Life + Style - 30 August 2019

˜° August, ˜˛°˝

life+style The Weekend Sun °

Fresh look for Palmers Welcome Bay Page 2

THE WEEKEND

Kiwifruit ambassador

Real Rad Food

Te Puke Theatre

DGR

Bumblebees

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°30 ˙˛August, August,˜˛°˝ ˜˛°ˆ 2019

A dynamic duo Breathing new life into Palmers Welcome Bay

Brandon Beattie and Christo Ferreira are no ordinary Garden Centre owners!

Bringing a smile, enthusiasm and their gorgeous Weimaraner dog called Emmett, this dynamic duo are ready to breathe new life in to the Palmers Welcome Bay store.

These two are no strangers to rolling their sleeves up and getting stuck in. Having had illustrious careers in retail management and finance, Brandon and Christo are more than ready to face this new challenge.

Originally hailing from Palmerston North and Dannevirke, Brandon and Christo have made the move up to the Bay of Plenty and now call a Mid-Century Stucco, in Brookfield, their home. On their new life in a new town, the duo couldn’t be more ecstatic; “we absolutely love it,” smiles Brandon, “the people, the feeling of community, the amazing cafes and restaurants.”

Although their lives are full on and most of their days are spent in the store, Brandon and Christo have managed to do a bit of exploring around their new town. “Emmett loves Papamoa Beach!” Christo exclaims.

Only a month in, Brandon and Christo credit the amazing staff at Palmers Welcome Bay and the surrounding community for their support

which has ensured a smooth transition in taking over the store.

What can we expect the future at Palmers Welcome Bay to look like? Well there’s a free coffee on Father’s Day with every purchase at the Garden Centre. “Browse the garden centre and then treat Dad to a lovely breakfast or brunch at Café Botannix, it’s the perfect way to spend Father’s Day,” Christo says.

Brandon and Christo continue to brainstorm ideas and look for ways to innovate and provide new offerings and experiences never before seen at Palmers Welcome Bay. “We’ve actually been phoned at 10pm at night by the IT company who operate our till system, telling us to go home so they can make computer updates,” the couple disclose.

Their main aim is to keep the garden centre well stocked with all their customers’ usual favourites such as fruit trees, potted colour and of course houseplants. The team have a lovely selection. The moment daylight savings kicks in Christo and Brandon will be mucking in to improve the road-side appearance of the store.

With Spring just around the corner, we asked for the top planting tips and garden advice, and the products to look out for.

The Michelia Paton Pink is a delightful small evergreen tree that is perfect for gardens of all sizes. Hebe Pretty in Pink produces an abundance of pink flowers that last a long time (late Autumn to late Winter), plant in a sunny, well-drained spot.

Another sneaky favourite this season is the Lavender Ruffles Purpleberry, “it’s a must have for lavender lovers, the Ruffles selection is incredibly sought after by our customers, and the purpleberry is the newest addition,” Christo tells us, “it has gorgeous dark violet blooms, it is a true statement lavender for New Zealand gardens, plus it’s great for the bees!”

“September is such a great month in the garden, gardeners look forward to it all year,” Brandon says, “there’s so much to do in the garden; the soil is warming up, plants are

Brandon and Christo

coming in to flower, fresh new Spring growth is happening and the weather starts improving so you can actually get outside and in to your garden.”

As for trends to look out for, Brandon and Christo have been busy visiting gift fairs throughout the North Island, whilst also keeping an eye on the overseas markets to bring

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you new and fresh décor, homewares and gifts.

Brandon and Christo have met so many wonderful Welcome Bay customers already.

More and more are coming in each day to say ‘hi’, which they absolutely love! If you haven’t popped in recently, make sure you do, they can’t wait to be on a first name basis with their customers.

FREE REGULAR COFFEE

Enjoy a free regular coffee with any Palmers purchase thanks to Café Botannix this Father’s Day.

Awatea Waaka Te Puke’s new kiwifruit ambassador Eighteen-year-old Awatea Waaka has been chosen as the 2019 Te Puke Kiwifruit Ambassador.

At the awards night which doubled as a celebration of the renaming of the kiwifruit 60 years ago, Awatea, who was sponsored by Z Te Puke, took to the microphone introducing herself and telling about her ambition to become a police officer and Maori female role model.

