Capital 11

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

picture cory jane M ay 2 0 1 4

issue 11

mother ducks

$3.90

halo flies again

More is not Merrier

Presented in conjunction with the Golden Jubilee of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, Molesworth St, 1964–2014

THE ANGEL

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Capital made in wellington

THE COVER: Cory Jane pg. 29 Photograph by Max with the Amazing Travelling Photobooth

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Produced by Capital Publishing Ltd

L

ast month I talked about the lovely clear weather we could expect in April and it’s been one storm after another so that’s me and Ken Ring finished in the forecasting line.

This month we have several new writers who bring you lovely local tales. Kelly Henderson talks to Gina Kiel, the only New Zealander appointed by Adobe as one of their new creatives, and Murielle Baker outlines the joys of roller derby for local stalwart Skanda Lass and team Richter City.

How do you feel about Mother’s Day? I am in the camp that says gifts are not the point of the day, but any gestures (even breakfast in bed, a family movie session, dinner cooked by the children), anything that encourages acknowledgement and gathering around of families is to be endorsed. However whether you love it or loathe it as yet another example of American imperialism, we acknowledge the May day with interviews by Melody Thomas with the mothers of two of Wellington’s favourite sons.

Kim Attwell talks to Harriet Palmer about the seesaw ride that he has been on with his international business venture, developing clever software that controls gimbals in cameras amongst other uses. His resilience in the face of adversity is impressive.

And in an exciting look ahead we are making plans to celebrate our first birthday with our June issue.

Stay tuned for details.

Alison Franks Editor editor@capitalmag.co.nz

This publication uses vegetable based inks, and FSC® certified papers produced from responsible sources, manufactured under ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems

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.

mothering up Great Mums talk about their sons 30

c o ry ja n e

hometown music

Cory Jane in the booth of truth

Cushla Aston becomes independent

35

26

8

LETTERS

48

TRy JAM

10

CHATTER

51

CHEERS

12

NEWS

52

BuSINESS

15

By THE NuMBERS

57

By THE BOOK

16

NEW PRODuCTS

58

IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS

18

TALES OF THE CITy

62

INTERIORS

20

OPINION

64

ABROAD

22

WHAT THE FLOCK

68

RICHTER ROLL

23

CuLTuRE

71

WELLy ANGEL

72

TORquE TALK

40

STREET STyLE

75

BABy, BABy

41

FASHION BRIEFS

76

DIRECTORy

44

EDIBLES

78

CALENDAR

contributors

s ta f f Alison Franks

Managing editor alison@capitalmag.co.nz

Lyndsey O’Reilly Haleigh Trower

Campaign Coordinators sales@capitalmag.co.nz

John Bristed

General Factotum john@capitalmag.co.nz

Shalee Fitzsimmons

Art direction and design shalee@capitalmag.co.nz

Jeremiah Boniface

Design

Anna Jackson-Scott

Journalist

Craig Beardsworth

Factotum

Gus Bristed

Distribution

contributors Emma Steer | Melody Thomas | Kieran Haslett-Moore | Sophie Nellis | Paddy Lewis | Sarah Burton | Sarah Lang | Janet Hughes | Daniel Rose | Sharon Greally | Larissa McMillan | John Bishop | Connie McDonald | Harry Culy | Jonathan Kay | Karen Shead | Ashley Church | Ben Laksana | Mark Sainsbury | Benjamin & Elise

MuRIELLE BAKER journ a li st When journalist and roller derby skater Murielle Baker is not reporting for Radio New Zealand, she’s on her roller skates playing roller derby and showing up kids on scooters at her local skate parks. Her foray into roller derby began with Wellington’s league, Richter City, and she hates that she loves hitting her old team-mates when she plays against them.

MELODy THOMAS journ a li st Melody Thomas is a writer, columnist and producer for radio who uses her work to offset terrible FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out. Writing for Capital provides just the excuse she needs to pry, consider and explore the world vicariously, all from her little window desk in Island Bay. Catch up with Melody between issues on Twitter @WriteByMelody.

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.

thanks Madeleine Wong | Sarah Burton | Laura Merrigan | Kid Republic

PAu L I N E L é V ê q u E ph oto g r apher Pauline is a passionate photographer from France. Her ultimate goal is to create images larger than life and multiply collaborative projects with other talented spirits. She’s happiest when she’s on the road, travelling and discovering. paulinelevequephoto.com

6

JOHN BISHOP o pi n i on c olum n i st John Bishop is a Wellington writer and advisor who helped out in the 1989 reorganisation of local government, and has been active in civic affairs in Lower Hutt and Wellington cities.

Writing for science: a creative experiment Our creative science writing course explores how we can tell the stories of science in a way that is meaningful to a general audience.

Explore the diverse range of non-fiction science writing possibilities with leading science writer and Listener columnist Rebecca Priestley and noted essayist and poet Ashleigh Young.

If you’re interested in science and want to discover how you can share and excite others, apply now for Trimester Two, 2014. Places are limited.

The Landfall/Janet Frame writing desk at the International Institute of Modern Letters.

ENROL NOW For more information contact the International Institute of Modern Letters 04-463 6854 modernletters@vuw.ac.nz victoria.ac.nz/modernletters

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7 *When you select 1 pair of glasses from the $169 range or above. Monday to Friday 9-5pm. See in store for full details.

letters

NEEDS TO GET uP TO SPEED

CAR-PARKS NEEDED

It’s encouraging to see new Wellington City Councillor Nicola young showing an interest in public transport but had she talked to some of her fellow councillors and staff before she wrote her article (‘Cheaper by car,’ 1 April) she could have been brought up to speed with what’s planned in Wellington City and understood some of the issues around real time information, integrated ticketing and who funds bus lanes.

We have invested a lot of money in rail over the last few years, and this is paying off with train customers enjoying significant improvements in reliability and quality of service.

The focus is now turning to bus services, with plans for a new Wellington City bus network that will mean access to faster and more frequent services for a lot more people and more evening and weekend services for residents in the outer suburbs.

We’ve renewed the train fleet and the plan over the next five to 15 years is to replace older vehicles in the Wellington bus fleet with modern, high-capacity, low-emission buses to provide more reliable services and give customers a much improved on-board experience.

Our planned integrated fares and ticketing system will enable us to provide better value for money for customers. We will be looking at ways to improve. One possibility could be fare capping where you would pay for a maximum number of trips each week and subsequent trips made during that week would be free.

Developing an integrated system is nowhere near as simple as Nicola young seems to think. One fare and ticketing system for all of our operators and their hundreds of fare products is a huge and complex commercial project.

Neither is Real Time Information as simple as she has been led to believe. RTI has been a significant and valued improvement to public transport in the region. As with all projects of such complexity glitches did occur, but these have nearly all been fixed.

And whilst I applaud Nicola young for her innovative thinking around mobile app technology I understand that although the technology is improving rapidly, it’s not capable of delivering the precision or level of detail that our network requires.

We are seeking feedback on our blueprint for delivering the best bus, train and harbour ferry services for Wellington. I encourage Nicola young and all your readers to find out what’s planned and tell us what you think. www.gw.govt.nz/ptplan yours sincerely Fran Wilde Chair, Greater Wellington Regional Council (abridged)

I was interested to read Nicola young’s opinion about the Wellington bus service and think it long overdue that someone questions the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s priorities. Why on earth put money on a real time (RTI) system when the buses still arrive erratically or not at all despite what the screen says.

However I am also concerned about what the Wellington City Council is doing about the provision of parking spaces.

Since the earthquake put several parking buildings out of commission, going to shows and events in Wellington at night has become a problem. There is not adequate parking close enough to venues like the St James and to add insult to injury friends and I have often received parking tickets when we do find a space as shows often run longer than the allowed time on the meter.

Catching public transport is often not a sensible option at night and taxis put a night-out out of reach for many.

It is time the council adopted an approach that encourages people to come to events, not discourages them.

N Moore, Newlands

SHEER DELIGHT

Just a quick note to say how well the feature on our house has been received. you may recall that my wife , Deb, was more than a little wary of the whole business but I can report she is utterly delighted with the result. Ditto our family, our friends and our neighbours.

Writer Karen did an amazing job capturing all the nuances out of my rambling discourse.

And the photos from Daniel mesh superbly with the textPlease pass on our warmest appreciation to them both.

Russell and Deb Wallace, Titahi Bay P.S. We are converted Capital readers.

FANTASTIC MAG I received a copy of your magazine last night while on a trip to Wellington Fashion Week. I just had to write to you – it’s fantastic.

Caitlin Reid, Queenstown (abridged)

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

8

getfunkd Willis welcomes

Logovae Grainger Martin Cullen

to the team

Anna

Ashleigh

Christa

Katia

Laura

Marcus

Photos: Stagebox Photography

80 Willis St 04 499 0222 www.getfunkd.com Like us on Facebook – getfunkd Willis Ltd

9

c hat t e r

ink inc.

memphis i n h awa i i Talk about taking coals to Newcastle. Our very own award winning World Barista championship winner, CNN worlds’ top coffee spot winner, Memphis Belle, is taking coffee to the (Pacific) home of coffee.

Kona coffee is one of the most expensive coffees in the world, and only coffee from the Kona districts in Hawaii can be called Kona coffee. It was big in Wellington in the ‘70s. Remember the glass pots of coffee brewing (or stewing) away in the early trendy pioneering cafes such as Toad Hall?

After a short-term Wellington stay, a couple from the USA were so enamoured with the vibe and the coffee from Memphis Belle, they approached owner Bink Bowler about setting up in Hawaii. Long story short – they did it. In February, taking some of their own baristas. Memphis Belle Coffee House, Maui, has opened it doors. With celebs like Steve Tyler gracing their rustic floorboards, it’s already a success.

By Sharon Greally

TONI COx

READ THE SIGNS

Wellington’s been inking about tattoos, is the trend deeply etched into the city’s cultural canvas or will it fade? Toni Cox talks about colouring up.

Two comedy shows will be interpreted into sign language as part of the New Zealand Sign Language week celebrations and the NZ International Comedy Festival. Jeremy Elwood’s 14 May show and Ben Hurley’s 13 May show will be interpreted by an iSign NZSL Interpreter. This is the second year the comedy festival has done translations.

Free sign language classes are also offered around the country. The number of classes taken has risen from 40 to 600 in the seven years since sign language became an official language of New Zealand in 2006.

NZSLW runs 12–18 May

What led you to getting a tattoo? Art or rebellion?

Art Why did you choose the design?

Cause moths are cool!

Where is your tattoo & why?

Sternum. Cause it looks sweet there.

Where did you have it done?

My tattooist was Rohan Skilton at Jackson St tattoo in Petone, Wellington.

10

c hat t e r

welly words

FIREPRO OF HO OF A Wellyworder was recently regaled with a story from staff at a local shoe retailer. According to store legend a lone left shoe was received in the mail with a note from a distraught customer.

Its mate had disappeared one night and judging by the metal buttons found in the fireplace she deduced her sleepwalking partner had mistaken the shoe for firewood in the middle of the night.

The box was returned with a specially made mate and strict instructions to keep them in a locked wardrobe.

LO OSE LIPS There are some drawbacks to the local custom of conducting business in cafes. A Wellyworder comfortably ensconced in a cosy cafe listened interestedly recently as Te Papa staff animatedly discussed budget cutbacks occasioned by an estimated $1million+ repair bill to fix the leaking roof at the museum.

a point to teach Royal New Zealand Ballet dancer Qi Huan has joined the New Zealand School of Dance, fulfilling his dream of becoming a ballet teacher. “To become a ballet teacher has always been one of my future goals and dreams,” Qi says.

NZSD Director Garry Trinder says “Qi has always impressed me with his dedication, intelligence and commitment to excellence”.

Qi will teach classical ballet, and focus particularly on training tertiary-level male dancers. Qi taught at the Beijing Dance Academy in 2003–04 before coming to New Zealand to join the RNZB. He has danced with them for nine years.

Photograph by Ross Brown

JAFFA MARKET Those in the property know report that the latest trend is for property-rich Aucklanders to realise their capital gain in their home town and then buy well in the luxury apartment market in Wellington, thereby freeing up some cash for the overseas trips so essential for the baby boomers.

It sounds good though Wellyworders we have consulted haven’t reported tripping over an influx of Aucklanders down at Chaffers.

COFFEE ART Mica Still’s vivid designs will decorate eco-friendly coffee cups headed for Wellington. The artist, originally from the USA, is now based here. She decorated egg 58, Play Time, for The Whittaker’s Big Egg Hunt.

11

news shorts

WHAT LIES BENEATH

CARB ON CREDITS

WELLy ON WHEELS

The survey results of Wellington’s emergency water supply options should be out late May, says Councillor Chris Laidlaw. Survey ship MV Guru assessed the feasibility of an under-harbour pipe from Seaview to Wellington in mid-April, for obstructions that could affect the pipe-laying and cost. The survey results are being processed.

“Preparing for natural disasters in New Zealand has been raised to another level in recent years, and we’re part of that,” said Laidlaw. The council will evaluate the plan as part of their 2015–25 Long-Term Plan process.

Wellington city’s current water supply crosses the Wellington Fault at several locations and would be disrupted for weeks if damaged.

The Wellington region receives a healthy dose of green this May and June, with 6,400 native trees planted in the Wellington region as part of Honda New Zealand’s TreeFund program. In May, the banks of the Otaki River and the Waikanae River will each receive 1,000 trees, and 50 will be planted along Mabey Road in Lower Hutt.

Friends of the Otaki and Waikanae rivers groups and Hutt River Environmental Planting will carry out the planting supported by the Greater Wellington Regional Council. The region’s Honda dealers (Wellington, Lower Hutt, Paraparaumu and Masterton) are invited to attend. As are the people who have purchased Honda cars.

Cycling is increasingly popular in Wellington, census data shows.

The number of Wellingtonians cycling to work increased by 49 percent from the 2006 census, the biggest increase of any region in New Zealand. Those choosing to drive to work decreased by 2.9 percent over the same period.

“Increasing numbers of Wellingtonians are choosing to ride their bicycles to work despite the lack of safe, separated cycle lanes,” said Green Party MP Gareth Hughes.

The government currently spends less than one percent of the transport budget on cycling.

