M2 Magazine - 17th Birthday issue - May/June 2022

17TH BIRTHDAY

ISSUE

M2 MAGAZINE ISSUE 188 MAY/JUN 2022

NEW ZEALAND Homes to NEW ZEALAND’S ONLY MEN’S LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

Survive the Apocolypse In Luxurious Style

Ewan A Force You Can't Ignore

10

Health Checkup Essentials

That Cost Less Than a House in Auckland

Your Body Warrant of Fitness is Due

Michael Bublé

2022 Luxury

On How to Not Listen to The Critics & Become The King of Croon

Watch Guide The Best of The Best

MAY/JUN 2022 ISSUE 188 $10.99

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The Latest M2NOW.COM

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Culture • Music • Gadgets • Style • Travel • Innovation • Success

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MAY/JUN 2022 ISSUE 188 17TH BIRTHDAY ISSUE

I DON'T PAY MUCH ATTENTION TO CAREER OR WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN QUITE ARROGANT. - Ewan McGregor

CONTENTS

FEATURES

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16 LIBERLAND

Step Into The Metaverse

MANMADE 78 THE DARK ARTS

Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost

22 ISLAND LIFE

80 LUX POWER

30 HARPER FINN

82 THE WORLD’S WIDEST

34 EWAN MCGREGOR

84 HYDROGEN HYPE

6 Islands That Cost Less Than A House

BMW i7 EV

Our Chat With The Up & Coming Muso

Lazzarini Sovrano

Obi-Wan Returns

The Hydrogen-Powered MH2

42 MICHAEL BUBLÉ

The King Of Crooners

46 SURVIVAL SUBURBIA

SUCCESS

54 HEALTH WOF

98 PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SECTOR

7 Luxurious Survival Bunkers

Your 11 Point Checklist

84

The Much-Needed Overhaul

42

102 A RISING TIDE

Marine Heavyweights, Cule Marine

106 SEO 2022

Winning Strategies

109 NO MORE EXCUSES

Have “Excuses” crept into your business and life?

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30 STYLE & TECH 62 THE M2 LUXURY WATCH GUIDE 2022 Our Top Picks

76 STYLE NEWS

Keep Up To Date

126 GADGETS

The Tech you Need

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STAY UPDATED. STAY CONNECTED. Scan code to follow us on Instagram

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EDITOR'S LETTER

EDITOR'S

LETTER

When M2 printed its first edition back in 2005, the median New Zealand house price was $240,900, Netflix was a DVD delivery service, Myspace was by far and away the world's most popular social network and also had more web traffic than Google, and a new book about the 1918 flu pandemic, The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, inspired President George W. Bush to develop a pandemic plan much to the doubt of those around him.

Of course, hindsight is often a futile thing unless you are able to use it to travel back to 2009 and buy a bundle of that crazy new crypto Bitcoin thing. This is especially the case given that so much of our content is about looking forward.

Still, it is often good to reflect on the past for clues that will help in the future. As a quick snapshot of the potential lessons from my earliest examples, the Myspace one shows that even if you have the biggest market share, you can still fail if you don’t keep innovating. Check back in another 17 years to see if a name change and a slightly awkward Mark Zuckerburg avatar is enough to keep Facebook, sorry, Meta on top.

Netflix is a good example of this, they not only out Blockbustered Blockbuster with getting movies into people’s homes, but they also took on the studios with original content. Their recent subscriber and share price drop indicates some competition within the sector that they pioneered but of course, if you look back at their history they have faced bigger challenges in the past.

That eyewatering median house price from 17 years ago shows that regardless of what kind of political rhetoric is floating around, try and put what money you can into assets.

History and the presidency of Donald Trump, by the way, has actually made George W. Bush seem relatively regal in comparison. Anyway, regardless of what you think of him, we can still learn from him. And if you think something bad might happen, get prepared and don’t listen to doubters.

ANDRE ROWELL

E D I TO R , M 2 M AG A Z I N E

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A I N L L T I O S SA

BR I G H T

AR Samuel’s Collection shines a light on a Barossa of a different kind. Taste the vibrance of the vines and enjoy a glass of a lighter, brighter Barossa wine.

Embrace the Magnificent Unknown

CREDITS

MAY/JUN 2022 ISSUE 188 ON SALE 12 MAY 2022 M2 Magazine Limited Telephone: (09) 377 6290 Read online: M2now.com

EDITOR

Andre Rowell EDITORIAL MANAGER

Amy Thurlow EDITORIAL

Cy Sinderson David Faulkner Jamie Trower Mark Collins Mike Taylor Richard Conway DESIGN

Isaac Taylor

MARKETING

Jade Humphries Lucie Coppell Madison Hughes

HEAD OF SALES

Kate Clausen ADVERTISING

Allie Cuadros Greg Sinclair

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Tim Lawrence

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Andre Rowell

STRATEGIC MARKETING DIRECTOR

Greg Sinclair

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of M2 Magazine Limited or its staff and no liability is accepted. Dates of events were correct on date of publishing.

No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material. All letters or materials forwarded to us will be assumed intended for publication unless otherwise stated. ISSN 1176-1660 © M2 Magazine Limited All rights reserved. The contents may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or part, without our prior written permission.

Cover image: Brian Bowen Smith, © 2022 Brian Bowen Smith. All Rights Reserved.

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CULTURE FINDING THE COURAGE Adria Arjona alongside Jared Leto are the latest actors to be admitted to Sony’s dark cinematic universe in its latest film Morbius, which brings to life the titular vampiric antihero. The movie exists in the same world as the Venom films and acts as the building blocks of their own Marvel-style universe, using IP’s they still control.

Arjona found real life inspiration in US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in developing her character, Martine.

“When I started playing this role, I thought, ‘I’m playing with such amazing actors,

but I’m not like Martine – I’m goofy and clumsy and Martine is very grounded and secure in herself – when she speaks, it’s like bullets coming out of her mouth.’ So I looked for inspirations. I remember seeing an interview with AOC and thinking, everything about her is Martine. She’s youthful, she’s fun, she cares about the way she looks, but she cares even more about what goes into her brain. She’s passionate; when she speaks, you can tell she’s done her research; she’s going to be listened to, no matter who is in front of her. So she was my starting point, a nice way to start my engines.”

PHOTO BY: VICTOR CHAVEZ © 2022 GETTY IMAGES.

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There are no workers unions in space

Step Into The Metaverse

Put simply, the definition of a ‘metaverse’ is a network of virtual worlds that all thrive on social connection. Virtual reality has long been steeped in the fabric of humanity's technological and social advances. For readers who don't know already, it would be surprising to note that virtual reality was first imagined as far back as the 1800’s.

In 1838, the first stereoscope was invented, using twin mirrors to project a single image.

Fast forward 101 years later and that idea

was patented into the View-Master, a childfriendly photograph library that everyone had when they were a kid. Usually bright red, children would spend hours flicking through the same 10 3D images. Now, of course, our technology and virtual realities have taken drastic and monumental strides forward.

According to industry research, the VR and augmented reality markets are expected to grow to nearly $600 billion by 2025. Big names like Panasonic, Sony, Lenovo and

SCIENTISTS HAVE WARNED THAT 40% OF NZ'S MONITORED GLACIERS WILL BE GONE WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE. NZ HAS JUST UNDER 3000 GLACIERS.

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HTC produce metaverse-alternate products almost every day in fields such as gaming, tourism, healthcare and architecture, all with the main goal to bring people closer together and connect.

Plans for the latest big ‘metaverse’ have been recently revealed by London-based Zaha Hadid Architects.

Named The Liberland Metaverse, residents—using virtual reality—can buy a vacant plot and occupy this world as an avatar. Think of a city— ‘multi-authored’—filled with some of the world’s best architects showcasing their brilliance.

Based on the real-life landscape of Liberland, situated at the Danube River between Serbia and Croatia, the community is set to thrive on blockchain empowered Web 3.0 developers. Featuring hyper realistic self-governing urban districts, this metaverse thrives on connection, if anything, as the visual and physical environments will sit side by side.

Creatives can build anything they wish, allowing their visions to become reality in this virtual space. Thanks to the Zaha Hadid team, the project has already been given a good headstart and has built up a following of over 600,000 virtual citizens thus far. It can be accessed via the cloud-based platform, Mytaverse.

$4.6 BILLION VENTURE CAPITAL WAS POURED INTO NFT COMPANIES IN 2021, UP FROM $145 MILLION IN THE YEAR BEFORE. UNICORN HUNTING IS IN FULL SWING. NOW.COM

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Where we're going, we don't need roads

The Trike Boat Camper

I’m not sure who exactly the target market is of this Trike-Boat-Camper, but I would like to meet them. The BeTriton 2.0 is an amphibious camper-trike which perhaps offers you more freedom to roam than any other mode of transport in existence right now. It’s technically classed as a three-wheel electric moped (L2e in Europe) and a small boat. Perfect for cyclist commuters between Picton and Wellington looking to take a break halfway through.

If you've seen this gadget before, you may have seen it under the moniker "Z-Triton".

Unfortunately Putin irrevokably ruined the connitation. “We don’t want to be associated with the war and atrocities happening next door to us in any shape or form. An important part of our company’s DNA is to change the

world for the better - bring only peace and respect towards this planet and every form of life inhabiting this place” says CEO, Aigars Lauzis.

The BeTriton 2.0 sleeps two, and the interior cabin also houses the steering when it’s in amphibious mode. An electric outboard powers it on water while an electric bike assist makes hauling its 200kg weight a breeze. Solar panels help it stay juiced and it sports a range of 50km on land or 20km on water. You’ll still want to be plugging it in when you can though. It isn’t entirely a seamless experience peddling off the motorway into the ocean either. It’s estimated that the average user will take five minutes of reconfiguring its layout to make it sea-worthy.

We’re told that if you run out of juice, “You can still pedal with your own power and use oars to get to the nearest 220V socket.” That will be your only option as well considering that it’s fully electric. When you are powered though, you’ll be looking at speeds of 25 km/h overland and 5 km/h on water.

Other mod-cons include cooling and heating, a foldup kitchen table, and inflatable stabilisers that swing out when in amphibious mode.

Note, I do not recommend using this contraption as an alternative to the Picton ferry. But if you are mad enough to try, send me pictures.

THE MAZDA DEMIO ACCOUNTS FOR 10% OF NEW ZEALAND CAR THEFTS, DESPITE ONLY MAKING UP ONLY 1.5% OF OUR FLEET. NOBODY HAS STOLEN A BETRITON YET. I REST MY CASE.

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Our Favourite Super Yachts Siezed from Russian Oligarchs

Sanctioned Yacht Picks

Image Credits: 3. Stark.com 4. Raphael Montigneaux 5. Guillaume Plisson

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1. Lady M Yacht, 64 Metres, $105m, Alexey Alexandrovits Mordaschov. 2. Lena, 40.8 Metres, $80m, Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko. 3. Sailing Yacht A, 145 Metres, $860m, Andrey Igorevich Melnichenk 4. Amore Vero, 86 Metres, $176m, Igor Sechin. 5. Dilbar, 156 Metres, $879m, Alisher Usmanov

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There are no workers unions in space

Blockbuster In Space

In the words of acting icon (and now bonafide commercial astronaut), William Shatner at the beginning of every episode of Star Trek: ‘Space, the final frontier…’

The unknowingness of that infinite expanse in the sky has always baffled us, teased us and sent modern science into a tail-spin. As we learn more and more about its massive expanse through the brilliance of science, us earthlings do have a knack to dream a bit and concoct stories of what is really out there. Space, in the eyes of big Hollywood producers/directors = aliens, zappy guns and Matt Damon in a space suit. It’s Hollywood imagining final frontier, right? What if the final frontier goes to Hollywood instead?

Recently announced, the English-founded Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE, for short), has revealed plans to send a movie

production studio up to the International Space Station. The production company, unknown at the moment, got onboard with Texas-based, Axiom Space to build the studio, set to be launched by 2024.

Though it is really very cool, you may be wondering what the purpose is of sending up artists, producers, creatives, musicians and sports stars into low orbit. Well, according to online sources, the facilities will then enable a unique development, production, recording, broadcasting and live-streaming from space.

From space, dear reader! Though the concept drawings do look a bit ‘too conceptual’ for our imaginations to consider it a viable idea, Axiom Space has already confirmed this will happen, alongside their glistening resume, proving that they definitely come-to-the-party in regards to practicing what they preach.

That production company I mentioned earlier?

They’re in talks with Tom Cruise’s team to collaborate with him on a film. For a man who halted filming to go get a professional helicopter license for his role in Mission Impossible, one would think that the next logical step would be the final frontier, right?

The fully-decked-out movie studio module will dock on Axiom Station (their commercial access to the ISS) in late 2024 and have a life-span of four years. It’ll have all the space (excuse the pun) required for comfortable living for Hollywood A-listers, but will also have enough room for production equipment.

Within those four years, Tom Cruise may be donning an astronaut suit, just as William Shatner did recently with Blue Origin. Who knows, the possibilities are infinite.

ONCE AGAIN, RUSSIA HAS BEATEN AMERICA TO THE PUNCH, FILMING AN ENTIRE MOVIE IN SPACE ALREADY CALLED " VYZOV" OR "THE CHALLENGE" IN ENGLISH.

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WAKE UP TO N AT U R A L

bremworth.co.nz

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6 Private Islands That Cost Less Than a House In Auckland

New Zealand's property market is insane.

In one study, Auckland was found to be the fourth most unaffordable city to buy a home in, with the median priced home being ten times the median income. The rest of the country isn't much better.

Having been lucky enough to be invited into the home owning club myself, I'll regularly see castles and mansions overseas that cost less than my three bedroom scruffy cross-lease in West Auckland. To really rub it in, we found private islands speckled around the world that cost less than the typical $1 million uninsulated weatherboard house in New Zealand

HAT CAYE, $627,885 A small but adorable island that's already partially developed by passing fisherman who have set up a dock and a hut or two, Hat Caye is the perfect escape. It's just 0.7 acres and is located within the calm waters of the Lighthouse Reef Atoll, one of only four atolls in the Western Hemisphere, and is the home to two United Nations World Heritage Sites, the Great Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye National Park. The Lighthouse Reef Atoll is about 45 miles east of Belize City in the Caribbean Sea.

SADDLE CAYE 5.9, $627,885

NAMAKAN LAKE ISLAND, $830,203.50

Located in southern Belize, Central America, this is a 5.9 acre lot in an island chain. Saddle Caye is located just 15 minutes from the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world and 45 minutes (9 miles) off the coast of the booming tourism destination of Placencia Peninsula in southern Belize.

Placed in Southern Ontario, this little island is a 2 acre gem with a 2 bedroom home, guest cabin, bath house with sauna and hot tub. It doesn't actually have an official name but locals call it either "JP" or "Wulf" Island. It's got everything you need to start a reclusive new life. The property is just a few hundred yards across the Minnesota/Ontario border, close to Voyageurs National Park.

It's currently undeveloped as part of the government's plan to create more housing stock.

TWO PRIVATE ISLANDS OWNED BY THE INFAMOUS JEFFREY EPSTEIN, GREAT ST. JAMES AND LITTLE ST. JAMES, ARE BEING LISTED BY HIS ESTATE FOR $125 MILLION. NOT THE GREATEST CLAIM TO FAME.

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Molono Island, $837,180 A little closer to home Molono Island in Vanuatu is a tidy 4.25 acre island with the only inhabitants being the sea turtles chilling in the tropical blue waters. Monolo Island is just a short boat trip to the main Island of Espiritu Santo and a few minutes from Iconic Oyster Island.

MOST UNDERRATED TOURIST SPOTS AS THE WORLD COLLECTIVELY DECIDES THAT IT'S BORED OF COVID, IT'S TIME TO SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING OVERSEAS. We've picked three countries that are hugely underated on the travel scene, even before that entire industry cratered due to pandemics.

Imagine being able to walk out your front door and be snorkelling in your own private coral reef within seconds. Now tell me more about how your house is so conveniently placed near a motorway onramp.

LIECHTENSTEIN Blink and you'll miss it, Liechtenstein's name is longer than its geographical surface area, just 24km. Only 98,000 visitors come and go each year, but its incredible mountainside castles, hiking and skiing provides something for everybody. You won't be flying in though, it's so small it doesn't have it's own airport, but you can bus in from Switzerland or Austria.

DUVAL ISLAND, $807,721.91 Duval Island might not have the most exotic location in Ontario Canada, but it's still adorable nonetheless. The main cottage is move-in ready and has 4 bedrooms, a 3 piece bathroom, living room with wood stove, bright kitchen and dining area with gorgeous views of the lake. Full services include solar and generator back-up power, hot and cold running water and full septic. The island can be conveniently accessed via a short boat ride from Richards Landing Marina or the developed mainland lot on 201 McDonald Drive, also included in the sale.

BELIZE Belize is one of the least visited visited countries in the world. It's a speck in the Caribbean so suffice to say it's surrounded by beautiful water and some of the best snorkelling on the planet. When you're there, be sure to go check out the aptly named natural wonder Big Blue Hole.

SANDPOINT LAKE ISLAND, $892,992 In the wilderness of northern Sandpoint Lake along the US Canadian border sits your new dream home. Perfect for the outdoorsy types this little retreat acts as a perfect base to

explore the waterways of Voyageur’s National Park.

There are eight structures including one main cabin and two guest cabins, sleeping a total of 12. It's got electricity, water, large electric sauna and electric hot tub, composting toilets, and a fully electric kitchen.

TUVALU With a population of only 12,000 across nine islands and just 3,000 annual visitors every year, Tuvalu is the ultimate hidden gem. Sitting in the South Pacific and serviced by just two flights a week by Fiji Airlines, getting in and out is patchy to say the least. But with beaches that go on and on and perfect diving conditions, why would you ever leave?

IN 2021 A NEW 1KM WIDE ISLAND FORMED NEAR JAPAN DUE TO AN ERUPTION. NOW.COM

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PEAK PERFORMANCE IMAGE BY RENAN OZTURK / RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Alex Honnold and Nicolas Hojas climbing Digital Crack (8a) on the Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix. Aiguille du Midi, meaning "Needle of the Mid-day", is a 3,842-metre-tall mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It's a popular tourist destination as it's the tallest mountain peak served by an aerial lift system.

The crew took the challenge to climb the mountain to get footage for their VR experience, The Soloist, which you can find on the Oculus Store now. Seeing these mountains in 2D is one thing, seeing them in VR is another. Although we recommend seeing them in the flesh if you can make it.

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UNDERGROUND UNDERWATER IMAGE BY ©PETR POLÁC / RED BULL ILLUME

David Dušek deep in the ‘Otoch Ha-David's line’ cave system in Yucatan, Mexico. There are no rivers on the surface of the Yucatan Peninsula and the water flows through an underground labyrinth of caves hundreds of kilometres long. As a result of geological development, when the caves were not flooded for a certain period of time, beautiful stalactite formations were created. Each of the flooded caves are characterised by different spaces, stalactite decoration and wall colour. The magical underground water system in the Yucatan was a precondition for the emergence of Mayan culture and hides its secrets. The uniqueness of the Mexican Yucatan therefore lies underground and is a paradise for cave divers.

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BIG SCREEN WORDS BY ISAAC TAYLOR

IN CINEMAS

10 JUN

JURRASIC WORLD: DOMINION FINALLY THE JURASSIC WORLD TRILOGY IS REACHING ITS NATURAL CONCLUSION, WHILE FEELING LIKE IT BLOWS THE DOORS WIDE OPEN ON KEEPING THIS BELOVED SERIES GOING FOR YEARS TO COME. Jurassic World has struggled to hit the bar set by the first two Jurassic Park movies, its massive budget shunting interesting character moments out in the cold in favour of big bombastic CGI moments. With that said, the Jurassic series has been heading inexorably toward Dominion since they first dabbled with the idea in The Lost World’s disastrous third act.

After the events of Fallen Kingdom, dinosaurs are let loose onto the mainland and are causing havoc everywhere. Dominion picks up four years later, marking the gap between the two films. Modern civilisation suddenly finds itself in an uncomfortable new era where they aren’t the top of the food chain anymore. This final entry in the series brings back the old crew from the first Jurassic Park films including Sam Neil, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern to bookend the adventure with some solid nostalgia.

In regards to how the two different casts will mix, director Colin Trevorrow tells us not to expect the usual Hollywood storyline.

“Laura [Dern], Sam [Neill], and Jeff [Goldblum] have as much screen time in the film as Bryce and Chris do. They're not together the entire time, but we are following both of their stories equally, and you have a sense that they're going to collide at a certain point ... there's this tension. It's not structured necessarily in a way that we're used to seeing our Hollywood movies structured. But it works.”

As a fan of the original films, Dominion has found a way to win me over. Well played.

ALSO CHECK OUT: OPERATION MINCEMEAT - 12 MAY - CREATING RED HERRINGS FOR THE NAZIS HAS NEVER BEEN SO FUN.

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SIDESHOW THE OSCARS MANAGED TO MAKE ITSELF RELEVANT THIS YEAR BY STEALING AIRTIME FROM UKRAINE

BY HAVING A LITTLE WORKPLACE ABUSE LIVE ON STAGE VIA WILL SMITH’S HAND INTERACTING WITH CHRIS ROCK’S FACE AT SPEED. There’s a lot to unpack there but I’d rather watch a movie. How about G.I. Jane? No reason in particular.

G.I. Jane is a 1997 classic by Ridley Scott, the king of on-screen tough women.

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Demi Moore plays a comms expert in the armed forces who’s hit her glass ceiling for promotion due to the lack of field combat experience. A new program is opened giving a select group of women to try out for combat duty. It's not without its pushback, and suffice to say nobody in the boys club is on Demi’s side.

The majority of the two hour runtime is dedicated to Demi’s trials of going through the Navy Seals course, a gruelling program with a 60% wash rate.

Ridley knows how to make an engaging film. Talky office scenes are overlayed with dramatic music that makes you feel like these people are planning on killing Jason Bourne. There’s a 50% chance that every outdoor scene will contain a helicopter swooping around in the background, and Demi’s tough gal one liners land almost every time.

THE BOYS: SEASON 3 The great thing about comics is that they have been over the superhero genre longer than movie goers have, leaving filmmakers a rich stock of subversions of the genre to work with. Another season of The Boys is landing and with it the panacea for the sickly sweet treacle of Marvel. If you’re looking for something that brings superhero’s down to earth and see how they’d act in an environment of sponsorship deals and absolute power, definitely cut through the first two seasons right now.

DOCTOR STRANGE: MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS Benedict Cumberbatch artfully reprises his role as Doctor Strange. Homework before diving into this one include the first Doctor Strange film, Avengers Endgame, and WandaVision if you can be bothered.

Doctor Strange has already dabbled once for Spiderman, but now he’s opening a gate to the multiverse and creating all sorts of problems for himself.

Viggo Mortensen does a solid job is a pencil moustached hard arse instructor responsible for his firm but fair torture of the recruits.

The only part of the film I feel hasn’t aged so well is when the recruits are suddenly forced into live combat. The cinematography is bizarre. Ridley suddenly discovered the zoom function on his cameras, oscillating them back and forth every time somebody takes a shot. I’m glad this movie isn’t too bullet heavy or my eyeballs would have dropped out of my head in exhaustion.

All in all, I consider this a great 90s action film, I give this movie Four out of Five Slaps.

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CULTURE

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THE

ANY MUSIC LOVER KNOWS THAT FEELING.

WORDS AND INTERVIEW BY JAMIE TROWER

THAT POWERFUL FEELING THEY GET WHEN A CERTAIN SONG GLIMMERS ACROSS THE SPOTIFY SUGGESTIONS, OR SPARKS ON THE RADIO, AND ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS DANCE.

OF

HARPER FINN

THAT FEELING WHEN THE MESSAGE CUTS DEEP— DEEPER THAN ANYTHING—AND THEY CIRCLE AROUND SO IT CAN PLAY AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.

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CULTURE Music has a certain way of barraging its way under the skin and stapling itself to the soul, to be remembered for later or to be associated with new experiences. At this year’s Grammys, the power of music was described best by singer/ songwriter Jon Batiste when he won Album of the Year. "It’s like a song or an album is made," he said, "and it has a radar to find the person when they need it the most." No truer words have been spoken.

For Auckland-based musician, Harper Finn, music in any form has given him that feeling.

