Plenty 07 2017

Plenty

Jacinda Adern talks about being the only leftie in the village, Lonnie Berg goes up in the world with Volcanic Hills, No. 3 looks at becoming No. 1, Katee Shanks talks fashion and fame with Danielle Hayes, and Plenty talks rennos with the pros and pancakes with Annabelle White.

culture :: media :: art :: food

FR E E M A GA Z IN E

ISSUE 07 plenty.co.nz

When we heard that ex-cyclones Debbie and Cook were visiting

the Bay, we knew that spelt trouble. Torrential rains, flooding,

evacuations and just hard-out general mayhem descended in April

and our thoughts go out to all those in Edgecumbe – and elsewhere in

the Whakatāne District – who bore the brunt of it; we’d just marked 30

years since the earthquake, and right on cue mother nature came calling again. It shouldn’t have been that way.

But as William Shakespeare once said, “When shit happens, it usually

happens to the nicest people,” and the people of Edgecumbe and the Eastern

Bay proved they really are the nicest people by knuckling down, pulling

together, and mucking in to get through the worst of it and start rebuilding lives, homes and communities. Take a bow folks and whānau, you showed the rest of New Zealand how to roll.

The diabolical duo of Debbie and Cook also very nearly dealt to Plenty 07. All of us who work on the magazine have day jobs, and a remarkable number of those day jobs involved dealing with the effects or aftermath of the cyclones.

In addition, many of the people we were writing about, photographing and

generally annoying for this issue were also out helping around the region, so

our carefully planned editorial schedule was thrown into chaos. We thought about wimping out and delaying publication, but in the words of Winston Churchill, “In your darkest hour, you turn to friends, and friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends, and nek minute you get awesome stuff done”. With that in mind we set to work.

The result is Plenty 07, which you are holding in your hand, or reading on your tablet thingy. We’d like to thank all our contributors for really pulling off a miracle, and everyone featured in 07 for being so accommodating.

Katee J Shanks came up with a storming article on Dani Hayes (and ended up the subject of one herself ), Roz Tocker stepped up to interview the lovely Annabelle White; our very own Sulata Ghosh proved that she can make deliciousness when the power is off; and we even managed to persuade Lonnie Berg - who you first met in Issue 01 of Plenty - to come out of retirement and forgo her vow of silence to interview the great folks at Volcanic Hills Winery. Because as Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara said, “When you need to interview two blokes in Rotorua about wine, you call Lonnie.”

Enjoy, and if you discover any flaws relating to our crushing deadline, forgive….

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Contents

04 06 10 16 22 28 34 40 44

THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT A GIRL A ROOM WITH A VIEW

AN INTERVIEW WITH JACINDA ARDERN

OUTA THE KITCHEN

QUEEN OF CUISINE

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

AUTUMN SPICED HOT CHOCOLATE

UP, UP AND AWAY

P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

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S G N I TH WE

LOVE

WIN Free Stuff with Plenty

We travel the high roads and low roads of this land called Plenty in search of great articles and along the way we find some stuff so awesome we just have to share it. Get on over to plenty.co.nz to see how you can get some.

Enter now at..

04

plenty.co.nz

Enter now at..

plenty.co.nz

Bonbon vegan bath & beauty We first met the folks at BonBon way back when they were still called Bossy Cosmetics and it was pretty much love at first sight, and smell for that matter. Their name may have changed but they are still producing the most colourful, awesome and aroma-liscious bath and beauty products around, and to top it all off they are 100% vegan and made with natural ingredients. We've got some of their goodness to giveaway, so get on over to plenty.co.nz to see how you can make some of it your own. bonbonvegan.com

Volcanic Hills Winery

If all the talk of wine over on pages 10 to 15 hasn’t put you in the mood for a glass or two then this certainly will. The good folks at Volcanic Hills have a voucher redeemable at their Rotorua winery for a magnum, yup a magnum, of their 2014 Central Otago SV Pinot Noir that is up for grabs. This deep purple thing of beauty normally retails for $120.00, but if you are over 18 and have exceptional taste in wine then it could be yours just by entering our competition. We could talk about it having a fresh wild aroma, hints of spice and a rich round palate but we won't. volcanichills.co.nz

Selling the Dream THE ART OF EARLY NEW ZEALAND TOURISM

Art Deco New Zealand, which we gave away in our last issue, proved so popular with you all out there in reader land that we thought we'd offer you some more classic Kiwi retro goodness, this time in the form of the strikingly gorgeous Selling the Dream.

Not only is it weapons-grade coffee table eye candy, its also brilliantly written and well researched to boot. Enter the com and it could grace your bookshelf. sellingthedream.co.nz

PHOTOGRAPHY SARAH TRAVERS WORDS KATEE SHANKS

ABOUT A GIRL

Seven years after winning New Zealand’s Next Top Model, Danielle Hayes is still growing freckles.

This summer, while filming Ghost in the Shell, they spread to her ears, but as it has been with all the 1.75 metres of her long-limbed, frecklefaced, no-booty body, Dani has grown to almost like them. Late last month that relatively newfound selflike was tested at the premier of her foray into film when a larger-than-life sized Dani was projected onto an Auckland cinema screen.

Ghost in the Shell has received mixed reviews, but that is somewhat irrelevant to Dani. She is happy to add ‘played a part in a movie’ to her already impressive CV, square her slender shoulders, and look toward the next challenge.

Dani was on assignment overseas when production company Stone Street Studios contacted her agency and asked if she was available for a role in the film. “Obviously I came home to play the parts that were on offer. In five of the roles I play a hologram and the sixth has me walking into a bar directly behind Scarlett Johansson. I can’t say I’d put much thought into being in a movie but it was a job, it paid well, and I’d do it again if asked.”

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Acting aside, the girl from Kawerau who, as a 19-year-old, won the hearts of the nation by being her rough and tumble, brash self while vying to become a model, admits she has had one hell of a ride since 2010.

“Everyone knows I entered New Zealand’s Next Top Model in 2010 on a cheeseburger dare and most people know it came on the back of some pretty merciless teasing when I was at school about my looks. I used to get asked if I was Asian, or black.

And where did I come from. And why was I so skinny? Basically I looked different and when you’re young, different is not cool.”

But rather than retreating, a young Dani developed a tough exterior. To this day she remains pretty foul-mouthed, we know she can throw a punch (remember the Next Top Model house wall) and she takes straight up to another level.

It’s this exterior that makes Dani come across as abrupt bordering on rude, but she is neither.

What many people haven’t experienced is her wacky sense of humour, her fierce loyalty to family and friends, her willingness to give you the shirt off her back and her crazy non-model appetite that sees her chomp on pies and chocolate bars.

“EVERYONE KNOWS I ENTERED NEW ZEALAND’S NEXT TOP MODEL IN 2010 ON A CHEESEBURGER DARE”

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She’s that girl that will throw her head back and roar with laughter when there is dead silence, that girl that will let loose a comment when it’s entirely inappropriate, that girl that has been known to dress her grandmother in an animal onesie (her grandmother thought it was awesome) and that girl that will have you in stitches with an out-of-the-blue action when you’re least expecting it.

Dani is also that girl that will drop everything to help you out.

But in 2010, a lack of self-confidence meant praise from Next Top Model judges was hard to accept. “Being told I had the look and had what it took, put me in very unfamiliar territory. I couldn’t take a compliment, I couldn’t handle nice things being said about my appearance, and I kept thinking ‘whatever’.”

As the story goes, the judges were right and Dani wrong, much to the delight of the New Zealand public. But immediately after winning the competition, things started getting a little weird. “I think we’ve all been guilty of watching a movie or a television programme and coming away with the misguided belief that we personally know someone on the show. After winning Next Top Model all these people were overly familiar with me and I wasn’t comfortable with it.”

That coupled with the fact she was met with a wall of excuses, meant Dani did not continue with modelling after the show concluded.

However, she did maintain a close friendship with Colin Mathura-Jeffree that saw her bring him home to the Eastern Bay for Christmas a few years back. Mathura-Jeffree remains one of Dani’s biggest supporters.

Instead of modelling she chose to switch sides of the lens and study photography. Nearing graduation, Dani was approached by an Australian agent convinced she needed to get back into the industry. She did, and that decision has resulted in a tumultuous five years.

The highs have seen Dani walk runways around the world, live in countries that were once just places in a Kawerau Intermediate atlas, and make great friends.

Dani Hayes in front of a Mr G mural near her Kawerau hometown

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Dani grew to adore South Africa, the place, the people and especially the biltong. During her time she walked in the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and featured in print media spreads including Elle South Africa.

In 2013 Dani donned garments from one or two up-andcoming designers during New York Fashion Week and also stared out from the pages of The New York Times Style Magazine as well as Vogue Italia. She has also appeared in Harper’s Bazaar after a Munich shoot.

