’s Coney Island is a mustvisit destination and its boardwalk stretching down to Brighton Beach provides a visual walking feast.

A cross between the UK’s Brighton Beach (without all the stones) and California’s Venice Beach, Coney Island offers amusement park rides, sun, sea and famous hotdogs in the summer.

Sideshows are not limited to the fun park, spilling out on to the boardwalk, where you’ll be part of a stunning array of colourful characters.

Although Coney Island is no longer the way it was depicted in the 1979 movie The Warriors it has been spared from big development. It really is the quintessential historic American theme park.

While you’re there, why not bring your togs and a towel and take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean? It’s just like sharing Takapuna Beach with 50,000 people on the hottest day of the year …

CHEAP EATS New York has an enviable number of places to eat with every type of cuisine imaginable but can literally eat up your cash — more quickly than just about anything else.

If you’re planning walking

WALKING NEW YORK

Clockwise: Staten Island ferry; Coney Island; Roosevelt Island; Red Hook Bait & Tackle bar.

excursions it’s a good idea to pack a lunch and take it with you.

Many delis and some bodegas (small corner stores) have food counters and will fix you a sandwich — the true way to experience a ‘sub’ or a ‘hero’. Be sure to grab a cup of

filter coffee ‘to go’ for a buck.

Can’t live without your baristamade hit? There are many non-chain cafes where you can get a decent flat white. And grab cheap, fresh fruit at one of the many sidewalk stalls. If you prefer to eat something a little more exotic that won’t break the bank, you’ll find a myriad of tasty prepackaged meals at stores such as Westside Market on 7th Ave (between 13th & 14th Streets).

As a bonus, New York City water is some of the best anywhere, so fill up a reusable bottle to take with you and refill at a public water fountain.

DIVE BARS After all that walking, why not check out one of the many ‘dive bars’

in and around the city.

Contrary what to the name implies, dive bars are rarely unsafe dens of iniquity. Unlike Cheers, everybody may not know your name at first but are likely to by the time you leave.

Personally, I look at a dive bars as a cross between a wild west saloon, sports bar, hipster hangout, RSA and live music venue.

Generally catering to locals, dive bars offer reasonably-priced drinks, sometimes with food and great original live music (or both).

I’ve had a lot of fun playing gigs in many of Brooklyn’s dive bars such as the Way Station (Prospect Heights), Hank’s Saloon (Boerum Hill), Red Hook Bait & Tackle (Red Hook) and my local, Bar Chord (Ditmas Park).

Pictures / Andrew B White

Sadly, many dive bars have closed or relocated because of high rents and gentrifying neighbourhoods, but as an alternative to dropping a wad on a show at the Madison Square Garden and a restaurant dinner, a dive bar can’t be beaten. Indeed, New York City is a big place and the sheer number of people gives the city its energy.

That said, there are plenty of places in the city where you can find an oasis — you might even wonder if you are actually in the city at all.

The best way to discover the city is to walk it, and remember, this is New York — things might sometimes look a little rough and ready on the outside but take a closer look and see what it offers up.

Independent coastal living.

ISLAND LIFE, AT ITS BEST Perfectly position ned on th he water’s edge of Anzac Bay, Waiheke Retirement Villa age of e independent retiree a choic ce of 1 and 2-b bed droom villlas built with modern, relaxe ed bea ach livin ng in mind. ill e va ate lan ndscaped d grounds featuring well-e esta ablish hed subtrop pical plants an nd tree es, exclusiive fac , comfortable ambience, an nd above all a warm and supportive commun nity.

nge a personall tour To arran call Libby on (09) 372 2820

z or email libby@wrv.c co.nz

37 Natzka Road, Anzac Bay, Ostend co.n nz www.waihekeretirementvillage.c

E7

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

+Plus Screen

History of violence Paul Casserly

S

omehow both Rectify and The West passed me by when they first aired. One is a fictional history, the other real, yet still mythical. Both have a violent back story.

