Life + Style - 29 January 2021

THE WEEKEND

Tutus and pointe shoes Page 4

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°18 °˙August, Mar March, ch,˜˛°˝ ˜˛˜° 2021

Making a house a home Ohauiti showhome filled with ideas A new showhome in Ohauiti was flooded with interest at its opening weekend this month.

Built by Oceanside Homes, the showhome saw plenty of locals wander down and have a nosey – for good reason.

“The opening weekend was brilliant – we had a constant flow of people all weekend and I’ve been talking talking talking,” says Oceanside Homes’ Isaac Dean.

“It’s been great to see! We’ve had architects and people who’ve built before come through and say what a great design it is and how impressed they are to see a builder do a showhome like this, so that was really cool to hear.”

It’s no surprise the gorgeous home was met with so much praise – it is filled with nifty features and interesting ideas, says Isaac.

“We’ve put features throughout the home, so everywhere you turn there’s something interesting to look at and talk about.

“The cladding systems we have are quite unique – one is a low-maintenance composite timber cladding and the other is a new plaster system that gives the effect of a concrete tilt slab, so they’re quite neat for people to see.

“There’s also a very special retractable louvre system that opens up completely to the sky,” says Isaac.

But everybody knows the heart of the home is the kitchen, and the Ohauiti showhome has a big, beautiful heart.

“The star of the home is the combined kitchen scullery laundry area which is top-notch and we’re getting really good feedback about that, which is rewarding,” says Isaac.

“Whether you’re thinking of building or you’re currently renovating and you want to see what we’re doing, it’s worth popping along to have a look.

Or even just come if you like to have a nosey at new homes!”

Oceanside Homes is a locally owned and operated, independent construction company that offers compete design and build services across the Bay of Plenty.

There are a number of reasons you can rest assured you’re in good hands if you choose Oceanside Homes.

The team has more than 60 years of combined experience, and won the New Home Building category in the 2019 Most Trusted Business Awards.

The team works hard to make sure clients are involved in their build and closely monitor the building process from start to finish.

Their Most Trusted page has a five star rating and plenty of positive feedback.

The Oceanside Homes Ohauiti showhome is open from 12-4pm every day and can be found at 100 Adler Drive, Ohauiti, in the Three Creeks Estate.

“It’s a neat little area, so it’s worth coming down and having a look,” says Isaac.

“I’m there most of the opening times if people want to pop down and say: ‘hello’!”

For more information, visit: www.oceansidehomes.co.nz

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Deborah Workman loves her profession, which she balances with resting, rejuvenating and slowing life down a little.

“Although I teach I’m learning a lot at the same time.

We’re forever doing that figure eight - learning, teaching, learning, teaching.”

I enjoyed catching up with Deborah at the end of a busy year after finding I needed a personal reset of my own purpose. Her friends say she is passionate about helping people, which she has shaped into training and life coaching courses.

“I generally teach and train others in the modalities I’ve found very useful, as well as coaching one-on-one and couples directly. Nothing brings me more joy than working with high achievers to help them reconnect to themselves, their purpose and their relationships and in doing so refine their ability to achieve extraordinary results.”

Relationship resets, communication improvements, navigating difficulties in relationships, reigniting loveless marriages, breaking through to new levels of success in business – these are all often ideals and goals that get placed on the back burner while people stretch themselves across work commitments, or use distractions and avoidance tactics because of undefined internal challenges.

“Sometimes people want to know what causes the disconnect in relationships,” says Deborah. “What’s behind that? And then - what’s the solution?”

A lot of people come to Deborah saying that their relationship is at its tipping point.

“Where they’re either going to leave or they see their partner is going to leave them. They’ve got to the edge where they’re feeling like “I need out” or “I need help”, or “I’m going to go and have an affair”, or turn to behaviours which “don’t serve my family and my values - I just have

no choice cause I’m frustrated”. And what’s the number one cause of that?”

She’s found couples may become misaligned with what they value in a relationship, and recounts the example of where one person may love the freedom to do whatever they want and not feel boxed in, whereas their partner may want quality time together. Both may feel the other doesn’t love or respect them.

