The Hobson December 2018

december 2018

everything christmas p lime escapades p salsa time! local news, views & informed opinions

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“At Auckland Obstetric Centre we understand that pregnancy and childbirth is the most important time of your life and that you and baby should have the highest standard of care.”

– Jane Patten, Clinic Manager

Auckland Obstetric Centre is a unique practice in Parnell made up of six leading specialist obstetricians and support staff. Together we have many years of experience and feel privileged to be able to share in the care of women during their pregnancy.

To find out more about how we can care for you and your baby call our team on 09 3671200 or visit our website obstetrics.co.nz.

Lynda Batcheler | Astrid Budden | Eva Hochstein | Katherine McKenzie | Kirstie Peake | Martin Sowter

The December Issue, No. 54 8

34

the editor’s letter

the second act Sandy Burgham experiences life from her couch

10 the columnists

36

13

What is a ‘good education’? Judi Paape considers

the teacher

the village Remuera’s parking ‘mares, the Wilson’s Beach jetty imperiled, a heritage home turns to dust in Parnell, plus all the Christmas happenings in The Village Voice

37 the hobson + st cuthbert’s swim school Young and old, everyone needs to be water aware

22

38

the hobson + about time

the culture

There’s a wealth of experience in the team at Remuera’s watch specialists, About Time

Chantelle Murray steps in time, eventually, at salsa night

24

the heritage

the hobson + farro

41

Christmas and festive fare to tempt, taste and share

Our usual The Councillor co-contributor, Mike Lee, shares another project he’s been working on (see below)

25

42

the councillor

the arts

News from the Ōrākei ward Councillor, Desley Simpson

Remuera photographer Mark Smith shares his portraits of some four-legged friends

28

44

the politicians

the magpie

MPs David Seymour and Paul Goldsmith share updates

Our gathering bird has outdone herself for Christmas

29

48

the auckland foundation

the sound

Dellwyn Stuart reflects on a giving time of year

Andrew Dickens waits with gleeful anticipation for David Byrne

30

49

the plan Without a solid plan for infrastructure, how on earth do you build a neighbourhood, asks Hamish Firth?

the diary The important stuff going on in December

50

32

the cryptic

the investment Warren Couillault makes a case for feeling warmly inclined towards bonds

Our puzzle, by Māyā. Hint: some answers are local

33 the suburbanist He saw, he app’d, he rode — Tommy Honey gets his Lime on

S’acre bleu, il est un clever clogs!

Mike Lee is well-known to Aucklanders for his lengthy public service and conservation advocacy.

He was chair of the former Auckland Regional Authority and is now a Councillor for Auckland, representing the Waitematā and Gulf wards. Lesser known is his Master of Science degree and passion for French culture and language. These come together in his new book, Navigators and Naturalists — French Exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas (1769-1824) Courtesy of the publisher, Bateman Books, we have three copies of the illustrated hardback to give away. To enter, email business@thehobson.co.nz with “Navigators” in the subject line by 5pm, Friday December 14. Please include your delivery address (no PO boxes). Winners will be selected at random. the hobson 6

Entries Always Invited.

Auction Calendar Fine Jewels, Watches & Luxury Accessories Sunday 2 December - 2.00pm

Fine Art Lot 239, Don Binney, Manunui, Queen Charlotte. $160,000 - $190,000 Lot 444, A Hans Wegner GE290 Easy Chair. $2,000 - $2,500 Lot 164, A pair of costume earings, Chanel. $700 - $1,000

Tuesday 4 December 6.00pm

Decorative Arts Wednesday 5 December 6.00pm

Asian Art 33a Normanby Rd Mt Eden, Auckland webbs.co.nz

Auctions Private Sales Valuations

Thursday 6 December 6.00pm Fine & Rare Wines Tuesday 11 December 6.00pm

A

issue 54, december 2018 Editor & Publisher Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz Art Direction & Production Stephen Penny design@thehobson.co.nz News Editor Mary Fitzgerald maryfitzgerald.thehobson@gmail.com

s we speed towards Christmas, and the hints of a long, temperate summer (please), I hope you’ll find things within this issue which will help your own festive season planning. Our Magpie, Justine Williams, has compiled a jazzy gift guide (see page 44) and I’m going to be wrapping up copies of Mike Lee’s new book, Navigators and Naturalists, for the history-lovers in my own family (see page 41). I’ll also be shopping for a family I’ll never meet — taking part in the Salvation Army’s Adopt-aFamily Christmas has become a tradition. If you’d like to be involved, email manukaucentral_corps@nzf.salvationarmy Another way to share Christmas spirit is to help a child achieve some pretty reasonable goals, like being able to join a football club and own a pair of boots. Through Variety - the Children’s Charity scholarships, your help can make a meaningful difference to a child’s life. Read about Variety’s Christmas Appeal on page 22.

To all our readers, supporters and even the man who hates us because we wrap*, Happy Christmas!

Writers This Issue Kirsty Cameron, Gretchen Carroll, Mary Fitzgerald, Chantelle Murray, Justine Williams Sub-editor Fiona Wilson

Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz 0275 326 424 Facebook: The Hobson magazine Instagram: TheHobson

Columnists Sandy Burgham, Warren Couillault, Andrew Dickens, Hamish Firth, Paul Goldsmith, Tommy Honey, Mike Lee, Māyā, Judi Paape, David Seymour, Desley Simpson, Dellwyn Stuart Photographers Augustine Dias, Stephen Penny, Mark Smith Cover The Sky Tower lit up for Christmas.

Photo by Lawrence Yang/mychillybin

THE HOBSON is published 10 times a year by The Hobson Limited, PO Box 37490 Parnell, Auckland 1151. www.thehobson.co.nz F: TheHobsonMagazine I: @TheHobson Ideas, suggestions, advertising inquiries welcome. editor@thehobson.co.nz

THE HOBSON is Remuera, Parnell and Ōrākei’s community magazine. We deliver into letterboxes in these neighbourhoods, and copies are also at local libraries, cafes, and at businesses including the Vicky Ave and White Heron dairies, and Paper Plus Parnell. For more about us, see TheHobsonMagazine on Facebook.

The content of THE HOBSON is copyright. Our words, our pictures.

Don’t steal, and don’t borrow without checking with us first.

We aim for accuracy but cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies that do occur. The views of our contributors are their own and not necessarily those of THE HOBSON. We don’t favour unsolicited contributions but do welcome you getting in touch via editor@thehobson.co.nz to discuss ideas.

The Hobson Ltd is a member of the Magazine Publishers Association This publication uses environmentally responsible papers.

To protect against Auckland’s weather, home delivered copies are bagged in food-grade film, which can be recycled in ‘soft plastics’ bins.

Congratulations to the Remuera Business Association, who hosted an incredibly well-supported Halloween lolly hunt and costume parade.

Littlies (and often, their parents) love the dress-up aspect. Around the community October 31 has become a pleasant meet-the-neighbours event.

We hope you were entertained in your street. Photos by Brick Content.

*Our food-grade wrap is recyclable in soft plastics bins. That said, we were going to trial not wrapping the November issue, but of course, it poured that weekend so we’re glad we didn’t.

ICG Logo CMYK.pdf 1 05/08/2015 6:19:01 AM

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The Columnists

Left to right from top row: Sandy Burgham (The Second Act) is a brand strategist and an executive coach with a special interest in midlife change and transformational behaviours. She runs a central Auckland practice. www.playclc.com Remuera resident Warren Couillault (The Investment) is an executive director and the major shareholder of Hobson Wealth Partners, a private wealth advisory group. He is a shareholder and director of Generate Investment Management Ltd; and manager of a registered Kiwisaver scheme.

Andrew Dickens (The Sound) is the host of the afternoon show on Newstalk ZB. For 13 years he was the breakfast host on Classic Hits. He grew up in Remuera.

Hamish Firth (The Plan) lives and works in Parnell and is principal of the Mt Hobson Group, a specialist urban planning consultancy. www.mthobsonproperties.co.nz Mary Fitzgerald is The Hobson’s News Editor. A Mainlander who transplanted to Remuera 14 years ago, she is passionate about hearing and telling our stories.

Urban design critic Tommy Honey (The Suburbanist) is a former architect. The Remuera resident is a regular guest on RNZ National, discussing the built environment.

Judi Paape (The Teacher) is a parent, grandparent and highly-experienced teacher and junior school principal.

A Parnell resident, her column appears bi-monthly.

Contributing writer Wayne Thompson is a former The New Zealand Herald journalist, covering Auckland news. He has been a resident of Parnell for 34 years.

Contributing editor Justine Williams is an interiors stylist, writer and fashion editor. The Remuera resident has been the editor of Simply You and Simply You Living.

the hobson 10

The new wallpaper collection

is here.

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the village

Town & Around

NO HOP ON TOP Auckland Transport has closed the top level of the Clonbern Rd carpark after an inspection by independent engineers in the second week of November raised concerns about the aging structure. A small piece of concrete is believed to have fallen from the top level, triggering the new inspection. A spokesperson for AT told The Hobson that while there is no indication of immediate safety issues, the top deck is closed until further notice while a full assessment can be done.

Parts of the top level have been fenced off for some time, and signage was installed asking heavy vehicles to park elsewhere.

More recently, AT posted a security guard on the ramp, directing larger SUVs and vans away.

