Summerset Scene Summer 2017, Issue One

Summerset •

S U M M E R

I S S U E

•

Scene

A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE HERMAN & HELEN KOOT • A REFUGEE’S STORY MIRDZA PALMER KEEP MINDS SHARP CROSSWORDS, PUZZLES + MORE • GARDENING TIPS PLANTING FOR PERFUME • STYLE + MORE

COVER IMAGE | Ellerslie residents Chris and Raewyn Francis.

hello from Julian

Warkworth Parnell Hobsonville

St Johns

Ellerslie

Manukau

Karaka

Katikati

Rototuna Hamilton

More than

4,000

Taupo New Plymouth Napier

New Zealanders call

Summerset home.

Hastings

Wanganui

Havelock North Paraparaumu

Palmerston North Trentham Lower Hutt

Richmond Aotea Kenepuru

Our new magazine comes at a really exciting time for Summerset. In November we celebrated our 20th anniversary.

Nelson

Avonhead Wigram

Casebrook

KEY = Established Village = Planned Village Dunedin

Good

SO RT

Ninety-one-year-old Margaret Prince has

Margaret retired to Summerset from

been making clothes for children in

England, where she made wedding

need. A Summerset in the Bay resident

dresses. “When I came here, I asked my

for more than 10 years, Margaret says

daughters, ‘What will I do all day?’ They

she enjoys being able to help. She is

told me to do what I’ve always done!”

currently sewing for a Samoan family with eight children.

Margaret says she hears about people in need through word of mouth. “I don’t

“I’ve been making trousers for the four-

think I’m anything special – I’m just doing

year-olds who are about to start school,

this for the children. I’m in a position

and skirts for the girls too. I make quilts

where I can help.”

for the babies.”

WANT TO NOMINATE A GOOD SORT? Email: magazine@summerset.co.nz or call: 04 830 1175.

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

Welcome to the very first edition of Summerset Scene – our quarterly Summerset magazine, which replaces Summerset Life.

We had a special celebration with residents at our Wanganui village, Summerset in the River City, which was our first Summerset village, opening in 1997.

To celebrate our 20th year, this week we launched a new Summerset logo and colours. We hope the new colours of red and purple reflect the warm and vibrant life at our villages. You will see some changes to our website, and in time, our staff uniforms.

I’m delighted to announce the results of Summerset’s annual resident satisfaction survey. This year our overall resident satisfaction rate increased to 96.6%, compared to 94.2% in 2016. We also increased our care satisfaction rate to 96.8,% up from 94.4% last year.

Our new magazine has something to keep everyone entertained. It is full of exciting stories about our residents and activities at our villages, including the love story of Herman and Helen Koot at Aotea village, and a great read on bone carver and Summerset Dunedin resident Eric Dyer. We also talk about our expansion plans in Auckland, a national award for our Levin memory care centre, and the recently announced staff benefits. You’ll also find a range of columns, including those by gardening guru Lynda Hallinan and home cook Jan Bilton, book reviews, a travel article about Twizel and brain teasers to keep you very busy!

That’s it from me. Enjoy your first issue of Summerset Scene, and as always please come and say hello when I visit your village.

Julian Cook CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Story to share?

We’re really excited to tell your stories. If you have an exciting or interesting tale to tell, get in touch with Summerset Scene editor, Emily Elliott.

We’d love to hear from you!

contents

magazine@summerset.co.nz 04 830 1175

F E AT U R E S

COLUMNS

19.

6.

CARVING A MARK

A REFUGEE’S STORY: ONCE FROM LATVIA

20.

STAFF PROFILE: LAGI SIAOSI

22.

10.

BRASS FROM THE PAST

SUMMERSET’S AMBITIOUS AUCKLAND GROWTH PLANS

24.

LEAVING AN ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY

25.

14.

A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE

16.

SUMMERSET’S AWARD-WINNING MEMORY CARE CENTRE

MIRACLE GEL WINS MADDISON A SCHOLARSHIP

image to come

OUR NEWS 28

HEALTH 41

DELICIOUS RECIPES 30

TRAVEL LOG 42

IN THE GARDEN 34

BRAIN TEASE 44

CRAFT CORNER 37

AROUND SUMMERSET 46

BOOK REVIEWS 38

DIRECTORY 47

26.

CELEBRATING TWENTY-YEAR ANNIVERSARY 20 YEARS

27.

SUMMERSET WELCOMES CAUGHEY PRESTON RESIDENTS

27.

29.

CYNTHIA $2.3M REWARDS DWAN’SBOOST FOR SUMMERSET STAFF 100TH

FASHION 40

A REFUGEE’S STORY

Once from Latvia B Y E M I LY E L L I O T T

Mirdza and her mother arrived in New Zealand with a suitcase and US$1 after six years of living in post-war refugee camps in Germany. Ten years later, Mirdza had a medical degree.

She remembers every detail as though it happened yesterday – fleeing from war-torn Latvia with the thunder of bombs exploding and artillery fire in the distance.

Once a refugee from Latvia, Summerset in the Sun resident Mirdza Palmer vividly remembers the day in 1944 when her parents decided to leave their family farm. The German army was retreating from Latvia and the Russian army was advancing.

“My dad stood in our courtyard and said, ‘If it wasn’t for the two girls, we wouldn’t start this journey. We need to give them hope for life.’”

Mirdza, her parents and her sister made the dangerous and torturous six-week journey through Latvia to Liepaja Harbour on the Baltic Sea amid the German and Russian conflict.

The family were allowed onto a cargo boat headed for Germany, taking only what they could carry in their hands.

“We knew we had to leave or Siberian exile would have been our fate,” Mirdza says.

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Summerset lifestyle Spring Issue

Their boat left as bombers targeted the harbour.

“A boat nearby sank. We huddled together and looked back at Liepaja – the last time we would see our country,” says Mirdza. “The port was ablaze.”

Out of Latvia’s 2 million people, some 250,000 escaped to Germany, while others fled to Sweden on fishing boats.

Mirdza and her family made it safely to Germany.

Her parents were put to work in a factory, while 14-year-old Mirdza and her 16-year-old sister attended a German high school.

After the war ended in 1945, the International Refugee Organization set up displaced persons’ camps. The family were relocated to a camp in Hersbruck, about 25km from Nuremberg.

“Our family had one small room in one of the barracks. It had two bunks, a small table with one chair and a potbelly stove.”

Mirdza attended a Latvian high school established within the wooden barracks of the camp.

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“My dad stood in our courtyard and said, ‘If it wasn’t for the two girls, we wouldn’t start this journey. We need to give them hope for life.’”

“I was happy and had no complaints. We were thankful to be alive.”

But devastation hit the family when Mirdza’s father died from pneumonia the following year.

His last words of wisdom remain with Mirdza: “You can lose everything in life, but what is in your head, you will always keep.”

“Education became crucially important. My sister finished high school and became a secretary for an international aid organisation before being accepted as an immigrant to the United States.”

Mirdza and her mother planned to emigrate with her sister. However, with her father’s words in her mind, Mirdza decided to stay in the refugee camp with her mother so she could finish high school.

“Upon finishing school, I became very ill with tuberculosis contracted under camp conditions and spent one year in the sanatorium. I owe my life to the then newly discovered antituberculosis drug,” she says.

While waiting for papers to go to America, Mirdza and her mother had a chance to apply for, and were accepted as, refugees to New Zealand.

They arrived in Wellington in 1951 with a suitcase and US$1 between them, and lived in Pahiatua’s resettlement camp. After finishing their obligatory contract of two years’ work at Pahiatua Hospital, they moved to Wellington and bought a house with their savings.

In 1954, Mirdza was accepted into a medical course at Victoria College (now known as Victoria University).

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However, despite speaking English adequately, Mirdza had problems understanding lectures and exam questions. It was a tough blow when she failed her first exam. Determined, she decided to repeat the year, accepting the language barriers.

“I gained the mark I required, then went to Dunedin, where I had no trouble passing each year at medical school. I graduated in 1961, 10 years after I had arrived in New Zealand.” She was one of six women out of her class of 120 to graduate.

Mirdza went on to marry David, a fourth-generation New Zealander who was also in the medical profession. They raised three children together.

“I didn’t speak about Latvia until it became an independent country in 1991,” she concedes, proudly showing off a photograph of a grandchild in Latvian national costume.

Mirdza has since visited her sister in the United States and taken her husband to her home country.

“Despite the war, I feel very thankful to the German people who sheltered us in 1944, and to New Zealand for accepting us and giving me the chance to make a new life.”

M I R D Z A A N D H E R H U S B A N D DAV I D RETIRED TO SUMMERSET IN THE SUN AFTER SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

Top left | Mirdza’s graduation in 1961.

