PONSONBY NEWS '21

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MAY 2021

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INSIDE THIS MONTH

006

LETTERS & EMAILS

007

FROM THE EDITOR

010 DAVID HARTNELL: ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW 012

JOHN ELLIOTT: LOCAL NEWS

014 PIPPA COOM: COUNCILLOR FOR WAITEMATA- & GULF 016 RICHARD NORTHEY, WAITEMATA- LOCAL BOARD 020

CHLÖE SWARBRICK: MP AUCKLAND CENTRAL

032

PONSONBY PARK

035

PREDICT WEATHER.COM

036

FASHION & STYLE

039

TRAVEL BREAKS

040

HELENE RAVLICH: LOCALS LOVING LOCAL

046 EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY 050 VEGAN VIBE - SOFIA ROGER WILLIAMS 060 LIVING, THINKING + BEING 064 FUTURE GENERATION 067

P6: Sarah Trotman & Linda Hill physically oppose and show their defiance to the destruction of the Western Springs Forest.

EDITOR/PUBLISHER: MARTIN LEACH M: 021 771 147 martinleach@xtra.co.nz or martin@ponsonbynews.co.nz

HONOUR MITCHELL: TEEN PAMPERING

069 PONSONBY PROFESSIONALS 072

HOME: WHERE THE HEART IS

098

ARTS & CULTURE

104

MAY STREAMING GUIDE

106

HOROSCOPES: MISS PEARL NECLIS

107

THE PONSONBY PINK PAGES

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Southern Studios

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER: JAY PLATT M: 021 771 146 jayplatt@xtra.co.nz or jay@ponsonbynews.co.nz AD SALES & CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: ANDREA KAHUKIWA M: 021 689 688 andrea@ponsonbynews.co.nz ADVERTISING SALES/AD DESIGNER: MELISSA PAYNTER M: 027 938 4111 melissapaynter@me.com OPERATIONS MANAGER: GWYNNE DAVENPORT M: 021 150 4095 gwynne@ponsonbynews.co.nz CONTRIBUTING MUSIC EDITOR: FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT M: 021 134 4101 finn.huia@gmail.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: JOHN ELLIOTT M: 021 879 054 johnelliott38@outlook.com

PONSONBY NEWS is published monthly, excluding January by: ALCHEMY MEDIA LIMITED, P.O. BOX 47-282 Ponsonby, Auckland 1144, T: 09 378 8553, www.ponsonbynews.co.nz PONSONBY NEWS is printed on paper sourced from sustainable, well managed forests and manufactured under the environmental management system ISO 14001.

4 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: ARNA MARTIN M: 021 354 984 arna@cocodesign.co.nz ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Within New Zealand $49. By cheque or credit card in NZ$. Please note: we do not hold back issues of Ponsonby News.

Our archive is all online as pdfs. Please visit www.ponsonbynews.co.nz The entire content of this publication is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechaal, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without the prior permission, in writing, of the copyright owner. Colour transparencies and manuscripts submitted are sent at the owner’s risk; neither the publisher nor its agents accept any responsibility for loss or damage. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, the publisher can accept no liability for any inaccuracies that may occur.

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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LETTERS & EMAILS

PIPPA COOM’S MARCH COLUMN I must respond to the March editorial from Councillor Pippa Coom, where she was expressing personal anger and frustration for not being able to achieve her personal agenda of ripping Ponsonby Road apart, and having cycle lanes installed as soon as she possibly can. A similar project to the one undertaken in West Lynn village with her full support turned out to be a disaster.

She talks of the “vocal minority and personal attacks”, typical frustrations for an elected official. Would she also class the young protestors of Hong Kong and Myanmar protesting against their elected leaders actions as “a vocal minority?”. Thank goodness we have ‘actionists’ in our community who stand up when they don’t agree to being bulldozed by our elected representatives, who often have their own agenda and do not talk and listen to the community and our concerns. It is often the vocal minority who speak on behalf of the apathetic majority.

I find the tone of Ms Coom’s article to be confrontational when she talks of the “battleground for Ponsonby Road”, her support for the dysfunctional Auckland Transport (AT) (the subject of recent investigation not working fast enough), and her disturbingly lack of community consultative approach to engage with all to achieve the best outcome for Ponsonby Road users, businesses and locals.

Surely she needs to consider the considerable number who didn’t vote for her, as well as the very small majority who did.

This council have taken a sad slow response to the growing problem of Auckland traffic woes, with us now having gridlocked streets at rush hours and weekends, motorway travel at speeds at 60k or less due to crowded roads, and a harbour crossing which can grind the city to a halt at any moment. The disgraced current state of Queen Street is bewildering.

Where has been the bold approach needed to meet the needs of this growing city? There are many approaches implemented by other international cities to this situation which we could learn from.

Ponsonby Road is designated an arterial road – as defined by AT: “Regional arterial roads link districts or urban areas within the region, connect regionally significant facilities, and play a critical role in the movement of people and goods within the region. It is essential that they operate efficiently and effectively, and are managed and developed in a manner that is sensitive to the surrounding environment.”

Whether they be two lanes or six lanes – the last sentence is the outcome which needs to be considered carefully.

I was excited to be part of the group working to look at ways to revitalise the road. There are some positives that will come from this AT funded initiative, but also frustrations that from the $1m given by AT, all we will end up with is $400k to do ‘something‘ after consultants fees have been deducted.

If AT had come to our group with $1m, I can now only dream of what we COULD have achieved... pavement upgrades, more planting, public seating areas, art installations; that would be plenty to get people back onto the streets. It will never return to the quietness and safety it was during Covid-19 lockdown, and delusional to think it could by Ms Coom’s proposals.

AT tell us a busload of people gets 50 cars off the road, so we must look at how we can make major changes to our transport system to achieve major change. We do want people walking and cycling more if they want to, but its not going to achieve the huge impact we need to make now.

If AT and Ms Coom and her councilors are committed to climate change, making Ponsonby Rd more vibrant, safer – then put some funds into the sad state of the pavements on the strip, finish the planting of trees as outlined in the Ponsonby Road Plan she initiated.

Put the funds into the Project #254 Ponsonby Rd ($2.5m) - surely a more sensible spend of funds and result than the outrageous unnecessary splurge of over $2m on pulling down trees in Western Springs Forest, where Auckland Council once again failed to engage in proper and fair consultation, and chose to ignore professional recommendations.

Our city and business relies on quick efficient transport options; walking, cycling, vehicles, all must be accommodated, but not at the expense of local businesses who pay heavily to council and landlords for prime positions on densely populated streets. Changing the current design drastically could see a big change to our current ‘vibrant’ Ponsonby Road.

Darryl Ojala, Grey Lynn WESTERN SPRINGS FOREST My conscience led me to climb on to a digger before dawn with the intent to stop the destruction at Western Springs. This was done in the hope of drawing attention to the lack of consultation with community over this issue. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

This was my time.

What prompted this “elderly grandmother” to take such action? In January, as a direct result of the lack of maintenance by the Auckland Council at Western Springs, I was admitted to hospital. On discharge I attempted to contact the appropriate person to report both the incident and the need to remedy the cause before another member of the community was hurt. My experience alerted me to how dysfunctional the Auckland Council is. This experience changed me from apathy to the need to become actively community minded.

I could write pages about how I became aware of the Council’s agenda to remove mature trees from around Auckland, sell off reserves in built up areas, but the icing on the cake was what is happening at Western Springs. Never have I willingly broken the law, but I was prepared to be arrested in order to have my voice and protest heard.

Getting onto the digger was not the problem I thought it would be, as amazingly there was no security. To my surprise I soon found myself joined by a woman who I later learnt was Sarah Trotman, a local board member. She told me she had been phoned by a concerned constituent who had seen an elderly woman going into the trees.

Sarah, still in her pyjamas, grabbed a coat and joined me out of concern for my safety. Sarah promised to stay, as long as I didn’t carry out my plan to climb onto the arm of the digger, and instead remain in a safer position on the digger platform.

I got to know and admire Sarah over those few hours and heard her concerns at the lack of authentic engagement with communities by Auckland Council. Sitting there as the sun rose we heard the call of a morepork from amongst the trees, and later witnessed the abundance of native bird life this area supports. All this in an inner city suburban environment the council wants to destroy.

All I ask is a decent future for our children and grandchildren. I was, and still am, prepared to be arrested if that is what it takes for my voice and protest to be heard. To quote Edmond Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

So let’s all stand united and change what we need to.

Linda Hill, Westmere continued p24

Opinions expressed in Ponsonby News are not always the opinion of Alchemy Media Limited & Ponsonby News.

6 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

FROM THE EDITOR

This May you can enjoy the month-long foodie festival that is ‘Eat Drink Love Ponsonby’.

Over 50 local eateries and bars vie for your foodie heart with their standout dish or drink – with fixed price menus, which won’t break the bank. A big thank you to Viv at the Ponsonby Business Association who has done an incredible job pulling all this together. Are you ready to eat the street?

Last month the Grey Lynn Returned Services Club hosted the annual ANZAC Day service. There were some inspiring speeches and prayers from Rev Mua Strickson-Pua along with Mayor Phil Goff. On that day I remembered Cyril Bradbury, (25/255 RFM) my wonderful Grandad who lost a lung during WW1, after being gassed while fighting in Egypt. Cyril served one year and 332 days overseas and returned to NZ on RMS Tainui in 1918.

My father, George Leach was a Londoner - during WW2, he wanted to do his duty so he lied about his age so he could join the Royal British Navy. He was returning from the US to the UK when a torpedo hit his ship and my dad was blown off the deck into the freezing Atlantic. I will always remember both my dad and my grandad with huge love and always thank them for their service.

This year, on Mother’s Day treat Mum to the Cav’s special two-course set menu and a glass of bubbles on arrival for just $32.95. There’s also FREE ice cream and a toppings station provided for your little ones while you dine! All Mother’s Day bookings also enter Mum in for a chance to win a Cordis hotel Chuan Spa voucher valued up to $100!

For more info, and to reserve your table, visit the Cav’s website or call them on 09 376 4230.

In the letter’s page this month Linda Hill tells us what action she took to stop the destruction at Western Springs Forest. This

Get THE team

Both immigrates from the UK, my dad, George (the Salty Sea Dog) pictured with shipmate Jock

elderly grandmother was so upset that she climbed onto a digger to show her disgust and was joined by Sarah Trotman, who was subsequently arrested.

On a lighter note and far from the New York subways where she started sharing her music Mireya Ramos and her musicians wowed the audience in the intimate atmosphere of Frieda Margolis in West Lynn last month. Lockdown happened just after her arrival here last year; she stayed, and that has been our good fortune.

Last month workmen in Western Park were seen removing lights along the paths through the middle of the park. Rest assured, the council tell us the lighting is being upgraded in order to make the area safer. The design has been completed and physical works contract awarded for the renewal and upgrade of the amenity lighting within the park. These upgrades align with the August 2015 development plan recommendations. For further information please contact the Waitemata- Local Board. (MARTIN LEACH)  PN

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PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

7

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

IT’S A TEAM EFFORT... WE COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS CONNOR CRAWFORD I am a working artist and photographer with a colourful and rhythmic perspective. I enjoy shooting the front covers of Ponsonby News.

DAVID HARTNELL - MNZM For the last 53 years I’ve been a freelance entertainment journalist and author. I’ve lived in the Grey Lynn area for nearly three decades; I have met and interviewed some amazing people.

FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT I work as a booker, promoter and festival programmer. Active in all areas of the music community; folk music is my specialty.

HONOUR MITCHELL I have lived in the Ponsonby area all of my life.

I write the column ‘Teen Picks’ which explores everything on offer in the greater Ponsonby area.

HELENE RAVLICH A freelance writer and copywriter for almost 20 years, I have written for publications all over the world and couldn’t imagine myself in any other job.

JOHN APPLETON I have a keen interest in nutritional medicine and how it may be used to support people with chronic illnesses.

KEN RING My yearly NZ Weather Almanacs began in 1999. During the tragic 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, my work created international interest. I currently live in Ponsonby.

KERRY LEE I’ve been a freelance writer for a year now, and what I love most are the wonderful people I’ve meet along the way. #best job.

LUCY KENNEDY I am a young local writer who loves to read! Each month you will find my reviews of new books for people who love to read as much as I do.

PHIL PARKER Journalist and published author, I have had a career involving both wine writing and hosting boutique wine tours in the Auckland region.

PIPPA COOM

I am Councillor for Waitemata- and Gulf Ward on Auckland Council. Formerly, Chair WaitemataLocal Board.

ROSS THORBY I have had a wanderlust for travel ever since I was old enough to own a passport. Since I discovered cruising, I have become unstoppable.

JOHN ELLIOTT

SOFIA ROGER WILLIAMS

I am the founder of Ponsonby News and write for the magazine. My career has included politics, education and publishing. My interests include the environment, the economy and social justice.

A vegan for over a year and vegetarian for over seven years with a passion for writing. I am a local student reviewing some of Ponsonby’s best vegan eats.

Join us on Sundays at 2pm... for our weekly service including demonstrations of clairvoyance.

25 New North Road, Eden Terrace / www.goldenlight.org.nz

8 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Photography: Aflickion Digital

LOCAL NEWS

DAVID HARTNELL: ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW WITH NICK COLLINS Nick Collins is well respected on the DJ circuit for his craft of music and presentation.

Have DJ gigs changed over the years?

Technology plays a huge part in the evolution of the DJ. When I started I carried vinyl records and had a limited selection. Now you can download almost any song in the history of music via a device and play it 30 seconds later.

Best things about Ponsonby?

Whiskey Bar, Fitzroy Lounge Bar and KFC. Good people, great music and popcorn chicken.

How have you been surviving the pandemic?

Unless I’m like Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense (spoiler alert) then yes I am indeed alive. I know it’s not very PC to say, but I nailed 2020; I helped set up an online DJ streaming group (Lockdown Legends); started an online community of dance music enthusiasts (Auckland Nightlife Year 2000+ Facebook Page); put on a multi-venue party called “One More Time” and connected with a bunch of new people through all of those platforms.

Favourite TV series?

I’m a sucker for nostalgia and ‘The Wonder Years’ reflects on the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. It’s sweet, honest and hits you right in the feels.

Reincarnated as what?

A bra.

If you won a million dollars?

I’d throw it onto a bed and roll around in it.

Favourite movie?

Stand By Me. “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”

Ever seen a ghost?

In mid-February 1988 I was nine years old and was accompanying my mum to Australia to visit Poppy (as I called him), who was sick in the hospital. It was my first time on an airplane and where my fear of flying began. (If you don’t know that story then that’s something to ask me about in person). At nine, I didn’t really comprehend what was going on but I was instructed to quietly play with my micro machines in the corner of the hospital room.

10 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

All I really knew was that the family were coming through and there was a sense of impending sadness. That day hit on 23 February, two days before my 10th birthday. I remember very little (or perhaps I blocked it out) of the emotions and feelings that came immediately after the announcement of the passing of Poppy. But something that has stuck with me for three decades, like a photograph pinned to the wall of my skull, was when he re-appeared.

I was sharing a guest room with my mum at my grandmother’s apartment. The same apartment Poppy resided at only weeks earlier.

The beds faced towards a mirrored wardrobe that stretched the length of the room. I’ve never been a great sleeper and woke up to a full apartment in full slumber. The bedroom door was wide open and as I squinted my eyes open I could see the reflection of the moon in the kitchen through that mirrored wardrobe. My eyes panned down and standing there with a generous friendly smile was Poppy.

Almost as if a cardboard cut-out had been put there. There he was... wrinkled skin, white hair with a part, glasses on, with one of those Hawaiianesque button up shirts and “old man” slacks on. It was so clear. He showed no movement at all; that’s why all my attention was drawn to that calm soothing smile. As a child I was petrified but I could not look away - I held it there looking for what seemed liked 30 seconds - long enough that it wasn’t just a shadow.

My anxiety and fear got the better of me though and I shut my eyes tightly for at least five seconds and when I re-opened them he was gone. I told my family and got the “that’s a very special moment you had dear” speech. My birthday came and it was cool to have the family around. I was under no illusion that they weren’t hurting, but they put on a brave face to celebrate what was a positive in their eyes - me turning ten. I got a chocolate cake and a Talking ALF, which is everything I ever wanted in a material item at the time.

Give your teenaged self-advice.

No matter what later in life Nick tells you, keep dancing.

Dream home?

The usual, a draw-bridge with a moat, and a lazy river and a ride-on train that takes you around the property. And a waterslide out of the second story window to the pool.

(DAVID HARTNELL MNZM)  PN PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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LOCAL NEWS

JOHN ELLIOTT: CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES COULD WORK WELL IN AUCKLAND I have been reading about the successes of citizens’ assemblies around the world, including in the United Kingdom, and in New York. What then are citizens’ assemblies and how do they get set up, and work?

A citizens’ assembly is a group of people who are brought together to consider a public issue, and recommend actions to the local government authority. These members hear evidence, question witnesses and deliberate with one another, somewhat like a jury.

There are various ways of selecting people to take part. Often it is by ballot from electoral rolls. It is important to have a group of people who reflect the wider population, in terms of demographic.

Citizens’ assemblies follow a three step process. They learn from experts, they deliberate and consider what they’ve heard, and they then make a recommendation to the local authority.

So, what are the advantages of citizens assemblies and what are their weaknesses?

The assemblies offer policymakers an insight into public opinion on a contested basis. This public group has had access to thorough and unbiased information, and time to deliberate. They can call their ‘own’ expert witnesses, particularly if they wish to make a case against a council policy. If a suitable cross-section of the community is part of the assembly, it can be a very good adjunct to democratic government. Although, our council purports to consult widely before making decisions which affect us, that consultation is not always transparently good. An assembly will behave transparently.

There are often activists who are regularly involved in protesting local body decisions, and most Ponsonby News readers could name one of two who are well known in the Waitemata- Local Ward. These people work hard to promote their ideas, and their opposition to many council projects. The felling of the Western Springs pines and the position of the Erebus Memorial are two recent examples.

The make-up of the citizens assembly is critical. What to do about the half dozen or so outspoken activists who would insist on being on the assembly - just place them on without them going through a ballot, or must they take their chance in the draw?

12 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

Of course those activists must be involved, and history overseas tells us that outliers mostly come to heal when their opinions are thrown out by 95% of the assembly members. This is a help to local government democracy, allows strong minded outliers to fully have their say, even bring along their own ‘experts’. Finally, the majority carries the day.

The process of developing and planning the assembly is critical to its success. Running one requires significant expertise.

The funding of assemblies must be decided. Some overseas pay about the same as jury service, to ensure suitable, particularly young people, are not excluded. It seems from my reading that some take too long over topics. A council brief, followed by a general discussion, then a calling of assembly members’ experts, followed by further discussion should only take a handful of hours, perhaps over several days.

How many members should a citizens assembly have? This varies greatly around the world. Of course, the bigger the group, the more difficult the organisation and coordination, and the longer it will take to involve everyone. Still, too small, and it is not significantly democratic. My estimate would be about 100 members. The chair will be critical, and probably a small committee of perhaps five.

I would envisage the assembly convening about three or four times a year on the most important issues, including annual budgets and rate assessments.

I’d be pleased with feedback on this proposal. At 82 I would not be putting my name forward to run an assembly, but would be happy to be involved in the setting up of one.

I think a well run citizens assembly in Waitemata- could significantly aid democracy, take some pressure off elected members, and push most activists into compliance or compromise. It would not, and should not, push the Lisa Pragers or the Gael Baldocks out of the picture.

They would be valuable members of the assembly, albeit sometimes PN challenging for the chairman. (JOHN ELLIOTT)  PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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LOCAL NEWS

Lower Huia Dam

PIPPA COOM: PROJECTING AND ENHANCING TE MAURI O TE WAI Watercare, New Zealand’s largest company in the water and wastewater industry and a Council Controlled Organisation, has been extremely good at supplying drinking water of a very high standard to people across Auckland.

The amalgamation of Auckland’s former councils into the Supercity standardised systems and controls with the benefits of efficiencies at scale. It put Watercare on a path of planning for growth but with a corresponding increase in water consumption which didn’t create the right incentives to encourage water savings or alternative sources of water supply such as rain tanks.

As Aucklanders have demonstrated in the last year in response to the severe drought, we are in fact collectively capable of saving tens of millions of litres of water a day without affecting the quality of our take. Since restrictions were introduced in May 2020, Aucklanders have saved about 15 billion litres of water. In a climate emergency we must be as ambitious as possible in lowering per-capita demand for water to manage against the increased risk of water insecurity.

Amalgamation in 2010 also meant we lost the best of what former council’s were achieving with best practice water savings. The former Waitakere City Council’s Water Strategy was all about reducing water use, rolling out water tanks, rewarding low use homes, supporting innovation and holding Watercare to account to invest in infrastructure to ensure reduced water use. However there’s now been a significant step forward in the demand management aspect of a new council water strategy 2021 – 2050, which aims to protect and enhance te mauri o te wai/the life supporting capacity of water, to create a future of water security for Tamaki Makaurau.

Auckland Council and Watercare have jointly committed to adopting ambitious targets designed to reduce Aucklanders’ use of drinking water by 20 percent over the next 30 years to create a city more resilient to impacts of drought and climate change. One of the key principles used to develop the long-term water usage targets was ensuring we didn’t use water pricing as a lever to reduce customer demand. Instead, the aim is to educate people and create a more efficient and smarter system that allows for new technologies over time and which lead to behaviour change.

14 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

Demand management is just one aspect of council’s water strategy 2021 – 2050, which will cover stormwater, wastewater and freshwater networks and is designed to operate in tandem with infrastructure investment, including securing alternative drinking water sources for the long term. Technology is a key component of the council group’s water demand management strategy, which includes installing smart meters in all homes by 2034, and investing in a smart, efficient network to monitor and keep leakage to no more than 13 percent. In signing off on the new water consumption targets at the April Environment and Climate Change Committee we confirmed support for Watercare’s commitment to aim for no more than 11 percent leakage.

Empowering Aucklanders to manage their demand for water takes a values-based approach to water management. The need for water consumption targets to drive reduced water use per capita is in recognition of Aucklanders’ desire to treasure water/wai as a taonga as the region grows. (PIPPA COOM)  PN pippa.coom@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

I was in the driving seat briefly at a ceremony to mark a major CRL milestone with the start of underground construction on the Aotea Station

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LOCAL NEWS

- LOCAL BOARD CHAIR RICHARD NORTHEY: WAITEMATA The Waitematā Local Board met on 20 April. It was a very busy meeting.

We heard deputations and public forum presentations from John Fay about the future of the Olympic Pool, from Kate O’Neill about the community event celebrating our great new playground at Home Street Reserve in Arch Hill, and also a detailed report about her work from our Councillor Pippa Coom. The meeting approved updated priorities for our Local Board Grants Programme, discussed our views on the Auckland Regional Land Transport Programme - which we encourage you to give feedback to Auckland Transport on now, received a performance report on the Waitemata- Local Board’s current projects, and debated and set down our views on Council’s Statement of Expectation for CCOs, the Animal Management Bylaw, the Regional Fuel Tax Scheme, the Public Trading and Events Bylaw, the Unit Titles Amendment Bill, the Navigation Rules for the Waitemata- Harbour and the Gulf, the Council’s Code of Conduct and the National Parking Management Guidelines.