It’s no surprise—he was born into New Zealand music royalty. Born in Auckland to Split Enz and Crowded House member, Tim Finn and TV producer, Marie Azcona, his house was full-tothe-brim with sound. During his highschool years at Takapuna Grammar, he really fell more in love with music, taking great inspiration from his music teacher.

By age 18, he had become a member of an eight-piece hip-hop group appearing at a wide range of venues and really getting a taste for performing to an adoring crowd. Since releasing his first solo single, Look Who’s Sorry Now in 2018, the young Kiwi artist has made himself into a real pursuable asset to New Zealand’s music scene. He has put out a raft of music, even winning Breakthrough Artist of the Year at last year's Aotearoa Music Awards. Harper is surely an artist to watch out for.

The sound he produces is new-age and offers light and dark, soul and heart. Each of his singles gives you that feeling, it seems, and makes listeners just want to get up and dance.

Upon M2 sitting down with Harper, he was getting ready to release his debut EP into the world - NEWCOMER, out late May. With a taste of the new and the old, his upcoming EP promises to take the music industry by storm.

First off, can you give me a little backstory into how you found music?

I found music at a very, very early age because my father is a musician. Some of my earliest memories are of him and the piano around the house. As a toddler, I remember waddling around—the piano was right where my eyelevel was—and my dad would be playing.

My mum was a massive music fan too, so she was always playing The Clash, Run DMC, The Beach Boys, The Zombies and New Order.

I was very lucky to have both sides of the equation. That made music an ever-present thing in my life.

What other musical artists inspire your own sound?

I really love Tame Impala. I think Tame Impala were huge when they first came onto the scene because their music is fun to listen to and also to talk about. Their sound is just fantastic melodies, great grooves and beats. Those are two cornerstones of what I love to make. I love melodies that move you and grooves that make

you want to dance. I think they heavily influence and inspire me.

Daft Punk too—another group that really inspires me a lot—with the way they use meaty bass-sound and mix that analog and organic electronic. I try to find that balance.

Christine and the Queens, who’s a great French artist, is brilliant. I love the way Christine dances, the way the music transfers from an audio experience to a physical experience.

I’m someone who loves to dance and move to my music. Those three artists have shades of everything that I do in them.

So you like to balance between concept music and dance-party?

Totally. I want songs that you can dance to and move to. I want listeners to feel great or you can sing them in your car. I want the songs to be able to be played on both sides and allow you to have that yearning, that melancholy.

I think music is the most powerful when it is a complete release. I try to do that by writing all my songs on the piano so their bare bones can be accompanied on the ivories or acoustically.

If you can get everyone involved and enjoy a piece of music by simply playing it on a guitar or piano, you’ve got a good song.

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For me, it was quite difficult to write. I tried to write here and there, but everything became a lot slower. There was a pressure to do something really amazing and be super productive. I think there was that initial phase where everyone was trying to achieve and work at the same pace that they used to be. We’re lucky here in New Zealand, lockdowns at the first part of the pandemic went fairly well. They weren’t as long as the rest of the world. In those periods out of lockdown, I found my way back into songwriting.

Congratulations on your success at last year's Aotearoa Music Awards. How did that feel getting those honours, even before releasing your first EP?

It’s a collection of old and new songs that touch on the idea of having new experiences for the first time. It’s all in the title, right. First time falling in love, opening your heart for someone, dancing for the first time, singing for the first time. It's my first EP of work I’ve ever put out.

It was overwhelming. An immense sense of gratitude. It’s massive, just how lucky I am to have talented people around me. It was a time to acknowledge myself and the hard work I’ve put in, but also the work that my team has done.

As cliché as it sounds, it is a team effort. There’s a lot of other people that are involved and help me do what I do, even though it’s my name on the award. I just feel very lucky to have fantastic friends and awesome people who work with me.

We constantly have new experiences and have things happen to us. I want people to be able to all collectively feel unified with the sentiment, especially seeing how the world’s going right now. The EP really taps into that. At the moment, everyone sort’ve wants to be a new person in a new city and everyone wants a new set of surroundings. We’ve all been stuck in the same place for so long, especially with Covid.

It’s a dream, this has always been my dream.

This is all I’ve wanted to do. There’s so many other people who are helping me trying to achieve that. I feel like the luckiest person on the planet when I got recognised at the AMAs. It was very reassuring and it was an encouraging sign to keep going.

What does your creative process look like?

NEWCOMER is quite genreless too. I don’t want people to put their finger on what it sounds like. I want them to have a new experience listening to it.

Usually, I sit at the piano and just play for a long period. I like to play the piano most days just for half an hour or so, just pretty mindless playing.

It’s my way of just unwinding and de-stressing.

I like to channel how I feel and then let it wash me away sonically.

What can listeners expect from your upcoming EP, NEWCOMER?

The reason I put old songs on the EP is very much because I want it to feel like the way the world was. I feel like everyone’s coming to music at their own time. Timelines for me have become quite unimportant. I’m more interested in putting out great music and hoping that people will get turned onto it when they want to.

Everyone is adjusting to coming into that ‘new normal’. Did you find the lockdowns were good for inspiration?

Or was it quite creatively jarring?

It was incredibly jarring, for sure. You don’t realise what inspires you until you don’t have it. It’s seeing people, or going to certain places,

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doing certain things. It just made the world feel different. In turn, I wasn’t being inspired by the world.

Naturally, something will pop out and catch your ear, and it feels like going into a subconscious state where I just write and write.

Once I’ve fleshed that out a little bit, I’ll either go into the studio or I’ll jump on my laptop and start to record something. The studio is where I find the drums, the bass, the groove.

What have you got planned for the future?

New music. Watch this space, for sure. We can’t really commit to playing some shows, but my intention is to play shows as soon as I can.

I’m constantly writing and have stuff on the go.

When the time is right, I’ll put new stuff out. I think playing live is the pinnacle, everything I do leads up to that moment.

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IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY WORDS AND INTERVIEW BY JAMIE TROWER

PHOTO SHOOT BY BRIAN BOWEN SMITH

AT AGE 10, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY, AFTER SUSTAINING A SEVERE, TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, I SPENT MOST OF MY RECUPERATING YEARS MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE CHARACTERS ON TV, OR IN MOVIES. AT RISK OF PHOTOSENSITIVE SEIZURES, I ONLY GOT A PRECIOUS HOUR OF TELEVISION OR FILM-WATCHING A DAY. THOSE HOURS WERE CRITICAL, TO PUT IT LIGHTLY.

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After the tiring weekdays of physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy, I longed wholeheartedly to sit in the Colonial-style TV room with my grandad, Colin—at five o’clock on-the-dot—and pick the afternoon entertainment for the hour. Grandad’s choice, selected from the high stack of rickety VHS tapes, was always something British and feel-good ("because all good tellie is English tellie", he’d say in his warm, gentle tone).

My TV taste differed slightly. I wanted something escapist, where I could fly away on a spaceship, and imagine myself in some far away galaxy. Needless to say, Star Wars was always and will forever be my first choice from any VHS stack.

Born in Perth, Scotland in 1971 and later moving to nearby Crieff, Ewan McGregor was raised on modest beginnings with no initial dreams or ambitions to become ObiWan Kenobi at all. His uncle on his mother's side, Denis Lawson, is an actor, most notably playing Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy. Little did the young Ewan know that years later he would be joining the same franchise as one of the lead roles, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In 1994, McGregor gained his first major movie role as Alex Law in Danny Boyle’s With every other 10 year-old kid from my award-winning Shallow Grave. Though the generation, I loved watching the Jedi Knights movie wasn’t as successful as they hoped take to the screen, defending the galaxy it would be, it certainly gave McGregor from the dreaded Sith. I dreamt of one DURING INTERVIEWS, the building blocks he used later in life to day standing beside Qui-Gon Jinn as a thrive as an actor. It also gave him one of fully-qualified Jedi Knight, blue lightsaber I WAS BEING ASKED his most important directorial contacts, in my hands, fighting off droids and alien IF I WANTED TO DO one that was instrumental to his early enemies, all in the name of peace and career and skyrocketed McGregor to justice for the Republic. I wanted to be STAR WARS AGAIN being a household name.

Ewan McGregor. The Wilson Home AND I FOUND MYSELF Child Rehabilitation Centre was, hoping The year was 1996 and Ewan was tapped to not sound too cliche, my own Republic SAYING, 'YES, SURE, on the shoulder again by Danny Boyle and I strived to protect it, no matter the to star as Mark ‘Rent Boy’ Renton in WHY NOT?' MEDIA costs. the dark-comedy drama Trainspotting.

SORT’VE EXPLODED Even after all these years, the ‘choose Almost 19 years on, I often reflect on life’ monologue at the opening sequence the impact that Star Wars—and ObiWITH HEADLINES: of the movie still rings in all our ears Wan Kenobi—had on my recovery.

"MCGREGOR WANTS like a mantra. A psychedelic, dramaIf not, I believe, for George Lucas’ filled, darkly-comic film with tiny rays amazing universe and Ewan McGregor’s TO DO STAR WARS of light that shone over the characters. portrayal of the padawan apprentice, I AGAIN." SUDDENLY I’M Chasing his next heroin high,, Renton feel I wouldn’t have learnt crucial life (and McGregor) became a staple in lessons. Lessons like: committing to a life GETTING ALL THESE popular culture. The narrator of the film, despite any type of adversity, believing CALLS FROM DISNEY Rent Boy was a truly ambitious (and in yourself no matter the odds, and not ambiguous) character for McGregor letting fear guide your path.

ASKING ME TO GO IN to sink his teeth into. The screenplay, When M2 was given the opportunity to AND MEET THEM. based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, told sit face-to-face with Ewan and talk about through the protagonist’s observations his journey reprising the iconic role for of a crippling, economically-depressed So in 1987, at age 16, McGregor dropped out Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+, I felt like an Edinburgh society, took Ewan to a new height of school to follow in his uncle’s footsteps, over-excited child all over again. Minus the of fame. Ewan even won an Empire Award securing a job working as a stage-hand at a sore head, of course, I felt taken back to in 1997 as Best British Actor for that role, local theatre and gaining small parts in their sitting in my wheelchair in the Wilson Centre, which he completely deserved. productions.

Five years later, McGregor watching Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan on the decided to pack his things and head 725km For the next few years, McGregor continued screen, imagining myself as a true saviour of away to London where he applied for the to work on a number of films, such as Douglas some distant galaxy. class of ‘92 at the Guildhall School of Music McGrath’s adaptation of Jane Austin’s Emma and Drama. Within a few years, the Scot or Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine. He even landed minor roles in television and madetook to the stage in 1998 in David Halliwell’s for-TV arthouse films.

Little Malcolm and His Struggles Against the Eunuchs at London’s Hampstead Theatre, which received rave reviews. It was at the end of ‘98, however, he landed one of his most well-known roles to date.

Filling the shoes of Sir Alec Guinness in George Lucas’ massive Star Wars trilogy, McGregor embodied the younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi like no other actor ever

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could. Playing a younger Obi-Wan, the mixed reviews were overshined

by McGregor’s performance. Booting The Mummy out of the number one spot in the box office, and making slightly over USD$28 million on its first day, The Phantom Menace was an instant hit and made McGregor a global icon. Needless to say, fans worldwide were hooked. Three years later, Attack of the Clones came out to rapturous response. People lined the streets, dressed as Jedi Knights, blue lightsabers at the ready. And oh my days, when Revenge of the Sith was released, fans were too excited to find out the true identity of the infamous Darth Vader.

After putting down his lightsaber (for what he thought was) the last time, McGregor went on to achieve even more success in his life. He has picked up numerous awards (too many to list, really), and graced We’d love to have you come over! You can crash on my the screen with some of the finest actors. sofa if you need a place to stay! So it’s been 17 years since Set ten years after the events of Episiode III: Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith…How did it feel series, Obi-Wan Kenobi is Ewan’s next acting endeavor, and it will getting back into the Jedi robes as Obi-Wan Kenobi? surely be him at his finest. Stepping back into the shoes of the Jedi It sort’ve came about over a long period of time, to be honest. I think Knight, the series tells of the now Jedi Master on the sandy plains when we finished Episode III: Revenge of the Sith I wasn’t expecting to of Tatooine, protecting Luke Skywalker from an encroaching enemy play him again. I enjoyed playing him; I loved being part of the folkforce. lore of Star Wars. But, to be honest, those films were quite difficult to Leading up to Obi-Wan Kenobi's release on Disney+ on 25 May, M2 make. There were a lot of green-screen and blue-screen to navigate, and it was hard to make the got the brilliant opportunity to performance feel real and vibrant chat with our friend Ewan and AS MY CAREER WENT BY, I after three months of no sets. talk to him about where ObiREALISED HOW IMPORTANT At the end of Star Wars—when Wan is headed in the series and how he approached playing the THE GEORGE LUCAS’ all things were said and done character again. with my stint as Obi-Wan—I UNIVERSE WAS TO YOUNG was happy to have done it. The How’s your day going so PEOPLE. THE AUDIENCE three [Star Wars] films I was in far? unfortunately weren’t received WE MADE THE FILMS FOR It’s been going really good. very well and that was difficult I work for Unicef as an WERE AND STILL ARE THE for me. I didn’t like the fact Ambassador, so I’ve been that people didn’t enjoy them as KIDS WHO WERE/ARE THE able to do a couple of Zoom much as I hoped they would. But interviews to raise funds for SAME AGE I WAS WHEN I then over the years, I realised the team over in the Ukraine. my perspective of it shifted FIRST SAW A NEW HOPE. IT’S that It was good to raise money for too. I realised that I didn’t want the kids they’re looking after GENERATIONAL. Star Wars to define my career. over there. Where are you in I wanted to continue doing the world? different and diverse roles.

I’m in Auckland, New Zealand.

As my career went by, I realised how important the George Lucas’ People tell me New Zealand is quite like Scotland. I spent a lot of time in Australia when we were shooting the second and third Star Wars films. I also did Moulin Rouge! there. New Zealand is definitely on my bucket list.

universe was to young people. The audience we made the films for were and still are the kids who were/are the same age I was when I first saw A New Hope. It’s generational. When I talk to those kids, they are like ‘Your films are our Star Wars…’ It’s so cool, man. As I started to realise that, it softened me a bit.

During interviews, I was being asked if I wanted to do Star Wars again and I found myself saying, 'Yes, sure, why not?' Media sort’ve exploded with headlines: "McGregor wants to do Star Wars Again".

Suddenly, I’m getting all these calls from Disney asking me to go in and meet them. I found myself sitting in these Disney offices and important people asking ‘...so is it true?’ And more and more I was saying yes.

I always thought that there’d be a cool story between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope. I was interested to explore it. At that time, I was also speaking to a lady at Lucasfilm called Kiri and she said that the beautiful thing about Star Wars is that it can be anything now. There are so many sides to it. We know where the world is, and that allows us to tell smaller stories about certain characters, or make big action films. It’s malleable and can be anything nowadays. I think that is so cool.

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So then we started talking about where we could take Obi-Wan Kenobi. We wanted to take him to a dark place after Episode III. All the Jedi have been killed off and Kenobi can’t communicate using the Force because of the risk. He’s lost Anakin to the Dark Side; Padmé has passed away; there are these people called The Order of Inquisitors who are trying to hunt them down. He’s on Tatooine, and he’s just trying to live his best life not being a Jedi.

Did you have to research your own craft, or Sir Alec Guinness’ craft, to play Obi-Wan again? Or was it more like muscle memory—playing in the space—and he immediately came back to you?

I did both. I started with watching all the Star Wars films, starting with Episode I: The Phantom Menace and through to Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, as well as all the spinoffs. I also started reading a lot of science-fiction novels. There’s a Scottish writer I really like called Iain Banks, who wrote quite a well-known novel in 1984 called The Wasp Factory. He wrote sci-fi books too under the name Iain M. Banks—he wrote 10 highly-acclaimed sci-fi books as well as his mainstream fiction. I read a lot. I just wanted my mind to go back into that sciencefiction world. And, of course, I watched a metric-tonne of Alec Guinness—Youtube, interviews, anywhere where he’s talking just to get his voice back in my head.

Because I’m also a producer on the show, I spent a lot of time with Deborah Chow, our brilliant director. She’d do all the work with the scripts and the writers, and I’d read a script and just say, ‘It’s great!’.

Then, like you said, it was really the case of imagining…Getting the costume on and getting back in there. It didn’t take too long.

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His voice took me a minute to find again but once I got that, I was off and running. I’ve watched Obi-Wan Kenobi and I’ve seen all the episodes and I’m absolutely stoked with it. I’m sure people will like it.

Looking at the trajectory of your highly successful, glowing career— from your roles in Shallow Grave, to Trainspotting, to Doctor Sleep, to ObiWan Kenobi—your love and passion for acting must still be there then…

Oh yes. I just love it so much. I’ve been so blessed to have had lots of experience in acting. The only time, really, I get nervous with acting is when I’m walking to the set and there’s an important scene or fight I’ve got to do. And two to three weeks before I start something, I’m not much fun to be around.

Recently I had to play Halston, the fashion designer, for a Netflix series, and he was someone who actually lived. Two weeks before we started [filming Halston] I was seriously like, oh f**k—I didn’t know if I could do it. As an actor, you sometimes forget that you don’t have to do the whole script all on the first day, and you get to explore a little bit at a time. Two roles that I loved playing were brothers, Emmit and Ray Stussy in season three of Fargo. It was amazing. What an opportunity to play two brothers with all those great actors!

With Obi-Wan Kenobi, after a lot of work and exploration, we came up with something truly amazing. There are so many nice moments between III and IV that the audience will like. I think the Star Wars fans will be really satisfied with it.

I’m sure we will be. Thank you, Ewan.

And may the force be with you…

Thank you. This has been really fun. Yes, may the force be with you, always.

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With The King of Crooners WORDS AND INTERVIEW BY JAMIE TROWER

HARKING BACK TO ITS 1940’S HEYDAY, THE VOCAL STYLE OF THE CLASSIC CROONER HAS POSITIVELY PUNCTURED THE HEARTS OF ALMOST EVERY MUSIC LISTENER. IT’S BASSY AND SOUL-MOVING, DARK AND MOODY, ROMANTIC AND HANDSOME. IT’S GOT SCHTICK AND CHARISMA. EVEN NOWADAYS IN 2022, THAT SMOOTH SOUND STILL REMAINS, WITH MILLIONS OF FANS SWINGING TO THE SULTRY SWAG OF SINATRA OR BENNETT ON SPOTIFY. EVEN WHEN YOU GOOGLE ‘CROONERS’, THE CLASSICS WINK AT YOU ON THE SCREEN—THE FIRST OF THE LIST, HOWEVER, TAKING HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE IS OUR PAL, MICHAEL BUBLÉ. SELLING AROUND 75 MILLION RECORDS WORLDWIDE, BUBLÉ HAS BECOME (QUITE-RIGHTLY) A WORLDWIDE MUSIC ICON. WITH HIS CHARM, CHARISMA AND HUMILITY, BUBLÉ FREQUENTS MANY A CHAT SHOW SOFA, WITH EXCELLENT RESULTS. EVERYBODY LOVES HIM. HE CUSSES, HE JOKES, HE’S HUMBLE, A GENUINELY NICE GUY—THE TRUE KING OF THE CROONERS.

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orn in British Columbia, Canada in 1975, the singer caught the music bug early, at just age two. His taste for jazz was discovered when singing along with his family to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas during a long car ride one Christmas holiday.

Adorably, Michael then always slept with a Bible every night, praying to the almighty to one day become a singer.

At age 14, during the summer months, Michael took up his first job (which lasted six grueling years) as a commercial fisherman alongside his father and several crewmates. When not working on the boats, he crooned at nightclubs (aged 16), his grandfather overseeing the management.

This relationship Bublé has always noted as being his strongest. Bublé and Demetrio were best buds; his grandad really encouraged his love for jazz. A plumber by trade, his gramps offered businesses his plumbing services so Michael could score extra stage time singing.

How heart-warming. Demetrio also paid for his vocal lessons, seeing the talent that his grandson so clearly had.

Michael’s big break arrived in 2000, when an assistant to the former prime minister Brian Mulroney attended a show of his in Toronto.

Upon checking out this up-and-coming star for himself, Mulroney became a fan too and put Bublé in touch with acclaimed record impresario, David Foster, to which he signed with. Together, also with mentor, Paul Anka, Bublé put out his debut self-titled album to acclaimed success. That album was an instant hit. It turned triple-platinum in Canada and made the bestseller list in several countries.

Even from the starting block, Bublé was destined to become an icon. His second album, It’s Time, released in 2006, notched him further up the ladder as a best selling artist and scooped him four Juno awards and two Grammy nods.

His third Grammy-winning album, Call Me Irresponsible (named after Frank Sinatra’s own song) was a crowd favorite—and still is. It sold over two million copies worldwide, scooped him a double-platinum certification and quickly scaled numerous charts. And then they just kept coming. He’s gone on to release seven more highly acclaimed and hugely successful albums.

The multi-Grammy winner’s latest album, Higher is the crooner at his best, in his words not ours. It’s his 11th studio album—fast-paced and up-beat, filled with his sweet and soulful signature baritone. With his album Higher out now, M2 got the great opportunity to sit down, face-to-face, with the King of the Crooners and discuss his upcoming album, which is set to take the world by storm.

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Can you tell me how you first found music?

From a young age, I always felt that music was the most important part of being a human being.

Even as a little tiny person, there was just such a deep love and fascination with melody and notes and time. It was almost the cinematic emotion that came with loving music—that deep, deep, deep connection. I was only a kid, so it doesn’t really mean much, but it felt like God had given me a special relationship with music.

I felt, in this narcissistic way, that no one could possibly love music more or as much as I could. I thought that there could be no human-being alive that could be as filled up with as much inspiration and joy as me. Even

I’VE TOLD PEOPLE THAT THEIR SUCCESS ISN’T BASED ON WHETHER ‘THAT ONE ROLLING STONE ARTICLE’ WAS A GOOD CRITIQUE OR NOT. listening to the Disco Mickey Mouse records, I can remember thinking: ‘wow, I am hooked-up here. I am connected’. It’s like escaping into a cinema-universe or something. I listen to music nowadays and I’m filled with memories. I get taken back to Grade Four when I saw the girl I had a crush on. It’s transportational. I’m just so glad we all get to do it together.

Who would you say inspires you the most?

My parents were big music lovers. They were eclectic. My dad loved Engelbert Humperdinck and Dean Martin, Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams. There was such a big mix. I think the biggest impact was made by the Bing Crosby record that used to play at Christmas. The genre of the Great American Songbook or jazz music came from the infiltration of that genre alongside Christmas. It was a time of the year where there was just so much love in the house and there was so much goodness and kindness.

Then there was this record, beautifully arranged, with Bing Crosby. I think it ambushed me. Without me knowing it, it was what made me fall in love. It would be my introduction to Sinatra and Ella, The Ink Spots and The Miller Brothers. If I’m being honest, that was the biggest inspiration.

My grandfather too—we were like two peas in a pod, best buddies. He just loved the old records. Never was a singer, not a very musical guy—he just loved music. He would dance with my grandma in the kitchen. I remember they’d dance in the kitchen to Dean Martin.

What can audiences expect to hear from Higher, your forthcoming album?

I think people can expect to hear a truly ambitious effort. I’ve been filled with such joy in my life. I was so grateful for my son being healthy; I was very open and my heart was open. I pushed through any fear and worked from joy and appreciation of being in a good moment. This record is the greatest record I’ve ever made. Song after song and conceptually.

It’s been executed well. I think there are songs that are so different, wonderful and rich. I just went for it. It’s been many years since I wrote songs this good.

I was lucky enough to have the people around me—writers like John Mayer, or Michael Pollack or Ryan Tedder. I had producers like Greg Wells, Bob Rock, Alan Chang and Sir Paul McCartney. Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Jason ‘Spicy G’ Goldman as arrangers. They nailed it—they just all nailed it. I was really certain about what I wanted. Even more so, I wanted to share the load. I asked the producers to take on the weight with me. More than that, I think, I brought people together. We were all in this boat and we were all rowing. When this album explodes, we get to hug each other and say: ‘look, look at what we did…’

The song on Higher, ‘My Valentine’ is a cover of a Sir Paul McCartney hit. As well as being a producer, Sir Paul really liked your rendition of his work…

Yeah, how cool is that, right? I can’t believe it.

He’s a really special guy. I was so blessed that he would take me and support me like that. It really meant a lot to me.