Top right | Mirdza as a teenager, still wearing the clothes she carried from Latvia.

Bottom | Mirdza and her husband David at Summerset in the Sun.

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SUMMERSET’S

Ambitious Auckland growth plans

BY MICHELLE BROOKER

“We’ve made instant friends,” says Summerset at Heritage Park resident Raewyn Francis.

Raewyn and her husband Chris lived locally before moving into their brand-new villa at Summerset’s fifth Auckland village in Ellerslie.

“Our children and grandchildren are often at the village. Our family feels like part of the wider Summerset family. Being able to bring our dog Daisy with us to live in the village was a bonus.”

The couple say there is always something happening at the village. A recent event was an off-the-cuff potluck dinner for an All Blacks game.

“There is a real sense of community here,” says Raewyn.

CEO Julian Cook says Summerset is playing a vital role in freeing up Auckland property at a time when land supply in the city is under real pressure. “The high-density nature of our Ellerslie village means it is expected to free up the equivalent of about 18 hectares of residential land in Auckland. It is part of a $1.3 billion investment programme in the region, with plans for another two Auckland villages in St Johns and Parnell, which will help strengthen our position as New Zealand’s fastest-growing retirement village and aged care provider.”

The pair are among hundreds of residents who have chosen to move into one of Summerset’s five Auckland villages, situated in Ellerslie, Hobsonville, Karaka, Manukau and Warkworth.

Left | An artist’s impression of the proposed St Johns village.

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The development of our Ellerslie village represents another step forward in our ambitious Auckland growth plans.

When complete, Summerset at Heritage Park will house 400 residents in a mix of villas, apartments and serviced apartments, while 58 care rooms will provide rest-home and hospital-level care. It will offer a unique retirement village experience for residents, with open green spaces, a lake, bowling green, library, hair salon, bar, gym, pool, spa and café.

Julian says that all Summerset villages are purpose-built to reflect Summerset’s vision to provide the best of life to its customers. “Our villages challenge many people’s preconceived ideas of what a retirement village is like.”

Summerset has also applied to Auckland Council for resource consent to develop 344 homes on a 2.5-hectare site on St Johns Road. Boasting stunning views to Rangitoto Island and central Auckland, homes at the proposed St Johns village will include two- and three-bedroom villas and apartments, one-bedroom serviced apartments and high-quality rest-home and hospital care.

The village will also include Summerset’s award-winning memory care centre concept, offering one-bedroom apartments in a safe environment for people living with dementia.

Planning is also underway for Summerset’s seventh Auckland village in Cheshire Street, Parnell, which is just 200m from the shops, restaurants and cafés on Parnell Road, and offers views across to Auckland Domain.

Julian says that, like other large developers in Auckland’s tight construction market, Summerset has experienced some delays to its Ellerslie build.

“It’s frustrating for us and our residents. However Summerset has its own in-house construction team, including project managers, design specialists, planners and engineers. This means we are able to manage any delays as best we can.”

Raewyn and Chris Francis highly recommend retirement village living. “Having the reassurance that someone, either our neighbours or Summerset staff, are always nearby if we require help is the key to our peace of mind. The hardest thing when you move into a retirement village is downsizing and letting go of memories attached to items, but we found it quite therapeutic. For us it was the right time to let go. There is a sense of satisfaction in donating your unwanted items and knowing someone else will benefit from them.”

Top left | Chris and Raewyn Francis recently moved into Summerset at Heritage Park, Ellerslie.

Bottom left | The library at Ellerslie.

Bottom right | Ellerslie Hair Salon.

Above | The kitchen in one of our Clark Coastal homes in Summerset at Monterey Park, Hobsonville.

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A second chance at love B Y E M I LY E L L I O T T

Herman and Helen Koot met each other at Summerset at Aotea, and were married at the village.

When Herman and Helen moved into Summerset at Aotea, they had no thoughts of getting remarried.

Herman moved to the village in 2007 so that his ailing wife could receive the care she needed.

Helen, who was single, moved into a villa in 2008 when her health started making it hard to maintain her home and keep up a career.

The two first met on a village trip to the Wairarapa, after Herman’s wife passed away in 2010.

The bus was full. Helen had a spare seat in her car and Herman decided to go with her.

The pair hit it off. Herman says, “We were sitting at a table at the Gladstone Hotel and someone asked me, ‘Is this your wife?’ I replied, ‘No, she’s just my chauffeur!’ And that’s where the idea to marry came from,” he jokes.

Herman and Helen found each other’s company easy and refreshing.

“We decided we’d be old fashioned and get married – the second time for us both!”

Herman’s Dutch relatives came across from the Netherlands for the ceremony, which gave them an opportunity to explore the country at the same time.

“My family think he is wonderful! They are very happy for me to be with him,” smiles Helen.

“Our families didn’t expect either of us to marry again.”

They’ve now been married for seven years, and laughter is still constant throughout their conversations. They agree they have the same weird sense of humour and share interests in music, opera, cooking and crosswords.

“Herman also has this European coffee influence, so we drink a lot of coffee together,” says Helen. “We do everything together, really,” Herman adds.

Although Helen had lived alone for more than 20 years and was happily single, she moved seamlessly into a new life with Herman.

“It’s very easy, we have a lot of fun together.

We aren’t very serious,” says Helen, laughing.

“Maybe we should try that, Herman?”

He returns her question with a hearty laugh.

H E L E N A N D H E R M A N M E T AT O U R S U M M E R S E T AT AO T E A V I L L AG E

Left | Helen and Herman outside their home.

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S U M M E R S E T ’S AWA R D -W I N N I N G

Memory care centre

BY MICHELLE BROOKER

Our first memory care centre at Levin’s Summerset by the Ranges scooped a top New Zealand aged care award in September.

The centre, a home for people living with dementia, won the Aged Care Association’s Built and Grown Environment Award, which highlights exceptional design in the aged care sector.

The Levin centre opened in November 2016. It is modelled on international design standards for dementia care and is the first New Zealand dementia facility to offer one-bedroom apartment living for residents in a secure environment.

The apartments have a kitchenette, lounge and bathroom, giving residents their own independence and allowing them to entertain family or friends. There is outdoor living with a secure garden area, and the centre is set out in a circular design so residents never get lost.

Summerset by the Ranges Care Centre Manager Monique Hayes, who oversees the operation of the memory care centre, says the residents have a real sense of ownership and pride in the home centre.

“The design means residents can roam indoors and outdoors, which gives them a feeling of freedom. You wouldn’t know they are in a secure environment.”

IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO PROVIDE SUCH INNOVATIVE CARE FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH DEMENTIA. SUMMERSET CEO JULIAN COOK

“Our vision when we started on this journey was to provide care where the focus was on the person, not the disease,” says Summerset CEO Julian Cook. “Our success with serviced apartments in our villages, where people can receive up to rest home-level care in their own home, showed us residents thrive when they have their own space and independence regardless of their care requirements.

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“She was living at another retirement village that she said felt like a prison. She was always asking me when I would take her home.”

IT’S FANTASTIC TO BE RECOGNISED BY THE AGED CARE ASSOCIATION JUDGING PANEL FOR SUCH A SUPERB FACILITY. SUMMERSET CEO JULIAN COOK

“We wanted to replicate this model for our first memory care centre, so people with dementia could receive care in their own purposedesigned home rather than living in an institution.

It’s fantastic to be recognised by the Aged Care Association judging panel for such a superb facility. We’ll be including memory care centres at all our future villages. There are seven in the planning currently and the next one will be built at our Casebrook village in Christchurch, which is currently under construction,” says Julian.

Dave heard about Summerset’s memory care centre and was impressed with the apartment living option. “The apartment gives Mum more freedom and privacy. She has her own lounge and can sit outside in the garden. I’ve heard her say to visitors, ‘Come into my apartment. It is all mine.’”

Dave says the centre’s staff are a “passionate bunch” who are really interested in the residents.

“I’ve come across people elsewhere who just seem to be there for their wages. It is very obvious they have a passion for what they do.

Mum is happy and content.”

The memory care centre has cutting-edge technology systems to promote independence for residents while allowing staff to monitor their movements and safety. Key features include:

Eric, now 75, used to carve about 15 pieces a week, selling them in Queenstown and Wanaka every weekend, and from a stall at markets in Dunedin.

To make a carving, Eric explains that he first collects beef bone from the local butchers.

• Sensor bed mats – these let staff know when a resident gets out of bed

“I have dolphins, seahorses, fish hooks and korus.

People love buying a New Zealand-made product, and tourists love New Zealand-style crafts.”

Eric adds pāua-shell elements, and has played with colouring bone by soaking his pieces in clothing dyes.

“The tools I use look a lot like dental tools,” he jokes. “Bone is very hard, so a lot of pressure is needed to carve it.”