12

s encetw io s ns h hoe r a tdse r

HARB OuR HERESy Wellington’s crustaceans may be in danger. A 2011 Wellington Harbour sediment survey showed levels of copper, lead, zinc and mercury that exceed national guidelines. Vehicle brake and tyre wear, galvanised roofs, road dust and soil that has been contaminated with leaded petrol and lead-based paints are behind the contamination.

Councillor Chris Laidlaw says that we need to look after our waterways. “Wellington Harbour is one of our most important coastal environments. It is up to us to protect the marine ecosystem by caring for our waterways, both natural and manmade,” he says.

i’d drink t o t h at Garage Project has won a Silver Medal at the bi-annual World Beer Cup with a Steampunk-named brew. “Lord Cockswain’s Courage Double Barreled Porter” is named after the Steampunk character but inspired by the Dr Grordbort universe, created by Sir Richard Taylor and Greg Broadmore of Weta Workshop.

“We originally made a beer for a Weta Workshop party and it prompted us to be interested in the Dr Grordbort universe and think what it would be like to brew beers that are ‘out of this world’”, he says.

The silver-winning brew is a mix of freshly-brewed and bourbon-barrel-aged beer. It was awarded in the Wood and Barrel Aged Strong Beer category out of 111 entrants.

The Garage Project is the first New Zealand Craft Brewery to win a World Beer Cup Medal, and it has been 14 years since a New Zealand brewery has been awarded a medal at the World Beer Cup. Garage Project is Pete Gillespie and Jos Ruffell, with help from Pete’s brother Ian Gillespie.

13

Keep it at Kennards

The people who care S

tate-of-the art security equipment on premises that are monitored continuously is just part of the service Kennards Self Storage offers.

Kennards, in Hutt Road, Thorndon, offers clean, dry storage and warehousing for private customers and its growing number of commercial customers.

Kennards Self Storage is now offering enterprise spaces for its commercial customers, providing spaces of anything from 40 to 100 square metres.

Manager Sue Solly says there are no bonds, leases or legal fees, customers can use Kennards storage on an as required basis.

“We’ve done the comparisons and Kennards comes out as a cost effective option,” says Sue.

Situated close to the centre of the city, Kennards Self Storage is an ideal location.

The company has recently moved into Wellington, and with the recent painting in the KSS colour scheme, there is no doubt that Kennards has arrived. This is our ninth centre in New Zealand and one of 80 centres throughout New Zealand and Australia.

The company, which has in many ways pioneered the industry, was founded on values of quality, convenience and innovation, and strives to provide its customers with an exceptional storage experience.

The site is monitored 24 hours a day and there is an on-site manager seven days a week.

Sue says customers’ access to their storage units is available between 6am – 10pm, although 24 hour access can

Business Storage • Delivery Concierge Service* • Forklift* • Meeting Rooms* • Mini Warehouses • National Accounts • Packing available Personal Storage • Bright & Clean Storage Centres • Trolleys available • Move-in Specials • Boxes & Packing Materials • Range of Sizes Boat and Car Storage • Covered, Lock-up or Open Spaces • Easy Access

be arranged if necessary.

Sue, along with assistant managers, Amanda and Larry, conduct daily checks of the locks of every unit to ensure everything is in order.

Kennards Thorndon has over 1000 units which come in a range of sizes, from a locker size all the way up to our enterprise spaces. There is no minimum time to store for, they can be hired for periods ranging from a day to years, Sue says. Kennards also refund any unused rent to customers when they move out.

Demand for storage is high.

Although much of the demand is for personal storage, the company has many large commercial customers. These customers appreciate the provision of a special courier drop-off point.

Special shelving can be pro-

vided in storage units if this is required.

Kennards Self Storage Thorndon has a small furniture truck that customers can use for 4 hours, free of charge when they move their goods into their storage unit. Trolleys and hand trucks are also available.

Kennards offers through its box shop an extensive range of boxes, bubble wrap, packaging, tape, covers and blanket wraps. It has adopted an environmentally friendly attitude and will buy back boxes that have been used once and in turn offers these for sale.

Kennards is open from 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday, from 9am – 5pm on Saturdays and 9am – 4pm on Sundays.

“Helping You Move” • Free Trailers available* • Removalist Referrals

Insurance • For Extra Peace of Mind • Great Value

Security A Priority • CCTV Surveillance • Access Control Systems • Lock Integrity Checks

We Sell Boxes and Moving Supplies • Range of Boxes for Every Requirement • Packing Tape, Plastic Wraps, Bags and Bubble Wrap • Buyback Advantage: We Buy Back Used and Unused Cartons • New and Second-hand Boxes • Great Value

24 Hour Access* • Access When It Suits You National Accounts • Multiple Storage Centre Arrangements • One Invoice For All Spaces • Tailored Business Storage Solutions

(04) 473 1300

*Not all locations

19 Hutt Road, Thorndon

www.kennards.co.nz

by the numbers

A REAR INSIGHT

LONG IN THE TOOTH

19

years since Thunderpants were invented

CRAZy MOuTH

150 +

rough age of Thorndon, the oldest suburb in NZ

100

% of cotton used in the fabric - is proudly organic

1870

year the Shepherd’s Arms opened – oldest hotel in NZ

16

stockists in Wellington

6.24 14,278

km metres of fabric printed per year

1840

year the Thistle Inn opened – oldest pub in NZ. Before land reclamation it was on the shoreline and Te Rauparaha is to have pulled up his canoe and stopped for a drink

estimated number of bums being supported by Thunderpants at any given time (are they being seriarse?)

A BOOK By HOOK OR By CROOK

46 55 193

years since unity Books opened book launches and events hosted last year combined number of years of bookstore experience of the 17 staff members

3000

number of copies of Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries sold so far

17,000

titles available on the shelves

3 220

years since La Boca Loca opened number of litres of salsa made per week

14,700

number of margaritas served per year

100–350

heat in scovilles (k) of the habanero chilli (for comparison the jalapeño is 10–15) ... any correlation between this and the number of margaritas sold?

C O T TA G E INDuSTRy

ACCORDING T O S T PAu L

1858

year the Colonial Cottage on Nairn Street was built (Central Wellington’s oldest building)

8

admission price in dollars (children $4 and under-5’s are free)

127

years it was owned by the Wallis family before a society formed to save it from demolition

3

number of heritage chickens you can meet in the garden

1866

year the foundation stone was laid for Old St Paul’s

5

cost in dollars for a guided tour (or you can wander around for free)

480 70–90

number of seats weddings per year (+ 40–50 funerals and numerous concerts)

Compiled by Craig Beardsworth

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

18

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

t h at p l i n k i n g planking plonking sound

E AT

Cuba Street

WEARS

A kilt (sometimes)

T R AV E L Germany

I N ST RuM E N T Mandolin

READ

The Beara Trilogy

Life for ALASTAIR CuTHILL revolves around music.

A

Wellingtonian went into a music shop in the back streets of Melbourne recently and asked about ukuleles. “The best place for ukuleles we know of is in New Zealand, in Wellington” the shop assistant said.

“It’s called Alastair’s Music”.

How does a Scottish ship’s engineer come to be the man who sells more stringed instruments than anybody else in the country?

Alastair Cuthill came to New Zealand in 1971 as an engineer on the Rangatira, a new ship specially built for the Lyttelton Wellington passage. He worked on and off (including a spell as a bagpipe maker in Courtenay Place) until 2001 when, with his wife Catriona he opened Alastair’s Music in Cuba St, selling ukuleles, violins, cellos, double basses, guitars, mandolins, and sheet music.

He thinks he sells more ukuleles than anyone else in New Zealand, although his biggest sale to one customer is (only) 80 (to the Wellington City Council); he heard that someone recently bought 500 at once as a direct import but they weren’t much good.

Alastair’s favourite place in all the world is Cuba St. He works there, eats there, and quite often stays there.

Favourite eating places are Ombra, El Matador and Scopa, all in Cuba St. He feels Cuba St is “home”, even though he actually lives in Silverstream.

The musicians he likes are Irish fiddle player Kevin

Burke, Canadian ukulele maestro James Hill, and in Wellington Slava Fainitski’s Bravo Ensemble and the Wellington International ukulele Orchestra.

His own instrument is the mandolin. “If I coveted anything it would probably be a really nice old mandolin, I’ve got a pretty good one, but it would always be nice to have a better one.”

We’re having a coffee with his friend Fainitski who looks over and says “he speaks Russian.” Alastair laughs, “Fainitski taught me, I also speak German, Turkish and Greek – I lived in Germany for five years, I worked with a Turk for five years – I speak a lot of Turkish, and my first wife was Greek.

“I think once you learn one language the others come a bit easier. I’d be interested to learn Mandarin Chinese” He is currently reading The Beara Trilogy by Brian O’Sullivan: “He’s a Wellington author and I love his books”.

At the weekend “I’m pretty one track; I play music and go to concerts. I grow a lot in the garden so we eat a fair bit of our own, I cook Beef stroganoff – Russian cuisine. I read, and I play music..”

His favourite spot in New Zealand is Tahora on the forgotten highway in Taranaki, because they have “really good folk music festivals there” “When I’m not working I would rather be on the waterfront than any other place.”

Photograph by Benjamin & Elise 19

opinion

AmAlgAmAtion: forget it By john Bishop

U

nits of local government rarely agree to merge with each other. It does happen, but most mergers are forced upon councils.

They are imposed from outside, in the case of Auckland by central government following the recommendations of a Royal Commission, or in the great re-organisation of 1989 when the Local Government Commission reduced over 700 units of local government to 80 city, district and regional councils.

The case for a smaller number of units of local government sounds deceptively simple. Really, the argument runs, in a country of 4.5 million people, how many councils do we actually need to do the stuff councils do: clean streets, fix potholes, maintain parks, pools, libraries and gardens, provide water and remove it again. All basic stuff. Surely we don’t need a council in every town?

The rational answer is no, but try to take a council away from people and stand back and watch the reaction – sharper and more vicious than an angry pitbull.

Amalgamation into larger units of local government necessarily means a loss of democracy. There really is no running away from this.

The further the council sits geographically away from the people in their houses and farms, the remoter it will seem, and the less control voters will feel that they have over the council.

20

Merging a council with 15 councillors with a council with 13 councillors – as would be the case if Wellington and Hutt cities were to merge – and ending up with 28 councillors would be nonsensical.

Surely about a dozen would do the job, advocates would argue. And they are probably right – in terms of efficient decision-making. But this will inevitably be seen as less democracy.

Forget it. No one will campaign for, or vote for less democracy.

So the next argument is efficiency gains and cost savings. There will be some, but not necessarily very many.

Only one chief executive will be needed, but the jobs of the heads of the functional units of the merged council will be bigger, which will be used to justify larger salaries for those holding the new positions.

And remember that a good deal of the rationale for a larger council is that it will be able to do bigger projects, to tackle region wide problems – like economic development, funding the arts and events, and tackling infrastructure.

The budgets for those activities will be increased – and many will support that. Arguably there has been too much local investment and not enough regional investment over the years. So don’t expect your rates to drop through any amalgamation.

opinion

they just play it cool and do not commit their own council’s funds too quickly, then Wellington City will get impatient, and go ahead with the project all by itself, or at least with minimal contribution from the others.

That way the non-Wellington City residents have got benefits substantially paid for by the residents of Wellington.

What this now means is that Wellington City rates are higher than they would otherwise be, if this “screw it, let’s do it” attitude had not been so prevalent.

And rates in the other centres are lower than they would otherwise be if their council had been contributing to regional projects on a more equitable basis over many years.

Now here’s the crunch. If there is to be one council in the Wellington region, then the ratepayers from Hutt City, Upper Hutt, Porirua and Kapiti would almost certainly have to pay more than they are currently paying – leaving aside any other considerations like better sports grounds, and the like.

Combined with less democracy, a merger is a hard sell. What non-Wellington politician is going to go to the people of their area and say: “Vote for me. I am in favour of a merger with Wellington City. Your rates will go up and you’ll have less say at the council table, but overall it’s a good thing.”

Bigger councils will want to do more, at least in part because they think they can and should do more in regional development, in providing better infrastructure, more parks and recreational areas, more of all the things that voters like.

For example, a region-wide policy to improve the number and standard of playing fields for our amateur sports teams might be necessary, and would be widely welcomed, but it would also cost more.

Many other examples of the same phenomenon can be found. We may well get better facilities from decisions made from a regional perspective, but it won’t necessarily be cheaper. Efficiency gains from any merger will quickly be absorbed by the demand for more regional projects.

There is one particular elephant in the room when it comes to a region-wide merger of councils in the Wellington area. Wellington City has been carrying more than its share of costs for the provision of services for the region for many years.

The reason for this is simple. Wellington City has always seen itself as the leader and driver of the region and it has had a long line of ambitious and visionary leaders (and some wannabes as well) who have proposed all sorts of projects for the region.

Leaders of the other councils have learned, from experience over the past thirty years or more, that if

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w hat t h e f l o c k

mr spot ted shag name: Spotted shag or spotted cormorant. Māori names: pārekareka or kawau tikitiki.

Status: Endemic, not threatened. habitat: Marine birds that nest on cliffs or isolated rocks, their nests made from seaweed and vegetation. Spotted shags are most common in the waters around the South Island, but there are decent-sized localised populations in North Island areas including the Hauraki Gulf, the Waikato Coast, the Coromandel, Kapiti Island and here in Wellington Harbour. look for them: It can be difficult to tell one shag from another, but you can’t miss a spotted shag in breeding plumage. Look for the forward-curled, double crest of feathers on the head, bright green facial skin between the eye and beak, and thick white band of plumage running from the eye down to the shoulder. The “spotted” part of their name comes from the beautiful but discreet black spots covering a breeding bird’s silver-grey and brown back and wings.

Non-breeding birds lack the crest and white line on the head, and the facial skin fades to dull yellow. If you see a bird you think might be a spotted shag, check the feet. Spotted shags are one of two yellow-footed shag species in New Zealand, the other being the Pitt Island shag which is only found on the Pitt and Chatham Islands. call: Hoarse croak. feeds on: Mainly fish with some invertebrates, feeding in deep water up to 16km offshore.

Spotted shags are constant divers, remaining underwater for an average of 30 seconds (the longest dive recorded was 70 seconds) and surfacing for 1–15 seconds between dives.

