Pressure rises for local council service cuts... p4
Defib
National foilboard champs coming to Milford... p11
bungle prompts St John systems change
The ambulance service is changing its systems after members of the public could not open a locked defibrillator box by Takapuna Beach to help a man who died last week. A caller to 111 was given a generic code to open the box containing the automated external defibrillator [AED] but the code
did not work.
“We apologise for the distress this may have caused,” said Hato Hone St John national triage and dispatch manager John-Michael Swannix.
The AED was not one of St John’s and had a unique code that was unfortunately
not found in the ambulance service’s system during the call.
Efforts to revive the man failed.
Police say he was spotted unresponsive in the water around midday on Monday 17 November and was pulled onto the beach
Christmas comes early at Carmel
‘Tis almost the season... Carmel College senior student Siobhan Fialho (left) with Santa’s helpers for the recent school fair, who included (in front) Isabel Simpson from Year 7 and (rear, from second left) Year 10s Phoebe Allen, Ziva Pendlebury and Hazel van de Elzen. More pictures, pages 8-9.
New kids’ Xmas show at
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St John prefers unlocked
From page 1
by a teenaged surf lifesaver, but could not be revived.
Swannix told the Observer: “We are making changes to our system and process following this incident to minimise the risk of it happening again when an AED is locked.”
Asked what the changes were and if they would be implemented nationwide, St John did not respond.
St John prefers that AEDs are not locked, “similar to fire extinguishers”, Swannix said.
St John was notified of the Takapuna
incident at 11:59 am. One ambulance, one rapid response unit and two operations managers attended.
“We are proud of our ambulance staff who responded very rapidly to this emergency, arriving on scene around the time the caller was asking for the AED lockbox code,” St John said.
Police on the scene provided immediate medical assistance, and say despite their best efforts and those of other emergency services, sadly the man had since died.
The death of the man, whose name has not been made public, has been referred to the Coroner.
Teen surf lifesaver attempted to save man
recognised by the club and put forward for a surf lifesaving regional award, Turner said.
The teenaged surf lifesaver praised for her efforts in rushing to the aid of an unresponsive man in the water at Takapuna Beach is being supported by her club and family.
TJ Muller is a member of the Ōrewa Surf Life Saving Club.
Club president Faron Turner said “members of our board have been in touch with TJ and her family.
“We have activated our club and regional support systems.”
In addition, TJ would likely be formally
“We work alongside the member and their whānau before public communications.
“It is so powerful, the connections, community and care wrapping around the family and victim in such a tragic situation, along with all those involved in the rescue and subsequent emergency response,” he said.
• Surf lifesaving patrols begin on the beach on 20 December. They will run daily from noon to 7pm until 8 February.
TGS teacher dies while snorkelling
Takapuna Grammar School flew its flag at half-mast last week after the death of teacher Kevin Hu in a snorkelling incident.
News of the death, in Fiji on 14 November, was advised to the school community by principal Mary Nixon.
Nixon told the Observer: “Kevin was a much-loved and valued mathematics teacher here, and he will be sorely missed.”
Support was available for students and teachers, she said.
Posts praising Hu as a teacher who made learning fun and engaging circulated. He was 36 and had been at TGS for three years.
He moved to New Zealand in 2018 and undertook postgraduate study in Wellington after earlier tertiary education in China.
A Give-a-little page had raised nearly $55,000 by Monday towards assisting Hu’s elderly parents with travel costs from China and in accompanying his body back from Fiji.
Insurance but no skin check?
That's like a truck with no brakes
Santas and strings bring Christmas vibe to Milford
A performance by a student string quintet made for an oasis of calm in the Milford mall as the annual Christmas in Milford event drew crowds last weekend.
Not one but two Santas fielded children’s present requests, setting up their chairs in the Milford Shopping Centre and at a separate Christmas grotto inside Ray White real estate office on Kitchener Rd.