Eric has recently stopped carving bone due to his hand health, but continues to sell hundreds of finished pieces at local stores and markets – and has taken up gardening and knitting instead.

“I clean the bone marrow out, wash and boil it, and then scrape the tissue off.”

• During the night, if a resident does not return to bed within a certain time, staff are notified by a pager

The bone then gets cut to size and into wafer-thin pieces to work with. “It’s an 18-step process,” Eric emphasises. “The wafers are then cut to shape, sanded and polished.”

• Doorframe sensors activate a silent call bell if a resident leaves their room at night

“It can take up to two hours to shape smaller pieces once the bone has been prepared. I find pleasure in the intricacies of carving.”

Dave Metcalfe says the memory care centre has done wonders for his 86-year-old mum, Lila.

Above | A resident shows off her apartment.

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

Eric Dyer has always considered himself a creative, hands-on person, and found a passion for bone carving.

“I couldn’t find anyone to repair it, so I went to bone-carving training at a night school.”

• Sensory lighting – staff know when a resident does something out of the ordinary, such as moving around in their apartment at night.

Sensory lighting will direct residents back to their bed after using the bathroom

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B Y E M I LY E L L I O T T

Summerset at Bishopscourt resident Eric has been a bone carver for 30 years, a hobby sparked by having to fix an antique bone artwork in the 1980s.

• Silent nurse-call paging system (all staff carry a pager) – this promotes calmness, not confusion

Middle | Wide spaces provide freedom.

Carving a mark

Bottom | The open-plan kitchen gives independence.

Eric has up to 600 patterns he sells at any one time, most of which he describes as being a European style of Māori symbolism.

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S TA F F P R O F I L E

Lagi Siaosi B Y E M I LY E L L I O T T

The Summerset at Aotea caregiver has always has a passion for helping others, and loves being part of residents’ lives.

When Lagi Siaosi finished high school, she knew she wanted to help people.

Completing a Diploma in Hospitality, the now 35-year-old thought serving others would be a good way to do that.

we make their beds, pull their curtains, and open their windows if it’s a lovely day. We talk to them about the weather and what they might like to wear for the day.

However, when her grandmother became frail and ill a few years later, Lagi began caring for her and tending to her needs.

“We get to know residents very well – what they like and don’t like.

Interaction with them is very special to me. When you have a relationship with a resident, and see them happy, you reap those rewards too.”

“I was brought up in a family where helping people was the norm.

Caring for my Nan is what sparked me to pursue caregiving. It got my attention, and I thought, ‘I have to do this as a career.’”

Lagi has been a caregiver at Summerset at Aotea for nearly seven years.

“I enjoy caregiving; it comes naturally to me – especially care for the elderly. It’s something I have a passion for, and it’s rewarding to know you’re providing the best care service for someone.”

A typical morning shift for Lagi starts at 7am with handover notes from the night staff, and plenty of interaction with residents in the care centre.

LAGI IS FROM O U R S U M M E R S E T AT AOTEA VILLAGE

“We encourage everyone to come out to the dining room for breakfast, and not stay in their room. After breakfast,

Lagi’s favourite part of her job is spending one-on-one time with residents and joining in with group activities.

“I love being able to do a crossword with a resident, or play bingo with a group. Being able to reach out and help people who need it in some way is great. I love being in this industry because I genuinely care.”

Lagi says she aims to be a role model among students who train at the village care centre, and someone that others can look up to.

She doesn’t hesitate to say her favourite cuisine is Asian, and on her days off, Lagi likes to spend time with her nieces and nephews, who also live in Wellington.

Left | Lagi with Aotea resident Des Moosman.

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Brass from the past

BY E M I LY E L L I OT T

“You can call me ‘MMM’,” says Neville as he introduces himself.

“The Mad Military Musician!”

At the age of nine, Summerset at Aotea resident Neville Cudby picked up the tenor horn and learned to play. He never stopped, and went on to learn a range of brass instruments, winning golds at many world championships with New Zealand’s national brass bands.

His walls are decorated with numerous frames of formal band photographs – groups of instruments and uniforms, sitting below impressive lines of dates and locations, tell the tale of years of success.

With more than 50 years of service in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Band, Neville is still travelling around the country and globe with his euphonium.

“I still play in the Air Force band, as well as other brass bands that ask me to help out. I enjoy playing, and I’ve been doing it ever since I started,” says Neville.

Neville practises up to three hours every day, and insists he has to practise more now than when he was younger.

“Luckily my villa is beside the fence line. I point the euphonium toward it and play – so far none of my neighbours have complained,” he jokes.

His mother was a pianist and cellist, which he says is what helped him and his tromboneplaying brother to get into music at a young age.

“My brother and I joined the Wellington Boys Institute band and were taught to play. From there, I kept going.”

However, surgery on his upper lip when he was a young adult resulted in Neville having difficulty blowing into the mouthpiece of the tenor horn.

He discovered that while the tenor horn sat in the wrong place, both the French horn and euphonium mouthpieces missed his scar just enough.

“I played the French horn in college, and was then approached by the Air Force Band to join as they needed a player. I was young, and at that time it was full of people who had played during the war.”

Over the years Neville has performed with many different bands, including the National Band of New Zealand and Aotearoa Maori Group, and the Onslow Brass Band, and won national recognition for his skills.

Although he worked as a draughtsman, Neville was able to travel to a variety of countries with the RNZAF Band and attended some momentous events.

“It was a good way to get around. Our first tour overseas was in 1970. I’ve been able to go to Holland, Japan, Russia, USA and Canada.”

Three years ago, Neville joined 12 other international military bands for the Military Tattoo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He laughs about the grounds flooding when Malaysia’s tropical weather made an appearance. “We couldn’t do the march! We had to play in the grandstand only.”

Because the RNZAF Band is the only military band based in Wellington, Neville still gets to play at many ceremonies and official events.

“We recently played for the swearing in of the new Governor-General, Dame Patsy Reddy. Then she was visited by the Australian Governor-General, who we played for too.”

Left | Neville Cudby is from Summerset at Aotea.

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LEAVING AN ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY A new partnership between Summerset at Bishopscourt and the Orokonui Ecosanctuary will provide a long-lasting, multi-generational difference to the environment.

In addition to Summerset’s pledged financial support for the next three years, residents have jumped on board to volunteer their time and energy by giving practical help and resources.

The village’s Activities Coordinator, Ron Hielkema, is passionate about ensuring residents and their families can visit the sanctuary, take part in educational events, and feel as though they are having a lasting impact on their community.

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“More and more, residents have a preservation and conversation mind-set, with a focus on sustainability. They expect an environmentally friendly approach and want to make sure their footprint is giving back,” says Ron. “The Orokonui Ecosanctuary is long-lasting.

Residents get excited about leaving a legacy, and supporting growth and regrowth.”

Orokonui Ecosanctuary General Manager Chris Baillie is grateful for the support Summerset’s residents are giving to the sanctuary’s vision to benefit future generations.

MIRACLE GEL WINS MADDISON A SCHOLARSHIP Palmerston North Girls’ High School student Maddison McQueen-Davies celebrated winning Summerset’s $5000 Eureka Awards scholarship in September.

She says a resident at the village, Bart Hellendoorn, recently put his hands to work making beautiful wooden donation boxes for the sanctuary.

The 15-year-old’s passion for science and public speaking sparked her entry in the Aging Well category with a proposal to fix cartilage and help osteoarthritis sufferers.

“They will be placed around businesses in the city, are wonderfully made and will make a huge difference,” says Chris.

Applicants had to explain how science and technology could be used to sustain health and well-being into the later years of life.

Maddison’s topic explored a gel currently being developed and tested in the United States.

“The contributions Summerset is making keeps us going and gives us security. We have species here we are protecting, and they’ll now be around for residents’ grandchildren and great-grandchildren to see.”

“Fifty percent of New Zealanders over the age of 65 have osteoarthritis, which stops them from living the lives they want to live.”

Maddison explains the gel, which can be injected into damaged cartilage, would be able to help keep older people active and involved in activities they enjoy.

“Care for the elderly is really important to me. I’m really passionate about the gel after seeing how it can help those with osteoarthritis live a full life.

“My mum has had three knee replacements, and my granddad has had two. I have seen they’re not perfect. You need six weeks off work, they only last 15 _ 20 years, and there is a massive waiting list,” says Maddison.

Maddison is hoping to attend an Ivy League university in the United States, and says Summerset’s scholarship will help to make that possible. “I felt really proud that I managed to get it.”

Summerset CEO Julian Cook says Maddison’s entry showed her passion and enthusiasm. “It’s great to see someone so young determined to make a difference to the lives of older people.