With the loss of the 77 car spaces just as the Christmas retail season kicks in, the Remuera Business Association swung into gear, and the same day the closure was announced, November 8, secured 100 car parks — indicated by white lines — at the Remuera Club in Ohinerau St for shoppers’ and visitors’ use, Monday to Saturday. The RBA has organised a shuttle for those not wanting or able to make the less-than-10 minute walk from Ohinerau St. “It’s not ideal but we’ve done what we can to provide an alternative,” says RBA manager Cecilia Ngo. “We have a free transfer cab with our friendly driver, Helena, taking people and their packages between the Remuera Club and the town centre.

We’re also in ongoing discussions with AT about making more street parking available around Remuera. They’re looking at some of the roadways where broken yellow lines may not be necessary.”

To keep the remaining carparks available to shoppers, AT is also patrolling the lower Clonbern Rd level (New World) to ensure all-

day parkers are not taking the 180-minute spaces earmarked for customers of local businesses. p PALMERS PITCHES FOR ITS FUTURE A public consultation is underway into the ongoing use of the land currently leased to Palmers Gardenworld on Shore Rd. The land is owned by the Crown and vested in Auckland Council. Palmers 15year ground lease of the 7200m² site is set to expire in June 2020, and the family-owned business would like to stay on.

The initial 2005 agreement between the then-Conservation Minister and Auckland City Council allowed for a second 15year term for Palmers, provided the Council undertakes a public consultation process to understand the level of public interest in keeping the site for garden centre use. Under the new Auckland Council structure, it now falls to the Ōrākei Local Board to make the decision on whether to grant a further 15-year lease, after the consultation feedback has been reviewed.

“We are a family business and are proud to be part of the local community,” says Palmers Remuera director Delma Harrison.

“We would sincerely appreciate the assistance of the community to support our application for a new lease.” Harrison’s son and business partner, Jonathan, concurs. “We need as many submissions as possible to be made to the Council’s Have Your Say site. We’re optomistic our regular clientele will give their support.”

Members of the public can contribute their views until December 12, see aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/haveyoursay (search “Palmers”). — Mary Fitzgerald p

the hobson 13

the village

THE DOCTOR IS OUT

Parnell has lost another of its colonial homes with the demolition of 537 Parnell Rd. The house, on the corner of Parnell and Maunsell roads, is thought to have been built in the late 1800s.

It was for many years the residence and practice of local GPs, doctors Thompson and Andrae.

Following the adoption of the Auckland Unitary Plan, the property was rezoned from residential to business-mixed use, allowing for a building of up to five storeys, with a potential for six or seven. The current CV for the house and its 784m2 site is $4.4m.

The property was sold in March 2017 for $8m.

While local heritage advocates mourned its loss, and noted that the house’s architectural features did not appear to be saved from the bulldozer, Waitematā Local Board member Vernon Tava says that Auckland Council issued a Certificate of Compliance in May 2017 which confirmed the landowner could remove the house without resource consent. “It is always a terrible shame to lose a fine heritage building like this,” says Tava, “but it appears that everything has been done within the rules”.

The Hobson was not able to contact the new owners for details on what is planned for the property and Parnell Heritage did not wish to comment further. — Mary Fitzgerald p

THAT FENCE, REDUX Public consultation took place in October to get feedback on a preferred fence design for the Ōrākei Basin shared pathway project. The $4.9 million project to widen the pathway from 2.7m to 4.5m to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, is one stage in the four-stage Glen Innes to Tamaki Dr shared pathway project partnership between the New Zealand Transport Agency and Auckland Transport.

In June, the original wooden 1.2m high fence along one side of the pathway was removed, and installation of a 1.4m metal railing fence commenced. Due to the metal fence’s height and its vertical railing design, it has the visual effect of a high, solid wall from some angles.

In October the agencies asked for feedback on three new metal fence designs, which did not sit well with several critics of the fence, including local resident Roy Champtaloup, who’s dubbed the consultation process “a farce”. “The entire consultation process has been ridiculously skewed to metal options,” says Champtaloup, who lives near the Basin. “There has been zero visual representation of a 1.2m timber design fence option alongside the three 1.4m metal options. Obviously this lopsided

and flawed consultation will deliver lopsided and flawed results.

It must be deemed null and void. The lack of appropriate design options, the misleading artists impressions, the absence of any reference to height, the biased feedback survey and the lack of time for the public feedback to be submitted and considered, deem this consultation process a farce”.

While the timber design option was not included in the public consultation for consideration, NZTA and AT did relent on fence height, announcing that the new fence will be lowered from 1.4m to 1.2m. “One of the key issues for people was the height of the balustrade,” says NZTA Auckland and Northland portfolio manager, Stephen Collett. “But we have now obtained dispensation to deviate from the design standard. This dispensation has been made for Section 3 [Ōrākei Basin shared pathway] only, as it has been specifically assessed as safe for people on bikes and people on foot.”

With the public consultation sessions now completed, NZTA and AT will make a final decision and announce on December 21 which new design will be used. — Mary Fitzgerald p

HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES

“The Strawberry Man” — Mahmut Cavusoglu — is celebrating 10 years selling his delicious wares on Shore Rd. Hailed locally as one of the first signs of summer, Cavusoglu sets up every October, selling just-picked local strawberries and avocados, and offering other seasonal fruit and veges as the summer rolls on into autumn.

“I love it here,” he says. “When I come in October, people drive in just to say hi, welcome back. It’s a lovely feeling.”

Also marking an anniversary is State of Grace East, which five years ago hung out a shingle in a pretty cottage on the EllersliePanmure highway. Owner Janet Mikkelsen had worked for many years as a nurse specialising in palliative care for children before deciding to become a funeral director. “It’s a move I’ve never regretted,” she says. “It’s a privilege to be there with families at the end of a life.” Since opening, State of Grace’s all-female directors have farewelled more than 700 people with compassion. p

THE GREAT TREE COUNT With The Hobson regularly hearing from local residents that Remuera’s leafy green treescape is diminishing rapidly, we were interested to learn that the Ōrākei Local Board is funding research into tree loss as part of Auckland Council’s Auckland Urban Forest (Ngahere) Strategy. 3

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PA R T Y !

Live Life Local this month when Remuera celebrates Christmas with an array of free, festive, family-friendly events Shop for fabulous gifts for family and friends while you listen to the sweet sounds of jazz and Christmas carols; enjoy a bite to eat and a catch-up with your community in the festive atmosphere in Remuera this month. All your favourites will be back, including Santa and Mrs Claus, pet pics with Santa, entertainment for all, plus sparkling new street decorations.

For full details and exact times for each event, visit remuera.org.nz or Facebook: Remuera Village.LiveLifeLocal Remember, all events are free!

There’s something fun for everyone, young, old and furry in Remuera.

Saturday December 1, 11am – 2.30pm Mini Santa Parade Remuera kicks off Christmas festivities with Santa arriving in the Remuera fire truck, and Mrs Claus and the elves in open-top Mustangs. The Village Green will host free family fun with face painting and family Santa photos.

Saturday December 8, from 10am Santa & Mrs Claus, Carol Singers and Christmas Jazz Eat, browse, shop to Christmas jazz from the Auckland University School of Music and our visiting carol singers (playing in the Village Green), while Santa and Mrs Claus also say a cheery ho ho ho around the Village.

Saturday 15 & 22, and Wednesday 5 & 19, 10am – 2pm Santa & Mrs Claus Family Santa Pictures Santa & Mrs Claus will be around the precinct on these dates — don’t forget to get your family Santa picture in the Village Green.

Sunday 16, 10am – 2pm Paws & Santa Event Back by popular demand, bring your furry friends for a Santa pic. Sponsored

by Purina, there’s great prizes to be won and free treats. Plus, Auckland Puppy Rescue is back with their adorable puppy kissing booth fundraiser.

You Are Invited: Christmas Morning Tea. With Epsom MP David Seymour, and special guests, Eric and Julie Turner, from the Salvation Army Epsom Lodge.

When: Monday 3 December 2018, 10.30am - midday.

Where: Somervell Presbyterian Church, 497 Remuera Rd, Remuera.

RSVP: For catering purposes. Phone 09 522 7464, or email mpepsom@parliament.govt.nz

Authorised by David Seymour, Suite 2.4, Level 2, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket, AKL. Funded by the Parliamentary Service.

the village

The strategy is a comprehensive regulatory and non-regulatory approach to enhancing our urban forest and green infrastructure, to grow and protect the tree canopy cover around the city. Year 1 — which the OLB has just commenced — is a ‘knowing’ phase, which will see spatial mapping completed of the existing tree canopy covering public and private land. This will help the OLB identify the extent, type and age of our urban forest, and where funding may be required. Year 2 will see the ‘growing’ phase, finding space for plantings using partnerships with the community. Year 3 is the ‘protecting’ phase, which will allow for direct and indirect methods for the community to nominate and protect trees.

A report recently published by the Waitematā Local Board as part of its Year 1 looked at tree loss in its ward (the report focused on tree loss only and did not consider the tree growth).

Investigations showed 65 per cent of tree loss was from private land, compared to 16 per cent from public parkland.

OLB chair Kit Parkinson says that changes made to the Resource Management Act in 2012 have prevented the use of general, or blanket, tree protections, which means Council and local boards have limited ability to impose rules for the removal of urban trees.