“Being the Te Puke Ambassador means I get to be a role model, as well as promote the community and the kiwifruit industry,” says Awatea, who grew up and completed her schooling in Te Puke.

“We were really happy with the outcome because we had a wide, diverse group of contestants,” says Kassie Ellis who is secretary and treasurer of the Creative Te Puke Forum.

Te Puke used to run a Kiwifruit festival which included the Kiwifruit Queen and then Ambassador, but Kassie says there has been about a ten-year hiatus.

“Shirley McGregor and Pat Clark who were there for the crowning of the first queen in 1978, were instrumental in helping give us and Epic Te Puke feedback,” says Kassie. “Epic Te Puke wanted to bring the event back and approached us to help.” “‘With a nine-year hiatus, it gave us the ability for a fresh start,” says Rebecca Larsen from Epic Te Puke.

“We choose to celebrate community leadership and talent for the Ambassador role.’

“It was fantastic as we had eight contestants, both men and women aged from 17 to 46,” says Kassie.

“My co-workers at Countdown Te Puke were really encouraging me to give it a go,” says Awatea.

“I love working there, they’re so supportive. Like my little family away from my family. Also, our local regular shoppers were coming through and encouraging me.”

As well as being Te Puke’s new Ambassador, Awatea won $1200 in Epic Te Puke vouchers, which means she can spend them at the local retailers that are part of Epic Te Puke. She will also be promoting these businesses during the year.

Her dream job is to be a police officer, but is waiting until she turns 20, as she wants to do some travelling first.

“I’ve always wanted to help people and help the community, and I think being a police officer is the way I want to go about it.

“I also want to be able to better the image of relationships between police officers and people. And better the experience for people when they’re dealing with police officers.”

At the awards night, Awatea stood out as a confident engaging person, greeting people and initiating conversation. This was a real winner with the judges.

“I thought it was a normal thing to just introduce yourself and say ‘hello’. With my job I greet lots of people that come through so I’m used to being able to talk with anyone, and be natural about it.”

Keep an eye out for this friendly ambassador as she attends events, promoting Te Puke and its iconic Rosalie Liddle Crawford kiwifruit.

Cosmetic Medicine

life+style The Weekend Sun ˜ Photos: John Borren

˜° August, ˛°˝˙

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ˆ˝August, August,°˝˛˙ °˝˛ˇ 2019 life+style The Weekend Sun °˛30

Real Rad Food Building a business through Instagram Hannah Mellsop has turned a passion for sharing images on Instagram, of delicious food she has made, into a flourishing business. Along the way she’s built a community of over 30,000 people.

She struggled with the term entrepreneur though.

“I saw myself as someone who really loves social media and making cakes. I didn’t realise that people thought of me as an entrepreneur.”

She started her plant-based food Instagram account while studying towards a degree in geography.

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“I was making raw treats for the cabinet at the café where I worked, taking photos and putting them on my Instagram account. Slowly throughout my three years of study at university, I built up a bit of a following on line and every so often I had someone message me asking for a raw cake. I would be more than happy to make it for them, freezing it in my mum’s freezer.”

After completing her degree, Hannah went and worked for a local cafe full-time for a few months while finding her feet and deciding what she wanted to do next.

“One day I was sitting on my Instagram just scrolling and realised that this is what I want to do, like people say ‘follow your passion’. My passion is Instagram and I love the food that I create and I love the content that I put on Instagram. So how do I monetise what I love to do? I thought surely there’s a way that I can get my products in front of customers on a daily basis.

“I went home to my parent’s for dinner one night, and said I’m going to quit my job at the café, start this business and try and provide a wholesale service to the cafes.

“I thought ‘I only need to sell like five cakes to cover my rent’, although of course that didn’t take into consideration all the other overheads that come with it.”

She saw a gap in the market that provided the opportunity to scale her brand beyond having a café.

“It would also be able to reach people all over the

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“I wanted a name that would resonate with the Mount. Obviously we are a surf town, and everyone says ‘wow this is so rad’ and ‘that is so rad’, and I wanted something that was going to encompass

show,” says Hannah. “So I quit my job.”

She found space in a commercial kitchen with help from her uncle, and signed up every local market she could to sell her products at, as well as taking samples to all her favourite cafes.