“Our hope behind sponsoring the Aging Well scholarship was for young people to explore innovative and thought-provoking ways to progress current thinking around ageing and ageing well. Maddison has certainly done that.”

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SUMMERSET WELCOMES CAUGHEY PRESTON RESIDENTS Summerset at Heritage Park in Ellerslie is now home to 12 residents from Caughey Preston rest home in Remuera, which shut its doors in late October.

A number of Caughey Preston caregivers and two hairdressers have also accepted new roles at Heritage Park.

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS Wanganui residents celebrated our 20th anniversary at Summerset in the River City in November.

Wanganui was Summerset’s first village, opening on 21 November 1997 with 14 villas. Summerset’s founder, John O’Sullivan’s vision was to build a village he would be proud to have his grandmother live in.

Two of the village’s original residents Ngaio Bridger, 89, and Vinora Smith, 99, joined other Wanganui residents and staff for high tea and a performance from the NZ String Quartet.

Ngaio moved into the village with her husband in 1998 at a time when the concept of retirement village living was new. A lot has changed over the years but Ngaio says many things have stayed the same. “The staff have always been caring and make me feel accepted. The community has flourished and residents are so supportive of each other.”

Ngaio says moving to the village was “the best thing we did” and advises others contemplating a retirement village move: “don’t leave it too late.”

Another important guest at the celebration was Atta Tohitau, who has been a caregiver at Summerset in the River City for 15 years, and was awarded Summerset’s caregiver of the year in 2016.

“I love the challenge it brings,” she says. “It’s very rewarding to know every day I’m helping people – I know that if I’m doing the best for our residents I can go home a happy person.”

Atta chose a career in caregiving because she loves working with people. “I am a mum to six kids and also took on two of my grandkids. I’m used to looking after people. It keeps me fit and makes me happy.”

Atta has met a lot of people that are now very close to her heart. “It’s nice to celebrate this milestone with so many of those people.”

Summerset at Heritage Park Village Manager Jarrod Shearer says that as soon as the Ellerslie team heard the rest home was closing, they got to work with Caughey Preston’s management and clinical teams to see how they could help displaced residents and staff.

“We are delighted to be able to offer them work. It’s great to do as much as we can to keep continuity for our new residents from Caughey Preston.

Familiar faces are important.”

Former Caughey Preston resident Peter Dawson moved to Heritage Park in October. “I was disappointed when I heard Caughey Preston was closing down. When I started looking for a new home I wanted a village scene so I had somebody to talk to. Summerset is ideal,” he says. “It’s nice that some Caughey Preston staff are here. They are attentive and helpful.”

$2.3M REWARDS BOOST FOR SUMMERSET STAFF Summerset was in the media recently talking about its new employee benefits worth $2.3 million per year.

All permanent staff, including the company’s 400 caregivers, are eligible for free health insurance, with the company paying 75 percent of the cost of visiting the doctor and dentist.

Staff can also sign up for free funeral cover, Summerset shares worth $780 per year, and a range of discounts from Summerset suppliers.

Caregivers also receive a uniform allowance and night shift meals.

“THE EXTRAS REALLY MAKE US FEEL OUR WORTH” SUMMERSET AT AOTEA CAREGIVER LAGI SIAOSI

“Our confidence has been boosted and we know that our hard work is valued,” says Summerset at Aotea caregiver Lagi Siaosi. “The health insurance insurance will reduce the financial stress and burden for staff who would usually worry about having to pay for a doctor’s appointment.”

Summerset CEO Julian Cook says the benefits recognise the dedication of the company’s staff for their valuable work in caring for residents.

“We want people to seriously consider a career working with older people. The government’s pay equity settlement has gone some way towards achieving that, but we want our caregivers to have a proper career pathway and these initiatives go a step further to achieving this.”

Above | Summerset in the River City staff and residents celebrated their 20th birthday in November.

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Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

27

ONESIE DAY AT AOTEA

OUR NEWS

Aotea residents donned their onesie outfits in support of Wellington Free Ambulance’s Onesie Day in September. The village held a fundraising lunch and raffle, which raised more than $2250 for the free service. Summerset at Aotea Activities Coordinator Karen White says over 80 people dressed up in onesies.

“A couple of the residents who dressed up said they loved the day. Being in the onesie gave them the confidence to have fun and be a bit silly.

“It makes my day seeing people have fun, laughing and enjoying fellowship with other residents.”

Karen says residents in Aotea are grateful for the service Wellington Free Ambulance provide.

CYNTHIA DWAN’S 100TH PROPOSED NEW VILLAGES FOR WELLINGTON & CHRISTCHURCH Summerset has purchased additional land in Wellington and Christchurch to build two more thriving retirement communities.

Our new Christchurch village will be developed on a 9.5-hectare site in Hawthornden Road, Avonhead. It will be Summerset’s third Christchurch village, offering over 240 homes, including two- and three-bedroom villas, apartments, serviced apartments and rest home-level care.

In September, after a long search, Summerset also purchased 6 hectares in Bluff Road, Kenepuru, bringing the number of its Wellington sites to five. The land is located within the Kenepuru Landing development, a joint residential housing project between developer Carrus Corporation and local iwi Ngāti Toa. Over 290 homes are planned for the village, with a similar mix to the Avonhead village.

Summerset CEO Julian Cook says the company is thrilled to secure both pieces of land.

Above | Artist impression of a Casebrook village villa.

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Summerset Scene |Summer SummerIssue Issue

“Suitable, well-situated land in Wellington for a retirement village is scarce, but we were keen to locate a fifth site as our Wellington villages in Paraparaumu, Aotea and Trentham are extremely popular. Our proposed Lower Hutt village also has one of our highest databases for prospective residents, so we expect strong demand from Wellington retirees keen to make their home at our Kenepuru village.

“The company’s first Christchurch village in Wigram has been one of its fastest-selling villages,” says Julian.

“We are also seeing strong enquiry for our second Christchurch village, currently under construction in Casebrook. We expect the Avonhead village will be a popular location too.”

The Kenepuru and Avonhead purchases bring the company’s number of sites for development to seven across the country. The other five sites are Richmond (Nelson), Rototuna in Hamilton (resource consent has been received and earthworks started), St Johns and Parnell (Auckland), and Boulcott in Lower Hutt.

“I don’t look back, and I don’t look ahead. I take things day by day,” said Summerset at Bishopscourt (Dunedin) resident Cynthia Dwan when she celebrated her 100th birthday in August.

The spritely centenarian believes laughter and her sense of humour have helped her to see 100 years – more than 40 of which she spent donating time and energy to the Order of St John’s.

“My humour got me through the hard times. You have to laugh at life. We all have hard times, you just have to keep going and don’t let it get you down,” says Cynthia.

She also jokes that her nightly wine may have played a role – “I had my glass of wine at 5pm every single night. I honestly think that helped, as you relax!

“I never imagined I’d live to be 100. At 80, I didn’t think of it – I always thought, ‘No way!’ Even now I can hardly believe it, it’s a long time.”

Cynthia celebrated with a big party in the village, and her daughter visited from the United States. “I enjoyed life, and I still do.”

WHO WILL BE SUMMERSET’S 2018 PHOTO COMPETITION WINNER? Our annual resident photo competition is now underway!

This competition is open to residents across all Summerset villages, and will run until 31 January 2018. Information on categories, criteria, how to enter and the prizes up for grabs will be available around our villages.

Winners will be notified by the end of February and the winning images will be featured in the autumn edition of Summerset Scene. Best of luck to everyone participating – we look forward to seeing some fantastic summer images!

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

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R E C I P E S BY JA N B I LTO N

DELICIOUS RECIPES

CHICKEN & CRANBERRY BITES SERVES 16 INGREDIENTS 1/4 cup rice bran oil 4 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed 1/2 cup cranberry sauce

CHRISTMAS PARTY PIZZAZZ

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 3/4 cup cooked or smoked chicken, finely chopped 100g fresh mozzarella, drained well and cut into 16 cubes

It’s time for a toast — Skål! Prost! Salute! Kanpai! Santé! Cheers! — a toast to

Herbs to garnish

Christmas and all the joys the festive season brings. Delight your friends at your Summerset village with these no-hassle, tasty finger-food treats.

METHOD STEP 1 Preheat the oven to 190°C. Lightly oil

The advantage of little servings is that most can be prepared well in advance and served at

a 16-hole mini muffin pan.

room temperature or reheated and served hot. And they can be balanced with an antipasto

STEP 2 Cut the bread slices into

platter and maybe a couple of store-bought dips. However, add your own personal touch.

approximately 5cm squares. Brush the tops

Place hummus in a bowl and combine it with a little crushed garlic and lots of chopped

with oil and press into the muffin holes. Bake

parsley, sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle with a little good extra-virgin olive oil. Diced

for 10 minutes, until golden and crisp. These

olives and capers make tasty additions to other dips such as spinach and ricotta.

can be prepared ahead and stored in an airtight container.