All the songs are great. Personally, my favorite song on Higher is ‘Crazy’ with Willie Nelson…

Oh my, I had so much fun with that. Willie and his wife are beautiful, beautiful people. I’m so proud of that song. I listen to it a lot, actually. I think it’s my favorite guitar solo ever. He’s just so unique and special. It was cool, man. The first time I got to talk to him, we talked about Patsy Cline and her version of his song. But I told him that Patsy wasn’t Crazy to me—he was and still is.

He’s so, so, so cool. You know, Willie Nelson was one of my grandfather’s favorite crooners.

When he did the Stardust record, for me that was up there with the best Bobby Darin record, the Sinatra, the Dean Martin. Stardust was just the best. For me, Willie was very much like

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Louis Armstrong. He has a unique and distinct voice and his ability to emotionally sell the song is just magic.

So what advice would you give budding songwriters/singers looking for success in the industry?

What I’d say is…Don’t judge your success on the commercial aspect. What you have with your passionate love for music is a romance that will never, ever let you down or disappoint you.

I’m happy when people fall in love with music, because it is the most beautiful and purest

FROM A YOUNG AGE, I ALWAYS FELT THAT MUSIC WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF BEING A HUMAN BEING.

relationship they’ll ever have. It will never hurt them, never let them down.

I’ve told people that their success isn’t based on whether that one Rolling Stone article was a good critique or not. Success, to me, is finding that you have fallen in love with (what I think is) the voice of God and giving birth to your own creation. It’s your creation—it’s all you! No one else could’ve come up with it, so you’re already a winner. What a beautiful romance to have.

Whatever ‘God’ music is to listeners, I think it gives something deeper than any chemical reaction.

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LIST FEATURE

Luxury Bunkers To Survive The Apocolypse In

Things are heating up in Europe. While people in the UK rush out to buy iodine tablets to band aid over the nuclear apocalypse, preppers the world over are making sure they have enough tins of beans to last 100 years of nuclear winter.

Various projects around the world are taking advantage of the prepper market by creating vast underground community networks. We took a look at a collection of the projects currently underway.

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Doomsday preppers are seen as somewhat of an oddity in peacetimes, but when some madman is sabre rattling nukes, their preparations don't seem quite so silly.

No one takes it more seriously than the Vivos Group who are building survival bunkers all over the world. They market themselves to people who may believe in any one of many different doomsday scenarios.

"If you believe in the Biblical predictions of Armageddon," they state on their website, "or the prophecies of Nostradamus, the Third Secret of Fatima, the visions of Edgar Cayce, or all of the current signs of attack by North Korea, WW3, a pandemic, an EMP power outage, Yellowstone's eruption, the increase threats of an asteroid collision, Nibiru/Planet X, widespread global radiation, major earth changes, or even a sudden pole shift, then it is time to prepare for your family's survival!"

Vivos invites people to become members and in the registration form, asks if you have any relevant skills that would ensure long-term survival of the species. "Writer" isn't on the list so I guess I'm deadweight both pre- and post-apocalypse. Skills they do find relevant include dentists, farmers and martial artists. Because being able to karate chop a radiated zombie’s head off will always be a valuable life skill.

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Vivos xPoint Vivos xPoint is a project developed out of 575 former U.S Army Base all-risk bunkers in the Black Hills area of South Dakota. The base formerly served as a bombs and munitions dump until it was retired in 1967 and handed over to cattle ranchers. Vivos bought the land off the ranchers and are now selling each bunker for US$45,000 each. It is centrally placed in the USA away from coastlines, and is 160km away from the “nearest known military targets”. The total area of the base is 46 square kilometres of row upon row of bunker, each 400 feet away from its neighbour, meaning no need to worry about hearing any rowdy music through your solid concrete and steel blast doors. I suppose the spacing was to ensure that a munitions dump explosion wouldn’t set off a chain reaction.

All bunkers feature a standard 26.5 foot interior floor width, with lengths of 60 feet and 80 feet, each with a 12.5 foot high ceiling to the top of the interior arch. While the pricing is cheap, you'll be dropping a ton of money into outfitting your concrete shell to be habitable. But the results can be spectacularly cushy, given the right amount of money. There's also an annual rent of $1,000. But don't worry, I'm sure that once a nuclear blast rips across the land you can start trading in bottle caps instead.

Premium options will set you back US$120,000 to get a bunker looking like one of Vivos showbunkers.

Floorplans accomodate 4 to 20 people with options including a greatroom, kitchen, private bedrooms, a master suite, full and half bathrooms, a gym, laundry, water filtration and pump room, power room and generator, air filtration area, a mud room (whatever that's supposed to be), and an exhaust chimney.

For lone wolves or small families, there are 16 person shared bunkers, which would be absolute hell, I’m sure. I can already see people going feral at each other a year in after the passive aggressive flatmate notes about “stop nicking my bread!” get too numerous. Priced at US$15,000 per person, the bunkers come stocked with one year of food and supplies and all the amenities of life. Rent is split 16 ways, so is rather negligible, covering ground rent and monthly common area fees.

Vivos assures us that, "You can visit and stay in your bunker as often as you like, even live in it fulltime as your primary residence or a home away from home."

As someone who's watching their friends getting locked out of the Auckland housing market, this sounds like the cheapest form of accommodation right now.

A BOOMING BUSINESS Surprising nobody, interest in bunkers spikes during periods of uncertainty.

A glut of bunkers were sold off in the approach to Trump taking office. Sellers are also reporting that preppers unhappy with Biden are also buying up. Everybody has an antichrist. But even more are being sold now due to Putin puttin’ himself into other people’s countries.

A $6.5 million estate in Michigan is pulling international interest due to the fact its listing states it comes with its own 5,000-square-foot bunker, swish images of its plant grow room included. The installer of the bunker, Rising S, claims that since things kicked off in February, in just a few weeks they sold 35 units, as much as they would normally sell in a year. Their bunkers range from $70,000 to $120,000 a pop, or $2.5 mill for the one in Michigan.

U.S. Buildings Group, which also sells bunkers, has had a 130% uptick in enquiries.

A little closer to the action, Italian bunker manufacturer Minus Energie spent the last two decades building a total of 50 shelters.

Within the first two weeks of the invasion, they got hammered with 500 enquiries.

According to a 2018 report, the prepper market was worth $75 billion in 2017, and was projected to be worth $423 billion by 2025. These numbers have no doubt been blown right out of the water in the last few years.

Silicon Valley tycoons are nuts about it apparently, according to LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman talking to The New Yorker about how 50% of Silicon Valley billionaires had some sort of bolt hole somewhere for when the worst happens.

Billionaire Peter Thiel famously bought a backblock station in the South Island for when the worst happens. Rumour has it that Queenstown is peppered with bunkers, although finding any of them is a tall order. Owners don’t exactly advertise their locations, and American bunker builder Rising S, who has shipped multiple units to New Zealand, has become increasingly secretive in how it brings in its bunkers, to protect identities of buyers.

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Vivos Indiana Vivos’ second site in the States is Vivos Indiana, an underground complex big enough to accommodate 80 people. As is the case for most of these networks, it was built during the Cold War to withstand a 20 megaton blast; good enough to withstand most, but not all of Russia’s cache of nukes. They have designs for 100-megaton nukes.

Vivos Indiana can run for a year, minimum, completely cut off from the outside world. Tagged at a four star hotel level, this is the most homely shelter we’ve seen so far. Outfitted with natural wood and plush armchairs there’s everything 80 people would need to keep themselves entertained for the endtimes. A theatre area, dining, exercise equipment, kennels, gardens and even ATV’s, bicycles and a workshop. Apparently there are currently free spaces that can be booked.

Current members of the bunker apparently include surgeons, doctors, ex-military, chefs and unfortunately bankers as well.

PERSONAL ESCAPES

terravivos.com

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For those that don’t want to have to commute to their end times tomb, there’s always the option of getting one installed. Apartment owners need not apply. There’s everything from tiny boltholes to palatial underground estates, ranging from a couple grand all the way up to millions. So there’s something in every budget range. If you can’t afford a shelter, instead buy a tomahawk, the credit card of the apocalypse, and know the location of your closest one.

The Bunker | $26,995

10’ x 50’ Underground Bunker

3m long x 2.4m | floor-to-ceiling height of 2.4m | Essentially a ventilated coffin!

Living Room | Kitchen | Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Solid Plate Steel

undergroundbunkersaustralia.com

ussaferoom.com

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The Oppidum It seems that preppers have the Soviets to thank for all aspects of our current impending doom. The Oppidum used to be a secret base built by the Czechoslovakian government and the Soviet Union near Prague. In 1995, it was a simple nuclear shelter, but has since been refurbished to be the largest underground retreat for a single buyer.

The surface is a ritzy opulent living space occupying 30,000 square metres of property, comfortable enough for peacetime. Underground is a sprawling 7,200 square metre underground space.

Oppidum is also the name of the company outfitting the shelter, and offer their services around the world. Their sales pitch is less aimed at doomsday preppers looking for clues in Revelations, and more at the uber wealthy. They state that in addition to providing ultimate safety, bunkers “add value to your property in terms of safe storage for art, collectable cars, and other valuables. They also provide amenities like a gentleman’s lounge in which total privacy can be assured.”

Quickly lads, the air raid sirens are going off, get the brandy! Did Giles make sure the gentleman’s lounge is well stocked with escorts?

Perfect, don’t tell my wife or her mistress.

The bunker has been split into one large apartment and six smaller ones for the extended friends and whānau to join you. It’s stocked with up to ten years of supplies and includes an underground garden, swimming pool, cinema, wine cellar and library. oppidumbunkers.com

Premium DEFCON 1 Bunker

Platinum Series, Maryland

The Aristocrat | $8,350,000

water filtration | NBC filter | blast valves | full bathroom | bullet resistant doors

AR500 bulletproof hatch | oak flooring | Green House & Garden | Games Room | Gym | Library

defconbunkers.com

atlassurvivalshelters.com

Gym/Health & Fitness Center | Hot Sauna | Swimming Pool and Hot Tub | Game Room with Billiard Tables and other games | Bowling Alley | Media Room with Theater Seats risingsbunkers.com

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Vivos Europa One It doesn’t get much better than Europa One, Vivos’ 5 star premium luxury accommodation for those that want to ride out the end of the world in style. This 76 acre property is located in Germany, and used to serve as a Soviet munitions dump. After they left it, the German government used it for the same purpose until pesky bylaws prohibited massive ammo dumps from being stored next to highways. They flipped it off and it landed in the care of Vivos, which is now flipping off levels at $2 mil a pop for buyers to outfit to their personal specifications.

Collectively, it’s comprised of five kilometres of continuous tunnel and 227,904 square feet of secured, blast proof living areas sitting at a stable 12 degrees.

It’s rated to withstand everything up to a close nuclear blast. That’s the beauty of being deeply embedded in a limestone mountain. It also has everything you need for long term survival. A water treatment plant, deep water wells, a power plant, air filtration, hospital area and even the possibility of restaurant areas.

The exterior has a full on barracks and train depot.

Once the perimeter wall is closed, it’s only accessible by helicopter. Safe from both nuclear blasts and people! What more could you ask for?

Vivos has big plans for this place including a seed bank and DNA storage. Buyers have a 2,500 square foot floor area to work with, and with such a tall ceiling is the potential to double it with a second floor adding an additional 2,500 square feet. But really what they’re buying their way into is a tiny ark of civilisation. terravivos.com

DBX Doomsday Bunker

The underground bunker he designed in South Carolina occupies 12,000 square feet and can accommodate up to two family groups and a maximum of ten people. It’s both a survival shelter and a completely self sufficient second home.

It’s comprised of modular vaults surrounding a hydroponic garden and has just a beautiful design. Nobody knows who the client was who commissioned it, but ABIBOO does share that they are a "self-confessed 'prepper' that wants to be ready for a potential calamity."

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ABIBOO Studio / Nomad Bunkers

Maybe the most qualified architects to design a shelter for long term living would be well versed in the art of building for space habitation. That’s exactly what Spanish architectural firm ABIBOO, led by Spanish architect and designer Alfredo Munoz, has qualifications for. He’s one of just a few designers who are recognised as Space Architects by the AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics), of which he’s a member.

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Svalbard Global Seed Vault Unlike the others, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is not intended for human survival. Instead, as the name suggests, it is for the survival of plant life. Located on a remote island on the Svalbard archipelago, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, lies this giant fridge, the only marker of its existence being a glitzy concrete shard poking out of the snowy tundra. There are 1,700 genebanks spread around the world with libraries of seeds. They are unfortunately vulnerable to any number of factors. An intern unplugging a fridge and forgetting about it could cause a mass extinction of whatever is stored in the fridge. More dramatic circumstances such as war or defunding could also lead to the complete collapse of the genebank. The Global Seed Vault was built to counter these weaknesses, by being paced in permafrost, so power failure is never an issue, and it’s in the middle of nowhere, thus not a target of roaming tanks and rocket shooters. The vault is 100 metres underground, but also well above sea level, so ocean rises won’t be an issue.

The Seed Vault has the capacity to store 4.5 million varieties of crops. Each variety will contain on average 500 seeds, so a maximum of 2.5 billion seeds may be stored in the vault.

Currently it has been given over 1,000,000 samples from every corner of the globe.

Everything is kept at a frosty -18ºC and there are no permanent staff at the vault. So while it’s not ideal for our survival, it will ensure the survival of millions of different plant species.

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Survival Condo The Survival Condo is a good name for it. The Survival Condo is built into a decommissioned Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Silo back in the 60s. To be more specific, it used to be a Atlas “F” missile silo. There’s one finished facility already with the crew working on a second now, according to them only a few spaces are left to be booked in this second silo.

The original facility was 15 floors deep, but now each floor is getting divided out to willing buyers.

You can choose between everything from a half floor of 920 sq. ft of space for US$1.5 million, all the way up to a 3600 sq. ft. penthouse for $4.5 million. How do penthouses work in the bunker community? Is it inverted? Do you get to brag about being closer to the earth’s core than anybody else? “Loving the view of the 3 foot thick concrete walls dude, very nice!”

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Outfitting can be made to your personal tastes. One glowing reviewer says of his purchase, “The same quality of condo in New York would have cost me the same, if not more per square foot and you get peace of mind with this.”

Amenities include a community swimming pool, dog walking park, rock climbing wall, theatre, general store and an aquaponic farm, among other features.

Survival Condo’s marketing is a bit more blunt than Vivos stating, “We are not looking for stereotypical “survival nuts” portrayed in movies, but rather likeminded individuals with the desire to provide care and protection for their family. We seek people with the financial resources, interest, education, experience, and desire to participate in the shared tasks of survival under difficult circumstances. We want people with good values and we will screen applicants for criminal backgrounds.”

So sorry if you ever got a speeding ticket, you can fend for yourself in the Forever Winter. survivalcondo.com

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Getting through WWIII In Style

Survival Picks 1

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1. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Expert Advice for Extreme Situations 2. Volleback Apocalypse Jacket 3. Nitecore P20iX 4. LifeStraw Personal Water Filter 5. Boker Plus Fragment G10 6. 5.11 RUSH24 2.0 Backpack - 37L 7. BigBlue 5V 28W Solar Charger 8. Quest 4D Gore-Tex Forces 2 EN 9. TG Plasma Lighter Windproof Waterproof USB Rechargeable Flameless Dual Arc.

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Time for your Body Warrant of Fitness 54

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I think I speak for most guys when I say that most of the time we’d rather ignore our problems and just hope they go away. One time my brother stopped talking to his girlfriend for about a month before she eventually got the message and packed her stuff and left. That shows a whole new level of commitment!

We try and do the same with our health as well. I’m sure that achy tooth will just magically fix itself if you ignore it long enough. They fix themselves, right? How many spares do we get after baby teeth again?

None? Ok well I guess it’s time we start taking care of ourselves.

Here’s your 2022 checklist of things to run through to keep yourself in peak condition. If you cheat on this list, the only person you’re cheating is yourself.

1. Heart of the Matter If you have known risks, it’s best to get started checking your cholesterol when you’re twenty. For everyone else, start getting these regular checks after you hit 35; once every five years if your cholesterol levels are fine. Keeping your cholesterol in check is just generally a matter of cutting down on buying yourself dog food masquerading as takeaways, lowering your alcohol intact and getting more physically active. Lower your weight as best you can and stick to fruit and veges, lean meats, nuts and seeds.

2. Get Some Oral Did you know that you’re supposed to go to the dentist once a year for a check up? I know, sounds like a scam to me too. The first lockdown coincided with a severe toothache my wife got. She milked it by complaining about it, safe in the knowledge that there were no dentists willingly crawling inside people’s mouths at the time. After the lockdowns ended, I asked if she’d finally book herself in for an appointment. “Naaaah,” she told me.

Anyway, leaving dental issues for too long only creates more expensive problems. Small cavities get too big to fill in and it all turns into a nightmare.

Do yourself a favour and catch these things early. It’s like a spot of rust on your car.

You can mitigate any disasters here by keeping your diet low sugar (good luck with that!) and cleaning your teeth regularly. Word to the wise, you can actually brush too much. I knew this one girl who would brush after every snack and meal to stay minty fresh. Her teeth were starting to look like one of those deep-sea fish you could see through as she’d started stripping her enamel off. Dentists recommend to always get the softest brush you can get.

It doesn’t matter if you feel like you’re doing a good job with the firm brushes, your teeth aren’t the BBQ grill you scrap and scour after every use.

Annual Or Not To Annual You might think that to stay 100% healthy you should hassle your doctor once a year. This is an institutionalised idea that has been with us since life insurance companies in the 1880s wanted to remain solvent. The eureka moment was when they found a correlation between sugar in the urine of healthy people, and the chances of them going on to getting diabetes and kidney disease.

Doctors begrudgingly took on the task, and after a lifetime or two of doing them they cemented themselves as a feature of the medical landscape. But do they have any meaningful effect in our health outcomes?

Numerous recent studies suggest that no, systematic offers of health checks are unlikely to be beneficial and may lead to unnecessary tests and treatments.

According to one study in 2019 that used data involving over 500,000 participants, “Experience from screening programmes for individual diseases have shown that the benefits may be smaller than expected and the harms greater.”

Speaking from Harvard in discussion over the studies, Amy Ship, MD states that, “some of the components of an annual visit may actually cause harm. For example, lab tests and exams that are ordered for healthy patients (as opposed to people with symptoms or known illnesses) are statistically more likely to be “false positives”... Even if these inaccurate findings affect only a tiny percentage of the more than 200 million adults who would undergo such exams, the monetary, practical, and emotional costs are huge.”

“Although a number of professional guidelines recommend that physicians should no longer follow the tradition of the annual exam, data show that the frequency of these exams hasn’t diminished.”

Fortunately in New Zealand, we tend to be a little bit smarter with these things. In fact, prostate exams for healthy people without symptoms isn’t recommended here already due to the chances of it causing more problems than it solves.

At the end of the day, frequency of checks is something you should talk about with your doctor, and if you do think something is off, don’t wait around to find out.

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3. Go Nuts You know this article was gonna have to go there at some point. Don’t worry, we’re going to the OTHER place later on. After you’ve hit puberty (presumably you have; do people under 14 know what magazines are?), you should be regularly having a quick check down there for any abnormal lumps or thickness. Best time to check is in the shower when the air is warm. If you notice anything, report it ASAP. Never risk it when it comes to the family jewels!

4. Blood Brothers If you're under 40, and have no family history of it, you should get your blood pressure taken every two years. Otherwise, once a year if you’re over 40 and have a history of it. According to healthcare professionals, if the top number (systolic number) is 130 or greater or the bottom number (diastolic number) is 80 or greater you should book an appointment on how to bring down your blood pressure.

5. Get Your Booster By the time you’re reading this, you’re probably well due for your Covid booster shot. I get it, you went to all the trouble of getting the first two and now they’re demanding you get another one.

What’s even the point, right?

If you just have the first two doses, then you have less protection against the transmission of Omicron than you had for Delta. Unfortunately, vaccines wear off or new strains lower their effectiveness. Being fully vaxxed lowers the chances of you taking up one of those ICU beds.

But any sort of blunting of Covid’s effects are well worth it. Also a UK study has found that 70% of COVID survivors had memory and concentration problems several months after infection which would align with other studies that have measured a “greater reduction in grey matter thickness and tissue-contrast in the orbitofrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus”. I’ve always made a point of not endangering anything in my body I don’t know how to pronounce or spell.

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6. Mole Orienteering If you work a lot outside, you should be self checking yourself for any funny business on your skin once every few months, and get yourself professional mapped once a year. The main thing to look for when self checking is if a mole grows, changes shape or colour, or if new and different colours appear. New Zealand has some of the highest rates of melanoma in the world, behind only Australia. Seven of us get diagnosed with it every day and 300 of us pass away due to it every year. I rely on your ongoing subscription to this magazine, so have a look at your skin once in a while please.

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7. Check Your Head Mental health isn’t solved at the end of November, as our friends over at Movember pointed out in the March/April 2022 issue of M2. Globally, three out of four suicides are by men, and it remains the leading cause of death for men under the age of 44. If your facing issues, do your best to open up about it, it could truly be a lifesaver. Likewise, be a spotter for your mates. CEO of Movember, Michelle Terry says, “If you're worried about a mate who you think might be struggling, there are things you can do to help. You might not be able to fix someone else's problems, but you can listen and sometimes that is the most helpful thing you can do.”

Don’t try and carry the burden by yourself, far too many of us try and buckle under the weight. Share the load!

8. Twenty Twenty Foresight Between 18-60, you should be getting an eye exam every two years if you’re of the bespectacled community like me. Use it as an excuse to get a new pair of glasses that aren’t scuffed and bent out of shape from you sitting on them.

9. Making Tracks Covid’s not the only thing out there you need to be immunised against. You should pick up the latest flu shot to cover you for the latest variant of that.

Not as fashionable, but important during flu season.

Although with that said lockdowns, face masks and social distancing did a number to flu numbers. Not having to go into town and catch buses these last couple years have left me the healthiest I’ve ever been. If you haven’t had them already getting the MMR vaccine is a good idea, as well as the varicella vaccine if you never caught chickenpox as a kid.

10. Check the Back Door There’s a lot going on up inside you and your doctor is going to have to quickly point at it for you. Prostate cancer is the third highest cause of cancer death for New Zealand males, behind lung and colorectal cancers. I’m sorry, that’s just life and prostates for you. Prostate cancer is ridiculously common with autopsy studies finding that undetected prostate cancer is present in approximately 50–60% of males aged over 79. A prostate check is recommended to all the guys between 50 and 70. After 70, any new surprises down there are unlikely to have time to get to a point they can hassle you before Jesus starts knocking on your door. If you have a family history get started in your 40s.

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STYLE

STYLE CLOSE THE DIOR IT'S COLD Dior’s Men’s Ready to Wear Winter 22-23 looks have made their way across the runway and into our wardrobes. Designer Kim Jones, Creative Director of Dior Homme, look back at the beginnings of the fashion house for their inspiration going into the future.

“I wanted to look at the archive, at the purity of the beginnings of the House, at its original

impulse. We looked at the initial collections and focused on the architecture, taking these elements and transforming them almost instinctively in a masculine way for today, always keeping the joie de vivre at the heart of Christian Dior’s clothing,” says Kim. Signs and symbols personal to Mr Dior proliferate throughout the collection: the star, the rose, the cannage, the leopard, the Lily of the valley and the chain all link the past to the present day, particularly through the jewellery. Here, Victoire de Castellane’s diamond and emerald chain bracelet is joined by Yoon Ahn’s extravagances in a new decorative approach for men.

This accessorising continues in the bejewelled derby shoes, contrasted with the more utilitarian DIOR by BIRKENSTOCK sandals – a fresh collaboration this season. Bags also explore the tension between the practical and the ornamental for men; the Saddle Bag is joined by the new Dior Corolle Tote as well as a vertical clutch. We also see a return of Stephen Jones in his reworking of Doris beret for men.

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GET IT ZEGNA THIS WINTER Zegna's new collection reflects their newly rebranded visual identity "our road". The road in question is a real place, winding through the mountains of northern Italy crossing Oasi Zegna the free access natural territory of Piedmont.

The collection gently assesses what a contemporary style should look and feel like: functional and individual, comfortable yet not conformist, appropriate indoors as much as it is outdoors.

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Dense fabrics are used with an organic colour selection of muted tones. gabardine, scuba wool, technical silk, wool denim and the newly created Oasi Cashmere define the textures of layered looks that blend light notes of salt, frost white and slate grey with deep notes of ebony black and mahogany brown. The solidity of the designs are interrupted by a tie-dye and jacquard stripe.