International success continued when Dani was asked to be at a model casting for designer Jean Paul Gaultier in the lead up to Paris Fashion Week.

“I knew little of Gaultier before he asked my agent to make sure I’d be at the casting,” Dani says. “That aside, he is a very cool designer – someone I have huge respect for and I remain thankful he gave me the opportunity to wear his designs.”

As well as the highs, the half decade has produced some very low, lows. In Paris in 2013, Dani was walking back to her apartment when she was pinned against a wall by a man. Drawing on taekwondo skills taught by her dad and uncle from a very young age, she was able to break free from his grip and get inside the foyer of her apartment block.

However, someone let the man in and, as she waited for the elevator, he tried to pull her clothes off. A punch to the throat eventually saw the attacker retreat, chased also by Dani’s flatmate who had arrived at the scene after hearing a commotion.

One of the worst times followed a fly-in-fly-out visit home to farewell a cousin she was very close to and who had died suddenly as the result of a car crash. “I was here and then I was gone and I didn’t give myself anytime to grieve. That and the constant pressure of work, the isolation, the travel, and the competitive world of modelling, caught up with me and I hit rock bottom.”

Dani returned home to “get better”. Which is perhaps slightly ironic considering her first words to the nation about the mill town went along the lines of her greatest achievement was to get out of Kawerau without being pregnant and having avoided jail. And because laughter is the best medicine, when she needed mending Dani spent a lot of time with her ninety-something-year-old Nan Cecile, with whom she has a close bond.

“Nan is crack-up. She still loves life, she went horse-riding as a birthday present not that long ago.” While Dani was being filmed for a Native Affairs show, Nan also had her moment in front of the camera scolding her granddaughter for her tattoos and telling the television crew Dani had lost the plot. “Every time I see her she growls about what she believes is a mess on my arms,” Dani laughs. “I keep telling her I’ll take her to get a tattoo one day.”

Dani’s body ink is a reflection of both her creativity and also her “funny” side. She has a camel on one of her toes, a bar on another and the word promise inked on her pinky finger.

A diamond on one foot intends to show the pressure we put our feet under, a Mandela quote on her rib cage reflects her time in Africa, a triangle on her arm represents the Father, and Son and Holy Spirit and her sleeve is a combination of “everything”. Most of the work has been done by Waimana’s Te Haunui Tuna.

For the past 12 months Dani has stuck close to home, taking on modelling jobs around New Zealand and shooting Ghost in the Shell. But she says her elongated feet are itchy and she hopes to be packing her bags for an international flight soon.

This may mean expanding her t-shirt line YY Express will go on the back-burner again. “The YY Express concept came on a slow Sunday in Kawerau. I wanted to come up with something Kiwi to put on a t-shirt and I reckon I did that. It’s something I want to add to and grow, just like I want to get my pilot’s licence, write a book and write a song.”

And if there is ever a dull moment as she goes about ticking things off that to-do list, Dani could always start counting those freckles that haven’t finished spreading yet.

“I KNEW LITTLE OF GAULTIER BEFORE THE CASTING. HE IS A VERY COOL DESIGNER – SOMEONE I HAVE HUGE RESPECT FOR” P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

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A ROOM WITH A VIEW WORDS LONNIE BERG PHOTOGRAPHY ANDY TAYLOR

OK,

HERE’S THE STORY; there’s two good Kiwi blokes who make

excellent wine in a car park (sorry, there’s no getting past this) and then invite people in to kick back and taste it, buy it and learn cool stuff about it, all while being knocked over with what must be the best panorama in the Bay of Plenty, high on Mt Ngongotaha in the Volcanic Hills Tasting Room. And to get there you go up in a gondola.

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When I got the brief to interview the winemakers at Volcanic Hills, I have to admit to a degree of ignorance, both of the brand itself and the fact that I wasn’t aware of a thriving wine industry in Rotorua. Turns out I was only half ignorant. There isn’t a thriving viticulture here. Rotorua doesn’t have the climate to produce classic wine. We knew that. I knew that - it’s too cold here during the winter. Now that we’ve established that, let’s go back to the story and meet the two geniuses behind this venture and they can explain how it works.

After a couple of false starts based on the directions I’d been given, I eventually locate the wine makers in an adjacent building to the main gondola centre. In my defence it’s been a few years since I’ve been up in the gondolas and the Skyline Adventure Centre complex is sophisticated and enormous.

But you immediately leave that behind when you step into the winery, which is a no-nonsense business; high stud, concrete floors and great vats of bubbling grapes in various stages of fermentation. It smells fantastic.

I had been told by my editor that the winemakers Sean Beer and Brent Park wore swannies and gumboots, but in fact they were normally attired in jeans and icebreaker-type jackets.

Or maybe he said they looked as though they should wear swannies and gumboots. In that case it’s perfectly true. There is something hearteningly down to earth about both of them.

That goes beyond their appearance and manner to the essence of this enterprise.

Sean and Brent have been making wine together for almost two decades. They met at one of New Zealand’s top four wineries and both have worked extensively overseas as well. They know their stuff, and both knew that they wanted to try a different model and establish a new kind of wine culture that was a bit more accessible to us civilians as well as making, as Sean puts it, “great wine for our friends and your friends”.

Both have roots in the Bay and wanted to come back here, but the problem, Sean says, is that there’s not a lot of grapes grown around where most of the people live think Hawke’s Bay, Martinborough and Central Otago.

So, in an “if the mountain won’t come to Mohamed” moment they had the bright idea to bring the grapes to the people.

Rotorua’s domestic and international tourism is worth $772m per annum with 3.1 million people visiting each year. A whole lot of those folk are pretty damn keen to

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experience the thrill of the gondolas, luge or the world-class down hill mountain biking at MTB Gravity Park, to name Skylines’s big three attractions.

“WE WANT IT OAKY, BUT WE DON’T WANT TO GIVE YOU SPLINTERS” That’s an extraordinary number of people passing the Volcanic Hills Tasting Room each day and it completely turns the traditional wine experience on its head. They had a choice - locate in Hawke’s Bay and be the 71st winery, or come to Rotorua and be Number One with millions, literally millions, of people passing the tasting room. It’s unprecedented. It’s the New Zealand equivalent of having a winery inside Disneyland (but way, way classier).

Before we get down to the actual interview we make a quick inspection of the winery.

The last of the harvest is hard at work in large vats, each a different wine in a different stage.

As I said it smells delicious and as I peer into them they look delicious too. Carbon dioxide is released during the fermentation of red wines and this causes the grape skins to rise to the surface, so they use what looks like a giant potato masher to punch down the “cap” several times a day to keep the skins in contact with the juice. I must admit I’m a little disappointed there are no inebriated peasants in the vats treading the grapes with their feet, but I suppose this is progress.

In another room the wine is aged in oak barrels.

Here I was hoping to hear the wine gurgling and burping (and if one accidentally exploded that would be pretty neat too) but it’s actually very quiet. I do note with satisfaction though that a barrel of Rosé is silently frothing out of its plug and on to the floor. This is the cool part of fermentation, it’s a living thing.

Rosé, by the way, is the new black according to these guys and they reckon it’s about to take off in a big way. A revolution for men, freeing them to drink pink wine.

Up in the tasting room the view is spectacular.

Sean brings over a few bottles for tasting and explains why they do things the way they do in this unique marriage of winery and tourism. He says back in 2011 he and Brent and their wives were looking for sites in Rotorua. Their wives don’t figure much in this interview, but are both crucial to the business. Jo Beer is the Marketing Manager and Larissa Park the Accounts Manager.

Three things were vital: location, ambiance and enough space to make and sell wine.

The likely lads; Brent, left, and Sean of Volcanic Hills

Volcanic Hills Wines is available overseas too. In a major coup United Airlines just picked up Volcanic Hills Pinot Noir for its first class international routes, and their wine is also served at the Kiwi-chef run Michelin-starred Musket Room restaurant in Manhattan.

But now we get down to business with the tasting.

First up is a chardonnay. It’s not the big, out of control, too-much-oak-and-butter chardonnays of the 90s, it’s subtler and to my taste a whole lot better.

As Sean says, “We want it oaky, but we don’t want to give you splinters”.

They’d almost given up when they approached Bruce Thomasen, General Manager of Skyline Rotorua, who didn’t - at first anyway - want a business in his car park. But they are persuasive chaps and clearly got their way in the end, and so started this very different kind of winery.

This is the way they talk about wine. Lots of images and homey metaphors. You’re not going to hear about an “undercurrent of blackberries with a subtle hint of smoky gooseberry” at Volcanic Hills. Sean says wines have different jobs. Their job is to match your mood, your friends and your food. And I like that they believe wine actually has a strong work ethic.

It’s usually one that easily overpowers my own.