We reviewed our Waitemata- Local Board portfolios and created a new - Outcomes to reflect our new first outcome in our new portfolio of Maori Waitemata- Local Board plan and appointed member Kerrin Leoni of - Paoa - to that position. Our other portfolio holders were reaffirmed.

Ngati We thanked Kerrin Leoni for her work and loyal support to the Board as Deputy-Board Chair and welcomed member Alex Bonham to her planned succession to that position from the end of April until the end of the Board’s term next year.

On 11 April I spoke on video to carry out a virtual naming and opening of the new Amey Daldy Park and playground in the Wynyard Quarter. The upgraded play space at Home Street Reserve has been reopened by a community organised event and gives children of all ages, including basketballers, a long planned upgraded playground and recreation space in Arch Hill.

Following the Board’s adoption of a strategic plan for the Western Springs Lakeside Te Wai Orea Park, the playground on the zoo side of the lake has been designed by local designer Nina and rebuilt with a nature theme. On Saturday 17 April Nick Hawke of Ngati - Orakei - and Adriana Avendaño Christie, the Waitemata- Local Board’s Whatua parks portfolio holder, spoke to lead a celebration of the reopening of this wonderful, renewed playground, surrounded by hundreds of thrilled children and families. It is intended to reopen the forest on the eastern side of the Park once the aging pines are taken out. Removal of the pines has begun and will take place over the next two months, with some being dragged out along a narrow track created for the purpose, and some left to rot down as a home for wildlife. Then the regeneration and planting of a native forest, with community participation, will be progressed.

Western Springs playground

I have proposed a remit to the Local Government New Zealand National Conference urging government urgently to change the law so councils can bring back their General Tree Protection policies.

As well as their Regional Land Transport Programme, Auckland Transport is currently consulting on detailed plans to improve the streetscape and safe use of Great North Road for all road users. Please access Auckland Transport’s website and click, “Have your say on the Great North Road improvements”, to respond by 7 May. An artist’s impression is shown.

Ponsonby community and business members are meeting regularly to develop low-cost tactical improvements to Ponsonby Road as part of the Innovating Streets programme.

Thank you for all of you who gave feedback on the Auckland Council’s proposed Long-Term Plan and Budget. The Waitemata- Local Board members and staff are now carefully reading the views and ideas coming from people and organisations in our area. We will then be reviewing our own budget and work programme, taking your views into account. Our next Board Meeting will be on Tuesday 18 May held at the Board Office at 52 Swanson Street, Covid willing. People can take part either in person or

by Skype. (RICHARD NORTHEY)  PN

I can be contacted at 021 534 546 or richard.northey@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Great North Road

16 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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LOCAL NEWS

JOHN ELLIOTT: WHAT IS WRONG WITH AUCKLAND COUNCIL? Ask anyone what they think about how our city is run and you will hear the same story over and over again; Auckland is far too large, so council is remote from people. The bureaucrats don’t listen. They wouldn’t know genuine consultation if it hit them in the face.

You will also hear specific criticisms. Fancy fifty beaches unswimmable – that’s third world ignore.

Cars have got to go. Unfortunately, public transport hasn’t so far filled the gap.

Of course Covid-19 had a devastating effect on Council finances. But the problem goes right back to the way the Auckland Super City was established.

Fancy having Council Controlled Organisations with no accountability to the Council, a separate board who meet in secret, no councillors appointed to them, with hundreds of bureaucrats making decisions without any consultation. Not to mention too many unaccountable, overpaid staff, impossible to contact (he’s in a meeting), and remote from most local situations anyway.

I can’t get to my butcher or my barber by public transport and it’s too far to walk. Perhaps that’s OK. I’m eating less meat and I don’t need a very frequent hair cut. But those businesses are only a half hour walk at a brisk pace - something beyond me at 82.

But I think there is a deeper problem, and it’s around the meaning and application of democracy. This Council, and particularly AT, gets ahead of itself, and doesn’t take the public with it. Part of it is the unaccountable CCOs, but it’s more than that. Too many Auckland Council staff are trying to socially engineer us, telling us what is good for us, and getting too far ahead of public opinion. They present plans, telling us they are up for consultation.

After so-called consultation, they make no changes anyway. We are to do as we are told. Or, like cunning developers, they call for 10 carparks to be removed, and after consultation, compromise by removing ‘only’ five.

I proposed to our Councillor Pippa Coom small busses for twelve or so people, criss crossing through our streets to save oil and retire more cars.

She did not agree, saying it was too hard to coordinate and that drivers were the greatest cost.

We have to do something to get old blokes like me out of our cars, but if public transport is not good enough, we’ll continue to drive with some of us becoming a hazard on our roads.

It’s not easy. New Zealand has roads built for cars. We have more cars per citizen than any country except the USA.

Pippa Coom once called a similar exercise in Grey Lynn shops on Great North Road ‘a win win’. How can a loss of five carparks be a ‘win win’?

But I go back to my supposition. AT is getting ahead of itself, which leads to authoritarian behaviour in a democracy supposedly run by a left leaning government. It’s up to this Labour government to rein them in. Amend how Auckland functions if need be, and ensure democracy is not hijacked by a council telling us what is best for us, before we are ready.

AT’s street plan for Ponsonby Road looks like a plan to get as many cars off Ponsonby Road as possible, never mind the damage to businesses.

Take the public with you Auckland Transport, and revolution can be PN averted. (JOHN ELLIOTT) 

JOHN ELLIOTT: WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT HOUSING? We are now thousands of houses short in New Zealand, and Auckland is fairing among the worst cities. Labour has not worked out to how to solve the problem, and has been getting plenty of stick from National and commentators like Mike Hosking.

Labour certainly have not delivered, but there is more to the problem than meets the eye. It is a problem going back many years, confronting a number of past governments of both stripes.

National is the biggest culprit having sold off state houses willy nilly during Roger Douglas’s time. They were seduced by the mantra that called for governments to get their hands off what private enterprise could do better. It didn’t work, and house price inflation has now pushed thousands of young people out of home ownership possibilities. The major problem is the price of land.

When I built my first house in Northcote in 1968 it cost $12,500, five times my salary as a young teacher. Now, in Auckland, young couples need ten times the average wage to buy half a house. With a household income of $150,000 and a deposit of 20%, they would need to borrow $800,000 a crippling amount to pay off. Most just can’t do it.

There are two main ways to build more homes, up or out.

Apartments and town houses are proliferating in central Auckland, and there is a general agreement that urban sprawl is bad. We should not be covering up good agricultural land on our city fringes. Just today (16 April) a new report outlines the productive farm land already covered in houses. It also bemoans the exponential increase in dairying and fertiliser use, polluting our waterways.

18 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

Now we hear about material shortages - both internal and from overseas - delaying building times. We are also told there are not enough builders, and not enough apprentices. These are all the result of the short-termism of successive governments.

‘Not this year’, is a common government mantra. Let’s have longer local and central government terms. Of course, longer terms are OK if your lot are in power, but it can seem like forever if the government is not of your choosing, and seems to be there forever. Still, we need longer term planning in all fields than three years. So after that diatribe how do we produce enough houses? I have a couple of suggestions.

Shared equity: let a young couple take a share in a new house, maybe 40 or 50%, with the government holding the remaining shares. As the couple progress they can buy further equity in the property, until they own it outright.

The second way is for government to buy land and sell it to first home buyers at a discounted price. This is similar to shared equity. The land might be in new hubs, land judged suitable for housing with services, industry and commercial buildings adjacent. These would be hubs outside major metropolitan areas and not on the best agricultural land.

Government should decentralise and house state departments in these hub areas. Not everyone can, or should, live in Auckland.

PN (JOHN ELLIOTT)  PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Gabriela Galateanu Licensee Salesperson 020 4141 3853 gabriela.galateanu@raywhite.com

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LOCAL NEWS

CHLÖE SWARBRICK: AUCKLAND CENTRAL MP While the temperature drops and Auckland’s infamous patchy downpours become all the more frequent, May also brings temptation to keep getting outdoors: it’s NZ International Comedy Festival and New Zealand Music Month.

While I’ll reserve comment on whether politics is sometimes a bit of a joke, I can at the very least promise you’ll be able to find a bunch of local musicians playing at our official Auckland Central office launch party at Karangahape Road’s First Thursdays this coming Thursday 6th May! After we won the privilege of representing our Auckland Central electorate, I spent time talking to a number of politicians, electorate staffers and officials about how best to establish an office that truly served our community. To my surprise, many spoke of the importance of having a space that was out-the-way. Initially intrigued about this being a budgetary constraint that a little DIY and creative thinking could overcome, it became clear that in fact, we were actually being warned that visibility generates more work, more walk-ins, more community engagement.

Chris Farrelly & Chlöe Swarbrick

I’d always thought that was the entire point of the job. For that reason, you’ll find our electorate office on Karangahape Road, between Queen Street and Symonds Street. A mere stones’ throw from Ponsonby, we’re right in the thick of so many of the things that make our city what it is: the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s the kind of approach I hope we become known for over the next three years of service: celebrating local innovators, businesses and creators, while confronting head-on - literally staying street level with - the problems and growing pains in our communities.

While my office can play the connector role in bringing people together, advocating local solutions through the privilege of this platform, it’s important to acknowledge that change, for better or worse, is rarely an individual feat.

Please get in touch if we can help you with local issues 09 378 4810 chloe.swarbrick@parliament.govt.nz Auckland Council - 09 301 0101 COVID-19 advice from Healthline 0800 358 5453 Healthline: General health advice 0800 611 116 Inland Revenue - 0800 257 777 Ministry of Social Development 0800 559 009 Need to talk? Free counselling helpline - Phone or text 1737

Chlöe Swarbrick MP for Auckland Central

Authorised by Chlöe Swarbrick, Parliament Buildings Wellington

20 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

Helen Robinson & Chlöe Swarbrick

That said, leadership in all its forms is critical in plotting a pathway forward.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible service of our outgoing Auckland City Missioner, Chris Farrelly, who I’ve known well since walking into his office as a plucky and precocious twenty-something Mayoral candidate back in 2016, wanting to know how we ended homelessness once and for all. In Chris’ five year tenure, we’ve seen a shifting of heaven and earth to bring about the near completion of Homeground, the largest project in the Missions’ history, to provide beds, food, treatment and advocacy for those who’ve fallen through the cracks.

Picking up the reigns is Helen Robinson, whom I’ve been privileged to know for the past year or so in her last role as the Mission’s Social Services General Manager. I’ve always admired her honesty and openness in the challenges we face, but more than that, the solutions in championing the dignity of all people to live a good, contributing life. Here’s to the mahi ahead.

As the opening of our Trans-Tasman bubble allows us to reconnect with Aussie friends and whanau, we’ve not only got an awesome opportunity to reflect on where we’ve been over the ‘unprecedented’ last year, but where we want to go, and who we want to be. The Team of Five Million have, so far, knocked Covid-19 out the park. This month, we can celebrate coming together to support local talent, solve local problems (drop me a line if you’ve any ideas or insights!) and continue building an ever-stronger community along the way.

Chlöe Swarbrick’s Auckland Central Office opening party is 7pm, Thursday 6 May, 74-76 Karangahape Road. The evening will be based primarily in their next-door neighbour’s, Monster Valley, as a well-equipped location for live music, equipped with a small craft beer bar. All welcome.

PN (CHLÖE SWARBRICK)  www.greens.org.nz/chloe_swarbrick PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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LOCAL NEWS

JOHN ELLIOTT: THE EVILS OF GROSS INEQUALITY IN NEW ZEALAND Back in the 1950s we used to say New Zealand was a very egalitarian country; and it was.

Sure there were wealthy people - industrialists and business people like Myers, Kerridge, Caughey, Yates, Dove-Myer Robinson. There were landed gentry like Elworthy, Kelt, Ormond. And there were flash cars.

Robbie and Rainton Hastie, of strip club fame, both drove Rolls Royces.

There were also poverty pockets of run down, barely livable houses (especially rural Maori), and a growing number of urban poor.

But there was nothing like the income gap now existing in Aotearoa, nor any of the ostentatious flaunting of wealth we see today. ‘His and Hers’ Ferraris, Lamborginis, Aston Martins galore, and Mercedes winning car of the year in New Zealand - at $150,000 a disgrace.

No, it’s not jealousy, nor tall poppy syndrome, it’s concern for the wider New Zealand society, increasingly divided, anxious, depressed, and angry.

Increasing affluence is not making people happier. As Australian public professional Clive Hamilton has said, “Westerners are four or five times wealthier than they were 50 years ago, but they are no happier.”

Between 1985 and 2000 under Douglas and then Richardson, both rampant neo-liberals after the style of Thatcher and Reagan, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer in God’s own country. If you read The Spirit Level, by Wilkinson and Pickett, you see how New Zealand fairs badly in social statistics like prison incarceration, child mortality, teenage pregnancies and youth suicides alongside the inequality.

Recently I have noted an increase in gated communities. This is the beginning of a ‘them and us’ mentality. It could end in revolution - an extreme proposition, but one not unknown in our difficult modern world.

Much of what appears ‘natural’ today dates only from the 1980s - the obsession with wealth creation, the cult of privatisation and the private sector, the growing disparities of rich and poor. The rhetoric that goes with this includes uncritical admiration of unfettered markets, disdain for the public sector and the delusion of endless growth.

22 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

Economists like Joseph Stiglitz, former world bank economist, and Thomas Picketty, writer of Capital in the Twenty-First Century, have warned of the gross inequality. Stiglitz calls for both pre and post income redistribution through taxation, while Picketty postulates a depressing equation which embeds inequality in a capitalist society, where R is the rate of return on capital and G is the rate of growth in the economy.

Most economists are not calling for socialism or total state control.

They are calling for a better balance between private enterprise and state control.

Can anything really be done to produce a fairer economy for New Zealanders, or is it too late? I think there are three plausible possibilities.

The first is that the 99% will rise up and overthrow the 1%. The numbers taking to the streets during the so-called Arab Spring were impressive. Regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya were overthrown.

The second possibility is that the 1% could begin to understand that the status quo is not in their best interests (hiding behind gated communities, frightened of violence and theft, knowing the system is unfair). They may just start to realise that it is in their interests to have a fairer and more just society.

The third scenario would see the diminishing middle classes realise that they have been kidding themselves when they think that their interests are the same as the interests of the 1%. This is what Marx called ‘false consciousness’.

Most tellingly, as Sir Edmund Thomas (retired judge of the New Zealand Court of Appeal) said in his Bruce Jesson memorial lecture several years ago, “New Zealand will never again be a fair and just society until we rid ourselves of the last vestiges of neo-liberalism.”

We must act now before we lose our planet, and our democratic way of life, and this Labour government may be our best chance.

(JOHN ELLIOTT)  PN

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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LOCAL NEWS

PONSONBY U3A: MAY 2021 With the Covid-19 vaccination soon to be offered to the ‘mature’ age group that makes up most of the U3A membership, it was timely that Ponsonby U3A be given the talk, “Vaccines yesterday and today” by its own eminent scientist member Dr Margot Skinner.

It was timely for two reasons; first the anti-vax lobby against vaccination; second there have been a number of questions raised about the Covid-19 vaccines and their effectiveness and safety.

Previously the majority of the population has not questioned the use of vaccinations for the elimination of measles, meningitis, shingles, pneumonia, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, tuberculosis and influenza. Generally, the population saw good reason for having these – but are there reasons with the Covid-19 vaccines that we should reconsider?

It would be unlikely after Dr Skinner’s talk that some, if any, of us would turn down the opportunity for protection from the Covid-19 pandemic that is currently sweeping the world. The past year has been unlike any we have experienced in our time – and how lucky we are to live in New Zealand, seemingly safer than almost any other country because of the policies that have been enacted here and our physical isolation from the rest of the world.

Dr Skinner’s talk covered a brief outline of the body’s immune system; the principles of vaccination; herd immunity; different types of conventional vaccine; new types of vaccine for Covid-19; results of a Pfizer/BioNtech Clinical Trial; and a summary of other Covid-19 vaccines.

Herd immunity was discussed. Once vaccinated we are likely to be protected against the targeted disease. However, some people can’t or won’t be vaccinated, but if enough people are vaccinated then the unvaccinated are likely to be protected against the targeted disease. The question is what percentage of people need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to achieve herd immunity?

“We don’t know that yet,” said Dr Skinner, “But it will likely be between 95 percent and 70 percent based on other vaccines.”

The April guest speaker Anna Willison entitled her talk, “A day in the life of a fishery officer”. It was, in fact, much more than that. Anna is a senior fishery officer in the North Harbour team for the Ministry for Primary Industries.

She looks after the area north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, Kaipara Harbour, Waitemata- and Manukau and deals with fisheries compliance and compliance and governance.

She has been a fishery officer for 11 years, having previously been a police woman in the Victoria Police. Her special interest is international fisheries and interagency work. “I love getting out with the navy, air force and police. And I also love that here in Auckland anyone can fish and gather seafood. I’m passionate about looking after our ocean and coastline. I think education is the key to sustainable harvesting. My office is the great outdoors and on a daily basis I am at the beaches or on the water as kaitiaki for our beautiful resource.”

Ponsonby U3A meets on the second Friday morning of the month. As well as two speakers there are reports from special interest groups. Guests are welcome to attend to see if U3A is for them, but are first asked to telephone Philippa Tait on T: 027 452 3108.

The guest speaker for the May meeting will be Wayne Brittenden talking about his life as a foreign correspondent. The 10-minute speaker will be U3A member Colin Harvey.  PN NEXT MEETING: Friday 14 May at Herne Bay Petanque Club,

Salisbury Reserve, Salisbury St, Herne Bay.

Tea from 9.30am, meeting commences at 10am.

LETTERS & EMAILS

ENQUIRIES:

LET’S REMOVE THE DEADWOOD The ‘independent experts’ recommended to remove the deadwood from Western Springs Forest. That includes 12 dead trees and branches from 40 others. Instead, a huge road of mud and gravel has scarred the centre of the forest and mature native trees have been slaughtered causing a gaping wound on this ecosystem.

Maybe the ‘deadwood’ needs to be removed from Auckland Council and Community Facilities (CF) instead! These are the people who are being careless with ratepayers’ funds that would be better spent on Ponsonby Park or repairing the Leys Institute building.

New Zealand Royal Spoonbills screeched at the boom and crash of a 40 metre high canopy tree being felled. (Video on FB.) These birds were on the endangered list a few years ago and now their colony has grown to the extent that teenagers visit the lake on a daily basis, probably to start a new colony, or at least to avoid their parents.

Another rare specimen was found in the forest recently, a politician with integrity who cares about community engagement enough to sit on a digger and be arrested. Maybe a few of the ancient specimens just warming seats awaiting a knighthood need to fly off instead!

One of the many security guards employed by CF, believed she saw four bats around midnight on Sunday 11 April but CF are refusing to even talk to her, let alone investigate. She may have been mistaken but that is far

24 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

Philippa Tait, President, Ponsonby U3A, T: 0274 523 108, www.u3a.nz

less damaging than destroying the habitat of an endangered indigenous mammal when Aotearoa has so few mammals.

Gael Baldock, Community Advocate HISTORICAL ENQUIRY I am researching James Mason (1833 -1915) and William Mason (1840 - 1905), both of whom were commercial nurserymen. William Mason was a significant landowner in Ponsonby between 1875 - 1905. Apparently, either of them are said to have built the original Ponsonby Club Hotel in the early 1870s. At this stage I am very uneasy with the correctness of that statement - hence I would be most grateful for any record/information you have on this topic; or, if you could give any contacts who may be able to assist with my enquiry.

Brian Byrne, Ponsonby WAITEMATA LOCAL BOARD One of the underlying concerns that members of the public have of the Waitemata- Local Board is the lack of meaningful community engagement.

The members community engagement could be significantly enhanced if it moved the venue for its Board meetings to a larger venue (so that everyone attending can fit in) and provide proper video facilities so that their deliberations can be viewed live and then uploaded to become a matter of public record. As an added bonus, they could invite the public to join them at afternoon tea so that there was some real face-to-face engagement. Anyone for tea?

Keith McConnell, keith@keithforwaitemata.com PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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LOCAL NEWS

JOHN ELLIOTT: WHAT ANGERS LISA PRAGER ABOUT LOCAL GOVERNMENT? Local activist Lisa Prager has been a thorn in Auckland government’s side for a long time.

We asked her what she thinks of the current situation, and what it is that has gone so wrong.

Lisa Prager told us that Mayor Phil Goff is the most dangerous and destructive mayor we have ever had. “He is a bully, and extremely manipulative. Goff leads a council which is not open and transparent,” she added.

On the one issue of trees in Auckland, Prager told us Goff has overseen more trees destroyed than any other mayor in Auckland’s history. He talks about planting a million trees, while allowing the demolition of Western Springs forest, and hundreds of other trees which are our current carbon sinks.

“It’s political double speak,” says Prager.

Lisa Prager says the super city was developed for big business by big business. “Ask Rodney Hide,” she challenged me. “He’ll tell you it was a mistake. There has been a major shift from ‘the public’ to ‘the private’. Of 20 or so corporations that run Auckland services, all but one are multi-national corporations.”

“It’s part of the neo-liberal economic model brought to New Zealand

by Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble, former Labour party stalwarts. Goff is just as neo-liberal as they were,” believes Prager.

We asked Lisa Prager why the council is so opposed to her activism.

“They are afraid of people who speak the truth,” she said.

Lisa Prager calls for the CCOs to be dissolved. “The problem is from the top down. I have no complaint with lower ranking officers. They are just following orders.

The ultimate desire is to ‘socially engineer us’, argues Prager.

“I stand for social justice, a fair society, with equity and freedom of speech,” is how Lisa Prager describes her philosophy. “We are now beyond a nanny state, heading into a dictatorship, aiming to socially engineer us and stifle democratic debate.”

Prager believes it’s all about power and control, including a failure of the council CEO. Where did the new guy come from, I asked Lisa. “He knew where the bodies were buried,” she joked.

Prager does not mince her words. “Democracy is dead at local level,” she maintains, “and fake and flawed consultation remain.”

In the old days, Lisa agreed, we could trust our councillors. “Now elected members fail to serve us. They have largely been captured by multi-nationals, and it’s all about profit.”

Like many of us Lisa Prager believes CCOs (so-called council controlled organisations) is a terrible model. She bemoans the fact that all we are left with is the ability to stand up and say no like her group is doing over the destruction of the Western Springs forest.

Lisa Prager is sad to admit that the super city has failed to serve us and been captured for profit not service. Even public transport is privately owned - a sad fact in a country at present led by a centreleft government.

We discussed AT’s destructive behaviour on our central city streets, West Lynn, Queen Street, and now Ponsonby Road.

The damage done by neo-liberalism in the 80s and 90s lingers on, and as Sir Edmund Thomas, former Appeal Court judge has said, “New Zealand will never again be a fair and just society until we rid ourselves of the last vestiges of neo-liberalism.” Goff represents one of those last vestiges, and Ponsonby News agrees with Lisa Prager that he must go, taking with him the flawed CCO model, so we can bring back some democracy to our local government.