“I keep looking at the world through the Zegna lens. The reality we live in today requires adaptability; it asks us all to be fluid. Translating this idea into clothing means building a language of shapes and textures that grows and consolidates over time, matching the needs of the moment. The notion of the hybrid is one I keep exploring, because there’s progress in erasing staid categories”, says Alessandro.

Zegna has found it's road, and it looks great.

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LUXURY WAT CH GUIDE 2022 2022 is in full swing, and we got our first live watch show in an age. 2019 feels like a lifetime ago. Back then we had things like S.I.H.H. (Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie) in Geneva and Baselworld in Basel, Switzerland. These were both replaced by a single premier show, Watches and Wonders Geneva, organised by the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.

Unfortunately, their first two shows had to be digital due to outside being banned around the world.

But this didn't stop watch makers from bringing new incredible timepieces to us each year. Time marches on they say and now the world appears to be getting back on it s feet . Let ’s t ake a look at the lates t timepieces that were revealed by the world’s premier watchmakers this year, as well as our own picks that are wor th keeping an eye on.

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ROLE X

RO LE X

OYSTE R P E R P E TUA L DAY- DATE 40 Rolex isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to its prestige piece, the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 in 950 platinum. Its fluted bezel, which until now has only ever been made in 18 ct gold, now also comes in 950 platinum.

It comes with a cyclops lens at the 3 o’clock for easy date reading.

The Day-Date range of Rolex’s are only ever made in precious metals, which maintains its reputation as the best of the best. To celebrate this pedigree, this new watch comes with a President bracelet made only from 18 ct gold or 950 platinum concealing a folding crownclasp and ceramic inserts for enhanced flexibility and longevity.

The Dalai Lama, a big lover of mechanical timepieces, would transcend himself when he hears that the Day-Date 40 comes packing a Calibre 3255 made of nickel-phosphorus insensitive to magnetic fields. It also has a selfwinding module via a Perpetual rotor and has reserves for 70 hours.

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ROLE X

RO LE X

OYSTE R P E R P E TUA L DATE J U ST 3 1 The three new expressions of Rolex’s Datejust 31 have just gone floral, with flower motifs made in three different finishes - sunray, matt or grained. This lends the watch an elegant texture with subtle deftness. The first watch comes in azzurro blue combining oystersteel and white gold and a fluted bezel. The second is olive green coming crafted in 18ct yellow gold. Finally, the third option is a Everose Rolesor with Oystersteel and Everose gold. These last two watches come with 46 brilliant-cut diamonds embedded in the bezel.

The 31 mm Oyster case of the new Datejust 31 is guaranteed waterproof to a depth of 100 metres. Its middle case is crafted from a solid block of Oystersteel, a particularly corrosion-resistant alloy, or from 18 ct yellow gold.

All three come equipped with the calibre 2236 developed by Rolex back in 2014 which are built with a silicon hairspring 10 times more precise than traditional hairsprings. It also has high performance paraflex shock absorbers, meaning the watch can take a few hits, but why, why would you do that to your dear Rolex?

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C A R T IE R

C ARTI ER

SA NTOS D E CA R TI E R C H RO N OG R A P H WATC H Louis Cartier presented his first Santos De Cartier in 1904 to his good friend it was named after, Alberto Santos-Dumont. It lays itself bare with visible screws and a modern square design.

Long after this gifting, Cartier is revisiting this iconic watch with the Santos De Cartier Chronograph Watch (W2SA0008). This current itteration is an extra large model (Case width: 43.3 mm, case thickness: 12.5 mm) with a chronograph mechanical movement with automatic winding, calibre 1904 CH MC. It's encased in steel with a yellow gold frame. The steel and gold offsets the satin-brushed silver dial, which itself is overlayed by black steel sword-shaped hands with luminescent material.

On its side, the 7-sided crown is set with a faceted blue synthetic spinel and finally the straps come in either a steel bracelet with a "SmartLink" adjustment system or a black rubber strap with steel folding buckle.

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C A R T IE R

C ARTI ER

TA N K M U ST WATC H Cartier knows it's one of the best. Everything about the Tank Must Watch screams confidence. It knows what it is, it doesn't need to prove anything to anyone. First produced in 1917, the prototype of the Tank watch by Louis Cartier was gifted to General Pershing, who was commander of the Western Front during World War 1 at the time. Since then, its clean crisp lines have proven popular with the most elegant of clientèle and has stood tall as a popular series for Cartier.

The latest iteration, WSTA0055 is no exception. Starting simply with a steel case, the beaded crown set with a synthetic cabochon-shaped spinel acts as the first indicator of this time-piece's pedigree.

The blue lacquered dial with polished steel sword-shaped hands afixed upon your wrist with a blue alligator-skin strap and steel ardillon buckle, is the height of sofistication. Fit for war heros and a fashionistas alike.

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GR A ND S E IK O

G R AN D S EI KO

E VO LUTI O N 9 CO LLE C TI O N Using Grand Seiko’s touchstones dating back to 1967, the new Evolution 9 Collection represents the future of watchmaker. The collection has expanded to accommodate five new Spring Drive sport watches. All together it’s an equal split between featuring a GMT calibre and GMT chronographs, with the odd one out being a 200m diver's watch.

Their cases and bracelets are made of high-intensity titanium and the dials and indexes are coated with Lumibrite for night legibility. Crown guards rising up on the right hand side protect the crown from snagging on your sleeve, making this carefully crafted pieces well suited to an active lifestyle.

The Limited Edition Grand Seiko Chronograph 15th Anniversary SBGC249 is limited to 700 pieces worldwide and will be available in July/August along with SBGC251.

The diver's watch SLGA015 (Spring Drive 5 Days Calibre 9RA5) is available in July/August, alongside the SBGE283 and SBGE285.

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GR A ND S E IK O

G R AN D S EI KO

KO DO CO N STA NTFO RC E TO U R B I LLO N Grand Seiko has been breaking new ground for itself with each passing year. 2022 is no different as they introduce their very first mechanical complication watch, the Grand Seiko Kodo Constant-force Tourbillon. For short simply call it Kodo, Japanese for heartbeat. The case is constructed from both Platinum 950 and Grand Seiko’s Brilliant Hard Titanium. Its heart is an extremely rare design which combines a tourbillon and a constant-force mechanism as one unit on a single axis. It was first dreamed up in 2020, and since then its initial concept and all of its 340 components have been re-examined to create a cohesive whole. The result being the Calibre 9ST1.

The back of the case is transparent sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating to see every piece of this masterpiece. In its entirety it is decked out in 44 jewels, and it’s finished with a double-sided crocodile strap.

The Kodo will be available as a limited edition with only twenty pieces produced in October 2022.

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T UD O R

TU DO R

B L AC K BAY C H RO N O S & G Tudor has been following two strands of DNA for its watches; one line has concentrated on the world of motorsport with the Oysterdate in the 70s, while the other has been their strong line of professional diver's watches. The new Black Bay Chrono S&G is the culmination of these two disciplines colliding into a single high-performance automatic Manufacture Calibre, with column wheel and vertical clutch.

The recognisable characteristics of the Black Bay are preserved in a steel and yellow gold case with a 41-millimetre diameter. It’s warterproof to 200m and is powered by the Calibre MT5813 with tungsten rotors.

It has a 70 hour power reserve and exceeds both Tudor’s and the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institutes (COSC) exacting standards.

There’s a bracelet for every occasion which dramatically shifts the feel and celebrates the watch in different ways. Personally, I think the Riveted 316L steel and yellow gold bracelet with polished and satin finish works a treat. But the dark brown leather strap with removable bund with steel folding clasp and safety catch or black fabric strap with buckle are also good for less showy occasions.

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T UD O R

TU DO R

B L AC K BAY G MT S & G The Black Bay line has been blessed this year with two Steel & Gold models. The Black Bay GMT S&G is the watch for the travelling man, able to account for multiple timezones. Reference time is tracked by an angular “snowflake” hand, while local time is indicated by a shorter “snowflake” hand. A rotating 24 hour bezel also adds the dynamism required to track a third time. The bezels duo-tone is used as an added visual guide between night and day.

The case is made of 316L stainless steel and yellow gold, 41 mm in diameter, with a bidirectional rotating bezel in yellow gold and an insert in black and brown anodised aluminium.

It’s powered by the Calibre MT5652, loved by watchmaking purists for its adaptable architecture being able to include new functions in its movements without the need for added modules.

Much like its Black Bay Compatriot Chrono compatriot, it comes with three different bracelets to choose from; the Riveted steel and yellow gold bracelet, brown leather strap, or black fabric strap with beige band and buckle.

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LO N G I N ES

LE G E N D D IV E R WATC H Longines first diver watch was released in 2007, since then it has developed a cult following for its dynamic, clean aesthetics. The new release brings some more colour to the party, featuring sand beige, ash grey, royal blue and vivid burgundy. Along with classically-proportioned 42mm models, Longines has also added 36mm references to the collection. Each new timepiece features a box-shaped sapphire crystal. These newest variations house a self-winding mechanical movement (L888.5 for 42mm and L592.5 for 36mm versions) with a silicon balance-spring.

The 42mm versions feature sand beige or ash grey colour-gradient dials and come with tone-on-tone fabric straps. There is also a royal blue model, which is presented on a coordinated leather strap.

These new models continue Longines commitment to their long heritage of distinct and innovative designs.

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LO N G I N ES

S P I R IT Z U LU TI M E Longines is the brand favoured by adventurers and explorers. They have graced the wrists of aviators, such as Amy Johnson, Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon. The new Spirit Zulu Time pulls from this history to develop a new watch with its own inhouse calibre and multiple timezone support. The hour hand can be adjusted independently of the GMT indicator. Additional time zones are read using a 24hour hand and a bidirectional rotating bezel, also graduated over 24 hours. Its hands and numerals, coated with Super-LumiNova, enable the time to be read under all circumstances. The 42 mm steel case has an interchangeable stainless steel bracelet or an interchangeable brown, beige or blue leather strap.

This model features a bezel enhanced with a coloured ceramic insert, and is available on a matt black, sandblasted anthracite or sunray blue dial, with a date window now centred at the 6 o'clock position.

This is a watch for those who want class, but also don't need to worry about pampering their timepiece.

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G-SHOCK

G -S H OC K

M RG - B 5000 The brand new MRG-B5000 calls upon Casio's rich heritage and cutting edge design aesthetics as it takes inspiration from the iconic 1983 classic. It's forged in cobarion, a new metal that rivals platinum for shine, and is four times harder than pure titanium.

Crafted on the high-end Premium Production Line at Yamagata Casio the MRG-B5000 is treated with the utmost care at every stage. Casio developed a new Multi-Guard Structure, which allows them to polish the 25 intricate pieces that construct the bezel.

It's this new structure which also lends the watch superior shock-resisitance. The scratch resistant titanium alloy band also has it's own special structure, with seperate pins in each metal link. All of this allows for a stunning distortion-free finish across the piece, right down to challenging spots like recessed portions.

Naturally it comes equipped with smartphone pairing and a range of features that make this a true 21st century timepiece. It also comes equipped with a solar charging system and high-brightness LED light for added convenience.

Available in black (MRG-B5000B) and Silver (MRG-B5000D).

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G-SHOCK

G -S H OC K

M RG - B 2 000 The MR-G series, known for its meticulous attention to construction, function, materials, and finishes, welcomes a new line - the MRG-B2000. Pictured above is the striking MRG-B2000B1A4, it’s crimson colour scheme inspired by the akazonae — the colour of the crimson armour worn by elite samurai and associated with gallantry and valour. It’s specifically inspired by the armour worn by senior samurai of the Takeda clan, during the Sengoku "Warring States" period, circa 1500s.

Much like the MRG-B5000 opposite, it features Bluetooth pairing. Its exclusive MR-G module even has a gold-plated retainer plate to reduce electrical resistance. The dials perimeter evokes a Japanese fan, while its gently curved index marks bring to mind sword blades. This is pure Japanese technology meets Japanese aesthetics.

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Look good, feel good.

Active Picks 2.

1.

4.

3.

4.

5.

9.

6.

7.

8.

1. PIET, Bucks Harrington Jacket, $450 2. LANVIN, Curb Sneakers, $1,066. 3. PATTA X FAIRTEX Muay Thai Shorts, $130 4. UNDER ARMOUR Iso-Chill ArmourVent Stretch Hat, $40. 5. BOSS Bag Magnified Holdall, $579. 6. SENNHEISER, MOMENTUM True Wireless 3, $380. 7. PIET, Bucks Social Socks, $35. 8. BURBERRY, Checked bifold wallet, $530 9. NEW BALANCE, MADE in USA Core Sweatpant

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FELLINI PURE LAMBSWOOL SCARVES Face the chill of winter in style with Fellini’s pure lambswool scarves.

Checks, tartans, stripes and solids are all expertly coloured to complement whatever you wear – marled greys, classic blues, autumn naturals and warm fireside tones of bordeaux and plum.

Woven with 100% lambswool, Fellini scarves are renowned for their softness and natural warmth.

Available at independent men’s stores throughout New Zealand.

ESQUIVEL X TUTIMA You might be all horologied out by the end of this section, but German watchmaker, Tutima has created a hand crafted collection to go along with their 43mm GMT Patria Dual Time. Working in collaboration with Esquival Shoes, this collection features handmade vachetta leather Chelsea boots, two NATO straps, leather weekend bag, and of course, an accompanying watch holder. Each object comes cobranded by both these artisans of style. Limited to 25 sets. esquivelshoes.com/collections/tutima-collaboration

Black dial, matt black case, black canvas/leather strap, 10 BAR, luminous numbers and red sweep hand (model 3650-04) White dial, 10 BAR, sapphire crystal, red sweep hand and large date display ar 12 o’clock (model 3580-05)

Available from leading jewellers and watchmakers throughout New Zealand P 07 889 3545 or 021 751 115 for stockist details

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THE DARK ART OF THE BLACK BADGE GHOST

And this kind of makes sense as, according to the Rolls-Royce marketing team, there has always been a bit of a rebellious subversive streak in their clients. The people that think outside the square, take risks and reap the rewards, no it’s not just chauffeur-driven landed gentry, these are “rebellious women and men who built their success by breaking rules, taking risks and challenging conventions. In the 2020s, these women and men engage with luxury products on their own terms. They reject suits for streetwear, use blockchain, not banks and influence the analogue world through their digital endeavours. In doing so, they have created new codes of luxury that resonate with their sensibilities: darker in aesthetic, assertive in character and bold in design.”

IF ROLLS-ROYCE WAS A SUPERHERO, BLACK BADGE WOULD BE ITS DARK AND BROODING ALTER EGO. NOT ENTIRELY EVIL PERSE BUT WITH A SARDONIC AND CUTTING EDGE. AND IT SEEMS THAT ROLLS-ROYCE CLIENTELE IS LAPPING UP THIS DRIVE ON THE WILDER SIDE WITH 27% OF THE ROLLS-ROYCE COMMISSIONS DONNING THE BLACK BADGE AND ITS INFINITY SYMBOL.

“In the five years since Black Badge became publicly available, this bold family of motor cars has come to symbolise the pinnacle of a new type of super-luxury product, setting in motion a shift across the wider luxury industry. Subsequently, nearly all luxury makers create products that seek to capture the Black Badge spirit.” Says Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

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So it was this understanding that the Black Badge was formalised in 2016.

A way for Rolls-Royce to provide the car for those rebellious new age titans of industry - digital and otherwise.

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And out of the dark cool, subversive world has emerged the latest Black Badge offering. Actually, we’ll let Müller-Ötvös do the honours…

“Today, we announce a product that represents a new kind of Black Badge motor car, one that seizes on the minimalist, Post Opulent design treatment that has recast the legend of Ghost but amplifies and subverts it with the application of black. Our most advanced motor car yet has been reengineered to characterise the alter ego of Rolls-Royce: assertive, dynamic and potent. This is the purest Black Badge motor car in the marque’s history.

This is Black Badge Ghost.”

So that is bold talk from the CEO but he’s probably actually underselling it even. For a vehicle that is meant to be minimalist, the level of detail is bordering on psychedelic. We are not trying to be glib here either.

While you can choose one of 44,000 ‘ready-to-wear’ colours or create your own entirely unique Bespoke hue, most people go with the signature Black. And to stare into this paintwork is almost like staring into the abyss of infinity. It is really otherworldly. Rolls-Royce achieve this effect using 45kg of paint which is atomised and applied to an electrostatically charged body in white before being oven-dried. It then receives two layers of clear coat before being hand-polished by a team of four to achieve a high-gloss piano finish.

This depth of darkness is the perfect canvas to then add a high-contrast, hand-painted Coachline. Rolls-Royce hallmarks such as the high-polished Spirit of Ecstasy and Pantheon Grille then get a unique chrome electrolyte introduced to the traditional chrome plating process that is co-deposited on the stainless-steel substrate, darkening the finish. Its final thickness is just one micrometre – around one-hundredth of the width of a human hair.

Each of these components is precision-polished by hand to achieve a mirror-black chrome finish.

This special motor car gets its own bespoke 21-inch composite wheelset with the barrel of each wheel made up of 22 layers of carbon fibre laid on three axes, then folded back on themselves at the outer edges of the rim, forming a total of 44 layers of carbon fibre for greater strength. A 3D-forged aluminium hub is bonded to the rim using aerospace-grade titanium fasteners. This is finished with the marque’s hallmark Floating Hubcap, ensuring the Double R monogram remains upright at all times.

The opulent interior sees an accent base created from multiple wood layers pressed onto the interior component substrates, finished in black Bolivar veneer.

Leaves woven from resin-coated carbon and contrasting metal-coated thread laid in a diamond pattern are applied by hand to the components in perfect alignment, creating a three-dimensional effect.

But perhaps some of the most striking details are the ones unseen. The Ghost gets Rolls-Royce’s proprietary all-aluminium spaceframe architecture that debuted with Phantom. This sub-structure not only delivers extraordinary body stiffness, but its flexibility and scalability allowed Ghost to be equipped with all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering and the award-winning Planar Suspension system. The Black Badge gets more voluminous air springs to alleviate body roll under more assertive cornering.

All of this dark opulence is propelled by a twinturbocharged 6.75-litre V12 with a total output of 441kW. The ZF eight-speed gearbox and both front and rear-steered axles work to help things along by working collaboratively to adjust the levels of feedback making for a confident and responsive driving experience.

Although you might well just get as much joy just staring at the endless darkness of that stunning paintwork while pondering the meaning of life.

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7 GENERATIONS OF GLORIOUS LUX POWER

COMING TO NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA AT THE END OF 2022 IS THE NEW BMW 7 SERIES, OUR PERSONAL FAVOURITES WHEN IT COMES TO LONG-DISTANCE TRAVEL IN LUXURIOUS COMFORT.

You just can’t beat some good two-axle air suspension and adaptive damping for a smooth ride. The interiors come fitted snug with merino leather/cashmere wool and an optional 31.3” theatre panoramic touchscreen.

Now that’s hot.

Other prominent interior elements include a subtly backlit control panel in the centre console with a new gear selector, as well as glass applications for selected controls. Newly designed function buttons on the steering wheel include active haptic input.

The seventh generation BMW’s also feature an allelectric drive system for the first time ever in the form of the much anticipated BMW i7. No matter where you are on the energy spectrum, there’s something for everyone in the series; good old gas guzzlers at one end and plug-in hybrids somewhere inbetween.

The BMW 740i, is powered by the most powerful version of BMW’s renowned three-litre TwinPower Turbo in-line six cylinder engine. Peak output is rated at 280kW and maximum torque 540Nm, helping to push the 740i from 0-100km/h in just 5.4-seconds.

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The BMW i7 xDrive60 uses a combination of efficient electric drive, optimised adaptive recuperation, improved climate control and high energy density for the high-voltage battery with usable capacity of 101.7kWh deliver a range of 590-625km on the WLTP cycle. The BMW i7 xDrive60 achieves the standard sprint in only 4.7-seconds.

These new sedans feature a long wheelbase variant 5mm longer than the sixth gen long wheelbase models. Width and height has increased by 130mm, 48mm and 51mm respectively.

The tech packed into the 7 series has enough potential to be capable of level 3 automated driving and parking, alongside its active safety tech. Level 3 is short for conditional driving automation, meaning that vehicles with it have environmental detection and decision making abilities, but still require human override.

So no catnapping or goofing off with your 31.3” touchscreen on State Highway 1 please, thankyou.

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QUICK FACTS WHEELBASE 5MM LONGER THAN SIXTH GENERATION LONG WHEELBASE 7 SERIES AND OVERALL LENGTH INCREASED BY 130MM, WIDTH BY 48MM AND HEIGHT BY 51MM NEW 740I WITH 48-VOLT MILD HYBRID TECHNOLOGY FEATURES TWINPOWER TURBO IN-LINE SIX CYLINDER ENGINE TO DELIVER 280KW AND 540NM FULLY ELECTRIC I7 XDRIVE60 INCORPORATES FIFTHGENERATION BMW EDRIVE TECHNOLOGY WITH DUAL MOTORS TO PRODUCE 400KW AND 745NM NOW.COM

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SHIP-SHAPE WITH LAZZARINI

ITALY-BASED DESIGN-STUDIO, LAZZARINI, HAS RECENTLY REVEALED DESIGNS FOR THEIR LATEST EXTREME 169 METRE SUPERYACHT, SOVRANO. BEING SO SCALDING-HOT OFF THE PRESS, NOT TOO MANY DETAILS HAVE BEEN RELEASED ABOUT THIS SUPERYACHT.

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What we do know is that it will span five decks and the yacht will be bespokely designed as either a private vessel with a single owner, or as a shared venture. Built from a combination of steel and carbon fiber composites, the superyacht will be able to deliver a fullbattery powered propulsion of 31 knots. Its numerous spaces will be separated by an atrium and three-storey well on the foredeck.

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At the bottom of the foredeck, a beautifully designed garden area which lines along a large swimming pool. Of course, because what else do you really need on your boat but more water?

Two twin five-metre helipads will sit on either side of the wheelhouse, as though perched just above the water. On a side note, with the helipad extensions, that will make Lazzarini’s design (when eventually built) the widest superyacht in the world with a beam-span of 33 metres.

Underneath the large vessel will sit a garage which will host up to 15 metre tenders and six vehicles, all of which can be unloaded and loaded by one of the yacht’s numerous cranes.

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THE POWER OF HYDROGEN

SLOVAKIA ISN’T THE FIRST PLACE YOU THINK OF WHEN IT COMES TO HIGH PERFORMANCE INNOVATION. BUT MAYBE IT SHOULD BE AFTER TAKING A LOOK AT THE MH2, A SUPERCAR POWERED

BY HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT FOR OVER 15 YEARS. Under the direction of Matadore and using hydrogen storage technology developed by Technical University of Kosice in Slovakia, the MH2 is a new green solution to the sticky fossil fuels problem. It may not be the first hydrogen-powered car, but it sure is the prettiest thanks to designer Branislav Mauks who’s contributed to every Ferrari design since 2007.

The tech used allows for more hydrogen to be stored under much lower pressure, making it safer, but not sacrificing range. It can hit 100km/h in 3.9 seconds and has a top speed of 250km/h. With its zero production of CO2 and NOx emissions, hydrogen allows you a guilt-free driving experience. Unless of course you’re doing 250km/h in a school zone.

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The interior of the car follows the sleek design language of its exterior. The interior the central dash is uncluttered apart from a 834 x 2388 resolution touchscreen.

The MH2 is a proud creation coming out of Slovakia, and its government is using it as something of a figurehead of their industry. "At Expo Dubai, we have the ambition to introduce Slovakia to the global audience as a country of natural talent and innovative solutions,” said Minister of Economy of the Slovak Republic Richard Sulik on the official Instagram account of Slovakia. “Whether it be in the field of mobility or sustainability.

Hydrogen technologies are directly related to this. Hydrogen is the future and we want to be prepared for it, as one of the effects of introducing hydrogen as the fuel of the future is a significant reduction in emissions."

With fuel prices going the way they are, I think we're all happy to see alternatives being brought to market, and if it saves the planet, well that's just a bonus my kids get to enjoy.