Did you know? Spotted shags often have a number of small stones (“rangle”) in their stomachs – but there are a few different theories as to why. They may act as ballast, like the stability provided by cargo in a ship, or help with the digestion of food, or serve the purpose of making the stomach an inhospitable environment for parasites. Keep an eye out for collections of small stones on sandy beaches – you’ve likely found a regurgitated rangle pile! if it were human, it would be: What human type gets all dolled up in the hopes of finding a shag and can be seen vomiting up the contents of its stomach? We hate to do it to such a lovely bird, but the Spotted Shag bears a striking resemblance to our own beloved girls, and guys, of late-night Courtenay Place.

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culture

pa c i f i c new ZealanD

Ane Tonga’s Seta

Tongan New Zealand artists are celebrated at Pataka’s Tonga ‘i Onopooni: Tonga Contemporary. It includes sculpture and painting, photography, video and installation art of thirteen Tongan New Zealand artists.

“Our big exhibition called Samoa contemporary, celebrating the success and talent of Samoan New Zealand artists, was a huge success. The logical follow up was to look at other Pacific Islands, so we brought in the Tongan New Zealand art historian and curator Nina Kinahoi Tonga, to guest curate the exhibition,” says Pataka director Helen Kedgley.

Nina approached Kedgley with the exhibition proposal. “It’s her baby,” Pataka registrar Laureen Sadlier laughs.

12 April – 24 August 2014

t h e wor l D’ S a S ta g e MUSEUM MUSES

Shakespearean political thriller Equivocation has “spooky parallels with modern day life,” says actor and co-producer Paul McLaughlin. The play follows Shakespeare (Shagspeare in the play) as, ordered to write the “true” story of Guy Fawkes and the treasonous Gunpowder Plot, he attempts to tell the truth but not get caught.

“The play places Shakespeare very neatly in a world that is his own, but it is also very recognisable as New Zealand today,” McLaughlin says.

“It’s about spin doctors, freedom of information, the pressure of government.” But there’ll be plenty of sword fighting, beheadings, and “about seven buckets of water thrown over actors” as well, McLaughlin laughs.

The play, written by Bill Cain, is directed by New Zealander Peter Hambleton and staged by Andrew Foster (see Capital issue 7).“He’s got a great cast – they’re at the top of their game,” McLaughlin says.

You’ll hear some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines, as he experimented with different phrasing for plays such as Macbeth and King Lear while he wrote the Gunpowder Plot.

24 May–21 June, Circa Theatre.

Wellington museums are celebrating International Museums Day with a behind-the-scenes tour of four of the region’s museums. Taonga from Museum of Wellington City & Sea, Carter Observatory, Colonial Cottage Museum and Cable Car Museum will be discussed, giving insight into Wellington’s heritage and how the objects are acquired, stored and cared for.

“The Behind the Scenes tour gives a fascinating insight into some of our objects and an understanding of how we care for our collection on a day to day basis,” Brett Mason, Director of Museums Wellington says.

16 May 2014, Museum of Wellington City & Sea

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culture

think about it Have you ever wondered why the sky gets dark at night? Could you explain Schrödinger’s cat to your friends? Theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili can help you out. The professor of theoretical physics from the University of Surrey will lecture in Wellington on some scientific paradoxes.

20 May, 6pm, Paramount Theatre, Wellington.

NOt tHE LASt

LONG B O OK FOR SHORtLISt Eleanor Catton has been shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The winner of the £25,000 prize will be announced at the Brewin Dolphin Borders Books Festival in Scotland. Catton’s shortlisted work, The Luminaries, an 800-page novel set in New Zealand’s goldfields, won the 2013 Man Booker Prize. All shortlisted authors have the opportunity to stay at Sir Walter Scott’s writer’s retreat on the remote Scottish island of Jura.

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Wellingtonians David Strong and Wanda Lepionka’s independent short film has been selected to screen at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Written

by Strong and produced by Lepionka (“I hold the pen but we both write,” he says), The Last Night addresses New ZealandAfghani relations. “We built an Afghan village on Horokiwi Quarry,” says Strong. Other parts of the set were made at Camperdown Studios, Miramar.

MUSIC tHAt MOVES As one of several refugee businesses that moved to Wellington after the Christchurch earthquake, Rough Peel Music set up in Vivian Street in 2011. Despite the changing nature of music sales it’s still going strong and will move to the old Save the Children shop in Cuba Street by the end of May.

culture

ACtIVE WOMEN CLO CKING IN Wellington-born, Scottish-based composer Lyell Cresswell premieres his new commission by the NZSO, The Clock Stops, at the NZSO concert Hear & Far this May. Incorporating New Zealand author Fiona Farrell’s poems about the history of cities, the work reflects on the Canterbury earthquakes.

“Fiona gave me a huge amount of material to choose from,” Cresswell says. “Her imagination seems to know no bounds.”

The Clock Stops is performed

by New Zealand opera singer Jonathan Lemalu.

Scottish composer James MacMillan will conduct two of his own compositions at the concert.

O OPS! A quote in last month’s “Something-A-Cooking” was misattributed to Tuaine Robati.

It was a comment from someone else, not a direct quote from Robati.

p l at o n i c pa n t i e S Wellington performers Hayley Sproull and Chris Parker return to the New Zealand International Comedy Festival this year with the second in their comedy trilogy. Tighty Whiteys follows “the natural progression of a friendship,” producer Tim Nuttall says. “Why it’s called Tighty Whiteys I’m not sure,” he laughs, “I guess it’s because they’re the supportive old friend you’ll always have.”

The first of the trilogy, Outsiders’ Guide, won Sproull the Most Promising Female Newcomer for 2013 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.

As for the final, “Milky Bits is the working title, but I couldn’t tell you yet what it will be about,” Nuttall says.

They’re off to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August with their first and most successful show, Miss Fletcher Sings the Blues, before embarking on a South Island tour in November.

Wellingtonian Anne Chamberlain will perform her onewoman show about the life of Eglantyne Jebb, founder of Save the Children, in Wellington this month. Chamberlain wrote the play in early 2014 after researching Jebb last year. “She’s a really inspiring woman,” Chamberlain says.

Jebb and sister Dorothy began Save the Children in 1919, but that wasn’t her biggest achievement, says Chamberlain. “She dreamed up the Rights of the Child in 1923, which is the basis for the current UN convention on the rights of the child, adopted in 1989. It’s the most universally accepted human rights treaty,” Chamberlain explains, “her thinking was very modern.”

The play, directed by KC Kelly (“American by birth, a Kiwi by choice,” he says), is a fundraiser for Save the Children. Chamberlain finds the arts sometimes gets better recognition than activism, so the play is a great way to educate the public on Jebb’s life and influence, she says.

Hannah Playhouse, Wellington, 22–24 May 2014 www.eglantynetheshow.com

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hometown music written By melody thomAs | photogrAph By sArAh Burton

You can tell that Wellington-based music manager Cushla Aston loves her job, and it’s a good thing she does. Five years ago Cushla’s life was following the script of a real expat success story, before she packed it all in and flew home on a feeling.

C

ushla Aston was, “born in the bush in titirangi” – though you wouldn’t guess it. Nearly a decade spent living in London has given her a mild pommy articulation, that slightly-clearer enunciation that’s not quite an accent, and she is very much at home navigating the streets, cafes and venues of Wellington.

“Wellington is my favourite place to live. I love it.

It’s a city with a village feel. I love how easy it is to get anywhere. I love the feel of community. And the sharing nature of that community,” she says.

Cushla’s lived here for just three and a half years.

She spent her formative years in Auckland, heading to the UK in her mid-20s, where, through her work as a liquor industry ‘premium brands champion’, Cushla moved from working visa to sponsorship visa to citizenship.

“It was an incredible time for me... One week I would be racing Ferraris on Goodwood [racetrack], and the next I’d be flying over to Barolo for an exclusive dinner with the owner of an Italian wine company,” she reminisces.

But the call to return home was strong.

“It just happened. I literally woke up one day and was like, ‘I’m done. time to go home’,” she says.

First stop was her mother’s place in Matakana, and Cushla says the first 18 months were very difficult. She wanted out of the liquor industry, but found her new shape didn’t fit into the old puzzle space left in her absence.

“I couldn’t find my natural place until I moved to Wellington,” she says.

Aston’s love affair with Wellington began in London, where she met members of Fat Freddy’s Drop and trinity Roots, and soon afterwards found herself hosting 13 mostly-Wellingtonian musicians in her apartment. Returning to New Zealand, Aston started getting calls from Fat Freddy’s record label and touring company, asking her to come and join the team.

“I packed my car up and moved into a friend’s spare room, and then the three months I’d planned to stay turned into three and a half years,” she laughs.

Working as a contractor under the name Aston Road, Aston helped with Freddy’s business and took

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on additional contracts through new company The Licorice Factory, acting as personal manager to The Thomas Oliver Band and helping to release albums from Kora, Sunshine Soundsystem and The Nudge. A year ago Aston struck out on her own.

As she sees it, Aston Road’s evolution to its current status as independent music management company was organic and entirely without intention.

It was natural that Thomas Oliver should follow when she struck out solo. And she couldn’t say no when local talent Louis Baker came knocking.

“The last thing I was looking at was managing anybody else, but... we met up to see if I could help out,” she says.

Once she heard his music, she was hooked.

“I could hear this incredible talent and I felt like I’d be doing a real injustice not to help him,” she says.

Cushla’s first year in the business has been flat out – as well as releases and tours, she’s taken on a local singer, songwriter and beatmaker Estère. And while all three artists are at the beginning of their solo careers, they’re facing big opportunities and already have a number of successes under their belts.

You can tell Cushla is a businesswoman.

She has a strong, matter-of-fact way of presenting herself that demands you take her seriously. It follows that she expects her artists to work hard and take their careers seriously.

But there’s also a softness and warmth that endears her to the people she works with – they aren’t just clients, they’re her family.

“Because you put everything into it.

You work day and night for each other. I’m from a very strong family... and when you get involved with the Astons it’s a holistic experience!” she laughs.

As part of Music Month, early May sees all three artists take part in the Aston Road Series, a Jools Holland-style showcase with a Q&A segment followed by a performance for a crowd of just fifty, which will be filmed and recorded for later release.

Cushla has barely had time to stop and take stock of how her first year running a music management company has gone, but it doesn’t matter – she’s in it for the love of it, and that’s not going to change.

“I’m lucky the people I work with, are smart, driven, talented, have huge hearts, are egoless and most importantly fun...they are all genuinely grateful to have me on board,” she says, “...I believe in them all totally.”

See Wellington at its best!

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7 days a week www.eastbywest.co.nz 04 499 1282

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Brief

Last year Thomas Oliver released the world’s first full-length, instrumental Weissenborn (lap slide guitar) album and is now recording for his first album as a solo singer-songwriter, Louis Baker released his debut EP last month, charting at number 8, opened for British band Morcheeba, and was announced as part of the lineup for Barcelona music festival Sonar as well as Splendour in The Grass in Byron Bay, and Estère just released her debut album and music video, opened for the Queen of Neo-Soul Erykah Badu and will soon head to Europe.

f e at u r e

the mAny fAces of cory jAne with photogrAphy from the AmAzing trAvelling photo Booth

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All Black winger CORY JANE has played rugby for many teams, Hawkes Bay, the Hurricanes, the Maori All Blacks, the Sevens team which won the gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and in 2011 he was on the All Blacks team which won the world cup. The genial All Black took time out from training to chat about money and life with JOHN BRIStED. This feature’s about money, Cory.

I need more.

Don’t we all? Who most influenced your attitude to money?

Probably my wife, Amie.

Did you grow up with money?

No, I didn’t get much, I didn’t have a job until I left school. All my mates at school wanted me to have jobs, I said no ... I’ve got Mum and Dad for that. They gave me pocket money if I was lucky and nice enough to them, but I didn’t have any savings or anything like that.

Where did you go to school?

Heretaunga.

Good school?

It wasn’t then.I didn’t even do my homework at school. The teachers would ask “What do you want to be when you’re older” I told them from when I first started, as a six-year-old that I was going to be an All Black. So I didn’t do any schoolwork. If I could go back to my schooldays I would probably have tried a bit harder to learn. I had a goal – a dream. Lucky I ended up making it because otherwise I’d have been in trouble.

But every time I kept missing out on teams I just kept on. So I made the Wellington Lions for a few years, then I made the Hurricanes, and then into the All Blacks from there.

So how did you earn after you left school?

My first job was as a drainlayer, that lasted about six months.

Digging holes was never a problem because I was a rugby player, you had to do physical stuff. Getting in the drains when the poo was coming down was the problem. That was the first job, then I had a couple of other jobs, I did prenailing at Carters, then I started doing a bit of building with the Old Man, he’s a builder, and then I got on contract with the Lions. They paid me.

Much?

For the first couple of years no, so I kept working while I was playing rugby, then after a couple of years it was enough so you didn’t have to work – that was your job, it obviously became full-time and I started getting a little bit more So how long after all this did you get married I got married in 2007, my first year I made the Hurricanes, I was 24, I was kind of fully professional from the year before, when I made the Sevens.

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What does your wife do?

Amie looks after the four kids at the moment. She’s gone into a business with her cousin and a friend, they’ve been working on it. It’s called Skinny Love – it’s non-invasive liposuction machines and so on – they’ve just opened a new one up in Ponsonby.

When I first made it in rugby my thing was I was going to make us money, she was going to make us more, because she was the brains behind it. I want to make enough money while I’m playing rugby so that I can choose what I want to do when I’ve finished, and not have to do something because I’ve made the wrong decision.

Did you lend her any money?

That’s where Amie comes into it, she’s really smart. She lends me money. I don’t get any money. She gives me an allowance.

I’m not trusted with the money. She does all the investments, she handles all of those kinds of things because she was clued up about that when I first met her.

What else have you invested in?

I’ve got a couple of houses; we built a couple in Upper Hutt just because we know the people out there that do that work. We’d build one, move in there and upgrade to a better one and sell the first it, we’ve done four or five of those, and we’ve got an investment in town in Roseneath. But we still live in Upper Hutt – I’ve always lived there. We’re hoping to move into our latest house in about two weeks, and we’ll sell the one we’re living in now.

Does money make you happy?

People don’t understand that playing rugby in New Zealand... it’s not like you’re a millionaire... But knowing that you’re making money? I’d say it does. People say that money doesn’t make you happy but if you didn’t have any money and you couldn’t enjoy the things you wanted to enjoy then ... I used to work and I got $400 a week. Now I’ve got four kids and they eat me out of house and home, I need a little bit of money.

What about the All Blacks?