Lisa Prager believes we are being socially engineered by Auckland Transport. Their work, with little or no consultation in West Lynn has been a shambles now for two years. They have promised to fix a dangerous crossing, stop water pouring into shops, and re-do much of the flawed ‘improvements’, that have made West Lynn worse.

Now they’ve moved on to Ponsonby Road. “I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” Lisa told us, “the guerrilla urbanism is hastening everybody to the malls, where council allows, or provides, ample parking. Local shopping precincts like Ponsonby Road will be killed,” according to Prager. Maybe big boys like Westfields’ owners are in on the plot.

26 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

At a time in our history when only about 30% of us vote in local body elections, activists like Lisa Prager carry out a vital role trying to keep our council honest. Lisa would tell you she’s losing the battle, but we are proud of her tenacity under pressure, and for her herculean efforts. (JOHN ELLIOTT)  PN

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

LOCAL NEWS

DAVID HARTNELL WINS A BAM PRESIDENTIAL CITATION At the 75th Anniversary of the Brotherhood of Auckland Magicians evening last month president Alan Watson QSM presented Ponsonby News columnist David Hartnell MNZM with a BAM Presidential Citation.

The award was in appreciation of David’s work as patron of the society and his assistance in showcasing the art of magic in the media.

As David explained, “this award has only been presented on four previous occasions. The other magic circles around the world were envious that here in New Zealand we were able to gather together, without masks or social distancing.

“I am honoured to receive the award which will take pride of place in PN my home office.” 

PONSONBY COMMUNITY CENTRE - ROOMS FOR HIRE The Ponsonby Community Centre has some great spaces available for hire for your kids’ birthday party, a seminar or class, meetings or small scale events.

You are welcome to come by for a look at our facilities to see if our facilities are right for you, or check out our website venue hire page for some pictures along with sizes and pricing.  PN PONSONBY COMMUNITY CENTRE, 20 Ponsonby Terrace, T: 09 378 1752, www.ponsonbycommunity.org.nz

28 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

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To find out more call us on 0800 377 2277 or visit www.nzfunds.co.nz Total funds as at 7 April 2021 including both retail and wholesale mandates: $41 million. Total returns since inception in October 2020: +7.46%. All numbers after fees, before tax. Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future returns.

Expected average annual returns are based on modelled returns only, which may not be an indicator of future returns. For more information on the calculation of expected average annual returns, see ‘Other Material Information’. Visit nzfunds.co.nz/income-generator to view the latest copy of the Product Disclosure Statement.

New Zealand Funds Management Limited is the issuer of NZ Funds Income Generator. Total returns since inception calculated from 22 October 2020 to 31 March 2021.

LOCAL NEWS

ONCE... ALONG PONSONBY ROAD The Ponsonby Road Streets for People Project, organised by Auckland Transport in collaboration with community representatives, is said to be designed to “make Ponsonby more vibrant, safer and easier to travel on bike or foot, create more open space for people, reflect and protect Ponsonby’s unique history and culture.”

Unfortunately, such ideals take time to implement and so while the Ponsonby community awaits the start of the project, it may be an opportunity to reflect on the earliest days of Ponsonby Road – a time when there was no shortage of open space on which to build their homes and businesses – as reported by The Daily Southern Cross on 5 November 1861: “To sell, without reserve 116 choice building allotments, the locality in which the ground is situated is so well known that the auctioneer considers it unnecessary to do more than call attention to the unusually large size of the allotments, the greater portion having a frontage of 66 feet by a depth of over 100 feet.”

Ease of access to Ponsonby Road was provided by the first public transport service started on 8 November 1864 – as reported by The Daily Southern Cross: “The omnibus which Mr. Hardington announced would ply between Auckland, Newton, Ponsonby Road and St. Ann’s College, will commence running today.”

A New Zealand Herald article published 22 December 1864 was certainly keen to promote the horse-drawn service although realistic as to what its future might be: “Many persons in Newton, and many living a short distance back on either side of the Ponsonby Road are, we believe, not yet fully aware that omnibusses run regularly every day at stated hours between Auckland and the point where College Hill and St. Mary’s Road join the Ponsonby Road.

“The convenience thus afforded by the enterprise of Mr. Hardington is a very great one to the residents in this locality, many of whom, either in rainy or hot weather, and more particularly the feminine portion of them, will gladly avail themselves of it when the hours of arrival and departure become more generally known.

“The omnibusses leave Hardington’s Bazzar Yards in Queen Street, every day, Sundays excepted, at 10am, 2pm, and 5.30pm, and leave the top of College Hill and Ponsonby Road at 9am, 11am, and 3pm.

The charge for the whole distance is only one shilling, and though the speculation at first must necessarily be a losing one, we trust that as the convenience afforded becomes better known, Mr. Hardington will eventually reap some reward for his enterprise.

“One thing is certain that throughout the whole suburb through which the omnibusses pass, houses are springing up in every direction and the population bids fair to be doubled in a short time. Meantime we think the residents of the locality may, with no injury to their own interests, endeavour as much as they can by using the conveniences, to render it worth the proprietor’s while to continue running them.”

As it does today, Ponsonby Road required constant maintenance: In January 1865, the Auckland City engineer, Mr Wrigg, reported that Ponsonby Road was among others, “required to be repaired, reformed and metalled the length of 3300 feet at an estimated cost of £729 8s 10d.”

Unfortunately, by September 1870, parts of Ponsonby Road were so muddy that cart drivers found it easier to drive along what were supposed to be footpaths – as reported by The Auckland Star: “C. Duckinfield was charged with driving a cart on the footpath of Ponsonby Road, on the 6th inst. H. Foreman deposed to having seen the defendant committing the offence, and was cross-examined by Mr. Hesketh as to the existence or appearance of the footpath in question.

“Stannus Jones deposed to the formation of the footpath, and its separation by water courses. Henry Peckham, contractor for roads,

30 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

called for the defence, swore that at this spot, on the 6th, the road was not passable for a horse and cart. The Court said that there was not sufficient evidence of the formation of the footpath, and dismissed the case.

“H. Sully was charged with a similar offence on the same road.

H. Foreman deposed to having seen the defendant driving a cart on the raised footpath on the east side of Ponsonby Road; and that at that place the path is raised a foot high, and marked off by posts; that he had passed inside the posts; and that the road is quite passable there.

“J. Hogarth, called by Mr. Hesketh for the defence, deposed to the impassable state of the road at that place, and to having had his own cart bogged to the axle on the day in question. J. P. Hatley corroborated the statement as to the impassable state of the road.

The Court held that the footpath was clearly defined at this spot, but owing to the bad state of the road, the mitigated fine of five shillings was inflicted.”

Sometimes an attempt to remedy the muddy conditions proved dangerous – as reported by The Daily Southern Cross on 15 May 1865: “On Saturday as Mr. Bacon, of the Odd Fellows’ Arms, was proceeding homeward on horseback along the Ponsonby Road, his horse stumbled and threw him heavily to the ground, but although much shaken, he fortunately was not seriously injured. The cause of the accident was a deep drain recently cut at the top of Hepburn Street, and which crosses one part of Ponsonby Road, neither the horse nor the rider observing the danger, owing to the darkness.”

However, the darkness was eventually beaten, as reported by The Daily Southern Cross on 31 December 1872: “The back parts of the city and suburbs are gradually being lighted up. In the Dedwood district, the four lamps which were procured from the City Council a short time ago are now in course of erection. One is being erected at the junction of Franklin Road with Ponsonby Road, one near All Saints’ Church, and the remaining two in the College Hill, near the Suffolk Hotel (now The Cav), and at the entrance to the Convent grounds. “If other suburban districts were as spirited in the matter of lighting their thoroughfares at night as the Dedwood people, a great benefit would be given to all having occasion to travel after nightfall, and the value of property would be considerably increased in consequence.”

As the people of Ponsonby Road await the improvements expected from their Streets for People Project, spare some thought for Mr Bacon who waited some seven years to see the light, and even longer for safer drainage. (KEITH MEXSOM)  PN About Keith Mexsom Keith Mexsom has magazine and newspaper experience in both New Zealand and Australia as a publisher, editor, sub-editor, journalist, feature writer, and copywriter. He has a graduate diploma in journalism studies from Massey University.

Keith has been writing fiction and non-fiction for more than 30 years.

His latest book ‘Gas Pedal to Back-Pedal: The Second Century of Auckland Transport’ is volume two of a trilogy. Check out Waka Paddle to Gas Pedal for the first century of Auckland’s transport history keithmexsom.pubsitepro.com PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

PAR SOFA/ FROMAGE OTTOMAN

www.dawsonandco.nz

LOCAL NEWS

PONSONBY PARK - DEMOCRACY IN ACTION:

BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE In March 2016 the Waitematā Local Board embarked on a Community-led design (CLD) process to establish Ponsonby Park, the new civic space at 254 Ponsonby Road.

They did so to ensure the creation of an urban space that matched the needs of local residents, visitors and businesses. The volunteer CLD group has now been working for over 5 years to achieve this goal.

The CLD process has been hugely successful and resulted in the international award winning* LandLAB, Park+ design. Thank you LandLAB. The design (whose concept images feature on this page) includes; • The Park (a grassed lawn and gardens, 1410 m2) • The Pavilion (outdoor sheltered area, 222 m2) • The Plaza and lane (outdoor paved area, 807 m2) • O’Neill Street upgrade (734 m2) • New building (190 m2) • Public toilet block (60 m2) • Refurbished lighthouse (1st floor feature, 120 m2) The significant and sustained engagement by the community is a major contributor to the success of the CLD process as “planning for people must be planning with people”.

The engagement included; • 1243 signed the initial petition for a ‘whole of site’ open space development

698 responses to the Waitemata- Local Board’s initial 254 Ponsonby Road consultation 190 respondents to the 1st CLD consultation 115 respondents to the 2nd CLD consultation 1208 respondents to the 3rd and final CLD consultation

•

• • •

Recently Auckland Council held their 10-year Emergency Budget 2021-2031 consultation, that closed on 22 March 2021 **. Council is now reviewing the feedback received throughout April and May. They (the governing body) will then adopt the final budget in June 2021.

This consultation will provide further guidance so we are looking forward to the results and will keep you informed of developments.

In a world where social connectedness is increasingly important and relevant, Ponsonby Park is precisely the infrastructure and amenity our community has shown they want and need. It will be the common ground and community hub that enables everyone to gather together, rest, relax and recreate - a place to meet new people or catch up with old friends or to simply spend some time to chill and take a moment.

These are the very things that build and nurture community.

PN Ponsonby Park – Bring It On! (JENNIFER WARD) 

www.254ponsonbyrd.org.nz

In November 2018 LandLAB’s Park+ design won the international ‘World Architecture News – Future Civic category’ award. It was also shortlisted at the prestigious ‘World Architecture Festival’ in the ‘Future Civic’ category.

*

See page 66, for the Key advocacy initiatives of the Waitemata- Local Board

**

www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/have-your-say/topics-you-can-have-your-say-on/the-10-year-budget-2021-2031-long-term-planconsultation/Documents/10-year-budget-2021-2031-consultation-document.pdf

32 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

A Sunshine Sensation QUEENSTOWN

FOR SALE

191 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown

Presented to the market for the first time, is this immaculate home in the sought-after and sunny neighbourhood of Kelvin Heights.

It is not hard to see why this three bedroom, two bathroom home has been cherished and enjoyed by our Vendors, since new. The clever configuration means that your living is on the upper level and comprises a light, bright and airy open-plan living, kitchen and dining area amplified by high ceilings.

You’ll love the lake and mountain views on offer from here! Open the bi-fold doors to a generous balcony where you can watch the boats go by whilst enjoying your morning coffee in the sun or alfresco dining year round. Enjoy comfortable year round temperatures thanks to a northfacing aspect.

nzsothebysrealty.com Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. Browns Real Estate Limited (licensed under the REAA 2008) MREINZ.

3

2

2

Floor Area: 220 sq m

Land Area: 606 sq m

FOR SALE: NZD $2,195,000 VIEW: nzsothebysrealty.com/QBS12550 GERARD BLIGH gerard.bligh@nzsir.com +64 21 909 198 HADLEY VAN SCHAIK hadley.vanschaik@nzsir.com +64 21 885 517

LOCAL NEWS

JOHN ELLIOTT: PONSONBY ROAD - AT’S STREETS FOR PEOPLE PLANS Let me make a couple of suggestions what Ponsonby Road is all about.

It is a connecting road between Three Lamps and Great North Road.

It is home to lots of great shops, many of whom rely on visitors to Ponsonby from other Auckland suburbs for their livelihood. It is a long road, and a hard walk for disabled or elderly. Apart from on-street parking, there is nowhere for cars to park, except down side streets.

Those of us whose street is filled with commuter cars every day, know how frustrating that can be.

Auckland Transport’s cunning plan is to make Ponsonby Road ‘safer’ and ‘more vibrant’. The community design group has developed ideas that include safer crossings, new trees and plants (ironic when council is at the same time demolishing a large forest of mature carbon sinks in Western Springs Forest), colour, artwork, safer ways to travel on bike and foot, improvements to loading zones and Uber pickups, and nicer places to sit and spend time.

You will notice no mention of cars, and their place on Ponsonby Road.

AT is aiming for changes to be in place by mid-2021. It is important to note that like so-called improvements in the central city, like High Street, changes will be temporary and movable, or removable if found to be impracticable.

Now, what are the main changes envisioned?

AT have earmarked from Anglesea Street to Williamson Avenue for the ‘make Ponsonby Road better’ project, so they have acknowledged that Ponsonby Road is too long to deal to in its entirety. Those of us who worked on the original ‘Main Street’ project agonised over that fact long and hard. We concluded that unless there was transport to take people from one end of the street to the other, the visit to Ponsonby Road would be limited. Now that ‘transport’ could be tuktuks, cycles, or minibuses.

So, AT’s proposal calls for a wide variety of installations. I’ll list just a few.

‘Create places to play’, ‘create places to linger’, ‘provide opportunities for local story telling and identity’. But the coup de grace is this: ‘a popup workshop space for cycling information, repair tools and upskilling.’

Some idiot suggests school visits to this hub to help attract kids to biking. Just imagine a struggling retailer losing a couple of carparks outside their shop to make way for a bike repair hub.

34 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I have to wonder whether one of the main objectives of this whole exercise is to ban as many cars as possible from Ponsonby Road.

There are strong calls for safer pedestrian crossings, which I support. There are calls for slower car speeds which I support. If drivers object to 30kph for safety reasons, then find an alternative route. That, however, does invite cars to rat run through side streets to avoid a slower Ponsonby Road.

When I was on the steering committee for the Main Street project, several things became obvious straight away. People could go to a mall and park easily. They would be undercover. They wouldn’t have so far to walk. Main Streets had to have their own attractions or they would die.

We settled on heritage, better use of old buildings, aimed for some depth on Ponsonby Road, secured paint from Resene and others to paint up old heritage buildings, fix balconies and roofs, use the upstairs and backs of larger buildings for small businesses, and we supported the Asian Tuk Tuk vehicles which ferried people up and down Ponsonby Road for a time.

The ideas around child play and green zones, places to linger, and the very vague ‘install space’, do not sit well with my concept of what Ponsonby Road is all about. Ponsonby families live in side streets, not on Ponsonby Road, and most people on Ponsonby Road on any one day are visitors who have come to shop, eat, or browse. The elderly or disabled among them will welcome a few more seats, some in the shade, and easier crossing of the road, especially if cars are slowed even more than 40kph.

I hate malls and almost never visit them. I’ve walked Ponsonby Road many times in the last few years, and I enjoy the hustle and bustle.

I could now, at 82, do with a few more seats for a quiet sit down, but I can’t see merit in trying to turn Ponsonby Road into something new, or even something old, but without cars.

Businesses will go bust by the dozen, and times are too fragile to PN encourage that to happen. (JOHN ELLIOTT) 

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

LOCAL NEWS

KEN RING: WEATHER BY THE MOON AUCKLAND WEATHER DIARY, MAY 2021 May is drier, sunnier and warmer than normal. The first week is the cloudiest and warmest; the second week is the overall wettest and the third week is the driest and coolest. The last week sees the most sunshine. The wettest days are at the beginning and around mid-month.

Winds will average from the southeast. Atmospheric pressures may be at upper levels around 9th/10th and again 26th, and for the month may average a high 1021mbs.

For fishermen, unusually high tides are around the 27th. The best fishing bite-times in the east are at dusk on 9th - 12th, and 24th - 26th.

Chances are also good for noon of 2nd - 4th, 17th - 19th, and 31st.

For gardeners, pruning is best between 3rd - 11th (waning moon descending), and sowing is best between 17th - 25th (waxing moon ascending). For preserving and longer shelf-life, pick crops or flowers on neap tide days on 6th and 20th. Allow 24 hour error for all PN forecasting. (KEN RING)  For future weather for any date, and the 2021 NZ Weather Almanac, see www.predictweather.com

Opinions expressed in Ponsonby News are not always the opinion of Alchemy Media Limited & Ponsonby News.

@ LEYS LITTLE LIBRARY Kia ora Koutou. May is the one-year anniversary of us being in our little library on Jervois Road.

It really has been quite a year; we have welcomed new staff and friends to Leys and said goodbye to others while navigating numerous Covid-19 alert level changes. Though we miss our big library, we are rather enjoying our little library too. Being right on the street means we really feel like part of everything that is going on in Three Lamps.

This month is the return of the Auckland Writers Festival to live events (fingers crossed). We are most excited to see and listen to the wonderful array of New Zealand and International writers attending this year’s festival. If you haven’t already, pick up a guide from the library, request some of their books and book some tickets. Personally, I like to book at least one session where I know nothing about the author or their work; it’s a great way to discover a genre/topic you normally would not read and possibly even discover a new favourite writer.

If the Writers Festival isn’t enough of a literary fix for you for the middle of the year, then Auckland Libraries is here to help. 31 May - 13 June Auckland Libraries Nga- Pataka Korero o Tamaki Makaurau presents We Read Auckland - a new winter programme celebrating Auckland’s readers and writers and the stories that bring us together. This free programme of exciting live and online events has something for every reader, featuring favourite authors, celebrity readers and family fun at community venues and libraries across Auckland.

Look out for a series of feature events hosted in venues across the Auckland region and smaller activations hosted by local libraries. There will also be an online programme of events. Drop into your local library to find out what is happening nearest you. We Read Auckland is presented with support from the New Zealand Libraries’ Partnership Programme.

As the days get cooler and shorter, stop by the little library and collect your books, magazines and DVDs to enjoy curled up on these autumn PN evenings. Nga- mihi nui. (CHLOE, COMMUNITY LIBRARY MANAGER)  LEYS INSTITUTE LITTLE LIBRARY, 14 Jervois Road, T: 09 377 0209, www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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FASHION + STYLE

FRENCH FREDDIE POP UP IN HERNE BAY New to the suburb, local label French Freddie has opened their fourth pop-up shop in amongst good company at 218 Jervois Road, Herne Bay. Driven to design beautiful garments that everyday women could pair with pants, shorts or skirts for any occasion - from laid-back lunches with the ladies to bold boardroom meetings - French Freddie is a New Zealand fashion brand created by a mother and daughter trio passionate about helping women achieve effortless elegance.

With clean lines - bold, yet relaxed silhouettes and successful style everyday women will sharpen up their wardrobes when they slip into items from this European-inspired fashion range.

Predominantly made from quality natural fibres, the team is particular about the fabric they source – paying close attention to the weight, weave and texture. The craftsmanship is edgy and elegant and constructed with incredible attention to detail. This is visible in the unique designs and embellishments, including buttons, sleeves, zips, collars and stitching.

Combining their background in fashion, interior design and marketing, the family have created a premium fashion brand with one goal in mind – to empower women to look, feel, and be successful.

As an extension of the brand offering, a personalised styling service and workshops will be available for pop-up store customers to give

French Freddie’s clientele support from some of the country’s most reputable stylists in order to help them select essential items with the utmost confidence.  PN FRENCH FREDDIE, 218 Jervois Road, www.frenchfreddie.co.nz

French Freddie Specialises in beautifully designed shirts, tops and jackets, we solve a problem many women face – the challenge to find versatile and flattering upper garments to pair with jeans, trousers and skirts.

When you purchase from French Freddie, you are investing in timeless, unique, staple wardrobe enhancers that will see you through all seasons & occasions.

Visit us at: frenchfreddie.co.nz |

frenchfreddienz |

218 Jervois Rd, Herne Bay (Present this flyer in-store to receive 15% off)

36 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

@frenchfreddie

NEW POP-UP SHOP HERNE BAY

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

FASHION + STYLE

IN BLACK PONSONBY Discover In Black, a concept store by Seagar Design, tucked away at the rear of The Shelter, and opening onto a leafy urban courtyard, one of Mackelvie Street’s bestkept secrets.

The gallery-style space celebrates a colour that looms large over the landscape of New Zealand design by exhibiting expressions of the colour black in the form of art, design, objet and interiors.

Their curative lens explores how the characteristics of black can be realised through an object’s materiality, form and texture, whether it’s black clay, steel, glass, wood or acrylic.

The works collected at In Black represent the voices of artists, creators and makers from New Zealand and abroad. They’re one-ofa-kind, collectable, designer pieces waiting to find a beloved place in your home for years to come.

The concept store is a physical extension to boutique design studio Seagar Design. They are available for consultation on site, offering an eye for detail that’s been honed over 40 years of experience in residential and commercial interiors. For a new build, renovation, or the special finishing touches, Seagar Design would be thrilled to be a part of your next project – be it black or not!  PN IN BLACK, 78 Mackelvie Street, www.seagardesign.com Images clockwise from top; Natalie & Adrienne wearing Taylor from their neighbours at The Shelter. An Interior by Seagar Design featuring Designer Rugs, bottom: In Black Concept Store.

A CONCEPT STORE BY SEAGAR DESIGN W W W.S E A G A R DESIGN.COM

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@ SE A G A R _ D E S I G N

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7 8 M A C K E LV I E S T, P O N S O N B Y PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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Seet Pea Perfect Top by curate $299

Cheetah Mason Trench by Megan Salmon $429

Button Thru Merino Dress by Siren $243

Textured Seam Crop by Siren $189

Delauney Princess Coat by Megan Salmon $403

Dressing Well Dress by Curate $299

FASHION + STYLE

@ ZEBRANO

ZEBRANO has now relocated to 22 Morrow Street, Newmarket - opposite Westfield, T: 09 523 2500, www.zebrano.co.nz

稀攀戀爀愀渀漀

䴀愀爀挀漀 倀漀氀漀

38 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

匀椀爀攀渀

唀渀搀攀爀猀琀甀搀礀

䄀氀攀猀猀愀渀搀爀愀

䴀愀爀挀漀 倀漀氀漀

䰀攀洀漀渀 吀爀攀攀

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

TRAVEL BREAKS

ROSS THORBY: MAN OVERBOARD! Two words that incite immediate and focused attention in the minds and hearts of any sailor are, “Man Overboard!” alongside that other word almost as powerful at sea - “Fire!”.

We were sailing through the fiords of the South Island; a journey that I had done several times previously - having waxed lyrically and expansively about them in this very column. The mind-blowing scenery, the towering peaks and the sheer majesty of the fiords again seared its primordial beauty into my very soul.

We entered Milford Sound, where once shipwrecked hulks of ancient mariner’s vessels had lain, but are now inhabited only by colonies of seals marking our passage with their barking trailing behind us as we sailed past.