“However, wider Council and the Ōrākei Local Board are proactive in our efforts to grow and foster our urban tree canopy,” says Parkinson. “Mayor Phil Goff’s Million Trees project is well on the way to being achieved, with 750,000 of the one million trees already in the ground. This year alone, has seen 500,000 trees planted, providing additional positive growth.”

In the past year, the OLB has funded community planting days at reserves including the Pourewa Valley, Churchill Park (alongside Friends of Churchill Park), Tahuna Torea, Kepa Bush, Ōkahu Bay, Selwyn Bush, Madills Farm and at the Waiatarua Reserve, where 2000 trees and shrubs have been planted in the past 18 months.

Parkinson says the Board’s Tree Protection Grant for Ōrākei ward residents works to maintain and preserve notable trees.

“The grant is open for applications of up to $2000, from property owners with notable trees on their land, to assist in supporting the long-term health and retention of these trees. In the past 18 months, we have provided grants to 10 applicants to support the health of these trees, totalling $7037”. — Mary Fitzgerald p

LOCAL BOARD NEWS Visitors to Judges Bay recently will have noticed a small area on the hill has been cordoned off, while a plinth is constructed in readiness for a sculpture. A Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust project, supported by the Waitematā Local Board, the budget was part of the Judges Bay restoration project but has taken some time to deliver. It is expected to be completed by mid-next year.

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The Parnell Baths opens for summer on December 1, later than usual due to redevelopment works over the winter months. The baths, much-loved since they first opened in 1914, have been closed for longer than usual over winter for works to improve the pool filtration system. The complex nature of the work caused some delays. On the upside, the pool will stay open until the end of April, three weeks later than normal. Auckland Council regional aquatic facilities manager Gwyn De-Arth says that because most of the work is under the renewed concourse, pool users won’t see much change. “It has been a huge job that has not been without its challenges, but when the first splash happens it will all have been worthwhile”.

Retaining Remuera’s Wilson’s Beach jetty is under review after storm damage this year. Council closed the jetty to the public, and has recommended that the Ōrākei Local Board not renew the damaged stucture. Victoria Ave resident Bruce Renshaw has

lodged his concerns about the possible loss of the jetty with the OLB, on environmental and heritage grounds. Renshaw’s family has lived on the same property in lower Vicky Ave since his greatgrandfather, Captain Thomas Capel Tilly, purchased land there in 1872. The jetty was built by Tilly in 1900. In 1910 it was extended up and over the sewer pipe that ran through Hobson Bay. In 2010 the sewer pipeline was removed, and the jetty was reverted to its original length.

Renshaw understands Council formalised its ownership of the jetty eight years ago. He says in addition to the heritage value of the jetty, since the removal of the sewer pipe, Hobson Bay has seen an increase in the wading bird population, and black and white shags. The shags are often seen on the railing of the jetty using it as a place to dive from, while grey herons use the the western edge of the jetty in the summer for feeding. The OLB has asked Council to report back on the ownership status of the jetty, and the ecological impact on the area if the jetty was to be removed.

The Ōrākei Local Board has requested Auckland Transport urgently put a new bylaw in place to stop heavy truck and trailer container vehicles travelling from the Ports of Auckland using Tamaki Dr, and Kepa, Kohimarama and St Johns roads. The board made the request because these roads form a narrow and winding route through residential streets, with schools along the way. According to AT, the roads are part of an agreed freight route, and there are no plans to establish an alternate route at this time.

— Reporting by Mary Fitzgerald p

QUEEN OF TASTE

INDUSTRY UPDATE: The predicted rush of listings pre-Christmas is upon us. Those vendors who put off selling last year post election are now on the market. Just how many ‘meet the current market’ will be interesting to observe.

Supply/demand ratios right now look to be favouring buyers in some quarters, consequently given the fact that many buyers are now spoilt for choice, for vendors, it may be a case of first out best dressed this side of Christmas.

A note of caution to buyers: beware of indicated or estimated selling price ranges or market value ranges as predicted by algorithms on various websites. In many cases where a property is being sold without a price these can be over the likely selling range and in excess of the vendors’ expectation. If you like the look of a house, have a look and make an offer.

In short every situation is different.

If you’re wondering what a property is worth please give me a call at any time.

It’s the season to be enjoying fruit mince tarts, which means local business owner Rebecca Alexander is busier than ever. Taking every Friday off from her day job at Remuera’s About Time watch specialists, the trained jeweller puts down her loup and ties on an apron to bake mince tarts. Alexander’s Queen of Tarts treats — available in both regular and gluten-free versions — are a popular menu addition at Tea & Coffee Lovers and the Palmers’ cafes in Remuera, and Parnell’s Brighton Rd Café. They also fly out the door by the six-pack at the Vicky Ave Butcher.

Alexander started baking tarts commercially after her cousin, celebrated chef Geoff Scott, asked her to make them to serve with coffee at his then-restaurant at the Hilton. Two decades later, “there’s now a team of four of us and we make about 20,000 tarts between October and Christmas” says Alexander. You can read more about Alexander’s other role on page 22. p

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2 2 8 O R A K E I R OA D, R E M U E R A | W W W.O BV.CO. N Z

the village

O P E N 7 D AYS DINNER M O N D AY - S U N D AY FROM 4PM LUNCH T H U R S D AY - S U N D AY F R O M M I D D AY BRUNCH S AT U R D AY - S U N D AY F R O M 10 A M DREAM WEAVERS NEEDED The festive season can be a challenging time for many Auckland children, with choices for the year ahead limited. But for Lovely Pulotu, a Gold Heart Scholarship received from Variety – the Children’s Charity this year has provided fuel to tackle her rugby dreams head on in 2019. The talented Mt Roskill 17-year-old, above, aims to represent New Zealand, but her commitment and talent were hindered due to the extras involved with the sport.

And these ‘extras’, says Lorraine Taylor, Variety’s chief executive officer, are things like travel costs to and from games, uniforms, rugby boots and other training equipment and registration fees.

“Lovely’s application really stood out – as well as playing for two Auckland club rugby teams and her local school team, she is a qualified and active referee. She was also commended by coaching staff for her dedication to the sport and always doing that ‘little bit extra’. It is so wonderful to see her talent and commitment rewarded by the support of so many generous Kiwis behind her – she’s definitely one to watch, with a bright future ahead of her.”

Taylor is urging Aucklanders to support its Christmas Appeal.

“With budgets already stretched, Christmas can be an extremely stressful time for many Kiwi families, with extra-curricular activitiesor the coming year already out of reach.”

As well as providing scholarships to high achievers like Lovely, Variety’s Christmas appeal will provide children with the chance to explore their dreams through its Have a Go Scholarship programme. “One child who’s on our waiting list for a Have a Go Scholarship is a 10-year-old boy who loves soccer and idolises professional footballer Lionel Messi. He simply wants to be able to play for his local club, but at $187 per term, plus an extra $45 for the uniform, his mum cannot stretch their budget to accommodate this cost,” says Taylor. “This time of the year can be demanding – but I’m urging kind-hearted Kiwis to consider supporting a disadvantaged Kiwi kid this Christmas. A gift like this is longlasting, and life-changing.”

For more information, and to donate to Variety’s Christmas Appeal, visit www.variety.org.nz p

w w w.morell.co.nz bookings @morell.co.nz 09 600 3259

THE DOGS ARE AT HOME Congratulations to former Remuera resident, now Melbournebased, Nicole England on the publication of her first book, Resident Dog: Incredible Homes and the Dogs that Live There.

See Resident Dog in The Magpie’s Christmas gift guide, which begins on page 44. p

91- 9 5 U P L A N D R D REMUERA

the hobson + about time

A Timely Business When Marcus and Rebecca Alexander were looking for a shop for their watch and clock speciality, Remuera got the tick

W

e laugh that it’s about time we had a store like this in Remuera,” says Rebecca Alexander of the business she and husband Marcus opened late last year. The eastern suburbs-based couple were looking for “the perfect site” for their About Time watches and clocks speciality store, after they returned home from living in Melbourne.

“Between us, Marcus and I have 55 years experience in the watch business,” says Rebecca. “We are both trained jewellers, but we gravitated to working with watches and clocks as we have a passion for them. We still love jewellery, and we do stock some beautiful pieces as well. I find jewellery’s quite a good thing to have on hand when a husband feels he may have to do some sweetening up at home after an expensive purchase!”

Tucked between Tea and Coffee Lovers and Iain Stephens Floral Design, the window of About Time tempts with an ever-changing display of pre-owned luxury watches — Rolex, Omega, Patek Phillipe, Breitling and more. As a full-service watch shop, they offer repairs and servicing for all brands, including fashion watches. “We fit batteries, do water pressure tests, value watches and provide a big range of watch straps,” says Rebecca.

But it’s in the buying and selling of beautiful timepieces, and finding special “must haves” for clients, that About Time offers something unique. “We had a very successful business in Melbourne selling luxury second-hand watches, but it was time to come home,” says Marcus. “We realised that back in New Zealand, there wasn’t a retail shop doing anything like we did in Melbourne. People sold their watches on Trade Me, there was no shop you could walk into and look at the watch first, talk about the history and know it was sold in good working order, that the servicing was up-to-date.”

Marcus and Rebecca source their watches all around the world, attending trade fairs in Hong Kong twice a year, and going to Switzerland two or three times annually as well. Their faith in opening About Time in Remuera has been repaid, with locals enjoying the shop and their reputation seeing pieces spotted on their website going to collectors all over the country.