Shoppers set the tills ringing amid the tinsel. Many who paused to enjoy the music from the Westlake Boys High School students also contributed to their fundraising for a music trip next year. “It’s not every day you see a group of people busking in uniform,” said Year 10 violinist Tom Reid.
Eighty students will go on a combined overseas instrumental trip with Westlake Girls High School to China in April. They each need to raise $8000 for the trip.
We’ve moved!
Tom said the mall group had busked six times in Milford. Their repertoire of classical pieces, with a few Christmas compositions thrown in for good measure, raised hundreds of dollars.
Wider school fundraising for the trip is planned, with a $15 car wash with sausage sizzle and bake sale in the WBHS carpark this Saturday, 29 November from 11am-2pm. A quiz night with musical interludes and raffles will be held in the school auditorium on Thursday 4 December at 6.30pm. (Details on the school facebook page.)
A choir from the Milford Baptist Church also performed at Christmas in Milford, and various “superhero” entertainers roamed among stalls in the mall’s front car-park. On stage, Milford Business Association manager Murray Hill did his best to get Santa to spill the beans on how he manages his workload. The man in red was cagey, revealing only that he likes a cup of cocoa on his busy rounds.
After 25 years of being located in Northcroft Street, YOU Travel Takapuna has now moved to a new location to Shop 16, No 1, The Strand, Takapuna. This is the former council building across Lake Road from our current premises.
YOU Travel Takapuna is one of the most established businesses in Takapuna operating uninterrupted for over 50 years. Starting out as United Travel, the business was originally in the Griffith’s building on Lake Road. It has remained in the Shanahan family with Jim Shanahan first taking over the business back in 1975 from Alpe Travel. Jeremy Shanahan joined his father and took over the business after Jim retired.
YOU Travel Takapuna — aside from traditional holiday and business travel also operate a number of niche travel specialities:
YOU Travel — focuses on bespoke travel itineraries, cruising, tours, flight bookings, hotel and bookings world wide www.youtravel.co.nz
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Island Holidays phone 0800 336660, email Pete Head: pete@islandholidays.co.nz
YOU Travel Takapuna new premises:
Secret Santa... the man in red wasn’t giving much away in an interview with Milford Business Association manager Murray Hill, while musicians (from left) Jacob Robinson, Austin Yang and Charles Xing were all concentration
Pressure rises for cuts to library hours, grants and more
The need to look at cuts to services – including library hours and the frequency of park mowing – and community grants has made for grim first workshops for the newly elected Devonport-Takapuna Local Board (DTLB).
The Observer understands Auckland Council budget pressures have escalated since the paper reported in July that savings of $460,000 were needed from the board’s discretionary spend of around $1.6million for the 2026-27 year.
As much as $200,000 in extra savings may now be required locally, it is understood, with council factoring in extra infla-
tionary cost pressures during budget setting.
North Shore ward councillor John Gillon gave an early indication of the increased pressure the DTLB faces in his maiden speech to council this month, which called for a rethink on its “fairer funding” allocation formula (see story below). He said the board now stood to lose $500,000 or more.
DTLB chair Trish Deans acknowledged to the paper the need for tough decisions ahead, after the board’s first met in confidential session. She confirmed rising cost pressures, but not the amounts. Two more closed workshops have since been held.
The board was seeking further advice
from staff about areas where trims might be sensibly made, Deans said. It was weighing options across a range of areas.
Asked if reducing library hours was on the table, she said: “It’s not drastic but there will be some change.”
Deans said the board’s intention was to come to a consensus to present options for community feedback from stakeholders and community partners and then from the wider public through the council’s Have Your Say process.
The chairs of the eight local boards hit by fairer funding are meeting to discuss a joint approach to council, Deans added.
Gillon wants rethink of model forcing local budget squeeze
New North Shore councillor John Gillon has called for a rethink of the “fairer funding” changes hanging over some local boards.