STEP 3 Combine the cranberry sauce and mustard.

FA B FINGER FOOD IDEAS

HUNGARIAN PRAWNS

HORSERADISH & BEEF BITES

STEP 1 Peel and devein raw

STEP 1 Brush small bread crostini with

prawn cutlets.

horseradish cream, top with twists of

STEP 2 Wrap each in a little

thinly sliced rare beef, dot with more

streaky bacon, skewer, dust with

horseradish, then garnish.

hot Hungarian paprika.

STEP 2 The beef can be roasted or fillet steak can be pan-fried for about 3_5

STEP 3 Bake in a 220˚C oven for about 15 minutes.

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Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

minutes on each side. Rest and cool

TRYING OUT JAN’S RECIPES? SEND US A PHOTO AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

STEP 4 Place about 1 teaspoon of the chopped chicken in each bread tartlet.

Top with a little cranberry sauce and then the mozzarella.

STEP 5 Bake at 190°C for 5_7 minutes until the cheese has melted a little. Garnish.

S E RV E I M M E D I AT E LY

before slicing.

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

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GAZPACHO SHOTS

TIRAMISU LAMINGTONS

SERVES 8 AS AN HORS D’OEUVRE O R 4 AS A STA RT E R

MAKES ABOUT 25 A yummy combo of Italian and English sweet

This tangy, chilled Spanish soup is great served

treats. Make your own sponge cake or purchase

as part of a collection of hors d’oeuvres in small

one from your supermarket. Use fresh or instant

glasses or demitasse coffee cups. Alternatively,

coffee. I’ve made these lamingtons tiny to enjoy

it can be served in small bowls as a starter to

as finger food. However, they could also be

dinner, topped with croutons, diced capsicums

made twice the size and served as a dessert.

and onion.

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

Coffee jelly: 3 teaspoons powdered gelatine

400g can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups strong, hot coffee

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon sugar

1 small red capsicum, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon coffee-flavoured liqueur

1/4 cup basil leaves

Lamingtons: 275g sponge cake, about 3cm thick

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Coffee cream: 3/4 cup cream

1/2 cup diced ciabatta bread 1/2_3/4 cup chilled tomato juice

2 tablespoons icing sugar 1 tablespoon coffee-flavoured liqueur

sliced spring onion or fresh herbs to garnish

Garnish: slivers of freeze-dried or fresh strawberries tiny mint leaves

METHOD

Place the tomatoes, garlic, capsicum, basil, olive

METHOD

oil, vinegar and bread cubes in a bowl and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Purée in a food processor. Sieve if preferred. Add enough tomato juice to create a soup consistency. Chill. Garnish. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

SE RVE

Whisk the gelatine into the very hot coffee until

SMALL SWEET TRE AT STRAWBERRY DIPS:

Dip strawberries in melted dark chocolate, allowing the excess chocolate to drain. Then dip in finely chopped pistachio nuts.

Chill.

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Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

dissolved. Stir in the sugar and liqueur. Cool, then chill until it reaches the consistency of egg whites.

Meanwhile, carefully trim the brown edges from the sponge. Cut into 3cm squares. Dip the squares into the half-set jelly, coating well. Coat in the coconut. Chill until set.

Whip the cream, icing sugar and liqueur until thick.

Split the lamingtons and fill with cream. Garnish.

Chill until ready to serve.

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A RT I C L E BY LY N DA H A L L I N A N

hub of our brain, where smells are recognised and processed, happens to be hardwired beside the amygdala and hippocampus, the areas of the brain that handle our emotions and memories.

Unlike familiar sights and sounds, which can take a few seconds to register in our brains, smelling a familiar scent – sweet or sour – is akin to banging loudly on the front door to your memory.

IN THE GARDEN

Many of the scented plants I loved as a child are the same perfumed plants that bring me pleasure now, from the English wallflowers my grandmother Clarice grew up the front path to her Raglan farmhouse, to the spring-flowering freesia bulbs my mother planted around our lawn and the old-fashioned daphne that flourished under my bedroom window.

AROMATHERAPY: PLANTING FOR PERFUME Take time to smell more than just the roses in Summerset’s gardens this summer, writes Lynda Hallinan Let’s play a quick memory game. Think of five smells that instantly take you back to your childhood, even if you haven’t caught so much as a whiff of them in decades. I’m willing to bet that almost all of the aromas you remember favourably are either food – your mother’s spiced apple cake, ripe peaches pinched from a neighbour’s orchard, fresh mint for the Sunday lamb roast – or fragrant flowers such as sweet

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Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

peas, freesias and popcorn-blossomed lilac bushes.

I grew up on a farm in a small settlement in Waikato. The smells that teleport me back to my youth are intrinsically rural: freshly cut hay, Mum’s damson jam on the stove, the hot molasses we’d mix into our chooks’ winter mash, windfall grapefruit detonating in a citrus explosion under the lawn mower, and standing in a cloud of diesel fumes as cattle trucks thundered past our school bus stop.

Why does our sense of smell trigger such powerful memories? It’s because the olfactory

The daphne bush in my parents’ garden was huge, despite my father’s gung-ho approach to pruning. He’d periodically butcher it with his petrol-powered hedge trimmers but every year it grew back bigger and more fragrant, giving me the false impression that daphne is as tough as boots. I still can’t quite figure out why I have so much trouble growing these shrubs as an adult.

The white variety ‘Alba’ seems particularly temperamental in pots, but the new pink hybrid ‘Perfume Princess’ is rapidly becoming a favourite. Bred at Tikorangi Nursery in Taranaki

by Mark Jury, it bears much larger flowers over a longer season than any other daphne in my garden, plus it flowers down the stem and not just on the tips.

Just like Phar Lap and pavlova, the Aussies immediately adopted it as one of their own, with ‘Perfume Princess’ named 2016 Plant of the Year by the Australian Nursery and Garden Industry Association.

The beauty of daphne bushes is that any garden can accommodate one in a pot in a shaded corner, and it takes only a small stem in a bud vase to fill a room with perfume. I often nip off a short sprig to pop in my car; it’s far less cloying than any plug-in commercial air freshener.

Whereas daphne is the undisputed fragrant queen of the winter garden, in summer there’s an abundance of perfumed plants, all competing for

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

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ARTICLE BY LOUANA MCCORMACK

SUMMER GARDENING

CRAFT CORNER

C H EC K L I ST

Pot up basil now for summer tomato salads The best culinary basil is the large-leafed variety ‘Genovese Giant’ (from Kings Seeds). Basil is one of the few Mediterranean herbs to need daily summer watering in pots.

Sow dwarf sunflowers While some Summerset residents are competing this summer to grow giant sunflowers, in Wanganui, head gardener Heather Yalden is planting the shaggy-flowered dwarf variety ‘Teddy Bear’. For a knee-high version of the skyscraper classic, sow ‘Incredible Dwarf’ (Kings Seeds). On tippy-toes, it’s still only grows to 45cm tall.

Prune back Now that spring-flowering shrubs have finished their display, prune them back.

For fragrance indoors It’s hard to beat the subtropical wax flower vine (Hoya carnosa) for indoor fragrance. It’s lovely on a frost-free trellis or trailing from a basket in a sheltered conservatory.

Plant colourful and droughttolerant bedding annuals Derek Hudson, full-time gardener at Summerset at Bishopscourt in Dunedin, says lobelias, petunias, bonfire salvias and marigolds are summer stalwarts.

IMAGE CREDIT: SALLY TAGG. LYNDA HALLINAN PORTRAIT BY ALUN CALLENDER.

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Summerset lifestyle Spring Issue

attention alongside eye-catching perennials such as sunflowers, delphiniums and dahlias. In my long rose border, there’s everything from sweet alyssum to clematis, clove pinks, cherry pie heliotropes, oriental lilies, phlox and philadelphus.

At Hamilton’s Summerset down the Lane, lavender and honey-scented star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) come into their own this season, whereas at Summerset in Wanganui, head gardener Heather Yalden’s roses bring so much pleasure that, even when pressed, she can’t choose her favourite. It’s a toss-up, she says, between two popular hybrid teas: the peachy-pink Kiwi classic ‘Aotearoa NZ’, and ‘Double Delight’, with its famously fragrant two-toned petals of raspberry and cream.

Roses seem designed by nature for our noses, lifting their elegant pointy buds up as we bend down to inhale their intoxicating aromas of fruit, myrrh and musk. But other plants hold their perfumes close to their chest, releasing it only when brushed against or trod upon. Said Mark Twain, “Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” If that’s the case, then I must beg forgiveness not just of my violets but of the carpeting thymes, Corsican mint and prostrate rosemary in my herb garden.