“We’re also happy to trade watches,” says Rebecca. “It’s quite a popular thing for someone to trade in a cheaper model so they can have the watch they really desire.”

Top, Rebecca Alexander, the shop on Remuera Rd. From left, a Rolex Submariner, fine jewellery, an Omega Speedmaster

Rolex is their biggest selling brand, and Rebecca says, they can answer “yes” to the oftenasked question if they have the brand’s sports models, such as the Submariner, in stock.

Rebecca claims not to have a favourite watch to wear, she has a collection of interesting, personal watches she changes often. But Marcus is an Omega man. “His knowledge is unrivalled about Omega,” says Rebecca proudly. “Even the Omega Museum in Biel, Switzerland, has asked his advice.”

Rounding out the About Time team is office manager Judith Fursdon, and on weekends, experienced jeweller Clive Lowery is instore too — he worked with Rebecca’s former husband, Christopher Grima, who had a Rolex and handmade jewellery business in Newmarket a decade ago, also called About Time.

With a passionate, dedicated team ready to answer your questions and provide advice based on years of experience, a visit to About Time in Remuera guarantees a pleasurable time for all.

About Time 324 Remuera Rd, Remuera Ph (09) 281 4138 abouttime.co.nz the hobson 22

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the hobson + farro

Savour the Joy This Christmas Farro has everything you need to feed your family and friends, from traditional hams and stuffed turkey roulades, to inspiring sharing platters and mouth-watering desserts.

Plus, Farro has entertaining ideas, sweet treats and scrumptious stocking fillers to take care of all your festive needs.

Here are a few of our favourite picks to make your life easier this Christmas

Quartz Reef Methode Traditionnelle Brut NV Add some sparkle to Christmas with this delicious wine exuding elegance and finesse. Pale yellow with a bouquet of Royal Gala apple, and hints of lime and brioche.

On the palate, this is flirtatious and moreish. Focused, fresh and crisp, the Quartz Reef Methode Traditionnelle has beautiful balance and length. $34.99

Milano Il Panettone A classic Milanese Christmas tradition, this panettone is the fluffiest of Italian sweet bread, studded with raisins and candied fruit.

Delicate and decadent! Enjoy the taste, the scent and the deep sense of satisfaction when you eat this. $35

Cowell’s Mini Pavlovas and Fresh As Raspberries Try this simple yet sensational dessert idea, which doesn’t take up any precious oven space on Christmas Day. Add a dollop of whipped cream, chopped strawberries and raspberries to Cowell’s Free Range Mini Raspberry Pavlovas, $12.50 for six. Sprinkle over Fresh As NZ freeze-dried whole raspberries, $10.50 (35g), for a pretty topping to the dessert.

Farro Mince Tarts The festive season is not complete without devouring some tasty mince tarts. Farro’s beautiful little tarts have delicious spiced fruit and a soft, buttery texture to the pastry. They make a lovely gift or are ideal kept in the pantry ready for unexpected visitors. Best served with a cup of tea and your feet up! A six pack is $7.99

Freedom Farms Half Champagne Ham Freedom Farms hams are independently audited, Freedomfarmed, NZ-raised hams that are glutenfree, moist and truly delicious! Available in a range of sizes, naturally wood smoked and ready-to-eat, just waiting for the glaze. Plus, with every ham order over 4kg, you receive a free Farro ham glaze.

Available from 3.2-4.3kg, $21.99/kg

Mixed Baby Vegetables Pick-and-mix baby vegetables are delicious roasted with a little olive oil and seasoning. They are a tasty and colourful side dish for large festive gatherings and couldn’t be any simpler to prepare.

100g/$2.49

Farro Turkey Roasts Exclusive to Farro, our legendary turkey roasts are fully de-boned, free-range turkey filled with our own tried-and-tested stuffing recipes. A mix of white and dark meat, they can simply be defrosted and cooked in the tray supplied. 1.8kg, $47.99

Pre-order your Christmas ham and turkey now at farrochristmas.co.nz

Visit your local Farro today: Ōrākei, Mt Wellington, Constellation Drive, Grey Lynn, Epsom, Mt Eden the hobson 24

the councillors

Desley Simpson

A

s the calendar year comes to the end, there is no sign of things slowing down in my office. Here’s a snapshot of the many things happening, the issues we face, and some upcoming proposals that we need your input on.

One challenge that we have had this year is deciphering the ward boundary changes and the effect they will have. Councillors are elected from wards which, in the case of Ōrākei ward, have until now matched the boundaries of our local board areas. However, at next year’s election, this is set to change. The Ōrākei ward will change its shape in order to provide a more even ratio of people per councillor, and assist the CBD, which has seen rapid population growth. The proposal has been referred to the Local Government Commission for final approval, but it’s highly likely that the Ōrākei ward will absorb Parnell, Newmarket, Grafton and Newton for Council representation, and lose areas of St Johns and Ellerslie.

It’s important to note that the Ōrākei Local Board boundary will not change, nor will the Waitematā Local Board boundary change.

For those in Newmarket, Parnell, Grafton, you will continue to be represented locally by the Waitematā Local Board, but your councillor will be from the Ōrākei ward (I hope that’s not too confusing!).

The King’s School drop-off zone on Portland Rd is a project I’ve personally championed this year. I facilitated discussions between the two landowners (Auckland Transport and the school) and following a year’s ‘debate’ the project was completed over the October holidays, paid for by the school. “We have received great positive feedback from parents and staff,” says King’s School headmaster Tony Sissons. “This will of course not only ease traffic congestion for all, but will also increase the safety of our boys.”

Staying with transport, Sacred Heart College and Glendowie College reached out to me to explain the obstacles they were facing as a result of changes to the central bus network. Previously both

schools had buses, but the changes saw them asked to share one bus. That proved complicated, as the school day ended differently at each school, students were missing their bus home, there was overcrowding, and it was a complete failure of public transport promotion, with schools encouraging car use as the new bus network simply wasn’t working. I am pleased to advise that following a meeting I had with the deputy principals, and a strong request to Auckland Transport, AT reversed their original decision and added another bus, so back to what was working well before.

Visitors to Remuera who park in the Clonbern Rd carpark will be aware the upper deck has now closed. The carpark is nearing its design lifespan and due to durability issues, the structural capacity was being compromised, and heavier vehicles had been asked not to park there. An independent engineers’ report recommended to AT last month that the upper level be closed, pending a full assessment.

AT advises that there is no indication of immediate safety issues, but the deck does need to be closed while that assessment takes place. I will keep you updated via my Facebook page.

Finally, I’ve always delivered on my promise to vote as per your feedback and there are some very interesting feedback opportunities available now. Do you think fireworks should continue to be sold for private use, or should we just have public displays? Have your say on the Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw which covers this, and the potential banning of street car window washers. Submissions close December 5. And, should the CBD, Mission Bay and St Heliers have speed limits reduced to 30kph? Feedback on this will go to the AT board for a final decision.This will have a major influence on our ward, so please make your thoughts known.

Desley Simpson is the Councillor for Auckland representing the Ōrākei ward

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An architectural masterpiece In order to understand the feeling that architect Leo van Veenendaal has achieved in this unique property, you have to visit it. From the moment you enter a sense of peace and calm surrounds you.

The home has been designed with flexible use in mind. Ideal as a home for smaller families, with excellent separation of areas; a home with office areas; a home with great spaces for visitors to come and stay without interrupting your everyday way of life; as a home for another generation to share with you; as a large lockup-and-leave.

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The quality of build is evident everywhere you look - brick and copper cladding, copper spouting and downpipes, wooden joinery and shutters. But what this home is really all about is the sheer peace, tranquility and calm that the architecture, in harmony with the environment, has created.

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the politicians

David Seymour

A

s go Mt Eden and Epsom, so go Parnell and Remuera with respect to development’ is the basic summary of my column last month. The development of the University of Auckland Epsom campus will affect the school zones and development not only of the immediately adjacent suburbs, but those further on, too.

This month I look at another, related, development in the same area with similar implications for The Hobson’s area.

Southern Cross’ proposed redevelopment of its Brightside Rd property, off Gillies Ave, saw 100 neighbours gather in opposition at the end of October. The proposal would see a building twice the height and many times the bulk of anything nearby arising out of the basalt flow that makes up northern Epsom and Newmarket.

Needless to say, the neighbours are not impressed.

There is always a tension between continuity and change, those who want a bigger Auckland, and those who want to preserve their enjoyment of what we have. Almost every local issue, whether it is bus lanes, cycle ways or intensification, comes back to this tension.

I envy the certainty of the zealots; those who would stand athwart progress, yelling ‘stop!’ on one hand, and those who see every project as nobody else’s business but the immediate property owner, on the other. To mediate this conflict, Auckland went through a near civil war from 2010-14 over the Auckland Unitary Plan. You may recall there were heated confrontations between younger activists, who wanted suburbia to make way to density so they had a chance of living within coo-ee of where they grew up, and older home owners, who wanted everything to stay much the same.

Fractious as it was, the final result was a plan that both sides will have to live with. In recent times, it has stopped the Panuku development of apartments on the corner of Valley and Dominion roads that wasn’t allowed under the plan. It has forced southern Epsom residents to grudgingly accept a five-storey Housing New Zealand development because the plan allows it.