In his maiden speech to Auckland Council this month, he told Mayor Wayne Brown and fellow councillors that boards such as Devonport-Takapuna’s faced having to make budget cuts under the looming formula. “They’ve been considering cuts to library hours, community groups, reducing maintenance levels, selling public assets or letting them run down,” he said.
The main problem with the formula was that it did not take into account a board’s existing assets and the cost of renewing or
maintaining them.
“Next financial year, eight [of 21] local boards will be in a far worse position under Fairer Funding than they were previously, including the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board which is half a million down, possibly more,” he said.
Fairer funding – which weights budget allocations according to board size and population in a bid to ensure those boards with historically fewer assets are in a position to provide more – could be made to work, Gillon said.
“But both the current formula and the pool of funding that is fed into the formula aren’t right.”
He called on councillors to work together to find a solution to get boards through to the next Long Term Plan with their budgets intact and then to come up with a way to permanently fix the redistributive formula, allowing for adequate asset maintenance.
“The public do not find this acceptable when the North Shore pays around $200 million in rates each year, and these cuts affect the most front-line assets and services.”
In the last term, the governing body eventually agreed as an interim measure to ease in fairer funding. But with cost increases pressuring all council budgets, striking another grandfathering deal may be a hard sell for 2026-27.
Thousands submit on park use
More than 3600 submissions have been made on recreational use of the two-thirds of AF Thomas Park in Takapuna which council does not need for its floodwater detention wetland.
The cut-off date was 23 November, but the tally is expected to grow from that supplied to the paper, with some submissions yet to be counted from council community events.
The future of up to 33ha of land in the park is at stake, with Takapuna Golf Course keen to renew its commercial lease. It faces competition from The Golf Warehouse and its multi-sport plan, which involves Eventfinda
stadium, home of Basketball North Harbour.
The golf course held an open day this month to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of being operated by director Simon Ha as a public course.
A report with collated public feedback and separate assessments on golf needs and open space for the North Shore will go to the Kaipātiki Local Board in February.
The board is leaseholder for the public land. It will announce its decisions on preferred options in March. This will pave the way for formal expressions of interest in commercial council leases.
New local board ready to seek changes to density plan
Responding to intensification plans for Auckland will be a focus of the new Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, says chair Trish Deans.
The board wants to hear from community groups and to encourage them and the public to engage with Auckland Council’s plan change process. “We can’t stop the plan change but we can push for amendments,” she told the Observer.
Issues the board would look at included the extent of intensification proposed in parts of Milford and Sunnynook – suburbs badly hit by floods in 2023 – and the greater heights proposed for a swathe of suburban Hauraki, where heights of up to
10 storeys will be possible if Plan Change 120 (PC120) is adopted next year.
With the Government insisting Auckland Council allow for up to two million homes to be built over time, the challenge in seeking any downzoning changes to PC120 in certain areas is that compensating upzoning would be needed in other areas.
Deans said the board was eager to hear from residents groups, which like the public have until 19 December to submit.
The board has until early next year to give its own feedback to council. Deans said this would draw on the views of the community. • Details about the plan and submitting are on council’s Have Your Say site.
Milford meeting on zoning
A Milford Residents Association public meeting has been called to discuss PC120. The group wants to maximise public feedback and inform its own submission on big zoning changes proposed for Milford which would allow more six-storey builds. North Shore ward councillors Richard Hills and John Gillon will attend. Independent planner Brian Putt will be on hand to answer queries on submitting. The meeting is at 7pm, Thursday 27 November, Milford Baptist Church, Dodson Ave.
Retired farmer’s legendary golfing comeback
Danny thought his active days were behind him. Retired from farming due to dodgy knees and hips, he’d been watching his wife handle the calves and drive the tractor.
“Great woman,” he says with a grin. Then that October, he fell off his chair while she was docking lambs and broke his arm. “Couldn’t even hold a bottle of draught, let alone get the top off.”
His wife’s response? “She couldn’t stop laughing.”