You get paid well but it’s nothing crazy. You’ve got to understand that you’re playing rugby for ten years then you’ve got nothing – while you’re playing you make money faster than other people, but after the rugby’s gone ....

If you went to France or somewhere else would you make a lot more money?

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Does the rugby union help?

They help a lot of people. There are seminars, you can talk to a professional development officer and talk about what you want to learn.

Yes but you’ve got to move away, and again, your career doesn’t go on ‘til you’re 50 or 60. We stay here because we want to play for the All Blacks.

So you’re here and staying, how long can you go on?

I just signed on until 2017 and I’ll go on after that, I’ve just got to look after the body. I hope I won’t play rugby until I can’t walk or run any more, I’m 31 now and understand it all a bit better.

Did your attitude to money change when you became a parent?

No. When we had Cassius I was 23, but I was with Amie then.

Are you saving for the kids’ education?

We want to be able to give them the best things for them without them expecting it. My oldest boy has health and learning difficulties; he has to have special medication and specialist appointments. It’s pretty hard for him.

Amie loves you playing rugby, she doesn’t worry about you?

She knows it’s a contact sport and you’re going to get injuries ... which I had last year when I had knee reconstruction. It worked really well. I’d done three ligaments in my knee, and after eight months I was back. tim Gregg was the doctor, he’s good. I had to look after the kids so I couldn’t go out and drink or holiday or anything, I just trained every day ‘til I got it all back and then I got back into the All Blacks.

Do you give to charity?

Amie is an ambassador for epilepsy because of Cassius who has epilepsy. I try and help out as much as I can and we give them a lot of toys at Christmas and so on.

What do you do yourself to train?

During the season we train with the team and the most I’ll do at home is jump in and out of the hot and cold pools – I bought a big rubbish bin that I fill up with water and ice which I jump into, and then spend half an hour in a warm bath.

That’s my relaxing get away from life bit. But during the off season (normally if you make the All Blacks you get December and January off), you’ve still got to keep in shape so that’s when I’ll do those hill runs by myself.

Have you got health insurance?

Yes I get it through rugby.

Have you got a Kiwisaver account?

Funny you should ask, we’re just changing over to that.

What single decision has had the biggest financial impact on your life?

Rugby.

Everyone thinks you’re rich. What is the biggest frivolous luxury you’ve ever bought?

Back in 2008 I made the All Blacks, I thought we got given a Ford but because I didn’t get into the tri Nations squad my agent said I didn’t get it, so I bought a new toyota Aurion.

Then my wife wanted a toyota Highlander so we bought that as well. Then a couple of months later I got into the tri Nations squad and got given a Ford Falcon, so I had my toyota for four years and only drove it 30k. Now Ford gives me a territory which holds the whole family.

I tell members of the team to make sure you get a house; if you can get a house and pay the house off then you’re in plus money.

Then you can go and buy the fun things. No point in paying 30 grand for a car and you’ve got a massive mortgage. I had a house when I bought those cars, but it was stupid spending.

We bought you a salad for lunch. We knew you liked Maccas but we understood you had to have healthy food A salad! Rabbits eat salads. We can eat what we like. You’ve got to understand your body type. I’m lucky, I haven’t blown out too much. The main thing is to eat whatever you’re keen on in moderation.

How old are your children?

Seven, four, three, and one. Cassius, tennyson, Prisseis, Iridessa.

How did you get those names?

Cassius was Mohammed Ali, that was a strong name and we liked it. tennyson, we were in town at a stop sign and I looked up and saw tennyson St – this was before we’d even had our second, but we said that’s a mean name so if we had a boy that would be it. Prisseis is of troy but we changed the spelling, and Iridessa is a fairy. All the kids have double letters in their names.

What do you do when you’re not with your family, and you’re not playing rugby, and you’re not trying to build a house – what do you do for fun?

I go on twitter. That’s my fun, I always write back to fans. I’ve got 110,000 followers. I’m @coryjane1080 that’s where the show is.

What sort of financial advice are you two getting?

Amie is the cautious one, we don’t really have people coming in and telling us what to do. She’s got a cousin who’s right into property, so he helped us.

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Section heaDer

mothering up By melody thomAs

It’s arguably the toughest job on the planet. No employer working within the law could expect a person to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, through countless nights, with no breaks, holidays or foreseeable end date. And the salary? Merely the satisfaction of a job well done. Yet time and time again, Mothers (with a capital M) sign up for the job. Melody Thomas speaks with the mothers of two of Wellington’s top boys, Shihad frontman Jon toogood and tradeMe founder Sam Morgan.

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too good photogrAphy By Ashley church

I

F you’ve been to a Shihad gig you were probably too busy jumping maniacally or staring dumbstruck at the explosively energetic band onstage to notice a sweet elderly woman sitting in her specially reserved seat off to one side. That woman is Yvonne toogood, the mother of frontman Jon, who turns 77 this month.

I visit Yvonne’s Kilbirnie home to speak about her rockstar son, I expect to find a mother bemused by her son’s unusual career choice; proud, of course, but not exactly a fan of the noisy music he makes. I’m completely wrong – Yvonne loves Shihad. She attends every Wellington concert, has a favourite song from each album, – her all-time favourite being Pacifier and is one of many eagerly awaiting the band’s next offering.

“Apparently this next album is really going back to the sound of those early days, which is so different to what they’ve been doing these last few years,” she explains, sounding more like a rock’n’roll fanboy than a great grandmother of two.

Dozens and dozens of photos cover the walls of Yvonne’s lounge and hallway, the overflow creeping into the bedrooms. She tours me through her home, providing background for all. It’s delightful; admiring a black and white picture of Yvonne, luminously happy in a wedding gown cut to mid-calf, beside her beloved Mike, father of Jon and two siblings, who passed away two and a half years ago; hearing stories of barrel-round grandchildren, and of the home in Reef Street, Island Bay, where the family spent 34 happy years. And of course, the many mementos of Jon: the pictures, backlit on stage with his arm raised and brooding in an unnaturally-posed press shot, and the awards – several huge framed gold and platinum discs and a shelf full of ‘tuis’, including one in silver for Shihad’s 2010 induction into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

Jon’s the baby in the family, born when his siblings were six and four years old. Yvonne had been happy to stop with

a “pigeon pair” but Mike insisted that, “two isn’t a family” “A blessing in disguise,” Yvonne concedes. Jon was a “lively” baby, she says, despite suffering badly with asthma from two and a half. “He never let it stop him doing anything, though. He’d be leaning on the table trying to breathe and still talking, you know, talk talk talk,” she laughs.

As a boy there were hints of his future career, she says, “He always loved music. He used to lie on the floor with his face stuck on the record player, watching the records go round and round. They say ‘show me a child at seven and I’ll show you the man’ and it’s true. He’d play the records all day long”.”

Yvonne laughs, telling me about a an old Wellington High School report card, found recently.

“His economics teacher said, ‘He’s wasting my time and his... he would rather perform to the class than listen to me’. But you know, he’s popular. People gravitate towards him, even though he can sometimes be a pain” she says, before checking herself and adding, “Not so much now, now that he’s old.”

I can hear Jon exclaiming, “Muuuuuum” as he reads that, but it wouldn’t be an interview with a mother if there weren’t a mildly embarassing offhand comment.

Yvonne has one last picture to show me, taken during her recent trip to the Sudan, where she went to see Jon marry his Sudanese partner Dana. Jon looks anything but “old”, wearing that same resplendent, almost giddy smile as his mother on her wedding day, like a little boy at Christmas, beside his beautiful new wife.

I ask Yvonne if she has one piece of motherly advice to offer – a lesson learnt from raising a person like Jon. She takes a moment, then says: “Just encourage them to do anything they want to do, because you can do that in this country... And you don’t want them to be miserable doing something that they hate.”

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life’s An Adventure photogrAphy By pAuline lévêque

W

hen mother, grandmother, philanthropist and avid motorcyclist Jo Morgan fell pregnant with her first child, it was with a good dose of surprise. But not for the reasons you might expect.

“My mother had assured me that the vibration of riding motorbikes was going to make me infertile, and... [at that time] the pill wasn’t readily available so the thought of being infertile was very exciting,” she says.

Less than a year out of Massey University in Palmerston North, Jo was pregnant to soon-to-be husband Gareth, a Waikato boy she’d met there and with whom she’d recently relocated to Wellington.

“By today’s standards I suppose it was a fairly young to get married and have a child, but... it is a really good way to bring up children. Everyone’s relaxed, it’s a lot of fun and life’s such a great adventure,” she says.

Sam was born in 1975, the first child of the couple’s eventual four.

“He was a gorgeous little boy with bright red hair.

Both of my boys had bright red hair, and my girls had browny-blonde hair, so the girls used to tease the boys and say they were from another source and that they were fathered by the cat who was also ginger. [Sam] was quite a bright child and seemed to learn to communicate and talk and do puzzles very easily and very early... but I thought that was pretty normal,” she says.

That bright child would later go on to found online auction site tradeMe, selling it for $700 million in 2006, but Sam’s life began in much simpler circumstances.

“We were living in a tiny little flat in Thorndon almost next door to Old Saint Paul’s, and for his first couple of weeks we emptied one of the drawers out and put a sheepskin in it,” she recalls. The family would later spend

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several years living on a bus, at that point with three children in tow.

“In those early days of parenting we didn’t have very much... I think it made [the kids] realise that while having money is nice it’s not the be-all and end-all, and having strong values and strong family links is incredibly important,’ she says.

These family values are undoubtedly tied into Jo’s own childhood experience and her relationship with her own mother, who raised Jo and seven siblings solo when she lost her husband, soon after Jo was born. ”She was always great and kind to everyone... I’d have quite long absences when I was away at University... but when I came home it was amazing. I’d always turn up unexpectedly, on a motorbike, and my mother never made me feel anything less than absolutely welcome,” she says.

Jo’s mother died at age 97, and Jo was right there with her when she did.

“One thing she’d said to me was ‘I don’t want to die on my own’, so, when she was near her end of life I crawled into bed with her for a couple of days until she died.

That was a lovely time together. That sort of Mum is very special,” says Jo. In fact, Jo wants to stress the value of motherhood in general.

“In our society motherhood... is looked upon as failure – we end up apologising, saying we’re ‘only’ a Mum, and I find that a really sad indictment on our society. There’s huge pressure on young Mums out there to be in the workforce and to feel that their value in life has to be in dollar terms. trying to rear good citizens, and capable, bright people that can actually contribute... is in my eyes a full-time job,” she says.

street style

Mia Gorczynski

anTony HeMBroW

1. Wellington fashion needs more Well tailored clothes.

1. Wellington fashion needs more colour.

2. The best store in Wellington is Brown & co! i could spend hours in there.

2. The best store in Wellington is edit.

3. My fail-safe fall-back outfit is The kate dress from kiLT. Quick to throw on, super comfortable and works well for almost any occasion.

3. My fail-safe fall-back outfit is ralph Lauren oxford shirt, khaki chinos.

4. My best fashion accessory is My oris, Mark Webber chronograph limited edition.

4. My best fashion accessory is sky-high heels, always.

5. The one thing missing from my wardrobe is sunglasses.

5. The one thing missing from my wardrobe is a pair of black patent leather Louboutins.

By Ashley Church 40

fash ion b r i e f s

twice the l u x u ry Local luxury sleepwear label For Every Minute launched their new New Zealand merino collection at Wellington Fashion Week to “wonderful feedback,” said designer Kenzy Cheeseman. The label’s signature range is made of pure silk, but their first merino robe created such a stir late last year that Cheeseman and fellow designer Faye Lowe decided to create an entire merino collection.

“Wellington fashion week was our very first fashion show and debut of the collection, so it’s very exciting!”

Cheeseman said. “We want to really expand the merino line to show at the New Zealand Fashion Week.”

They’ve also got a travel collection, silk print, and sexy boudoir-inspired range in the works.

the age o f a q ua r i u s Hair stylist Bex Brent is a true original. Her salon, Willis York, is a bohemian junction where art, collaborations, education, music, fashion shows and photoshoots combine.

Her distinctive style set her apart when she won Hairdresser of the Year in the L’Oreal Colour Trophy Awards in Auckland in February.

A fascination with androgyny was behind her winning look. “Everything must have balance to me and to make a typically masculine hairstyle look feminine I played with the colour. I love watching the sky night and day.

Many times I have been driving in my car and watching the sun set and thought ‘that’s the colour’.” That moment when the diminishing light hits that perfect note of dusky lilac pink is the shade Bex created in three hours on a live stage.

“As a hairdresser the live stage really appeals, it makes it a clean slate and pure skill. Especially with colour work, anything could happen.”

Bex has been an ambassador for L’Oreal for the past two years teaching highly sought after colour workshops. This work took her to Bangkok in March and will take her to Paris in June. Bangkok was “enchanting” and Bex was overcome by the whirlwind chaos of the industry and the friendliness of the locals.

The upcoming Europe trip has got her even more excited. “L’Oreal Paris, the home of all hairdressing. Grown men have been known to break down in tears when they walk in the door. And I will devour every second of it.”

“Someone said to me that fame is addictive. Actually what is addictive is being around people that are at the top of their game, it’s all about energy.”

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PainTinG WiTH faBric Brooke Barrett realised early in life that she was never going to fit clothes straight off the shelf, so she set about designing her own. “Finding a new outfit was an absolute nightmare,” she says,“shopping trips would end in tears.” So the Opunake-born, Wellington-based designer began buying oversized clothes from op-shops and sewing them to fit. She’s been creating ever since.

A Diploma of Fashion from Massey University in Wellington gave Barrett the skills to create the clothes she imagined.“I always enjoyed painting when I was younger. I see this as painting, but with fabric,” she says.Her selftitled label is handmade out of her Wellington home, where she lives in a tiny room, stacked top to bottom with dried flowers, old sewing patterns, and garments she’s had since she was 13. “It only just fits my mattress,” she admits.

The Fabric Store, which Barrett manages, is a constant source of inspiration. “Being surrounded by other sewers looking for inspiration or having these great ideas definitely plays a big part,” Brooke says.She also finds inspiration in the everyday life. “The people around me and the places I go are an inspiration.If it doesn’t jump out at you straight away,that’s where creativity comes in,” she explains.

Brooke has always been thought a little eccentric, but gone are the dress-up-box days of bright blue 80s dresses with pleats and shoulder pads. “It’s nothing I could bring myself to wear these days but they were the greatest thing when I was younger!”