Following agreed rules is innate in us. Try playing lunchtime sports on the fields at any intermediate school, then changing the rules to suit yourself halfway through. The kids will tell you where to go, because they intuitively understand that we all benefit from living under clearly understood rules. That’s why the Southern Cross application is so important to the whole Unitary Plan.

The application is for a new hospital to be built in a residential zone (there is a specific zone type for hospitals). It is an application to build something about twice as high as the Unitary Plan allows for. Any fair-minded person can accept that there will be exceptions to written rules, and some discretion is necessary. On the other hand, this application is such a radical departure from the UP in that it makes the plan meaningless if it is easily accepted. For that reason, everyone in Auckland should be carefully watching what happens in Brightside Rd. I’m aware of this issue because local residents got in touch. If you have a local issue, or indeed a personal issue with policy or the service you’re receiving from government, I am always happy to help ensure your concerns are vigorously represented. Contact me via mpepsom@parliament.govt.nz or call 520 7464.

Paul Goldsmith

O

ne of the most frequent observations of the New Zealand economy, and it’s noted in every OECD report, is that New Zealand is light on research and development (R&D) compared with other wealthy countries. The suggestion is that we would be richer if more companies invested more in research, to move up the value chain.

Kiwis do plenty of R&D. One of the joys of being an MP and Minister of Science, as I was last year, is that it provides the opportunity to visit companies turning their research into products.

And there are plenty in our neighbourhood — Balfour and St Georges Bay roads in Parnell are hotbeds of innovation, for example.

For a couple of decades, at least, there has been widespread support across the political spectrum and throughout most of the business community for some sort of encouragement for R&D. But there’s been an equally long argument about how best to do it.

National has long been sceptical of R&D tax credits. We did them in the 1970s and early 80s, they were colossally expensive – in that they heavily reduced company tax revenues, largely because they were susceptible to trickery and rorts. Accountants have always been innovative, so that all sorts of things became ‘research’.

Because company tax revenues dried up, and government kept on spending, personal tax rates soared – to 66 per cent! Secondly, tax credits are no use to start-up companies, who might not show a profit for 10 years.

National’s preference was to offer a limited pool of grants, through Callaghan Innovation. At least with the grants we knew what we were spending and could budget for it, and start-ups received cash in the hand. The Labour/NZ First/Greens government have thrown out that system and are reintroducing R&D tax credits.

One thing we know is that the country is not well served by constant chopping and changing in this area. Companies need to be able to plan well into the future, and if the rules change every time there is a new government, it creates massive uncertainty.

For that reason, National voted in support of the first reading of the tax credits legislation when it reached the House in October.

It will now go to a select committee. We will try to find a way to shape the scheme so that it can last. The devil is in the detail of the design. Final point to note: the main reason NZ does less R&D than other rich countries is because our companies are much smaller on average. Big companies – pharmaceutical or car manufacturing – do lots of research. We don’t have them.

So the best thing we can do is grow bigger companies. That comes back to basic economic policy which encourages investment, reduces other costs of business and provides certainty. Most of the current Government’s policies are negative on this score – they are pushing away foreign investment and introducing massive uncertainty into domestic investment. Who will invest when they are not sure if they will have to pay a capital gains tax on it, or not?

Who will invest if they’re not sure if theirs will be the next industry the Prime Minister will slice off at the knees arbitrarily, as she has done to the oil and gas, and mining industries?

R&D tax credits will never make up for bad economic policies.

Paul Goldsmith is a National list MP based in Epsom

David Seymour is the MP for Epsom the hobson 28

the auckland foundation

Happy Reflections on Giving

N

ovember 27 was Giving Tuesday, a global movement that began in New York eight years ago. It’s been growing in popularity since and I believe that’s because the day provides welcome relief, and an antithesis to the consumer culture it’s so easy to become overwhelmed with at this time of year.

The movement encourages people to reflect on giving, and the causes they choose to support and why.

It has been the best part of my work, to sit down and learn about why people have decided to give away some of their wealth.

The stories and experiences that drive a desire to give back are hugely varied. But underlying each is a rich vein of shared humanity, and kindness.

I recently met with a local donor and she talked of the huge joy that comes from all giving – the sharing of excess bounty be that money, time, or lemons from the garden. Another Hobson reader talked about the fun of giving now (while he was alive!), getting involved directly with the groups he gives to and seeing the joy and impact from the young people involved.

It is wonderful to see this growth in kindness and connectedness in the community. How refreshing to think and talk of our city in these terms – the growth in kindness, rather than the growth in suffering and need.

It’s how I think of what we do at Auckland Foundation. As your community foundation we oil the wheels of community connectivity and kindness, making it impactful and lasting. And generosity is trending. We see more and more people enquiring about how to create a giving plan. They don’t want to just react to a knock on the door, or participate by chance in a silent auction at an event. People are recognising that they will get greater joy and have a bigger impact if they put some thought into their giving, just as they do with other aspects of their life.

If you’ve been thinking about this, please get in touch with us.

We’d love to hear about your goals, how you want to contribute and help you make it easy and effective.

Sadly, this is my last column for The Hobson. What a fabulous team it’s been to work with. Early next year I will take up the leadership of the YWCA – seeking to make a difference for New Zealand’s young women. I’m excited about the possibility in a world where kindness and equality is on the rise.

Leading the Auckland Foundation has been a tremendous privilege – I’ve met many generous Aucklanders and helped them use their resources to improve our city. I’ve also enjoyed increasing the Auckland Foundation’s visibility, and will continue to expound the virtues of New Zealand’s 16 community foundations – they really are a fantastic, efficient and effective way to make an impact on the city you care about and its people.

— Dellwyn Stuart, CEO, Auckland Foundation aucklandfoundation.org.nz

the plan

Setting Out, With a Plan

A

bout twice a month over the last two years I have given a Unitary Plan presentation in almost every nook of the Auckland region. The presentation sets out the changes that have occurred to our planning system, and ultimately what may occur in sites and suburbs. There is often a collective intake of breath when I tell them that some neighbourhoods may have triple the number of dwellings, that five-level apartment buildings may go up around town centres, and no or limited parking may be required. Generally, there is an acceptance that the additional housing is needed to meet the needs of a growing city, and that having a wide range of housing types, sizes and prices in every suburb must be a better result for the community.

However, past fears of overdevelopment among areas across Auckland may be justified as we have become used to seeing development put in place without the supporting amenity and the provision for schools and open space. If I take Whenuapai for example, rows and rows of dense development have gone up where farmland once was, with no open space or facilities and a worsening traffic commute.

It has been a default position for Auckland Council, cashstrapped and all, to oppose development in new areas where there was no infrastructure. We now have the opposite problem.

A Unitary Plan is now in place, which has freed up development potential. Sadly this is not directly linked with an overarching infrastructure rollout. So if we look at Whenuapai — there are now houses, which is great, and it is not overdeveloped — but there is infrastructure failure. No planning has been had for connectivity, schools, community facilities or proper parks. It is haphazard.

It would give people more confidence if the services and infrastructure met or exceeded housing growth. That is, it would be good if there was proper planning. Auckland is in catch-up mode because past planning policy has failed future generations, who are still largely locked out of the Auckland housing market with our love of the quarter-acre block and our previous unwillingness to control or plan for urban sprawl.

The old Waitakere City Council developed a large swathe of Te Atatu North in the mid 1990s, where they set up the Harbourview

project. The council took the lead by creating a model for urban development by setting up the roads, parks and walkways, and left the developers to then build the houses. The result is the area now called Te Atatu Peninsula, a step up from the backwater it once was.

We cannot live in a house on one hand, and not give thought to the school, park or shopping and employment area. They must go hand in hand, and with more haste than we are used to.

Whenuapai’s neighbour, the Hobsonville Point development, is another example where planning and infrastructure have been intertwined to create not only dwellings, but a decent place to live.

We need development which is planned, and can be applied to all urban conditions with a built environment diverse in use and population. It should be scaled for the pedestrian, yet capable of accommodating the automobile and mass transit, with a public realm supported by architecture and services that reflect the requirements of the area. Without this as a base plan we are just putting more people into the same area — and not making the necessary changes to the heart of the new neighbourhood.

While proper planning is part of the problem, the bigger issue is the provision of infrastructure. The elephant in the room is who is going to pay for it. This issue is not new. Debt ceilings and limited scope for rates rises have been at the forefront of people’s minds, as has the concept of infrastructure bonds. But this inaction has gone on for long enough — so much so that the Chinese, who seem to do a good job of getting infrastructure built, are offering to build the Penlink, 7km to connect the Whangaparaoa Peninsula to SH1.

The link has been proposed for 40 years, while the population of the area has exploded. We are now told that $200m worth of government funds have been allocated, to be undertaken in the next decade. We need it now, not in 10 years. And estimates are the project will cost north of $400m, so who will pay for the other half?

Why is there so much inaction of what are pressing issues?

Delayed or non-planned infrastructure will curtail the supply of houses and only cause more frustration to people living in communities which were never planned for greater densities. A lack of co-operation between central and local government needs to change. — Hamish Firth

Yes, even Mahé needs a navigator.