Searching online for something to help once the cast came off, he discovered Koru FX, a natural New Zealand-made joint and muscle cream. What happened next has become legend at Danny’s local golf club.
“My golf handicap improved by four strokes in the first week,” Danny says, still amazed. “Never been around in under 100, and suddenly here I am getting pars and birdies. Everyone thought I was on something illegal!”
Danny found his confidence returning with each swing. The natural cream, containing arnica, mānuka and botanical oils, had given him the support to play without hesitation.
Word spread through the clubhouse. An elderly couple who needed two days for nine holes asked about his secret.
Even the local priest pulled Danny into the confessional with an unusual request about his sore elbow from “dishing out communion.” Danny gave his blessing along with two bottles. The result? “The fella beat me at golf on Saturday.”
Danny’s discovered what thousands of Kiwis have found, natural support can make a real difference.
“Life’s too short to watch from the sidelines,” he grins characteristically.
Retired farmer’s legendary golfing comeback ADVERTISEMENT
Milford landlords okay further business district rate hike
Milford commercial landlords have agreed to a two-year increase in Business Improvement District (BID) rates of nearly 70 per cent heading into 2026.
The Milford BID rate increased 42 per cent last year ($74,550) for total BID funding of $250,000, and was hiked again by 25 per cent ($62,500) for total funding of $312,500 at the recent Milford Business Association AGM.
Milford BID manager Murray Hill said another unspecified increase was also in the offing for the 2027-2028 financial year.
Milford Town Centre had gone with a 25 per cent increase “as part of a strategy to get on a level playing field with our competing centres on the basis of BID income to sales”, Hill said.
Lifting the rate was already proving the right strategy, with Milford taking the top performer spot in the September Marketview data of sales increases for Auckland shopping centres.
All the main-street shops in Milford were tenanted – another indication of its strong performance, Hill said.
“The Milford Centre has added about another 16 to 20 stores in the redevelopment they completed this year, with over half the stores already opened or leased before
Christmas.”
Milford had traditionally been behind Browns Bay in commercial performance figures but had now moved ahead, Hill said.
Under Milford’s 2026-2027 business plan, the extra money would be spent on continuing to invest in more community events such as Christmas in Milford, Viva La France, Foodies Month, the Milford Fashion Show, and monthly Sunday markets.
Increased promotions and competitions were planned as well as more digital marketing initiatives.
By comparison, the neighbouring Takapuna Beach Business Association increased its BID rate for the 2025/26 year by 4 per cent ($21,331), bringing its targeted rate grant to $554,622 for the year. At its recent AGM it voted for another 9 per cent increase ($50,000), bringing the total rate to $604,622 for 2026/27.
The Devonport BID area has had no increase for the past two years but at its last AGM said it would need to raise the rate in 2027-28.
• BID rates are paid to Auckland Council by landlords, with council then passing a lump sum back to business associations. Landlords generally pass on the costs of the rates to tenants.
Briefs
Pathway plan progresses
A new pathway connecting Anzac St in Takapuna to the Patuone walkway via Auburn Reserve is a step closer. Council staff have told the DevonportTakapuna Local Board they are working with the Takapuna Croquet Club and the Takapuna Playcentre on lease and boundary changes to allow a linking path to be built between them. Approval for lease changes will rest with the board next year, with final designs for the pathway to follow.
Schools’ treaty stance
Westlake Boys High School and Westlake Girls High School have both reaffirmed their commitment to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi, following removal of the requirement for school boards to do so.
‘Heroes’ saluted
Milford Community Heroes, an event celebrating the work of emergency and support services will be held on Milford Beach Reserve on Saturday 29 November from 11am to 1pm. Among other activities, information and stalls, and the chance to sign up for Neighbourhood Support, an escape maze will be set up by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
Glad tidings of great joy at Carmel fair
A big school and community turnout helped create a festive mood at this month’s Carmel College Twilight Christmas by the Lake.