So how did she get from there, to here?“I’ve grown up a lot in the last five years. A year ago I said ‘the things I am achieving now, I had imagined to do so by the age of 27. I’m 23 but I guess that’s why I feel 28’'. Having a supportive family has also helped a lot: “Having someone believe in you can often be all it takes,” she says.

While her style is ever-changing,“I will always be a fan of bogan tee-shirts, motorcycle boots and a good leather jacket,” she laughs. Her latest creation? “I recently made a dress for my dad’s 50th out of two pillowcases that used to be on my bed when I was a little girl!”

Written by Anna Jackson-Scott | Photography by Ashley Church Model: Courtney Scott-Hill, Kirsty Bunny Management MUA: Natalee Fisher | Hair: Mathias Te Moananui 42

fash ion

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edibles

b ro ody about colour collecting fresh eggs from your own hens is one of life’s little pleasures. food writer Unna Birch describes how she developed her flock.

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e decided 18 months ago to get chickens. Heritage and rare breeds give an assortment of egg colours. from pastel blues, olive greens, speckles to dark mahogany eggs, these can all come from the backyard chicken.

They add a beautiful look to the egg basket and contain the same nutritional value as a regular chicken egg. a flock of heritage breed chickens has a wonderful appearance and they come in a variety of colours and featherings. it was extremely difficult however to find the breeds i was wanting. after searching for months and still coming up short i called sharpes feed Barn in Lower Hutt and he suggested i try the Wellington Poultry club.

Through their annual show last year i finally found most of breeds i was wanting. i joined the club (annual fee $10) to learn more about keeping

poultry. Last spring i placed fertile eggs under a broody hen for the first time to finally get the last two breeds that i was looking for. This involved 21 days of calls to Darcy and cheryl, club president and his wife, asking questions and picking their brains. i’d often begin my conversation with “Hi…it’s Me again…sorry!” and they would always say “no, don’t be sorry, it’s part of being in the club, we love helping people.’’ i had no idea, when we first got chickens just how much we would enjoy keeping them.

Breeders bring poultry to sell at the annual Wellington Poultry and Pigeon show. Birds are for sale from 12.30pm on the saturday. Heritage breeds always sell out fast. so now i have five different breeds of chickens; a Plymouth rock (pinky eggs), Lavender araucanas (pastel blue eggs), silver Laced Wyandottes (white speckled eggs), orpington Bantam (brown eggs), and Barnevelder (mahogany/speckled brown eggs) i want to cross breed my Lavenderaraucanas with my Barnevelder to get a chicken that will lay an olive coloured egg. and then i think i will be done. a complete range of egg colours.

Annual Wellington Poultry Show, Expressions Arts and Entertainment Centre Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt, 11, 12 May.

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edibles

kiTcHen confiDenTiaL Onlsow Kindergarten is holding a fundraising tour of ten private designer kitchens in Khandallah. Ten kitchens are explored, with designers on hand to talk style ideas. Pop-up tea, cake and lounge areas are available between kitchens. Proceeds will help Onslow Kindergarten replace their roof.

25 May 11am – 3pm

sHoW Me THe fo oD Beef and tea matching is among the stranger of the attractions at this year’s food show, held at the Westpac Stadium from 9 to 11 May. Personally, I’m much more interested in winning the trip to Vietnam.

THe PeaT y ParaD ox

spoon fed

Auriverdes is taking over at Mt Victoria’s Regional Wines & Spirits on Ardbeg Day, 31 May. The Ardbeg distillery will launch the limited edition Scotch whisky as part of the annual celebration of all things Ardbeg. The single malt whisky’s name comes from the golden colour of the whiskey (auri) and the green Ardbeg bottle (verdes).

The whisky’s sweetness despite its smoky, peaty flavour has earned it the description of “the peaty paradox”.

Moore Wilson’s has brought in new ice-cream cookie sandwiches from Wellington boutique ice-creamery Wooden Spoon. Not even a Wellington winter could keep us from these flavours! They range from classic to peanut butter to ANZAC-themed.

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edibles

bot tomless cups It’s hard to find a cheap way to stay warm in student city, but we’ve found the solution! Prefab, Drexels Breakfast Restaurant and The Goose Shack are some Wellington cafés who offer bottomless cups of coffee. Topped with free wifi if you’re lucky!

WasTe noT WanT noT Kaibosh is launching a new campaign this month to raise funds to provide 50,000 meals to our hungry community.

Miss a Meal in May Appeal 2014 asks donors to skip a night at a restaurant and donate the money to the campaign instead. Kaibosh’s goal is to end food waste to end food poverty. The company rescues unsold food from retailers and donates it to Wellington charities. As of the end of March 2014, 231,940 kgs of food have been redistributed since their beginnings in August 2008.

o oPs! We hope we haven’t misdirected you: Glenn and Anna-Lee Parker’s new toasted sandwich shop Toast It and is on Vivian St.

w i l l m a da m e ta k e t h é ?

Contemporary works of edible art are what Louis Sergeant calls them. After four years as head patisserie chef at the Museum Hotel’s Hippopotamus restaurant, Sergeant has set up a very contempory “traditional Parisian tea house”, Louis Sergeant – Sweet Couture, on Featherston St . His brightly coloured handmade sweet treats take the eye.

Colours are vivid, shapes are perfect and the carefully muted surroundings set off the delicacies. It’s not just pastries, cakes and special teas, there are French-inspired savoury options, salads, homemade icecream, and good coffee.

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oh , ba b y !

Floraditas’ baby sister opens early May at 181 Cuba St, Wellington. Loretta is what co-owner Julie Clark calls “noncommittal dining” – a daily changing menu for any time of the day. Coowner Marc Weir says the emphasis will be on “fresh, seasonal food, lots of vegetables and grains.”

forest cantina

wild b l a c k b e r ry j a m Whether you’re foraging your berries from field or freezer, preserving can give you such a feeling of accomplishment. jam is super easy to make! of course spread it on toast or make my coconut and blackberry jam parfait. a really easy dessert that can be whipped up in minutes, prefect for a fuss-free dinner party ending.

The general rule of thumb when making jam is equal amount of sugar to fruit. and i find that that chelsea jam-setting sugar gives me a perfectly set jam. i like my jam to be slightly runnier than store brought. i think it’s almost a signature consistency of homemade.

MeTHoD Jam 1kg blackberries 1 x 1kg pack of chelsea jam setting sugar a knob of butter (10g) Hand written Labelling i often get asked about my labelling. i buy brown paper envelopes and/or brown paper rolls of paper, both from Whitcoulls, and use a black ink pen to write with. i cut them out and simply glue on with a glue stick. They last really well and come off easily in warm soapy water.

The jars i often collect from op shops or recycle.

But if i am doing a big amount of jam or jarring our honey and don’t quite have enough, i source from arthur Holmes Ltd in newtown.

1.

Put a plate (metal if you have one) in the freezer for testing later.

2.

crush raspberries coarsely with a potato masher or in a blender. i like to leave mine a little chunky so that i get blobs of fruit in my finished jam. Place blackberries and sugar in a heavy-based 6 litre pot.

3.

Heat mixture over a low heat until sugar is dissolved. Do not allow to boil.

4.

add butter then increase heat and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil for 4 minutes only. remove from heat, skim off any foam, test for set and bottle in pre-sterilised jars.

Testing for a set remove the pot from the heat, put a little blob of jam on the cold plate and allow to cool. Gently push the cold jam with your finger. if the surface wrinkles, the setting point has been reached. if this does not happen, return to boil and retest at 2-minute intervals, making sure you return the clean plate to the freezer for retesting on.

WiLD BLackBerry jaM anD co conUT ParfaiT Serving suggestion Serves 4 12 x krispie biscuits, lightly crushed 4 heaped tsp coconut yoghurt (i use The collective’s coconuts gourmet probiotic yoghurt) 4 scoops vanilla ice cream (i used local kapiti Vanilla Bean) 4 tsp Wild blackberry jam Mint sprigs to serve

Assembly i added 3 crushed coconut krispie biscuits to the bottom of each of the 4 serving glasses. a scoop of ice cream to follow, topped with a dollop of coconut yoghurt, followed by the jam, sprinkle with coconut threads and mint. easy peasy! *serving glasses from farmers / metal spoon straws from Moore Wilson’s

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section header

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cheers

Fast cli mb up t h e l iqu or l adder

By Kieran Haslett-Moore

Dominic kelly ran a student pub, explored the beers of Belgium and frequented the beer bars of Tokyo before returning home to open Wellington’s first “cult Beer Bar”.

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n the 1980’s Dominic kelly sold cans of lager in the Victoria University student Union building.

Thirty years later Dominic is now the master of Wellington’s iconic cult beer bar Hashigo zake and beer importer Beer Without Borders.

The experience left him with a suspicion of liquor legislation. according to Dominic the arcane laws before the 1987 sale of Liqour act were the result of kind of thinking that if you put enough petty obstacles in front of people trying to serve alcohol this would somehow lead to more responsible drinking. after his student days Dominic spent some time in the Uk “doing the oe thing” where he developed a taste for Belgian beer. restless, he set off again and his travels included a stint working in japan in finance-sector iT. it was in the beer bars of Tokyo that Dominic’s life began its current direction. He discovered iconic beer bar Popeye and was struck by the huge range of imported and local japanese beers, the way the bar in his words “took the testosterone” out of the conventional pub environment by keeping music low and setting it out like a restaurant, and by the importance the bar placed on both the products it served, and the supply chain it used to get them. The seed had been planted and Dominic was inspired to create something special back home. in 2009 Dominic had returned home to Wellington and he took the plunge and took on a lease.

The basement location for the bar, in the cells of the former Wellington Police station, was renowned for being “cursed” after a host of orthodox hospitality businesses had failed to attract people down below street level. Despite being warned off the location by friends Dominic opened Hashigo zake. He named the bar Hashigo zake, liquor ladder in japanese, after the way people sit in a bar and slowly drink their way up from a tap beer to something special and “top shelf ”.

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at the time it was unheard of for new bars to open without finance from a major brewer, but Dominic, inspired by Popeye, was determined that he would be free to serve the products he wanted to serve and develop relationships with suppliers without being hindered by contractual obligations. from the beginning Hashigo zake stood out from the crowd, an offering that inspired people to make the descent under the ground. in the place of the normal deep-fat fryers Hashigo provided catering in the form of crockpot slowcooked curries and stews and pies. Dominic began to import american, japanese and australian beers himself, and these started to pop up on the bar alongside new zealand’s best craft beers. rather than hiring seasoned hospitality workers, instead Dominic looked for people who had a passion for the products he sold and then he gave them the freedom to leave their own mark on the business.

The result has been a team of staff who are clearly as excited to be at work as the customers are to be at “the pub”. Quickly Hashigo came to be the centre of Wellington’s beer craft beer scene offering the most intense, quirky and “out there” beers in town.

The bar’s success has helped fund a beer importing business recently rebranded as Beer Without Borders. Located in abel smith st, Beer Without Borders imports a wide range of beer from california including Green flash, coronardo, and Ballast Point, Moondog from australia, Baird from japan, Mikeller from Denmark and nogne from norway.

The business also distributes local beers including Liberty, Behemoth, Parrotdog and Townshend breweries. Dominic says Beer Without Borders will be his focus for the future. He foreses a lot of potential for growth as people around the country develop a taste for the characterful hoppy beers he sells. for Dominic things have come a long way from selling cans of lager in the student Union. for the sake of Wellington’s drinking population it’s a good thing it has.

edibles

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business

Halo flies again Written By Harriet PalMer | PHotograHy By Pauline lévêque

Wellington entrepreneur kimberley attwell knows that to succeed you sometimes need to destroy things. for him that means regularly watching thousands of dollars worth of equipment crash into empty paddocks around the city. His attitude of “ah well, we’ll do better next time” has recently helped him pick himself and his business up after an entirely different kind of collapse.

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ttwell makes equipment for aerial photography and film: miniature helicopters, cables and gimbals.

Gimbals are self-stabilising mounts that can be used by hand or fitted to anything including cameras or remotecontrol aircraft. They can then be instructed to rotate, roll and swing the camera. an engineer by trade, attwell has been working on the technology for the past decade. He’s got a fascination with flight and movement, which he originally transferred to the British army’s parachute regiment. There he spent four years jumping out of planes and training for deployment to afghanistan. He didn’t make it to the war. six weeks before the British signed up, attwell followed a girl to Wellington and while his mates faced the Taliban, he worked as an engineer during the week and flew micro-helicopters at weekends. “i wanted to go to afghanistan and do security. you make around $1000 a day, just six months and we would have been set for life,” attwell says.

“The wife said no. she said if you go, don’t expect me to sit here waiting for you.” so he stayed – and he turned his thing for flying into Photo Higher, a business with clients across the globe and an annual turnover of more than a million dollars. atwell began on the livingroom floor, working around a fulltime job. He moved to the garage in 2006 and contracted three days a week doing ten-hour shifts to fulfill another promise to his wife, that whatever he did, he’d be paying the mortgage.

He created a business plan and designed his first gimbal, the fly Pod while studying business and product design. The next step was to find the money he needed to start production. The project wasn’t big enough for any angel investors to pick up, but he managed to impress ian Miller then a director at investment company Movac, who personally handed over the $25,000 attwell needed to produce his first ten. They flew off the shelves and he was able to reinvest. eventually he moved out of the garage and by 2010 he had given up the day job.

His first staff were retired engineers sourced through Grey Power, guys who attwell says “had oodles of experience, helped refine the assembly process and didn’t ask for a lot of money in return.

“They were mostly just happy to get out of the house.”

The next three years were spent steadily growing this business. attwell and the team were nominated for a Wellington Gold award in 2011 for the invention of a miniature helicopter that could carry up to four kilograms and fly into winds of up to 40 kilometres an hour. attwell worked with Peter jackson on the video game Halo 3. His products were used in red Bull advertisements and he was seeking interest for interesting projects: the tracking of big game hunters in Botswana, scouting pirates from super yachts on the high seas and scaring birds off blueberry bushes in nelson.

By 2012 turnover had hit $2.2 million. new products were in the pipeline, he’d set up a manufacturing hub in 53

business

Petone and it looked as if Photo Higher was about to soar.