J U S T N O T O N T H E W AT E R

GUIDING, GROWING, AND P R O T E C T I N G YO U R W E A LT H

H O B S O N W E A LT H .C O. N Z | 0 8 0 0 74 2 7 3 7 Hobson Wealth Partners Limited (FSP29782), is an NZX Advising Firm. The disclosure statement for Hobson Wealth Partners is available upon request, free of charge.

the hobson 30

Remuera House

by Kamermans Architects North Elevation

Entry Elevation

Kitchen / Dining / Entry

General Bathroom

Suburban Context

The Bell Road house featured looks beautiful; harmonious, simple, clean lines. What drives you in your designs?

All our designs are primarily driven by a desire to create the most liveable environment. This generally starts with an in depth analysis of the client briefing and site conditions (function, budget, site orientation, contours, views, regulatory controls etc). It is then followed by concept design(s) where the ‘hard’ requirements, such as function, should be in harmony with the ‘soft’ requirements such as aesthetics. Neither of these two aspects (hard & soft) should ever compromise each other. This is why our clients love our buildings; they are easy to live in and mentally stimulating.

A design challenge for this house was to create living areas with all day sun, an outlook down the Portland Road valley and maximum privacy on a small site. The roof was kept low to retain a valley view for the 1880’s house owned by the vendor of the site. Interior design clues were taken from the owners materials/colour preferences. He, being South Island born, likes South Island Beech, and her favourite colour is blue.

What other projects is your practice currently working on?

We do mainly residential work, which includes new homes as well as alterations and additions. Currently we are working on new single house projects in Coatesville, Mangawhai Heads, Whangarei, Queenstown, Nelson, Rarotonga and The Netherlands. Then there are some alterations/additions and a mixed use commercial/ residential ‘heritage’ building in Auckland.

That’s quite a few projects. How big is your practice?

Currently we are a team of five. I do keep the size of the practice small so that all projects can get my full personal attention and involvement.

You mentioned overseas projects, tell me about it?

KA has been doing work in Rarotonga for more than 15 years. We recently completed a new eco friendly house in The Netherlands and are talking about designing a cluster of small eco friendly holiday homes in a beautiful wooded area in Belgium. In sharp contrast to that, we are currently working on an eco friendly apartment building in a dense urban environment in Israel. The only available space is ‘up’.

This building is designed to have natural cooling, ventilation and winter heating and largely relies on its own solar energy. /Kamermans Architects kamermansarchitects

1/394 Remuera Road, Remuera, Auckland 09 5249585 / www.kamermans.co.nz

the investment

The Name is Bond

M

ay I be so bold as to have a different view to one held by the famous and legendary investor, Warren Buffett?

He once stated, “Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.” Having a background in focused investing, I do to some extent agree with Mr Buffett, however one must appreciate that not all investors/ individuals are possessed with his extent of foresight and investment prowess, nor do they enjoy a balance sheet the size of his, nor the (very long) investment time frame. So I’d argue that diversification can, and should be, your friend when investing — particularly when your name is not Warren Buffett.

I learned a great lesson from an institutional securities trader colleague in the 90s. I asked him why he split an order to buy a parcel of shares into two, effectively buying half the required amount in the share market in the morning, and the other half in the afternoon. His eloquent response was something along the lines of “Well young Warren, if I buy half in the morning and the share price then heads up before I buy the rest in the afternoon, I can be happy that I didn’t wait until the afternoon to buy the full amount.

And if I buy some in the morning and the share price falls over the day, then I feel good that I didn’t buy them all too quickly and were able to complete the order at lower prices.” I hope I’ve explained this properly — that he’s happy no matter what the market does.

It’s the same principle with diversifying your investment portfolio – you can feel good about your asset allocation decisions (largely between growth and income assets) with even basic diversification. And we can see the merits of this approach over the past few weeks where share markets have corrected (predicted beautifully by my father and missed by me!). Having a diversified portfolio of bonds and equities would have cushioned your investments from the effect of the share markets’ fall.

When share markets are buoyant — as they have been almost entirely throughout the past 10 years — it’s easy to question why one would diversify away from equities or shares and hold any bonds at all? (Notwithstanding, Harry Hindsight is a great investor). After all, in the current record low interest rate environment, it’s difficult to find yield or “interest-rate” returns materially above 4 per cent. And in most cases, after tax they’re closer to nil. So why bother?

October — although painful — was hopefully a timely reminder of why we look at investing from an overall portfolio perspective, one that includes multiple asset classes (shares, bonds, property, cash etc). The NZX50 declined 6.2 per cent in October, the eighth worst month for the index in the past 20 years. Conversely, the NZ S&P Corporate ‘A’ Bond Index returned 0.40 per cent amidst the turmoil.

Diversification is a term, that in my opinion, is used too ‘loosely’ in our industry. It is often meant to imply that if you are well diversified, then your investments are protected. This may be the case, but the question we need to really ask is ‘how correlated are the returns across the different investments you are holding?’ In other words, if share markets are moving down, how are your other investments performing, and do they tend to move up or down at the same time? This brings me back to the argument for proper diversification and for always having some sort of bond allocation.

Bonds tend to be only appreciated by investors when sentiment turns sour in equity markets. This is of course a generalisation, but my point is that no one will thank you for holding bonds when times are good, because of the lower rate of return and ‘drag’ on your overall portfolio returns. However, one of the key reasons that bonds should be there are that they provide investor comfort, that all things being equal, their initial capital investment is intact, and their income is known. One of the key lessons learnt from the GFC, was that in a true ‘risk off’ environment — better known as when the market gets the wobbles — most asset classes are correlated, with the exception of bonds. Meaning regardless of how diversified you were across geographies, most of your investments were tracking lower in price, with the exception of bonds. Diversification is, and bonds are, your friend!

A couple of months ago I quoted Andrew Carnegie, the ScottishAmerican industrialist and one of the wealthiest people of his generation. He didn’t like people who scattered their capital, which in his mind, meant “that they have scattered their brains also” .

He ultimately would not have achieved great successes had he not been a believer in concentration (like Mr Buffett). Nonetheless, for most of us, diversifying investments is a way to reduce the risk from wobbly markets, and losing that which we have worked hard to save. — Warren Couillault

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the suburbanist

A Report from the Frontlime

O

n the day it launched in Auckland I downloaded the Lime app and promptly caught the bus home – I may be an early adopter, but I’m no fool. Well, not on Mondays at least. On Tuesday, misreading folly for bravery, I opened the app and located a Lime on Victoria Ave. Mere minutes later, helmet in hand and after reading fewer instructions than come with a lightbulb, I scanned the scooter with my phone and it was mine.

Within seconds (or so it seemed) I had descended to Portland Rd, which was fortuitously free of traffic. I beetled along exploring the texture of the terrain, foot position and wind factor. The footpath, for the most part, was smoother than the road, until it ran out. The tiny wheels transmitted everything through to my hands, so I chose my paths wisely.

Definitely more fun than a bus but it required more concentration – I couldn’t read or stare out the window. After a while, I realised that I wasn’t sharing the load between my feet and was leaning back on my right foot, using the left for stability. So, like riding a bus but as if I was standing the whole way; on one leg. Shuffle, shuffle, adjust.

I flew along Shore Rd and started up Ayr St. And stopped. It was way too steep for the tiny motor and would only keep moving, just, with a lot of aggressive footpower on the pavement. I hopped off and walked it up the hill. At 30 cents per minute, it only cost me three dollars to push someone else’s scooter up the hill . . . Through the Domain – pleasant – and along Park Rd in front of the hospital – busy – across Grafton Bridge and down Symonds St to the University. I got off (dismounted? de-scootered?) and immediately

felt pain in my left foot (with apologies to Daniel Day Lewis). My 5.6km commute had taken 35 minutes, saved 1416gm of carbon and cost me $10.50, a modicum of dignity and my ability to walk.

A trip to the physio (by car; I may be foolish but I’m not stupid) revealed I had injured my plantar fascia. In my effort to find the right position with my feet, I had kept my right foot flat to the board and my left, arched for better stability. Who knew my arch tendencies would lead to such pain? Later in the week I learned that I was one of the first 14 to make an ACC claim for a Lime scooter injury. So special. So sore. In that first week, there were 40,000 rides on a Lime, exceeded only by the hysterical responses in the media. One emergency room doctor said the injuries were coming in “fast and furious”; at two per day and about one for every 3000 trips, I’d hate to see how he describes car accidents.

My lessons learned: great for short trips; commuting, not so much. Avoid hills (Ayr St at least) and ride the ridges. Keep your feet flat and your weight evenly balanced. Pay attention. Ride to the conditions. Be courteous, share nicely. Wear a helmet. Wear sunscreen. Also, a grin.

A week after my first experience, I needed to post a letter and, still footsore, didn’t want to walk to the post office. I turned on the app, found a scooter 100m from my house, climbed back on the horse – as it were – and zipped up the road. Stamp, $1.80; Lime fee, $3.30; challenging the automotive hegemony with just a touch of civil disobedience and cool wind in my (helmeted) hair: priceless.