Rectify is slow-cooked drama at its best. It reveals itself without the aid of pace — it works in a glacial way, you can’t see it moving and God knows how much it weighs, but it’s not light.

Like many great shows, The Wire among them, it seeps into your pores.

The 3-episode hump can be hard to traverse, but stick with it.

Through artful use of back-story flashbacks and a crockpot simmer of the procedural hanging in the emotionally charged air, Rectify engages you and is skewed more than enough to feel fresh.

The story hangs on the release of Daniel Holden (Aden Young) from 19 years on death row for the rape and murder of a teenage girl from his hometown in Georgia. The DNA seems conclusive but doubt lingers throughout the series as Dan tries to return to life in a town full of ghosts and ghouls.

The characters are superbly drawn, each one can hold an episode, and they soon return like long-lost friends when off screen.

I’m not sure the effects of incarceration and reintegration have ever been so completely realised on screen — a man’s dark and tortured soul so well played — and yet somehow, and this is key, a thread of humour, of surprise, of fun runs through the whole enterprise.

The puppet master, writer and

Include Rates, Water, Insurance, Maintenance

are FRE

VILLAG L L

out goin

gs

E

director, is Ray Mckinnon, best known as an actor. His best role was in another nugget of pure TV gold, Deadwood, where he played the Rev Henry Smith, a true-life preacher given a fictional turbo charge and a brain tumour. It was a remarkable role and performance, full of pathos, humanity, all that deep shit and it seems to have rubbed off in chunks into Rectify.

So, I’ve already mentioned The Wire and Deadwood, so I may as well drop in The Sopranos, this is up there, and I reckon influenced by all three.

But there is a hitch: the moment you’ll have to get creative, or better still buy a DVD, for series 1 – 3, as NZ Netflix has yet to add the show, (it is on US Netflix) the Rialto Channel, which is where I watched, no longer has the rights to those seasons, but will rescreen series 4 sometime this year.

The West, is another master work from Ken Burns, the documentary maker so good that the satirical site The Onion recently wrote him a joke headline. The claim was that they had scored an interview with the “one man who had watched the Ken Burns Jazz series all the way through”.

Not one of their best gags, but I do get it, I only watched most of Jazz and I love his work. Burns certainly doesn’t reward short attention spans, his The Civil War epic is meaty, while Jazz is a beast; 19 hours’ worth of his trademark brew of portentous narration and photographic zooms. It proved too much for me.

I’m not sure how I missed The West, which bears his name as Execu-

tive Producer, with Stephen Ives as director. But the playbook is pure Burns in this 1996, 9-part history of the American West. It takes us from the days of Native American dominance through the optimism of homesteaders, the madness of gold seekers, the fever of the railways, the devastation of Buffalo, and later, the swarms of cattle and sheep that boomed and came to grief.

Threaded throughout are the many and varied tragedies faced by the natives. It concludes with Sitting Bull confined to a reservation at

Rectify is slow-cooked drama at its best

,,

Standing Rock. I began watching during the Standing Rock protests of late 2016, a chance find during a search for a picture, but once I’d watched the first minute I knew, that unlike Jazz, I’d get through the lot. The connection with the protests against the oil pipeline was a reminder of the constant need for historical back stories for contemporary contemplation.

What’s past is prologue, be it at Standing Rock in 2016 or the Ureweras in 2007.

Peter Coyote’s narration is a marvel of calming authority and he has real Wild West bonefides. He changed his name from Cohen, to Coyote, after taking the drug peyote and hallucinating his footprints as those of a coyote.

The dude’s also had a part on Deadwood, as General Crook, but his voice is his best foot. It’s a key ingredient in any documentary, especially ones set in the distant past, where few

Aden Young as Daniel Holden in Rectify.

interviews or even newsreels are available. A DVD of the series would make a great gift, but you can watch it all for naught on good old YouTube.