The grapes are selected and sourced from different regions depending on what kind of wine they want to make, which gives them an extraordinary freedom for winemakers. Their business model is different too. They don’t sell to supermarkets – clearly why I hadn’t heard of them – and they are part of what is called in the United States the ‘urban winery movement’.

You can however, buy Volcanic Hills wine in a number of eateries in the Bay of Plenty.

He also explains how the brain works when it’s tasting wine. The first sip is the throw away sip; your brain springs to life and annoys you with taste comparisons. On your second sip your brain is still annoying, but less so.

By the third taste your brain’s got bored and gone back to the hole it lives in, and that’s when you can decide if you like the wine or not. Sounds simple, but try it – it works.

Next up is Pinot Noir, king of New Zealand’s reds. Australia is too hot for this more delicate grape and so we own the Antipodes in Pinot Noir. Sean brings two bottles to the table. One from Martinborough and the other from Central Otago. He says one is a boy and one is a girl; I guess the the male Pinot Noir is from Central Otago and I’m right. He’s bigger and more robust, the Southern Man embodied. This makes so much sense to me. The first time I visited the South Island, I immediately thought it was the big brother to the North Island’s little sister.

“THE FIRST SIP IS THE THROW AWAY SIP;

All this kind of talk is at the very core of this enterprise.

Sean and Brent wanted to create a wine experience for YOUR BRAIN SPRINGS TO LIFE AND people who wouldn’t normally enter a winery and ANNOYS YOU WITH TASTE COMPARISONS. from which jargon is banned and the atmosphere is friendly and informal rather than intimidating. Sean says he’s seen it happen time and time again in the past. People are given way too much - and too technical and hyberbolic YOUR BRAIN IS STILL ANNOYING, BUT LESS SO. - guff about wine and (apart from being immensely boring), all that information blows their heads off and - shame on those other winemakers - makes people YOUR BRAIN’S GOT BORED AND GONE BACK TO THE HOLE IT LIVES IN, AND feel stupid.

ON YOUR SECOND SIP

BY THE THIRD TASTE

THAT’S WHEN YOU CAN DECIDE IF YOU LIKE THE WINE OR NOT”

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Sean says the focus of the tasting is the social aspect. People tend to come in small groups and they are here for about half an hour. It doesn’t take long for the staff’s friendly craic (if I may mix up my alcoholic references here) to get their guests loosened up and firing right back. They leave, as I did, knowing more about wine than when they went in. They’re going to have a little glow on, and possibly be a bit lighter in the wallet too – but that’s the point of wine. Buy the best you can afford, drink it with people you love, and enjoy it.

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An interview with

INTERVIEW ANDY TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY SARAH TRAVERS

Jacinda Ardern travels pretty light. She may be the deputy leader of the opposition and a closely watched rising star of New Zealand politics tipped for greatness, but she arrives for an interview and photo shoot for Plenty without an entourage and without any sense of the urgency you’d expect from someone who is scheduled to walk out in front of a packed town hall meeting straight after our meeting.

She also arrives without an ego or agreed agenda – she is happy to discuss anything we want to throw at her, and waves away talk of copy approval and any topics being off limits. The trademark smile is there – she sheepishly and somewhat awkwardly admits she can’t not do it – and she is happy to go straight from walking in the door to being in front of the camera as the light quickly fails.

In a world of fake news, carefully manufactured public personas and early morning tweets, Jacinda Ardern in person is – refreshingly – the Jacinda Ardern you see on the telly: genuine, erudite, thoughtful and funny. The only real baggage she carries is a peculiar authenticity that makes you feel you already somehow know her, that perhaps you went to school with her, or maybe grew up around the corner from her. She has a mojo and a mana that are hard to explain, and maybe, just maybe, that has something to do with a little corner of the Bay of Plenty.

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“Lets put it this way – I was the only leftie in the village for a very long time!”

P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

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“My memories of Murupara are generally really happy ones I have a very vivid memory of getting locked in my Dad’s police handcuffs and him having to come home to get me out, so there were definitely lighter moments!”

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PLENTY You were born in Hamilton, but have often spoken about how the time you spent in Murupara as a child influenced you greatly.

JA I remember the idea of moving to Murupara as a small child being such an adventure, but when I look back now I realise what a big move it was for a young family and for my mother who had never been there before. My father was a policeman and in those days you moved where the work was and policing meant living in the community. I have an overwhelming memory of Murupara being a really tight-knit community of amazing people, but a community that was going through a really rough time. The restructuring of the forestry industry and resulting unemployment meant it was a town in a real state of depression, and it influenced me remarkably. Now as an adult it doesn’t account for a huge part of my life in years, but as a kid it was very formative. I went to Tawhio Primary and then went to Galatea, and coming from Hamilton and then moving there and seeing it through a child’s lens had a real impact. The idea that kids didn’t have shoes to go to school in, or something to eat, or proper access to health care - I really remember that. I just have very vivid memories of a town and a community struggling. I certainly wasn’t thinking about going into politics at that age, but it’s not lost on me that a lot of those early memories were under a Labour government – albeit a very, very different one from the one I later signed up to.

PLENTY Were you aware of the whys and wherefores of what was happening?

JA The impact of a town being entirely reliant on one industry and having the rug pulled out from under it was devastating, and though as a child I didn’t walk around shaking my head at Rogernomics, it certainly informed elements of my social conscience just because things were so stark. But my memories of Murupara are generally really happy ones - I have a very vivid memory of getting locked in my Dad’s police handcuffs and him having to come home to get me out, so there were definitely lighter moments!

PLENTY You once said that no one really grows up dreaming of a political future that involves being in opposition, so what were you dreaming of being in those days?

JA Definitely not politics! I probably wanted to be a policewoman and be like my Dad. I used to have a white shirt with an emblem on it that kind of looked official and I used to pretend to be some sort of officer at school.

But I didn’t take the handcuffs there! When I did think of joining the police, it was more about me being some kind of youth aid officer, more about helping people than catching baddies! But I kept a diary even then and I know that at some point I wrote in it that I wanted to be a clown because they seemed to make everyone so happy and that must be the greatest job in the world – which is ironic as I find them terrifying now.

Stephen King ruined it for everybody.

P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

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PLENTY What about now – if not politics, then what?

JA I’ve never had a Plan B. Or a Plan A for that matter! Politics still feels quite accidental for me.

The closer I got to it and realised it was an amazing job, the further I was from thinking I wanted to do it, because I genuinely believe that if you don’t have any doubts about going into politics then you really don’t know what you are getting yourself into. When I was first asked to run I said no, and it was in a quite incremental way that I came round to the idea of entering politics. For a start I didn’t think I was tough enough, but I didn’t want to regret having not given it a go. I do remember making the decision to run for Auckland Central after watching a West Wing Episode – how cheesy is that?!

It must have been a great episode.

It was – Two Cathedrals – the one when he’s trying to decide whether to run for President again. Just goes to show how dangerous the influence of television can be!

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PLENTY Have you ever experienced what we like to call the Tall Poppy syndrome?

JA I guess it depends on how you define success. I don’t really see myself as being a success or a tall poppy because what I’m doing now is just so far outside of any of the criteria I set for myself. I’m in opposition – I haven’t really done anything yet, at least none of the things I am in politics for anyway. For me the really important things were always more about family – and in that regard the jury is still out. I don’t think Grandma is particularly impressed with my career path though!

PLENTY Do you mind being in the limelight?

JA I accept that it is part of the job and I thankfully don’t mind being open with people. I do mind when it impacts on my family though, as they never chose this.

PLENTY It has been remarked upon that you have an ability to ‘cut through’ to New Zealanders. Where do you think this comes from?

JA There are a lot of good communicators in politics so I don’t see myself as being anything special in that regard, but I do feel very lucky to have had the start that I had.

You know, in addition to Murupara I also spent a lot of time in Morrinsville, and – lets put it this way – I was the only leftie in the village for a very long time! People would whisper behind their hands about voting Labour and give me the fingers when I was out campaigning, and when you hold views that are different from everyone else you get very good at empathising with others and trying to connect somehow.

The benefit of living in such different places means that when I do policy work – and I love policy work, I’m a total pointy head in that regard because I like to solve problems – I always try to think if it would work in Murupara, Morrinsville and Auckland, because if it will work in those diverse places it will work across the board. There is a line that I like from T S Eliot: In my beginning is my end. So much of where we end up is predetermined by how we start. I really believe in that and I try to let it guide me in any policy decisions. I’m just grateful that the start I had was so formative.

In my beginning is my end.

So much of where we end up is predetermined by how we start.

PLENTY It has also been noted that regardless of whether people like your politics or not, they recognise you have genuine passion.

JA I just never grew out of my angsty teenage years! Usually people shed that, but I’m going to carry mine right through to middle age.