And who needs insect repellent when a lush clump of lemon balm or citronella-scented Pelargonium ‘Citrosum’ can do the same job without chemicals? This summer, keep mosquitoes away naturally by simply rubbing a handful of their fresh leaves on your skin.

DECK THE HALLS We all know someone who has shrunk a wool garment. But this doesn't mean it should be thrown out _ you can give it another life this festive season. Grab your button box, gather up some friends from the village and get stitching these easy Christmas ornaments. Stitching with friends has benefits _ they might have a different-coloured garment or a larger button stash to share!

SUPPLIES NEEDED • Pre-shrunk wool clothing or felt • Embellishments – buttons and broken jewellery • Jam-jar lid – or cookie cutter • Embroidery thread • Needle and pins • Scissors, pen and paper • Fabric glue or hot glue gun _ optional

STEP 3

STEP 1 Draw around a jam-jar lid on paper to create your template. Cut out with scissors. You could also use shaped cookie cutters to create different-shaped ornaments. STEP 2 Pin template onto the wool/felt. Cut out two identical shapes for each ornament you wish to make. STEP 3 Stitch your embellishments on one piece of the wool/felt. You can glue them on if stitching isn't your thing _ a hot glue gun would work well. Get creative _ use old jewellery, buttons or anything sparkly! STEP 4 Stitch the two sides together with a simple running stitch. Leave a small gap for stuffing. STEP 5 I used small offcuts of the wool garment to stuff my ornaments. Push the stuffing right to the edges of the ornament.

Stitch the gap closed. STEP 6 Add a long piece of thread to the ornament so it can be hung on your tree, or tied to a gift. I tied a bead on some of mine to add an extra sparkle.

STEP 4

STEP 6

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

37

R E V I E WS BY N Z B O O K LOV E RS W W W. N Z B O O K LOV E RS.C O. N Z

THE PRETTY DELICIOUS CAFÉ

F O R C E O F N AT U R E

BY DANIELLE HAWKINS

BY JANE HARPER

BOOK REVIEWS

What a charming,

on her terror via the unusual telepathic connection

Jane Harper’s first

She was due to give them information

heart-warming novel!

they share, wielding a gun and thinking Lia is in

novel, The Dry, was

as part of their investigation into

Lia runs a café in a

trouble. Lia slowly gets to know Jed after this

published to

alleged fraud at BaileyTennants, a family-run business.

small New Zealand

unusual first meeting and finds herself attracted to

worldwide acclaim

But now she is missing, perhaps dead. Does this relate

seaside town with her

him. But he has his own issues, with a troubled

and film rights were

to their investigation? At the same time as the five

friend Anna. Running a

ex-wife and the responsibility of a four-year-old son,

snapped up by Reese

women were hiking through the bush, five men from

small business is

and he may not be staying in town for long…

Witherspoon. The

the same office were hiking along a separate track

burning question: is

– including the chief executive. Are they involved

her second novel,

somehow? Or is Alice’s disappearance due to the

Force of Nature, as

growing tension among the five women, all of whom

good? I think it is

agree that “Alice had a mean streak so sharp it could

easily as good, if not

cut you.” Or has it something to do with a 20-year-old

better, than her debut

serial killer case that saw horrific crimes perpetrated

novel. Force of Nature

against four victims?

challenging enough, but Anna is about to marry Lia’s twin brother Ro, and has taken to a diet of lettuce leaves and not much else in preparation for her big day – which makes her a grumpy business partner. Overworked and unlucky in love, Lia is fed up with the unwanted attentions of her ex-boyfriend. But then Jed, a handsome stranger, turns up on her doorstep. Their frightening first

The characters are engaging and believable, and there is a lovely thread of humour and quirkiness that runs through the book. I particularly enjoyed the small New Zealand town setting and its familiar landscape. It’s a story of food, friendship, family and love – and you can smell the baking as you read it.

This is the perfect, lazy afternoon read. Light, sweet and tasty! The Pretty Delicious Café is a lovely romance novel that is quintessentially Kiwi. Oh, and there is the bonus of some of the recipes from Lia and Anna’s café at the back of the book.

meeting is not helped by her twin brother picking up

HarperCollins, RRP $34.99

A COLUMN OF FIRE

BY KEN FOLLETT

A Column of Fire is

and put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne. While

completely gripping

Elizabeth tries to ensure peace, nonetheless there

from the opening pages

are massacres and bloodshed during her reign. Over

– so don’t be daunted

a turbulent half-century, the love between Ned and

by the size of this novel.

Margery seems doomed, as do the affections of other

It’s the third instalment

thwarted lovers on either side of a religious divide.

in the Kingsbridge Series, which started with The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End.

is a compelling, page-turning read with excellent characterisation and tension that is ramped to the highest level from the opening to the end.

The novel deftly alternates chapters between the women lost in the bush, and the search for Alice after the other four make it out. Jane Harper does an

Five women very reluctantly go on a corporate

excellent job drawing out all the back stories of the

‘team-building’ hike, far away from their BaileyTennants

women, so as the book progresses you understand

office, through the muddy tracks of the rugged

the deep resentment many of them harbour towards

Girlang Ranges. Only four of them come out the other

Alice. Force of Nature is ultimately a corporate retreat

side. Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk, who was also

that goes horribly wrong, and instead of teamwork,

a key character in The Dry, returns – and he has a

there is suspicion, violence and disintegrating trust.

particular interest in the missing woman, Alice Russell.

An excellent thriller.

Macmillan, RRP $39.99

FEASTS

BY SABRINA GHAYOUR Sometimes referred to

The book will appeal to many home cooks, and is

as the ‘golden girl’ of

ideal for meals to share with family and friends. It is

A Column of Fire is an epic tale that has obviously

Persian cookery,

split into the following sections: Breakfast & Brunch,

been meticulously researched, and the strength of

Sabrina Ghayour is an

Weekend Feasts, Quick-fix Feasts, Vegetarian Feasts,

the book is its memorable characters. Several are

award-winning

Summer Feasts, Lighter Feasts, Special Occasions

dastardly villains, some are heroes, but most are

Iranian-born food

and Comfort Food. So really there is something for

people trying to make their way in the world during

writer who has

every occasion. The chicory and pear salad looks

Starting in the year 1558,

uncertain times, when religion and true faith, politics

produced two previous

wonderfully different, and the yoghurt and harissa

Ned Willard returns

and scandals, revenge, power and love were all

bestselling cookbooks.

marinated chicken and spice lamb pot both look

home to Kingsbridge,

driving forces for people’s decisions, whether good

Her latest offering,

interesting to make. The flavours used are certainly

determined to marry Margery Fitzgerald. But her family

or bad. This is a book that has the horror of ‘heretics’

Feasts, is a feast for all

different from those seen in other cookbooks, but

has conspired against him, and she is set to marry Bart

being burnt at the stake, dangerous sea journeys

the senses, with its

are not too demanding in terms of taste. Feasts gets

Shiring – putting in chain a series of actions that see

and battles, and royal courts and intrigue. It is a

visually stunning design and tempting photos, and

a big tick, as do the flavours of Persian cuisine from

him joining the secret service for Queen Elizabeth.

book of ill-advised marriages and alliances, people

inspiring recipes.

this talented chef. This is a cookbook that is going to

A Column of Fire has a vast array of characters – some real-life historical figures, others fictional – but Ken Follett has done a fabulous job of telling the stories of a few families. It’s a time in history when cities are torn apart by religious hatred, and there are plots and counterplots to depose Queen Elizabeth

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Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

of faith risking all to spread The Word, and Elizabeth precariously ruling with the help of loyal spies. From the bad decisions of Mary Queen of Scots to the plot to kill King James I by Guy Fawkes and others, this is gripping historical fiction, emotionally engaging and with fine characters.

Macmillan, RRP $49.99

Feasts is not a cookbook for cooks who need a lot of guidance and detailed instructions, however. The

be used over and over, and much enjoyed!

Hachette, RRP $44.99

instructions are more like a guide, but it is easy for a medium-to-experienced cook to follow. The dishes are wonderful, exotic and different from those in other cookbooks.

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

39

ARTICLE BY LUCY CORRY

ARTICLE BY KRIS TYNAN

FASHION

H E A LT H

STYLE

Ankle

Here’s how to incorporate this season’s latest trends into your wardrobe.

and hobbled around for a few days,

Hail to the

Summer style means bright colours, bold patterns and lots of lovely layers.

If you have ever damaged your ankle you will be aware of how essential a

Given New Zealand’s unpredictable weather patterns, the only guaranteed way to bring a dose of sun into our villages this summer is with your wardrobe. Sunshine yellows, cobalt sky blues, greens that reflect nature, flame red and pretty pinks are all included in this summer’s palette, meaning there’s something to suit everyone. There’s a wide range of patterns, from floral prints to simple spots and stripes in bold colour combinations. Embellishments and embroidery add glitz and glam to classic denim, while tropical prints have an exotic holiday feel.