One of the many things I have to thank the late great AA Gill for is his rave about another historical gem, The Great War (1964 BBC), which also resides on YouTube in all its 26-episode glory. Among the cats and

Picture / Supplied

makeup tutorials, there lies a great seam of such documentaries, from the classics to Adam Curtis’s recent HyperNormalisation, an unsettling an visually stunning essay on the rise of Trump. ● Rectify - series 1-3 on DVD The West - Youtube The Great War - Youtube

Best Buy on the North Shore Retire with huge savings

1 & 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS AVAILABLE FROM

$265,000

Wed-Thur

E

A

E8

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Advertisement

Virtually Invisible Hearing Device W E N

Looking for a hearing device that delivers crystal clear sound at an affordable price?

Boost your hearing and never miss another word! Try the new EarPro 4000, our smallest and most powerful device ever!

HALF PRICE OFFER! Limited period only

Can you see it?

30X AMPLIFICATION

Crystal W 90 Day RISK FREE TRIAL Clear W Perfect comfort fit Sound W Ultra lightweight Pete from Reading: “I have used in­the­ear devices before, but the ear W HALF PRICE OFFER piece for the Ear Pro 4000 is so much smaller, and I find the sound

W Nearly invisible W 30 times amplification W Crystal clear sound W Easy to use

for a limited period only

It has the latest technological advancements combined with a very discreet design to transform your hearing – and all at an amazingly affordable price!

quality far superior than any other device I’ve tried before.”

behind the ear. It’s so confortable to wear, you might just forget it’s there! And no more feeling self conscious.

SLEEK & ULTRA LIGHT Nearly invisible wire

Excellent value for money

We are proud to offer the outstanding and popular Ear Pro 4000 directly to you at a very pocket­ The Ear Pro 4000 offers amazing friendly price. Take advantage of our half price amplification power. Its top­quality offer, only $139.90 $69.95 – and if you suffer micro­digital electronic components with poor hearing in both ears, you can BUY 2 and mean you can increase sound levels up SAVE $179.90 with our SPECIAL OFFER! to 30 times. Now you’ll be able to join in With no middleman or high street stores to deal conversations without strain – as well as with, you can order direct and take advantage of hearing the doorbell, the phone, and the our thrifty savings and 90 Day money–back TV and radio properly. The crisp, clear guarantee. And we’re dedicated to providing a sound supplied by the Ear Pro 4000 will quality after­sale service. Our product advisors are make life so much easier. available to answer your questions, and to ensure that you are 100% happy with your order.

Discreet design

Outstanding Amplification

The earpiece, which is the smallest design we’ve ever sold, fits snugly and unobtrusively in the ear, and comes with five different sized tips to make it comfortable and adjustable for everyone, with no worries about it falling out. The earpiece has a clear, near­invisible wire connecting it to the main body of the device, which is lightweight, slimline and fits neatly

So hurry and order your RISK FREE TRIAL today!

We invite you to try it for yourself with our RISK FREE 90 Day home trial. If you are not completely satisfied, simply return for a full refund.

Now available for the first time in New Zealand.

Read what customers in the UK have to say about Ear Pro 4000: Keith from Basingstoke: “The Ear Pro 4000 is exactly what you see in the ad. It looks really good, I only wish it had been around years ago, I would have felt much more confident.”

Susanne from Redditch: “Wow, this is an amazing product! Last year I spent over £500 on a device from a high street store and I thought I’d buy the Ear Pro 4000 as a back­up.

But now I use the Ear Pro 4000 all the time, it’s so much better”

Mary from Canterbury: “For some time I’ve found the hearing in my left ear not as good as my right, it’s especially noticeable when I am on the phone. I finally took the plunge to buy a hearing device, I can’t believe what a difference it’s made.

Thank you.”

Ralph from Colchester says: “Highly recommended, at last I’ve found a device that fits and doesn’t protrude out of my ear.”