Drifting against granite walls and mammoth peaks, we finally nudged our nose under Stirling Falls at the end of Milford Sound with only a few feet to spare between the solid rock and our steel hull - the falling waters splashing onto the bow of our ship.

As we cruised back down the fiord, an alarm sounded on the bridge sending ripples of anxiety through the bridge officers, who quickly fell back on their substantial years of safety training.

The most up-to-date modern ships are protected by an electronic cocoon of radar. Systems which continually monitor the exterior of the ship for any incursion include one so sensitive that it can detect the breach of a small body of organic material passing through the signal to activate that dreaded alert, “Man Overboard!”

anyone who had lost a cap over-board to report immediately to the Purser’s Office.

Time ticked on until eventually it was revealed, with relief, that the now soggy cap had been lost earlier and the ship still had its full complement on board. But what then, of the mysterious alarm?

Later that evening a crew member admitted he had thrown a half bucket of warm water overboard, and that had been picked up on the alert system. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that disciplinary meeting.

The helicopters were recalled to Queenstown. Milford Search and Rescue were stood down. The total cost of the exercise was later reported as USD$230,000.

I watched from Brian and Lesley’s balcony as we left the Sounds.

Sadly, because of the lack of daylight, we had been unable to finish our scheduled day of cruising. Doubtful Sound would not be troubled by our intrusion, so we were left with the image of Mitre peak disappearing into the dusk as we set sail for Wellington.

As Brian turned his head windward, a cheeky lick of wind caught his hat blowing it straight off his head and into the slip stream of our ship. Tumbling and spinning through the air it finally settled on our wake, only to be further tossed and turned by the cresting waves.

Once initiated, the system will immediately set an alarm on the bridge and note the exact GPS co-ordinates on the ship’s computer; a system so intuitive that I remember when they were installing it several years ago, that even waving from your balcony would set it off.

“You better warn the Purser’s Office,” I laughed. “We don’t want a repeat of today’s episode.” Sheepishly he went down the stairs to turn himself in.

Having received the warning, the Commodore immediately began retracing our passage back up the Sounds to the point indicated.

No, we don’t want any more expensive incursions on our tab thank PN you, Brian. (ROSS THORBY) 

The tannoy announcement for those on deck to look out for “debris” in the water brought hundreds more passengers out on deck. Both excited and horrified to be a part of “This is not a drill,” we scanned the horizon, and while the officers deployed a tender we waited tense and alert as they circled the area.

roscoesseafever.blogspot.com

An object spotted in the distance was pulled onboard and discovered to be a Cunard cap - not unlike those sold in the ship’s dispensary. A pall of horror encased the ship while another search vessel descended into the lucid and apparently threatening waters of the Sounds. There was a cap, but what happened to what it was attached to?

Meantime on the bridge, a hive of activity was taking place with the Milford Search and Rescue Squad alerted and two helicopters sent from nearby Queenstown to assist in the search.

Recalled to our staterooms for a full head count of passengers and crew, we waited while a request was made over the ship’s tannoy for PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

39

EAT,LITTLE DRINKBLACK + BE MERRY BOOK

Sidart

HELENE RAVLICH:

LOCALS LOVING LOCAL

It’s been said before and it will most definitely be said again: the past year has been one that we could never have planned for - and the pandemic’s impact on the global hospitality scene has been monumental.

Favourite restaurants have been forced to close due to lost revenue, whilst others have pivoted (to use a well-worn cliché) to a whole new business model. Things have definitely changed, but hope is on the horizon with new openings a plenty and much deliciousness to be had.

In order to celebrate and highlight our own local hospitality heroes, we asked some of our favourite local people to name their top picks from around our inner central neighbourhood. Read on, take note, and get planning that next date now.

Chlöe Swarbrick, MP for Central Auckland and member of the Green Party of Aotearoa Conch has been a staple for me over the last few years: the staff are phenomenal and the food underrated. There’s good craft beer on tap and great outdoor cubbies in which to catch up with mates.

Allpress Espresso always nails the perfect cuppa. Pat and the team will always look after you!

Beau, one of the new kids on the block, has managed to weather the Covid storm and much-mythicized first year in hospo with a dedicated community of loyalists. Diva and the team offer quick wit with natural wine recommendations. Their space from the outdoor frontage on Ponsonby Road through to the minimalist indoors and sunny (and thankfully covered, given the weather changes coming) backyard is legendary for mini events.

Coco’s Cantina

40 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

LITTLE BLACK BOOK Little Bird

OPEN café at the top of Karangahape Road, next to the petrol station has just debuted ‘mugly,’ to reduce single-use wastage from coffee cups, and have an awesome worker-ownership-stakeholder model. Also, their collaboration with the likes of Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa to provide a space to cook and bring together the community, including rough sleepers, for a classic boil-up is just so cool.

I also have to shout out the unapologetically staunch Coco’s Cantina sisters, Renee and Damaris, for the community they’ve built around beautiful pasta, pizza and Italian-inspired fare.

Lokanta on Richmond Road is my favourite little ‘go-to’ local eatery - totally unpretentious and always delicious.

Further afield I love Cotto. Why make pasta when they do the most perfect version – and Gemmayze Street on Karangahape Road. The Jeeb menu at the latter is one of my favourite ways to eat, with the staff bringing plates of deliciousness to share. It’s a great way to try lots of flavours and without the need to even think about your order!

Melanie Roger, owner of Melanie Roger Gallery I love Postal Service Café. You’ll find me there most mornings getting my daily long black... or two.

Wise Boys craft the best vegan burgers in Ponsonby (possibly the world), whilst Megan May’s take on plant-based food that strips it right back to the raw ingredients at Little Bird is always inspiring.

She doesn’t try to create meat alternatives, instead creates innovative flavour juxtapositions and freshness that leave you feeling healthy.

Ramen Takura is a favourite for its slurpy bowls of noodles and yummy sides. We always share, and they are happy to make small adjustments for vegetarians and vegans. Ask for a booth out the back if you can – the best seats in the house.

Wise Boys

OPEN Cafe

PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

41

LITTLE BLACK BOOK Photography Anna Kidman

Odettes

Tāne Tomoana, super stylist and creative director for Dry & Tea One of the biggest positives of living in the greater Ponsonby area is the culinary fare on offer to suit all tastes and budgets. With trends lending themselves to more of a hustle and bustle, loud atmospheric dining setting with shared plates and large groups, Ponsonby is perfect for your next night out, and the options are endless.

For a special night, I absolutely love Sidart. Chef Sid has gone beyond art on a plate and creates food that is even more bold and colourful than before. A true dining experience!

For an easy casual evening out I can’t go past Lilian in West Lynn and Ada in The Convent Hotel. Both are new additions to the area but instant superstars! Breakfast and brunch is always at Ozone Coffee Roasters.

My go-to for cheap and cheerful eats is Uncle Man on Karangahape Road for amazing Malaysian and the best roti in town. And a lazy

Sunday always lends itself to a pie or a roll - and a Powerade – from the iconic Busy Oven Bakery on Richmond Road.

The dishes that are rocking my world at the moment are the simple woodfired bread at Lilian (I usually order another) and the scampi, scallop, smoked eel, panipuri at Sidart - it is a vibe!

Poi Eruera who is a veteran of the Ponsonby food scene and currently at Odette’s Eatery is definitely my favourite hospo person, along with the fabulous Chand Sahrawat.

Kristine Crabb, designer, Gloria We don’t eat out that much as I love to cook, and the kids prefer staying in, but I also love an excuse to go out.

My favourite right now is Ockhee. The aesthetic is so fresh and clean, and the fare is unique and satisfying in a soul food kinda way. There is a real chic and welcoming energy there and everything I have tried is divine. I love that they add new dishes to the menu regularly, too. The

Ada

42 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

LITTLE BLACK BOOK Orphan’s Kitchen

seaweed noodle salad is next level in texture and flavour, and the one dish I’m dying to try is Traditional Korean Royal Porridge, made with fresh handpicked chestnuts. It can’t get any better the that!

I love Prego too; it always feels great going there and I love the lowkey people watching. The cibo is always on point, as are the fabulous people who run the joint.

We also love Bestie Cafe in St Kevin’s Arcade on Karangahape Road, and we are so excited for its new Ponsonby cafe. I find their menu really fresh with inspiring takes on classic fare, always served with lovely hospitality and much deliciousness.

I’ve only been once to their first night, but I’m keen to hang more at Soap Dancehall in Beresford Square - cool music, dancing and cheap drinks, beautiful folks…

Prego

Kirsty Gregg, personal trainer at re:ab on Selbourne We live nearby and can’t get enough of Hidden Village in Ponsonby Central. Their tofu pancakes and coconut salad are amazing! Also at Ponsonby Central, MamaZing kombucha is out of this world!

I love Ockhee for the Chun Sa Chae noodle salad and zucchini chips, and always Orphan’s Kitchen for breakfast. It has great coffee, crazy cake-like crumpets served with their own roof top honey; and I have to mention the always awesome service.

Azabu is a favourite for the best cabbage in town and their legendary tuna tostada, whilst Andiamo’s mocktails are perfect on a sundrenched afternoon.

Azabu

Bestie

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LITTLE BLACK BOOK

Khu Khu

Tom Sainsbury, actor and comedian I go to Josy Cafe on Williamson Avenue all the time. It’s just so wonderfully unpretentious. You go there and have a coffee and have a work meeting or a catch up with a friend, and then just chill with an avocado and tomato bagel. They also do an amazing vegan buddha bowl.

Khu Khu on Ponsonby Road is my restaurant (and Uber Eats venue) of choice. The staff are so sweet, and the plant-based food is amazing. I recommend the ‘oyster’ stir-fry. I don’t know what’s in that sauce but it’s out of control good.

Whenever I want to impress someone I take them to Est. 1901 for cocktails. It’s got really cute decor; you can sit in a little booth,

Khu Khu

order the full array of elegant drinks and then get down to some good conversation. We really enjoyed the ‘Empress’ cocktail last time we went.

Vicki Taylor, designer, Taylor and owner of The Shelter On a weekday morning - be it a work meeting or just a transition into a work headspace - a coffee (or and kawakawa tea) at Orphans Kitchen is the perfect way to greet the day.

Azabu

My all-time dinner favourite has to be Azabu. I love sitting at the bar overlooking the kitchen with Mark and watching those amazing chefs create their magic.

Azabu

44 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

And for a relaxed night with my nowadays not- so-little boys, Taisho Japanese on Jervois Road is a family favourite.

Farina is the only choice for when I need a taste of real Italian fare - especially as Italy itself has not been possible! I love the easy greeting you get as a local, and while all of the food is just amazing, the sardines are a must.

I love Ada at The Convent Hotel from the decor to the food, and although I haven’t been to Daphne’s Taverna as yet, it’s next on my list. I can’t wait to see what the amazing Clare and Joost have created this time.

We love weekend breakfasts at Buoy Cafe at Westhaven marina on a beautiful sunny morning – eating great food nestled amongst the boats is such a treat. Ginette really is a Ponsonby icon.

And for Sunday afternoon drinks with friends we meet at Annabel’s wine bar. It’s such a wonderful neighbourhood addition and an easy walking distance from home.

Dizengoff’s famous chicken salad

It sounds like I eat out far too much, which we probably do, but that’s why we love Ponsonby!

Ross M. Thorby, mayor of Franklin Road Well…where to start? My day, like most Ponsonbyites, revolves around my favourite cafes, and my breakfast coffee is always at Dizengoff. There are always plenty of papers to read.

My next morning coffee will be at Little Garden at the top of Franklin Road; Leila must be the most popular manager on the strip!

My afternoon coffee is always Foxtrot Parlour at Ponsonby Central where everybody knows your name – and my regular go-to for dinner is Midnight Gardener for its superb dumplings and margaritas.

Kara Sweney, owner of Yoga Ground and PR consultant My go-to for catch ups after yoga or meetings with clients for my PR job is always Ozone. It’s such a lovely space and there is a really friendly atmosphere there. The real clincher though is the kahawai on toast. I literally order it 9/10 times I go there. I’ll diverge on the odd occasion to the banana bread, but as a savoury girl that deal is sealed by the salted butter.

Little Garden

I’m so delighted and excited about having Ada and The Convent Hotel in our neighbourhood. It is quite a unique addition to the Auckland scene and Ada is my absolute favourite destination now, for so many reasons: amazing building and fit-out, delicious menu, great service and an awesome evening vibe. The Endive with hazelnut brown butter is my top pick on the current menu. So yummy! I don’t want it to end.

And I can never go past the pork belly.

Kathryn Wilson, shoe designer We love Daphne’s Taverna, which is officially our new local as we can walk there from home. The taramasalata is a favourite.

Extra dirty martinis from Prego are a must, especially when it comes to getting us through an early kid’s dinner on a Sunday!

An early morning walk through nearby Western Park with our dog Toby Ray is usually followed by a takeaway coffee from Longshot. We get our fresh bread during the week from Daily Bread, and we often indulge in weekend baguettes from Hook.

SPQR is always the go-to for a girls long lunch in the sunshine, or earlier in the day when I’m feeling healthy, a breakfast date at Little Bird for the sprouted bread with mushrooms is essential. Yum! (HELENE RAVLICH)  PN

SPQR

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PHIL PARKER: ASTROLABE WINES This month, I am looking at a selection of wines from Marlborough’s Astrolabe family winery.

They are all available from Caro’s wines.

Maybe like me, you have seen the Astrolabe brand in the past. Their labels are exquisitely designed and convey a sense of elegance and quality. Shout out to the marketing team! (Well done. Ask for a wage rise). Now my first question is - what does Astrolabe mean? I tended to imagine an orbiting international space laboratory.

Well – here you go for the official version from their website: An astrolabe is an ancient astronomical instrument that was used to make a diverse range of calculations. Its name translates as ‘star-taker’. A mariner’s astrolabe, modified for use upon a ship, was used by early navigators to determine latitude by measuring the altitude of a celestial object.

French explorer Dumont d’Urville charted the Marlborough coast in 1827 aboard a ship named L’Astrolabe. When career winemaker Simon Waghorn wanted to start his own label in 1996, he chose the name Astrolabe because of the historic ties with Marlborough, and he liked the connotations of exploration and discovery.

Astrolabe Kekerengu Coast Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 - $29.99 Grown south of Kaikoura near Clarence on the east coast of Marlborough. Suitably mineral and with a whiff of salty air. Intense burst of freshly squeezed black currant on the palate, with a bone-dry crisp finish. Goes with seafood or a creamy pasta with salty cheese.

Astrolabe Taihoa Vineyard Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017 - $36.99 Softer than the Kekerengu Coast but grown on the same property.

More gooseberry and grapefruit, with a hint of creaminess from

barrel fermentation and lees stirring (yeast residue). A lovely wine by itself as an aperitif style. Lots going on to entertain the palate.

Astrolabe Wrekin Marlborough Chenin Blanc 2018 - $31.99 A classical take on chenin blanc, very much in the style of the Loire Valley French chenin wines. At 14% alcohol, it’s an elegant and restrained style, with Granny Smith apple, clover honey, green capsicum and a dry tangy finish.

Astrolabe Marlborough Chardonnay 2018 - $31.99 Pale gold, with a funky nose. Flavours of nectarine, peach and toasted hazelnut. Flinty and funky with heaps of complexity and a lengthy finish. Match with your best take on Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

Astrolabe Sleepers Vineyard Marlborough Albariño 2018 - $29.99 Flinty, mineral and bone dry. Subtle hints of apricot with a hint of salty Kekerengu Coast soils. Would appeal to those who love a crisp ‘wake up’ style sauvignon blanc. A great match for oysters.

Astrolabe Wrekin Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019 - $64.99 From a hot vintage, this pinot is big and bold, with assertive tannins and a dry savoury palate of black tea, cigar smoke and dark chocolate. Would reward cellaring for 5 years at least. Match with rare eye fillet, slow-cooked lamb shanks or a rich ratatouille.

(PHIL PARKER)  PN www.finewinetours.co.nz

FINE WINE & FOOD TOURS “No. 2 Auckland Wine Tour” – TripAdvisor Your host, Phil Parker wine writer.

Affordable tours for small and large groups.

E: phil.parker@xtra.co.nz

46 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY

FACES AT GREY LYNN FARMERS MARKET Urban beekeeper, Vicky Simonson, can be found selling her raw honey at our market on most Sundays.

Where did you grow up?

I’m a real Westie - first in Huia, then we moved to Te Atatu when I was a teenager. I have been there ever since.

What do you love about West Auckland?

The people of course. I love the community and have strong roots here. I love the beaches and spend a lot of time walking our dog, Indy, at Kakamatua Inlet, near Cornwallis. When I was younger the bush walks were big for me.

How did you get into keeping bees?

We have one of the last quarter-acre sections in our area with lots of fruit trees. We started with a couple of hives to bring bees in for our trees and veggie garden.

How many hives do you have now?

Seventy! Each spring there is the potential to make a new hive when they swarm, we split hives to try and prevent swarming, as part time beekeepers seventy is our manageable limit. We also get calls from people who spot swarms and they are always relieved when we re-home swarming bees.

Where are your hives?

The first place we spread was a friend’s orchard in Oratia, and now we have also set up hives in backyards around West Auckland. People like having bees in their backyard pollinating their trees and gardens. And they get some honey without the hard work.

So honey is a highly seasonal business?

Yes. Our lives are ruled by the bee seasons. At the moment we are wintering down the hives in preparation for the cooler season. When spring arrives they will start getting very buzzy; the new bees hatch and the whole season starts again.

How do you harvest the honey?

It’s a labour-intensive process. The frames from the hives are spun in a honey extractor, then the honey is sieved before it goes into jars. We make sure that we leave plenty of honey for the bees to eat over winter. The bees

work hard to produce the honey, and we reckon that they deserve to reap the benefits of their hard work. All our hives are numbered and we harvest each hive separately so that you can tell, from the number on the jar, which hive the honey comes from.

Wow - that is ultimate traceability. Do any customers ask for honey from specific hives?

Actually a few do. There are a lot of anecdotal reports of hyperlocal raw honey helping hayfever sufferers. Some of our customers request honey from hives close to their home and they say it helps. I just wish someone would do formal research to confirm this.

How do you use honey?

We use honey for everything. The kids have honey on their Weetbix. If they have a sore throat, I give them honey. I use it in baking. It makes a great face mask, and I usually have a honey, ginger and lemon drink on the go for most of the day. I make wax wraps and we use bees wax for coating the frames in the hive ready for a new colony.

How does the market fit into your business?

It’s important for people to have a chance to taste the different honeys because they are all really different. I love being able to talk to people about what goes into producing the honey. And I really enjoy the vibe of the market. It’s a fun place to hang out on a Sunday morning.

You have five young children, a dog, and your husband is a builder - how do you fit this all in?

Yes, we have five children aged 2 to 12 and they are all such individuals. It is super busy but I don’t sweat the small stuff and I enjoy the crazy fun of family life. And we get a lot of support from friends and family which makes it all possible.

Do you ever get a chance to have time off?

Not much, but we like to go out fishing when we can, or visit the extended family’s bach. And we have a family trip planned to Queenstown at the end of the year.  PN tirimoanahoney.co.nz

GREY LYNN FARMERS MARKET @ the Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Road, www.glfm.co.nz

48 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY Framingham Band

CELEBRATING NZ MUSIC MONTH AT GLENGARRY We’re joining in the celebration of New Zealand’s surging music scene, still alive and kicking despite everything 2020 threw at it.

We’re launching NZ Music Month at our Glengarry Victoria Park store on Tuesday 4 May from 4:40pm. There’ll be food and drink and all sorts of interesting people hanging about. Everybody’s favourite music store, the Rock Shop is, through their associate company KBB Music, putting a grand piano and someone to play it in our store for the event, where it will stay for the duration of NZ Music Month as various luminaries pop in to work the keys. Meanwhile, all of our Glengarry stores will be running nothing but Kiwi music for the whole of the month.

On Saturday 26 May from 4 pm there will be a free pop-up live event with a performance at Glengarry Victoria Park.

Starting from the 3 May, the champs at the Rock Shop are donating one instrument a week to be won, and we’re not talking tambourines!

All you have to do to get into the draw is tell us via our Facebook page and Instagram your favourite New Zealand artist or band, and you’re in.

There’ll be a Vinyl Market at Glengarry Victoria Park on Saturday 26 May between 11am and 4pm, and we’ll be conducting video tastings combined with live music.

Two key partners behind all this are Framingham and Tito’s, both of whom have a long association with MusicHelps. This year is no different, with both companies donating a portion of the sale of each bottle to the charity. Through their grants programme MusicHelps have invested with partners in projects from Whangarei to Invercargill, all using the power of music to change the lives of tens of thousands of New Zealanders in need.

They have provided emergency assistance to hundreds of Kiwi music people experiencing hardship and illness through their backline suite of services. This includes a professional online, on-the-phone, and face-to-face counselling service tailored to people who make live and recorded music possible.

Partnering with skilled clinicians, MusicHelps support projects in healthcare, including music therapy and initiatives that engage with youth from troubled backgrounds. They provide assistance through their benevolent fund and their professional wellbeing and counselling service to Kiwi music people from all parts of the music industry who are experiencing illness, distress and hardship. They need your support: musichelps.org.nz Mark these dates in your calendar now; • Vinyl Market – come buy and sell at Glengarry Victoria Park, Saturday 22 May 11am – 4pm.

• Live gig – FREE at Glengarry Victoria Park, Saturday 22 May from 4pm.

• Weekly from 3 May – join the conversation about NZ Music via Glengarry’s social media and go in the draw to win epic instruments donated by the Rockshop.

Make the choice and tune into NZ music this month, all Glengarry PN stores will be.  www.glengarrywines.co.nz

NZ MUSIC MONTH

SUPPORTING LOCAL

WWW.GLE NGAR RY . C O. N Z | P : 08 00 7 3 3 505 | E : S A LE S @ G LE NG A R R Y .CO .NZ

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SOFIA ROGER WILLIAMS: VEGAN VIBE After a long and busy week, one can only ask for an escape from it all at dinner with the people you love. Janken Japanese on Jervois Road is all about delicate dishes packed with flavour in an intimate and welcoming environment.

This month, I had the perfect opportunity for a celebratory dinner with friends. The weather was not ideal this night, but the welcoming of the staff and aromas of the carefully executed food warmed us up. Despite not being an entirely vegan restaurant, their specially dedicated menu items and entirely plant based starters allow for it to be an enjoyably vegan friendly excursion.

Our goal, as it always is, was to try as much as we could eat on the menu. Although not necessarily being a sharing type of menu, this was easily done. We ordered a variety of dishes but all collectively decided that the vegan steamed buns were the highlight - particularly the eggplant steak and sweet miso one. The eggplant was beautifully cooked and seasoned - covering both the sweet and salty elements of one’s palate. It was so good that our table struggled to share.

Tofu is very much a prominent element in most of Janken’s vegan dishes - perfect for those of us who are fans. But this doesn’t mean that Janken’s vegan menu becomes complicated for those sceptical of it. As an individual ingredient, tofu can be bland and unappealing, but as I’ve always said, tofu is only good when it’s been treated well.

Janken is the place for those of us that have never had good tofu, or haven’t tried it at all, to perhaps change their perspective of it.

