Life + Style 16 September 2016

21 August, 2015

life+style The Weekend Sun 1

Birthday blooms See page 2

THE WEEKEND

Featuring

Gardening | Creativity | Home & living | Food

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life+style The Weekend Sun 21 2015 2016 16August, September,

Garden with a view Blooming in Bethlehem

A treasure is blooming out in Bethlehem, and it’s much bigger than it looks from the road.

Tucked away on the side of Moffat Rd is one of Tauranga’s largest and most expansive family owned garden centre with a long history of community connection – Décor Gardenworld.

Owner Ginny Clark says back in 1967, when the store was established, it was much smaller and out the back of nowhere at the time. A lot has changed since then.

“It used to be a little paddock, and [my husband] Dave’s father started it with a friend and it expanded from there,” says Ginny.

“In the old days they used to drove cattle past here, it was way out in the wop-wops back then but not now.”

Staff are currently celebrating the 49th birthday of the independent garden and giftware store, which has been in business and on the same land the whole time – and it’s not hard to understand why.

The family-owned store hides away much of its size behind the storefront and customers often walk in and find themselves pleasantly surprised at the store’s vastness.

With a palpable community focus and a long history of supporting and engaging Tauranga residents, Décor Gardenworld is heavily involved in the community and is well-loved by many.

“People come from the Waikato and Taupo and all over the place to come here. There are a lot of new people in Tauranga that don’t know we exist and don’t know how big we are.”

The garden centre has a playground with an enormous chess set, spring-free trampoline, slide, and small bush trail to keep children entertained while parents shop.

Décor staff are ready and waiting to help customers, sharing their experience, knowledge, and bite-sized tips on anything and everything gardening.

“We are also sponsors of The New Zealand Garden and Art Festival in Tauranga, and we have been from day dot. We were major sponsors of the very first one.

“We’ve always supported gardeners and the local schools.”

Décor helps eight different primary schools around Tauranga with the Go Gardening scheme, which includes magazines, as well as sponsoring garden days.

“We’re not a box store or franchise. As an independent we are able to provide a bit more of a personal touch with more of a boutique feel.”

And the store definitely has a boutique feel.

All their plants are NZ sourced and grown.

Décor stocks a range of NZ-made gifts such as hand cream and soap along with other giftware and Kiwiana art.

Being an independent store definitely has its perks, Ginny says. Décor Gardenworld is a member of GIN – the Garden Independent “As an independent we are able to provide a bit more of a personal touch with more of a boutique feel.”

Photos: Chris Callinan.

Network – which gives them access to specialty products such as the ICAN range.

“The ICAN trademark is our own brand. The all new superior ICAN vege seeds have been selected for their superior taste, disease and pest resistance and prolific yields.

They are the best seeds in the country. Nobody else has got them in the Bay. “Because we are an inde-

pendent, we know which products work well and what we’re talking about. We back our products with a full guarantee.”

In honour of their 49th birthday, Décor Gardenworld has birthday competitions and a big range of specials throughout their store, says Ginny. “There’s always something new and every day is a surprise.”

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16 September, 2016

life+style The Weekend Sun 3

Taking aim Plaits, ponytails and pellets Loretta Knights instinctively breathes probably every 12 to 15 seconds. She doesn’t even have to think about it.

Not when she’s in the zone, not when she’s primed to shoot. The rest of us mortals are breathing every four or five seconds – or 15 cycles per minute.

“Breathing is a crucial part of the discipline,” says this young shooter from Aquinas College. “It’s all about breathing so you are steady and not shaking.”

Except the air pistol shooters aren’t shooters. “We call them athletes,” says coach John Peacock of the Tauranga Pistol Club.

So, there are five athletes, three girls and two boys gathered in a darkened room above the gym at Aquinas College. Except it’s not a room. For this purpose it’s a 10 metre shooting range.

And they are training for a tournament, the 2016 McMillan Cup inter-secondary schools air pistol shooting tournament on September 24.

“They’re focussed,” says coach Peacock. And there’s a very loud silence as they go through their drills – load, relax, breathe, aim and then fire.

“Pht” – it’s a sort of pht sound like the handguns with silencers in the movies. Pht, pht, pht, pht, pht.

“It’s pretty cool,” says Loretta.