— Tommy Honey

Years 1–13

New Senior Campus Opening Term One 2019 for students in Year 12 and 13 2 Titoki Street, Parnell | 0800 222 877 parnellcollege.acgedu.com

the hobson 33

the second act

Give Her a Break

L

ike most-mid lifers I swing from thinking I should live like there’s no tomorrow, to ensuring I am making prudent choices that might see me through another 30 to 40 years. So as I was sauntering along in a carefree manner to get coffee at the airport recently, wearing what I thought to be boots of a durable design to last a long lifetime, these two states of mind literally collided. Caught in my own thoughts, I tripped over the suitcase of a slow-walking man. While my grippy-soled Doc Martens stopped, I didn’t, and I broke my leg. They say you are only as young as you feel, and now that I have ‘had a fall’, I am feeling every one of my 55 years. This is not anything manageable like an annoying sprain or a broken wrist; this was your two-hour-operation-leg-in-a cast-forsix-weeks-further-operations-to-remove-pins-needed debacle.

People have one of two immediate responses to my predicament.

“The universe is trying to tell you to slow down.” Really? I have gone deep searching for a spiritual lesson and all I find is recognition of a certain clumsiness. Or, “at least you’ll have fodder for your next column”. That’s true, but how could I make this helpful, rather than a self-pitying whine?

So, from the vantage point of being motionless, from the airport floor, to the ambulance, the hospital bed and now the couch, where I am currently stationed with my leg raised, here are some observations that I am compelled to share.

As much as I believe in the kindness of complete strangers — like those who stayed with me through the initial stages of the ordeal — be wary: there is also another lot, the types who shamelessly filmed me on their phones as I writhed around in agony, screaming for an ambulance (I am probably trending on social media: #traumaatairport).

I am anti-drugs and hate taking any medication, and I noticed how easy it would be to form an addiction to opiates if left to my own devices. Once settled in hospital, I’d take anything offered.

Not necessarily because I was in agonising pain, I just wanted to feel less uncomfortable. The sleep was better than anything I have experienced, and I can well imagine forming a happy little addiction to pills that efficiently erased the annoying, modernday niggle, of not being able to drop off to sleep on demand. Once

home, my husband took me off Tramadol and poured me a gin instead. Party pooper.

I know now the best things to bring someone in hospital. When my friend turned up on day one with a bag of kiwifruit, I thought it odd. But, trust me, it’s the gift that keeps giving . . . I also received beautiful peonies, already in a vase! That saved everyone a lot of time and hassle.

You can divide friends into two camps – those you love and a smaller subset whom, if really pushed, might give you a sponge bath. “Can I be in the first camp?” I hear my friends cry. Even one of my sisters said she’d need to break into the stash of Tramadol to be on sponge bath duty. Actually, the real line that separates my girlfriends into two distinct groups is about tolerance of mess – there are the anal types who immediately start cleaning up (they’ve been dying to sort out my slovenly lifestyle for years) and the others to whom it doesn’t even register. Thank god for your friends. Family are okay of course, but your offspring’s willingness to help out is related not necessarily to your needs, but to how much weight the other sibling is pulling. Husbands . . . hmmm, they try. Mine focuses on grand gestures like champagne and oysters for lunch, and ordering new-fangled mobility devices when all I really want is another cup of tea and the conversation to be about me, me, me.

But probably my biggest insight is about how incredible our health system is. Stop whining about the hospital food, people!

Come on, you self-entitled prats, we were raised eating meat and three boiled veg. There’s nothing wrong with it, and there are more choices than you’re offered on an airline. We are patients, not clients or customers. How lucky are we in New Zealand to have ACC, and how lucky are we all that there is a particular breed of amazing person who wants to go nursing? Our nurses are amazing.

Can we please stop deliberating and just pay them 20 per cent more by taxing fat cats and corporates just a little bit more? Seriously.

Perhaps this column has been no help whatsoever but if you retain one thing, it is not about the perils of solid footwear, or giving friends a hug or slowing down to smell the roses. It is simply a reminder to bring kiwifruit — it’s a truly moving gesture.

— Sandy Burgham

the hobson 34

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David Seymour MP For Epsom

the teacher R=255 G=218 B=55 R=0 G=64 B=139

Making it Good

Authorised by David Seymour, Suite 2.4, Level 2, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket, AKL

David Seymour ACT Logo Colour mark up Black & White

W

hat is a ‘good education’ in the 21st century? It is so interesting to ask, and to hear very different replies.

PMS Colours K=100 Some think it is all about academics, others say academic studies are not as important as they used to be, and many say it’s all about giving children a balance between an academic PMS 7404 C education and an experience in everything else life offers. Others point to how many highly successful people today, and historically, PMS 287 C have achieved great success with very little education.

Why is this, I wonder? After many years in education I have met many people who didn’t achieve well while at school, but went on to become highly successful in their careers. That affirms my belief CMYK Colours that every child has their own development journey, some grasping learning really early, while others take a bit longer.

Growing up, my parents told me I needed a ‘good education’ if C=0 M=9 Y=79 K=0 I wanted to get a good job. That meant being focused at school, C=100 M=68 Y=0 K=12doing my homework, passing exams, then going on to university.

All very structured, and somewhat limiting. The message that a degree would bring wealth, happiness, opportunity and success was one I bought into, and went along with. This, fortunately, was pretty on the mark for me, as my choices of a career were very RGB Colours limited as a young woman, compared with the enormity of choices students, and particularly women, have today.

So, in the 21st century, what really is a ‘good education’? What do R=255 G=218 B=55 students need to know — and how do they find out what they need to know — in a world that offers so much?

Level 2, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket R=0 G=64 B=139 MP For Epsom We all want the very best for our children, and realise the key Authorisedby byDavid DavidSeymour, Seymour,MP Suite Level27 2, Gillies 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket, AKL Promoted for2.4, Epsom, Avenue, Newmarket to a successful life is a good education. I have a favourite quote that has stayed with me throughout my teaching career — “We have borrowed our children from the future. It is up to us to give Black & White them the skills to live there”. I don’t know who wrote it, but it is timeless, and so very true.

K=30 It’s easy to measure student success at school, because everything is directed by a syllabus. However, there are certain K=100 things children need to learn that are a compulsory part of having a successful life. That brings me to what a successful life means.

‘Success’ means something different to us all. I was fortunate to recently meet educational psychologist Patricia Alexander.

Dr Alexander is a professor at the University of Maryland and was recently named one of the most influential educational FAMILY DIRECTED FUNERALS psychologists of the past decade. She is a visiting professor at the University of Auckland, and I was able to talk about a ‘good Inspired by the desire to reclaim one of life’s education’ and ‘success’ with her. “Education happens, every experience shapes who we are and what we become,” she said. “A most important rites of passage, good education bleeds out of the walls of a classroom”. How true is that, and a very descriptive way to describe it.

State of Grace offers a caring, compassionate Dr Alexander went on to say that “education is a student’s job”. It and highly personalised approach to death care is their job to figure it out as they pass through the years, and with so much for them to have to comprehend today, it is important to and funeral arrangements. be able to sift through it all to find what is relevant and important to guide them as they progress their journey. “It’s not so much knowledge building but information managing,” she said.

A good education starts out by forming good partnerships with the key players in every child’s life from birth. By the time they reach school age, they bring with them hugely differing knowledge concepts depending on the experiences they have had in the first five years of their life. If you Google Dr Alexander, she makes for very interesting and fascinating reading. There’s so much to learn about what is a ‘good education’.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2019. I encourage you to spend as much time with your children over the Christmas break to add to, and to enjoy, their educational www.stateofgracefunerals.co.nz journey away from the classroom. Every experience they have is another key to their door of success. — Judi Paape

MP for Epsom K=30

(and Mt Eden, Newmarket, Parnell and Remuera)

Contact me for an appointment ph 09 522 7464 mpepsom@ parliament.govt.nz

Epsom Electorate Office David Seymour

State

Grace

09 527 0366 0800 764 327

the hobson + st cuthbert’s swim school

A Safer Summer of Swimming

T

he summer holidays are an excellent time for you to take young children down to your local beach, lake or pool. However, without an adequate level of water safety awareness, what can be a fun outdoor activity can turn into a potentially dangerous situation.

Alarmingly, the 2017 Water Safety New Zealand Attitudes and Behaviours Survey indicated that while 84 per cent of adult New Zealanders say that they’re able to swim, just over half feel as though they have been exposed to water survival skills, such as identifying unsafe places to swim.

The good news is that monitoring small children around large bodies of water needn’t be stressful, says St Cuthbert’s Swim School Manager, Ben Danieli, especially if your child has been introduced to swimming from an early age.

According to Ben, being able to swim

is the first step towards ensuring that you have a fun and safe summer and professional swimming lessons are an effective way of achieving this.

“Taking your child along to swimming lessons means that your child will be able to float, tread water, and perform simple strokes in the water,” says Ben. At the award-winning St Cuthbert’s Swim School, qualified swimming instructors work with small classes and squads to ensure that all children are able to build their confidence and abilities.

Whether it’s a one-week intensive holiday programme or a year-round programme, professional swimming instruction will not only raise your child’s awareness of water safety, it will provide them with a rewarding experience where they can improve their swimming skills, fitness, health and self-confidence.

Water safety is not just limited to ensuring that your child is able to swim themselves, however. Other ways that adults are able to make sure that children are able to swim safely includes making sure that children are supervised around bodies of water and that they are no further than an arm’s length away at all time in case they need to be reached quickly.

Another suggestion that Ben Danieli offers is to talk to your family about water safety at home. Topics could include how to be sun-smart, how to identify a rip in the water, or what to do if they see someone in distress in the water.

“A basic knowledge of water safety is integral to keeping you and your family safe this summer. Encourage your children to take the plunge and try swimming lessons in 2019.”