Incredibly small earpiece

90 DAY GUARANTEE

HALF PRICE OFFER for CALL NOW Ask Dept 0800 55 77 99 KEP19

Lines Open 7 Days: 12.00pm - 9.00pm

Post To: Send to: Century Mail, DEPT KEP19, Please send me PO Box 912021,Victoria Street West,Auckland 1142 1 Ear Pro 4000 I enclose a cheque/Money Order payable to Century Mail for $…………

Please charge my VISA/MASTERCARD: (inc batteries) for $139.90 $69.95 + CVV The last 3 numbers on $9.95 insured p&p the back of the card.

SAVE $179.90

Expiry____/____Signature_____________________________

_

2 X Ear Pro 4000 (inc batteries) for $279.80 $99.90 $9.95 insured p&p

Mr/Mrs/Ms______________________________________________________________

Spare batteries $6.95 pack of 4

Email______________________________________________________________________

PLEASE PRINT

Address________________________________________________________________ Suburb_________________________________________Postcode________________ Phone_____________________________________DOB_______/________/__________ q Tick this box to sign up for exclusive email offers from Century Mail.

Occasionally we may make your data available to carefully selected companies. If you do not wish to receive interesting offers from these companies, please tick this box q If you do not wish to receive further communications from Century Mail, please tick this box q Delivery normally within two weeks but please allow 28 days.

B172

Buy online at www.cmshop.today/KEP19

E9

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

+Plus Gardening

Next season starts now W

Sarah O’Neil

e are now long past the first throws of the new season and without wanting to cast doom and gloom, autumn is on our doorstep and the first flush of spring is a distant memory.

The garden, while still in full swing and bearing a bountiful harvest, will be showing signs of fatigue and the inevitable end. Some plants have even disappeared completely and have been long since devoured.

However, there is still a freshness about the garden that can be brought to the table in the crispness of a cucumber or the juiciness of summer fruit and the abundance of perfectly ripe tomatoes. But there is also a freshness to be found in the memory of the gardener. The struggles and successes of the season are still fresh in mind. What is done with this knowledge can either make next season wonderful or an all-toofamiliar struggle and to be honest, the preferable is to improve the state of the garden not hinder things.

So, while it is all fresh in your mind, and the garden as it is still grows before you, stop and notice it.

Have you done enough for it? Is it meeting the description on the label? Did it grow with vigour or did it struggle? Was it plagued with pest and disease? This offers up a whole range of scenarios: was there anything I could have done to prevent this? Could I have prevented it if I acted sooner? Was the harvest what was expected? Were there too many zucchini as a result of too many plants or too few peas divided up

Sarah O’Neil in her garden.

Picture / Ted Baghurst

among a large family? And most importantly, how was the taste? If you didn’t like it – remember the variety and don’t grow it again.

Once you have investigated the plants as individuals, step back and look at the garden as a whole. How is it working for you? Is it in the right place or does it flood when it rains?

Does it get enough sun or do the onceempty branches of overhanging trees now shade the garden in full leaf? Do you have enough space?

With the benefit of hindsight, did

you give your tiny seedlings enough room to grow into maturity and stretch their shoots and roots wide?

If you want to extend your garden, looking about your yard for a possible new spot now is perfect, as you will see where the sun shines and where the shade falls. You will be able to decide which areas you are willing to give up for the garden as you can realistically decide how much use this area receives.

Take a stocktake of all things going on in the garden. How are your

● Sarah O'Neil is an author, blogger and passionate gardener writing about the trials and tribulations of growing food for her family. Her books The Good Life and Play in the Garden and the recently released Growing Vegetables are available at bookstores. www.sarahthegardener.co.nz

Need a Hearing Aid but Can’t Afford it?

The Salvation Army Senior Services Volunteer Support for the Elderly

trellises and stakes standing up to the weight of the full harvest? Are they buckling under the heaviness or are your plants waving aimlessly well above the tallest point of the trellis?

Are your plants being watered well or is there room for improvement?

Is a long hose required to prevent endless trips back and forth from the tap with a heavy watering can? Or would it be better to install an irrigation system and make that one less chore to be concerned with in a busy season?