“There may be misunderstanding and appreciating what is important in the relationship. What a person values is usually internal and not expressed externally, so the other person’s left guessing and have no clue what their motivation of love and relationship is.”

Passion and direction are also aspects that relationships may falter over, where one person wants to jump into starting a business with all its risks, whereas the other person may have some trauma around doing that previously and experience renewed anxiety.

“I encourage couples to share with each other openly rather than go to the ‘island of conclusion’ and decide the other person’s not supporting them because they’re not saying anything.”

Understanding what are each other’s values, passion and direction for the next year, five years, ten years can bring a great deal of strength and help to a relationship.

“It’s nice to know what the other person is focusing on so we can either support it or we can talk into it rather than just have it happen without knowing.”

Intentionally considering the good in others and acknowledging that good is one place to start with building back a healthy relationship.

I ended 2020 still with a ‘To do’ list but have ditched it after discovering Deborah’s ‘To Be’ list which is a great way to navigate back to who I am, do less, and ‘be’ more. It’s free on her website www.deborahworkman.com Rosalie Liddle Crawford

Find us on

Photo: Ruthie Stoffels.

To be or to do, that is the question

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°˙August, Mar March, ch,˜˛°Ë? ˜˛˜° 2021 life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°18

Tutus and pointe shoes “It was always going to be ballet.�

A musing from Katherine Skelton, who has dedicated most of her life to the centuries old art form.

Katherine started dancing at age four and although she gave jazz and contemporary a try, Ballet is her passion. “As a kid, I just loved ballet and I tried other things, but that was what I wanted to do.�

The professional dancer credits her very supportive father for helping her through the times when it felt too hard and she nearly gave up. “He didn’t want me to give up, because it was too hard. He wanted me to give it my all and see what could happen.�

As a teenager ballet became her whole life and as well as being physically demanding Katherine sacriďŹ ced trips to the movies with friends and other teenage follies to excel at her craft. “All of those times I did want to stop, I just kept working and working and it pays off.â€?

Her devotion has been fruitful, because this year she has been promoted to soloist in the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Katherine has been with the company for 10 years and says the promotion is

Katherine and Joseph in Salute.

quite special because it will enable her to perform more prominent roles more often.

Her family moved from England to Tauranga when Katherine was six, she loved growing up here and fondly recalls spending downtime walking around Mauao and taking the family dog to Fergusson Park. “Fergusson Park was a huge part of my childhood.�

Tauranga is also “much sunnier� than her current city of Wellington and she loves coming home when she can.

It was at Baycourt Community Arts Centre that Katherine met her husband Joseph, they were both 16 and competing at a Performing Arts Competitions Association of New Zealand event.

The pair got in trouble for laughing back stage and although it took a few years for them to become a couple they always knew there was something there.

Joseph did his training in England and Katherine did hers at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington, but they kept in touch despite the distance.

Joseph joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2011 and the pair married in April 2017.

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°˙ Mar 18 March, ch, 2021 ˜˛˜°˜˛°˝ ˜° August,

The life of a professional ballet dancer

While most people are adamant they couldn’t work with their significant other, for the dancing duo they’ve always done everything together so don’t know any different, says Katherine.

“We’re best friends, so we just carry on at work and at home the same.”

A typical day for Katherine starts with an hour warm up, ballet class followed by a three hour rehearsal, lunch and another three hour rehearsal, then she finishes it off with an hour warm down.

While this might sound monotonous, it is anything but. The 31-year-old says there are many facets to the job and the rehearsal process has different stages in preparation for each show.

“It’s always changing, so you can’t really ever get bored.”

RNZB does three or four seasons a year so there is always new roles and dances to learn and it can be years before you repeat the same ballet, if ever, says Katherine.

Another pro is getting paid to stay in shape and her feet are used to the new normal of dancing en pointe.

“It’s like a guitarist develops calluses

on his hands, as nice as that is to think about,” she laughs, “We kind of do all that stuff to our feet”.