So much so, that one of my friends found that despite her previous experiences with it, she now liked tofu.

Along with these dishes we also shared the shojin tofu crumbed with quinoa puffs, nanban-style karaage tofu and the tonkotsu ramen with spicy miso. These were all thoroughly enjoyable and lovely to share between the four of us. The quinoa puff crumbed tofu was like nothing I had ever had before, and was paired perfectly with Janken’s iconic shojin sauce. The vegan take on the classic karaage chicken, karaage tofu, was equally delicious and the flavour was unmatched compared to the other dishes.

The tonkotsu miso ramen encompassed all of those warm classic umami flavours. The noodles were beautifully cooked and paired with a creamy miso broth which felt incredibly homey and suiting for the winter months. We wouldn’t dare pass up sushi, and the vegan nigiri proved to be both delicious and delicate too.

In the heart of Jervois Road, Herne Bay, Janken stands out as an authentic local which succeeds in bringing people together. Through

50 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

their inclusivity throughout their menu, it is a place for all to enjoy and appreciate delicious Japanese cuisine. Being plant based at a nonvegan restaurant, it’s always a thrill to see so many options.

PN (SOFIA ROGER WILLIAMS) 

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY

THE FIRE IS ROARING, THE MUSIC ON AND YOUR SEAT IS WAITING FOR YOU… As we head into the cooler months Dida’s is just the spot to come in out of the cold and warm up. The team at Dida’s have some wonderful new dishes on their menu, just perfect for enjoying by the fire.

Dida’s serves ‘mali degustacija’, a collection of fresh flavoursome dishes that can be eaten on your own or shared. More than appetizers, these represent, in their social context, both a style of eating and a way of life. With their versatility they create a wonderful complement to Dida’s extensive wine, beer and spirit offerings.

Beef brisket, slow cooked with caramelised onions sounds just the dish to enjoy with a delicious cabernet sauvignon. The meatballs, made from pork and nduja (a wonderful, spiced meat), with tomato and red pepper sauces, are perfect with a Spanish rioja. We recommend you do not go past the fried chicken. How could you? The fried chicken breast with ten spices is delicious with chipotle aioli. Alongside the chicken, a glass of champagne is a match made in heaven. Trust us, we have tried it many times.

You will find the largest range of malt’s by the glass at Dida’s, carefully curated by Jak Jakicevich himself. His Dida would be proud.

Then there are our $12 cocktails, crafted by the team just for you. Gather your friends together and pop on in.

As if that isn’t enough, there’s live music on Sundays. It’s NZ Music Month throughout May and what better way to show your support than to get out to a live gig.  PN DIDA’S, 54 Jervois Road, T: 09 376 2813, www.didaswinelounge.co.nz

NEW WINTER MENU

Come try our new and delicious winter menu and enjoy the warmth of a roaring fire too!

60 JERVOIS RD | 376 2813 | DIDAS.CO.NZ PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY

BEST IN CATEGORY Juno Gin were awarded the coveted Tasters’ Pick for their Juno Extra Fine Gin in the Classic Gin Category late last year.

Juno Gin were awarded the coveted Tasters’ Pick for their Juno Extra Fine Gin in the Classic Gin Category late last year. The Tasters’ Pick is given to the stand out gin in each category from two esteemed judges, Steve Bennett and Scott O’Connor from Guide to New Zealand Gin 2020. “Tasting notes of aromatic juniper with kaffir lime and zesty orange freshness on the nose. A clean, dry palate bursting with kaffir lime. Distinctive peppery spice emerging on the finish”. Enjoy with Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water and a slice of lime.

woman enjoying a martini at a garden party amongst the Autumn leaves.

Situated in New Plymouth’s suburb of Westown near the start of Surf Highway 45, Begin Distilling is the home of Juno Gin. Founders, Jo and Dave James engage with horticulturalists and researchers to sustainably and locally source botanicals showcasing their efficacy and flavour potential. They are also working with Massey University to create a world-first juniper plantation in New Zealand.

Following a La Nina Summer, Juno have paired cranberry and a hint of fig leaf for a full Autumn flavour. Juno’s Autumn 21 Gin is lightly berry, fully refreshing, delightful with tonic or blood orange soda. Garnish with a slice of fig or orange for a heavenly tipple.

Shrouded in mystery, Juno’s Summer 21 Gin has a splash of citrus sourness, and a hint of smokey exotica and is best enjoyed on a sunny day. Serve with Fever-Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water and mint for the ultimate refreshment. Complement with a fruit and cheese platter and enjoy a fine moment together.

Both seasonal releases are available to order from junogin.com

Juno Gin also has a range of award winning seasonal and special release gins, perfect for taking along to your next gin club evening, and gift packs to suit all occasions.

Follow their journey on Instagram @junogin and to order online head to junogin.com “Let your mind do the travelling, and your tastebuds roam the world.”

2020 bought us a year of change. So, in 2021 to promote and enhance the local creative and design industry, the masterminds behind award winning Juno Gin, Jo and Dave James, ran a social media competition inviting submissions for their upcoming seasonal gin labels. With a total of four prizes up for grabs, one for each season, and an honest $1,000 cash plus a 2021 seasonal release 4 pack of gin, the competition started to gain traction.

Narrowing down the entries was a difficult task with strong competition for each of the seasonal labels. After careful consideration and guidance from Strategy Collective, Juno’s brand and marketing partner, four winners were chosen with a winning design for each season. Two seasonal gins have now been released, with Summer 21 Seasonal Gin label designed by aspiring graphic designer Abbey Barlow, a student at AUT; The label for Autumn 21 Seasonal Gin, named Red Martini, was designed by Niels Yuan who abstracted a

52 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Order online junogin.com

Available at: Kingsland Liquor Centre, Meldrum Philips, Liquorland Newmarket, Caro’s Wines, Liquorland Boutique Remuera, Cahn and Finlay Wines and Spirits, Kiwi Liquor Ponsonby

E ID GU

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EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY

CONGRATULATIONS TO IVILLAGE! One very good reason to go down to Victoria Park Market is to have a wonderful Indian meal. iVillage has been around for eight years and is run by the effervescent Dimple and her team. iVillage is celebrating its 8th birthday and the team are humbled by, and thankful for the continued support of the local community. iVillage is enveloped by warm brick and copper and situated in a corner position in Victoria Park Market right by the historical chimney. Trendy outside seating by the chimney and views of the Sky Tower beckon pleasant days and nights in beautiful surrounds complemented by a warm and friendly service.

Traditional, authentic Indian cuisine is made from scratch with no artificial colours or flavouring and all dietary requirements can be catered for. You can begin with the popular ibullets and chaat (delicious street food). From the tandoor, come the beautifully presented chicken trio, gilafi seekh kebabs and mahi fish tikka to name a few entrees to tantalise your taste buds. These could be accompanied by the specially brewed ibeer, or one of the many boutique wines or distinctive cocktails from the bar.

The house specialities include birbali nalli (whole lamb shank curry), tandoori snapper and the chef’s special paneer for vegetarians. The goat curry is a must-try too, along with the bursting flavours of the dum biryani - beautifully flavoured rice and meat layered and cooked in a flaky crust.

There are plenty of other mouth-watering options to suit all tastes.

The accompaniments include an assortment of fresh fluffy naans straight from the tandoor, from plain, chilli garlic to the special Peshawari naan and the hard-to-find rumali roti. The saffron and mango pistachio kulfi is a popular dessert note to finish on. iVillage is a great spot for office lunches, parties and celebrations, and there are special menu options to cater to your needs. Get in touch with the team to discuss options for a truly memorable event.

I Village At Victoria

Victoria Park Market, 210 Victoria Street West, T: 09 309 4009, www.ivillageatvictoria.co.nz

Indian Kitchen & Bar

54 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY

HARVEST BY HUCKLEBERRY SHOPPER WINS BENNETTO CHOCOLATE PRIZE

Somboon Khansuk, the store manager of Harvest by Huckleberry Grey Lynn, presenting Isabella Wilson with her prize. This lucky shopper won the draw out of over 300 entries. The prize was a selection of Bennetto Natural chocolates. Isabella told Ponsonby News that she was delighted to have won the prize.  PN

Herne Bay 21 Wallace Street YOUR HERNE BAY OPPORTUNITY Tucked down a private driveway, this 1970s townhouse ticks the boxes for savvy Northern Slopes purchasers. The flexible layout provides a multitude of options - the lower level offers two bedrooms, one leading to a fully-fenced, landscaped garden. Upstairs is spacious master bedroom, together with a fourth bedroom/office. Sundrenched living area flows to an expansive deck with views of the Harbour Bridge. Elevated and north-facing this sought-after location is hard to beat, with local schools, beaches and eateries a stroll away.

This solidly-built gem is very comfortable as is, but has huge future potential.

Vendors have bought and given clear instructions to sell. CV $2,050,000 (2017)

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Viewing

5.30pm Tuesday 11th May 2021 at Ponsonby Office (unless sold prior)

Saturday and Sunday 1-145pm or Viewing By Appointment

Carl Madsen

Rick Thevenard

c.madsen@barfoot.co.nz

r.thevenard@barfoot.co.nz

021 953 152

027 448 1888

barfoot.co.nz/811343 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY

WINETOPIA IS BACK! Winetopia, presented by Singapore Airlines is back at Shed 10 on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 June and features a whole new line-up to tempt every wine lover.

Sixty wineries will descend on the city for the event which features over 30 talks, demos and masterclasses - an opportunity to try all the different varietals and buy direct from the producers.

One question that visitors keep raising at Winetopia, is what goes into a great wine and food match?

Des Harris is no stranger to the food and wine scene. Foodies will know him from the kitchen of fine dining restaurant, Clooney, where he directed the kitchen for more than 8 years. Since then Des has consulted to many other top restaurants around Auckland and tells us he has an exciting new position that will be announced soon.

Des is appearing at Winetopia this year in a brand new initiative sponsored by luxury German appliance manufacturer Gaggenau.

Featuring climate controlled wine cabinets and a cooktop from the Vario 200 range, Gaggenau sommelier sessions offer the audience a chance to glimpse into the mind of a sommelier to learn about the thought processes behind selecting the perfect wine for an occasion and creating that perfect food match.

“One sommelier I worked with very closely from my time at Clooney was Gary Olasz, who taught me that the texture of the wine is very important and the textures of the food match need to be in symmetry.

Does the wine call for a bit of fat, or should I keep it clean? This is almost more important to get right than the flavours.

The more complex the wine the more simple you need to make the food. It’s really important not to compete with the wine - you’re looking for synergy. Through experience you learn what not to do and often the key is not to bomb the plate with flavours.

“My main tip to doing this well at home however is to just start with what you enjoy. For example I often like to start with a barrel fermented sauvignon blanc. The barrel ferment adds an additional

56 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

Des Harris

layer which goes really well with cold smoked salmon and fresh Italian cheeses like stracciatella or ricotta. It’s a really versatile wine to work with.

“What I’ve learned from working with great sommeliers is that the wine selection is a key first step. Once you have chosen your wine you now have some distinct boundaries for being creative in the kitchen. Next I like to source some great produce and then treat them really naturally to allow the wine to sing. At Winetopia I’ll be doing this, demonstrating some simple tastes people can put together themselves that match with some of New Zealand’s great classic wine varietals.”

Wine service professionals appearing within Gaggenau sommelier sessions at Winetopia include: Master Sommelier Cameron Douglas, Jeremy Ellis and Candice Chow. The schedule can be found on the event website.

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY Peter Lorimer’s first Winetopia experience was last year. He brought along his chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and arneis carrying the new Deep Down Wines label (a collaboration between Peter and ex-Seressin Winemaker Clive Dougall).

“What I loved about Winetopia was connecting direct with people who are fascinated by wine and interested in how people craft their elixirs.

It was both fun and it gave us a chance to tell our story of starting a boutique company committed to organic farming and creating wines with little or no other additions – just beautiful organic grapes.

Winetopia is a great chance for people to explore the different wine regions, soil styles and grapes especially from boutique producers that you don’t often find in supermarkets.”

Deep Down Wines are back at Winetopia when it hits Shed 10 on Friday evening and Saturday 18 – 19 June.

“This year we’ll be bringing our wines from what was possibly the best vintage on record. It was a seamless growing season, the grapes have incredible balance and flow. Of course 2020 will be a vintage not just remembered for the weather but for grapes picked under the cloud of the pandemic. The wines produced from 2020 are the absolute silver lining from an unmistakably challenging year.

If you can only try one wine from us at the event, make more time and try two! We only make 90 cases of the arneis which tend to get snapped up by top restaurants and there’s also our sulphur-free pinot noir, which is simply great juice in a bottle – it’s brisk, vibrant and full of energy.”

Peter Lorimer

Sixty of New Zealand’s most exciting wineries will participate in Winetopia at Shed 10 from 18 – 19 June with tastings, talks and masterclasses, plus live music at the end of every session to round off the experience.  PN Buy tickets from $35 + Booking Fee at www.winetopia.co.nz

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EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY

NEW ZEALAND’S FIRST ZERO CARBON BANANAS Last month, All Good launched New Zealand’s First Carbon Zero Bananas, at supermarkets nationwide.

All of All Good’s Fairtrade bananas are now Ekos-certified zero carbon and the tape is now soft-plastic-recyclable. All Good, who were the first to bring Fairtrade bananas to New Zealand, worked in partnership with T&G Fresh and alongside Ekos, Fairtrade and others to assess every step of the production journey, reducing emissions at source through key environmental projects and offsetting the remaining carbon through rainforest projects in Peru.

“It’s only a banana, but it’s a start”, explains co-founder Simon Coley, listing the factors that have helped bring about “New Zealand’s Greenest Banana”. “They may look like other bananas but now All Good Bananas will be Zero Carbon certified as well as Fairtrade, protecting the planet and supporting our grower communities with equitable trade, 30 schools and a medical centre.

“This is definitely a first for New Zealand.”

While the Covid-19 pandemic could have been a perfectly understandable reason to slow down the complex process of making the bananas carbon neutral, Coley says it motivated the team to press on further.

“Covid dominated 2020 of course, and it knocked the wind out of us. But not for long. Once we figured out our way through, it felt more important than ever to do this. We can’t let one emergency take our eyes off another potentially more disastrous one; the climate emergency. Ultimately, it’s the greatest challenge we face.”

Their programme of change has seen All Good working alongside T&G Fresh and the El Guabo Association of Small Banana Farmers, who’ve supported them to make it happen. Changes were made across growing and processing, and remaining carbon is being off-set through forest protection work being done in the Peruvian Andes, close to the farms in El Guabo, Ecuador, where All Good Bananas are grown. The project being supported protects the Amazonian Rainforest from road and agricultural development, with significant benefits to the indigenous people.

Kiwis eat about 18 kgs of bananas each – 86 million bananas in total – every year. The carbon footprint of a single banana is only 120g1 but they’re the most popular of all Kiwi grocery items2. Offsetting that carbon to balance the footprint of every All Good banana to zero made sense from all angles. “Food production and consumption makes up a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions3. Our impact as consumers has the potential to make a massive change.”

For more information: www.all-good.co.nz

All Good has always taken care to understand the impact of its business on the people and places it trades with - in this case, New Zealand. “We wanted to give Kiwis a better choice and show the difference we can make by being mindful shoppers.”

1. CE Delft analysis of All Good Bananas carbon footprint (2020) 2. Canstar ‘The Most Popular Grocery Items In New Zealand’ (2017) 3. Joseph Poore & Thomas Nemecek (2018), Reducing food’s environmental impact through producers and consumers published in Science

It is aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and certified to the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The bananas will be wrapped in a tape that can be soft-plastic recycled.  PN

enjoy

THE CAV’S CLASSIC SHARING PLATTER INCLUDING 2 GLASSES OF WINE FROM THE MT DIFFICULTY RANGE for $49 as a part of Eat, Drink Love Ponsonby’s restaurant month book now 68 College Hill 09 376 4230 goodspiritshospitality.co.nz

58 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY Photography Simon Moore

Photography Josh Griggs

BESPOKE EVENTS AT SID AT THE FRENCH C AFÉ

210 SYMONDS STREET T: 09 377 1911 www.sidatthefrenchcafe.co.nz sidatthefrenchcafe

SPECIAL 5 & 7 COURSE PLANT BASED MENUS AVAILABLE MAY ONLY SIDART, Level 1, Three Lamps Plaza, 283 Ponsonby Road T: 360 2122 www.sidart.co.nz

- Gusto Italiano GUSTO MEANING ‘TASTE AND ENJOYMENT’

Photography Greta Kenyon

When you dine with us, the focus is on freshly prepared classic dishes, featuring an excellent range of pasta, seafood, meats and our pizza classics.

We also offer our pasta dishes to takeaway, phone for details or check our website for the menu.

263 PONSONBY RD, THREE LAMPS, 09 361 1556 www.gustoitaliano.co.nz

PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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LIVING, THINKING + BEING

JOHN APPLETON: WINTERISE YOURSELF Last year when Covid-19 had made itself known and the nation was locked down at Level 4, most of us would have been unsure of what to expect.

One unexpected surprise was that the normal cold and flu season didn’t really eventuate. Shutting the borders meant that viruses that normally flow in and out with travellers, were kept at bay. I have heard recently that colds are appearing on the scene and it’s likely that with our borders opening to Australia, viruses that we associate with winter will appear again.

There is very little said in the media about what we might do to ‘winterise’ ourselves and make our bodies less hospitable to the ills and chills associated with the cooler months. For me, it’s all about supporting our immune system, the guardian angel that has looked after us since man first walked on the earth. We often hear mention of the Spanish Flu in 1918 and what is interesting for me is that at this time, industrial cities were highly polluted with coal burning factories and respiratory illnesses were always serious. It’s very likely that those who died had almost undetectable levels of vitamin D. Vitamin C hadn’t been discovered and I can’t imagine that anyone was aware of the importance of zinc in the diet.

Today we do know about the importance of vitamin D, and there would be few people who are unaware of the vitamin C story. Pharmacies test for zinc deficiency so it’s really easy to learn more about the role of this mineral superhero.

The problem as I see it, is that even with this awareness, many people only react when the going gets tough and then they are all ears.

With anything to do with our health and wellbeing, prevention should always be the focus. We will never develop an impenetrable barrier to infections, but our nutrient status can often determine whether we are down and out for days or have to deal with only mild symptoms.

With vitamin C, our need can never be satisfied. It’s a water-soluble vitamin that we, unlike most animals, do not make in our bodies.

Animals that do make vitamin C do so in response to stress and as the researchers tell us, when we are stressed, our immune system is less able to fight off infections unless we are supplementing with optimal amounts. The recommended daily allowance for vitamin C is 90 mgs. A cat and a dog can make 3,500 mgs daily, so my question is, why do we need so little?

Vitamin D, the sunshine ‘vitamin’ should be on everyone’s radar. Unlike vitamin C, which is not stored in the body, vitamin D is, but during the summer months when we could be building up our reserves, we slap on the sunblock and cover up. During our winter months there is very little UV light coming through our atmosphere and the warmth we feel is simply infrared light.

Prof Cedric Garland from University of San Diego is a renowned authority on vitamin D. His research shows that to reach an optimal blood level (120 nmols/L) 4,000 IU daily or more may be necessary.

We should all know what our vitamin D level is. A simple blood test is the way to find out.

How many New Zealanders take zinc every day? Not many I imagine.

Zinc is very cheap so there are no reasons why we should be overlooking it. The United States Dept of Agriculture reports that more than 70% of American’s don’t get the recommended dietary allowance for zinc.

Every day we do one of two things: build health or produce disease.

PN I take up to 4,000 mgs daily. We need vitamin C to help retain a German Philosopher Arthur Schopenha. (JOHN APPLETON)  robust immune system, to help us heal from injury and to support the integrity of our cardiovascular system. www.johnappleton.co.nz john@johnppleton.co.nz T: 09 489 9362

CEREMONIES CELEBRANT Weddings, Civil Unions, Funerals - LGBTQ friendly

www.facebook.com/aucklandwestcelebrations M: 027 582 3077 E: ronald.jones@xtra.co.nz

60 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

LIVING, THINKING + BEING

TEN EASY TIPS TO SAVE WATER AT HOME These simple tips are a great way to rethink how we use this precious resource.

Brush up – If you brush your teeth for two minutes, you can save up to 12 litres of water by turning the tap off while you polish your pearlies.

your car. Depending on where you live, a water butt can supply you with as much as 5,000 litres a year.

Go with low flow – A displacement device in your toilet cistern reduces the volume of each flush. Depending on your household, you may also want to consider the motto, ‘if it’s yellow, let it mellow’.

Adopt a can-do attitude – If your garden is small, using a watering can, rather than a hose or irrigation system, can save hundreds of litres.

Temperature check – Adding cold to cool down scalding hot water wastes both energy and water. Set your hot water thermostat to the recommended 60°C. (Your electrician or plumber may need to help with this.)

Stay constantly chilled – When you keep a jug of tap water in your fridge, you can avoid the need to run the tap and wait for the water to run cold before filling your glass.

Get fully loaded – By always washing full loads in your dishwasher and washing machine you’ll reduce the number of washes you need to do. This also reduces appliance wear-and- tear.

Delete the drip – If you have a tap that drips at 50ml per minute (about an eggcup), as much as 72 litres could be going down the drain every day. Fixing a dripping tap is often as easy as fitting a new washer – for how-tos, check YouTube or DIY websites.

Shorten showers – Showers can use up to 45 litres a minute!

Auckland Council advises keeping showers to four minutes (the length of a song). Consider an efficient showerhead, or talk to your plumber about fitting a flow restrictor. (Depending on your shower, a plumber may need to install it).

Be savvy with scraps – In-sink waste disposal units use loads of water, and burden sewerage systems. Rather than sending food scraps down the drain – think composting, Bokashi or worm farming.

Butts about it – By fitting a water butt (outdoor tank) to your roof’s drainpipe, you can harvest rainwater to water your garden or wash ECOSTORE, 1 Scotland Street, Freemans Bay, T: 09 360 8477, www.ecostore.co.nz

PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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LIVING, THINKING + BEING

DISCOVER YOUR SKIN JOURNEY™ TO LIVE YOUR BEST SKIN Finally, skincare that’s easy! Clear Skincare Clinics have designed perfectly packaged Skin Journeys to take your skin from A-to-Beautiful!

These in-clinic treatments and at home skincare programmes will get you on track to the skin you’ve always wanted.

There is a range of Skin Journeys, from 2 – 10 weeks including: Hydration + Glow Is your skin dying for a drink? Hydrate, nourish and plump dull and dehydrated skin.

Age Defying Repair and rejuvenate skin, with these collagen boosting in clinic treatments.

Acne + Scarring Clear skin starts here. Break the acne cycle and stop future spots and breakouts.

Pigmentation + Redness Reduce the appearance of flushing and redness. Lighten and fade sun damage and pigmentation.

See the results and transform your skin with your chosen Skin Journey. Don’t know where to start? Let our expert therapists at Ponsonby guide you, with FREE no obligation skin, laser and cosmetic injecting consultations.