PLENTY You’ve embraced social media more than any other New Zealand politician; you have a huge following on Twitter for example, so are there any other similarities between you and Donald Trump?

JA I think very carefully about everything I post on Twitter.

And a very important difference between us – apart from our very different value sets – is that I don’t have access to a nuclear arsenal!

PLENTY The mainstream media have been quick to point out that all of this might somewhat over shadow Labour leader Andrew Little. Is that a concern for you?

JA For me it is all about doing my job, and if I can bring more people to support Labour then that is ‘job done’. My goal is to see Labour in government and it’s all about the party vote - Andrew and I have often talked about how important that is.

Rightly or wrongly we have seen the shift here and overseas to a focus on individual personalities, when in fact when you come to vote you should really be thinking about who brings the best team to the table. Andrew has been really awesome to work with, and he has a completely focused and unflappable nature something that should be pretty highly valued in politics.

PLENTY You’ve been on an extensive tour of the country with him, speaking at town hall meetings. When you are on these road trips, who gets to choose the CD – you or Andrew?

JA Ha! So far, we haven’t had music because we are just yarning about work, or listening to the news, or talking about family. But a surprising thing I just learnt about Andrew is that he doesn’t use an alarm, and given the number of interviews he has to give from 5 o’clock in the morning this blows my mind. He just wakes up naturally when he has to and I guess it comes from his time as a trade unionist when he was doing research on shift workers and the impact of sleep cycles on people. I’ve just never met anyone who has such a brutal routine and who doesn’t use an alarm. One day I really must prank him on this, call him at 4 o’clock in the morning and say, “Where the heck are you, you’re late!”

PLENTY Those meetings have taken you to quite a few places in regional New Zealand.

Globally, and here, there is a renewed focus on cities and major centres, so what do you think the future holds for places like Murupara and the Bay of Plenty?

JA I think about this a lot. I work in the social development space, and I absolutely believe that there is a whole group of families who wouldn’t be coming to the attention of the state if they just had the dignity of a decent job, with decent wages. This will be a huge focus for us in government. That does mean placing much greater emphasis on two things, diversification of our economy so we can remove some of the vulnerabilities that exist in our regions, and also regional economic development more generally. We have already given a very real example in Gisborne of our plans for timber processing as a way to add more value to all of the current raw product we are exporting, but we also want to work with local councils to identify what job creation projects and ideas look like in their backyard. All in all, we just need a government that doesn’t forget any part of New Zealand or is distracted by the challenges in our cities. We have to have a vision that benefits every single corner of the country. And I consider myself very lucky to have lived in some of those corners.

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Outa the Kitchen WORDS ANDY TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHY SARAH TRAVERS

J

UST THREE YEARS after being born in a suburban kitchen, No. 3 are making more than a name for themselves with a range of all-natural, plant-based

products, including their trademarked Underbalm® deodorant.

Now produced in a small but perfectly formed production facility in Pye’s Pa in Tauranga, Plenty caught up with the

husband and wife team to hear about how it all began, what’s in the name, and why they’re strictly against animal testing but have been known to draft in friends and family as guinea pigs.

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Wayne and Cheryl - the proud parents in situ with child No. 3

As light bulb moments go, the one that led to the creation of No. 3 is fairly inauspicious.

Cheryl MacGregor is adamant the idea to produce their highly successful Underbalm® deodorant came during a family road trip; husband Wayne Lewis clearly doesn’t remember. But whatever the providence of the concept it has proven to be a successful one.

The innovative deodorant has turned into a best seller and validated the pair’s belief that – like them – people wanted a simpler and safer line of skin care products that contained no animal products but still did the job.

The couple had always wanted to be in business together and had been considering buying in to a franchise of some sort. “We

“You can follow all the rules but at the end of the day you also have to go with what feels right and trust your own judgement, especially when it comes to fragrances.”

realized we wanted the business to be our story though,” Cheryl says. “When you create and design something yourself, it is your story and no one else’s, which means you have a real connection to it, and when you have to put in all the long unpaid hours getting it going, it makes it easier when the journey is yours to tell.”

The couple initially started producing scented candles before settling on the idea for skin care products that, well, had less nastiness in them. “I’m positive it was while we were out driving with the kids,” Cheryl says, returning to the lightbulb moment, “that it just occurred to us that it seemed really hard to buy things like liquid soap that wasn’t a chemical cocktail. There are just so many things added to liquid soap for viscosity and texture and the like, and deodorants aren’t far behind, so we wanted to see if it was possible to make something that was still affordable and convenient but didn’t involve all those chemicals. We wanted products that were functional – that just worked.”

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They’re strictly against animal testing – but have been known to draft in friends and family as guinea pigs.

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And so - after extensive research we should add

it on themselves. “When you are using natural

- it was into the kitchen. In the best Kiwi tradition,

ingredients there is much less to be afraid of when

prototypes emerged from the stove top as Cheryl

testing,” Wayne says, “and we always knew we were

used her cosmetic chemistry training, creativity

going to avoid animal products – we just didn’t see

and intuition and experimented for several months

the need – so when we thought we had a winning

–so each evening Wayne could expect to be met at

product we’d put it through its paces on ourselves!

the door with a new range of liquids, creams and

And then friends and family. I think we even tested

original No. 3 fragrances to deliberate on. “It’s

our pet shampoo on ourselves first – if it’s good

part science, part art, and really part intuition,”

enough for us, it should be good enough for Fido.”

Cheryl says. “You can follow all the rules but at the end of the day you also have to go with what feels right and trust your own judgement, especially

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From this process a small range of standouts emerged and it was time to get out of the kitchen

when it comes to fragrances.”

and into the market. “We have two boys,” Cheryl

In addition to avoiding animal products, the couple

on that, so the business became baby number

also wanted to avoid any form of animal testing,

three. So settling on No. 3 as the name for our

so they rolled up their sleeves and, well, tested

business was an easy decision – which has turned

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says, “I wanted a third but Wayne wasn’t so keen

out to be pretty accurate because it has been very

are looking for and that is really valuable. So,

similar to having another child!”

the Little Big Markets have been instrumental in

Part of the early years of No. 3’s childhood were spent in refining the business model. With a strong social media presence and an online store in place, Cheryl and Wayne set about taking their message to the masses and employed the best spokespeople they could find: themselves. “We go to The Little

growing No. 3 and providing a springboard for us. We also have a few amazing mentors who have invested so much of themselves into No. 3, helping to shape it into what it is,” Cheryl says. “Business cannot grow without strong connections and relationships with fabulous people.”

Big Markets every month, and General Collective

Like with any business, the transition from

in Auckland,” Cheryl says, “and it’s basically

passionate sideline to replacement for the day

a double act. I do the soaps and skin care, and

job can be fraught with peril, and No. 3 are

Wayne does the deodorant – and he does it really

determined to manage their growth sensibly. “The

well. People just seem to warm to a guy who tells

main thing is we want is to continue enjoying it,”

it like it is about deodorant additives! But these

Cheryl says. “Designing and creating products is

markets also allow us to communicate directly

just so enjoyable, but we don’t want our third child

with our customers and find out exactly what they

to turn into a rat bag!”

Great casual dining atmosphere and awesome cocktails

19 POHUTUKAWA AVE, OHOPE BEACH 07 312 6122 HELLO@CADERA.CO.NZ

The Bay’s most authentic Mexican cuisine

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TUESDAY - THURSDAY: 4PM TILL LATE FRIDAY - SUNDAY: 11AM TILL LATE

INTERVIEW ROZ TOCKER, TOI OHOMAI HOSPITALITY TUTOR DESIGN NICOLA DOBSON

Annabelle White

Queen of Cuisine

Annabelle White is an exuberant radio and television

personality who is intent on popularizing the fun aspects of

food and cooking. She was a food columnist with the Sunday Star Times for over twenty years and wrote the popular Food Detective column, and she is also a former food editor for NZ House and Garden and NZ Women’s Weekly.

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In all she has published eleven cookbooks, is a regular presence in the media, and is also busy with cooking classes and public speaking engagements.

But while we may all be familiar with her voice, it is less well known that she hails from Waimana in the Bay of Plenty and still has strong family ties to this area. Plenty caught up with her to find out about where she comes from, why she can’t watch Master Chef, and why people who need to know the sex of their calamari are just a pain in the neck.

Can you tell us about your early years?

I was born in 1958 and I spent the first three years of my life in Waimana; my father was a farmer and the White family are quite well-established in Waimana – all the families around there, the Bell’s, the White’s, they all know each other, it’s hilarious – and even though I was very young I do remember the beautiful, beautiful clarity and freshness of the place.