“I told them that they needed to have this product because I had all these people on social media that were dying to buy it. My best friend made me a logo and then I just put my head down and worked really hard to not only get the brand in front of the face of everyone but to establish long-term relationships with the cafes that supported us then and still support us now.”

Her raw natural food and treats that are gluten free and dairy free are made from cashews, coconut cream, coconut oil, dates, rice malt syrup, passionfruit, raspberry - just to name a few ingredients. There are balls, cakes and slices, all of which can be frozen, thus extending their shelf life, making it easier for cafes around the country to rotate through their cabinets. Her online store enables her to distribute product throughout NZ. The name ‘Real Rad Food’ came about mostly because the business is based at the Mount.

“I wanted a name that would resonate with the Mount. Obviously we are a surf town, and everyone says ‘wow this is so rad’ and ‘that is so rad’, and I wanted something that was going to encompass more things than just food.

“One day we may work ‘rad’ into a lot of other things.”

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geography degree, she started Real Rad Food with $5,000 of her own savings.

“I’m really proud to say that despite our explosive growth in the first two years, we haven’t taken on any debt. We’ve invested all of our profits back into the business and we will continue to do that.

“I prioritise social media marketing, and made sure that the community that has supported us through the highs and the lows, and come along for the ride, know that they’re important to us. They’ve got us where we are today. I’ve got a really special relationship with nearly 30,000 people online.”

Real Rad Foods is now in places like hospitals in Dunedin, Christchurch and Auckland; in smoothie chains, and can be found as far south as Invercargill.

“We launched the website in October 2017 and we had just had our biggest month on record in July 2019,” says Hannah. “Our website services people door-to-door on an overnight career throughout the country. It’s been amazing to be able to reach people on such a large scale. I never really thought that I would be able to be in the Mount and send my product to people all over the place, so it’s been awesome.”

She’s a huge believer in the power of an online community.

“I will continually make sure that I am putting my time and effort into that relationship online.

If anyone ever asked me for advice about small business, I’d tell them – social media marketing.”

Photos: Bruce Barnard

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ˆ˝ August, °˝˛ˇ 2019 life+style The Weekend Sun °˛30 August, °˝˛˙

Photos: John Borren

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Hang on a minute, mate Behind the scenes at Te Puke Repertory People love what happens at Litt Park Theatre in Te Puke. In October, a couple of shows will be staged there as part of the Tauranga Arts Festival, and early next year Te Puke Repertory will be staging ten minute short plays submitted by budding and established playwrights.

Glenn Ward

I popped in to this hidden gem to see the cast of Te Puke Rep’s next play which opens in September.

Litt Park Theatre is their permanent and much-loved home.

“Hang on a minute mate,” was the reply when I asked over the phone about what was coming up.

I hung on, phone to ear, waiting. “No – the play is ‘Hang on a minute, mate’.”

A wee chuckle on the phone as I realise I’m being mildly pranked. Shenanigans and laughter - I remember actors from past theatre shows in Tauranga I’ve played piano for, always generating a huge lot of fun, with often more hilarity behind the scenes than on stage.

The cast are dressed in costume and are in character when I arrive at Litt Park with our photographer John Borren. John roams the stage setting up some photos while I chat with the director Michelle Cliff and some of the crew.

The story has been adapted by NZ writer Anthony McCarten from two of Barry Crump’s books ‘Hang on a Minute Mate’ and ‘There and Back’ which features Kiwi larrikin Sam Cash. Sam goes on a road

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trip with his mate young Jack Lilburn, with Sam ‘helping’ other characters along the way. The pair go from one job to another – timber felling, horsebreaking, mustering, and farming. There’s plenty of blokey banter, tall tales, humour and very Kiwi characters.

Michelle, who has previously directed ‘Pack of Girls’ and ‘Calendar Girls’ for Te Puke Repertory, chose the Anthony McCarten play to put on, shortlisting a few first before settling on it.

“This is an intimate theatre,” says Michelle, as we look up at the stage. “I wanted this be a good experience for all involved. Everyone’s really enjoying it, it’s a wonderful atmosphere. Rehearsals are as much fun as the show.”