The team will assess your skin and recommend a Skin Journey to help you live your best skin.  PN

Book online today or contact the team at: CLEAR SKINCARE CLINICS PONSONBY, 63 Ponsonby Road, T: 09 220 6000, E: ponsonby@clearskincareclinics.co.nz

62 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Try us for half price Live Your Best Skin™ with Clear Skincare.

Try one of our favourite treatments for the first time, and get half on us. T&Cs apply.

CLEARSKINCARECLINICS.CO.NZ

Auckland 09 220 6520

Howick 09 600 3850

Mission Bay 09 600 3860

Newmarket 09 520 0057

Ponsonby 09 220 6000

Takapuna 09 485 3290

Milford 09 600 3810

Chartwell 07 262 0108

PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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FUTURE GENERATION

THE ADVENTURES AT LITTLE ENGINES MONTESSORI Curious or interested in Montessori education for your child?

Little ones are always at the forefront of curiosity as they observe the big wide world and embark on their learning journey. Little Engines is a vibrant, homely and welcoming Montessori preschool that boasts the full set of Montessori materials and provides an authentic Montessori programme for children aged 2 – 5 years.

Based on the five key principals of the Montessori philosophy, Little Engines centre philosophy is to prepare children for a life of learning and fulfilment – building their self-esteem, cultivating a belief in themselves, in others and in the endless opportunities life offers us.

It is without a doubt that each day at Little Engines is a unique one, focused on providing learning outcomes that engage each child on a deeper level as they work toward real-life skills. With different sessions throughout the day, they steam ahead with the work cycle which facilitates opportunities for children to freely choose purposeful experiences in which to learn from various curriculum areas. The day is interwoven with learning focuses and the integration of a wide variety of extra-curricular activities such as science, music and movement and more.

to start extending children’s learning experiences than with Grey Lynn Primary School. Making these connections has meant that children are able to explore this additional space within their community and also understand some basic principles that occur in schools.

We know that building links with our community is important for the wellbeing and sense of belonging for all our children and together with our parents and whanau we are excited to continue this journey as we further enrich our curriculum.

We would love to share our centre and enriching programme with you, come and visit us!

Excellent education and care for children ages 2 - 5 years of age.

PN Open 8am - 4.15pm, Monday - Friday. 

At Little Engines we advocate the freedom of accessibility between indoor and outdoor spaces throughout the day following children’s natural rhythms. The outdoor programme provides a fine balance of experiences in Montessori activities, gross motor activities and gardening.

The Montessori curriculum is focused on supporting children to understand social rules and experiences through games we call grace and courtesy. At our specially prepared group times, we show children through role modelling, how to put their hand up, tuck in a chair or walk around another child’s play. This creates a calm learning space and children are very capable and confident in how things work with older children often demonstrating this to younger children.

We have an introduction to Montessori classroom for children transitioning into Montessori, where they then progress to the classroom for our older children where they can deeply engage in the Montessori materials.

For the last few months, we’ve been working hard alongside our parent committee to implement some exciting changes and learning experiences for our children. Being a Montessori centre, we are committed to the principles of Montessori that help children gain the concentration, confidence and love of learning they need as they grow and develop.

We’ve started to focus on how we can further build links with the amazing community in Grey Lynn and we couldn’t think of a better place LITTLE ENGINES MONTESSORI PRESCHOOL, 56 Surrey Crescent, (Next door to Grey Lynn Primary School).

T: 09 378 9502, E: Manager@Little-Engines.co.nz, www.little-engines.co.nz @LittleEnginesMontessori, @littleengines_montessori

64 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Maya Willis Future Broadway Artistic Director

BE MORE THAN YOU EVER IMAGINED

How will your daughter make her mark?

Every student deserves the chance to shine.

Our new Arts Centre offers a professionallevel experience, with purpose built spaces for music, dance, drama and a specialised recording studio. The addition of our brand-new, 910 seat auditorium makes Dio the perfect place to take centre stage.

Join us at our Open Day and experience the world-class opportunities awaiting your daughter at Dio.

Enrolling now

2023

for

Open Day 20 May 9am – 11am

Register at diocesan.school.nz

FUTURE GENERATION

MEET THE TEACHER Jonathan Hughes is the Principal of Pasadena Intermediate School and has recently become a co-leader of Te Kāhui Ako o Waitematā.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Grey Lynn, and went to the local schools, Westmere and Pasadena. Coming back to Pasadena, it has been great to continue my long association with the school. It is also pleasing to see some ex-students coming back into the area and their children attending Pasadena. There are strong community ties here.

What inspired you to teach?

One of my teachers at Mount Albert Grammar School, Miss Brown, really made a difference in my life by making a great connection with me; she made learning fun and vibrant. She also inspired me to make a difference in children’s lives like Miss Brown had done for me. So, when a few friends said that they were going to Auckland University to do a teaching degree, I decided to follow them.

Were your early teaching experiences local too?

Yes, I started with a part-time job at Kowhai Intermediate while I was studying, then a full-time position at Waikowhai Intermediate.

That was followed by becoming a Deputy Principal at Auckland Normal Intermediate School and culminated in becoming Principal at Pasadena in November 2014.

What made you want to take on the co-lead role for the K-ahui Ako? Schools have been collaborating in various ways for several years.

However, for me as a leader, it was very exciting for our local area - Ako. It is very to be able to formalise this by forming the Kahui powerful, and ultimately best for student achievement, for students and staff to share teaching and learning approaches, from Primary School to Intermediate School and then onto Secondary School.

Ako, I believe that students transitioning into and out of Pasadena will be more successful across all areas of the curriculum and life.

How does this fit with your role as Principal of Pasadena Intermediate School?

Networking with other schools is a valuable tool. The ability to be - Ako is an able to work with passionate educators across our Kahui excellent opportunity to be able to lead and have an impact on all of the students in our local area. By having a high performing Kahui

What keeps you occupied when you aren’t teaching?

Mainly sport and my own children. I have a long association with Rugby League; I am on the Mount Albert Rugby League Committee where my son plays. And I follow my daughter’s various dance groups. I believe that children being involved in sports and making friendships is an integral part of a young person’s life.  PN

I LOVE LUCY BOOK REVIEW:

CLEMENTINE AND RUDY - SIOBHAN CURHAM - 12+ Clementine and Rudy follows the dual perspectives of two fifteen year olds (named Clementine and Rudy) who connect over their love of creativity and street art. Clem (Clementine) has a love of poetry, and often goes for walks around Brighton to write about the street art she sees. Rudy is a headstrong artist who is just beginning to make her art into street art, sneaking out late at night to apply her art to the city. They decide to join forces to create artworks featuring Clem’s poetry, and from this collaboration a beautiful friendship unfolds.

Behind the scenes, the girls are both dealing with their own personal struggles. Rudy has to come to terms with her Mum’s new boyfriend moving in and Clem has to put up with her horrible step-dad Vincent.

One of my favourite parts of this book was watching the friendship between the two girls grow, and seeing how they began to confide in each other about their struggles. The descriptiveness of Siobhan Curham’s writing was impressive, especially when she described the artwork.

I was completely hooked when reading this book.

The ending felt slightly rushed, and while I do think that the book could have been longer, it didn’t affect the quality of the storyline. The author managed to tie up pretty much all loose ends, and I really enjoyed the book. (LUCY KENNEDY)  PN Available at www.dorothybutlerbookshop.co.nz www.lucykennedywriter.wixsite.com/reviews instagram @luce_kennedy

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

out of 5!

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

FUTURE GENERATION

HONOUR MITCHELL: TEEN PAMPERING Every once in a while, we girls need to take a beauty pit-stop. Whether that be a fresh set of nails or a new haircut, it’s a female’s right to set aside a little time to indulge in some hardcore pampering.

Let’s face it, teens need an occasional treat to rejuvenate from the endless school work, extra curricular activities and just life in general.

Luckily there are some amazing places in every corner of Ponsonby to help us look our best. My theory is that we’re helping out small businesses whilst receiving a little gratifying luxury! I must say, it was very hard to decide, but below are my favourite go-tos when you’re in the mood to be spoilt.

Nails - Tea & Dry, 90 Wellesley Street West When the school holidays finally roll around, I’m sure the majority of us like to rush out and get our nails done (I know I do!). So why not drop into Tea & Dry? Their salon is very welcoming and has such a lovely, tranquil atmosphere. I recently popped in and my nails were done beautifully. The therapists were all really friendly and made me feel at ease from the get-go.This time I went for gel nail polish in a lavender colour, and I was not disappointed. I recommend Tea & Dry, not only for their spectacular nail bar, but for all of their beauty services.

Hair - David Shields, Corner of Jervois Rd and Kelmarna Ave Often we feel the urge to change up our hair - bob, bangs, highlights, layering - the list goes on. Trying to find a place that will get it right?

I have just the salon for you: David Shields. My family has been going herefor years and we have never come out disappointed. They really excel in the blow dry department. My hair generally stays shiny and styled for up to a week after a visit. Great value, huh? And with your new sleek look, why not pop down the road to Dear Jervois Cafe for a little treat - prepare to be wowed.

Lavender Nails

Eyebrows - UP, 28 College Hill Nestled in the hustle and bustle of College Hill lies a quaint spa which specialises in brows and lashes. If I am being honest, UP has truly been the best eyebrow wax I have ever had. While my arches were being delicately redefined, my waxer was cheerful and chatty.

I left feeling extremely satisfied with the most amazing eyebrows the shape was a perfect natural arch (every girl’s dream). Looks like it will be a regular! They also do other services such as lash lifts and tints!

Shiny Salon Hair

Frank Body Face Mask

DIY Spa Night - Mecca Self-care does not always have to be professionally executed. If you are just looking for a casual evening in that involves some DIY pampering, you can easily pop into Mecca and grab some supplies.

And then just get cracking on your magical spa night when the mood grabs you. In my ‘me time’ routine I love to smother on the Frank Body ‘Anti-Drama Face Mask’ and wrap my hair up in the Aquis ‘Rapid Dry Turban’, pop on some relaxing music or Netflix and unwind. But don’t be limited to those products, feel free to choose the fine array on offer (remember it’s your night!). And you definitely won’t be deprived of choice, their range is spectacular!

(HONOUR MITCHELL)  PN PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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FUTURE GENERATION

St Paul's College 1st XI

ALL STARS VS. 1ST XI AT ST PAUL’S COLLEGE, PONSONBY We know, and research confirms, that sport and physical activity is important for health: physical, emotional and subjective well-being.

It functions as a form of social good in our communities. There’s a whole discipline of sports science of course, but at grass roots level, right there on the grass fields behind the school, sport is not a science. It’s not only about training or commitment or competence or performance outcomes.

No, it’s all about social interaction, humour, friendships, family bonding, generational links, and wholesome ‘rivalry’- the community version of sporting competitiveness. When a team competes against another primarily for entertainment, it becomes a kind of collaborative rivalry that draws people together and it’s way more pleasurable for participants and spectators alike. When this happens, sport is inclusive and fun and no one cares a hoot about medals or a podium!

The wonderful All Stars Cricket Bash hosted by St Paul’s College last month was a fabulous celebration of just this kind of collaborative rivalry, a fun day out for the school boys, their extended families, past pupils, a whole bunch of ‘famous old boys’, and quite a few industry supporters. It was a T20 format with an all stars line-up captained

by Dave Fane featuring James McConie, Oscar Kightley, Mils Muliaina, Stacey Jones, Mark Greatbach, Dipak Patel, Murphy Sua, and Nigel Vagana. Well done everyone!

The whole day was a lovely example of how Sport NZ’s Balance is Better philosophy can work in a school community. As the kaitiaki of a system for play, active recreation and sport, Sport NZ* wants schools and supporting organisations to foster best practice so that engagement in sport is kept safe, fair and inclusive for all. The St Paul’s College cricket event was a wonderful example of how a school

The twins, Drew and Cruz Scott

initiative can be aligned with the Sport NZ recommendation to bring the fun focus back into sport for all young people.

Two keen cricketers on the home team were twin brothers Drew and Cruz Scott, a couple of really nice guys who I met first at a lunchtime practice. They’d like to see cricket become as big as rugby league at their school and that’s quite an ambitious goal given that St Paul’s College has a champion league reputation. But kids dream big - they always do given half a chance - and that’s the whole point of last month’s All Stars Cricket Bash, to make it possible for these boys to dream their big dreams and inspire their goals.

Lunchtimes and after school, you’ll find the Scott twins and their school mates down at the practice nets working on their batting and bowling techniques, while perfecting their hand-eye coordination. The Scott boys and their school mates dream of making cricket a career or maybe just enjoying the game. Either way, it helps to have the right PN gear and facilities at school. (ALEXA LAWRENCE)  It’s not too late to make your supporting move by offering financial support to the college’s sport programme. If you’d like to be a private or corporate sponsor making a real difference in the lives of these fine young men, contact Director of Sport, Dave McDermott on 021 951 524. *Sport NZ’s purpose is to contribute to the wellbeing of everybody in Aotearoa New Zealand by leading an enriching and inspiring play, active recreation and sport system. The vision is Every Body Active. balanceisbetter.org.nz

Visiting All Stars

68 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

PONSONBY PROFESSIONALS

LOGAN GRANGER: TAX CHANGES With the start of the new income tax year, we thought it would be good to revisit some of the recent significant tax changes that came into force on 1 April 2021 and to highlight some important expected changes to sick leave entitlements.

New Top Tax Rate Individual income earned above $180,000 is now taxed at 39 percent.

This threshold now matches Australia’s top tax threshold of A$180,000, but is worth noting that the Australian top tax rate is 47 percent.

Tax payers who don’t have tax deducted at source might want to consider topping up their provisional tax payments throughout the 2021 year to avoid a larger year-end tax bill.

With this new income tax rate, other changes were required to ensure that distortions were not created across other types of personal income, these are as follows: Fringe benefit tax: The rate on amounts of all-inclusive pay over $129,681 will be 63.93% to ensure consistent treatment of cash and non‑cash remuneration.

Employer’s superannuation contribution tax and retirement savings contribution tax: ESCT and RSCT will rise to 39% on superannuation contributions made for an employee whose ESCT rate threshold exceeds $216,000.

Residential land withholding tax: RLWT will increase to 39% (except where the vendor is a company).

Resident withholding tax: All the new rates will apply from 1 April 2021 with the exception of the higher RWT rate on interest, which will take effect from 1 October 2021 so that payers can make changes to their systems.

The non-declaration rate of 39% will remain the same.

There will also be a new tax code for secondary income earners whose total PAYE exceeds $180,000.

Other personal income tax thresholds and rates remain unchanged.

Increased Disclosure Requirements for Trusts In addition to the introduction of the new Trusts Act 2019, which came into force on 30 January 2021, Inland Revenue (IR) now require trusts to provide more information on their annual returns for the 2021-2022 income year onwards. Essentially this means that IR will pay closer attention to family trusts to see if the right amount of tax is being paid across associated tax payers.

The additional information required includes distributions and settlements made in the income year; and profit and loss statements and balance sheets. The Commissioner can also request information from trusts for prior years back to the 2013-2014 tax year as appropriate. This allows for comparable information to be gathered.

The increased disclosure requirements do not apply to non-active - authorities. trusts, charitable trusts and trusts eligible to be Maori Minimum wage has increased The adult minimum wage has increased by $1.10 to $20 per hour. The starting-out and training minimum wage has risen to $16 per hour so it remains at 80 percent of the adult minimum wage.

Income abatement threshold for benefit payments has increased Prior to 1 April there was a tiered abatement threshold ranging from $90 to $115 before tax each week, dependent upon individual/family circumstances. The threshold is now $160 before tax each week for the following benefit categories: Jobseeker support, Sole parent support, Supported Living payment, Veteran’s pension under 65, and NZ Super/ Veteran’s pension with a non-qualifying partner.

Youth Payment and Young Parent Payment are not affected as they have different income abatement rules.

Family tax credit The family tax credit has increased to a minimum of $566 per week for families who work full-time and do not otherwise receive a benefit (this is to ensure they are on a higher income than if they received a benefit).

Upcoming changes to sick leave entitlements The Holidays (Increasing Sick Leave) Amendment Bill (“the Bill”) is currently before the Select Committee of the New Zealand Parliament and is under review.

The bill primarily seeks to double the minimum number of sick days available to employees from 5 to 10 days per annum, after they have worked with an employer for six months.

The bill does not propose any changes to an employee’s entitlement to roll-over their sick leave each year. The maximum amount of sick leave an employee can hold unused is 20 days.

The changes are primarily in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the request for changes to the minimum numbers of sick days has long been a topic of public interest and is reflective of the ongoing call for greater care and treatment for workers. It should be noted that New Zealand has comparatively less sick leave days than many other OECD nations. For example, Australians are entitled to 10 days per year and the balance of leave is carried over with no limitation to how many days can be held unused.

Keep an eye out for the changes later on this year when the bill is expected to come into effect. For more information on any of the above topics, please contact us at Johnston Associates. (LOGAN GRANGER)  PN

JOHNSTON ASSOCIATES, 202 Ponsonby Road, T: 09 361 6701, www.jacal.co.nz Disclaimer – While all care has been taken, Johnston Associates Chartered Accountants Ltd and its staff accept no liability for the content of this article; always see your professional advisor before taking any action that you are unsure about.

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PONSONBY PROFESSIONALS

TALKING TRUSTS: JOHN & TOM John’s friend, Tom, was an old university friend. They had been to the same student hostel together and remained friends over the last twenty years, although now their lifestyles were vastly different – John had settled down, got married and had three small children.

Tammy McLeod

Tom was still the quintessential playboy, a different girlfriend every few months, children from two exwives, numerous holidays and still lacking in any kind of responsibility.

John was therefore surprised when Tom approached him to become a trustee of his trust.

The trust was going to be purchasing a commercial property. Tom had recently inherited some money from his father and thought that commercial property would be a good investment. The building the trust was buying was the only asset it was going to own. Tom had never purchased a home to live in and was still renting – he seemed to spend all his money on holidays and going out.

John agreed to become trustee of Tom’s trust. He didn’t meet with Tom’s lawyer or accountant, just signed the numerous documents Tom gave him to sign, which included an application for an IRD number and GST number for the trust. John didn’t get copies of the documents and while he knew that the commercial building was tenanted he didn’t hear much from Tom in relation to the building or the trust. In fact, they had no trustee meetings and the only thing John did in relation to the trust was sign financial accounts once a year.

John was hugely surprised then to one day find a letter from Inland Revenue in his letterbox. It was in relation to GST payable for Tom’s trust. It seemed that the trust had not been paying any GST on the rent it was receiving for the past 18 months. Inland Revenue was writing to John because as a co-trustee he was personally liable for payment of the GST as well as interest and penalties. John tried calling Tom leaving message after message for him. He then rang the number on the letter from Inland Revenue to find out what had been going on. Inland Revenue told John that no GST returns had been filed in 18 months and as a trustee he was personally liable. It didn’t matter that it was actually a trust to benefit Tom and it also didn’t matter that Tom was a co-trustee. Trustee liability is personal and so Inland Revenue was quite within its rights to demand payment of the GST and associated penalties and interest from John.

John’s next phone call was to his lawyer. John’s lawyer confirmed that trusteeships are personal and that while John could be reimbursed by the trust through the indemnity that was in the trust deed and also part of the Trusts Act 2019, John had to act quickly to make sure that his own record with the IRD was not tarnished.

John’s lawyer advised that the trust role of the trustee had become more serious over the years, and trustee duties and obligations were now even more stringent because of additional obligations under the new Act. Trustees had the obligation to read and understand the trust deed and also needed to keep a copy of the deed and any other core documents relating to the trust. John remembered seeing the trust deed when he came on as a trustee, but certainly didn’t hold a copy and had no idea what the other core documents might be. John’s lawyer told him that it was also advisable to get a lawyer to review the terms of the trust to ensure that John knew what he was signing up to as all trust deeds had different terms and obligations. She was also concerned that John understood the needs and requirements of Tom’s two sets of children from different relationships and understood what those children could ask of John as a trustee.

John had learned the hard way that trusteeships are not just about signing documents when called upon. In this litigious day and age and also with new obligations set out in the Trusts Act, it was more often advisable to leave being trustee to the professionals. John quickly contacted Tom, told him he no longer wished to be trustee and instigated the process to remove himself as trustee. He also learned that it was not enough simply to retire as trustee, but that in order to fully absolve himself of his duties as trustee, he would need to be replaced. What had started out as a favour to a friend, ended up costing John a lot of time, money in legal fees and also the worry of being a trustee.

John learned the hard way that in 2021 independent trusteeships are most often best left to the professionals.

For more information on trusts and asset structuring, talk to the team at Davenports Law.  PN

DAVENPORTS LAW, 331 Rosedale Road, Level 1, Building 2, Albany, T: 09 883 4400, www.davenportslaw.co.nz

70 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

C RAFTED L EGAL ADV ICE FOR PE ACE OF MIN D.

Asset protection.

Do you need a trust?

The protection of assets that we have all worked so hard to acquire is an important consideration for most people.

Trusts are invaluable asset protection mechanisms, which allow a person to hold property and assets on behalf of another for the good of the beneficiaries.

However, not everyone needs a trust, so ensuring other forms of asset structuring including your will and enduring powers of attorney are up to date is important.

Contact us for more information about asset structuring.

0 9 883 4 4 0 0 DAV EN P O RTS L AW.CO.N Z

HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

WHERE ART MET DESIGN In an exclusive collaboration with international visual artist Jason Woodside, Volkswagen New Zealand revealed the all-new Golf at an event in Crummer Road last month.

The occasion cleverly showcased the aesthetic and design-appeal of the eighth generation Golf, utilising bespoke Woodside art pieces inspired by the landscape of Aotearoa.

Woodside says his art for this project was very much influenced by the nostalgia of both the New Zealand landscape and the iconic Golf itself.

“We really wanted to do something vibrant, youthful and progressive with Golf 8. Having the opportunity to engage Jason’s unique skill-set to help tell the story of Golf’s own unique heritage in Aotearoa has been an exciting partnership.”

Leet says this latest generation has retained Golf’s iconic styling but has been re-imagined for today with all-new technology, advanced safety systems plus an exciting new drive experience. “It also represents the greatest leap forward since the model launched more than 45 years ago, and Golf remains the flagship model for Volkswagen,” says Leet.

Over the next few weeks Jason will be driving the all-new Golf to the eight iconic landscapes that inspired his art, incorporating all three - the car,

the art and locations - into a unique collection of even more exciting PN visual content.  www.jasonwoodside.com

Property transactions that come up smelling of roses.

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When you’re buying or selling a property in the Auckland region, our legal expertise makes for smoother transactions, right down to securing the keys on settlement day.

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Volkswagen New Zealand’s general manager of passenger vehicles, Greg Leet, says the collaboration with Jason is also a way for Volkswagen to do something a little bit different and special for a car that is a modern brand icon.

Volkswagen New Zealand Team - Helena Schultz, Jordan Haines & James Dobbie

©Copyright Ross Jones 2010- 2016

“Golf has always been a car that has resonated with creatives and artists especially. The vehicle has a very powerful heritage which lends itself to bold imagery and strong narratives,” says Woodside.

Talk to us about conveyancing Call us today

169a Ponsonby Road Ponsonby, Auckland +64 9 929 0800 www.metrolaw.co.nz Trusts & Wills

72 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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Business & Commercial

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Property

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HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

COVID-19 IMPACTS STILL EVIDENT IN GREATER PONSONBY’S RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MARKET The ongoing effects of Covid-19 in New Zealand are still being felt in Greater Ponsonby’s residential property market, and will be for the foreseeable future according to one of the area’s leading real estate agents.