QUICK SPECS TOP SPEED: 250 KM/H POWER: 600 HP 0-100 KM/H: 3.9 SEC

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THE NEXT GENERATION OF SKY SCRAPING

IF YOUR BUILDING ISN'T THE BIGGEST "SOMETHING" IN THE WORLD, IS IT EVEN WORTH MAKING? FOR EXAMPLE, IN MONGOLIA A 40-METRE TALL STAINLESS STEEL STATUE OF GENGHIS KHAN ON A HORSE HAS TAKEN OUT THE AWARD FROM BEING THE WORLD'S TALLEST EQUESTRIAN STATUE. IT'S SUCH AN ODDLY SPECIFIC QUALIFIER, I DON'T EVEN THINK IT SHOULD COUNT. BUT LET'S NOT GET DISTRACTED FROM THE SUBJECT AT HAND, THIS MONSTROUS SKYCRAPER GOING UP IN NEW YORK CALLED 270 PARK AVENUE. 86

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It will be New York's largest all-electric skyscraper with net zero operational emissions and will be 100% powered by renewable energy sourced from a New York State hydroelectric plant. How's that for specific!

Due to be completed in 2025, this will be the new home for JPMorgan Chase's global headquarters. It's 60 stories tall, standing 423 metres, and able to house 14,000 employees, a massive amount compared to the 1950s building it's replacing, which only holds 3,500 drones.

So what makes it special, apart from being a gigantic ant farm with 2.5 million square feet of collaborative space? Well first of all a pinched base allows for 2.5 times more outdoor space on the ground level. Using a state-of-the-art structural system to negotiate the site

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constraints below and at ground level, the innovative fan-column structure and triangular bracing allow the building to touch the ground lightly across the entire block. By lifting the building about 80 feet/24 metres off the ground, it extends the viewpoint from the Park Avenue entrance through to Madison Avenue.

They say that the building is a "postpandemic building" focusing on flexible workspaces and employee wellbeing, unlike previous buildings which focused on employee badbeing.

But this is the world we live in now.

Office spaces aren't seen as essential as they once were a few years ago and to make them valuable, they need to be more comfortable and more appealing than an employees home office.

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THE RISKS OF MARITAL BREAKDOWN AND SOME SURVIVAL TIPS FOR MEN

MEN WHOSE RELATIONSHIPS BREAK DOWN ARE AT HIGH RISK FOR MENTAL ILLNESS, INCLUDING ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND SUICIDALITY, ACCORDING TO A NEW MOVEMBER-FUNDED STUDY.

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Research carried out by the University of British Columbia and published in the journal of Social Science and Medicine – Qualitative Research in Health, has shown that marital separation quadruples the risk of male suicide, suggesting that distressed relationships, as well as separation and divorce, contribute to men’s mental health challenges “Most men experienced the onset or worsening of mental illness symptoms during a distressed relationship or following the breakdown of a relationship,” says the study’s lead author Dr John Oliffe, a Canada Research Chair in Men’s Health Promotion, UBC professor and lead of the Men's Health Research program.

“Stereotyped masculinity plays a role in how men react to a broken relationship,” explains Dr. Oliffe. “For example, men’s uncertainty for how to articulate and problem-solve in the relationship context resulted in many men isolating rather than reaching out for help. Most men in the study were battling with transitions in the partnership—like bereavement, parenting or infidelity and their primary goal was to avoid conflict.”

The research follows the publication of a recent University of Copenhagen study, which showed that men who live alone for more than seven years are at high risk of early death. The study of 4,800 people found that men had higher levels of inflammation in the body, which is linked to hardened arteries, heart attacks, strokes and cancer.

Movember mental health adviser Dr Steve Robertson, emeritus professor of Men, Gender and Health at Leeds Beckett University, says: “The evidence shows that, following divorce/ separation, and when living alone for long periods, men’s immune systems fare less well than that of women.

Dr Robertson adds: “A significant part of what is expected of men relates to being publicly, outwardly successful and separation and divorce can challenge this image – it can suggest failure, that you are not ‘good enough’ (financially, sexually or emotionally) to hold on to your partner. It erodes confidence when men are meant to exude confidence.

“Men often rely on their partner as their main,

safe place for emotional expression and where they can safely open up a little. Men are taught not to share feelings of vulnerability or anxiety or lack of confidence, etc. Intimate relationships are therefore often the only opportunity men must share moments of weakness, vulnerability, fear, etc - they expose themselves in such relationships. This is often not done easily.”

7 DIVORCE SURVIVAL TIPS FOR MEN After a break-up, try to avoid launching into new intimate relationships. Let’s not beat around the bush: going through a divorce sucks big time. There’s a lot of worry, stress, uncertainty, and a pile of emotions (that can sometimes feel contradictory).

Separation can be difficult and painful, and a big part of that involves adjusting to a new way of living. Help is at hand though, courtesy of Movember mental health expert, Dr Steve Robertson. He’s emeritus professor of Men, Gender and Health at Leeds Beckett University, and he’s got some top advice for helping men cope and navigate the turbulent waters of life after divorce.

1: ALLOW YOURSELF TIME TO GRIEVE Feeling sad, angry, hurt, betrayed, desperate and lost is common after a divorce – and perfectly normal. The important thing is to remind yourself that these feelings won’t last forever, even if at times it feels like they will.

2: DON’T JUMP INTO A NEW RELATIONSHIP It may not be the answer to lifting yourself out of a dark place. Dr Robertson says: “Dating when your mind is not in the right place can further damage confidence and leave you feeling confused, and might compound the hurt and anger.”

3: SPEND TIME WITH PEOPLE WHO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD It’s important for your mental health to make the time to catch up regularly and re-establish relationships that may have drifted over the years. Having strong social connections (friendships) has a major influence on our

long-term health and wellbeing. Spending time with your friends and having people to rely on in a crisis is good for everyone. Dr Robertson says: “Old friends are often really pleased to be having more regular contact. Some may even have been through divorce themselves and could provide a listening ear, useful practical advice, or just moments of relaxed fun and laughter.”

4: FIND A NEW ACTIVITY Try and do more fun and positive things.

That means activities or hobbies, preferably with other people. “This is a useful way of distracting yourself from negative thoughts while enjoying the company of others,” says Dr Robertson. “Physical activity with others has known positive mental and physical health benefits.”

5: IF YOU HAVE KIDS, FOCUS ON THEIR NEEDS Children can often be a source of further stress during separation or divorce. This is because the parent may be grieving the loss of time with their child, and additionally, may worry about how the split will affect them. Focus on your child’s needs, including their need for space or distance, even if that might hurt you or seem unfair.

Dr Robertson says: “Enjoy trying to think of new, interesting ways to spend time with them.

A new chapter as a father is opening up with new possibilities. When doing so, remember to put what interests them first.” For more advice on co-parenting for separated and divorced dads visit Movember’s Family Man.

6: REFLECT ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP When the time feels right, think about what you might have learnt from this time. Dr Robertson says: “Don’t dwell on what you or your partner might have done wrong, including any guilt or anger that might go with that. Do try to think about what you learnt about yourself, and how you might use this positively.”

7: SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP IF YOU NEED IT We all have times when we're feeling low.

Again, that's normal. However, if those feelings don’t pass, and actually start interfering with your life, it could be a sign that it’s time to call in an expert. Check out these mental health support services. They can help clear some of the confusion and mind fog and help you make sense of where you're at right now.

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HEALTH

SKINCARE EQUALITY HEY, I THOUGHT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE AIMING FOR GENDER EQUALITY WITH WOMEN? YET IT TURNS OUT THAT THEY LIVE ABOUT THREE YEARS OR SO LONGER THAN US ON AVERAGE – PLUS THEY GET TEN MORE YEARS WITHOUT THEIR SKIN AGEING.

WORDS BY CY SINDERSON

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HEALTH

T

o be fair, on the whole women spend a heap more time and effort on looking after their skin than we do, which doesn’t help the overall average – just saying, all you male skincare slackers out there! But even so, some research from Shiseido has just emerged which points out that men’s skin is physiologically weaker than women’s whether we moisturise regularly or not. Now this certainly caught my attention because it turns out that Shiseido’s research has pointed out that men’s skin has an inferior defensive power; has a lower antioxidant capacity; and has less ability to recover from damage.

The easiest way to see this anomaly in action is to check out the facial wrinkles on both men and women. Go on, have a sly gander around the office right now. Even a cursory glance should show you that in order to find the same amount of wrinklage on a man in his thirties, you’d have to find a woman in

her forties. And, it’s not just wrinkles either; you’ll also probably note a lack of firmness, sagging, dullness and skin roughness too. A word of warning though; if you spot any of these tell-tale signs of age on any of your workmates’ skin, keep your observations to yourself, otherwise you risk getting a serious biff – whether they be male or female!

where rice bran oil complex is added to nicotinamide and xylitol. Together these act as an energy production and storage warehouse plus act as a barrier to inhibit melanin transfer. Rice bran oil also carries a high concentration of sterol which works wonders for reducing the dark rings under your eyes.

All this is a major concern for us guys as, unless you’re going for the Jack Palance circa CitySlickers ultra- leathery look, it means we’re having to fight against Mother Nature just to have decent-looking skin. Shiseido have discovered what is going on though, they say it is due to the elasticity between the surface and the deep part of the skin.

Because men’s skin is tougher on the surface, it is also less elastic down deep and this leads to the infamous physiological weakness when compared to women’s skin.

Shiseido have made this new Rice Bran Technology available in their new Shiseido Men Total Revitaliser Cream, Light Fluid and Eye products. These are all lightweight, non-sticky skincare hydrating lotions that have been uniquely formulated to be absorbed quickly and to directly combat the wrinkles, lack of firmness, sagging, dullness and skin roughness inherent in all men’s skin.

So, now the problem has been identified, it’s time for a cure. In Shiseido’s case, they’ve come up with a Rice Bran Technology

We may not be able to stop Mother Nature from ageing our skin quicker than a woman’s, but with the help of Shiseido’s Total Revitaliser range we can sure slow the pace!

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PEAK PERFORMANCE

BEAT YOUR PERSONAL BEST

BY A MILE 92

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‘IT’S A MILE OR SO UP THE ROAD’; ‘GET SOME MILES INTO THOSE SHOES AND THEY’LL BE FINE’; ‘SORRY, I WAS MILES AWAY JUST THEN!’ WE’VE ALL HEARD PEOPLE SAY SUCH THINGS BUT WHAT THE HECK IS THIS ‘MILE’ BUSINESS THEY ARE BABBLING ON ABOUT? WORDS BY CY SINDERSON

PEAK PERFORMANCE THE UA ALL OUT MILE Recognising the importance of the Mile to all of us runners, casual and competitive alike, sportswear specialists Under Armour have come up with a challenge for all runners to improve their fastest Mile time over a fixed period. As part of their dedication to helping athletes reach their peak, Under Armour want all runners to experience the same sense of achievement the great Milers felt as their PR times got shorter and shorter in response to a brief period of intensive training.

Under Armour chose the mile for their challenge as it still asks some pretty serious mental and physical questions, but without trashing the legs or body anywhere near as much as running longer races like the 5k, 10k or marathon can. Preparing for a mile run also means a drastically reduced commitment with less time and distance required for training which makes a daily schedule far more achievable than the requirements for longer endurance events.

HOW IT WORKS

A mile is a classic measurement of distance that is equivalent to 1760 yards, 5280 feet or around 1.6km in today’s Metric money. The Romans originally came up with it as the distance a traveller would cover in a thousand paces – from left foot to left foot landing. It’s a measurement that is still used today in the UK and US and was even in everyday usage here in New Zealand right up until 1976 before we saw the light and switched to our current easily-divisible-by-10 system.

THE PERFECT RUNNING DISTANCE The Mile has also long been regarded as the ultimate test of running ability as it is neither too short to be a sprint, nor too long to be a slog. That is why it is still run in many athletic meetings today despite never appearing at any metric-friendly Olympic Games or World Championships. The Mile’s legendary status as a running distance was helped immeasurably by a seemingly impossible barrier of 4 minutes that no one throughout history appeared capable of smashing. Even scrambling up to the top of Mount Everest looked easier and was indeed achieved by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay before the 4 minute monster went down.

Breaking this athletic barrier was such a big deal that on May 6 1954 the whole world almost came to a standstill when an English doctor named Roger Bannister achieved the impossible by training himself to collapse only after he’d burst through the finish line tape. The legacy of this momentous achievement lived on with the great 70s mile duels between our own John Walker and the Tanzanian Filbert Bayi plus the famous 80s British rivalry between Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. Even regular but non-competitive runners today still measure their ability by the Personal Record (or PR) time they can put up over 1760 yards.

The Under Armour All Out Mile is all about improving your benchmark mile time through regular training over the month of May then delivering those faster times during the first few days of June. To get involved, first you need to register for the challenge. Next, you’ll need to input your benchmark time and start training every day from May 1 to May 31. You can track all of your runs by linking your UA MapMyRun™ account on FitRankings and, to help you get even faster, Under Armour have put up a collection of training plans and video tips by their professional athletes, coaches and Human Performance experts.

Then, come June 1 you can start trying to smash your PR all the way through to June 5. You can try more than once to beat your time and your best effort will be automatically pulled from UA MapMyRun™ and loaded onto the FitRankings

leaderboard. Here you can see how your times and improvements stack up against runners from around the world including those from the South Asia/Pacific region. This includes Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. And the fastest female and male milers here will pick up cash and product prizes courtesy of Under Armour.

BENEFITS BEYOND YOUR OWN Running faster times means you’re getting fitter, and getting fitter means you’re also becoming healthier in both mind and body. But in taking up the UA All Out Mile challenge the benefits don’t just stop at yourself. Under Armour know that not everyone can experience the same joy of achievement with up to 78% of low-income children facing an ever-growing list of barriers to success. So, in order to help increase access and opportunity for all young athletes they have committed to awarding the top team in the region in the "Most Milers" (participants) UA AOM competition with a monetary donation of US$10,000. This will go to a charity of the winning team’s choice so long as it helps increase access and opportunity for all young athletes.

So, what are you waiting for? Get into the UA All Out Mile and go all out to beat your Personal Record! To make it even more fun, enlist your family members or workmates too and create a team that can help spread the benefits of running better miles out to everyone.

KEY DATES: · APRIL 20: REGISTRATION OPENS · MAY 1 – MAY 31: SET YOUR BENCHMARK TIME AND TRAIN · JUNE 1 – JUNE 5: UA ALL OUT MILE WEEK

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HEALTH NEWS

latest, most up-to-date products, innovation and events for a healthier you.

Apples are Natures Energy Drinks Need a quick get up and go but don't want to rely on caffeine or energy drinks that taste like battery acid? That’s fine, eat an apple instead!

Sure it’s not as trendy, but it does the trick, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It contains simple sugars in the form of fructose, which is our bodies first go to source of energy. The rest of the apple contains vitamin C, fibres and other good stuff that maintains blood sugar levels and stops our body from having that classic sugar crash processed energy foods give us.

Colour Me Keen The faster you go, the farther you go, the more you’ll see. That means more alpine hikes, more sunset views and an extra-full camera roll. Splash through every puddle, hop across rocks and slide through the screen. The KEEN NXIS Boot are the brand's lightest hiker boots to date. With the KEEN famous fit and all-terrain tread, NXIS is ready for whatever your A to B looks like. That means it's equipped with everything you need for maximum comfort, protection and grip.

This is to say nothing of its KEEN.DRY waterproof membrane that keeps the elements out.

Never worry about a stubbed toe ever again with its split toe cap which balances comfort and protection.

Where the rubber meets the road, you have an all-terrain tread using a proprietary horseshoe tread with deep lugs for extra grip on any trail surface.

Available at www.keenfootwear.co.nz RRP: $349.99

The Neuroscience Of Getting More Done There’s plenty of tricks we can pull on our brains to make ourselves more productive.

Let’s do a quick rundown of the best methods according to neuroscientists.

Play Music while you work

Playing music occupies your subconscious from wandering off and distracting you. Chill music without lyrics is always good, and video game soundtracks are also recommended, they were literally designed to be heard while doing something else.

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Wake When You’re Ready

Forcing yourself to waking up super early to get more out of your day sounds like a good idea, but it’s better to wake only after you’ve had a sufficient amount of time to ‘sleep on it’. It’s also a way better to problem solve than staying up all night beavering away at the trouble.

Fill Your Workspace With Greenery

A lot of things in our office environment is draining your attention, your screen and all the man-made objects cluttering up your attention.

This depletes your mind's attention, and is difficult to rejuvenate. Having greenery also pulls your mind's attention, but it appears to not have the same draining effect, giving your mind a well deserved rest.

“The advantage of leading is that you’re not following anyone,” Alexis Ohanian, Co-founder & Exec Chairman of Reddit

Best Things Ever Said “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit” Conrad Hilton, founder of Hilton Hotel chain

“Have a healthy disregard for the impossible.”

Larry Page, Cofounder of Google

“In times of despair, you may believe the cynic who tells you that one person cannot make difference – and there are times it may be hard to see your own impact. I beg you to remember that it is not possible at this time or any time to know the end results of our efforts.”

Evan Spiegel, Co-founder & CEO of Snapchat

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Image of Alexis Ohanian by Web Summit; Evan Spiegel by TechCrunch; Shantanu Narayen courtesy of Adobe.

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SUCCESS THE FUTURE OF

"If you are determined and you want it, you can just go for it. It might take a very long time and it might be challenging but the equalitarian nature of that is what’s so exciting."

Melanie Perkins, CEO & co-founder of Canva

BUSINESS "Try not to become a man of success.

Rather become a man of value."

Albert Einstein, physicist

Is The NFT Bubble About To Burst?

2021 was a big year for NFT funding. In 2020, venture capitalists put just $145 million into the NFT scene. Last year, due to incredible hype around the technology, over $4.6 billion dollars in venture capital was poured into the field. Venture capitalists are banking on future advances in the field to bring in massive returns.

THE INVESTMENTS In mid-March Yuga Labs, the parent company of Bored Yacht Club, announced a $450 million funding round, with the company valued at $4 billion. One of the gateways to the NFT scene, OpenSea, raised $300 million, with its own value hitting $13 billion.

It’s expected that the industry will be worth $35 billion by the end of the year, with it over doubling to $80 billion by 2025.

THE DOWNTURN Daily sales are plunging from a high in January of 922,832 unique buyers down to 464,190 in March, according to data pulled from Cryptoslam. According to Coinmarketcap.com, the monthly market cap for NFTs has gone from $23 billion down now to just over $10 billion.

"The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't.

It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere" Barack Obama, former President of the US

“If you can connect all the dots between what you see today and where you want to go, then it's probably not ambitious enough or aspirational enough.”

Shantanu Narayen, Chair & CEO of Adobe Inc.

Some people are also citing numbers from Nonfungible.com comparing a 6.8k high in January of average sales being worth more than the average of March. However, since then a new high was achieved of $7.9k. It appears that sales figures are increasingly being held up by a few whales.

Fortune has pointed out that NFT holders have outperformed Bitcoin in general, but neither did very well against conventional holdings, underperforming the S&P 500, which has dipped 10.5% itself year to date.

Personally, I think we need to wait for more data before we can get out our shovels to bury this particular trend. Two months out from an all time peak is just too soon to say. If this was something we could reliably predict at this point, all the pundits would be writing from their private islands right now.

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The New Zealand Rental Market

Crisis and Opportunity David Faulkner is New Zealand's foremost leading expert on property management. As a former chair of the REINZ Property Management Sector Group and founder of Property Management training company, Real iQ, David has helped herald in a new era of professionalism into a vital industry.

Not bad for someone who fell into the career by accident.

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David is now back where it started and heading up the award-winning property management arm at Property Brokers. David gives us his insight for the future of the rental market in New Zealand and challenges and rewards of the industry at the centre of it CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY?

I moved here 20 years ago. I became a landlord by accident, it wasn't a strategic decision. I did everything myself, trying to save money and did everything wrong and I thought it was too hard. I ended up giving my investment to Property Brokers, I shopped around and I thought they were the best people. They managed my investment, and I ended up one day going to talk to them about potentially selling the property and ended up walking out as a property manager. That was 17 years ago.

I spent 10 years at Property Brokers then went off to do my own thing with a company called Real iQ, which focused on property management training.

And then Property Brokers got a hold of me late last year and asked me to come back to the property management division again.

I'm very, very passionate about the industry itself and about housing. It's important, it's a basic human right, so it's never quite easy to get the balance right between looking after the investor needs and the investor requirements. But also, you can't forget the human being at the end of this transaction; it's for the tenant, it is their home. We've got a responsibility to coach our land lords to understand what the responsibilities are.

I FOUND IT INTERESTING THAT YOU TRIED MANAGING YOUR OWN PROPERTY, DIDN'T REALLY LIKE IT BUT THEN WENT TO PROPERTY BROKERS AND THEN ENDED UP BECOMING A PROPERTY MANAGER WITH THEM. HOW DOES THAT WORK?

This is going back before the GFC, and at the time, there were very few properties managed in New Zealand, about 20%. A lot of people had the whynot-do-it-yourself attitude, how hard can it be?

Oh, it's actually really hard. Few people understand the level of complexity.

As a landlord, I want to make sure that I've got my time back. It's important that there is a dollar value on the time people spend. It takes about 30 hours a

year to manage a property. That's doing inspections, the rent payments and so on and I want someone to take that responsibility for me.

In terms of a career, when I fell into it, it wasn't really looked at as a career. The GFC back in 2008 changed that a lot. We are going to go through something similar now. With interest rates rising, properties don't sell, so real estate companies don't make as much money. What property management does is it provides cash flow, rents are coming in continuously.

In real estate, you're dealing with very big transactions, but very few of them. With property management, you're literally dealing with 1000s upon 1000s of small transactions and it provides cash flow. A lot of real estate companies back in 2008, when we had the GFC, actually realised that this is a good little business model. We've started to see it grow. Now, roughly about 50% of properties are managed in New Zealand.

The industry has become more regulated, it’s a viable career. I might have fallen into it, but the opportunities it's given me are incredible and no two days are the same. It's challenging and quite often there are a lot of conflicts that you have to deal with, but if you're the right type of person, you can deal with that.

It's a rewarding career which can lead on to other things. I’ve managed a division, I've managed my own company and came back here again because of a chance meeting 18 years ago.

IN TERMS OF THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A REAL ESTATE COMPANY AND THE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SIDE, APART FROM THE REVENUE DYNAMIC, DO YOU NOTICE ANY OTHER BENEFIT FROM HAVING THESE TWO ARMS CONNECTED?

Personally, I think you should build your real estate company based on the property management side, because we've got investors who are available to buy more properties and sell more properties. So you've actually got a bank of sales leads for you.

When you think about the journey of real estate, 90% of people start off renting and you get the whole journey for a tenant to then become a purchaser, then a vendor, and hopefully an investor. From a real estate perspective, we want to help clients for life

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who first of all become tenants, and then they go through that journey.

DO YOU GET THE SENSE THESE DAYS THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE MORE OF A DIVIDE? PEOPLE AREN'T LOOKING AT IT AS A PATHWAY ANYMORE, YOU'RE EITHER AN INVESTOR OR YOU'RE A TENANT.

It's unfortunate that it's gotten worse in recent times. You can get into debates around the politics of it and what has caused it. For me, personally, I'm about New Zealand and making our country a better place to live in. I've got teenage kids, they're going to be renting soon and you want to make sure that they are educated and they know what their rights are and what their responsibilities are.

Obviously, it's not good for New Zealand to become so unaffordable and for house prices to become so unaffordable that people can't get into housing and that all that income is going on rent, because it's not good for New Zealand as a whole. We’re really going to damage the country long term if rents are just so astronomically high. No one's got We’re really going disposable income, which to damage the grinds the economy to a country long term halt.

if rents are just so astronomically high. No one's got disposable income, which grinds the economy to a halt.

A lot of tenants have got more and more frustrated that they're looking at the baby boomer generation who have bought properties.

When I came in, in 2001, I was very, very lucky. I paid under $200,000 for that first house and now when you're looking at what house prices are, even in provincial New Zealand, it's a challenge.

This is divided at the moment. Hopefully, we get a bit of equilibrium and a bit more balance.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU COULD PULL ANY LEVER THAT YOU WANTED TO MODIFY THE SITUATION?

From my perspective, the first thing I would do would get rid of that interest deductibility, which I think is possibly the worst decision I've seen the government make. All that happens is those additional costs get passed on long term to the tenants. Once this kicks in, there's an average $2,500 we're going to have to pay extra in tax. That's $50 a week in rent. We're going to try and get that added on to the rents to make the investment work.