“I’ve been given the title of camp mother,” says Norma Carney, who has been involved in theatre for about 15 years. Usually appearing on stage, for this show Norma is enjoying being backstage.

“I’m behind scenes looking after them all, making sure none of them are anxious and they’ve all got tea and coffee.

“Sometimes actors can think they’re not doing well, but they’re really doing famously, so I’m just there for them.”

Maggie Marriner is the prompt during rehearsals.

Recently retired from her head of drama position at Aquinas College, she joined the theatre group last year.

“Usually I’m acting, so this is different for me,” says Maggie. “I’m prompting because there were so many male roles in this play but there weren’t too many female roles. So I’m on the other side this time, not

ˆ˛ August, 30 ˜˛°ˇ 2019 ˜° August, ˜˛°˝

life+style The Weekend Sun ˙

“The group of Te Puke Repertory stalwarts behind this makes it easy to put on these wonderful productions”

up there acting.”

With nearly 50 years of acting experience, Maggie brings a wealth of knowledge, having taught at Aquinas for 12 years, and before that, teaching in Auckland.

Lynne Avery is also one of the behind-the-scenes team, working on costumes and many of the props.

She loves Te Puke and has worked in the theatre’s costume department for more than 20 years.

“On and off,” says Lynne.

For this play Michelle and Lynne collaborated using the internet to research costume ideas.

“We beg, borrow and steal, and of course we have a very well-formed and supplied wardrobe here,” says Lynne. “We riffle through the hangers, and adapt, tweak and make to fit.

“For this show we also utilised some stuff from Te Puke High School, which is really nice.”

They have 12 male characters to clothe, as well as a handful of women appearing on stage. The costumes have to appear to belong to 1958.

“1958, give or take some poetic licence,” says Lynne, who relishes a good challenge.

“We have nice supplies here.”

The clothing colour palette from that time in history was predominantly browns and greys.

“We have tried to inject some colour into the women,” says Lynne,” because the blokes are bland and brown. Shoes are always a challenge. Most people don’t hang onto their old shoes, they get thrown out.”

“We are endeavouring to be as authentic as we can with the props, images, set and costumes,” says

Glenn Ward, John Pryde, and Jack Brawn

Michelle, who plans an audience surprise with Jack and Sam’s mode of transport, provided by the Te Puke members of the BOP Vintage Car Club.

I had a wee peek at it, and it’s definitely worth the ticket price to see this cut-down Model A truck glide onto stage.

The tickets are selling very fast, and Lynne is full of praise for the director.

“When Michelle directs shows they tend to sell out before opening night,” says Lynne. “So that is true success. She comes with a history of being that kind of hugely motivational warm encompassing person.

We are a team, but she deserves the flattery.”

“The group of Te Puke Repertory stalwarts behind this makes it easy to put on these wonderful productions,” says Michelle. “And a well-crafted script and the enthusiastic cast and crew make this show a pleasure to direct.”

‘Hang on a Minute, Mate’ opens at the Litt Park Theatre on September 17, running to September 28.

Tickets are available from Eventspronto.co.nz.

Director Michelle Cliff

Norma Carney, Maggie Marriner and Lynne Avery

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

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ˆ˝ August, °˝˛ˇ 2019 life+style The Weekend Sun °˛30 August, °˝˛˙

Stubbins Garage And the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride Tauranga father and son duo, Matt and Daniel Stubbins are planning to dress dapper and take to the road for their second year of participating in the Tauranga Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride.

Daniel and Matt Stubbins

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Held globally on the same day, thousands of finelyattired motorcyclists become part of a motoring fundraiser that celebrates the art of being dapper while also fundraising for prostate cancer research and men’s mental health.

“I’ll be riding my wife Jacinda’s Suzuki GZ 250 and I’ve changed a few things to fit the style guide a bit,” says Daniel, who is an apprentice mechanic at Action Sports Direct.

Matt, an insurance assessor, will be riding his 2016 Triumph Speedmaster.

“We don’t have anyone in our close family that has lost their life through or has had prostate cancer, but my stepfather passed away from cancer last year,” says Matt. “Also, I’m pretty big on if people have got mental health issues, then they need to talk about it.”

The pair have set up their DGR fundraiser page under the title Stubbins Garage. Last year, Matt was the second-highest fundraiser in Tauranga raising about $1,200.