Bayleys Ponsonby salesperson Blair Haddow said he was still recording a high level of potential home buyer interest from ex-pat Kiwis returning to New Zealand and looking for homes in the Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, St Mary’s Bay, Herne Bay locale.

“It was a trend which began in the middle of last year, and it is still occurring now, albeit in smaller volumes,” said Blair. “I regularly receive calls from Kiwis in MIQ with time on their hands looking at my listings in the area. I even received a call a month ago from someone leaving MIQ on a Sunday morning and enquiring if I could show them around one of my vacant property listings that afternoon.”

As another consequence of Kiwis not travelling abroad because of travel restrictions and concerns about the pandemic globally, Blair Haddow last month sold a multi-million-dollar home to a couple from the suburb of Three Kings who normally spent part of their year living in Europe, but as a result of staying ‘local’ for the past 12 months, found themselves with a greater disposable income and the ability to move up the proverbial property ladder.

40 Grosvenor Street

“Many Kiwis staying ‘local’ over the past year have bought the jet ski, the boat, the new car or the spa pool with their greater disposable income, while others have simply utilised their accumulated savings to buy a new higher value home,” said Blair.

Looking ahead to the middle of 2021, Blair Haddow forecast that this year the usual winter buying malaise experienced in the New Zealand property market would be far less noticeable than in previous cycles.

97 Jervois Road

“Traditionally, a lot of my market enjoy mid-year summer holidays in Europe, Hawaii, South-East Asia, Fiji, or Australia – avoiding our New Zealand winter. This year however, with travel restrictions and two-week quarantine requirements in place for everywhere apart from Australia, I don’t believe many Kiwis will be travelling abroad, and instead they will be focussing on domestic matters - such as selling their house or buying a new home,” he said.

“As a consequence, what would have been a quiet period of listings and sales could well see sales volumes track at higher levels than has traditionally been the case.”

Heading into autumn, Blair Haddow’s tranche of homes for sale features an art deco style four-bedroom/two-bathroom/ two living room residence in John Street, Central Ponsonby. The home has most recently been tenanted by crew members of America’s Cup challenger Luna Rosa, who left New Zealand last month after their cup challenge campaign finished.

Next on Blair Haddow’s portfolio of desirable dwellings in the area is a two-bedroom/one-bathroom terraced townhouse in Dock Street opposite Victoria Park - offering the convenience of being on the immediate inner-city fringe.

The listings come on-line just as Blair Haddow has completed several sales in the Greater Ponsonby area including: • A spacious apartment in Herne Bay’s landmark Shangri La tower bought for $3.90 million by an Auckland businessman who intends using the exclusive address as his residence when in the city and • 40 Grosvenor Street in Grey Lynn - a completely refurbished and modernised three-bedroom/two-bathroom, open-plan residence packed with chic multiple living spaces, a relaxing deck space overlooking a spa pool and flat lawn. It sold for $3.240 million to an Auckland couple moving up the property ladder.  PN www.facebook.com/BlairHaddowResidential

74 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Showroom: 366 Great North Road

09 376 2895

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Open 7 days

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www.roseandheather.co.nz

PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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Eden bedside in Ancient Kauri - clear finish $2980 the pair

Trenail Classic desk 153cm L x 75cm D - $11680

Newport desk 130cm L x 65cm D with Ash frame and kauri drawers. Hickory/ Honey finish POA

Newport 2 drawer bedside with Ash frame and kauri drawers. Hickory/Honey finish $2980 the pair

Tumblehome media cabinet 150cm L - $3680

HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

Newport 7 drawer lowboy 81cm H x 146cm L x 46cm D - $4680

Newport bed in Ash features a flexislat base which does not interfere with its contemporary clean design. From $4280 available in all sizes

GREAT FAMILY FIT By their own admission, Julie and Ian Williams were going around in circles trying to find inspiration for their new kitchen; that was until they came across the team at Kitchens By Design when everything became clear.

Their existing kitchen was the original in a 80s-style house that they’d been living in for two years. “We always knew a new kitchen was on the shopping list, and it had got to the point where it was looking old, and our girls were getting bigger – we weren’t a family with little kids any more. We needed to do something. The kitchen wasn’t working for us, but we didn’t know what we wanted or where to go,” says Julie.

“We found Kitchens By Design online, but it was their showroom that clinched it for us. It was very impressive – chalk and cheese compared to the others we visited. We started speaking to Jane (Fergusson), one of the designers there, and she immediately got who we were and what we were trying to achieve. We clicked straight away. Jane made it easy for us to visualise what our new kitchen could look like.”

Julie laughs that they didn’t give much of a brief to work with, just that they liked open shelving and wanted a bit of wood in their new kitchen, and also somewhere to have a casual meal.

“Jane asked us lots of questions about how we lived, cooked and used the kitchen. She was the only one that did that of all the people we spoke to,” says Julie. “She then came up with three different concepts – one was the original footprint, upgraded, the other was a partial change, the third was a complete change with all the bells and whistles… and that’s the one we went for.”

Seeing the mood board for the first time, with all the samples of colours and materials was one of the most memorable moments of

the whole process for Julie and Ian. Memorable also was choosing the benchtop material, then selecting each slab individually before it was templated, so they could see where the veining would appear on the final benchtop. “That was a special service,” says Jane.

Now their new kitchen is finished, the couple say that they both really love the bamboo breakfast bar. “We never thought of using bamboo – that was Jane’s suggestion – but it gave us that touch of wood we asked for; it’s also a very durable and hardwearing material, which is ideal for the counter top. The window seat is wonderful. It has completely changed how I use the space, because I can now lounge in the kitchen. Our daughters can hang out there, too. It’s great in the morning because it catches all the sun. We also love our new scullery.

“Working with Kitchens By Design was so easy. Jane was great to communicate with, and she listened and ran with any ideas we had.

Everything was so well planned out – she just instinctively knew where everything should go. Also, the whole team at Kitchens By Design fought our corner through the whole process, ensuring everything was done properly and we got exactly what we wanted, which saved us time and energy. They were definitely value for money.

“In the end it comes down to trust. We trusted Jane and went with what she recommended, and it worked out really well. The kitchen speaks for itself, just look at it!”

KITCHENS BY DESIGN showroom is at 3 Byron Avenue, Takapuna, T: 09 379 3084.

They are open Monday-Friday – 10am-4.30pm, Saturday – 10am-2.30pm, or by appointment, www.kitchenbydesign.co.nz

76 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Visit our showroom today.

3 Byron Avenue, Takapuna (09) 379 3084

Light filled and clean lined.

kitchensbydesign.co.nz PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

Hamilton sofa by Minotti

GET READY FOR WINTER NESTING WITH COMFORTABLE SOFAS FROM ECC Select from highly tailored to super relaxed styles, in store now.

With the cooler months fast approaching it’s time to make sure the living room is a warm and comfortable place to relax. With a new shipment of best sellers just arrived, now is the perfect time to come in and view the ECC sofa collection.

Known for their ‘feel good factor’, Dutch brand Linteloo prioritises comfort alongside European style. Several designs have become hugely popular lately, so we have sourced them in a range of woven fabric, linen and nubuck finishes in 3, 3.5 and 4-seater linear models.

One thing we have noticed recently is that when a customer sees a sofa they like in stock they are more likely to buy that than wait for a custom fabric to be manufactured and shipped. Therefore, for the best selection from the new shipment don’t wait too long to come into the showroom.

A second delivery of the latest Minotti collection is now in store.

Concentrating more on linear sofas, the exquisite tailoring and attention to detail can be appreciated in more compact models.

Several designs are also ideal for apartments or smaller living rooms with slimline frames. Minotti classics are also back in, featuring the Hamilton sofa in a corner setting and a range of best-selling Andersen sofas in neutral tones or forest green.

New to ECC is the Don Sofa from the Piet Boon Collection. Elevated on a gunmetal base, the luxurious sofa with generous proportions appears lighter and more subtle. The sofa comes with a matching ottoman and is dressed in velvet and satin cushions in coppery colours.

If you are looking for further inspiration visit the ECC showroom at 39 Nugent Street, Grafton - just off Khyber Pass, or shop online at ecc.co.nz/store.

George sofa by Linteloo

78 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

ecc.co.nz

Linteloo

Metropolitan sofa

HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

@ MELUKA Meluka Furniture. Create your dream kids room with our beautifully crafted NZ made SLEEPYboy King Single bed or BUNKboy King Single for a shared space. All made by Danske Mobler Furniture in Mount Eden, Auckland.

www.meluka.co.nz

Furniture. Simply.

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80 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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ARTEDOMUS STONE• TILE • MOSAIC • BATHWARE • TIMBER FLOORING

Your local showroom with a world wide web of beautiful bathroom products Tile I Stone I Bathrooms I Vanities I Stone Basins I Mirrors I Homeware I Landscaping Pots & Products Bring in your plans and meet with one of the team for a free consultation www.artedomus.co.nz

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HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

A LIGHT AND SPACIOUS HOME NEED NOT COMPROMISE ON WARMTH Our love affair with open-plan living and extensive indoor-outdoor flow is all about blending the boundaries between inside and out, while not sacrificing privacy or comfort.

“Luxaflex Duettes have been a very popular choice with designers and architects over the last few years, but they aren’t as well-known with the general public,” says Tricia Dunlop, Lahood’s interior designer.

Duettes are a blind option specifically developed to meet the demands of leading designers. They are premium, elegant blinds that offer incredible insulation properties due to their honeycomb construction.

“The engineering behind the blind is really clever,” says Tricia. “The hollow design gives the blind really good insulating properties, trapping and reducing the flow of warm air, in or out of the home.”

Duette honeycomb blinds are an excellent option because they can be made to fit snugly to large windows or unusual window frames and can be easily motorised so there are no cords, making your home safer.

Wireless automation offers scheduling functionality and operation via remotes, smart devices and voice activation, unlocking greater convenience, energy efficiencies, security and child safety.

A recent report from Consumer New Zealand states; Honeycomb blinds easily topped our testing for all window coverings. Air is a good insulator, as long as it’s not moving, and the honeycomb structure creates a large, still air gap between the cold window pane and the warm inside air. Also, the honeycomb blinds fitted closer to the sides of the window frame than our other tested blinds, which also helped reduce heat loss.

The honeycomb blind saved the most on power costs. And the biggest savings aren’t necessarily monetary - you’ll gain the health benefits from living in a warmer and more comfortable home.

“Duettes were first developed about 30 years ago, and since then have been continually innovative in design, style and performance,” says Tricia.

The latest in the designer series are Duette Achitella Menage which have a triple honeycomb construction, with six layers of fabric and five insulating air pockets. “Achitella Menage offers the best insulating properties on the market, and loads of design flexibility,” adds Tricia.

Known as the designer’s answer to double glazing, Duette blinds are able to work top down or bottom up, have dual day/night shades in the one blind, and can even be used on skylights.

“The colour ranges are expansive and the ability to create custom shapes means we can do so much creatively,” says Tricia.

This month, save 15% OFF on any Luxaflex Duette blind orders including automation. Visit the Lahood, showroom,104 Mt Eden Road, T: 09 638 8463, www.lahood.co.nz

82 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

barfoot.co.nz

HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

@ DAWSON & CO. TOP London bookcase in light smoked oak RRP $3,299 MIDDLE Oregon 240 dining table in honey brushed oak RRP $3,499 BOTTOM Reeded sideboard in blackened oak with polished brass RRP $4,599 Oregon 140 round coffee table in honey brushed natural oak RRP $2,799 All by Dawson & Co.

DAWSON & CO., Northshore Showroom, 38 Constellation Drive, Rosedale T: 09 476 1121, Parnell Showroom, 115 The Strand, Parnell; info@dawsonandco.nz www.dawsonandco.nz

84 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

ONEHUNGA ON THE RISE Onehunga is getting a new lease of life with a new residential development.

The Onehunga Mall Club will see 102 quality apartments brought to the heritage village centre.

The new, eight storey landmark tower will be built on the site of the former Onehunga Workingmen’s Club at 158 Onehunga Mall and will feature design cues which acknowledge the sites former use as a community club.

With carefully considered and cleverly designed layouts, the Onehunga Mall Club will offer 1 and 2 bedroom homes with a unique outlook and different points of view across the four corners of Auckland.

Expansive and largely protected views look out towards Mt Wellington in the east, Mangere Bridge and Mangere mountain to the south, Manukau Harbour to the west and One Tree Hill to the north.

This is the second Onehunga project for seasoned developers Andrew and Tim Lamont. The directors of Lamont & Co are behind a number of Auckland’s most successful urban living precincts including Fabric of Onehunga, a pocket neighbourhood between Spring Street and Victoria Street; and SKHY, a mixed-use precinct on Khyber Pass Road in Grafton which recently won the 2020 New Zealand Architecture Award for multi unit housing.

by pioneer settlers, this is a place undergoing carefully managed change. Like the workingmen and womens club that once stood here on 158 Onehunga Mall, there are new stories being written and told.

The O.M.C is a place for locals both new and old.

The Onehunga Mall Club will be well connected to all amenities in the heart of the Onehunga Town Centre and is due for completion at the end of 2023.

Prices range from $550k to $1.250m in various layouts from 50m2 to 94m2 excluding decks which will be up to 48m2.

The display suite is open for public viewing Tuesday - Sunday 11am 3pm, onsite at 158 Onehunga Mall.

Register your interest at onehungamallclub.co.nz to be the first to receive updates and view this landmark Onehunga development.

Driven to create cleverly designed housing in desirable neighbourhoods, Lamont & Co see themselves more as place makers, aiming to create inviting living environments.

“We wanted to provide architecturally stunning, high quality housing in Onehunga and have worked carefully with our architects and planners to redefine what premium living looks like,” says Andrew Lamont, Director of Lamont & Co. “The Onehunga Mall Club will enrich the already vibrant social fabric of the area. Located in the heart of one of Auckland’s most upcoming suburbs, the Onehunga Mall Club will appeal to first home buyers, professionals, downsizers and investors alike.”

Collaborating on the project are Ashton Mitchell Architects and Kalmar Construction, whose quality building work can be seen in the completed SKHY and Fabric of Onehunga developments.

Onehunga is an evolving heritage neighbourhood that feels the way New Zealand used to be. From humble beginnings as a village built

86 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

LOCAL MARKET WRAP WITH CHARLOTTE KOFOED Sales volumes stabilise across a spread of suburbs.

The month of March saw a return to regular seasonal sales levels for the greater Ponsonby marketplace (St. Marys Bay, Herne Bay, Freemans Bay, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, and Westmere), with a healthy 74 sales, representing the highest area volume since October 2020.

There was also a more even spread of sales across all suburbs comparative to the previous few months.

The median sell price for March increased 10% from March 2020, compared with the wider Auckland median growth of 16% in the same period. However, in dollar terms, the greater Ponsonby median growth over March 2020 was $180,000, or just under $3,500 per week over the last 12 months. Other interesting aspects of the March greater Ponsonby statistics include: • There was a strong result for sub-$1M units and apartments (15 sold in March), perhaps reflective of increased first-home buyer activity in the area.

• Off-market sales continue to increase in proportion to advertised listings.

• The auction method remained unsurprisingly to the fore in the local market, with 65% of properties selling under the hammer, compared with October 2020s 50%. This tends to illustrate a marketplace with confidence and conviction.

• At the cold-face in April we have witnessed excellent auction clearance rates locally, although there is some evidence of ‘investor stock’ clearance rates tapering off across wider Auckland.

• Freemans Bay took out the top two sale prices for the month at $5.2M and $3.9M respectively.

• Apartments and unit sales increased significantly over the previous few months, with the highest price achieved (excluding a Shangri-La residence) being $1.56M for a 2 bedroom apartment.

We are seeing green shoots at the higher end of the apartment

market (over $1.5M) particularly with developer stock which may not be affected by the new bright-line test/deposit requirement conditions announced in March.

DEVELOPERS CHANGE TACK As several apartment developments came to completion over 2020/2021, and as construction costs continue to rise, we are seeing some established local developers refocus onto suburban townhouse projects, which are generally less expensive to construct on a squaremeter rate than an equivalent-specification apartment.

This has led to a recent uptick in interest locally for adjoining MixedHousing Suburban zoned sites with a combined site coverage of over 1000sqm. Whilst this can potentially represent a great way to achieve a higher price than adjoining sites sold separately, developers have a specific range of land criteria that they are looking for to create a successful project. Don’t hesitate to give me a call to discuss your land development potential at any stage.

LOCAL GROWTH CORRIDORS I am often asked about future local growth local corridors that may represent potential for improved amenity, particularly as we transition toward increased uptake of public transport over the next 10 years.

My personal favourite areas in this regard are; • The Karangahape Road / Ponsonby Road juncture, which will soon be within walking distance to the new ‘Karangahape Station’ and has proximity to Western Park, motorway links, and the emerging arts and culture district.

• Jervois Rd will experience intensification over the next few years, particularly with its ridgeline zoned for more high-density apartment developments, and growth of support amenities such as the new Countdown currently being constructed on the old Gables site on Kelmarna Avenue. This will likely make the area a more vibrant, diverse, and liveable precinct over the coming years.

Thank you for reading.  PN

CHARLOTTE KOFOED, M: 021 241 9394, T: 09 353 1220, www.ckre.co.nz, E: charlotte.kofoed@nzsir.com

Properties Sold Average Sell Price Median Sell Price

March 2021 74 $1,945,250

$1,945,000

March 2020 81 $1,992,901 $1,765,000

February 2021 51 $2,114,196 $2,205,000

REINZ statistics for Freemans Bay, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Westmere, St. Marys Bay and Herne Bay. Excludes 18 new-build sales transacted in February 2021.

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PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

@ TONIC TILE LOUNGE LOMBARDA expands the potential of the contemporary architecture with a collection inspired by Ceppo di Gre, the stone used for Milan’s most iconic 20C buildings.

The striking, charismatic LOMBARDA confirms its technical excellence and offers a style rich in meaning and prestige for the design of commercial and private interiors.

LOMBARDA is available in three colours in a natural finish and inspires new architectural approaches where elegance and practicality meet.

Available in 450 x 900cm, 900 x 900cm and 20mm 600 x 600cm (grey only).

90 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Where Design Meets Inspiration Full renovation and installation service Consultants available for design guidance European tiles for all projects and budgets We have stock on hand ready to go...

Retail Showroom: 254 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland (next to Homage) 10am – 4:30pm Monday – Friday, by appointment any other time M: 021 644 728 / www.tonictiles.co.nz

HOME WHERE THE HEART IS

MEET GENTLEMAN GEORGE, RESIDENT DOG People say that the city is no place for a dog.

Pffft. Nonsense!

The name’s George; George Robinson Spence Barnes that is, or “Gentleman George” as the ladies like to call me. In fact I was something of a country gentleman out on my farm before we moved to the big smoke. I’ve spent the last few years getting to know the city - well at least the city one foot up from the ground - and I can tell you it’s a pretty cool place for a dog and his family.

Welcome to my world.

Our home is on the 4th floor at The Parc residences downtown, and if these aren’t the nicest, most pet-friendly apartments in the city then I’m not a small orange dog. I mean where else do you get your own quiet, fully enclosed private park right in the heart of the city? From the inside balcony I enjoy a bird’s eye view of it all, ideal for spotting social opportunities with my dog and human pals, and to surveil those sneaky cats. Luckily for the cats, all Parc doglets are extremely civilised and share the common space like good citizens. Just as well.

My typical day might involve a trot to Britomart to put the teenager on the train to school, then a quick coffee on the waterfront before the big humans walk to work. Often I get to go with them but I prefer to relax at home and snooze on the couch, I mean balcony.

My actual favourite thing is a neighbourhood stroll. There’s the whole Viaduct Basin just teeming with nice ladies who pat me and want to take me home. There’s plenty of other dogs to say hi to and a bowl of water in just about every café. I know, I’ve been to them all.

We love the fancy path around to Westhaven, the special dog park over in St Mary’s Bay and the world of magical smells under the ancient oak trees of Victoria Park. The humans like going to the big Queens Wharf for a thing called gelato and sometimes we catch the ferry somewhere just for fun. (I have discovered that I’m a very good sailor). Yes, the bright lights of the city suit me down to the ground; thank goodness my family have adjusted so well.

We’ve had so many happy years here - other than that time I ate the Christmas presents. And I’m a little sad to be leaving now my family is moving, but I know some other lucky fellow or fellow-ette will love it here.

Give Suzie a call to find out more. It’s a dog’s life here at The Parc!

As well as our private park, there’s fab green space is just over the road where I can catch up with friends. Very nice of the Council to organise it for me I must say.

The family love to entertain out on the deck of an evening. Oh, is that a bit of leftovers?

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Hmm… A stroll to Wynyard Quarter? Britomart? Or my own private park at the Parc? Perhaps a nap, then decide.

Indoor…outdoor…indoor…outdoor…phew, talk about indoor-outdoor flow.

I have my pick of three bedrooms any time. You didn’t see me on here, ok?

Lovely afternoon for a walk.

Me, spotting cats from my balcony.

4A, 132 CUSTOMS ST WEST. Home (for now) of Gentleman George.

Mobile: +64 21 976 008 Office: +64 9 215 8420 suzie.paine@bayleys.co.nz

3 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

3 car parks

Pool

CLOSE DATE 11TH MAY 2021

Suzie Paine Ponsonby Licensed under the REA Act 2008

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TAKING AUCKLAND BY STORM – MIREYA RAMOS AND LATIN MARIACHI SOUL She came to New Zealand last year to perform at WOMAD. Lockdown happened just after; she stayed, and that has been our good fortune.

Born in California of immigrant parents from Mexico and the Dominican Republic, but based in New York City, Mireya Ramos and accompanying musicians have been sending us to the next level at various venues across Auckland. On Saturday 10 April she did that again, wowing the audience in the intimate atmosphere of Frieda Margolis in West Lynn.

With her magnificent voice, soulful violin playing, and warm stage presence, Ms Ramos and her musicians left the audience in rapturous appreciation of their talent throughout the evening. A highlight of the night was when she took us on a rhythmical trip with Am I Crazy, leaving us all happy to admit, she and we just might be – crazy happy to be there that night. Another highlight was the song she had recorded last year with local musicians while holding up in an Airbnb in New Plymouth, Climbing Fences. Interspersed with Spanish and English, Mariachi Soul, covers of Ella Fitzgerald and Chaka Khan, Ms Ramos and her band easily won our hearts.

Far from the New York subways where she started sharing her music, Ms Ramos has made several albums with the band, Flor de Toloache.

Now, she is working on a new album – yet to be named.

Mireya Ramos came to us with rave reviews including a nomination for the 2020 Grammy Awards; on Saturday night we clearly saw why.

The Mariachi sound not only lifted our spirits as it filled the room at Frieda’s, but permeated out the open windows into the streets of the West Lynn village where captivated passersby stopped transfixed.