If you're not going to get rid of interest deductibility, I would offer incentives to landlords who are long-term landlords. Most landlords are in it for the long haul. If you get capital gains, it's a bonus. What you could potentially do is say to investors, if you guarantee that you're going to hold that rental property for seven years, you will not have to pay interest. You'll be able to sell, you'll be able to offset interest, which means it gives you that tax incentive.

If I'm holding the property for seven to 10 years, I'm not a speculator, it's a long-term investment.

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I think there's more build to rent coming to New Zealand.

There are so many factors; supply chains, the cost of building, the resource constraints, the availability of land.

It always baffles me how a country the size of Japan and the United Kingdom, with only 5 million people living here, can have a shortage of land.

Yet, with infrastructure, you'll see Transmission Gully will make big benefits to housing affordability, the capital costs all the way up. If you have an electrified railway, connecting paths up north to Wellington, all of that impacts housing.

There are lots and lots of levers that can be pulled to help in terms of controlling housing prices, and ultimately rents as well.

HAVE YOU NOTICED ANY CHANGE IN THE LANDSCAPE RECENTLY? HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO POPULATE THE REGIONS A LITTLE BIT MORE AND SETTING UP SATELLITE OFFICES?

Absolutely. What you would have seen in a lot of provincial New Zealand is rents have significantly grown and in some cases, they have gone up by 15% in the last 12 months.

Traditionally, you're only seeing rents grow 6%. Demand is growing as people move to the regions; they look to rent first before they buy. So yes, we need to have good infrastructure, like rail, connecting these regions WHEN YOU WERE STARTING OUT, WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THIS INDUSTRY THAT REALLY GOT YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING?

To me, it's the psychology and the data. Property management has so many measurable aspects; how much do you spend on maintenance on average? And what maintenance you're spending on it, and what the age of the property is? But then you've got the human aspect of it.

What's predictable is the unpredictability of how human beings are going to react. You'll always hear horror stories in our industry, but very, very seldom is it actually like that. 90% of your tenants are actually spot on, they just want a place to call home. 90% of your landlords will have to provide a warm, dry home and follow the responsibilities. 10% will be a challenge and you've got to relish the challenges in fixing those issues. If there were never any issues, you wouldn't need a property manager.

I've always enjoyed the diversity of the job, the human elements of the job, the negotiation and fixing problems.

But also the measurable statistics, the data, and analysis.

It's a combination of both and it's exciting that no two days are the same. You're never twiddling your thumbs looking for things to do in this industry.

HAVE YOU GOT ANY ADVICE FOR NOT LETTING THAT 10% AFFECT YOU AND GET YOU DOWN?

The number one tip is education. In this industry, knowledge really is power. When I can start quoting sections of the Residential Tenancies Act to a landlord, they understand what their responsibilities are, and vice versa for tenants as well. It becomes quite powerful and it takes the direct emotion out of it.

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Here we are trying to help people get into housing and the bill does the absolute opposite. It puts a greater demand on the rental market, because there are more people who are forcibly becoming long-term tenants. It's just madness. It makes no sense.

You've got to switch off. If you feel that things have been going on, this is the job. The demands in modern-day business; you've all got your smartphones, people can get hold of you 24/7. You have to make time for you because you will burn out, so just make sure that you're getting away from your computer, getting some fresh air, all those basic, simple things that you've got to do.

Yes, sometimes when someone is venting to you, it feels like it can be a direct attack on you. But, I didn't tell the tenant to stop payments, or I didn't tell the landlord not to do the repair. We can only do what we can do.

HAVE YOU NOTICED WITH ALL THAT DATA AND THE ANALYTICS THAT YOU ARE SEEING IF THERE IS A SHIFT IN HOW WE ARE LIVING AND THE ACCOMMODATION WE REQUIRE? IS IT MORE MULTIGENERATIONAL HOMES, FOR EXAMPLE?

That's a good question. You can get this information from Statistics New Zealand, but the amount of residential dwellings in New Zealand as a ratio to the population hasn’t changed in 30 to 40 years. What has changed is that more people are getting divorced, people seem to be starting a family later, fewer people are living in dwellings.

Now, in the past we’ve built these four and five-bedroom mansions in the suburbs and one-bedroom apartments in the city. What we need in New Zealand though, for the long term, is three and two bedroom housing. We're starting to see a move towards building smaller, more highdensity town housing, which is what we need across the country.

You will have seen a change in the dynamics of people living in houses. A risk that you see is overcrowding and because rents are going up, tenants may sublet a little and get people in to help out with the rent. What you don't want is the crowded rental properties because there are different types of health issues that can result from that. We need to make sure that we've got enough affordable rental properties in New Zealand to meet demand.

I DON'T SUPPOSE I NEED TO ASK YOUR OPINION ON THE CCFA?

I think it's short-sighted, what's happened there. People don't generally default on the mortgage, you can see the statistic that it just doesn't happen. What you end up doing is driving people to the second-tier lenders, which are probably higher risk. It's actually having the reverse consequences of what it was designed to do, some local government policy does have unintended consequences.

Here we are trying to help people get into housing and the bill does the absolute opposite. It puts a greater demand on the rental market, because there are more people who are forcibly becoming long-term tenants. It's just madness.

It makes no sense HAVING TALKED ABOUT ALL OF THESE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES, ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC WHEN YOU LOOK TO THE FUTURE?

Yeah, I'm always optimistic. It's just my nature to always believe that things will sort themselves out eventually. In Christchurch post-earthquake, the prices spiked and then once the rebuild kicked in, prices actually dropped and levelled down.

I do think that there is a cross-party desire now that they realise that we need to fix housing, but it goes beyond housing, it's infrastructure. So I'm hopeful that we will get there.

HOW DO YOU BALANCE?

MANAGE

WORK/LIFE

For me, what I do is a passion. I don't see it as work, I'm in quite an envious position where I absolutely love what I do. I'm very, very happy. It sounds sad, but I'll quite happily read Tenancy Tribunal findings, I find it fascinating. It's more than a job, it's a passion.

You've just got to remember that you've got a wife, you've got kids who both share the same passion as what you do. Make sure that you're there and they’re the big priority, as they should be in every person's life.

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A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats INTERVIEW BY ANDRE ROWELL

NEW ZEALAND’S MARINE INDUSTRY PUNCHES WELL ABOVE ITS WEIGHT ON THE GLOBAL STAGE AND CULE MARINE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE SORTS OF BUSINESSES THAT DRIVE THIS SECTOR – FUELLED BY HARD WORK, A PASSION FOR BOATING AND EVEN THE WILLINGNESS TO HELP THE COMPETITION.

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Cule Marine director, Ursula Hanson, gives us her take on dealing with uncertainty, the strength that comes from working together as an industry and being good busy.

CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BUSINESS FOR NEW ZEALAND IN GENERAL? There’s a lot of really great brand stories in New Zealand and when you showcase their stories, you take a lot of Kiwis along with that and make them feel very proud of being a Kiwi and what that means.

As passionate boaties ourselves, we are really big believers in the marine sector and that’s got an amazing reputation globally. We really wanted to get behind that and we were really keen to be involved with a New Zealand-made product.

WHAT’S INVOLVED IN AN INDUSTRY COMING TOGETHER AND CREATING A WORLD-CLASS SECTOR ON THE GLOBAL STAGE? It’s an interesting one. I think it’s because the community around manufacturing and boat building in New Zealand is actually a reasonably small one. A lot of the boat brands in New Zealand have been a smaller, family-run business that has done incredibly well and are punching well above their weight, but they haven’t forgotten the relationships they’ve had with other key members in that industry.

and a highly skilled team of staff that were able to offer customisation into the market, which we thought would be a point of difference.

Like I said, being keen boaties and believers in the marine sector, we wanted to get further involved in that sector. We ideally wanted to back a New Zealand-made product. The business ticked all those boxes for us and piqued our interest and we felt we could add value to the business, through our experience in management, marketing and customer service.

That was the initial drive for purchasing, but 18 months after purchasing, Covid hit and in late March 2020, we had to close down production for six weeks with five staff on full pay. That was a pretty stressful time. That would probably be the biggest hurdle that we’ve come across to date.

I’m very grateful that we actually managed to move through that quite well and I’m not sure if you were aware, but the marine sector took off about six months afterward. Ever since then, we’ve been chasing our tails and trying to keep up with demand, which is a really great thing to have. But certainly, t h e r e

There’s a great level of general goodwill in the industry when one succeeds, it helps them all to succeed. There’s a real fostering of community within the marine sector; it’s like three degrees of separation. Most people will know a lot of the key contacts in the industry, a lot of the smaller players.

For me as an example, I’ve certainly got in touch with a number of other businesses that may be considered our competitors in a strong sense, and I’ve just said, ‘This is what we are doing, I know what you are doing. Is there any way that we can help each other?’ Opening up that communication.

I don’t think that’s a strange thing in this industry.

People are generally open to sharing their information and trying to champion each other.

IN TERMS OF BUSINESS COLLABORATION, A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS. Oh, absolutely. That’s how I see it. I genuinely think there’s enough business to go around and most people have got their point of difference so they can all have a different target market.

In terms of collaborating, we can build on everyone’s skill level and the way that they approach business and their systems, suppliers, and so forth. There’s a lot to be gained by sharing that information. There’s a strong sense of support from our industry body as well. There’s a general openness and willingness to collaborate.

IF WE GO BACK TO YOUR SPECIFIC JOURNEY, HOW HAVE THE LAST FEW YEARS BEEN? We purchased Cule Marine in October 2018. The business, at that point, ticked a lot of boxes for us personally. We knew that it was producing a really good quality product, had a loyal customer base,

and how they were faring.

You gain a sense of community and support.

Ironically, Scott and I were at home and we were busier than ever in some respects. We used the time to work on the business and to bring a few projects to fruition that had been simmering in the background. While we weren’t actively open and producing, we still had this sense of momentum that kept us going forward. Psychologically, that makes you feel like you are continuing to have some good momentum and motivation.

HAS THAT PROCESS SHAPED THE WAY YOU WORK WITH THE BUSINESS GOING FORWARD? HAVE YOU FOUND A DISTINCTION BETWEEN WHAT IS GOOD BUSY AND BAD BUSY? It’s a really interesting one, isn’t it? I have to allocate time to work on the business as opposed to working in the business. I think all business owners would say the same. The good versus bad busy, for me, that’s all about mindset. I like to think that if you’ve got some good momentum and motivation around a project or a task that you are working on, then that’s the ideal place to be.

If you are beginning to feel like you are too busy and you hear yourself saying that, then it’s time to stop, reprioritise and reflect on what you are trying to achieve. Because I think that doesn’t really add any value to the business and it lends itself to less job satisfaction, not only for yourself but for your team. Obviously, that can also lead to mental health issues and so forth.

It’s really something to be very aware of as a business owner, that good and bad busy. I feel like good busy is adding value to the business, whether that’s by having good systems in place, upskilling or seeking feedback from your customers. Bad busy is the opposite in many respects.

were some tough times then.

IT’S EASY TO DISSECT THAT IN HINDSIGHT, BUT WHEN YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT PERIOD, THIS GLOBAL PANDEMIC HAS REARED ITS HEAD AND YOU’VE HAD TO SHUT DOWN, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS AHEAD OF YOU. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT PSYCHOLOGICALLY? You just have to approach it like most other things. I found that just taking it one day at a time really helped. We were keenly aware that we had a team that we really valued and who were highly experienced. We were also still very much in that period of building and fostering a strong company culture, so that was really important to us. We made sure that we looked after our staff, we communicated with them weekly just to check in with how they and their families were getting on. We also touched base with some other people in the industry just to see how they were getting on

THERE’S SOMETIMES A POINT WHERE YOU FIND THAT YOU ARE SO BUSY, MAYBE IT’S TIME TO PULL BACK AND STOP. BUT THAT’S THE LAST THING THAT YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE THAT BUSY. HAVE YOU GOT ANY TOOLS FOR HOW YOU COULD BREAK THAT? I think self-awareness is key to this.

It can seem very counterintuitive to say, ‘Just stop and reflect’. But knowing yourself when you’re starting to become overwhelmed and you hear yourself using that ‘too busy’ excuse, the earlier you can identify that and start to take some measures to improve the situation, the better it is.

Sometimes it means that you’ve got to reach out for help from others as well. You might need to delegate things out. You might need to look at new systems and processes that are going to help free up some time for you. There’s a number of different ways, but ultimately it’s about self-awareness and knowing yourself and knowing your staff and when they’re finding things overwhelming or too busy.

YOU HAVE A REPUTATION FOR YOUR WORK HOURS AND ENABLING YOUR STAFF TO HAVE A REALLY GOOD WORK-LIFE BALANCE. NOW.COM

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It was a little bit of a legacy thing, so we can’t take full credit for it. When we bought the business, the team here had been working from 6am until 2:30pm for some time, but we certainly didn’t want to change that. We understood the rationale behind that and it’s been a really good fit for all of us.

One of the important things about having staff is understanding not only what their strengths and weaknesses are, but what motivates them, where they get their job satisfaction from. Part of our journey is to understand that flexibility and family are particularly important for our team. Some of them have got side hustles, others go home to help with family and onto sports and gym workouts. So to work from 6am until 2:30pm enables all of our staff to go home and do what they want to do at the end of the day.

THE ABILITY FOR A PARENT TO BE ABLE TO DO A SCHOOL PICKUP, WHEREAS IN THE TRADITIONAL NINE TO FIVE JOB, THAT WOULD NEVER BE POSSIBLE, THERE’S POTENTIALLY INTERGENERATIONAL IMPACT THERE THAT COMES FROM A CHANGE IN PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP. That’s right. As an example, one of our staff’s wife is a doctor, so she often works a night shift and he’s got two preschoolers. He picks them up from kindergarten at three o’clock and then is onboard in the afternoons and spends time with his family and his wife before then she does a night shift.

Another member has a bit of a side hustle where he

goes off in the afternoon and works on his and his wife’s business. We want to accommodate all that. I feel like we need to, it’s a really tight labour market.

It’s really hard to find good staff, particularly at the moment. We want to make sure that we have good, keen staff who enjoy being here and tick some of the boxes for them.

HAS THERE BEEN ANY COMPROMISE IN TERMS OF PRODUCTIVITY? Our work is quite hard physical work. And so having more time off helps our staff to be more productive as well at other times. I don’t want staff to turn up tired and disengaged for work, there’s lots of health and safety repercussions for that. I just want them to be happy when they’re here to enjoy being here. There’s natural productivity that flows from that.

WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT STRESS AND BUSYNESS, YOU MENTIONED THE IMPORTANCE OF DELEGATION. HAVE YOU FOUND THAT EASY? DOES THAT COME NATURALLY TO YOU? Yes and no. It’s something that I’ve learned to do.

I’m a busy working mum and there is that persona to try and be a super mum and achieve all things.

But you realise that that’s not actually sustainable or achievable, and then you start to realise that it’s necessary to delegate out or bring on other companies that can help you in specific areas, and we’ve certainly done that.

We realised quite quickly that we needed some more expertise on the HR and employment law side of things, so we partnered up with MyHR. I delegate a lot of the HR side of the business out to them and they support me with that.

Likewise, quite quickly after buying the business, we decided that we wanted to move to MYOB. That’s a platform that’s enabled a lot of the general day-to-day accountancy to be handled in a very user-friendly way with a lot of support, both by the phone and also online forums.

Those are the two main areas that we’ve delegated out. Of course, it’s always great to have an amazing accountant on board, and we certainly have that.

WHAT WAS THE CATALYST FOR YOU TO GO WITH MYOB? When we bought the business, it was using quite a complex and cumbersome desktop software that was an enterprise management system and we felt it was much more complex and cumbersome than we wanted to be working with. It was desktop, not mobile, so that was another issue for us.

We decided quite early on that we wanted to move to another platform. We purchased the business in October 2018 and we made it our goal to be on the new system by April 2019. That was actually quite an ambitious plan, but we did it.

We went out and looked at the other options on the marketplace. We’re a manufacturer, so as well as your general accountancy and payroll, we needed a good inventory management system. We also wanted it to be cost-effective and mobile and we felt that MYOB ticked all those boxes for us

THEY SEEM LIKE VERY DISPARATE ELEMENTS, THE PAYROLL, THE ACCOUNTING, AND THE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU START TO LINK THEM TOGETHER THROUGH A PLATFORM? The great thing is that MYOB is fully integrated, which is brilliant because when we started to evaluate some of the other options, we realised that while the initial platform looked really good, you would have to bolt on a whole lot of added extras to get what you needed. That concerned me a little bit, that you would need to use a number of different software suppliers to achieve what you wanted to, and then you had no real control over all those individual software providers. So that was certainly one thing that appealed about MYOB, it was all fully integrated.

Twin custom hardtop hatches on the Tristram 821.

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It works seamlessly for us and I’m using it every day. From quoting, through to fulfilling a sales order, to invoicing, to managing our stock level or supplying Phil with accountancy reports that he requires, sending reminders to people about invoices, which is a great way just to keep on top

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of your cashflow. It’s been a great system. I’m really happy with it.

HOW DOES BEING ABLE TO LEVERAGE THE SYSTEM HELP TO FREE UP TIME AND SCALE THE BUSINESS? One of the great things about it is it seems quite simple, but it actually saves a lot of time. Somebody will get in touch and they want to get a quote for a project. I can provide that quote through MYOB, but sometimes the nature of the industry is that they may not come back for six weeks or more to decide if they actually want to go ahead with that project. So in the meantime, a lot of other things have happened and it might not be front of mind for me, but I can quickly recall the quote and we can check on the system to see if we’ve got the items in stock.

That integration allows me to quickly bring up the project, assess where we’re at with that as a business, in terms of have we got that stock ready to go, will we need to build it, will it go into our production schedule? And then if the client, for example, decides to go ahead, it can quickly become a sales order and we either fulfil that because we’ve got the product in stock, or we put it into production and build it. At a point later, it becomes an invoice and then we can follow up on all that as well.

That seems pretty straightforward, but the way that it works so nicely saves a lot of time. It means that you can also follow up on quotes at a later time if you need to, which is very helpful. At any point in time, you can duck into any reports and have a good look at how your business is tracking against forecasts and so forth.

HAVE YOU GOT ANY ADVICE FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE LOOKING TO BUY A BUSINESS? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR? One of the most important things would be to get a really good accountant on board and have a relationship with them before you go through due diligence.

We didn’t do that initially, we used one accountancy firm to do our due diligence for us, with the intention of building a relationship with them and carrying that on into the business. But we realised after we purchased the business that we probably weren’t the right fit for each other.

While that was all fine, and there were no problems with the purchase of the business as such, it would’ve been nice to have continued that relationship into the business. Build a relationship with a good accountant and ascertain whether you’re going to want to work with that person in the long term. And then together, set about choosing and evaluating any businesses that might spark your interest. You want to be involved in a business that you’re generally interested in, that sparks something in you, that motivates you to go to work every day, that you can feel proud to be a part of.

It comes back to a little bit of self-awareness, self-reflection about what you want to be doing as well.

WHEN YOU BOUGHT THE BUSINESS, DID YOU HAVE A CERTAIN TRAJECTORY IN MIND? DID YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR WHERE THINGS WOULD BE IN FIVE YEARS?

to build this business into something that the New Zealand boat building community would be really proud of, really proud to get behind and support.

We have had aspirations to look at exporting as well.

Our initial goal was to build the business into something we felt proud of, that the local community and the marine sector here in New Zealand were also proud to support and put into their boats, which is kudos from them. And also to look at exporting.

YOU REALLY BROUGHT YOUR MARKETING EXPERTISE INTO THIS BUSINESS. DO YOU THINK THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHER SECTORS TO GO BEYOND COMMODITY PRICING AND LOOK AT HOW THAT EXTRA MARGIN CAN BE ADDED THROUGH MARKETING? Definitely. One of the things that really piqued our interest about this business when we were looking to purchase it was that we knew that the staff were experienced and had the ability to offer customisation and bespoke projects, which we immediately thought could be a point of difference in the marketplace.

That comes from more design-lead thinking.

There’s a lot of things that come together. When you are open about going out and getting feedback from your customers and you’re bringing that customer experience expertise, you can better focus on what they’re really looking for and how you can fulfil that. That then leads itself to reevaluate your product and innovations and future design alterations.

It’s looking at it in a bigger, more holistic way. It’s all really interconnected. Of course, you are adding value to your product and to your business by offering customisation, better fulfilling the needs of your customers and being known for it in the marketplace.

WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE THAT YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN ALONG THE WAY? Be brave and back yourself. It’s something that my husband Scott always reminds me to do and I think it’s really relevant on both an individual and a business level for me.

Sometimes there are moments where I have a bit of self-doubt and that little voice just ticks away in the back and I think, just get on with it. There’s that from a personal perspective.

But on a business level as well, Scott and I took a risk in some respects. We obviously did our due diligence, but we looked at this business and we thought we can add value to this business. We reckon we can build it into something that we’re really proud of. We want to refine the systems, up the customer service, boost the brand awareness and continue to innovate and hone in on that customisation. So we just backed ourselves and did that.

The other side to that is that we completely back our staff and our products. We know we produce a really high-quality product, we know our team is highly experienced and so we totally back them and back our product. It’s threefold.

It’s important to have a bit of a business plan in mind. For a lot of people, they perhaps don’t enjoy the process of writing out a business plan. It doesn’t need to be that arduous.

We certainly wanted

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5 Winning Strategies Pure SEO are Using in 2022 RICHARD CONWAY

Founder & CEO of Pure SEO PURESEO.CO.NZ Read his columns at M2NOW.COM

I’m always amazed how many marketing agencies don’t invest in marketing themselves, or if they do, limit themselves solely to the activities they offer clients.

Pure SEO invests a considerable amount of money and time on branding and marketing to the point that we have a dedicated marketing manager. We benefit from internal data analysts and comprehensive reporting, which empower us to measure, adapt, and tweak our marketing to ensure we use our resources effectively.

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1. SEO

4. Google Ads

We need to continue to show that we are the best in our field. One of the ways we do this is by investing time and energy into our SEO. We must be consistently at or near the top of Google organically (non-paid) when people type terms related to SEO or Digital Marketing.

After all, we cannot hand-on-heart say we are the best at search engine optimisation unless we can actively show it ourselves!

We spend about $6k per month on Google Ads (although our budget is much higher, that is where it seems to max out). I know it costs us approximately $300 per lead from this source.

Of those, we have a closure rate of about 30%. That's a very profitable business source, but we've also analysed and optimised our campaigns for the past 12 years.

2. Radio Radio is a funny one. Initially, we did not see a direct return on investment (although we did see a lift in website visitor numbers). With continued investment and patience, however, we started seeing direct responses. We saw how radio combined with other marketing activities caused a compounded effect on our brand, leads and deals.

3. Partnerships Many of the partnerships we engage with are not looking for commercial outcomes. We partner with several academic institutions, charities and business education groups because our core values include education, giving back and family. However, both the commercial and non-commercial partnerships we have entered have increased brand awareness and led to more business.

5. Branding One of our consistent sources of leads over the years has been through our branded cars (we get about one lead per month through this source). We currently have about twenty cars on the road, heavily branded with vinyl wraps, reflecting what we do and supporting our branding strategy.

People often ask me if I am worried about giving away the secrets to our success in the columns I write. I look at it two ways: Education is part of our core values, and if my articles help readers in any way, then it has been worth it. If our competitors are reading the articles, well, I’m happy for them to copy us. After all, how can you lead if you constantly copy others in the industry!

M2 COACH

Regulating Property Management, a decade overdue, but at what cost? many of which had little or no experience. Too

DAVID FAULKNER GM of Property Management at Property Brokers Read his columns at M2NOW.COM

In 2008, the real estate industry was overhauled with the introduction of the Real Estate Authority (REA).

This decision provided further consumer confidence that complaints would be dealt with independently and transparently.

many people fought for too small a slice of the pie, leading to an inevitable drop in standards.

Step forward to today, renting has become a hugely political topic. Many renters hoping to get onto the property ladder have been priced out by skyrocketing house prices. About one third of NZ’s population rent. For Māori and Pasifika, this increases to over 50%. Property Managers have a significant influence on many renters' lives, and some of the most vulnerable tenants face a considerable power imbalance.

Then, the landlord’s needs and requirements must also be considered.

When choosing a product, many of us consider the price tag. Property Management is no different. Many will choose an agent offering cheaper fees to save themselves some money.