When I went to stay with my Aunt in Nukuhou when I was older, I learnt to love the sound of a distant car on a country road. It’s like a Rita Angus painting! I loved it there and later, when we moved in to Whakatāne, I went to St Joseph’s Convent at the early age of four. In fact the Nuns used to call my mother and ask if Annabelle could have the day off school that day because the inspectors were coming! Later we moved on to Tauranga and I began to spend more and more time there; I have always had lovely memories of the eastern Bay – and I absolutely adore Ōhope; I spend as many weeks as possible each year at that beach and just love it.

From a food perspective, I’m very excited about what is happening in the area; everything from Blueberry Corner where they not only have great berries, but the owners’ young son is doing the most amazing baking – when he is home from school! – through to the Ōhope Market where I’ve found some amazing products. I think people get sick of me raving on about this on the radio, but I just can’t stop.

The quality of the produce is outstanding.

And of course you also have Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant with the wonderful Tom Maguire in Ōhope now, and I’ve often wondered why we have to travel halfway round the world to sit with tourists when you can sit there in Ōhope with that sunset and get better seafood and better service! I feel strongly that the seafood in New Zealand is very, very good. From a gastronomic point of view it is far superior to what you would get in some crowded tourist place on the coast of Italy. And you have a fantastic macadamia nut grower, and natural spring water free for the taking on the side of the road, Chez Louis pizzas, the oyster farm, and the lovely Maurice at Bread Asylum – there are some amazing operators in that area! Make a trip to the Bay of Plenty with an empty car and you always come home laden with goodies!

Image supplied

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What is your approach to cooking?

My approach to cooking now is actually far simpler than it was when I first started. I used to think that when I’m going to do dessert I’ll make a meringue with apricots and cream and hazelnuts and such complicated procedures, but now I’m more likely to just serve beautiful fresh apricots in syrup, just incredibly simple – it’s about making the ingredients stand out for themselves.

If the ingredients are really lovely, like a beautiful Taylor’s Gold pear, you really don't need to do anything to them; they are just perfect like that. It takes a degree of confidence to keep things simple like that, but yes my cooking has certainly simplified.

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IT’S ABOUT MAKING THE INGREDIENTS STAND OUT FOR THEMSELVES

Which way is food trending at the moment?

I think people are becoming more and more concerned with where their food is coming from, and we are going to become more concerned with that moving forward.

One part of me thinks there will hopefully be a big development towards more raw food – and by that I don’t mean raw meat – and I am hoping, really hoping, that there will be more awareness of getting at least five servings of fresh fruit and vegetables a day. I know that to some people that sounds crazy, but to me, I don’t know how they manage to keep their energy levels up each day without eating those things. If I don’t have regular salads – and in particular I love the cos lettuce right now – if I don’t have those on a daily basis I begin to feel quite down.

And what does life outside of food look like for you?

I love walking, especially Nordic Walking - I’ve walked from Whakatāne to Ōhope several times now and I love that walk. I love reading and getting together with friends, but socializing is quite blurred for me because it often tends to be work related in that I’ll be catching up with friends to try a new restaurant or visit some producer.

And this will come as a shock to anyone who knows me, but I really love things that don’t involve talking! I love going to the library and going to the movies by myself, which might sound a bit odd, but when you work in radio and the media you really do need that time out. So my time off from work is pretty quiet, I’m not a big fan of crowded concerts – pretty boring really!

Your work life must be fairly hectic.

It is demanding, it’s busy, but it’s good busy, and it’s good to feel that you can make a difference. My big message is to encourage people to cook, because to cook is to love and to love is to cook. It so important to nurture, and I think if you really care about someone, y’know, you’ll make them a bowl of soup or a casserole, but I really don’t want to encourage crazy, complex culinary pursuits. If I ever start talking about spun sugar or timbales or mousseline then you can take me out and shoot me because I have gone completely mad! So I can’t watch Master Chef and I can’t watch My Kitchen Rules because I can’t stand to watch people getting so stressed in the kitchen. It should be simple, and ultimately enjoyable. The creating and giving of food is what it’s all about, that and keeping things seasonal - seasonal, seasonal, seasonal – and don’t try and show off. I know people who like to do that, and I don’t think it’s appropriate.

What prompted you to write your first cookbook?

What prompted me was Dame Alison Holst. She said, “Annabelle you’ve got some amazing recipes and it’s time you did a cookbook,” and though I initially said no, I’m now glad I did. Because in those days cookbooks were different – they were important and special and people really appreciated getting these recipes. Nowadays everyone goes online and it is all out there, and so the late 90s was a good time to start selling a cookbook, and I’m really happy to say that Best Recipes, which was my first and most popular book with recipes requested by readers of the Sunday Star Times, is still something I use every day and still love. Maybe it’s a little strange to call your first book Best Recipes, but those were ones that people had asked for, and it has been reprinted so many times and the fact I love most is that it is the most stolen cook book in the Wellington Public Library. I’m so proud of that - I’ve been told I’m not allowed to say that because it encourages recidivist behaviour, but I’m still very proud of that fact because I think it has some really, really great recipes.

“ANNABELLE YOU’VE GOT SOME AMAZING RECIPES AND IT’S TIME YOU DID A COOKBOOK”

Are you thinking of another cookbook?

I’m thinking more of a kind of memoir as I have so many great stories, but it's a question of time. It won’t be a selfindulgent, look-at-me sort of thing – I want people to read a chapter and have a good laugh and be a bit happier.

Who would you say inspires you?

I’m inspired by a whole range of people. Whenever I hear Michelle Obama speak I think how much I’d love to sit down and have dinner with her. I did an interview with Nigella Lawson and she was lovely, and Rick Stein was also a good person to chat with, but in terms of inspiration the chefs who inspire me are Neven Maguire – he’s worth a trip to Ireland – and Jean-Georges Vongerichten - who was born in France but now works in New York; he’s a rockstar in the food world and the best meal of my life was had in one of his restaurants, he’s just like the bloke next door but easily the most impressive person I have ever met in terms of cuisine. But here in New Zealand we have someone I’m lucky enough to call a close friend and that is Mark Gregory – he has been NZ Chef of the Year, British Chef of the Year, and the only NZ Chef who’s ever been decorated by the French government and he’s absolutely delightful and a great chef as well as a very kind person.

That comes through a lot in your conversation – this idea of kindness.

I think kindness is really important in life, but it is also really important in the kitchen. My food philosophy comes from growing up watching my grandmother and my mother kindly preparing food and feeding people with kindness, and now it’s nice because I can do that for others.

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You have a quite academic background for a chef.

I have an MA with first class honours in history and geography, and a few years ago I was awarded an alumni from the University of Waikato – when they phoned me up I thought they wanted help with catering, I just couldn’t believe they were going to award me something! And I think the reason they did that was because I went from a history degree into food. And that was a complete shuffle, and they wanted to encourage graduates to think beyond the obvious. I can’t tell you how much happiness I have got from working in the food business; there are aspects of it that are hard but it is such a dream to be able to bring enjoyment and happiness. And I’m worried that some bloggers in their 20s that are coming through are not so willing to do some of the things that are important; recently I said to a blogger – and I’m sounding like an old woman here – that when I started I’d load my car up with my books and my fry pans and go and do 12 cooking classes in three days and she looked at me like I was a crazy woman from the lunatic asylum. I could see that she would never consider doing that and she asked me why I did do it. I said, “Because there is a need to do that, to share, to communicate and to be helpful”.

She looked at me like I was quite mad.

Great food, excellent coffee, and the best sweet treats in the Bay. We also have plenty of gluten free options, and we do catering.

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What I’m well-known for is my buttermilk scones – that video has gone crazy – simple honest cooking and cooking tips; I think tips are an important thing because people remember them - when they are in the kitchen they remember that the old bag said this or that and they decide to give it a go – and they do it and it works and they are happy.

There can be a lot of pretentiousness in food and I think that is ridiculous – the people who worry about the sex of the calamari before they eat it are just a pain in the neck, and so are the people who suddenly become paleo at a dinner – if you are fussy about your food, then just bring your own food!!

WHAT I’M WELL-KNOWN FOR IS MY BUTTERMILK SCONES – THAT VIDEO HAS GONE CRAZY – SIMPLE HONEST COOKING AND COOKING TIPS.

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Shape of Things to Come There's no time like the present to take a look into the future and we've found five of the best in the Bay who we think are leading the way in their chosen fields.

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A one man and his dog life-saving scissormission

WORDS ANGELA FRANK PHOTO RILEY CLAXTON Travelling New Zealand in a 1971 Bedford ambulance, the dandy and downright loquacious Sam Dowdell is sweeping Aotearoa with a preventative health campaign for men, trading as ‘The Barter Barber’. What’s he trading? Haircuts for humanity – and dog food.

In person, he encourages people to dig deep, but rather than cash he’s asking for korero. “Communication,” he says. “Men need to get much, much better at it. Especially those at high risk of depression through geographical and cultural isolation.”