The event, held on Friday 14 November, featured carol singing by students, craft stalls, a sausage sizzle and plenty of pre-seasonal cheer.
A roast dinner sitting held inside was a popular pre-booked attraction.
And even the school’s sports court fence had been adorned with garlands for the occasion.
Money raised at the annual event, organised by the school’s Parent Teacher Friend Association, will go towards an outdoor activity area at the school.
Stitch sisters... food and fabric technology teachers Sophie Matthews (left) and Carolynn Tepou at a craft stall.
Family and friends... former Carmel College student Nicola Jack with her mother Pat Giles and (right) Year 8 Carmel student Chloe Filton with Rosmini College student Luke Newland
PICTURES: KATHRYN NOBBS
Tastebud team... sausage sizzlers with supplies at the ready are (from left) Kristin Finlayson, Mark and Tracey Tucker, Carla Manlutac, Mori Virtudazo and Jaycelle Tucker. Below (from left) are: Gabrielle
Mila
Milly Ferens and Nina Yurak and elves from St Joseph’s: Mackenzie Sneeden, Amelia Metcalf and Olivia Gerdin.
D’Lima,
Moleta,
Man on the mic... Event MC and school parent Quintin Fialho. Left: Friends of Snow-woman (Ava Waterhouse) are student Jaime McConnell (13) with siblings Jude (left) and Blake, both 8, and mother Loucindy McConnell.
Octogenarian’s art classes provide outlet for creativity
After a dozen years running a community art class in Takapuna, 85-year-old Heloisa Barczak is in no hurry to slow down. And her students, mostly fellow retirees, don’t want her to, saying the free weekly classes are both creative and companionable.
That’s exactly what the Brazilian-born teacher was looking for when she set them up. Having followed her son and daughter in immigrating to New Zealand, she says: “I love to draw and I love to paint and I wanted a group to do it with.”
Group members meet weekly in the Sen-
ior Citizens Hall and Barczak is on hand to mentor and encourage experimentation. “She’s amazing, with all her advice, we can try anything” says Takapuna resident Karen Vodanovich. She learned of the classes through a previous story in the Observer. “I’m showing the messiest piece of art,” said Vodanovich of her contribution to a year-ender exhibition on display upstairs in the library until the end of November.
Barczak has 16 regular students who have works in the show. They vary in experience from newcomers to the likes of skilled artist
Paul Willis from Birkenhead. “People like Paul don’t need the teaching,” she says. Willis’s exhibition piece depicts a kea. The group is assisted by Ancad (Auckland North Community and Development) with hall hire costs, and the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s northern activator Ruth Moloney supported the framing costs for the exhibition.
Former Takapuna resident Barczak, who now lives in the Lady Allum Retirement Village in Milford, plans to start the classes again in February.
Showtime... (from left) art teacher Heloisa Barczak with students Jane Adams, Sum Leung and Paul Willis
Foilboard nationals follow successful catamaran event at Milford
The IQ Foilboard New Zealand nationals have been confirmed to take place off Milford Beach on Waitangi Weekend.
Both New Zealand and international competitors would line up for the event, Milford Cruising Club Commodore Andrew Robertson said.
The foilboard event comes hot on the heels of the A-Class Catamaran world champs held at the same location early this month.
More than 55 sailors from eight countries took part in the A-Class event, which had “a huge amount of community support from Milford locals”, Robertson said.
Two food truck nights at the Milford Reserve were particularly well patronised by locals, many of whom were also volunteers
Reigning champs at Onewa
sailors and their families, Robertson said.
The event also provided a lift to the wider Milford business community, he said.
The success of the world champs “showed Milford Reserve is one of the best places in Auckland to have this type of event.”
The club was “happy to explore other options” to host similar world yachting events, he said.
Devonport’s Mike Drummond, a wellknown former America’s Cup sailor, was the top Kiwi placegetter at the A-class champs, finishing fourth in the Classic class.