4

WAYS TO U P DAT E YO U R LO O K T H I S SU M M E R INVEST WISELY: On a tight budget but want to look ontrend? Shop for inexpensive accessories in summer’s brightest shades to pep up your favourite pieces.

EMBRACE THE ‘SHACKET’: Here’s a trend you can embrace without having to buy anything new. Try wearing your favourite cotton or linen shirt open as a jacket over a sleeveless top or T-shirt to protect yourself from cool breezes or burning rays.

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Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

KEEP YOUR HAT ON: Don’t forget to don a wide-brimmed hat on days in the garden or at the bowling green. A chic straw hat looks great at all summer occasions.

BEST FOOT FORWARD: There are plenty of great options this season, from super-comfy sneakers to elegant sandals. A pair of bright red sandals will add a pop of colour to classic navy and white, while neutral tones work best with tropical prints and colours.

healthy ankle is. It helps our ability to move, and maintains our centre of gravity so we don’t fall over.

E X E RC I S E S TO K E E P YO U R A N K L E ST RO N G A N D M O B I L E

In order to stay upright, our proprioception systems (involving muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and joints) make constant adjustments over our changing base of support as we move.

The ankle is vital in preventing falls, so it is worth investing a little time each day into giving it the attention it deserves.

• Simple ankle circles: rotate your ankle joint in both directions 3_4 times.

GO SHOELESS: Your feet have around 72,000 nerve endings, but when you wear shoes all day, every day, these nerves lose their sensitivity and start to die. If you habitually wear slippers or shoes at home, try leaving them off and allowing your feet to reconnect with the floor. This connection is very important for your posture, balance and alignment. If it’s cold, wear non-slip socks, but avoid wearing shoes inside if you can.

• Try to scrunch your toes up (while barefoot) and then stretch them out again. Try (or imagine) picking up a marble and moving it with your toes.

Above | Summerset down the Lane resident Rita rides her bike most mornings.

• Toe points and heel digs: pull your toes back towards your shin bone as you ‘dig’ the heel into the ground. Now point the toe. Repeat 3_4 times for each foot.

• Calf raises: rest your hands lightly on something for balance and then rise up onto your toes. Repeat up to 10 times.

• Tip-toe walks: take a few steps, up on your toes, then on your heels. Make this a regular habit as you cross the lounge.

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

41

ARTICLE BY AMELIA NORMAN

RESIDENT

Māori Name | Ruataniwha Region | Canterbury

TRAVEL LOG

OPINIONS

Elevation | 470m (1540ft) Airport | Served by Pukaki Airport Main road | State Highway 8 Population | 1230 Elevation | 470m

Twizel

Looking for a summer holiday destination?

Twizel is conveniently located in the central South Island, and is attracting visitors with its hot days, relaxing lifestyle and oodles of activities. The quaint town is tucked in off SH8 among blue glacial lakes, rolling tussock and the Southern Alps.

ACCOMMODATION

EATING

For affordability and convenience, it’s hard to go past Twizel Holiday Park. Nestled on the town’s main loop (Mackenzie Drive), Twizel Holiday Park offers cabins, cottages and powered camping sites in grassy, tree-lined grounds. A five-minute walk takes you to the town centre, with its boutique shops, chemist, bookshop, bank and selection of great eateries. Or head five minutes in the other direction to the Twizel River, where a tranquil walking track will lead you past swimming holes and weeping willows.

Take a short meander or complete the gentle two-hour circuit that loops the entire township.

Start your day with a visit to Hydro Café in the town square. They have a range of delicious breakfast and lunch options, and the quirky décor is a nod to the town’s hydroelectric background.

Twizel Holiday Homes can arrange a house (or two) to suit your needs, or for a couple’s retreat, try the new SkyScape accommodation located on a farm 12km from the town. This all-glass luxury unit is designed for star-gazing under one of the clearest night skies in the world.

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Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

Across the square you’ll find Shawty’s. This little gem can be relied on for perfect coffee and legendary pizzas, and the full dinner menu offers something special.

The MOW Bar, named for the Ministry of Works, which established this now thriving town in 1968, is one of several options for an evening drink, along with the Top Hut Bar & Bistro and the Razza Bar. For lunch on the go, pop into Twizel Bakery, or head to one of two local supermarkets.

Nola and Eddie Gillies Summerset at Bishopscourt, Dunedin TWIZEL

ACTIVITIES The region’s newest and largest drawcard is the Alps2Ocean cycle trail: a 4_6-day cycle adventure from Aoraki/Mt Cook to Oamaru. This can be done in shorter sections, which are perfect for day trips. Hire bikes from Twizel’s Lakeland Explorer tours, or arrange a guided trip along part or all of the trail.

For a short scenic option, bike the Twizel to Lake Ohau Lodge section. A 38km ride on a combination of sealed and gravel roads, this gentle route guides you alongside the local canals to Lake Ohau. Return by bike or pre-arranged transfer, or stay the night at the lodge and enjoy the well-known hospitality of long-time owners Mike and Louise Neilson.

If fishing is your thing, it doesn’t get much better than Twizel. Salmon and trout are plentiful in the canals and lakes around the town. Bring your own gear, or buy rods, reels and licences at Jake’s Hardware in the town square. For a real treat, splash out on a fly-fishing tour with Will Spry of Spry Fly. If you have no luck in the water, pop into High Country Salmon on the southern outskirts of town to purchase locally farmed fresh salmon for dinner. You can also watch the farm operation from the viewing deck and feed the fish!

Ideal for a weekend or a week, Twizel ticks all the summer holiday boxes.

“We had a holiday home in Twizel for 25 years _ it was a lovely place! We kept an old 4WD there and Eddie fished at Tekapo and Ahuriri rivers. We loved the views of Mt Cook – if I stood on the right place of our section we could see the mountain.

“The air always smelt so good; it has a very distinctive aroma! We’d always stop in to buy honey on the way home – it had a particular taste.”

Helen and Will Lawson Summerset at Wigram, Christchurch “We spent 18 months travelling around New Zealand in a caravan, and spent three nights in Twizel. What we remember most are the reflections on Lake Ruataniwha – they were just beautiful! The scenery was wonderful, and the trees and hills around the lake were lovely. There is a nice little township, and we rode our bikes around the area.”

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PUZZLES

BRAIN TEASE

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events (5,4,4,3) 82 Cutlass (5) 83 Aft (6) 84 Document-munching machine (8) 85 Utilising (5)

37 Debatable (4) 39 Authoritative decree (9) 40 Able to adjust to new conditions (9) 41 Hard covering (5) 42 In the open air (8) 4

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Skating area (4) Postpone (5) Equals (5) Astound (4) Lubricate (3) Meat jelly (5)

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76 Creates (5) 78 Wheel cover (4) 79 Small island (4)

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SPLITDECISION

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Reveal a completed crossword by deleting one of the two letters in each divided square.

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How many words of four letters or more can you make? Each letter must be used only once and all words must contain the centre letter.

The nine-letter word will definitely be familiar to you.

No words starting with a capital are allowed, no plurals ending in s unless the word is also a verb.

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E W

L A O L

Insert one letter in eachWordWheel puzzle to make a nine-letter E P word

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S EWordWheel R I

CROSSWORD

E W N G

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SPLIT DECISION

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Add one letter to complete a nineletter word, reading clockwise or anticlockwise. Previous solution: WHOLESALE

Add one letter to complete a nineletter word, reading clockwise or anti-

clockwise.

CODECRACKER

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Previous solution: PRONOUNCE

TARGET muse muser muses muss must muster musters mute mutes resume resumes reuse reuses rues rummest ruse russet rust rusts ruts serum smut strum strums suer sues suet summer SUMMERSET sums sure surest true trues truss tums user users uses

T E S U M S R M E

WORDWHEEL WordWheel

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ACROSS: 1 Punch, 4 Preamble, 9 Future, 14 Guava, 15 Go from bad to worse, 17 Pasta, 18 Egg, 19 Apology, 20 Influenza, 21 Dragon, 24 Brainwave, 25 Discus, 26 Patchy, 29 Administer, 31 Mat, 32 During, 33 Bump, 35 Ire, 37 Moot, 39 Ordinance, 40 Adaptable, 41 Shell, 42 Alfresco, 47 Princess, 51 Union, 55 Partition, 56 Egotistic, 58 Late, 59 Eat, 60 Coin, 61 Teller, 62 Tab, 63 Watertight, 66 Hassle, 67 Lapsed, 69 Eagerness, 72 Curios, 73 Menagerie, 75 Mammoth, 77 Loo, 80 Envoy, 81 Stick one’s neck out, 82 Sword, 83 Astern, 84 Shredder, 85 Using.