And that is why the Barter Barber campaign is all about establishing new norms in regional communities for men’s mental health, funded by the crowdfunding platform Give a Little. This helps Sam stay on the road where he and his poodle-cross, Bo, access people in need and do a spot of no-cash trading.

Sam uses the time his customers are in the chair to open conversations about positive mental-health strategies, like strengthening peer support and focusing on personal wellbeing, and when asked about his career Sam reflects that over time his focus has shifted from hair to health.

“I left school at fifteen, did my apprenticeship and went straight into running my own barber shop. In those days, I was all about money,” he says. Now, at twenty-seven, the moustache enthusiast is exchanging haircuts and trims for conversations about positive mental-health strategies as an action-response to four of his friends having committed suicide.

Starting in January, Bo and Sam have now travelled the greater Bay of Plenty, including helping in Edgecumbe, where he assisted hands on with the clean-up effort after raising funds for those affected by the recent floods. “The PTSD fallout from these kinds of events can be huge. They’re now ‘at-risk’ and need real, grass-roots support,” he says.

With twelve barbering years behind him, Sam’s equipped to meet diversity. He’s done it all. From an African-American barbershop in California to styling hair for a gang wedding in Northland to preening Tom Cruise on a promotional tour, and everyone in between. Sam’s seemingly effortless agility has seen him connect with high-end businessmen, LGTBQI communities, and people living without homes. He’s positive for the intended impact of his mission.

“By the time I’ve finished, I’ll have talked with more New Zealand men than any other New Zealander. I think that’s pretty amazing.”

Support the cause www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/barterbarber P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

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Sure to rise

Laurent Eudes, Helen and Maurice - the team behind Bread Asylum

WORDS BOB SACAMANO PHOTO SARAH TRAVERS

We first met Maurice Lees back in Plenty 01, so although we have covered the birth and growth – fermentation should we say? – of his Manawahe enterprise Bread Asylum before, we thought it was a story worth revisiting and retelling; because if anyone is taking the past into the future it is Maurice.

Together with wife Helen and French baker Laurent he has established a little bit of Paris in a little known corner of the Bay and reintroduced a centuries old process of producing sour dough bread according to traditional recipes. The bake-house they have built in Manawahe is a testament to their dedication to perfection and the bread they make is a thing to behold.

The long fermentation sour dough is strictly old school – as in centuries old school – but they have brought everything up to date with a great line of new products including sundried tomato with fennel, dill and caraway seeds, and the incredible and annoyingly moorish “Seed Vicious”.

“The challenge,” says Maurice, “is keeping supply and distribution up where it needs to be while maintaining the quality that we are known for. All our bread is hand made in our hand built bakery, and it takes time and care – just like all good things – but while we are committed to bringing this ancient art into the modern world we won’t compromise on quality. I mean, why would we – where’s the fun in that? And besides this art is something that needs to be maintained and cherished and then when the bread is eaten - appreciated by the eater.”

You can find their excellent output at markets throughout the Bay and locally at Drift Store in Matatā, Fresh Market in Whakatāne, Chez Louis in Ōhope and the Port Ōhope Store, Vetro in Rotorua and the iconic Okere Falls Store, as well as Funky Lizard in Paengaroa and The Old Trout Café at Lake Rotoma. As Maurice says, “Sour dough – it’ll change your life.” Or, more accurately perhaps, “You don’t have to be mad to work at Bread Asylum, but it certainly helps.”

Find out more on the Bread Asylum Facebook page

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Kia Kaha Edgecumbe WORDS KAY BOREHAM PHOTO KEEGAN BOYLE

What do people want most when their lives are suddenly thrown into chaos? Information; the answers to what, where, when, who and how.

Canon Media Award-nominated journalist Katee Shanks has made a career from asking those questions and answering them, generally in print. But following the 2016 demise of former employer The Whakatāne News, Shanks set up the News Whakatāne website and Facebook page delivering the kind of rapid-fire, on the spot coverage that the web was invented for, all with the warm, community-centric flair she was known for.

No surprise then to see Katee’s involvement in the Kia Kaha Edgecumbe Facebook page – a social media phenomenon that emerged from the devastating, muddy waters of the Rangitāiki – a page that within days of the flood had a following almost three-times the population of Edgecumbe.

Now that’s how to build an on-line community. “The first thing I knew about it was a message from Larni saying, ‘I’ve just created a page and you’re one of the admins’,” Katee laughs.

Larni is Larni Hepi, Te Teko-raised, now Auckland-based photographer and event producer.

Katee Shanks, Larni Hepe and Kris Byrne of Kia Kaha Edgecumbe

“Way back in the dark ages of 1988 when I started my journalism cadetship, people used to wait at the gate for their copy of the news. We’re so far past that now – instead of a mailbox we have a device that can be accessed anywhere and at any time for news as it happens. You’re not always sitting in front of a television, not everyone listens to radio, but the majority of the world’s population carry a smart phone. To be able to post information from the emergency response teams, and from councils, contributed to the large following on Kia Kaha Edgecumbe, but input from the affected residents and then from people throughout the country really made the wheels go round.

“There has been a small amount of negativity creep into the page which could possibly be due to stress and frustration but, on the whole, it has been awesome. At the end of the day the page is a digital transcript of the people and the flood, and it highlights the different stages of the disaster.

“It has been awesome to watch it take off and grow,” Katee says. “But it’s not anything I have done, or Larni, or Kris Byrne our other admin, have done, it’s what those 5,450 members have done that’s made it so hugely successful.”

Find out more on the Kia Kaha Edgecumbe Facebook page

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The Long and the Short of it WORDS ANDY TAYLOR PHOTO BOB SACAMANO In a world in which we are increasingly expected to be everything to everyone, it’s refreshing to meet someone like Simon McKenzie. The barista and main man behind Straight Up Espresso in Boon Street in Whakatāne, Simon marches to his own drum and Straight Up – well, Starbucks it is not. There are no corporate comfy chairs, no triple venti half-sweet, non-fat, caramel macchiatos, and no annoying background muzak; instead there are some serious sounds pumping, a bunch of regulars getting their gossip on, and coffee. Really, really good coffee.

So good in fact that Lonely Planet has shoulder tapped Simon’s barista skills not once, but twice. The first shout out from “The Book” came in 2008 when Simon’s first venture, The Bean, garnered acclaim, and it was not long after that, that he relocated to Auckland to a new start up in K Road. Simon is the first to admit, however, that he didn’t really take that move seriously and he was soon back in Whakatāne close to friends and family and with the master plan for Straight Up in mind.

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“I knew I wanted a place with just one staff member and without the worry of doing food,” he says. “I just wanted to concentrate on coffee and being a great barista, as that is what I’m passionate about. I just love the process.” And after doing it for 17 years, he has pretty much nailed it. “It really is about passion,” he says. “A good barista can make you a great coffee with bad beans, but a bad barista can’t make good coffee even with the best beans in the world. You have to love it, and you have to love putting a smile on the customer’s face every time.”

Lonely Planet has shoulder tapped Simon’s barista skills not once, but twice

His quirky style and taste in music may not be everyone’s cup of, er, tea, but that’s what makes Straight Up so good. This is café culture – and coffee – as it should be – loud, strong and iconoclastic. As one regular remarked, you don’t go to Simon’s to relax, you go there for the best coffee around and to be invigorated. And that’s the straight up truth.

Check it out for yourself at 5 Boon Street, Whakatāne

Going global with SetSeed WORDS ANDY TAYLOR PHOTO BOB SACAMANO

Chris Parnell with business partner Natalie Bufton

give them a bespoke version, and the really great thing is that it can be applied to any industry – it can basically do everything that you want to do with the web.”

Global telecommuting was supposed to have seen us all working in cutting edge industries across the interweb years ago, but - like flying cars and teleporting - no one seems to have actually gotten around to making it happen. Except for Chris Parnell’s CG Design agency.

CG Design and SetSeed have become a serious international success story

Kawerau-born Parnell started out as graphic designer, but has been steadily revolutionizing how businesses use the web via the SetSeed platform, which he helped pioneer with UK-based partner Ben Vallack and local partner in crime Natalie Bufton. In addition to major Kiwi clients like Te Puia, Hachette and Tainui, CG Design and SetSeed have become a serious international success story, and the fact that Chris and Natalie have never met Ben in person and have built this story via Skype, creativity and hard yacker is even more remarkable.

Not surprisingly, it is proving very popular indeed; CG Design currently has more than 200 clients in half a dozen countries around the world, with resellers of their platform taking that roster even further afield. “We’ve been contacted by people from just about every county that I can think of,” Parnell says “but we want to manage our growth carefully - we don’t want some empire that takes all our time just to manage.

Instead we want to stay small, simple and agile and push our creativity to clients rather than our Powerpoint pitches.”