It’s a day to don monocles, silk vests, crisp shirts and tailored suits; tweak jaunty, trimmed moustaches; and ride a classic or vintage motorcycle, expressing fine manners and a sense of fun.

The ride was founded in Sydney, Australia by Mark Hawwa. It was inspired by a photo of Mad Men’s Don Draper astride a classic bike and wearing his

finest suit. Mark decided a themed ride would be a great way to combat the often-negative stereotype of men on motorcycles, while connecting niche motorcycle communities together.

That first ride in 2012 brought together more than 2500 riders across 64 cities. Since then, the event has grown annually. Last year, the ride raised over $5 million USD, with more than 100,000 riders registered.

Tauranga DGR organisers Damian Fleming from Bayride Motorcycles and Darren Leggatt says the Tauranga ride, which attracted 70 riders in 2016, and 140 in 2017, is essentially about men’s mental health and prostate cancer research.

“In 2018, we had 173 riders register, and raised $13,850,” says Damian.

This is the fifth year that the ride, [on Sunday September 29] is being held in Tauranga.

“The DGR is as important as ever, it is a time when we open up and talk man to man about health and looking after each other,” says Damian. “Male suicide isn’t going away and if we can focus on supporting and encouraging frank discussions, then we are on the right track. The other touchy subject is prostate health, something we men tend to shy away from. It’s a light hearted event, so while we might joke about it, the message is still there - go and get checked.

“Bayride Motorcycles is committed to support the riding community and the DGR is a fantastic way to show that we care.

“We all love riding our bikes and we can get out there and raise money for a good cause as well,” Rosalie Liddle Crawford says Matt.

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3 homes in 10 years What we have learnt You know you’re on to something good when you’re sad the process is over.

Sarah and Robin Matthews have built three homes with Thorne Group and Sarah says she realised throughout the second home build how much she appreciated the care that Thorne Group put into their builds.

“We have never found building with the Thorne Group stressful at all. On the contrary, the Thorne group make the process feel like a real adventure,” says Sarah.

“We actually felt a bit sad when the last house was completed.”

Sarah and Robin have had three houses built by Thorne Group now and Sarah says the choice to come back was easy.

“We don’t think that we could find better,” she says.

“We looked at many competitors’ show homes and the finish and specification – included in the build price – doesn’t match that of the Thorne Group.

“Thorne Group has that trifecta – design, value for money and superb build quality – the Thorne Group trademark.”

Their new Thorne Group build in Ohauiti is a continuation of their last home.

“We decided that we wanted a smaller house and much smaller garden. That said, we will have a very spacious three bedroom home with a great lounge, a kitchen with large pantry and a dining

room with a three-metre window seat – great for a good book and glass of wine.”

The difference is in how they were treated. Sarah says building with Thorne Group makes you feel special to those working on your home.

“You feel like you are in an exclusive club. People who have Thorne houses are very happy to talk about their experience with nothing but praise.”

With Thorne Group, Sarah says they have been treated almost like family, with their contractors going out of their way to make a great finished product.

“When we were building the second house, Dan the builder decided we didn’t have a peg for our towel close enough to the shower door, so he went to the plumber’s merchant and got one to match the rest of the plumbing! He didn’t have to do this, but this is a real example of the quality of people that the Thorne Group employ,” says Sarah.

So what advice would you pass on to others looking to build a home?

Look very closely at what different builders are offering and be sure that you are comparing like for like.

Despite Thorne Group having built homes since 2006, Sarah says they’ve been consistent in their values.

“Apart from growing as a company, their values have not changed one bit. Their family name and reputation is of overriding importance to them.

“They make you feel that yours is the only house that they are building!”

Robin and Sarah Matthews

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˙°August, August, August,˛°˜˝ ˛°˜ˆ 2019 life+style The Weekend Sun ˛˜30

Photo: Mike Sim, Biobees

Bumblebees have smelly feet The humble bumblebee and its super powers The only thing I’ve ever really learned about bumblebees is that it’s impossible for them to fly.

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way they can. Their wings are too small to get their little bodies off the ground. They fly on anyway, because clearly, a bumblebee doesn’t care what humans think is impossible.