Poland’s Jakub Surowiec won his third successive Open division world title. Dave Shaw from Nelson, the national titleholder, was the top New Zealander in the division,
Flying Fleming’s final feat among top tries
A spectacular diving try by Westlake Boys
First XV centre Matt Fleming in the side’s North Harbour championship final win over Whangarei Boys is one of 12 nominees for NZ Rugby’s Sky fans try of the year. The New Zealand Rugby Awards winners will be announced on 11 December.
Local environmentalists join battle against invader
North Shore volunteers are joining the fight to eliminate yellow-legged hornets, setting traps in locations beyond the immediate focus of Biosecurity New Zealand efforts.
The campaign to locate and eliminate the pest (pictured), first identified in October, is stepping up.
Trapping has been extended to 5km from confirmed hornet sites in Glenfield and Birkdale. By 24 November 19 queen hornets had been found in those suburbs. Twelve of the queens were nesting and one nest had two workers hornets.
A specialist from the UK’s hornet response team has been called in to give training and advice. Biosecurity New Zealand wants the public to report sightings, but only if they have a specimen, a clear photo, or have located a possible nest.
Environmental group Pupuke Birdsong Project, which covers the northern half of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area, has sent its volunteers instructions for making traps. Its Devonport-based counterpart, Restoring Takarunga Hauraki (RTH), has set traps in Devonport peninsula reserves.
Hornet queens are able to fly more than 30km to establish new nests. The pests are aggressive towards people and eat honeybees and native bees. Their establishment in New Zealand would threaten both commercial horticulture and native ecosystems.
Home traps are simple to make. They can be fashioned from a plastic bottle with two 25mm square upside-down U-shapes cut on opposite sides, halfway up the bottle, leaving flaps to be pushed inside the bottle. A mixture of a cup of beer, a tablespoon of sugar, a dash of vinegar (to deter bees) and a few drops of dishwashing liquid should then be placed inside.
Home traps need to be monitored and efforts made to distinguish the yellow-legged hornet from local wasp species. The hornet has distinctive dark legs with bright yellow tips. Common wasp species in New Zealand typically have uniformly yellow or yellow-striped legs, and are much smaller.
Sightings can be reported on Biosecurity New Zealand’s 24-hour pest hotline: 0800 809 966.
Friendly
The tradition of a children’s Christmas show at the PumpHouse theatre in Takapuna lives on.
Piri the Piwakawaka Saves Christmas, an original show written, directed and produced by Aucklander Aimee Gestro, will be staged over two weeks, filling the seasonal slot left by the winding up of the Tim Bray Children’s Theatre Company after its founder’s death.
“It’s a big gap for us to fill and a bit daunting,” says Gestro, whose husband Terry Hooper had worked with Bray.
They were very aware of how well-loved Bray’s end-of-year Santa Claus shows had been.
“With Tim passing, I wanted it to be the same warm-hearted sort of show for people to enjoy,” says Gestro. And yes, Santa has an invitation to attend.
SHOWING NOW
Die My Love (R16) 119min
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (M) 144min
Zootopia 2 (PG) 108min
Familiar Touch (PG) 92min
Wicked: For Good (PG) 137min
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (M) 113min
The Running Man (R16) 133min
Spinal Tap ll: The End Continues (M) 84min
Happyend (M) 133min
Predator: Badlands (R13) 108min
SPECIAL EVENTS & NEW RELEASES
The Vic Open Mic Night - Last for the year! 27 Nov
Andrew Fagan - Live Show 28 Nov
Nuremberg (M) 149min Advance Screenings 28-30 Nov
First Thursdays: Martha A Picture Story (E) 84min 4 Dec
Notes From a Fish (M) 120min with Filmmaker Q&A 5 Dec
For more info on films & events go to thevic.co.nz
Thanks to our partners and supporters
The story is all her own, but like Bray’s shows will be accompanied by singalongs and laughter. Two birds are centre of attention, with Piri helping out another native bird who is having something of an identity crisis.