In a nutshell, SetSeed is a web development platform like no other. It allows each user to take control of their website in a completely customisable way - or, in other words, SetSeed makes the web do what the web was always supposed to do.

“It’s a platform that allows entrepreneurs to grow,” Parnell says, “without being locked into a format that may or may not work for them down the line. We take our platform and

Constantly challenging the idea that bigger is better and that creativity matters more than anything is something we really like, and we also like the fact that CG Design has stayed true to its roots and remained right here in the Bay. Now if only they could sort out the flying car thing.

Find out more www.cgdesign.nz or www.setseed.com P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

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Words & cooking Sulata Ghosh

When the temperature outside starts to drop and the leaves start to change colour, there is nothing more comforting

than this rich and decadent cup of spiced hot chocolate to warm you up on those cold crisp nights by the fire. This hot chocolate is a crowd pleaser and will be loved by kids and adults alike and is just what the doctor ordered for those cozy nights in with a good book or a movie with friends and family.

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P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

Autumn Spice Mix Make this spice mix and store in a small glass container. It takes little effort and is ready to use whenever the need for a warming cup of chocolate strikes unannounced. This spice mix will keep for about 6 months in an air tight jar in the pantry but it may not last that long!

INGREDIENTS 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 and 1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 Teaspoon allspice 1/2 Teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 Teaspoon ground clove This is heaven in a jar and it probably took you all of 2 minutes to put together (not counting the trip to the supermarket if you didn’t already have these ingredients in the pantry)!

To make a good cup of hot chocolate, you must start with good quality chocolate. Step away from whatever drinking chocolate mix you might be tempted to reach for. Now go get a bar of your favourite chocolate. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this. I use Whittaker’s 62% dark chocolate and it works great in this recipe. Go ahead and use whatever you like - milky creamy chocolate for those with a sweet tooth or darker and stronger for those without. You can even try this with white chocolate. The same goes for milk. Use whatever milk you normally do. I haven’t tried it with skim milk but I have done with 1.5% and it is rich and creamy and entirely too sinful to count the calories!

Autumn Spiced Hot Chocolate (Serves 2) INGREDIENTS 400 150 1/2 1/2

ml Milk g Bar Chocolate Teaspoon Autumn Spice Mix Teaspoon Corn Flour (optional)

METHOD Roughly chop the bar chocolate and add to a pan with cold milk.

Reserve 3 tablespoons of cold milk if using corn flour in this recipe.

1

2

Add the autumn spice mix.

Heat the milk and chocolate on low heat while stirring frequently to mix the chocolate to a smooth consistency. Take care to not bring the milk to a boil. You will notice it become smoother as you stir it for a few minutes.

3

Once you’re happy with the smoothness of the chocolate, combine the reserved cold milk and corn flour in a small bowl or your measuring cup and mix the two into a smooth slurry. Add this to the hot chocolate and mix it in for a couple of minutes and take the chocolate off the heat.

Adding corn flour gives the chocolate a thicker and richer consistency.

4

Serve into cups and enjoy. You can add whipped cream, marshmallows or sprinkle more of the spice mix to it – whatever works for you!

5

Feeling lazy?

Heat up the milk in

Add the microwave with the spice mix. till ther toge it chopped chocolate. Stir d. mixe the chocolate is melted and well

P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

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Everything under the sun Native ConnectionNZ We don’t just think Whakatāne is a great place to live. We also think it’s a great place to do business, and to prove it we are highlighting three new businesses that have shunned the congestion of the main centres to call Whakatāne home.

Spot X

Keziah Richmond is not out to make millions but just to enjoy the ride.

Having a great passion for surfing and ‘New Zealand’s best beach,’ Ōhope, she has found a way to turn her hobbies and lifestyle into a job that she loves.

Collective

On entering Spot X Collective on Whakatāne’s The Strand, you’ll find cool street wear and surf gear, and within seconds you're greeted with a warm hello and the offer to pull up a bean bag and grab a coffee. Spot X perfectly captures Whakatāne’s surf culture of hooking up for a chat, chilling out and getting local knowledge or tips for surfing.

Keziah’s vision was to create an outlet for her locally-grown surf labels, Whakalocal and Spot X Collective, but it quickly became a space in which she could share her hobbies of surfing and photography. Locals have embraced the homegrown clothing lines along with considerable demand from Whakatāne expats and Keziah feels humbled when she sees people wearing the gear.

You can find Spot X Collection at 176 The Strand, W hakatāne

She says setting up her own business has been challenging but very rewarding and she couldn’t have done it without the help of her local crew. “Everyone has been so supportive and given up their own time to make this a reality,” she says. And with more unique ideas to grow the business up her sleeve, Keziah says to watch this space.

Wharetaonga Jacqui Armstrong had a calling to reopen her father Kereama’s gallery with a vision of sharing the tikanga, taonga and stories of her family. “There was a lot of old stuff from Dad’s gallery in storage for a long time, and it was getting grumpy. It was time to take it out and give it its space again,” she says.

Having moved around quite a lot, she felt it was time to settle down, and Whakatāne was the perfect choice. With great schools for the kids and its centrality to whānau, Jacqui and her partner Dave were drawn here. They also loved the idea of living off the land and connecting with their creative sides again, so Wharetaonga came about.

Traditional Māori Art Gallery

Wharetaonga is a striking Māori Art Gallery designed by Jacqui and decorated by Dave to showcase local artists from Tūhoe, Te Arawa and Mataatua. It also holds many Taonga of the Armstrong family, including the weapon set that was carved from the jawbone of a whale, which was discovered buried on the Chatham Islands, and the Waharoa (gateway) above the door, both of which were gifted to Kereama Armstrong. These Taonga are both very spiritual, and Jacqui says that “people often come into the gallery to get their energy fix.”

Jacqui looks forward to providing interactive exhibits and workshops at the gallery where people can learn about Māori culture, its tikanga and whakapapa. “The gallery provides a space for us to embrace our ancestry and celebrate its beauty,” she says.

You can find Wharetaonga at 115 The Strand, Whakatāne

Le French Corner The latest addition to our town square at Wharaurangi is Le French Corner, a food truck selling delightful, fresh, home-made pasta.

Proprietors Gaelle and Martin Lachaud moved to Whakatāne 18 months ago and instantly fell in love with the sunshine, the people and the lifestyle the town has to offer, and they insist that Whakatāne chose them as it instantly felt like the right move.

“It’s good to be part of the growing buzz in Whakatāne,” Gaelle says.

Having come from a small town in the Southern Alps of France, where they owned a restaurant for five years, they quickly found their calling to join the hospitality sector here. With food trucks becoming more popular around the world as a great option for quick and healthy meals, the choice was clear.

Martin trained under an Italian chef, so they chose to use an Italian recipe for their pasta, while their own French heritage provided inspiration for their tasty sauces.

Customers combine the two to create their own unique “pimp-your-box” lunches and finish it all off with a decadent handmade dessert.

“It’s good to be part of the growing buzz in Whakatāne,” Gaelle says. “We could have chosen somewhere that is larger and more established, but we enjoy being part of the town’s development and of a great community that is enthusiastic and helpful.”

You can find Le French Corner at Wharaurangi on The Strand, Whakatāne

Discover a

We would like to hear about your new business!

CONTACT:

Priceless Lifestyle

Live, work and invest in the Whakatāne District Take the opportunity to live your dream

Kelly.Thorn@whakatane.govt.nz

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whakatane.govt.nz

Up, up and away WORDS ANDY TAYLOR WITH HAMISH PETTENGELL OF THE WHAKATĀNE MUSEUM AND RESEARCH CENTRE

44

Spirit of Whakatāne in Flight, 1930, Whakatāne Museum, 8568

Road, river, and rail are usually sited as the holy trinity of domestic travel in early New Zealand, but aviation arguably gave transport in the fledgling colony some of its more colourful episodes.

Hamish Pettengell of Whakatāne Museum and Arts looks at some of the magnificent men and their flying machines who pioneered air travel in the Bay of Plenty and lived to tell the tale.

Though our namesake is flightless, few nationalities around the world have embraced the notion of taking to the air as much as Kiwis. We all do it, whether on our big OE or to a wedding in Nelson, and aviation has been integral to our industry through crop dusting and dear farming for decades; New Zealanders also punched way above their weight when they were flying the unfriendly skies of Europe in two world wars, and we can even lay a credible claim to being the first off the ground thanks to Richard Pearse in Canterbury more than a hundred years ago.