DOWN: 2 Unopposed, 3 Carol, 5 Reap, 6 Antenna, 7 Bewilderment, 8 Eerie, 9 Freezes, 10 Tape, 11 Resort, 12 Oaten, 13 Largely, 14 Gangway, 16 Magnanimous, 22 United, 23 Surreal, 24 Blister, 25 Duties, 27 Crumble, 28 Unfair, 30 Rink, 32 Defer, 34 Peers, 36 Stun, 38 Oil, 42 Aspic, 43 Ferries, 44 Evil, 45 Chimed, 46 Liver, 48 Incarcerate, 49 Celsius, 50 Set, 51 Unclear, 52 Netted, 53 Double-decker, 54 View, 57 Tutors, 64 Heartburn, 65 Blurred, 66 Hapless, 68 Stetson, 70 Grinned, 71 Solves, 72 Cocoa, 74 Alias, 76 Makes, 78 Tyre, 79 Isle.

WORDWHEEL: 1. WHOLESALE. 2. PRONOUNCE. 3. FLOWERING.

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

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Add one letter to complete a nineletter word, reading clockwise or anticlockwise.

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TARGET

Good 15 Very Good 21 Excellent 28+

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All puzzles copyright The Puzzle Company

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ACROSS 1 Strike with fist (5) 4 Introductory statement (8) 9 Time to come (6) 14 Tropical fruit (5) 15 Deteriorate even further (2,4,3,2,5) 17 Italian dish (5) 18 Ovum (3) 19 Statement of regret (7) 20 Contagious viral infection (9) 21 Mythical fire-breather (6) 24 Sudden bright idea (9) 25 Field sports event (6) 26 Uneven in quality (6) 29 Give remedially (10) 31 Shoe cleaner (3) 32 Throughout (6) 33 Knock (4) 35 Dudgeon (3) 37 Debatable (4) 39 Authoritative decree (9) 40 Able to adjust to new conditions (9) 41 Hard covering (5) 42 In the open air (8)

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47 51 55 56 58 59 60 61 62 63 66 67 69 72 73 75 77 80 81 82 83 84 85

Royal daughter (8) Workers’ organisation (5) Room divider (9) Self-centred (9) Deceased (4) Consume (3) Piece of change (4) Bank worker (6) Small flap (3) Having no leaks (10) Prolonged inconvenience (6) Became void (6) Keenness (9) Collector’s items (6) Zoo (9) Huge (7) Lavatory (3) Messenger (5) Make risky predictions which may be falsified by events (5,4,4,3) Cutlass (5) Aft (6) Document-munching machine (8) Utilising (5)

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DOWN 2 With no challengers (9) 3 Christmas song (5) 5 Harvest (4) 6 Aerial (7) 7 Utter confusion (12) 8 Uncanny (5) 9 Turns to ice (7) 10 Adhesive strip (4) 11 Holiday spot (6) 12 Atone (anag) (5) 13 On the whole (7) 14 Aisle (7) 16 Nobly generous (11) 22 Amalgamated (6) 23 Dreamlike (7) 24 Skin bubble (7) 25 Obligations (6) 27 Disintegrate (7) 28 Biased (6) 30 Skating area (4) 32 Postpone (5) 34 Equals (5) 36 Astound (4) 38 Lubricate (3) 42 Meat jelly (5)

43 Transports from one place to another (7) 44 Heinous (4) 45 Pealed (6) 46 Body organ (5) 48 Put in prison (11) 49 Temperature scale (7) 50 Harden (3) 51 Nuclear (anag) (7) 52 Yielded as profit (6) 53 High bus (6-6) 54 Opinion (4) 57 Private teachers (6) 64 Indigestion problem (9) 65 Smudged (7) 66 Unfortunate; wretched (7) 68 Cowboy hat (7) 70 Smiled broadly (7) 71 Works out (6) 72 Hot drink (5) 74 Assumed name (5) 76 Creates (5) 78 Wheel cover (4) 79 Small island (4)

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AROUND

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Directory AUCKLAND

M A N U WAT U _ WA N G A N U I

Summerset Falls, Warkworth

Summerset in the River City, Wanganui

Summerset at Monterey Park, Hobsonville

Summerset on Summerhill, Palmerston North

Summerset by the Park, Manukau

Summerset by the Ranges, Levin

31 Mansel Drive, Warkworth 0910 Phone (09) 425 1200 1 Squadron Drive, Hobsonville, Auckland 0618 Phone (09) 951 8920 7 Flat Bush School Road, Flat Bush 2016 Phone (09) 272 3950

40 Burton Avenue, Wanganui East, Wanganui 4500 Phone (06) 343 3133 180 Ruapehu Drive, Fitzherbert, Palmerston North 4410 Phone (06) 354 4964 102 Liverpool Street, Levin 5510 Phone (06) 367 0337

Summerset at Heritage Park, Ellerslie

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8 Harrison Road, Auckland 1060 Phone (09) 950 5240

WELLINGTON

Summerset at Karaka

104 Realm Drive, Paraparaumu 5032 Phone (04) 289 3540

49 Pararekau Road, Karaka 2580 Phone (09) 951 8900 Summerset Parnell*

23 Cheshire Street, Auckland 1052 Phone (09) 950 8212 Summerset St Johns*

St Johns Road, St Johns 1050 Phone (09) 950 5240

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Summerset at Aotea, Porirua

15 Aotea Drive, Aotea, Porirua 5024 Phone (04) 235 0011 Summerset at the Course, Trentham

20 Racecourse Road, Trentham, Upper Hutt 5018 Phone (04) 527 2980 Summerset Lower Hutt*

WA I K AT O

Boulcott Street, Lower Hutt 5010 Phone (04) 830 0195

Summerset down the Lane, Hamilton

Summerset Kenepuru*

206 Dixon Road, Hamilton 3206 Phone (07) 843 0157

Bluff Road, Porirua Phone 0800 786 637

Summerset Rototuna, Hamilton*

Hector Drive, Hamilton 3210 Phone (07) 981 7822

NELSON

Summerset by the Lake, Taupo

16 Sargeson Street, Stoke, Nelson 7011 Phone (03) 538 0000

2 Wharewaka Road, Wharewaka, Taupo 3330 Phone (07) 376 9470 B AY O F P L E N T Y

Summerset in the Sun, Nelson

Summerset Richmond, Nelson*

1 Hill Street North, Richmond 7020 Phone (03) 744 3432

Summerset by the Sea, Katikati

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181 Park Road, Katikati 3129 Phone (07) 985 6890

1 Manukau Resident Art Group Talented residents in Manukau got busy with their brushes, creating artworks for their village art exhibition. 2 Wigram Luau Wigram residents brightened up their outfits with leis and hula skirts at their Hawaiian Luau party. 3 Karaka Guide Dog Visit Karaka residents cuddled pooches at the Blind Foundation’s Guide Dog Breeding and Training

Summerset in the Bay, Napier

Summerset Casebrook, Christchurch*

79 Merlot Drive, Greenmeadows, Napier 4112 Phone (06) 845 2840

147 Cavendish Road, Casebrook 8051 Phone (03) 741 3340

Summerset in the Orchard, Hastings

Summerset Avonhead, Christchurch*

1228 Ada Street, Parkvale, Hastings 4112 Phone (06) 974 1310 249 Te Mata Road, Havelock North 4130 Phone (06) 877 1185

joined their local Memory Walk. 6 Dunedin Craft Group Dunedin’s craft group were busy making items to sell at their recent

Summerset Mountain View, New Plymouth

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

120 Hawthornden Road, Avonhead Phone (03) 357 3202

Summerset in the Vines, Havelock North

TA R A N A K I

visited Palmerston North residents for Father’s Day.

Summerset at Wigram, Christchurch

135 Awatea Road, Wigram, Christchurch 8025 Phone (03) 741 0870

blooms. 5 Wanganui Memory Walk Residents and staff put their walking shoes on for Alzheimer’s Month in September, and open day to raise money for their local hospice. 7 Palmerston North Father’s Day The Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Club

CANTERBURY

H AW K E ’ S B AY

Centre in Manurewa. 4 Wigram Daffodil Outing A trip to a daffodil farm in Leeston was a great way to welcome the spring

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Summerset on the Coast, Paraparaumu

35 Fernbrook Drive, Vogel, New Plymouth 4310 Phone (06) 824 8900

O TA G O

Summerset at Bishopscourt, Dunedin

36 Shetland Street, Wakari, Dunedin 9010 Phone (03) 950 3110

* Proposed village

Summerset Scene | Summer Issue

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