“I hope kids see themselves in it,” says Gestro. The target audience is anywhere from two to 10, with relaxed staging allowing mothers of wriggly wee ones to nip out into the foyer if need be.
“It ends with a real Christmas banger – a big song and dance.”
The title role is played by Meg Andrews, who lives in Devonport and works in marketing for the PumpHouse.
Gestro – who also has an acting background and runs an events company providing children’s entertainment – knows all about side hustles from employing actors supplementing their incomes.
Hooper is an actor also, but for the Christmas show his involvement has been in set-building.
Gestro hopes the show will grow on and deliver more seasons at the PumpHouse.
• Piri the Piwakawaka Saves Christmas, 6-23 December at 10.30am and 1pm.
Air New Zealand veteran spreads her artistic wings
Former international flight attendant Nikki Kelly draws on a world of inspirations in her art, but hints of what is closest to home and heart often emerge spontaneously on her bold canvases.
The long-time Takapuna resident begins with an abstraction of colour. But as she continues, familiar subjects have a way of popping into view. An outline of Rangitoto, a stretch of sea – perhaps with the peaks of sails. It’s not a literal landscape, more a colourful collage of ideas and emotion.
Part of her attraction to painting is that it is a journey of exploration. “I’m not trying to emulate what is out there.”
What was a hobby has developed to the stage Kelly (pictured with two of her works) is holding her first solo show at Satellite2 gallery in Devonport. Previously she has had a few paintings in group shows in Wanaka, where she and her partner Dean Markby spend part of their time.
Kelly says her paintings these days are increasingly peopled with figurative shapes. One called “Group Hug” is an example. Her works are created at home. When the couple are in Takapuna she sets up in the lounge with a view out to sea.
Her father, Jack Kelly, a former All Black, brought his family to the area when she was 12. He was headmaster at Takapuna Grammar School, and she says: “He didn’t want me there.” So she went to Westlake Girls. Her mother encouraged her to study French rather than art, although taking art history fuelled her creative interest. “I was always envious of people who knew what they wanted to do when they were younger,” she says. “To have [now] found something I want to do is marvellous.”
During her flying days, travel satisfied a lot of her curiosities. She fondly recalls painting in Japan in her downtime. But the
job ended after the Covid pandemic struck.
After 33 years at Air New Zealand, Kelly took redundancy. Markby, who had been there for 31 years, did the same. The couple – who started out as friends and flatmates and have been together for 20 years – wanted an active lifestyle by the beach in summer with skiing in Wanaka in winter. They rent out one of their properties when they are having longer spells at the other.
But Takapuna remains Kelly’s anchor after 35 years living in a stylish unit near the beach which she bought “when it was cheap”. After beach walks and the gym, she
Christmas Carols at theMuseum
sets up her acrylic paints and inks. “I’m very lucky to have the time,” she says, adding: “I haven’t been driven to travel since we retired.”
Kelly doesn’t use brushes, favouring rollers, scrapers and sponges. On a background of colour, generally “something shows itself”, she says. She has even created clouds using a squeegee. “I’m really excited to get my paints out and see what happens.”
Often she has three paintings on the go at once. For the Satellite2 show on until 7 December at 61a Victoria Rd, Kelly had to whittle down around 40 works to a dozen.
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TAKAPUNA | PB/7 THE PROMENADE
The Grand Penthouse - Takapuna Beachfront
Commanding Takapuna Beach’s premier position, this Grand Penthouse at The Rocks delivers single-level luxury with sweeping harbour views. Three ensuited bedrooms, sun-filled living spaces, and seamless indoor–outdoor flow define coastal elegance. Enjoy resort-style amenities, four-car garaging, and unbeatable proximity to cafés, boutiques, and the beach.
premium.co.nz/80809
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EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST | 17 DEC 2025 AT 4PM UNLESS SOLD PRIOR
ALISON PARKER 021 983 533 OFFICE 09 916 6000