“And I guess it is kind of boys’ stuff but I have grown up with two older brothers and boys stuff so it’s not unusual for me.”

And we are quickly reminded the first New Zealand medal of the Rio Olympics was won by a shooter, a

female one, Natalie Rooney with a silver in the women’s trap. And no Kiwi’s done that since a bloke, the late Ian Ballinger, won a bronze at his third Olympics in 1968.

We are also reminded there were more female Kiwi competitors at the Rio games and they won more medals.

“And they’re keen,” says John. “They turn up twice a week for an hour and a half leading up to the McMillan Cup.” Last year two teams of three which finished 13th and 23rd.

This year, three teams. The McMillan Cup is sort of like a sporting NCEA exam.

“We would like to get the athletes, the 30 or so teams together from around the country, but that isn’t possible.”

So in a fortnight the Aquinas teams will gather at the range above the gym and fire off

their tournament rounds. The range will be a sort of exam room.

And the results will be sent off to tournament HQ for collation. The same will happen on the same day at secondary school ranges around New Zealand.

Loretta Knights just stumbled into air pistol shooting. “My Friend Brianna went to Tauranga Pistol Club at TECT Park and I tagged along.” Next minute John Peaock had them shooting .22s and 9mm pistols. The seed was sewn.

Loretta wove air pistol shooting into her sporting portfolio along with netball and volleyball.

“She’s good,” says coach John. He organises competitions throughout the season and correlates the results. “She’s ranked number one.”

Photos: Chris Callinan.

“I guess it is kind of boys’ stuff but I have grown up with two older brothers and boys’ stuff so it’s not unusual for me.”

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16August, September, life+style The Weekend Sun 21 20152016

Freshen up your home for spring Little lambs, flowers in bloom and warmer temperatures – they’re all signs of spring. Time to switch the socks for sandals and the slacks for skirts – and cue colour! While it’s lightening up outside, colour up the indoors with bright blues, pretty pinks and glittering greens to decorate the lounge. Or laze around in the spring sun on some contemporary outdoor furniture for that sunny spot on the verandah.

Chill out in the spring sun on outdoor furniture from Contemporary Classics in Mount Maunganui.

There’s plenty of outdoor furniture options at Sims Distributing in Tauriko.

16 September, 2016 21 August, 2015

life+style The Weekend Sun 5

It’s easy to achieve a modern industrial look in your home with Furnish’s new Calia range.

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Looking for that perfect gift or accessory for your home? Furnish has a vast collection of homewares, accessories, cushions and throws from New Zealand’s leading accessory brands.

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September, life+style The Weekend Sun 2116August, 2015 2016 “Any time we get

The Bay on display

to showcase the Bay of Plenty is time well spent.”

Showing off Bay produce in a new season

The Bay of Plenty is aptly named, really – plenty of sunshine, plenty of cheer, plenty of produce – and Tauranga chef Peter Blakeway will be proudly showing off the Bay’s plentifulness to the nation.

“Any time we get to showcase the Bay of Plenty is time well spent.”

And showcase the Bay it will. TV One’s ‘NZ on a Plate’ will be back again for its sixth season next year, and Peter Blakeway will be presenting Bay produce to New Zealand on a silver platter.

Touring around some of the Bay’s finest producers, Peter uses locally grown avocados from Aongatete and kiwifruit from Te Puke, honey sourced from Comvita, and tops the meal off with cider produced in the Bay’s own cidery, O Cider in Te Puna.

He starts the taste tour at Comvita, using their honey to create a delicious and health-packed starter.

“So the starter was a beetroot and honey cured smoked salmon,” says Peter, and it sounds pretty good to us here at Life+Style.

“Comvita are known as a health and wellness business and the Omega 3 in the salmon is fantastically healthy. The garnish was a honey-gar jelly – a combination of honey and apple cider vinegar which is very good for your stomach health.”

From there, Peter travels to an avocado orchard, to create a chicken and avocado main using locallygrown avocados.

“We were out under the trees with a lovely family

[who owned the orchard]. The dish was really homely and quite rustic in how it looked.

“We served it on a wooden board with fennel and orange and avocado and avocado oil. It was just a really rustic family dish.”