Too often though, the opposite is true. And, as margins get tighter, service levels drop.

Regulation could mean additional costs. For those already running their business as if the industry was regulated, the associated charges will be minimal. Likely costs could include: • Compulsory professional development and qualifications.

• Licensing costs like those that real estate agents pay.

• Additional costs around Trust accounts and auditing requirements.

• Compulsory insurance such as professional indemnity and public liability.

• Membership fees with organisations such as REINZ. Many professional companies will already be committed to offering this in their service.

Others, however, will not. Additional costs will undoubtedly impact their profit margin unless they pass these costs to the consumer.

Some may argue that these will be passed on to tenants as additional rent. While there may be some truth in this, the biggest driver behind what happens with rents is the supply vs demand of rental properties. Regulation won’t have as profound an impact on rising rents as offsetting interest deductions against rental income would.

Currently, if a property manager fails to honour a contract or operates unethically, the landlord has nowhere to turn. A Disputes Tribunal for property managers would ensure that standards are met, and the landlord's money stays secure.

Holding Property Managers and the companies they work for to greater account raises industry professionalism. A better-educated sector means landlords and Property Managers understand the responsibilities of providing warm, safe, and dry homes for every tenant across the country.

A decade overdue, but regulation of the property management industry is finally on its way.

An independent regulator sets a minimum industry standard to work to. Before this, the real estate industry was self-regulated by the Real Estate Industry of New Zealand (REINZ).

The allegations were that REINZ looked after its own members to the consumer's detriment.

Fourteen years on, the property management industry now faces the same discussion.

Omitting Property Management from the REA birthed an influx of small, start-up companies,

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Is customer experience the new frontier of business competition?

MIKE TAYLOR

Founder & Managing Director of BBT Digital Read his columns at M2NOW.COM

It doesn’t need explaining how much of a fundamental shift two years of remote working has had on the world around us; specifically on digital systems, infrastructure and the ‘new’ ways of doing business. Covid has put the spotlight on businesses who are still doing things in their traditional methods. Arguably, this old approach leaves businesses short of the frontier and makes one question whether they’re really still in the competition for customers at all?

What has been interesting through this period is how businesses have moved from scrambling to have an online trading presence, to now really focussing on and improving the overall customer experience. And newsflash, that isn’t just about having a great looking website.

What does a good customer experience look like?

And how do you define what a good customer experience is? You would expect that the simple outcome of a good customer experience would be strong customer reviews, right? Sure, but this is only part of the story.

Having a good customer experience means great reviews, but more importantly it should deliver strong business growth, increased customer referrals and winning against your lagging competitors. Often, it means doing business in totally new ways.

That’s the result of good customer experience, but it can be difficult to define what a good customer experience actually is. How do you know you have scaled the mountain?

Unfortunately, there is no summit to reach.

Customer experience is a constantly evolving and moving beast. And it requires new ways of thinking for businesses.

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There are some clear ways to get started and think about it. Here are my top tips…

Firstly - Listen to your customers! We have more data available to us now than ever before, but unless you are actually listening to your customers, that data is only telling part of the story. Seeking feedback, understanding where their frustrations lay, and how things can be improved is the story you need for success. You might be surprised at how much information you have available at your fingertips.

Make things simple. Consumers want to be able to transact quickly, easily, without any fuss, and, most of the time, do so from the end of their phone. Remove obstacles. Don’t make them call you if filling out a form will do. Don’t make them fill out a form if they can just tap a button. Simplify and get what you need quickly, in a personalised way.

Understand what is constant, and innovate everything else. It’s highly unlikely that in a decade customers are going to be ok waiting longer for delivery. This expectation is a constant.

Everything else is up for grabs, and it changes all the time. So you need to stay agile and move with the times. Building a great customer experience isn’t a one off project, it’s an ongoing journey for businesses to constantly review and challenge themselves to think differently.

Live and breathe customer experience. The businesses that we see really get this right are the ones where the entire company culture is obsessed with who their customers are and what work needs to be done to make their experience better. From sales, marketing, operations, legal, operations, service and the board; it’s a massive collaborative effort.

In a nutshell… harness your data, simplify your processes, listen to your customers and eliminate the work customers must do. Then build a culture where you continually optimise and refine this, looking for small continual improvement. And if there are opportunities along the way to surprise and delight your customers, why wouldn’t you?!

M2 COACH

Have “Excuses” crept into your business and life?

MARK COLLINS

Business Coach

THINKING@MARKCOLLINS.CO.NZ

Read his columns at M2NOW.COM

Initially the excuses may have sounded reasonable and even expected, but have the words like “Due to Covid” become entrenched in your business and your conversations?

We have all had to deal with the disruption and consequence of change, but some government departments, council activities, big businesses, institutions, and organisations have used Covid to mitigate their responsibility for delivering value, service, efficiency and productivity.

This is particularly bad in organisations where there is poor accountability or some sort of limited choice or a monopoly. ALL of us have been impacted by forced restrictions and the consequence of increased government control and mandates which at one point may have been relevant.

But have you accepted them into your psyche?

It is now time you started to challenge them and everything that feels like an excuse as we must challenge ourselves to change to succeed in a Covid inclusive world?

Disruption over a prolonged period undermines and destabilises many of our business and customer routines. This then renders the measurement metrics we have set up to measure them as obsolete, as many of them don’t compare anything of relevance i.e. the previous year or comparable circumstances.

These obsolete metrics encourage us to verbalise more excuses resulting in us and more people in these organisations believing and accepting them as enough.

Examples of such data collection and measurements that didn’t serve us were things like, scanning in and vaccine pass checking long after the data was no longer being used and contact tracing which was clearly obsolete.

I have heard these justified as not adding cost, but data collection costs time and money, steals focus and efficiency, stop doing anything you are not using or getting value from!

I went to the two banks I have accounts with mid-March 2022, to get 100 x $5 notes for a marketing campaign. To achieve that, I had to go to six bank outlets. Four ASB branches in varying locations were closed to customers.

Even though they had people inside, they had signs up saying they were closed due to the bank's Covid Red Light System policy, they refused any sort of interaction. Two TSB branches were open, but the Takapuna branch could only give me 40 x $5 notes, their excuse also being due to Covid when clearly it had nothing to do with their inability to provide the required service.

I drove across town to the Newmarket branch where they had not heard of any such nonsense and gave me what I needed.

I highlight this example of the ASB bank and TSB branch conveniently using Covid to reduce their service for their own convenience, however the consequence to me was a job which should have taken 45 minutes taking 5 times that.

Are excuses holding you and your business back? I would say they are the NEW epidemic we are now facing!

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Yes, we are having to change,

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Yes, it can be difficult and likely cost us time or money,

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Yes, we will make mistakes,

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But making EXCUSES shows we don’t own our effort and that could be perceived as we don’t care enough to give good service.

When we don’t own our effort and the consequences, it is very unlikely our people or our business will do better, try harder and improve. This will result in a loss of connection with your customers and when the opportunity arises, they will stop buying from you. It isn’t always that the competition needs to be better, in fact the catalyst may be the inflationary market, with many people’s discretionary spend already having reduced. This may mean reducing the frequency of how often they go out for a drink or dinner which means they will not return to businesses that aren’t offering good customer service - too busy making excuses.

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WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE A WINE CELLAR If you are worried that out of control global inflation might be eroding the value of cash and are looking at other investment options, now might be the time to stock up on some wine.

Sure, people will bang on about gold, Bitcoin and property, but some wine investors are making a fortune from buying and holding - especially when the supply and demand side is always changing as people drink through the vintages. Of course getting a wine cellar isn’t just about storing an investment. Even a few years of maturing can have a dramatic impact on the flavour profile of even the cheapest bottle of wine. Penfolds Global Ambassador Jamie Sach gives us a sneak peak at his cellar and potential superannuation plan.

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DRINKS

Can you talk about some of the changes that you've noticed over the last 18 months in terms of how we're consuming wine?

Given that the restaurants were probably hardest hit by the Covid pandemic, people are consuming more wine at home. They're also consuming better quality wine at home, as a way to treat themselves for not being able to go out for such a long time.

A lot of restaurants have pivoted to supplying food to people at home and perhaps even introducing them to new wines. Many winemakers, including ourselves, have been doing Zoom, Instagram Live and Facebook Lives to engage with consumers in different ways. In that way, it's been exciting. I don't necessarily think that the styles of wine have changed but people have been treating themselves to a higher quality wine at home.

On a Saturday night, you might be reaching for something over the hundred dollar mark just as a way to treat yourself, because you've been stuck at home and you're not going anywhere. Now that the restrictions are lifting, we are starting to see the on-premise business come back, which is great. I come from a restaurant background, so I certainly feel the pain of all those people working in hospitality. It's been a rough ride for them.

Have you noticed that with more at-home dining, it has opened the door for more consideration for cellaring?

Yeah and you don't even need to spend a lot of money on a cellar! You can buy yourself a Vintec. I encourage people to contemplate doing that. If you’re going to invest in some high end wine and you would like to put a little bit of bottle age on it, then you do need the right conditions for storing them.

Here where I live in Adelaide, we often get hot spells that are 40 degrees plus, often five or six days in a row, so your wine isn’t going to last very long, even in a broom cupboard or the coolest part of the house - it's not ideal.

You've really got to splurge, either in a cellar or a little wine fridge. I started with a wine fridge and now I have two quite big wine fridges that are tucked away in my living room because I don't actually have a cellar at my house. In Adelaide, even if you do have a cellar, the temperature can fluctuate quite a bit between winter and summer. So for optimal storage, I'm a big fan of the wine fridge.

That blows out my plans because I had imagined that I'd need to dig things out and get some stone archways.

Do that by all means. In New Zealand, you don't have to worry as much about those extreme temperatures and the impact of half a dozen days of 40 degrees plus. But in Adelaide, that can really warm things up, even in underground cellars.

The trick is to just do the best you can. People often say to me, I want to buy a wine fridge but I have nowhere to put it. And I will say, just get a styrofoam box and put your wine in that and then find somewhere in your house where the temperature is really stable, with minimal fluctuation and where it's not impacted by the air conditioning coming on and off with you going in and out of the house. That is usually somewhere in the centre of the house, perhaps a spare room in a closet.

Minimising the fluctuation is also important, especially if the wine’s bottle is using a cork closure, because that change in temperature expands and contracts the body of the wine and puts pressure on the cork. Eventually the cork wears out and stops doing its job. The purpose of cellaring is just to give the cork and the contents of the bottle the opportunity to age gracefully in optimal circumstances and the cooler it is, the slower the wine age.

My Vintech is set at 12 degrees celsius, the wines are never being moved and it only goes off if there's a power outage or something like that. I expect those wines to age very well and gracefully for a long period of time. If I had them in a shoe closet in my spare room instead, where I'm going to see a little bit of seasonal temperature fluctuation, the wines will still age okay but they'll probably be a bit more advanced than the ones that I have in my Vintech.

When you say 'advanced', what do you mean by that?

Wines change and evolve with time. You can think of a wine as almost having a life expectancy. If we take a wine like Grange, a flagship wine can easily go for 50 years as long as it's been cellared correctly.

For example, let's say the wine has aged 50 years and at some point it will reach its peak drinking age. If it has been cellared perfectly, that will happen very slowly and it will slowly evolve those matured characters. Now, everyone’s a little different as to where on that continuum they have their optimal happiness, I call it the curve of happiness. At some point in time, wine will increase until you've got the absolute peak enjoyment that you are going to get out of that bottle. Then it will kind of plateau along for a few years, where it's just looking magnificent before it finally kind of ebbs away into its afterlife. We think of it as the primary, secondary, and tertiary phases of life expectancy.

Somewhere in that secondary phase is where most people will get a real kick out of the wine. Now, some people prefer drinking wine when it's really young, in which case, great, just buy it and drink it if you like that upfront primary fruit. Grange is very lovely to drink even when it's just on release. But for most people's palates, they're looking for a bit of maturation character and a bit more complexity that comes with time. That might be 25 to 35 years on that time continuum.

And then from 35 to 50 years, it's going to be ebbing away into the tertiary phase where you get more saddle leather, earthy on the floor, truffles, mushrooms, pan scraping; those are the sort of descriptors that we start reaching for and the wines getting into that phase of its life.

Can you talk about the difference when you get something on release and it has that upfront flavour you're talking about? How would you describe that peak maturity and the difference in flavour profile?

Think of it as like melding. We don't release Grange until it's already had four years' worth of maturation. It spends between 12 and 18 months, usually closer to 18 in barrels, and then we use brand new American oak barrels to mature Grange. It will then be in a bottle being matured for another three years, before it goes on sale, meaning its already settled down in the bottle.

Typically with a youthful wine like Grange, you're going to reach for primary fruit descriptors. You would describe perhaps plums or punnets of dark fruit.

You may also be thinking chocolate, you might even be thinking espresso coffee. You may also see some of the oak characteristics coming through as well. They’re going to manifest themselves like a sweet cedary vanilla pod, almost creaminess that will come through from the oak maturation. When the wine is young, you can almost compartmentalise some of these things so it's like a checklist.

If I saw those characteristics I think that I would think that would be an oak derived character. So it's still a bit elemental, but with Grange on release, even though it is still very primary, it looks very complete, rounded, plush and generous.

Over time, what you’ll see is those fruit characters, the descriptors that you’re reaching for perhaps start to change a little bit and you might be introducing some more cooked fruits, perhaps even Christmas cake-like characters, things that will emerge slowly as the wine starts to mature. The oak will become less prevalent because it’s now being really consumed by the fruit from the grapes. So everything’s starting to meld together.

You get to a sweet spot, with wines like Grange, you might be looking at 25 to 35 years where you have this really sweet spot. There's still some fruit sweetness characters, primary fruit characters there, but the tangible benefit of maturation is becoming apparent and you're starting to see more complexity, it's taking longer to work out what's in the glass.

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Left: Penfolds Ambassadors Jamie Sach sampling the merchandise at Magill Estate Restaurant Below: The 2018 St Henri Shiraz, very good year.

at those ‘94 wines thinking they're absolutely stunning. And you can buy them for half the price of the great 1990 or the ‘91 or the ‘96.

So there's definitely vintages out there that perhaps don't get all the accolades at the beginning, but then down the track, they really pop their head up and say, look at me. ‘78, a classic. ‘71 and ‘76 won all the gongs back in the day, but give a bottle of ‘78 any day - a fantastic wine.

Is there anything that's in your cellar at the moment that you're having a psychological battle with yourself over opening?

In my Vintec, the stuff that I've got in there is all pretty top-shelf. So you think, ‘When am I going to have an occasion where I'm going to of want to open a bottle like that?’ A lot of it is sitting in there as my superannuation. I'll probably end up just selling it one day, but there are a handful of wines that I definitely want to drink on special occasions.

I do have a soft spot for Champagne and one of my most prized possessions, I’ve only got one

We recommend people serve it in a really big glass and swirl it. By swirling it, you are releasing more of the aromatics and you are able to sit on it for a while and let it talk to you. You can let it evolve and jump out of the glass at you, because it will change over an hour or so.

changing, even in the glass. That's what's so evocative about wine, it's one of the few products that does that - giving you a glimpse back in time.

Have you ever been surprised by anything you've tasted after it's reached that peak and compared it to tasting notes when it was fresh?

If I am pouring a good wine like Grange at home They change a lot. I always say to our guys, with friends, typically I will have two glasses in ‘Look, the tasting notes that we write when the front of them and say, ‘Look, the big glass has wines are released, they're only good for a couple got the Grange in it and the small glass has a of years’. Because with Grange, maybe they'll stunt wine. Drink all of the stunt wine that you hold true to the descriptors for five years or so, want, but if I see you scull the Grange, you’re but after that, the wine starts to not coming back and you’re not IF YOU’RE GOING change. The notes that we wrote getting a second pour.’ I make five years ago are no longer really them hang on to it. I will pour it TO INVEST IN just before the main courses turn SOME HIGH END of many benefits, certainly not the descriptors in those tasting and everyone can taste it by itself, WINE AND YOU notes. then you can have it with food.

WOULD LIKE TO Now, of course, nothing like the Now, ideally, if we're bringing PUT A LITTLE analysis or sourcing changes, cheese out at the end of the BIT OF BOTTLE but the descriptors that we use meal, they'd still have some in AGE ON IT, THEN will definitely change with time. their glass. They can just see YOU DO NEED Sometimes you go, actually, what's happened to that wine THE RIGHT that was a vintage that maybe as it's changed over an hour or CONDITIONS FOR we should have made a bit more so. It'll start to express different noise about. They're what I call characteristics. They're like living STORING THEM. the sleeper vintages. things and I always keep coming back to the fact that a wine is a reflection of the place where the grapes are grown, the skills that the winemaker has used. It's a combination of all of those things; it's the weather from the season, the photons from the sun hitting its atmosphere and the photosynthesis of the grapevine, it's all tied into producing what's in that glass. And so they're almost like little time capsules.

When you're opening up a Grange that's 40 years old, you're looking at something that was crafted by these elements. It is still evolving and

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When I came to work for Penfolds back in ‘99, we released some big wines around about then.

We released a ‘96 Grange, a couple of years later the ‘98 Grange, and then ‘99 were all fantastic wines. I'm looking at 1994 thinking, every bottle I've ever opened of 1994 Grange has been amazing, but no one ever raves about 1994. Why is that? I don't know what it was. You look at all the vintage conditions, it looks like a great year, but no one was raving about it. But here we are, however many years later, and I'm looking

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bottle left, is a 1996 Salon, it’s quite a famous producer of Champagne. That bottle's probably worth a thousand dollars now. It was a gift from a friend a long time ago and I'm just waiting for the right occasion to drink that. Maybe it'll be at the end of my never-ending renovations.

So you're okay with the speculation side of things?

I like to call myself a drinking investor, so I'm putting these wines away for, if something happens and I really need the money, I know I can liquidate those assets, but hopefully, that never happens and I can drink them instead.

They're there in case, and like I said, a lot of these great wines which I've got a bit of tucked away, they're not going to reach their peak drinking until they're 25 to 35 years of age. And most of the wines that I've got are a little bit younger than that.

So wines as an asset are appreciating pretty well on the Australian market. Grange in particular is going really, really strongly on the secondary market. I wish I had more fifties Grange because

they just keep setting records all the time.

I've got no problem with wine being an investment. I know people that are quite strategic about it that they buy twice as much as what they intend to drink and then hold it until such time as the value of the bottles is doubled and then they sell half of what they bought and drink the rest for free.

There are different ways of going about it. I'm hopeful that I'll get to drink all of my wines and I won't sell any more of them, but occasionally, when money's tight, at least I know I can reach in there and pull something out.

If I wanted to get started now, what would you recommend?

St. Henri is a wine that I think is exceptional, and has an amazing cellaring potential. The 2018 vintage, which is our current release, is an exceptional vintage as well. St Henri and Grange for 25 years were the same price. It was developed in parallel to Grange in the 1950s

and it wasn't really until the late seventies, early eighties that the price of Grange began to really accelerate on the back of a bunch of international accolades and people really starting to see just how unique the wine was.

St Henri, which was a bit more of an old fashioned style of wine. Claret was a classic. It didn't spark the imagination in quite the same way, but I think now when you look at it, St Henri, being just over a hundred dollars a bottle and Grange being $950 a bottle, to me, Grange is not nine and a half times better than a St. Henri.

They're just different styles of wine.

If I was building a cellar for my kids, in fact, I've got quite a few bottles tucked away for them already, St. Henri is definitely one to go for. The other one that I'd be looking at is Bin 389, which also has a really good track record for cellaring.

It's often called the baby Grange, because it captures the parcels that had narrowly been included in Grange before.

The Bin 150, which is our Marananga Shiraz, it's the subregional wine from the Barossa, definitely worth getting hold of; that's a stunning, stunning wine. I would argue that's probably got 35 to 45 years of aging potential.

There's a lot that you can go to. Almost any Penfold wine will age for 20 years, if you put it in a cellar, even the Koonunga Hill. Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet, which is the entry-level Penfolds wine, I've got a couple of those in my cellar that are 25 plus years of age. Occasionally, I like to surprise people and I'll decant it and serve it.

People are thinking that I've pulled out an old bin wine and some people might even guess that it's a Grange; actually it's a $12 bottle of Koonunga Hill, because they just age really well and they look proper like proper Penfolds wine.

I said to somebody the other day, ‘you don't need to have a platinum credit card to drink well at Penfolds’. You can buy really good quality wines at lots of different price points in the Penfolds portfolio. It just so happens that Grange, our flagship, which really underpins the whole Penfold story of winemaking and innovation, is our most famous wine. But there are lots and lots of other fantastic wines that represent great drinking and great cellaring potential within the range as well.

So you wouldn’t get mad if I tried to cellar a $12 bottle of wine?

No. I mean, don't try to make it last too long, but if you pick up a Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet, grab a few bottles and then taste them periodically. Have one on release, because they are designed to be drunk young. But then put a couple down and just see what it looks like after a year, what it looks like after two years, and you'd be very pleasantly surprised.

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A FRESH NEW OFFERING FROM DOUBLETREE

BY HILTON KARAKA Even if you’re not a true foodie you probably will have heard of the ‘Farm to Table’ concept. It’s nothing too radical and plays out exactly as the title suggests; produce from farms goes directly to a restaurant where it is prepared, cooked and served. There are no middle men, shipping or warehouses and where ‘fresh’ actually means fresh – not that sinister; ‘fresh*’ (*what we can legally claim as fresh).

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Farm to Table is how things used to be once upon a time, before we all got so excited about our newly-developed global logistics abilities. Where we learned we could transport produce from everywhere to anywhere, without wondering whether we actually should. As a result of course, we’ve ended up losing our culinary way a little in recent decades making do with bland ingredients shipped long distances and picked early so they can ripen in the refrigeration truck on the way over. Which has also meant we’ve been able to access insipid tomatoes from this corner of the world and tasteless strawberries from that far flung region – simply because we could.

Farm to Table is a direct reaction to that – a flinch from the flame of the inferior – and as an added bonus, it also boosts the local economy and encourages a constant income for the

adjoining farmers. Of course, these farmers also have to lift their game by supplying the restaurant with only the best as their reputation is directly at stake too. There’s no hiding behind any supermarket labels here. Plus, Farm to Table restaurants can sometimes develop such a good relationship with local farms that they can even ask for specific ingredients to be grown.

The Southon Way Of course, in order to deliver proper Farm to Table fare, you do need to have your restaurant situated close to actual farms, otherwise you fall into the trap of refrigerated trucks, warehousing and *fresh issues. One such restaurant is the new Ethereal | Artisan Kitchen, part of the DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka.

Though Karaka has seen some considerable

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TRAVEL

urban growth in the last few years, it still abuts onto a large rural area which has a mix of dairy, sheep and fresh produce farming making the DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka ideally placed to provide a genuine Farm to Table service.

This perfect positioning has allowed Ethereal | Artisan Kitchen’s celebrity chef, Mark Southon, to focus on his strengths, which is to hone in on the freshness and flavour of the local produce and not to hide it behind complex sauces and overpowering condiments.

Having trained at many Michelin star restaurants in Europe, British-born Southon moved Down Under and fell in love with New Zealand. After stints at Wai in Queenstown, The French Café and O’Connell Street Bistro in central Auckland, Mark became a TV star on shows such as Monteith’s Wild Food Challenge and The Foodstore Chefs on Food TV. For Ethereal | Artisan, Mark has worked with the local Karaka farmers to create a menu that brings out the best in their local produce and changes to highlight the bounty of each season. The restaurant

itself features a live kitchen opening out into the main restaurant with a marble seating area so diners can experience the action behind the scenes. Also included is a curated wine area stocked with both the best local and national wines to pair with the fully visible meat locker. Should you want to sit outside, there’s outdoor seating with fires and louvre roof to enhance the pastoral effect. Should the weather be fine, staying guests can access the handy outdoor pool – or even just the Pool Bar! Or, if you are happy to relax indoors, the well-appointed HorseShoe Bar offers cocktails all day long.

Farm to Table dining is here to stay as it makes the most of what we all treasure in fine dining; fresh ingredients purchased locally with no artificial ripening, preservatives or lengthy transportation or warehousing. Everything has been delivered fresh from over the fence then treated with the respect it deserves by world-class chefs who are dedicated to promoting the ingredients’ inherent quality rather than disguising their natural flavours. And all within a comparatively short drive of the greater Auckland metropolis. The new Ethereal | Artisan Kitchen at DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka is setting a new benchmark for today’s dining experiences.