How you garden is also a great thing to consider, as if it is difficult, too big or just a struggle, you won’t enjoy it and will eventually drift away from it, leaving behind weeds and good intentions. If bending down to tend the garden leaves you with a twinge at the end of the day, consider over the winter months building your beds higher.

If you struggle to keep on top of the weeds, watering and harvesting right now, in the height of the season, your garden may be too big and you should scale back or get in extra help.

Exhausting yourself over your garden is not going to give you the pleasure that can be found in a garden. You need to think smarter, not work harder, to gain the most value from tending your veggie patch.

Gardens grow on experience. They can teach the gardeners so many things each season, as long as the gardener is prepared to take the time to discover what the garden is trying to say to them.

Making plans for the season to come while the garden is still growing is a great way to ensure any improvements can be made based on the changes you can clearly see before you and the next season will be even better than this one.

OUTDOOR ROOMS

&+,"

%('#!$*)

We recruit and match volunteers to provide friendship and support for elderly people in the West Auckland and North Shore area. We offer assistance with transport, advocacy,home maintenance and Chaplaincy services.

Decks, Pergolas, Louvres, Glass Balustrades & Blinds

Ph: 09 8273128 Email: newlynn_corps@nzf.salvationarmy.org www.salvationarmy.org.nz/seniors

09 527 0419 EzyDeck.co.nz

*This price is for 4mx3m ground level pine deck, Stratco Outback pergola & hand-rolled blinds.

Conditions apply, see our website for more details.

Well now you can!

DIGITAL HEARING AIDS FROM $500.00* This offer includes: • Full Audiological Assessment • All Fitting and Follow Up Charges • A Three Year Manufacturers Warranty *some conditions apply A1 Hearing Ltd is a small family run business.

Call us today for COMPETITIVE PRICES on all brands of hearing aids and to book in for a free hearing test and assessment.

6 Wallace Road, Papatoetoe | 425A Dominion Road, Mt Eden 948 East Coast Road, Northcross www.a1hearing.co.nz 0800 214 327

ROGERS

AZALEAS - $5.99 MONDO GRASS - $2 LIRIOPE MUSCARI- $2.99 MOTH ORCHIDS - $9 & $17 TROPICALGUAVAS - $9.99 GARDENIAS - $5, $10 & $16 HIBISCUS - $5, $9 & $12.99 BLUEBERRIES - $9.99 & $12 ENGLISH LAVENDER - $3.50 GRAFTED MANDARINS - $21 TREE FERNS - $16, $22 & $29 FEIJOAS – 6 VARS - $12 & $14 BLACK PASSIONFRUIT - $2.99

BIRD OF PARADISE - $15 & $20 CAMELLIA EARLY PEARLY - $15 MATTHEWS BUSH ROSES - $21 STAR JASMINE - $2.50, $6 & $14 CHATHAM IS. NIKAU - $29 & $39 POHUTUKAWATAHITI - $9 & $39 CALIBRACHOA PETUNIAS - $3.50 GRISELINIAS - $3.99, $5, $10 & $15 JAPANESE BUXUS - $3.50, $4.50 & $9 GARDENIA RADICANS - $4.99 & $9.99 EXHIBITION DAHLIAS - $9.99 & $14.99 BANGALOW PALMS - $16, $20, $49 & $75 BOUGAINVILLEA SCARLET O’HARA - $9.99

Roger Hunter’s Garden Centre

39 Tidal Road, Mangere East • PH 027 277 1200 CLOSED MONDAYS - OPEN 6 DAYS 7:30AM - 6PM WWW.ROGERHUNTER.CO.NZ

2017 Summer Styles Selling now! ....keeping you active and out there

www.covertogs.co.nz • Ph: 09 5338441

E10

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

+Plus Food

Madam Woo restaurant, Takapuna. Picture / Ted Baghurst

Emett wows at Madam Woo Madam Woo

486 Lake Rd, Takapuna ph: (09) 489 4601, madamwoo.co.nz Lunch from noon, dinner 5.30pm -10pm ★★★★★

n the face of it, Madam Woo might seem a tad too clever: a Hamilton-born Michelinstar chef opens a restaurant (well, four of them at last count; a Christchurch Woo opens later this month) serving Malaysian street food.