But then came that crash. sitting in the front office of the company’s ngauraunga Gorge headquarters, attwell, a zimbabwean by birth, looks like a guy who works on filmsets: tough shoes, slightly burly, an all-weather jumper with his logo on the chest. We’re facing a street grey with industrial buildings and trucks hauling bags of peanuts to the Toops next door. He explains: “We went to the naB (national american Broadcasting) show in Las Vegas last year to launch the Halo 2000 [gimbal].This was all new technology, it was innovative. nothing like it had been on the market before.”

The new technology was known as brushless. it’s a complex mechanism that means the gimbal’s action is smoother and there is very little resistance. With no gearbox, it was also quieter than previous models, and its hollow, one-piece carbon body made it lighter than anything attwell and his team had launched before. attwell says they were setting a benchmark with the Halo.

these instructions. The Movi is more basic. a few orders came in for the Halo 2000. others were waiting for the technology to be finalised and production to begin. But that technology didn’t happen.

The person employed to write complex code allowing the user to communicate with the gimbal, camera and sensors left work on a friday, as normal, but on Monday morning his desk was empty. attwell never heard from him again.

“He had a breakdown or something. We had no idea what was going on. it turned out he’d gone to china to teach english. We were in a very tough situation.”

The Halo project had crashed. code, attwell explains, is artistic. another person can’t simply come in and pick up where someone else has left off.

He was faced with pages of creditors and a bank waiting on payments. some suppliers were owed hundreds of thousands. staff went unpaid for five weeks over christmas.

Despite being launched to market, it looked like the Halo

“We crash a lot during trials. The only way to get there is to break things.” it was going to change the way people in the film industry used gimbals. The new model was not only perfect for shooting from up high, but could also be used by hand to create seamless, sweeping shots where the horizon line never changes and unintentional movement or jerking is obliterated.

“We were in Las Vegas. We launched the Halo and people were impressed,” attwell says.

The naB show attracts around 90,000 people per year. it’s the world’s largest electronic media trade exhibition, bringing together content creators from across the entertainment, film and media industries. it’s the kind of place where products like the Halo get noticed, get talked about, and take off.

The Halo was on the runway when attwell and his team hit their first snag. The technology they have built into the Halo 2000 had also been adopted by their main competitor, american-based freefly, for their new gimbal, the Movi M10. on its website, freefly describe the technology as “so advanced, it redefines the possibilities for camera movement”.

They were also under bright lights at the 2013 naB show bragging about their use of brushless technology, but attwell wasn’t too worried: the Movi M10 wasn’t quite as good as the Halo, and in a growing industry, there was room for two.

“We’re friends, we knew we were developing this technology at the same time. We also know ours is better.

We pay more attention to design. We want to be more futuristic in our thinking.” attwell’s design has a fully moulded carbon body and slip rings, which are used to pass motor signals, power and camera commands. They also allow the mechanism to move 360 degrees continuously without disrupting 54

2000 wasn’t going to make it out of ngauranga.

Meanwhile, selling their product for $18,000 a pop, Movi hauled in $27 million over 2013. The year prior, the companies had been equals. Photo Higher posted just under one million dollars for 2013 and attwell had to begin again.

He says at this point he just kept communicating with creditors and with the bank and put his head down. “it shows how you can be so close to doing the same thing, but i’m not fazed. When you come second, you don’t just give up.” “it’s just the way things are.”

We crash a lot during trials, the only way to get there is to break things.”

Was this another one of those kinds of tests? attwell thinks so. “i’ve learnt a huge amount. Learnt a lot. Those other people are making so much money but when you come second, after all that, you have to be strong. you can’t go crying to anyone. The only one who can fix it is you.”

The project is on the move again thanks continued support from the callaghan institute and a new investment from nz Think, whose chairman is Tur Borren, a guy known throughout the business and iT industries as having an eye for a good venture. attwell shows us parts of the Halo 2000 lined up on benches in his assembly room. He’s right, they are beautiful, and he’s hoping that in six weeks they’ll be off the production line and have second chance to fly.

Forensic Science in New Zealand: Pot, plants and poisoners. Starts Monday 23 June

Understanding India.

Starts Wednesday 4 June

Creative Vision Photography: Master the Art of Seeing. Starts Monday 9 June

For more information visit our website www.victoria.ac.nz/conted

DUcks in a roW Henry Smith comes from a family of hunters. They love the tasty and sometimes unexpected treats which turn up on the family dinner table.

“We like everything – fish, deer, ducks, whatever we’re lucky enough to get” says Henry.

He shot his first duck with his father 16 years ago when he was 11, at a farm in the Wairarapa, where the family still goes every May. His first success didn’t come sitting with his dad in a maimai waiting for the birds to fly by. They stalked a dam and he shot his duck as it flew away.

“They move quite fast, you need to be quick.”

Henry says his dad who has just returned from a weekend shooting deer in the “roar” (which is the short period when normally secretive and silent stags are looking for mates and make their peculiar growl) has been shooting ducks since 1963, and they still shoot together.

“We shoot in the Wairarapa and in Taranaki” says Henry, “and one of the things I like about it is the tradition ... getting up in the dark at the crack of dawn, riding down to the big dam in the cold on the back of the truck, waiting all alert in a maimai for it to get light and the ducks to fly about. And then later, hot soup for lunch, and in the afternoon maybe stalking a few small dams to see if we can find a few more.

“There is always a team of us, and at the end of the day it’s great to sit around the fire with a big feed, a scotch and a few yarns. It’s great fun”.

“Mostly we don’t take women, but one year we put my sister in a maimai on an island in the middle of the dam and there were ducks flying all around her but she wasn’t shooting, We yelled at her... she’d been reading a Cosmo magazine, she got heaps about that one”.

“And,” says Henry, “a while ago my dad got a semi automatic shotgun to make him feel up with the times. When he first took it out he let loose at some ducks flying by. He missed with all six shots”.

Henry’s father laughs from the far corner of the room “What bull!”.

The duck hunting season is open on the first Saturday in May and runs for three months.

Written by John Bristed | Photograph by Ashley Church 56

by the book

By Sarah Lang

HisToric reaD Bestselling author Jenny Pattrick has released a new novel. Heartland (Random House) follows the loveable simpleton Donny Mac. After a short stint in prison on trumped-up charges, he returns to the house left to him by his grandfather in the small settlement of Manawa, with its by a handful of colourful locals. Pattrick’s earlier novels The Denniston Rose, and its sequel Heart of Coal, are among New Zealand’s biggest-selling books

War MeMories sTaTeLy reaD “The original tenants of the first state house, David and Mary McGregor, stand outside 12 Fife Lane, Miramar, 1978. They purchased the house when subsequent government policies made this possible, but it was bought back in the 1980s by the Housing Corporation because of its significance. It is now a listed Historic Place.”

Beyond the State: New Zealand State Houses From Modest to Modern (Penguin, $75), by Bill McKay and Andrea Stevens, photographed by Simon Devitt.

Greece Crete Stalag Dachau is a diary of a WWII prisoner-of-war Jack Elworthy. Edited by his daughter Jo, it’s due out May 20 to mark the anniversary of the battle of Crete and will coincide with the wreath laying ceremony at the War Memorial. Jo is editor of the Karori Historical Society journal.

tHe BreaK-doWn The Breakdown: Where The Rekohu Bone Sings

by Tina Makereti (Random House, $37.99) Who: Award-winning short-story writer Makereti teaches creative writing and English at Massey and Victoria universities, and sits on the literary advisory group for the NZ Festival’s Writers Week. Of Maori, Pakeha, and probably Moriori descent, Makereti ponders a central question in her debut novel: how do descendants of different ethnic groups reconcile their identity with their history?

What: In the 1880s, wilful Maori teenager Mere wants more than a routine of keeping house for her family. Today, grown-up twin Lula discovers more about her Moriori ancestors on the Chatham Islands/Rēkohu, and their slaughter in 1835 by invading Maori iwi. Watching them both from the “beyond” is the restless soul of a Moriori man.

Key quote: “And once she has seen the land that way, it was hard not to see the people clearly as well, the way they had been when they met. The first people of Rēkohu, holding tight to their land, trying to meld themselves into its form when things became too hard, holding fast to their pacifism as the light that would keep them free.”

Why read it: With its lyrical prose, clever structure and engaging characters, this novel about identity and belonging is also an exploration of the Rēkohu massacre that has been neglected and misrepresented. It’s also a convincing portrait of 1880s Wellington with all its poverty and racism.

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business

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by the book

in tHeir footstePs Written By Melody tHoMas | PHotograPH By anastasia Blades

s

val, picnics in the park and of course the sea which is a character of its own,” she says. in 2002, alan died suddenly in amsterdam, leaving then 17-year-old ruby and her mother completely devastated. for sally, who had lost the soulmate she had spent 30 years of her life with, the pain was too much. four years after alan’s death and no longer able to face a life without him, sally made the decision to join him. soon after sally died, ruby moved to new york. it was a city that both her parents had lived in and loved – red Mole was based there for six years from 1978 and even opened their own theatre on Broadway, although as ruby points out, “new york has changed a lot since they were here. Times square used to be full of strip clubs and peep shows and now it’s like the epicentre of capitalism’s dream. i can’t imagine it the way they knew it. Mum used to work at a bar in Times square and dad often had to pick her up from work. i believe the bar has gone now.” for ruby, the move to new york was, “both... an escape from memories of a childhood and a desire to have similar adventures to those red Mole had had.” she made ends meet working as an esL teacher – “long hours for low pay” – but eventually life there got too tough and she relocated to Melbourne.

ome people seem destined to live a life less ordinary. new york-based writer, poet and performer ruby Brunton is one of those people. Born in Taos, new Mexico, ruby grew up in island Bay, the only child of poet, scriptwriter and performer alan Brunton and theatre and filmmaker sally rodwell – the couple who founded experimental theatre group red Mole. it wasn’t exactly your average childhood. “i was telling my roommate the other day about the ways in which my parents pushed me and how i used to hate it, and she said she bet i was glad for it now! you couldn’t just watch a movie in our house, you had to offer a well-thought-out critique after. There was always papier-mâché model-making going on which i’d get roped into helping with. My parents read to me every night from day dot. i was in their shows as a baby onwards in flagrant disregard for child labour laws,” she says. ruby’s first years were spent on the road with red Mole. They travelled through europe, running a children’s theatre in amsterdam and exploring france, spain and Portugal, returning to new zealand in 1989 and moving into the house on the hill in island Bay where ruby spent all of the rest of her childhood. “island Bay was a wonderful place to grow up, we had a nice community. There was the island Bay festi-

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“Melbourne was a good place to gather my strength and reassemble my thoughts. i took part in a creative writing workshop with rebecca Lister for people who have lost a loved one to suicide, which renewed my interest in writing and helped me heal,” she says. and a couple of years later, the call of that magnificent east coast city returned. “Whenever i leave new york it seems i am fated to miss it terribly.

a posthumous collection of alan Brunton works entitled Beyond the Ohlala Mountains. it was “an incredible honour.” “it was also so sad. all of mum and dad’s friends and colleagues were there and they weren’t.”

Published by Titus Books and edited by Michele Leggott and Martin edmond, Beyond the Ohlala Mountains includes performance texts, poems, songs, diary entries and love letters.

“It was also so sad. All of mum and dad’s friends and colleagues were there and they weren’t.” i returned in 2012 for the summer initially but got sucked back into the vortex of constant action and stimulation,” she says. now living in Brooklyn, new york, ruby works with a copy editing company and picks up freelance journalism assignments, working on her poetry, her blog and a book about her parents in her free time. she’s just been accepted into the creative Writing Master of fine arts programme at Pratt institute, recognised by Princeton review as one of the best colleges in the northeast, but is still trying to figure out if she can afford to go. ruby finds it difficult to return to Wellington, although she says she will “visit Tapu te ranga and the house on the hill” next time she returns but last month she did visit auckland for the launch of

look

and

feel

“it tells the story of a poet’s life. an adventure in the possibilities and impossibilities of language,” says ruby.

“My recent return to new zealand was magical and i absolutely feel my future involves building a bridge between my two homes. “i feel close to both,” she says. no matter what the future holds for ruby; she will always write, and with a similar intention to her parents, who ruby believes, “wanted to change the world but... hadn’t quite figured out how.”

But when i see people actively trying to address these things i feel hopeful. People are openly exploring the possibilities of art as a tool for social change... if i can contribute to this in some way, i’ll be happy,” she says.

be�er

So you know you need to sort out your posture and get your body moving? But you don't feel comfortable in a gym, or you just don't have a very positve relationship with your body? I’m Morice and I know how you feel. I used to spend all day in a chair, which I was sure was killing me. I didn’t feel happy in my skin and I kept hurting myself. Now I understand why that was happening. I’ve changed my life and retrained so I can share some of the secrets of surviving the aging process and the stress of the workplace.

If you want to look and feel better, age well and have a toned and well balanced body, give me a call. I use Pilates, Gyrokinesis®, posture advice and (if it's right for you) whole body vibration. I have a fully equipped and beautiful studio in the CBD. Give me a call to find out more about my private sessions and small group classes.

It costs nothing to meet me for a chat about6your special situation and goals.

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movement intelligence

movement intelligence

L2, 136 The Terrace 04 472 9152 www.lofft.co.nz

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creaTiVe sPoT Wellington illustrator Gina Kiel says she has creativity in her genes, a fitting description for the talented mother of one who was recently selected to represent Adobe as a New Creative.

“Being recognised by the company that makes software that everybody in the creative industry uses is pretty amazing and humbling,” she says.

Gina, who has been drawing for as long as she can remember, got the Adobe sponsorship through her Sydney-based agency The Drawing Book Studios.

She joins others from around the globe with the New Creative title, including two other Sydneybased creatives from her agency. She is the only New Zealander.

“To be a New Creative,” Gina says, “you need to be someone who is creating all the time, actively doing projects, and the sponsorship is in support of that. We continue doing what we’re already doing and make sure we have something ready each month that Adobe can share through their networks.”

Along with exposure through Adobe’s extensive networks, another perk of being a New Creative is free access to the Creative Cloud, a collection of Adobe software.

In her first month as a New Creative Gina took over the Adobe Australia and New Zealand Facebook page, sharing her process for creating a new linework illustration based on creative instinct.

When Gina’s not busy doing her own projects and looking after her nearly two-year-old son, she works with Wellington design company Inject Design. Gina’s partner Harry A’Court owns the company and she enjoys working alongside him.

“Harry is a designer and I’m an illustrator, and those two things just go together really well.”