On talking with author Rachel Weston I discover they also have other super powers, like the ability to see ultraviolet light. And they have five eyes, four wings, and very smelly feet.

I asked Rachel how she came to be studying the bumblebee.

“By complete accident actually,” says Rachel. “My husband Stuart works in the kiwifruit industry. He came home one afternoon and said to me ‘do you know where bumblebees live?’ I said ‘I guess they live in a hive just like other bees?’

“He said ‘they live underground’, but I didn’t believe him.’”

She laughs at the memory.

“I researched it online and found out that they make their homes in holes already established by a mouse or other animals underground.

“All these other interesting things came up too and I thought, ‘how come I’ve never heard this about bumblebees?’ I thought that kids would love it, it’s so cool.”

Her bumblebee journey had started, and soon

after she read ‘A Sting in the Tale’, a book by Dave Goulson who founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in the UK in 2006.

“From Dave’s book I learned that bumblebees have smelly feet. We have our own kiwifruit orchard, so I rang up Biobees, a company that supplies bumblebee hives to kiwifruit orchards. They sent me a hive in the mail, and my son and I popped the little buzzing box in the orchard.

“We opened up the little slide-across door, stood away and watched them coming and going. It was so fascinating.”

The bumblebees’ interesting attributes have caught the attention of avocado as well as kiwifruit growers.

The Biobees website states that ‘Bumblebees are active at far lower temperatures than honeybees, and as such are important pollinators of early flowering crops and varieties, and will begin foraging earlier, and work later than honeybees on any given day.

Similarly, bumblebees are more robust, and will forage during light rain and on cloudy days. Their large hairy body, and bumbling movements across flowers make them incredibly efficient pollen transferrers.”

“Some kiwifruit orchards are covered in hail netting or enclosed canopies, and bumblebees are being trialled and used for pollinators on these orchards,” says Rachel.

The Biobees website lists capsicum, courgette, eggplant, melons, tomatoes and strawberries as other hothouse crops that bumblebees are useful for, as they don’t mind being enclosed.

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˙˛ ˜°August, August,˜˛°ˆ ˜˛°˝

life+style The Weekend Sun °° Rachel Weston

“Her flight of discovery about bumblebees has led her to uncover fascinating factoids about their eco-system, food and crop production”

gathering nectar and pollen while others help the queen in the nest, while she lays the next cycle of eggs.”

“After this she creates male bees, and then she changes again to laying queen bees at the end of the season.

“They stay in the hive and get big and fat, go out and mate with males, and then hibernate through the winter.

Meanwhile the males die.”

She sent Deborah Hinde her manuscript, after meeting her at a Joy Cowley writers and illustrators weekend.

“I asked if she would illustrate it and she said ‘absolutely, I’d love to be on board’. She’s been fantastic.”

The book is being launched at Tauranga Library on September 8.

Rachel says Mike Sims from Biobees is growing a new family of bumblebees inside a perspex hive to enable everyone attending the library launch to see a live bumblebee hive in action.

Schools will be able to buy the book directly off Rachel’s website.

“There’s been some great pre-orders already from schools that are doing sustainability and garden-to-table projects, and studying bees in general.”

‘Bumblebees Have Smelly Feet’ will be out in shops on September 2.

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Photo: Mike Sim, Biobees

Rachel’s ‘Bumblebees Have Smelly Feet’ is an interactive and well-illustrated book packed full of information on why bumblebees have whiffy feet, how their bodies work, what their super powers are, their family and life cycle, and how humans can help this integral insect survive.

Inspired by her husband’s initial question, her flight of discovery about bumblebees has led her to uncover fascinating factoids about their ecosystem, food and crop production.

“At the end of summer the nest dies off naturally”, says Rachel. “All the worker bees, males and queen bee die, only the daughter queen bumblebees survive.

They hibernate in the ground in a little hole.”

“They hibernate like a bear, go through metamorphosis like a butterfly, and sit on eggs like a mother hen.”

“The queen sticks pollen into a little wax cup she has made, lays eggs on top of that, and then sits on them.

She vibrates her flight muscles generating heat in her body which keeps her eggs warm.

“This first set of eggs hatch, eat the pollen in the cup they’ve been laid into, and develop into female worker bumblebees. Some go out to work

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