Dessert is served as a very organic, ‘do-it-yourself ’ dish, says Peter, “With the dessert I got quite funky and modern, but really quite organic. It was a deconstructed kiwifruit frangipani.

“I deconstructed it all, but it was organic in that things were ripped instead of cut, and the chocolate shard was shattered, and things like that.”

Peter crafts a gold kiwifruit and ginger ice-cream to accompany the kiwifruit frangipani, which he calls “a little bit mad scientist”.

“We made it with dry ice that’s so easy and so quick, and a little bit mad scientist and all the rest, but when you saw the finished dish it just had a really organic, ultra-modern restaurant flow to it.”

The whole meal is accompanied by ciders created right here in the Bay by O Cider in Te Puna.

Peter says he used a pear cider and an apple cider to complement the locally-grown food.

“They’re complex and deep and absolutely bloody marvellous. The pear cider is like a dessert wine – absolutely stunning – where the apple cider is so crisp and complex.

“How many people realise that we have a fantastic cider company in Te Puna?

“Most people don’t realise, and too often in this modern world we par one product with the brush

of other products.” Peter says cider can be done “very badly”, by adding industrial-strength alcohol to synthetic fruit juices and selling it in two litre bottles.

“But actually, the original idea of cider is a beautiful product that to a large extent can and does replace wine.

“If you go to a restaurant in Nor-

mandy, France, chances are if you don’t specify what you want to drink they will serve you cider in a wine glass. It’s a beautiful thing.

“The O Cider ciders reminded me of those Normandy ciders, and we’ve got it in the Bay – who knew?”

The fifth season of NZ on a Plate is currently airing on TV One, with season six to come next year.

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EXCELLENCE IN DERMATOLOGY

16 21 September, 2016 August, 2015

Not just a busy bee

life+style The Weekend Sun 7 “It’s surprising how many people don’t realise the importance of bees to our natural eco-system.”

Why we should care about bumblebees

The new charitable trust, established to promote the conservation and future of bees, has received a funding boost from the Tauranga-based Wright Family Foundation.

Tauranga’s Geoff Brunsden, one of the NZBCT’s two founding trustees, says the Foundation’s support will be critical in establishing the work of the Trust.

“We started the Trust because bumblebees, honeybees and other insect pollinators are under threat – globally and in New Zealand.”

Bees are essential for the reproduction of a third of human food crops.

“But the future of bees in New Zealand is under threat due to disease, changing environments, farming practices and toxic pesticides.”

Through his Tauranga-based business Wildflower World, Geoff has long promoted sowing wildflowers as food for bees and other pollinators, and it was his research into the British Bumblebee Trust model which led to the official formation of the NZBCT. And its goal is a noble one.

“Through the support of the Wright Family Foundation, our aim is to ensure we have enough bumblebees – by helping people understand the importance of flowers, herbs, hedges and flowering trees – to sustain

a guaranteed future for our food crops.”

The Wright Family Foundation has become both member and sponsor to the NZBCT, after CEO and founder Chloe Wright heard about its goals.

“The Foundation’s purpose is to support organisations and projects which aid the educational development of all New Zealanders, and the NZBCT does just that,” says Chloe.

“It’s surprising how many people don’t realise the importance of bees to our natural eco-system.

“Without bees, humankind’s dependence on bee pollinated food crops, and subsequent survival, is under threat.”

Established in March 2015 by Chloe and Wayne Wright, the Wright Family Foundation is an only slightly longer-standing charitable trust, and supports a number of key organisations and events in New Zealand; all with the aim of helping individuals achieve their goals through the power of education, says Chloe.

By advancing education and spreading knowledge, the objective is to benefit New Zealand communities and youth, promote family wellbeing and relief from hardship, and improve the wellbeing of all New Zealanders and their communities through education.

“We want to make a positive difference in New Zealand society by helping to promote and demonstrate to our youngest members the values of collaboration, sharing, and kindness and through education.

“The Bumblebee Trust’s focus, on educating children on the importance of bees for our future, resonates with what we want to achieve.”

Photos: Chris Callinan..

The humble bumblebee is the focus of the New Zealand Bumblebee Conservation Trust, which is on a mission to educate Kiwis about the necessity of bees for the long-term survival of our planet.

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life+style The Weekend Sun 21 August, 2015

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