A recent project involved creating custom chocolate bar wrapper illustrations for the Wellington Chocolate Factory (see Capital issue10).

Another standout for Gina was taking out Best Album Cover of the Year last year for the Fat Freddy’s Drop ‘Blackbird’ illustration which she created alongside Harry and Inject Design.

Written by Kelly Henderson | Photograph by Ashley Church | Illustration by Gina Kiel 61

interior

bl ack coffee

From left to right, top to bottom Houses long serving platter, $69.90, Citta Miss Etoile silver teapot, $69.90, Iko Iko Marble faceted candlesticks, $24.90 each, Let Liv Falcon enamel mug, $11.90, Iko Iko Marble trivet, $49.90, Let Liv Avenue placemat black, $6.90, Corso de’ Fiori Houses serving platter, $79.90, Citta Diamond side plate with Gold Foil set of 4, $91.60, Citta Column Cutlery knife, $19.90, Citta Column Cutlery fork, $19.90, Citta Twisted heart teaspoon, $12.90, Citta Black napkin, $6.50, The Cotton Store

Mothers Day means obligiatory breakfast in bed.

Unfussy, flower-free and full-of grand geometrics, this breakfast is best served with strong coffee, boiled eggs and butter – definitely not marg.

Background Kate & Kate geometric throw, $110, Let Liv

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interior

soft cereal

From left to right, top to bottom Natural cereal bowl (set of 6), from $67.60, Citta Small dipped ceramic vase, $19.90, Let Liv White household candles (pack of 6), $9.90, Let Liv Prism teapot, $84.90, Iko Iko Rockpool pale lemon coffee cup (set of 4), $75.60, Citta Pigeonhole crumple cup, $24.90, Iko Iko Milk bottle vase, $24.90, Iko Iko Woven frame placemat bone, $5.90, Corso de’ Fiori Tea towel, $64.90, Corso de’ Fiori Finch blue cereal bowl (set of 6), from $67.60, Citta Danbo whitewash round board, $99.90, Citta Natural lunch plate (set of 6), $119.40, Citta Finch blue breakfast plate (set of 4), $119.40, Citta Rockpool pale aqua breakfast plate (set of 4), $79.60, Citta Column Cutlery spoon, $19.90, Citta

Juice, cornflakes and a pot of tea. It’s a slow start to the day with duck-egg blues, petunia pinks and homely linens. Just add sugar.

Styled by Shalee Fitzsimmons Photographed by Ashley Church Assisted by Madeleine Wong

Background Kildaire Linen, $75 per metre, The Cotton Store 63

abroad

Direction unknown written & photographeD by stacey knott

Standing on top of an abandoned 70 metre high tower looking over a giant UFO, I realise how drastically my travel plans have changed.

I

nstead of exploring Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, when instability in that area of the Middle East became too much, my travel companion Anna and I decided to appease our parents and head for a different kind of east – Eastern Europe.

Compared to the well-trodden countries of Western Europe, Bulgaria and Romania are relatively off the beaten track and still developing as travel destinations.

Over the course of a few weeks of unplanned wanderings, we are captivated by Bulgaria and Romania’s centuries of interesting history, from vampires to communism, their stunning scenery and dirt cheap food and booze.

With six hours’ notice we switch Lebanon for Bulgaria, leaving Turkey to arrive in Plovdiv clueless, not

From Plovdiv we head north to capital Sofia for some city exploring, including the flea market for souvenir trinkets, close to the Alexander Nevski Cathedral. My top attraction in Sofia is the people-watching.

We pull up a post on Vitosha Boulevard with a few $2 brews on hand, and soon discover where the term Euro Trash fashion comes from. We witness triple bleach denim ensembles, boofed up hair, mismatched lip-liner, circles of blush and staggeringly high heels.

The music taste we hear matches the outfits. Crazy Frog blares out of car stereos as does Ricky Martin, Mambo Number 5 and Gatecrasher club anthems.

Away from the bustle of the cities and their bold fashions, further north is the fresh mountain air of Veliko Tarnovo. A fellow Kiwi runs unofficial tours to

“...from vampires to communism as well as the stunning scenery and dirt cheap food and booze.” a single word of the language or any idea on how to go about deciphering the cyrillic alphabet.

Plovdiv is a beautiful, easy city in the south of Bulgaria, and you can do a free (though leave a tip) walking tour through famous monuments and ancient ruins and learning the varied history of the area. And here, we are pretty quick to discover the insanely cheap food and beer that continued to nourish us through these two countries. A massive kebab is about $2 and a litre of beer to wash it down the same amount.

an abandoned Communist Party headquarters built in the shape of a UFO on Mount Buzludzha. The UFO is a massive concrete building, graffiti scrawled on the outside and its windows busted out. It was built in the 1970s, then only sparsely used in the 1980s until the fall of communism, and has been sitting abandoned since and looted and smashed up over the decades.

It’s technically illegal to be in this building, and sometimes the police will stop curious travellers and locals, but it’s worth the risk. To get into the building you have to climb through a hole and lift yourself up,

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abroad

intestines of the poor young man who disclosed his dream. I’m also told a young child was thrown off Brasov’s Black Church for good luck for the church – and this is a high, fatal throw. My friend has blue eyes and apparently will never marry but will come back as a zombie.

With heads full of horror stories we headed north to explore the life of the Roma (or gypsies, a contentious term).

All through Bulgaria and Romania all I hear about the Roma people has been incredibly negative.

When I lived in the UK they had a bad reputation as squatters and thieves, in contrast with my own romanticised notions – travellers, free-living, “gypsy blood,” and lots of shiny things.

At a beautiful home just outside of Turges Mures the dining room is adorned with shiny, pretty things, a wall of china, Roma pictures and carpets on the walls. We are served coffee and home-made plum liquor by the matriarch Giselle and her mother in-law, both wearing long flowing skirts and sparkly head-scarves. Romantic notion one: check.

We are staying with Chuck and his family, two cute children and their mother, Karmen.

There’s a definite class system among Roma and it can be traced back to the days when Roma were owned as slaves, and their initial position in society is still relevant to their modern position.

The community we stay with are Gabor, in the top rung of the three classes, generally well-respected, who mostly work “with the hammer”.

This tribe are generally very proud of their roots and traditions, and do not steal or beg, as some other Roma are known to do. They are well-respected outside of their own people.

Chuck explains the reputation for thieving, begging and trickery, by other Roma, goes back to the early categorizations and the discrimination that came with it.

Our Eastern Europe adventures end in the capital, Bucharest, where we hire bikes to see Michael Jackson alley in Herăstrău Park. We spend a moment to reflect on a fallen hero and to comfort ourselves we gorge on fried doughnuts and salty baked pretzels, and seek more creepy Romanian horror stories.

but inside its fairly easy to navigate yourself around.

The UFO has three floors. The bottom one is the coat check and basement, then there is the entrance and foyer, which is now dark and gloomy, with fragments of red carpet, smashed concrete and what remains of their statues; then you climb up the concrete steps of the main area, the circular conference room, which has a mosaic around the interior, detailing the timeline of communism. Marx, Stalin and Lenin, the Red Army, mothers and families are depicted on the walls. Another level, an upper circle, has another mosaic around the outer part of the building, so you have the mosaic on one side and then huge broken windows on the other.

We spend hours clambering around in this building.

The structure is still solid but much of the mosaic is broken and the floors and stairs are covered in rubble.

We then climbed 70 metres in the pitch black, using cell phone lights, up ladders and stairs to reach the top where the glass fragments remain of a massive red star.

Romania is the land of Dracula, Roma and dancing bears.

While there’s more to Romania than Transylvania, that’s where plenty of the sites and attractions are, including the Libearty Bear Sanctuary, where rescued bears are free to graze through a forest in the Carpathian Mountains.

Dancing bears were a big part of the culture in Romania for far too long, as is/was keeping them in unsanitary cages in front of tourist attractions, and in ill-equipped zoos.

Also in Transylvania is ultra-touristy Bran’s Castle, famous from the Dracula novel. Locals love to tell stories of the actual Vlad Dracul/Vlad the Impaler, the model for Count Dracula.

Tales include those of enemies impaled on stakes and left to die, the Victors drinking blood and eating their intestines.

In fact Romanians loves dark tales. They tell us that that if you dream about someone for three nights in a row, then there’s some kind of evil going on and you have to die. They cite a small Romanian Village where the villagers killed and ate the

PREVIOUS PAGES: Top: Abandoned UFO Bulgaria | Bottom left: Giselle Gabor, Roma in Romania | Bottom right: Alexander Nevski Cathedral, Bulgaria

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AUSTIN TRANSLATION Last month New Zealand won back a citizen previously considered lost to the Aussie-bound brain drain on Fraser Austin, founder of Crystal Magic Records, an independent New Zealand music label with releases from local artists like Disasteradio and Thought Creature run, until very recently, from Sydney. It’s an interesting time for the music industry, with physical CD sales at an all-time low and every man and his dog releasing or downloading music cheaply (often illegally) online. Truly independent, bedroom-based labels like Crystal Magic are capitalising on the changes, enticing bands with significantly larger shares of, and a heavy focus on building an international, online presence, using only the parts of old-school record label models that they see as effective and efficient.

“It’s so easy to just release on the internet without any fanfare and while it’s awesome that people can do that, labels do quite well with teasing a single, announcing an album before it’s out... It seems like an outdated and traditional waste of money but it really adds value,” says Austin.

Born in Timaru and with formative memories forged in Christchurch, where he finished high school and lived for some time, Austin recently began to feel the pull to return to this country. Wellington was really his only option.

“Wellington’s distinctively different from every other centre. Christchurch pre-earthquake was very apathetic, you had to create your own fun... I really love Christchurch and it’s total heartbreak that it’s ruined... [but] it did feel like a swamp. Auckland feels like a real urban, grim, businessy city. Dunedin’s horrible, sorry Dunedin. No, not sorry Dunedin, I hate you!” he laughs.

New Zealand is celebrated for the collaborative nature of its creative industries, but this very thing made Austin hesitant to move here.

“Not that I buy the myth that art is suffering exclusively... [but] as someone with a DIY mentality it is hard to adjust to a ‘Do-It-Together’ paradigm,” he says.

However since moving to a place above a garage in Mount Cook, Austin has quickly settled in.

“It’s only been [a few] weeks [but] I have the lay of the land, and have started some daily rituals. As someone who room-dwells for long periods of time it’s nice to have some psychic sheep trails laid out for bumping into co-conspirators serendipitously. Wellington is really good at that. A trip to go get a coffee can turn in to a cool art project by just running into someone you have been meaning to message,” he says.

Written by Melody Thomas | Photography by Pauline Lévêque 67

sports

richter roLL written by MurieLLe baker | photography by Masanori uDagawa

After seven years of grassroots competition, Wellington’s Richter City Roller Derby league are going international to face down other international teams at the biggest tournament of its kind in Adelaide in June. As one long-standing skater told MURIELLE BAKER, they’ve come a long way to get there.

P

ounding the big concrete stairs at the hockey field up from Newtown, Richter City’s roller derby skaters are getting sweaty. They’re busting out the plyometrics and jump-based warm-ups just to get in the zone. Soon they’ll put on their roller skates and spend a couple of hours of bruising each other with shoulder-checks, big swooping hits from their hips to take out people’s legs, and muscling past packs of skaters to speed away. This is roller derby, and these women are in training.

At some point they’ve all been under the whistling command of long-standing member Lindsay Huthnance. After transplanting herself into Wellington from Chicago in 2009, she cruised through a beginner’s crash-course in roller derby before moving into coaching the sport herself. Since she began, Lindsay’s held almost every leadership role possible. She’s captained teams, run ragged new and old skaters who’ve been around longer than her, and chaired the volunteer-run organisation that makes up Richter City’s 40+ members.

She’s got several years of competitive volleyball behind

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her, and she’s always focused on sport over spectacle.

But, she says, that’s exactly what roller derby was when she started – a spectacle.

“Nobody learnt how to play roller derby growing up.

It was this whole new thing we had to teach ourselves.

When I first started coaching, most people weren’t sporty and were more interested in the culture, or counter-culture, that surrounded roller derby. There was that whole spectacle aspect to it, particularly because we weren’t all that skilled at playing. That’s what our audience was coming to see, the big hits, the personalities, the spectacle. Our first game, when we played the Pirate City Rollers in Auckland, we were annihilated. We were completely out of our depth.”

The bright uniforms and roller derby nicknames (Lindsay is Skanda Lass) are still a major part of Richter City (their home team names are Brutal Pageant, Comic Slams, and Smash Malice, and their skaters roll under monikers like Suffer Jet, Tuff Bikkies, and Princess Slayer). Lindsay reckons they always will be (“I’m never giving up my name!”). But after that brutal first inter-

sports

league game in 2009, the focus shifted. Richter City have spent the years since learning, and teaching themselves, everything they can. They’ve flown international coaches to Wellington to teach them new tricks, watched hours of top-level footage, and practised practised practised.

Now Richter City is one of the highest-ranked and most formidable roller derby leagues in the country (and there are a lot. Almost every major centre in New Zealand – and even some not so major, like Kawerau and Levin – is home to a local league). Last year they re-faced the undefeatable Pirate City Rollers and beat them – twice. Soon after that, Richter City qualified to become members of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, which is the international governing body of the sport. They’re one of only two leagues in the country to do so.

Now, this June for the first time, Richter City’s top 20 skaters, the All Stars, will compete in the top division of the Great Southern Slam roller derby tournament in Adelaide. With 45 leagues competing from across Australia and New Zealand, the tournament is the biggest of its kind. The All Stars are in serious

much I train during the week she’s with me. Having a babysitter and adding that to the list of expenses when you’re on your own, all of those things factor in. But it hasn’t made my commitment to derby wane. If anything, it’s made it stronger.”

Lindsay was recently named as one of six skaters from Richter City on the training squad for Team New Zealand, which will compete at the Roller Derby World Cup in Texas at the end of the year.

Does it ever get too much?

“There have been some pretty trying times,” she says. “Because I’m lucky enough to have been selected, I’ve laid back on my leadership roles within Richter City. It’s another lot of travel to commit to and pay for, because we’ll be training at different locations throughout the country like Dunedin, Auckland, Palmerston North, here in Wellington, etc. But it’s an amazing honour that I’m really excited about. Playing teams that are a lot better than your own team, getting that experience and learning is what it’s all about for me.”