It’s one of those things that shouldn’t work but does, like Kanye, Rihanna and Paul McCartney collaborating.

And four years in (the first Woo opened in Queenstown in 2013) Madam’s no less alluring.

The key to Madam Woo’s success is that Josh Emett is smart enough to keep things simple. He’s clearly a big fan of the cuisine and knows what works and doesn’t mess with it; fresh ingredients, bright flavours, a busy, casual ambience.

Its key note is Malaysian but there’s Chinese, Portuguese and Indian influences at play too — oh, and icecream from Wanaka’s Pure NZ. This is a long way from his finedining pedigree but the food retains a Michelinesque quality-control — Emett was at the pass throughout service, checking each dish.

And those dishes were outstanding: tastefully garnished, Instagramready and perfectly seasoned.

It’s a large restaurant behind the main Takapuna shops: the vibe is casual, think urban/tropical, perfect for summer.

From left: The pork hawker roll; soy tossed squid (top); and the fish curry; Pictures / Supplied; Doug Sherring chef Josh Emett (inset).

The crowd’s diverse: Takapuna ladies who lunch, business people, young mums catching up before the school run, local shopkeepers waiting at the bar to pick up takeaways.

It’s open, airy, sociable — and Woo’s got the service right too. Our waitress Tierney memorised a long, and sometimes changing order, all the while pointing out things in the menu we had overlooked.

,,

O

Greg Fleming

The key to Madam Woo’s success is that Josh Emett is smart enough t o keep things simple

We started with the steamed prawn-and-coriander dumplings — they were ok, but Madam had better in store.

Next up, the pork hawker roll ($14), Woo’s most popular and talked-about dish. “You’ve got to try one,” said a Woo regular when I told them I was to visit, “it’s to die for!”

And she didn’t over-sell it: slowbraised pork, shredded and served in

a sweet, buttery roti, the richness cut with pickled cucumber and onion, chilli, spring onion and coriander.

As a starter they’re substantial, enough for two if halved; we left only pastry crumbs on our plates.

Next up, the fish curry. Made with trevally, a deft mix of Malaysian and Indonesian flavours, with pieces of okra adding texture and taste.

It’s a winner, full of flavour and

garnished with Vietnamese mint, coriander and sliced red chili — a hint of spice enlivens the dish, but never overpowers it.

But the star of the meal was the honey and soy tossed squid ($18), stirfried with cashew nuts, szechuan pepper and chili.

Our waitress warned me about the chillies and I nodded and kept eating, then I hit one. Wow! I ordered another Crouching Tiger, made up of apple juice, ginger beer, mint and honey, and picked up my chopsticks again as the sweat started.

I’ve gone back numerous times since and it’s the dish I order.

We finished with the Kaffir lime cream dessert ($12), crispy coconut and vanilla marinated pineapple.

One of us loved it, one didn’t; we both agreed on the salted caramel and mango icecream (top that with the pineapple and you’ve got a winner, ask - they’ll do it).

We thought we were done until I spied the Portuguese custard tarts and the Vietnamese filter coffee ($5).

The coffee is brought to the table in a small jug and left to filter into your glass, once it’s through you stir and there’s sweet condensed milk at the bottom.

And those tarts, served warm, were a perfect mix of savoury and sweet.

Emett and business partner Fleur Caulton’s concept gives Madam Woo versatility.

Dress up and have a relatively cheap night out or just pop in for a hawker roll or Woo’s version of Asian classics like Char Kway Teow ($29 fried noodles with prawns and Chinese sausage) after the beach.

Let’s hope a city-side branch isn’t far away.

Additional points for being the first Malaysian restaurant in recent memory (I’m looking at you Mamak) not to play jazzed-up versions of Michael Jackson songs.