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INVESTMENT EXPERTS PREMIUM CONTENT

FULL ISSUES OF M2 MAGAZINE ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE M2NOW.COM

475,000 REASONS TO INVEST IN PARNELL

HERITAGE MATTERS

Auckland’s oldest suburb is also one of Auckland’s hottest suburbs for countless reasons. Here are just a few.

Whether you are looking to right-size, make the lifestyle move you deserve or simply invest in your family’s future, Augustus Park offers an unparalleled freehold.

FORENZICS: REPERCUSSIONS OF GREATNESS TIM FINN AND FORMER SPLIT ENZ BANDMATE, EDDIE RAYNER, ARE BACK WITH A NEW PROJECT

THE FAST FUTURE OF RACING WHILE F1 MIGHT STILL BE A BEHEMOTH, THERE IS A NEW ERA OF MOTOR RACING APPEARING THAT WILL NO DOUBT DEFINE THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT.

POWER BROKER While there is plenty of media coverage about economic headwind on the horizon, the head of CMC Markets New Zealand, Chris Smith, is optimistic about the future.

And he should know, with access to over 10,000 financial products, CMC covers the gamut of the trading world. We talk to Chris about the life of an investor, from early education to diversification at retirement.

LUXURY

SEE STALLONE’S $86M ‘DISCOUNT’ MANSION As far as Hollywood megastar mansions go, this one has to be near the top in terms of pure extravagance. Sitting on an impressive 3.5 acres of beautiful Southern California land, the property is an absolute dream, one that Stallone himself spent a ton of time and effort tinkering with.

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INVESTING IN PRICE RISES WITHOUT PAYING THE PRICE RISES While inflation has hit most sectors within New Zealand over the last couple of years, the impact on the cost of both residential and commercial building has been particularly profound.

THE COLLECTION CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

A FRESH NEW OFFERING FROM DOUBLETREE BY HILTON KARAKA

5 PRIVATE ISLANDS THAT COST LESS THAN A HOUSE IN AUCKLAND Summer, the time to stop all the hurrying about and at last unwind. It’s also (hopefully) a chance to relax in the sun after a year spent inside getting a Covid tan. But if the weather gods refuse to play ball in the sunshine stakes, then we’ll just have to get some in pre-bottled.

For Ethereal | Artisan, Mark has worked with the local Karaka farmers to create a menu that brings out the best in their local produce and changes to highlight the bounty of each season.

THE NATURE OF TIME

THE 3 BEST BARS IN THE WORLD If you’re lucky enough to be a globe trotter at the moment, take a moment to stop in at the best bars for the best drinks in the galaxy.

THESE ARE THE BEST EURO CITIES FOR LUXURY LIVING Recently, we covered off on the best cities in the world for living in, but it was family friendly. It may as well have been called “The Best Places with access to emergency rooms and the lowest number of muggings.” but where is the best place to drive a Ferrari at 300km/h while pouring champagne all over a model holding a suitcase of dollar bills?

CHECK OUT THE LATEST SPORT TIMEPIECES FROM GRAND SEIKO

GRAND SEIKO SBGY007: THE GOD’S CROSSING TIMEPIECE

The arrival of the two watches falls on the anniversaries of two significant moments in the world-renowned watchmakers history

Inspired by this legend, the craftspeople at the nearby Shinshu Watch Studio have created this hand-winding 30 jewels Spring Drive timepiece, the Grand Seiko SBGY007, with the colour, feel, and texture of the snow-covered ice you’ll find on Lake Suwa in wintertime.

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MISSION WINE

SO YOU’RE SITTING WITH YO U R 20 19 MI S S I O N JEWELSTONE SYRAH IN A SHADY SPOT ON THE DECK AND YOU SUDDENLY WONDER; DAMN HOW DID THE WINEMAKERS GET THIS TO TASTE SO GOOD? AND YOU’RE NOT ALONE, AS EVEN LEGENDARY MASTERS OF WINE LIKE ANDREW CAILLARD FROM AUSTRALIA FELT OBLIGED TO GIVE THIS PARTICULAR VINTAGE A SCORE OF 99 POINTS OUT OF 100, WHICH IS A VERY HIGH SCORE INDEED. WORDS BY CY SINDERSON

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But it is not just the exception, the Mission Estate Winery regularly produces wines that score well into the 90s. Their 2019 Mission Jewelstone Antoine, a Bordeaux blend, reaped 97 points while the 2019 Mission Reserve Merlot received 94 points from Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, and five stars from revered wine writer Michael Cooper. The Gaia Project Merlot 2020 routinely collects scores of well over 90 points and, together with the 2019 Mission Reserve Merlot, struck gold at the recent New Zealand International Wine Show. Plus, every year Mission Estate wines are chosen to be included amongst the exclusive list of a dozen Hawke’s Bay reds that the Gimblett Gravels Annual Vintage Selection panel regard as the very pinnacle of the vintage.

THE SECRET TO THEIR SUCCESS This list of outstanding achievements goes on and on, but how exactly does a winemaker like Mission Estate get such consistent success?

The answer is simple; experience. The Mission Estate Winery is easily New Zealand’s oldest, being established way back in 1851 by the Marist Brothers who were French Catholic missionaries of the Society of Mary. And, as the French know a thing or two about making wine, they set about planting the precious grapevines they’d brought over to New Zealand with them. Then, drawing on the centuries of winemaking knowledge they’d absorbed in their youth, they chose a piece of land they felt would help create the best wines possible for such a land of, as then, unknown potential.

But making great wines doesn’t happen easily; the rules you may have learned in one region don’t all

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necessarily apply in another – especially if it is on the other side of the world! So, even though the missionaries knew a lot about making wine in France, they had much to learn about creating great vintages in New Zealand. This is because no two terroirs are exactly the same, so much of the knowledge that helps transform a great wine into an exceptional one can only be learned through trial and error over a long period of time. More than one person’s lifetime too. But luckily, winemakers are not selfish with their knowledge, they realise the next generation will be just as passionate as them about making great vintages. So they pass on whatever learnings they have developed over their lifetimes to this new generation, allowing them to stand on the shoulders of giants to reach ever higher standards of quality. It was the same at Mission Estate, for generation after generation these key learnings were passed down until Brother John delivered his knowledge onto current Mission Estate Head Winemaker Paul Mooney at the start of his career. All those accumulated learnings are now paying off for Mission Estate as evidenced by the deep 90+ scores, gold medals, exclusive club invitations and lightning fast sales.

A NEW REWARDS PROGRAMME In order for passionate wine fans to be able to keep apace with these speedy sales, Mission Estate has created a new loyalty programme; Mission Rewards. But unlike many wine clubs, this rewards programme has no joining fee or minimum purchase requirement. There are also no scheduled shipments or membership tiers with upfront

commitments either – members can simply reap the rewards and benefits right from the get-go.

As Mission’s Brand Manager Lois Scott explains, “It was designed specifically with our cellar door and online customers in mind. We tailored this programme so our Mission customers receive usable rewards in real time.”

How it works; for each purchase made, credit accumulates in a member’s online Mission Wallet which can be spent later. Frequent offers, as well as membership and birthday bonuses, plus awardwinning varieties and cellar door exclusives, mean that whatever credit you accrue will be easy to spend! For each purchase, members will also accrue points and move up through tiers to unlock enhanced benefits on select Mission hospitality offerings and achieve everyday savings on some of Mission’s most popular ranges. And, as an added bonus, a gift is received each time a new tier is reached!

MEMBERSHIP MEANS NOT MISSING OUT The Mission cellar door exclusives in particular are worth taking up membership alone. Mission Estate Winery’s enduring success has seen its most-awarded wines like the 2019 Jewelstone Syrah disappear very quickly as soon as it scores a high 90, or is picked up for an exclusive collection like the Gimblett Gravels Annual Vintage Selection. But by having your Mission Rewards membership already in the back pocket, means you are far less likely to miss out on any of these classic vintages. And, with all the credit and discounts you can accrue, they’ll deliver some very friendly value too. Make sure you get your chance to experience next season’s Mission Jewelstone Syrah in a shady spot on your deck by nipping over to missionestate.co.nz to join Mission Rewards today.

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THE HEART OF UTOPIA IF YOU EVER FIND YOURSELF IN ADELAIDE, CONSIDER TAKING THE 56KM DRIVE NORTHEAST OF THE CITY TO VISIT BAROSSA VALLEY. NESTLED HERE YOU WILL FIND A VERITABLE UTOPIA OF 13,000 HECTARES OF VINEYARDS OCCUPYING WHAT IS NOW CONSIDERED THE COUNTRY’S OLDEST AND MOST PREMIER WINE REGIONS. HERE YOU’LL FIND SOME OF THE COUNTRY'S BEST SHIRAZ, GRENACHE, CABERNET SAUVIGNON, RIESLING AND SEMILLON. Of course you can’t visit Barossa and leave without tasting Barossa, that’s where all the fun is to be had after all. Along the aptly named Eden Valley Road you’ll find Yalumba, Australia’s oldest familyowned winery. Before pulling in, we definitely recommend your tasting to be booked ahead, don’t take a chance on ruining a perfectly good day by goofing the reservation.

Yalumba prides itself on letting nature take the lead, with just the right application of confidence and expertise to tease it into a good direction.

Apparently nature wants us to experience some extremely drinkable wines. The hallmarks of a good glass of Yalumba is defined by toning down on the oaky smoky palates in favour of fruity freshness.

My recommendation to anyone is to check out their Barossa Shiraz, Barossa Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon, or Barossa Bush Vine Grenache.

The Shiraz is typical of Yalumba’s unique style, rich and moreish. The Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon is a modern twist on the Aussie classic, rich with brooding dark chocolate flavours from the Shiraz. Finally the Bush Vine Grenache comes in with that light bodied flavour I mentioned earlier with bright Barossa Grenache flavours.

For pairing on this particular bottle we suggest you match it with a roast pork or miso roasted eggplant. We also recommend all of these are paired with good company.

Fortunately, we don’t all need to travel to the heart of the Barossa to sample these wines, as they made the journey over the ditch to be available here in New Zealand as well. Consider it a small piece of Australia’s utopia, bottled and sent to us.

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THE LATEST AND GREATEST YOU NEED TO GET YOUR HANDS ON

1

NEW TEFAL EASY FRY GRILL & STEAM

Easy Fry Grill & Steam is a ground-breaking 3-in1 healthy air fryer with a 6.5L XXL cooking capacity and more flexibility than ever. Combining extra crisp air frying, steaming and grilling in a single appliance, the exclusive die-cast aluminium grill plate allows you to achieve delicious searing grill lines and juicy, tender meat without the smoke or smell of traditional grills. The unique steaming function helps to preserve the nutrients within food, making it healthy and is ideal for delicate ingredients, and for dishes where you want to achieve a tender result without any drying out.

Enjoy fast, healthy & precise cooking results with the Tefal Easy Fry Grill & Steam.

2

DE’LONGHI MAGNIFICA EVO TITAN

From beans to coffee perfection, with the De’Longhi Magnifica EVO Titan, creating the authentic barista coffee experience at home has never been simpler – or more stylish.

Intuitive, easy-to-use and a beautiful addition to any kitchen, Magnifica EVO Titan offers a range of delicious, one-touch coffee recipe options, automatic milk frothing and hot water maker for tea or infusions, making it the complete hot beverage package. It’s ideal for both new and experienced athome coffee makers.

3 4 5 PHILIPS POWER FLOSSER

Remove over 99.9% of plaque and oral bacteria for a cleaner, healthier mouth.

The new Philips Cordless Power Flosser’s unique X-shaped Quad Stream tip separates flow into four water jets, which cover more area between teeth and along the gum line.

The 360-degree rotating nozzle allows for ease of use and manoeuvrability in the mouth, and thanks to its three intensities and two flossing modes the Power Flosser can be tailored to its users’ needs.

Featuring pulse wave technology that halts the water flow at regular intervals, making it simple to move from one tooth to another without fuss. With its 250ml reservoir, you can clean the whole mouth with a single fill of water.

KENWOOD TITANIUM CHEF BAKER XL

The new Chef Titanium Baker delivers the ultimate kitchen performance with a host of new features created for the baking connoisseur.

Its trusted reliability is combined with a fresh iconic design and its latest feature, the interchangeable PopTop cover. This allows users to adapt and update the top to suit their style, personality, and kitchen.

The Titanium Chef Baker XL offers EasyWeigh Scale, which makes measuring ingredients effortless, simple and accurate whilst the soft-start speed control ensures mess-free baking.

SAMSUNG BESPOKE JET STICK VACUUM CLEANER

The Bespoke Jet brings stunning design and powerful, hygienic cleaning to your home. It features an All-in-one Clean Station that makes storing and charging the vacuum incredibly easy, while simultaneously emptying the dustbin in a hygienic way. With up to 210W* of suction and a lightweight design, you can clean your home effortlessly. RRP $1799.00. * Suction tested based on the IEC62885-2 Cl. 5.8 standard, tested at the inlet of the non-motorized tool, using Jet mode. Based on internal tests.

Available in Black or White.

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THE RELEASE PRESENTS From beans to coffee perfection, with the De’Longhi Magnifica EVO Titan, creating the authentic barista coffee experience at home has never been simpler – or more stylish.

Intuitive, easy-to-use and a beautiful addition to any kitchen, Magnifica EVO Titan offers a range of delicious, one-touch coffee recipe options, automatic milk frothing and hot water maker for tea or infusions, making it the complete hot beverage package. It’s ideal for both new and experienced at-home coffee makers. The integrated grinder freshly grinds your favourite beans. The exclusive, highperformance brewing unit delivers a luxurious range of espresso-based drinks; milk is frothed to perfection, thanks to the Latte Crema System textures, long-lasting, creamy foam for delicious milk-based recipes. From the authentic Italian Espresso to Cappuccino Mix, the new Magnifica Evo will make your coffee break a moment of pure satisfaction.

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YOU SEEK. IT FINDS.

Everything about NSX is designed to bring your fishing adventures closer.

Enjoy our fastest-ever Autorouting and next-gen C-MAP® charts.

Experience new, intuitive touch screens and simple sonar setup with hints to assist you when you need it. Count on high-resolution imagery from state-of-the-art sonar technology, like FishReveal™, DownScan Imaging™ and SideScan.

Add compatibility with a wide range of 1 kW transducers for even more target resolution, and there is nothing between you and your next adventure but open water. www.simrad-yachting.com/nsx

Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off, and ™ common law marks. Visit www.navico.com/intellectual-property to review the global trademark rights and accreditations for Navico Holding AS and other entities.

®

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WORDS BY ISAAC TAYLOR

THE OVERKILL WEBCAM We’ve been in the age of livestreaming for so long it’s strange that we’re only just starting to receive dedicated webcams that are at DSLR quality. The Opal C1 is a professional grade webcam with the specs to prove it. Using a 7.8mm, 4K Sony sensor, you get colours that really pop, dark darks, bright brights. They know your office is probably at least a little gloomy so a ƒ1.8, six-element, glass lens brings in 2.4x more light than a regular webcam camera. Perfect for creating clarity in low light situations.

It films at 60fps and 4056 X 3040 for beautiful 4k.

Using Beamforming tech, the MicMesh cameras can intelligently pick up your voice and filter out the thousands of dogs and babies screaming through your house.

The accompanying software allows you to gesture command the C1 to zoom, focus and even turn off when you do the peace sign. It also has beautiful depth of field, so you don’t need to rely on Zoom’s disgusting filters to fuzz out your messy office. This adds that extra cinematic touch. Beautiful camera all round. opalcamera.com

A STATEMENT PIECE Premium audio specialists B&O have created a true work of art, befitting anyone who enjoys both good music and good vibes. It’s so retro cool you’ll be painting your lounge orange and browns and dusting off your bell bottoms. What we have here is the Beosystem 72-22. The 72 denotes the release date of the Beogram 4000c turntable that this 2022 remake is honouring. Coming in a solid walnut presentation box, the pearl-blasted titanium tone aluminum turntable, unlike its 1972 godfather, comes packed with a wireless connectivity hub. So even when you aren’t spinning vinyl, you can still get everyday use out of the Beosystem 72-22.

This thing is packed to the ears with goodies, including two Beolab 18 speakers and a Beoremote Halo remote control to complete your lounge sound system setup.

The Walnut box is perfect for storying your vinyl, and to kickstart your collection B&O also snuck a gift in there for all buyers.

David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars; Paul Simon’s eponymous debut; Eat a Peach

by The Allman Brothers Band and Carly Simon’s No Secrets. These all came out in the same year as the original Beogram 4000c turntable.

DUEX MAX One of the tradeoffs with a laptop is that you can’t feel like you’re in command centre with your multiple screens blaring away at you. Duex Max aims to make a secondary monitor make as much sense to tote around as your primary one. Using magnet snapping to the back of your laptop, it can slide out at any time and provide you an extra 14.1” Full HD display. It weighs 771 grams with an outer shell made of alluminium, so it can take knocks and scrapes usual of what you’d expect to get in a laptop bag. It has a USB-A and USB-C port. An extra kickstand also makes it the perfect primary monitor for your phone going into desktop mode, or a Nintendo Switch when you’re over playing on the tiny screen.

Pricing starts at about NZ$320 and shipping is expected in April 2022. kickstarter.com/ projects/747287659/duex-max-themust-have-dual-screen-laptopaccessory/

Unfortunately for us, this work of art has been limited to just 30 pieces at a price point of $45,000 each. So the chances of one landing in your lounge is rare. bang-olufsen.com

A HOLOGRAPHIC “ILLUSTRATOR” PIKACHU POKÉMON CARD FROM 1998 SOLD FOR $US900,000. GOTTA CATCH EM ALL I GUESS.

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Affordable apartments

FOR UNDER $500K in Parnell

FULLY FURNISHED ENQUIRE NOW

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THE CASE WITH SOUL Using a design from JMDF first seen at the Case Mod World Series held in 2020 Cooler Master is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary in style. Gaudy, and wild, but a style nonetheless. Based on the shape of a sneaker that an autobot would wear, this PC case called Sneaker X. It looks disarmingly small in pictures, but it’s big enough to house everything you need for a machine with grunt. According to Cooler Master, it can accommodate the latest top-of-theline CPU and GPU as well as an AIO cooler. Cooler Master will be taking preorders in Q3 2022.

This wild aesthetic shows a new brand direction for Cooler Master, who is pivoting toward brighter more eye catching cases recently. I’m not sure if I want a gigantic shoe in my computer room, but I’m glad it exists either way. coolermaster.com

SAMSUNG S22 GOES SUPER LUXE The only good thing coming out of Russia at the moment are the new hyper luxurious limited runs of Samsung S22’s that are being designed by Caviar. The boutique luxury company has added an extra special spin for people who thought that paying $1,600 for a phone wasn’t enough. Now if you just go six times the price you can have your pick of the litter, with cases bedazzled in everything from 24K gold, titanium, and crocodile skin. There are six different styles and only 99 available of each. Designs are available across the entire S22 range.

If you're in the market... Maybe wait till after the war is over. caviar.global

THE WALKMAN IS BACK The Walkman is having to find its niche in the world since smartphones and iPods pushed it into obscurity. The new model’s proper title is the Sony Walkman NW-WM1ZM2 and it’s not here to mess around. Its oxygen-free copper shell is coated in gold, tipping its hat to high end audio equipment.

Sony assures us that this process allows for “even greater benefits in terms of audio quality and high rigidity. Bass notes are clear and powerful, the atmosphere is more expansive, and mid to high range sounds linger beautifully”.

It has a 5 inch touchscreen running Android 11, and an audio auxiliary port, because that’s the sort of thing you need to specify these days apparently (thanks Apple). It comes with a 256GB capacity for storing lossless audio formats and also has an SD slot for quickly bumping the storage limits up. It is High-Resolution Audio compatible and comes with Native Direct stream digital file support. sony.co.nz

MARK ZUCKERBERG IS ENCOURAGING HIS EMPLOYEES TO CALL THEMSELVES "METAMATES".

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3 GAMES TO WISHLIST RIGHT NOW THERE'S A RAFT OF NEW TITLES COMING OUR WAY THIS YEAR. HERE'S THE ONES YOU SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON.

STARTERS GUIDE TO PROPAGANDA THE FIRST THING A GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST IS ITS PEOPLE. WITH SO MANY DIRTY PEACE LOVERS OUT THERE, THAT CAN MEAN DOING FUN THINGS LIKE IMPRISONING ENTIRE PEOPLE GROUPS OR INVADING ANOTHER COUNTRY MIGHT CAUSE A LITTLE BLOWBACK. BUT IT’S OK, WITH SOME DEFT MANOEUVRING YOU CAN DO IT JUST FINE. STEP 1. JUST LIE

SAINTS ROW REBOOT PLAYSTATION 4, PLAYSTATION 5, XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES X AND SERIES S, MICROSOFT WINDOWS The first Saints Row game kind of sucked as poor knock off of GTA. With each new entry, it started to get weirder and wackier as it found its own voice. The reboot sets the clock back to zero but loses none of the spirit its developed for the series. It's wild, it's a ton of fun. Get hyped.

Drops August 23rd

SPLATOON 3 NINTENDO SWITCH If you missed the boat the first two times around, then you definitely need to see what the fuss is about.

Splat ink on the ground, hide and sprint in your colour ink, get hurt in and slowed in the rival teams. Try and overwrite your enemy teams ink. Whichever team has painted the most of the map wins. Elegant design.

Drops September 9th

DIABLO IMMORTAL PC, ANDROID, APPLE "Don't you guys have phones?" the new Diablo is getting a PC release after all. Story-wise sitting between D1 and D2. This F2P MMO Action RPG is going to run your phone red hot, I'm sure.

Drops June 2, with betas beforehand.

This is the cornerstone of any good modern leadership style. People love hearing things that make them feel good, so why deprive them of that feeling? Are you immoral?

No? Good, right answer! Now lie to them.

They don’t need to hear about the messy shades of grey you work in, it’ll just make them feel bad knowing their tax dollars are going into an invasion. Best just call it a “liberation” or "special military operation" instead.

STEP 2. REPLACE ALL DISSENTING NEWS WITH TOP OF THE POPS

STEP 5. BE A STRONG BOY

All the hard work you’ve put into lying is all for nothing if there are nitpickers hitting you with annoying things like facts. Why not instead tell your local news outlets to only use news you have written for them because you’re such a nice guy, or face an unreasonably long jail sentence for their own good? Now instead of boring news about your war crimes, radio and TV airtime are now freed up to play the national anthem on repeat.

The human lizard brain hasn’t caught up to the fact that leadership no longer needs to be defined by who can swing the heaviest rock around. All you need to do is be even just a little bit unreasonably tough on anything you don’t like. Start with something everyone can agree on like crime. Then after that bar has been set, change what constitutes a crime. Maybe people comparing you to Winnie the Pooh, for example. Wouldn’t hurt to maybe go to the gym as well, although not super important. This one should be fairly easy to achieve as most politicians on the world stage resemble admin and middle management.

STEP 3. CLOSE SOCIAL MEDIA

STEP 6. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Social media is only used by countries that are still in the process of dismantling democracy. If you’re already a despot, then there’s really no sense in keeping it around, it served its purpose. Close it down, the sooner the better.

Before you go to bed every night, put on your earbuds and play encouraging podcasts to yourself. When you’re brushing your teeth, look in the mirror and tell yourself, “Who’s the best despot? I am. I am a strong independent facist state.”

STEP 4. CREATE FEAR

STEP 7. MYTH MAKING

Tell your people that society is poisoned and you are their only salvation, and that your political opponents are just high dosages of the aforementioned poison.

Remember people are scared of change so remind them of that every chance you get.

That way they’ll be grateful when they go to the voting booth and there’s only one option to choose from. Better the despot you know than the freely elected government you don’t, I always say.

Did you know Kim Jong Il was born in the shadow of a sacred mountain under a double rainbow (what does it mean??) and his birth was foretold by a swallow? He said it so it must be true! This is where you can really get creative with your backstory. The more saint-like you come across, the better. Following a dude is one thing, but if you can get away with convincing your people that you’ve been blessed by QAnon and God, you can do pretty much anything at that point!

CONSUMER NZ HAS FOUND MUM & DAD LENDERS ARE THE FIFTH LARGEST AFTER ANZ, ASB, WESTPAC, AND BNZ.

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