Massage and warm ups help care for and prevent injury to her feet. She can spend hours each day holding her body weight up on just her toes, aided by pointe shoes.

Although Katherine shunned contemporary for ballet growing up, it is now an integral part of her career but her heart still lies with classical.

“I love the tutu kind of ballet - tutus and pointe shoes, that’s my jam.”

Her favourite ballet is Sleeping Beauty where she performed her dream role of Princess Aurora, it was a great way to finish 2020.

After a Christmas break in Christchurch with family, Katherine is rehearsing for Tutus on Tour, where RNZB goes to different theatres across the country.

This year will showcase well-loved classics the ‘White Swan’ pas de deux and Jules Perrot’s Pas de Quatre as well two new ballets Andrea Schermoly’s Within Without and Sarah FosterSproull’s Ultra Folly.

Tutus on Tour will be at Baycourt on March 6.

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Katherine and Joseph Skelton on their wedding day.

Katherine Skelton and Kihiro Kusukami in Wayward by Kiara Flavin.

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°˙August, Mar March, ch,˜˛°˝ ˜˛˜° 2021 life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°18

Papamoa Potbellez Golden Oldies The Papamoa Potbellez Golden Oldies rugby team is renowned for its banter off and on the field. And for being old buggers. And for their postmatch crockpots.

Somewhere in the middle of this they reportedly stagger around the field and play what they call ‘low key rugby’ against opponents such as the Yellow Bellies.

I caught up with them once we got into the post-plague, post-lockdown period. There was still a bit of mud and footie season left and they were gathering their britches ready to take on Te Puna’s golden oldies. It was going to be community amateur rugby at its very - what can we say – finest?

There would be a lot of grudge and feisty tackles, followed by tall stories, reminiscing the past, and boasting about the future.

From what I could tell, it’s all about devilish plotting and scheming. To gain a psychological advantage over their Te Puna opponents, before-match tactics included the Potbellez asking Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller to come play for their team. It made sense. He had been asked to run on for Te Puna last year.

Potentially this would be a ‘conflict of interests’ dilemma as Todd’s electorate covers both Papamoa and Te Puna.

“I said ‘no’ because I knew I’d blow a

Rod Luxton known as Lucko, with BOP MP Todd Muller who was the referree for the Papamoa v Te Puna game.

hammy or shoulder if I put the boots on,” says Todd.

“Lucko said ‘you’re a good talker, why not ref?’

“So I’m the ref until I run out of puff, which will be ten minutes.”

In fact, Todd managed to show a surprising level of fitness, reffing until full time. No one seems to bother keeping score, with the general consensus that it’s rugby that’s the winner in the end.

There is actually a wee bit of history of Bay of Plenty MPs playing rugby, stretching back to Sir William Sullivan. Well, okay, it’s actually only one MP, but enough for a Potbellez player to build a story on at the post-match feed and yarn session.

Usually known as Bill, Sir William was a Taranaki rugby representative who served in both World Wars and was National MP for the Bay of Plenty from 1941 – 1957.

The Papamoa Potbellez Golden Oldies have a Facebook page and a website to keep their ‘old buggers’ updated with both home and away games. Fans and supporters can buy merchandise which features their club logo.

They play between ten and 12 games a year, usually on a Sunday afternoon. They also generally have an annual trip away to watch the mighty All Blacks and are wellknown for enhancing the bus and game experience with appropriate props and

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°˙ Mar 18 March, ch, 2021 ˜˛˜°˜˛°˝ ˜° August,

life+style The Weekend Sun 7

Rugby was the winner on the day. costumes likes wigs and pink tutus. Some of the game trophies include the ‘Dick of the Day’ award.

Other teams they go up against include the ‘Whangatamata Toe Kickers’ from Whangamata, Yellow Bellies in Hamilton, Eastern Districts ‘ED Old Devils’, Tauranga Old Stars, Te Puke’s ‘Mutineers’ and Rotorua’s ‘Kahukura Kumaras’.

Lucko, otherwise known as Rod Luxton, is one of the senior players and writes up the ‘world famous in Papamoa’ match reports, often launching into them with ‘Hello you Potbellez Bar-stards’.