Put your hands together and bow your heads to pray, that while the rush to make the rest of the world a safer place continues, Mireya Ramos and partner, sound engineer Andy Averbuch, won’t be in such

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a rush to leave our shores and we have further opportunity for their PN music to feed our souls. (GREG TONG) 

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

A VENDORS AGENT

THROUGH & THROUGH SUZIE PAINE

NEW NEWVIEWING LISTING LISTING FINAL FINAL VIEWING

The Parc Set date 11 May 2021

NEW VIEWING LISTING FINAL

Penthouse $15 Million

Suzie Paine Residential Sales & Project Specialist 021 976 008 | suzie.paine@bayleys.co.nz BAYLEYS REAL ESTATE LTD, PONSONBY, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008

Residential / Commercial / Rural / Property Services

PONSONBY PETS

PONSONBY PEOPLE & THEIR PETS Suzie Paine, Sales Broker at Bayleys in Three Lamps, Ponsonby introduces her best mate Ralph.

Tell us a few things about Ralph. Where did he come from and how old is he? Have you had a dog before?

Well first of all Ralph is a poochon and is the sweetest little man with a very kind temperament. He is 22 weeks old and everything in life is just one GYLUMPSCIOUS (new word) fun experience.

Ralph was born in the Waikato. His father is a toy poodle and his mother a bichon/sydney silkie cross. He was the only tri-colour puppy in his litter of seven and he just stood out to me to be quite the wee character. I think he may change colour as he gets older but he’ll still be just as cute!

I have had big dogs in the past and never really been drawn to small breeds. My sister has the most beautiful chihuahua called Tilly and I fell in love with her and so decided a small breed was for me, especially as I live in an apartment.

He learns extremely quickly and house training was no problem… after a few trial and errors!

What’s his favourite treat?

He loves helping himself to the herbs in the garden and especially likes to carry around and chew on a bay leaf, although Ziwi treats are his favourite, along with liver treats.

Where does he enjoy a walk?

Or should the question be where do I like to go walking? Well we found a big mud puddle in Meola Park. Ralph circled it and peered into it then circled it again. Another big dog jumped in and started digging away and thick muddy water was flying everywhere. I called to Ralph, “Noooo you are an apartment dog”. He circled once more then pinged straight up in the air (that’s the poodle in him) all four

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paws wide part and went SPLOOSH, sunk, and then came up looking very happy with himself. I didn’t look that happy carrying one muddy dunked fluff ball home under my arm! We haven’t been back.

So, Grey Lynn Park is the favourite. The dogs are nice and the people are friendly and have nick named him Fluffball! Ralph trots around on the lead and when it comes time for an off lead play he’s the fastest in the park!

Where does he sleep?

He prefers to be close to me. Ok, he sleeps on the end of the bed, on a blanket; his blanket. He’s happy there. I tried crating, but he tried harder to get out and did on several occasions. Maybe I should have called him Houdini.

Has he been to Barkley Manor yet?

We have our first ‘meet and greet’ there on Thursday. My last dog spent lots of time at Barkley Manor and always came home with a good school report card. Let’s hope Ralph keeps up with the expectations. I think they will love him.

I see you take him to work. Is that on what I call the ‘Dolly Parton shift 9 to 5’?

Haha. He gets to come in occasionally and is well loved by all the staff and my colleagues. He gets lots of love and hugs and puts a smile on everyone’s face. I took him in today sporting his new double sided vest and he thought he was looking very dapper indeed!

He is fabulous at finding things on the ground that he shouldn’t - like pens and rubber bands! I don’t need him to swallow one of those; he has enough ping already.  PN

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Your pet deserves the best care.

Animates Vetcare Richmond Rd More than just exceptional veterinary care.

Find us inside Animates at

316 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn animates.co.nz/vetcare

ARTS + CULTURE

COLLAGE EXHIBITION @ {SUITE}, 13 May – 12 June 2021 This month at {Suite}, the gallery will host a group show of artists working with collage. The exhibition will include a mix of artists from the {Suite} stable including Megan Archer, Wayne Youle, and Rob Cherry as well as guest artists Katherine Claypole and Cliff McPherson.

SYLVIA JIANG WITH ST MATTHEW’S CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Conductor Beth Cohen - Sunday 16 May 2.30pm

Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto has been described as ‘an epic work of genius; Fauré’s Pelléas et Mélisande Op 18 as spellbinding and Copland’s Appalachian Spring as gorgeous. An enticing combination.

Sylvia Jiang has been hailed by critics as “New Zealand’s most notable young emerging gifted young pianist of genuine substance.”

Currently studying at the Juilliard School, her performances have been featured on BBC News, TV3, ABC Australia, Radio New Zealand Concert, Maori Television, and other notable news networks and publications. Over the years, she has won numerous top prizes at national and international level competitions including the prestigious Wallace National Piano Competition.

Conductor Beth Cohen has conducted the Christchurch School of Music Camerata Strings and ISO Orchestras, the Canterbury Regional Schools Orchestra, Resonance Orchestra, APO, and served as Orchestra and Bands adjudicator at the KBB Music Festival since she emigrated from the UK. Currently Beth is conductor of the Christchurch’s Garden City Orchestra and Auckland’s Victorious March Band which recently won Gold in the NZCBA Festival.

This concert with St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra will be part of her PhD study at University of Canterbury on engaging audience participation.  PN TICKETS Eventfinda or Door sales cash only. Adults $30: Concessions $25 children under 12 free. Student Rush on the day $15.

Venue: St Matthew-in-the-City, corner of Wellesley and Hobson Streets. www.stmatthews.nz

Collage, a medium which comprises of a variety of images taken from different printed sources, has its modern origins in the 20th century.

Artists including Picasso and Braque glued chopped up newspaper and other images of unrelated subject matter onto their canvases and charcoal drawings to produce both a serious and tongue-in-cheek sensibility to their artwork.

In this exhibition at {Suite} the artists use collage to the same effect. Megan Archer’s works are carefully edited and designed. These artworks combine images from National Geographic and other vintage publications combined with humorous titles to create an artwork which is incongruous and surreal.

Guest artist Katherine Claypole combines her collage with hand stitching, using retro images of people juxtaposed with sci-fi, almost futuristic looking stitched forms. Cliff MacPherson upscales the traditional collage scale and has created a work over 1 metre in size that combines images from medical journals and publications with handmade paper.

Collage has always found a home in the work of Wayne Youle and this exhibition will show works not seen before in Auckland created during an Artspace residency in Sydney using a variety of found images.

The exhibition will open on Thursday 13 May with drinks at the gallery between 5.30pm-7pm. All are welcome.

The exhibition is available to view online at www.suite.co.nz and all works by {Suite} artists can be found through the Available Works page on our website. Please use the password Suiteonline PN for access.  {Suite}, 189 Ponsonby Road, T: 09 218 4399, www.suite.co.nz

Sun 16 May at 2.30pm programme

Fauré Pelléas et Mélisande Op 80 Copland Appalachian Spring Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No 2 C minor

Sylvia Jiang conductor Beth Cohen soloist

st matthew-in-the-city Cnr of Wellesley & Hobson Street, Auckland City

Megan Archer, “Haunting of the Hoggets”, 2021, mixed media collage

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PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

By the Artbay Gallery Group is a fresh, modern, contemporary art experience.

With locations in both downtown Auckland and on the waterfront in Queenstown, the dedicated Lightworx Galleries are a national first.

They feature contemporary light-works that inspire, engage, and have a mesmerising effect on all who view them.

The gallery represents a hand-picked collection of high profile artists like internationally renowned Max Patté, New Zealand’s leading contemporary artist Robert Jahnke, and award-winning artists Tim Christie, Wendy Hannah, Trish Campbell and Shannon Novak.

The new Auckland gallery is one to keep a close eye on, with exciting solo exhibitions scheduled throughout the year. The ‘Side Space’ that flows through from the main Auckland Lightworx gallery is set to showcase artists whose works have never been seen in Auckland before.

This April, International artist Virut will be transforming the Side Space with his unique overflowing creativity.

His larger than life collages are complex and vivid. From a distance the portraits are almost hyperrealistic, viewed closely the original image softly dissolves into the layers of paper. After sell-out shows in Queenstown over years past, Auckland art lovers are in for a treat.

In June, the distinguished Robert Jahnke’s neon light works will shine proudly in the Side Space. Jahnke’s work is well recognised by the discerning art collector and has recently wowed people at the Toi Tu- Toi - Art exhibition in 132 Ora Contemporary Art Gallery where he prominently featured in the largest Maori years. This is an exciting chance for collectors to immerse themselves in his minimal clean lines and sophisticated narratives.

PN Exhibition opens 22 April - 23 May. 

AUCKLAND LIGHTWORX GALLERY, 110 Customs street West (Behind HQ), T: 09 300 6265, www.lightworxgallery.co.nz

MAX PATTÉ ROBERT JAHNKE TIM CHRISTIE www.lightworxgallery.co.nz 110 Customs Street West, Auckland, 1010 09 300 6265 | auckland@lightworxgallery.co.nz

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ARTS + CULTURE

Robert Jahnke ATA PAE KAHURANGI - 1 of 3 $25,000

LIGHTWORX GALLERIES

ARTS + CULTURE

ST MATTHEW-IN-THE-CITY FIRST TUESDAY CONCERT St Matthew’s First Tuesday concert on Tuesday 1 June will be showcasing some of the fine achievements of Auckland Grammar’s music department.

Many people in New Zealand won’t realise what marvellous music is being developed in our secondary schools unless they attend the annual competitions. Students are making very serious efforts, always using the previous year’s top standard as a challenge to surpass. Time and again music of astonishing finesse and musicianship is the result.

For many years both the numbers participating and the level of expertise have been envied by other countries around the world.

Auckland schools are certainly no exception to this pattern.

The Crudes 2021, 1375x1000, Oil on canvas

@ SCOTT LAWRIE

First Tuesday are very pleased to present a show-case concert by some of this year’s talented and hard-working young people. Many of them will be participating in the Auckland Secondary Schools Band and Orchestra Festival, which is now the KBB Music Festival, and the formidable New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, as well as the Big Sing National competition later in the year.

GALLERY

Nicholas Ives: The Crudes 8 May – 30 May I discovered Nicholas Ives’ paintings at a small group show in his home town, Melbourne, about six years ago and I’ve collected his often quirky, yet always beautifully painted, work ever since.

Auckland Grammar’s music department are long time participants in these festivals and have a dedication to excellence. The programme for their First Tuesday debut features their chamber choir performing works including compositions from Christchurch’s Richard Oswin and Auckland’s Takerei Komene. This is followed by their chamber group performing two movements from Olivier Messiaen’s demanding and extraordinary Quartet for the End of Time; and to finish their chamber orchestra they perform works by Vivaldi and Shostakovich.

Sheer skill aside, one of the reasons I was drawn to his richly-toned work was his cheeky sense of humour which contrasted with deeply humane insights into loss of childhood, loss of innocence, and a serious questioning of what it means to be a human being in the slice of time we all share.

What has surprised me, is just how much New Zealand collectors have taken Nic under their wing. His work obviously resonates here – his last two shows practically sold out, and he proved to be a big hit at the 2021 Auckland Art Fair. As a result, Nic has created an entire new body of work for his New Zealand solo show, ‘The Crudes’.

It is inspiring to realise that ensembles like these are where the professionals of the near future very often emerge from.  PN www.facebook.com/StMatthewsNZ

As Nic explains, “Kiwis have an internationally-renowned sense of getting out there and exploring, while fostering positivity and kindness towards others. I wanted to capture this in ‘The Crudes’. But it’s also a deeply personal exploration of fatherhood, and bringing my first child up in a world that just gets stranger and stranger each year even to me.”

It’s a show of magnificent mischief, magical journeys, and joyous reminders of being alive; on at Scott Lawrie Gallery in Grey Lynn (with free weekend parking at 15 Williamson Avenue.) Opening preview is Saturday 8 May from 3-5pm. Open 11-5pm, Thursday to Sunday. All welcome.  PN SCOTT LAWRIE GALLERY, 2 Murdoch Road, www.scottlawrie.com

~ The Crudes 8 – 30 May 2021

Nic Ives, Boy Peeing, 2021

Nicholas Ives

Auckland Grammar School Music Ensembles Voices and Instruments Revealed Tuesday 1st June, 12.10-12.50pm Entry by koha.

2 Murdoch Rd, Grey Lynn (Off 15 Williamson Ave) Thurs to Sun, 11 – 5pm

scottlawrie.com

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Ponsonby News 6 Nic..indd 1

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January) 23/04/21 10:36 AM

ARTS + CULTURE

@ OREXART PONSONBY Stephen Allwood - Tools of the Trade Opens Saturday 15 May - 2pm - 4pm and runs until 9 June.

For years, Waiarapa based painter Stephen Allwood has drawn inspiration from the day-to-day events of his semi-rural lifestyle. Recently, he and his partner acquired a bakery in Martinborough, and it’s this venture that’s prompted this new body of work.

In Tools of the Trade, Allwood celebrates the solid, industrial equipment he works with every day: mixers, slicers and beaters.The retrofuturistic machines, with gleaming surfaces and sensuous curves, are set against rough wooden shelves where they speak of trade and the tools and skills that are passed down from one generation to the next.  PN OREXART, 221 Ponsonby Road, www.orexart.co.nz

Rocket, 1240mm x 1085mm, Oil on canvas

Swift Whip, 1240mm x 855mm, Oil on canvas

Kenwood, 1240mm x 935mm, Oil on canvas

Stephen Allwood Tools of the Trade 15 May — 9 June

est. 1990

Hobart, 1240mm x 1085mm, Oil on canvas

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UPTOWN ART SCENE Our creative area is getting well-trodden lately, with local tours revealing the artists and curators behind the thriving art scene in and around Ponsonby/Grey Lynn.

Art Walks were organised by Emil McAvoy in partnership with Art Now, the K’Road Business Association and I Love Ponsonby, to provide free walking tours of galleries and studios in March, with plans for more later in the year.

As guides, Emil employed people with insider knowledge: working with Emil were Claire Chamberlain, co-chair of the NZ at Venice Trust, artist and curator Kahurangi Smith, and artist Evan Woodruffe.

They led their groups through Artist-run Spaces like RM and Tautai, public galleries Objectspace, Artspace, and Audio Foundation, artist studios, art production hub endemicworld, dealer galleries OREXART, {Suite} and the galleries and auction house Art+Object.

Coming straight after L3 Lockdown, it was exciting to experience the high level of participation, of people keen to discover more of their community and hear directly from art professionals.

Art Travel has been leading national and international art tours for over ten years. With overseas temporarily unavailable, director Glen Armstrong has extended the Art Travel local tours, with a strong focus on those who make art.

Evan Woodruffe beckons his group towards Objectspace

While we are sheltered from the global pandemic, we are discovering more of our neighbourhood. What may have been taken for granted is now seen as essential and in need of attention – the Arts in particular help lift us in times of stress, and enrich us emotionally. What better way to explore our community and ourselves than a stroll around the concentrated artiness of our area?

(EVAN WOODRUFFE/STUDIO ART SUPPLIES)

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Photo: Glen Armstrong

Their City Fringe Makers Tour in May and June takes in ceramic artists in Grey Lynn and Westmere, and painters’ studios in the central city and Kingsland. Glen packs in plenty of unique insight, alongside guest guides such as Sue Gardiner, Chair of the Chartwell Trust, Urban Design expert Matthew Bradbury, and words directly from the makers themselves. Check out their 2021 line-up at www.arttravel.co.nz

Louise and Chuck at Edge City

www.studioart.co.nz

PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

ARTS + CULTURE

WAYFIND CREATIVE LAUNCH Wayfind Creative launched on 1 February 2021 and is a part of the Creative Career Service initiative backed by government to further support people in the arts and creative community.

“We’ve designed Wayfind Creative to be an exciting programme to help creatives develop a financially viable, sustainable and deeply rewarding career,” Linda Blincko, Depot Artspace, Creative Director.

The goal is to empower creatives to become a more experienced problem solver, capable of directing a new career path and to build a sustainable future.

The programme includes building a business plan, a marketing and social media plan, an introduction to networks and professional mentors, creating a personal development plan to be delivered during the programme, and assistance with understanding how to better attract investment.

Delivered by Depot Artspace, Wayfind Creative will help build the non-creative skills required to futureproof a career in the creative sector that will thrive, not just survive.

“It’s been a privilege to be able to listen to people’s creative ambitions and current challenges and feel like we are genuinely helping them find some clarity and way forward. It’s often not easy being a creative so offering support and bringing together a network of like-minded people can be transformative in itself,” says Craig Turvey, Wayfind Creative project lead.

Since February, 58 creatives have joined Wayfind Creative from various backgrounds, ranging from visual and object artists to writers, musicians, performance, film and arts management.

Wayfind Creative is currently open for registrations. Eligibility includes creatives seeking employment in the creative sector or creatives who have lost employment/self-employment income due to Covid-19.

Eligibility also includes creatives looking for support to develop business/marketing/other skills in order to develop a sustainable career in the creative sector, as well as graduates with a creative tertiary education seeking opportunities in the creative sector.

PN Applicants must reside in Auckland and be aged between 18-64 years.  www.depotartspace.co.nz/wayfind-creative

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ARTS + CULTURE Vegas - TVNZ ONDEMAND

MAY STREAMING GUIDE It’s time to get your binge fitness up. The last of the long sunny days are behind us. Daylight Savings has ended and there is every excuse to snuggle in and binge. Let the anticipation build.

The allegorical inferences are tempered with a style of humour local audiences appreciate and global audiences will find refreshing. It’s a homegrown production that easily competes with anything available on the international streaming services. Definitely a must watch.  Amazon Prime Them More chilling than expected, Them is so cleverly put together and the performances so compelling that you can almost taste the hatred dripping from the white community intent on driving out their new black neighbours.

It is telling that the spooky supernatural elements at play in this limited anthology series are actually a relief from the inhumanity displayed by the white Compton ‘welcoming committee’.

It’s a narrative that lays bare the overt examples of the racism commonplace in 1950s America and serves as reminder of the more subversive racism that still persists in many forms today throughout the world. Entertaining yet scary. 

Them on Amazon Prime

TVNZ OnDemand Vegas It would be a mistake to dismiss Vegas as merely a beautifully shot drama series exploiting and glamorizing the high stakes world of gang culture. It is set in one of the most exquisite and dynamic locations in the country and is on its way to becoming New Zealand’s answer to The Sopranos.

Inspired by Canadian born writer Ray Berard’s award winning novel, Inside the Black Horse, Vegas script writer Micheal Bennett aimed to tell a more nuanced and far reaching narrative.

Brought to life by director Kiel McNaughton, the actors and Rotorua based crew of Vegas have delivered a layered and complex character driven tale, ready to take audiences on a long and intriguing journey.

The first episode introduces an ensemble cast you quickly care about, empathise with or despise. The action, tension and drama drives the story forward at pace, offering just enough plot twists and turns to keep you guessing and wanting more.

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PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)

Neon Shrill Some of the most confronting flaws in society are most effectively addressed through humour. Shrill is a cleverly funny series that champions the idea that self-acceptance comes from changing how you view yourself rather than changing who you are to become more acceptable to others.

The talented comedian Aidy Bryant stars as Annie, a capable journalist who limits her self worth by giving the shallow judgments of others too much weight - excuse the pun. When she decides to turn things around she stops being ‘too nice’ and starts putting herself first. Funny with often an acerbic flavour this is not a constant laugh out loud comedy but it will make you smile. 

Shrill on NETFLIX

Their dystopian, often historically based story worlds are ripe for the development of complex and interesting characters who resonate with a wide range of audiences from all walks of life.

Shadow and Bone, an adaptation of the richly drawn and sprawling world’s of Leigh Bardugo’s trilogy of novels of the same name is a wonderful escape with a satisfying level of plot and character complexity. Very binge worthy. 

ARTS + CULTURE

On Netflix, SHADOW AND BONE (L to R) BEN BARNES as THE DARKLING / GENERAL KIRIGAN and JESSIE MEI LI as ALINA STARKOV in SHADOW AND BONE Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2021

Netflix Shadow and Bone Magical fantasy based series continue to be popular on streaming platforms the world over.

The Covert Theatre in Mackelvie Street, Ponsonby is NZ’s home of improvised comedy.

With workshops and shows every night of the week there is something for everyone.

Be sure to check out www.coverttheatre.com You can support all the good giggle’s by donation right here, www.coverttheatre.com/how-to-help Registered charity CC53421 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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HOROSCOPES: MISS PEARL NECLIS – WHAT YOUR STARS HOLD FOR MAY

Aquarius (the Water Carrier) 21 January - 19 February You would like to hide away from a lot of things that demand your attention this month and none of them focus on any of your own goals. A bit of time alone is good for you as long as it doesn’t become a habit.

Pisces (the Fishes) 20 February - 20 March If you have any disagreements with friends or family you will know how draining physically and emotionally these things can be when you are not to blame. You have to reach a resolution even if you have to be the one extending the olive branch.

Aries (the Ram) 21 March - 20 April Try and not complain too much as eventually you will not be heard and your ideas probably won’t get the attention they deserve. You can still make an impact as long as you’re willing to listen.

Taurus (the Bull) 21 April - 21 May Your productive juices are flowing this month and you seem to be riding a wave of success personally. Going that extra mile at last seems to be paying off.

Gemini (the Twins) 22 May - 21 June Maybe you need to dig a lot deeper to process any feelings that have been buried in order for you to have a normal life, or that’s how you feel about it anyway. In order to move ahead, you might have to go backwards first.

Cancer (the Crab) 22 June - 22 July Sticking to the same old pattern day in and day out might have caught up with you and maybe it’s about time you change your routine; or simply enjoy each moment for what it is.

Leo (the Lion) 23 July - 21 August Keeping your feelings inside or bottled up as they say will only make you more volatile. It’s you that needs to be strong and by venting your frustration occasionally can be good for you. Don’t let any arrogance get in the way of sharing things that matter.

Virgo (the Virgin) 22 August - 23 September Make sure you’re able to take responsibility for your actions if things don’t go according to plan. You have a support network close to you as always but you shouldn’t make any demands.

Libra (the Scales) 24 September - 23 October Keeping your opinions firmly in check has always been the right thing to do as far as you’re concerned. However occasionally you just have to say what’s on your mind and bugger the consequences.

Scorpio (the Scorpion) 24 October - 22 November Don’t lose your rag this month if you can help it. Keeping calm and capable is the way you have always been. If being a rock for others is taking its toll, it’s time it was your turn.

Sagittarius (the Archer) 23 November - 22 December You really do see the positive in everyone and everything, even though sometimes you get nothing back. It’s important though for you to maintain your sunny disposition, as you touch many lives.

Capricorn (the Goat) 23 December - 20 January Try not to overreact because your ego says you have too. If you can adapt to the situation, adapt to the situation. You can choose to improve any position you find yourself in as there are no winners where egos are concerned.

106 PONSONBY NEWS+ May 2021

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INTRODUCING OUR NEW ITALIAN INDOOR RANGE Traditionally founded in outdoor luxury furniture, Design Warehouse has sought to expand outside its current outdoor collections, broadening its expertise and sense of design artistry to introduce luxury furnishings for the interior spaces. Featuring world-class designs that bring innovative aesthetic elements along with colourful rich fabrics, textures, materials, and silhouettes which work in harmony to deliver excellence in craftsmanship and quality, expressing an artful interpretation of luxury indoor furniture that endures.

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