“I’ve never been able to put into words, how roller derby makes me feel,” says Lindsay. “I’ve never done

“Richter City is one of the highest-ranked and most formidable roller derby leagues in the country...” preparation mode, with up to four trainings a week.

“We have a skills night that focuses on tightening our stops, hitting, and general skating ability; an endurance night that involves 90 minutes of almost non-stop skating; a scrimmage night for two hours where we practice the game, then an extra hour on top of that for travel squad practice. Then another two hour training, usually on the weekend,” says Lindsay. “Everyone is expected to do a work-out at home between those trainings, mostly core-based exercises. On top of that, I run about 20kms a week.”

Everything about roller derby is DIY: it’s for the skaters, by the skaters, and run on countless volunteer hours. Skaters are signed up to committees within Richter City that run their events, financial accounts, recruitment, and other admin duties.Lindsay says committee work can be up to 20 hours per week.

“I recently separated from my long-term partner, partly because of roller derby,” says Lindsay. “He was generally supportive of it when we were together, but it does get to be a lot on your partner, especially if you have children (we have a seven-year-old daughter). We’re now in a week on/week off situation with her, so I’ve had to adapt my derby schedule and how 70

anything that gives me as much determination, drive, and adrenaline. Just… all of the emotions in the last few breaths before the whistle blows. Using all of your agility and your skills and your strength, your explosive power, everything that you’ve learnt and taught yourself, it’s all happening at once in roller derby. You’ve got heightened feelings, all of your senses are going off, you’re more than 100% alive when you play. That’s why I love it so much.”

More than anything, Lindsay loves that roller derby is predominantly a sport for women. She gets grumpy when men who play say they feel like they’re second-class citizens. “I mean, potentially that’s true. But women have been in that position in general since the inception of time, so I’m proud of the fact that it’s mainly a women’s sport. I encourage women to look at it and come and watch it, and then maybe come to play too.”

The All Stars will play a triple-header – including games against the Pirate City Rollers and a team from Adelaide in Wellington, at the TSB arena, 10 May.

w e l ly a ng e l

what wou l d de i r dre d o?

Got a problem, Maybe we can help. Welly Angel Deirdre Tarrant, mother of three boys, founder of the former Footnote Dance Company and teacher of dance to generations of Wellingtonians will sort out your troubles. Email the Angel your troubles and your doubts and she will do her best to make them go away.

LO OKING SHEEPISH I am worried I am at risk of being “mutton dressed as lamb.” My husband is grey and so is my oldest son. Should I keep dying my hair black. Or should I go grey gracefully?

Barbara Cartland, Johnsonville Black is usually pretty harsh and obvious in the dye-stakes. Maybe get streaks or get advice from a hairdresser – the cut is probably more aging. They say you should change the shape of your hair cut every few years. I am not so convinced on this, as does it mean your

face is changing shape too? You are as young as you feel so if it bothers you then take action. Otherwise just let it grow grey gracefully.

UNDERAGE ExPERIMENTS My partner’s secondary-school-age children and friends head into Courtenay Place regularly on Friday nights. They are underage for going to bars. I know many of them in common with many of their age group have fake ID’s or borrow them.

I don’t think it is a safe environment and think my partner should ban them from going. I could say nothing, but then would feel terrible if something happened to either of them. What do you think?

M Smith, Karori Say a lot! You are right to be concerned and if you know all this is going on you should definitely speak up. This is not the time to be sanctimonious. The issue is more about parenting than banning – children grow up but not without pushing boundaries. They need more interesting challenges in their lives. It is illegal to use fake ID so let’s hope the bars catch them as soon as possible and they have a conviction to mature them up! Definitely needs drastic measures and possibly new friends NOW.

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TAKE THE HIGH GROUND I have recently remarried for the second time, we both like to sleep on the right hand side. I am a very light sleeper, am I being unreasonable to think my partner should give way.to me?

Insomniac Churton Park, What! Surely this was aired sorted and resolved before you two got married! It is right up there with toothpaste rolling and toilet seat lids and now you are stuck with each other. Single beds, twin doubles or separate rooms – the solution needs to work for you both.

AGED AND VIGOROUS My father has remarried and delights in alluding to his new improved sex life. I am pleased he is happy but how do I tell him it creeps us out?

Tell him? Is this about you? A hint of jealousy perhaps? If you are really pleased for him then be happy for them both.

If you’ve got a burning question for Deirdre, email angel@ capitalmag.co.nz with Capital Angel in the subject line.

t o r q u e ta l k

Go KartiNG

by Mark sainsbury

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Mini. My first experience I can now admit was when they were the only rental car a student could afford to hire. I always wondered why they rented them because nearly everyone I knew at that age rented one for the weekend and thrashed the living daylights out it.

I

t says something about the otherwise dreadful reputation of British Motor Corporation and its subsequent incarnations that the humble Mini not only stood up to the treatment but was back on the road for the next Victoria uni student to try their luck on. The urban legend of the time was that some game ones hired them, swapped the tyres and all the good bits onto their own Mini then dropped it back on Monday.

Like many others I owned a Mini myself and there was something about the way they handled, a nimbleness that was unlike any other car.

Fast forward to more recent times and the takeover of the Mini name like those of many other famous British motoring heroes, by the Germans. And you’ve got to admit BMW have made the brand their own, to the point where the third generation under Teutonic supervision is proudly touted as “the New Original”.

My first experience with the German Minis was the discovery that Sir Edmund Hillary drove one. I had come to know Ed quite well at that stage and he was always full of surprises but nothing surprised me more than discovering a Mini in his garage. It was of course the first clue that the new Mini was oh so slightly larger than the original. Which of course Ed had owned as well, a Traveller from what I remember of his photos, and one he managed to squeeze his entire family into. But regardless of whatever contortions resulted, simply looking at Ed and looking at the Mini in his garage had my thoughts turning to the Tardis.

But the Mini is in fact a roomy car. It’s funny how Ed’s one seemed even roomier, though BMW say the third generation is in fact bigger. Maybe it was the body-hugging sports seats in the Cooper S six-speed manual. They are in fact exceptionally comfortable and available in dazzling range of combinations but their real joy comes from doing what we did back in the day of the weekend rental…. throwing it around.

With a two-litre four-cylinder twinpower turbo under the fancy racing-striped bonnet there is a lot of power to throw around. It is simply delightful. And oh what a change to have a real manual again. My son and most of his mates all sat their

licences in automatics and are incapable of driving a manual.

I just wish he knew what he was missing. The best bit by far, though, is the mode setting. A collar around the gear shift can be slid into three positions. Green mode (don’t even think about it or at least don’t bother ordering the Cooper S) which literally drains all the fun out it and you may as well get a Prius. Then there’s “Mid”. The fact that you might even consider driving a bright red white-wheeled Cooper S in Mid is a crime against humanity unless I guess you wanted to tone it down around town. I drove this around town a lot and the thought of toning down never entered my head. Because the last option, the only option, was Go-Kart mode. And although it looked corny at first it was in fact a pretty fair description. Put your foot down and you feel the 192hp/141KW which can propel this pocket rocket from standing still to the legal speed limit in 6.8 seconds.

In fact there are pages and pages of performance data about this in all the blurb but I suggest saving yourself the bother and simply taking one for a spin (no swapping parts of course). The interior is as you would expect. Because this is after all a BMW the controls feel substantial, even the rocker type switches, although the one I used the most was to switch off the incredibly annoying engine shutdown system. For some reason it seemed even more annoying in a real manual with a real clutch pedal.

Not a paddle change in sight! This is not a feature unique to BMW and I know we’re all supposed to be saving the planet but if you want to do that leave the car at home and take a bus. Better still don’t buy a car, leave that to us heathens.

You could of course go for another offering in the Mini range, the Cooper model (minus the S and one cylinder). Yes a Mini Cooper three-cylinder, about a second slower 0–100 but by all accounts (I haven’t had a chance to drive it yet) not exactly a sluggard. But a three cylinder? That would be like getting rid of the famous Mini centre-mounted speedo. Yes they’ve done that too, but at least you now have a satnav screen you can actually read. I was a bit wistful handing this one back. Note to self: find a reason to retest in six months time.

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movies and with continuing nausea not even Lemsip would stay down. On night two we settled down to sleep thankful that the bug was on its way out, only to be woken at 4am by a violently ill baby. I sat in the dark covered in baby spew, staring down the gauntlet of another long period without rest and cried. It gets worse – that evening an ashen faced Baby Daddy got home from work and ran straight to the bathroom, as a groan issued from a nearby room signalling that Grandad had been hit too.

It was around here, suddenly and completely without ceremony, that I realised my days of being able to rest and recover when sick were dead to me. Here I was staggering around halfconscious, but still somehow the most capable person in the house. The next 24 hours are a blur of vomit, washing, changing sheets, emptying buckets and delivering Panadol, and while all the adults recovered fairly quickly Sadie was vomiting for five days, refusing all solids and demanding constant breastfeeding - literally draining all remaining life out of me.

It’s all very ‘woe-is-me’, and as someone who got pregnant on purpose I’m aware I asked for all of this, but it would have been nice for it to come as less of a surprise.

Because while the cliches are true and the moment I see our little girl’s face the question of whether it’s worth it fades into redundancy, maybe if we were less busy showing everyone how well we were doing and what a breeze it all is, and spent more time sharing the soul-sapping, exhausting realities of it all, we wouldn’t feel so alone when the shit happens. Because shit does happen. But with a little warning, you can make sure you’re near a toilet when it does.

ecause parenthood is something no-one can prepare you for, the journey is full of lightbulb moments. Our first dawned on us with horrifying clarity as we left Wellington Hospital with our tiny bundle. We were responsible for keeping this helpless human alive? We, who couldn’t keep our bedroom tidy for more than a day, who once got lost in the Ecuadorian sierra for two nights, who emailed a contract to my grandfather during that same trip, offering a great-grandchild on return to New Zealand in exchange for a $1000 loan because we hadn’t budgeted right.

The ‘lightbulb moments’ are all related to the loss of some aspect of your pre-baby life or some hidden ‘bonus’ of your new post-baby life. They hit with such alarming regularity that eventually you just roll over and accept them as part of your fate. This is exactly what was happening to me last week, as I lay on the pavement down a side street in Berhampore, vomiting into somebody’s garden and finally surrendering to a fart I knew all along I couldn’t trust.

It was my own fault. A few days beforehand, I’d paid a visit to my sister, whose partner was sick in bed. Imagining myself propped up with pillows enjoying a movie marathon as Baby Daddy delivered Lemsip and fresh fruit, I uttered the damning words: “I wish I could get sick and lay around in bed all day.” And of all the wishes I’ve half-heartedly thrown out to mistress fate, this is the one she chose to grant. It was a stomach virus, and over the first seven hours my body violently rid itself of all food, liquid and stomach lining. On day two I did get to lie about in bed, but a blinding headache meant no 75

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Stag Spooner, Wild Men of the Bush Toured by Aratoi – Wairarapa

John Lawrence, The Human Expression New SPACE: Jack Penman: Party Lines, The Story of Waikanae’s Early Telephone Exchange Operators

27 April – 8 June 2014 20 Mahara Pl, Waikanae Tue-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 1-4pm Closed Monday maharagallery@paradise.net.nz

LIBBY BEATTIE INTERIOR DESIGN www.libbybeattie.com

We sell beautiful furniture and offer a full interior design service 77

calendar

NZSO CONCERT Baritone Jonathan Lemalu performs a new commission The Clock Stops from New Zealand-born and Scotland-based Lyell Cresswell, and Scottish composer James MacMillan conducts his The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, and Woman of the Apocalypse.

6:30pm 9 May Michael Fowler Centre

HAIER PULSE V MAGIC

CLAY SCULPTURE WORKSHOP

The fifth home game for the Haier Pulse in the 2014 ANZ Championship season.

Take an art smock and prepare to get creative (and messy) with artist Mel Ford, tutor at Wellington’s The Learning Connexion.

5 May 7:40pm, Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua, Mana

17 May, The Dowse

PATAKA ExHIBITION OF MYANMAR WOMEN Photographic exhibition by Jens Uwe Parkitny documents a tradition of facial tattooing in decline.

Until 1 June, Pataka Museum, Porirua

NZ INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL There’s a new year of laughs with shows happening around New Zealand.

Until 18 May

FREE SALSA LESSON & PARTY Introduce your friends to Salsa and see Salsa in action. Spanish practice session beforehand from 5:30pm.

11 May 6pm, Southern Cross Garden Bar Restaurant

HURRICANES V CHIEFS 16 May 7:35pm, Westpac Stadium

HURRICANES V HIGHLANDERS 24 May 7:35pm, Westpac Stadium

calendar

PETER MCLEAVEY ExHIBITION An exhibition of the works relating to Wellington art dealer Peter McLeavey.

The 2009 documentary about McLeavey, The Man in the Hat, also screens: 2pm 18 May City Gallery

From the film: Peter McLeavey with Toss Wollaston paintings. Photo: Marti Friedlander

WELLINGTON OCEAN SPORTS OPEN DAY

NZSO CONCERT – RUSSIAN FIRE

Have a go at some water sports you’ve always wanted to try!

Rachmaninov’s Caprice Bohémien, Schumann’s Piano Concerto, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15, with the Russian conductor Alexander Lazarev and Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov.

31 May, 10:00am–1:00pm, Wellington Ocean Sports, 115 Oriental Parade

ANNIE THE MUSICAL

17 May, 7.30pm, Michael Fowler Centre

Everyone’s favourite little red-headed orphan is New Zealand-bound.

ART FOR CHILDREN Introduce your youngsters to The Dowse with a session looking at and making art.

Tue 13 May 1:00 p.m, the Dowse

THE ANGEL – WELLINGTON ORCHESTRA CONCERT Works by Haydn, Wagner and Bruckner featuring mezzo soprano Deborah Humble.

Saturday, May 24, 7.00 pm, Wellington Cathedral of St Paul.

From 23 May 7:30pm, St James Theatre

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top bunny

Roy Schnitzel Schneider Schnauser is the adorable and much-loved dog is shared between Ange Gordon of The Service Depot and Alicia Williams from Weta Digital and son Benny in a very modernliving arrangement. With his own Facebook page and over 200 friends, he has one paw in the fashion world and the other in the film industry.

Written by Madeleine Wong | Photograph by Jeremiah Boniface 80

MUSEUM ART HOTEL