These reports are curly mind-ticklers for those who like grammar and punctuation, and a tantalising read for those who identify themselves as anti-PC. They can be found on the team’s Facebook page. Lucko has been with the Papamoa Potbellez Golden Oldies since about 2009, says team founder Bill Lee. Bill started the team back in 2008.

“We set it up to play rugby and have a bit of fun because we were too young to retire. Twelve years later looking back we think ‘wow, what have we done?’” says Bill, referring to the camaraderie formed between the players.

“It’s the friendships and the fun we have. And supporting each other. We give each other a bit of grief, but we’re there for each other. It’s belonging and being a

brotherhood of guys who have a mutual interest.”

There’s a sense of deep emotions rising, so we quickly switch back to talking about the upcoming match at Gordon Spratt Reserve in Papamoa.

“When we feed our visiting teams we cook up crock pots of sausages,” says Bill.

“We played Te Puna earlier in the year, and they’re coming back and playing us today. So the big thing is to give them a good feed and look after them afterwards.”

Team members seem to have interesting names; no doubt each has a legendary story behind it.

Those cooking up their finest sausage crockpots on this particular day are ‘Big Ben’, ‘Deano’, ‘Rob the jukebox’, ‘Mummas boy’, and ‘Tito the gingertruck’.

Following the game both teams and supporters will head to Jack Dusty’s.

“We still call it Bundys. He’s one of our major sponsors. We play the game, have a shower and head down there, have a few beers tell a few stories and have a feed.”

Speeches, singing and the all-important prize giving which includes the ‘Dick of the Day’ and ‘Player of the Day’ awards.

“We reminisce on what we used to do and what we think we can do now still.”

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˜° August, ˜˛°˝

News from Bay of Plenty Regional Council January 2021

Boat ramp users must self-certify New rules to stop the spread of aquatic pests across the Bay of Plenty come in to force this summer with boat ramp users now required to self-certify that their vessels and trailers are free from freshwater fish and plant pests.

As well as ensuring that vessels and trailers are free from freshwater pest fish and pest plants, occupiers of vessels must ensure that no ballast water is transported between locations and that trailers are not left in the water other than for launching or retrieval.

Free buses in Tauranga for school children With school kids back this month a reminder that travel to and from school on buses within Tauranga remains free for the 2021 school year (before 9am and between 2.30 – 6.30pm).

Aquinas College, Pāpāmoa College and Otumoetai College/Intermediate buses also start on Tuesday February 2.

For other start dates and new routes and timetable changes please visit www.baybus.co.nz > Tauranga > School bus routes 2021

Visit www.boprc.govt.nz/check-clean-dry for more info.

Love our lakes photo competition Show us the pictures of our beautiful Rotorua Te Arawa lakes this summer and go into the draw to win a paddle board.

Upload your images and a short explanation about why you love the Rotorua Te Arawa lakes at www.rotorualakes.co.nz

The Rotorua Te Arawa Lakes Programme is working to preserve and protect the lakes so all of our tamariki and mokopuna can enjoy our lakes in the future.

Entries close 12pm 1 March 2021. Ts and Cs apply.

Owning a jetski in the Bay Jetskis are fast and exciting machines but need to be handled with care.

The same boating rules apply to jetskis and other Personal Water Craft as for boats. There are designated areas for jetskis to speed but there are also areas where they are not allowed. All jetski and other personal water craft using Bay of Plenty waterways need to be registered. Registration is a one-off fee!

Visit www.boprc.govt.nz/boating-in-the-bay

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana works to ensure our region’s environment and its people thrive.

Find out about the work we do at www.boprc.govt.nz

Pāpāmoa Hills upgrade Bay of Plenty Regional Council has approved the concept design of a major upgrade for Te Rae o Pāpāmoa / Pāpāmoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park.

The improvements will create a richer experience for visitors through a new 86 space carpark, upgraded amenities and and a space for the sharing of cultural stories.

The work is likely to start late this year following a detailed design process which involves a working party of councillors and tangata whenua.