Capt. Noah Jonassen - Aerial King

The story of pioneering aviation in the Bay of Plenty shares and reach such heady heights, as opposed to an imported some of that same do-it-yourself mentality that drove aircraft, glider or aeroplane built from a kitset. This was Pearse. In 1929 three Whakatāne men - Sam Armstrong, the real deal, a bona fida, Kiwi-built flying machine, and Vic Allen and John Allison - set about building a lightthe news was telegraphed to Auckland immediately where winged, single seat monoplane aircraft, and in January it made headlines the very next day. The local Mayor, Sir 1930 the plane, named “Spirit of Whakatāne”, made its William “Big Bill” Sullivan, proposed to bring the matter maiden flight from Ōhope Beach. The aircraft was 20ft long to the appropriate authorities for suitable recognition, but and 5ft wide, with detachable wings and fitted it seems not much ever came of this, which with a two-cylinder engine that turned is a shame because Allison’s flight out a paltry 28hp – that’s about was a considerable achievement 22 Kilowatts, or in layman’s which should go down in New terms bugger all. The plane Zealand aviation history. had been built, naturally, Not to mention getting in a shed, and it reached a an extremely honourable height of 600ft on its first mention in the annals of the test, 1200ft on its second, great Kiwi DIY pantheon; and 2000ft on its third, after all, he built a plane in a The Flying Bishop lands on the during which time it was cheered Whakatāne River shed in 1930 and took it up to by spectators on the golf links, 2000ft. bowling greens, tennis courts and domains, Unfortunately, in Easter 1930 Allison attempted a this being, as The Whakatāne Press noted, “Wednesday, flight to Rotorua, and while his trip went well he crashed the weekly half holiday” when the good people of the town just short of the runway in Te Ngae. The aircraft was only were suitably engaged on the greens. When he landed at lightly damaged and it was soon repaired, but shortly after Ōhope, Allison was carried shoulder high up the beach take off Allison lost power and crashed again – this time by friends and admirers, and for good reason; this was “Spirit of Whakatāne” was damaged beyond repair. (Allison the first entirely New Zealand built plane to sustain flight P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

45

and Allen decided causing pandemonium to build a second as students and aircraft, a threeteachers from the local seater powered by schools and anyone a Cirrus Hermes not chained to a desk Mk II engine, but poured into the streets. before the aircraft One local commented was ready for flight that there was great the Government excitement when introduced a law Brake arrived, and prohibiting the that during his flights flying of home“it was such a novelty John Allison and Victor Allen building the Spirit of made planes in New that our fowls used Whakatāne, c.1929, Whakatāne Museum, 2011.43 Zealand, thereby to nearly break their putting an end to necks craning upwards their dreams of flying across the sunny skies of the Bay). every time it went over.” Brake did good business touring the District, and even a forced landing that nearly saw him Of course, this wasn’t the first time aircraft had taken to and two teenage passengers end up in Lake Rotorua failed the skies over the Bay. The earliest flights were recorded to deter customers. just after the First World War, when a ‘barnstormer’ set Another notable barnstormer was Ray Money, who went on up shop at the Arawa Park Race Course in Rotorua and to play a founding role in the fledgling aviation industry in began offering flights to those brave enough to accept the the Bay. Money was the regular pilot of Te Arawa, the first challenge; and the New Zealand Herald noted in that same aircraft in Rotorua Airways’ stable, and was noted for having year that a plane was seen over Tāneatua, though whether once crashed on Fenton Street in Rotorua without injury this was the same aircraft or a different one is unknown. to himself or the occupants of the The barnstomers’ house that “broke name came from his fall.” He also IF YOUR ASCENT FAILED, their habit of managed to collide flying in relatively THEY MOBBED YOU. with an Austin car unannounced to I ONCE HAD TO STAND ON THE DEFLATED while landing in a suitably flat fields BALLOON SWINGING A PICKAXE ROUND MY HEAD field in Te Puke, and working out of but nevertheless barns for several TO KEEP AN ANGRY CROWD AT BAY. took thousands of weeks at a time locals up into the air, before moving including Lord and on to the next Lady Baden Powell in 1931, and Captain Noah Ezra Jonassen location. In their heyday during the 1920s dozens of them (1889-1959) in 1930. The later of these notables was known ranged the skies of New Zealand, unregulated and largely as the “Aerial King”, and between 1903 and 1912 he had uncontrollable, offering people in the regions a cheap wowed crowds throughout the country with no fewer than chance to experience flight and see what the land looked like 300 ascents in - and parachute drops from - a balloon, as well from above. Many had learnt to fly in the military; others, as great feats of trapeze artistry while suspended beneath it. like Allison, were self-taut, and they were a resourceful Around 1911 Jonassen settled in Whakatāne and ran a local and, well, colorful bunch. motor garage, and a year later he made a balloon flight above Typical of them was Les Brake, who flew into Rotorua in the Whakatāne Domain, which was the first flight, by balloon an Avro 504K named “High Jinks” in April 1922. Brake or otherwise, in the District. The Aerial King had a long and had been enjoying a popular tour of the North Island and eventful career touring the country with his show, and left a had found plenty of customers, but he wasn’t prepared for succinct record of his trials and tribulations as an aeronaut, his welcome in Rotorua, which was widely described as including the following passage:

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P L E N T Y. C O . N Z // M AY 2 0 1 7

“People called us balloonists and poked fun at us. They thought us mad but they were only too ready to turn out and watch us risk our necks for their amusement. You charged admission for the place from where you set off, but few people paid. They preferred to stand outside and see the same show for nothing. I often had to sleep in a field wrapped in my parachute because the day’s takings had not amounted to enough for a lodging. If your ascent failed, they mobbed you.

Faith in Australia at Ōhope Beach, 1939, Whakatāne Museum, 8481 I once had to stand on the deflated balloon swinging a pickaxe round took aloft. One was what he described as “a brown-eyed my head to keep an angry crowd at bay. They tore the hussy,” who chartered both seats in the enclosed cabin balloon to pieces and I had to borrow a hand sewing aircraft but, curiously, arrived alone. Once aloft, Money machine and some ordinary cotton to mend it.” recounted later, the woman “waited until we were about a thousand feet up, then put her arms around my Given his penchant for dramatics, the Aerial King’s neck and whispered the most paralyzing suggestions” contemporaries probably couldn’t be blamed for seeing in his ear. Out of virtue, or perhaps respect for what him as mad, but he was not the only character Ray Money

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Spirit of Whakatāne, 1930, Whakatāne Museum, 936-1

would become a New Zealand Aviation Authority Code of Conduct, Money closed the throttles, feigned engine failure, “and returned to the aerodrome by the shortest possible route. ‘Mademoiselle’ descended in a huff, and an hour later I received a note threatening me with the most dire penalties if I breathed a word concerning her.”

were soon in the air again and landed on the Whakatāne River at 12:02pm, whereupon they delivered the mail, had lunch, and left for Ōpōtiki at 2pm. The entire town of Ōpōtiki turned out to welcome them and they stayed overnight before retracing their route to Auckland.

At the complete opposite of the spectrum to this browneyed thrill seeker was the Rev. H W Cleary (1859–1929), the Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland. Eager to reach the members of his flock who resided in the farthest-flung corners of the Empire, the Bishop may well have become New Zealand’s very first air passenger when, in 1920, he arranged for the noted aviator George Bolt to fly him from Auckland to Ōpōtiki with stops in Tauranga and Whakatāne.

The Bishop kindly offered to carry the Royal Mail with him, and his Boeing seaplane left Queen’s Wharf in Auckland at 7:16am on March 12 and reached Tauranga at 9:35am to what was reported as a “tremendous welcome”. The pair

THE WOMAN “WAITED UNTIL WE WERE ABOUT A THOUSAND FEET UP, THEN PUT HER ARMS AROUND MY NECK AND WHISPERED THE MOST PARALYZING SUGGESTIONS” IN HIS EAR.

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The adventure was lauded in the local press as having achieved three notable firsts: it was at that time the longest single-day flight in New Zealand history; the Auckland to Tauranga leg was the greatest single hop so far made in the country; and, when Bolt visited the offices of the East Coast Guardian newspaper with a copy of that morning’s Auckland Herald it was the first time that esteemed journal had been read in Ōpōtiki on the day of publication. Heady stuff indeed, though it is unrecorded if Bolt did the decent thing and took a copy of the Guardian back to the editors of the Auckland Herald.

What is known is that these early flights paved the way for a burgeoning flight industry that would see numerous small airlines spring up in the years following the Second World War - when returning airmen and women, as well as the availability of surplus aircraft – saw a golden age of aviation in the Bay that kick-started tourism and took us closer to the big smoke. But that is another story.

Pandemonium in Rotorua, headlines from in Ōpōtiki, a flying Bishop in Tauranga, and an axe-wielding balloonist in Whakatāne – was there any wonder we embraced aviation with such passion? Road, river and rail brought us closer to each other, but the early days of flight in the Bay of Plenty also put us in touch with something that lived within us all: a streak of ingenuity, determination - and madness - that defines us to this day.

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