E11

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Advertisement

M

WL NEODE

Introductory Offer

At last... a simple, easy to use, no nonsense 150 3G mobile phone.

SAVE UP TO

$

Mobile phones are getting smaller and more complicated with far more features than anyone will ever need. Payment plans are also complicated and tie you in for a year, two years or more. That’s why we’ve launched the EasyPhone 3G… A simple, no nonsense mobile phone with some very useful features:

3BIG buttons with BIG numbers on how to use it.

3SOS button that calls any number such as a relative or friend. Just one press calls them automatically and activates the loudspeaker so you can speak ‘hands free.’

3NO CONTRACT. Not linked to any mobile phone network.

You can use any sim card so no contract and NOTHING TO SIGN.

3HANDS FREE system allows you

3A simple, easy to use TEXT MESSAGING system.

3Built in TORCH. Very useful in the dark.

3300 MEMORY PHONEBOOK. More than anyone is likely to need!

3Easy, soft touch VOLUME CONTROL. 3Optional VIBRATION alert on incoming calls.

3A full charge of the battery will last up to 5 days in STANDBY and you have up to 5 hours of TALKTIME.

3FREE, 90 DAY WARRANTY.

to talk without having the phone ‘glued’ to your ear!

Here’s what our customers say about the EasyPhone

BUTTON

Listen to your favourite shows or sports when you are out and about.

3Straightforward INSTRUCTIONS read screen.

SOS

3Built in FM RADIO.

easy to see and press.

3LARGE illuminated, easy to

INCLUDES

“What a great phone. I can see the keypad and screen so clearly I no longer have to reach for my glasses when I make a call. The big buttons make it so much easier to dial a number with my arthritic fingers and I’ve even used the SOS button once when I slipped on the ice last winter” Mrs Patricia Glenson “The EasyPhone should be awarded Gadget of the Year for the over 50s. It’s so simple to use. I normally need my son to show me what to do but not with this phone. The SOS is so handy – I’ve never had to use it in an emergency but I call my son every day so it’s easy to just press the button and talk” Mrs Emily Jones “...great phone, no nonsense, fantastic battery life, easy to press buttons, easy to see screen and I even listen to my favourite talk show or the cricket when I’m on the bus or out and about” Graham Burgess

Order your EasyPhone 3G now by calling 0800 55 77 99 or by completing the coupon below.

Lines Open 7 Days: 12.00pm - 9.00pm

No Fancy Camera No Music Player No Downloads No GPS No Sat Nav No Video Games or WiFi Just a no-nonsense straightforward mobile phone 90 DAY GUARANTEE

CALL NOW 0800 55 77 99

q SAVE $60 Please send me ONE EasyPhone 3G

mobile phone for only $199 $139 + $9.95 insured p&p

q BEST DEAL SAVE $150 Please send me TWO EasyPhone 3G mobile phones for only $248 + $9.95 p&p

q I enclose a Cheque/Money Order payable to Century Mail for $______ q Please charge my VISA/MASTERCARD as follows:

Ask for Dept KM317

SEND TO: CENTURY MAIL, DEPT KM317

PO BOX 912021, VICTORIA STREET WEST, AUCKLAND 1142 Mr/Mrs/Ms_________________________________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

CVV The last 3 numbers on the back of the card.

Expiry____/____Signature___________________________________________ Occasionally we may make your data available to carefully selected companies.

If you do not wish to receive interesting offers from these companies, please tick this box q If you do not wish to receive further communications from the Century Mail Group, please tick this box q Delivery normally within two weeks but please allow 28 days. V2261

Suburb_______________________________________Postcode______________ Phone____________________________________DOB_______/_______/_______ Email________________________________________________________________

q Tick this box to sign up for exclusive email offers from Century Mail.

Buy online at www.cmshop.today/KM317

E12

nzherald.co.nz | The New Zealand Herald | Tuesday, February 21, 2017