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the culture

Everybody Dance Now! Augustine Dias and Enrique Johns are by day a computer tech-turned photographer, and an insurance advisor respectively.

But when night falls, it’s all about salsa. The Hobson asked a (slightly reluctant) Chantelle Murray to put on her dancing shoes

photographs by augustine dias

L

et me be honest. When my editor asked me if I liked salsa dancing, my stomach dropped. I have no natural rhythm, and caught up in music, I can never remember my lefts and rights. Making my arms and legs do different things at the same time is a challenge!

I have even failed at the basic and a-one and a-two business at Zumba.

However. I am a big believer in making the most of the opportunities that come your way. This is how I wound up at the Vodka Room in Ponsonby, wearing (as instructed) my comfiest pair of heels, and escorted by my boyfriend, Josh, at the weekly “Baila” salsa night held here.

The room is much smaller than I expected, and it smells like lemon drop martinis. The lights are deep red and the bar at one side of the room is gold brocade. It feels very intimate and even a little bit saucy. I introduce myself to the two men wearing three piece tailored suits and red flowers on their lapels. They are salsa masters and old friends Augustine Dias and Enrique Johns, and their friendliness puts me at ease.

Enrique, who has twice competed on Dancing with the

Stars NZ, takes tonight’s lesson with his dance partner, Amy Horner, while Augustine does some photography. Somehow, I end up at the very front in the middle. I try to exude confidence, but each time Johns counts, I get more and more flustered. Foot here, here, here . . . My foot’s over there, but our tutor takes it very slow and waits until we (well – until I) understand the footwork.

We all line up in pairs. I start with Josh, but then we swap, and I dance with a number of young men who are all beginners too. They don’t take it too seriously, and finish off each dance with a big smile and a high five. I feel a bit like I’m speed dating, but everybody is very friendly. One of my dance partners shakes my hands around to loosen my shoulders, and I laugh. This isn’t so bad. So what if my feet aren’t quite where they should be?

All too quickly the lesson is over, and more smartlydressed guests arrive for the more experienced dancers’ part of the evening. Augustine goes looking for Enrique, but fails to find him. Instead, he asks, holding out his hand, “Would you like to dance?”

the hobson 38

I feel like Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing, when Patrick Swayze teaches her to sway her hips when they first meet. I’m looking down at my feet and Augustine is giving me cues that I don’t understand. With his coaching though, I realise that I do know how to do it. Augustine twirls me round, arches me back into a dip and even makes me do a body roll. Wait a second – are my feet in the right place? I’m surrounded by laughing, shimmying couples moving in and out to the music and my feet are in the right place! It feels great.

Augustine, originally from Sri Lanka, began dancing soon after he moved to New Zealand, when he was 22. Enrique teases him by saying it kept him out of trouble, and admits that his mother put him on Latin and ballroom dancing for that same reason, after the Johns family migrated to New Zealand from South Africa, when Enrique was 13. I ask him the main reason he kept dancing and he laughs and says, “Girls!”

Since then, Enrique has represented New Zealand in the World Salsa Championships in 2012 in Hong Kong, where he and his dance partner placed first, and has been competing for NZ in Australian competitions. Enrique also owns his own company as a financial advisor under Aurora Insurance. He continued to work as a financial advisor while participating in Dancing with the Stars.

“It’s stressful,” Enrique says, of being one of the pro dancers on the show. “But it’s very rewarding. You kind of look at your star like your child. They start off not knowing anything and you teach them all the way to the end.”

Augustine has also been juggling a few different things on the go. A familiar face to many eastern suburbs businesses and homes, he was for several years one of the team of Mac experts at Ubertech in Parnell, but has resigned to turn his focus to a career in photography. “It used to be quite hard having a full-time job and to balance photography and Baila,” Augustine explains, “but now I have the time to think and approach new people and do new things. I really enjoy that freedom.”

the hobson 39

Opposite page: Amy Horner instructs women at the beginning of the class (a hesitant-looking Chantelle Murray can be seen at the rear, blonde hair, coral tee-shirt); This page, salsa makes you smile, and above, Enrique Johns, left, and Augustine Dias flank Johns’s DWTS partner, Shavaughn Ruakere (pic supplied).

the culture

The idea behind the salsa nights was, in the words of Augustine, “to get people into the dancing scene.” The duo, who have named their company Baila — for a Sri Lankan music style — have been running these nights free of charge.

The aim is to get a new and younger audience interested in dancing, and hopefully to give back to the dance studios. There is a point where they will begin charging, but for now, the goal is to just enjoy the night.

I thank Augustine and Enrique for their time, and tell them that I really did enjoy the night.

After we’ve finished chatting, I go back to the dance room to see Josh dancing the night away.

A few of my new friends wave me over. Like Enrique said, “Dancing does that to you. You get over the fear of talking to people.”

Baila Nights are run on Thursdays from 8pm until late at the Vodka Room, 5 Rose Rd, Ponsonby. Dias and Johns also plan to establish Baila Nights in Parnell from January.

Head to the Baila Facebook page to stay up to date, @bailaakl

Top, Johns teaches best feet forward, scenes from Chantelle’s Baila Night

the hobson 40

the heritage

The Councillor Looks Back This month, long-serving Auckland local politician Mike Lee sets aside his usual City Hall commentary to talk about history — a historical investigation that drew on his Master of Science degree, 20 years in the merchant navy and his love for the natural world, French language and culture

N

ext year will be the 250th anniversary of the visit to New Zealand of James Cook and the Endeavour. No doubt, this will stimulate renewed interest in the epic Age of Discovery and its impact on our own history. For some years now I have been writing a book; as it happens it’s not about Cook, but about his seagoing contemporaries, most of whom were French.

Navigators & Naturalists – French exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas 1769-1824 weaves together natural and human history. It sets the scientific exploration of New Zealand and the Pacific in the context of the French Enlightenment, with its veneration of science and philosophy and the quest to map the whole world – and everything in it – minerals, plants, animals and peoples, that fuelled the Age of Discovery.

It is a rather big book, set out in five parts. The prologue, the scene-setter, is about Bougainville, his ‘discovery’ of Tahiti and the western mythologizing of the South Seas. Part 1, ‘To the Far Side of the World’, deals with Enlightenment science, and the race between England and France to find the mythical Great Southern Continent. Part 2, ‘Jean de Surville – the Capitalist’ is about this little known Pacific voyage, launched from French India, at the same time as Cook’s. In fact Surville’s St Jean Baptiste and Cook’s Endeavour passed each other within hours off North Cape. It includes fascinating accounts from old French journals of first contact with Māori at Doubtless Bay. Surville’s expedition is still shrouded in mystery and controversy but is not nearly as controversial as Marion Dufresne’s.

His visit to the Bay of Islands in 1772 is covered in Part 3, ‘Marion Dufresne – Enlightenment Martyr?’ Again there are detailed accounts of Māori-European interactions and some intriguing natural history observations.

Dufresne, whose assassination along with 24 of his men led to a brief but vicious war between the French and Māori, is perhaps the centrepiece of the book. For the most part, the visit was an idyllic sojourn fulfilling its commander’s philosophical notions of the ‘noble savage’ but then, for reasons never satisfactorily explained, it suddenly turned terribly violent. Revisiting the reasons behind his killing, my cold case review of the evidence comes up with an explanation different from that now widely accepted by contemporary academics and historians. Challenging received wisdom tends be controversial, so the reaction will be interesting.

Part 4 deals with the expeditions of La Pérouse and d’Entrecasteaux, the French Revolution and Napoléon Bonaparte.

Finally, Part 5, ‘Vicit Scientiam - science victorious’ is the book’s ‘grand finale’. It covers the successful La Coquille expedition (18221825) of Louis-Isidore Duperrey, which visited the Bay of Islands at the height of the Musket Wars. There are fascinating anecdotes about the powerful Māori rangatira, including Hongi Hika at one end of the social scale, and at the other of captive slaves, including the vivacious and brave Tinu, known to the sailors as Nanette.

Duperrey’s scientific expedition featured the naval officers-comenaturalists René Primevère Lesson and Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont d’Urville, whose pioneering work in zoology and botany has left an enduring legacy in the natural sciences of New Zealand.

I think readers will find interesting the story of the original but unrecognised scientific name for the North Is brown kiwi, discovered and named by Lesson, and the rediscovery of the oldest existing specimens of this species, collected by d’Urville. One of which, much to the astonishment of the curators of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, was found only a few weeks ago, hidden in plain sight on public display in the Museum’s Grande Galerie de l’Evolution.

The book also features a number of interesting supporting characters, barely remembered in their native France, let alone New Zealand. For instance, Pierre Monneron, who came to New Zealand with Surville and 20 years later played a key role as a radical politician in the French Revolution. Also, from the opposite side of the revolutionary divide, the 20-year-old noble, Ambroise Bernard Jar du Clesmeur, elevated to command the two-ship expedition of Marion Dufresne after his leader’s death.

Young du Clesmeur produced a remarkably handsome sketch of Mt Taranaki, which I discovered last year in the margin of his navigation journal in the Paris archives. It’s the oldest known artwork of the iconic mountain in existence and is now published for the first time, featured on the book’s cover. Then there is the heart-touching story of the first woman to visit New Zealand, Louise Victoire Girardin, who, disguised as a man, was a member of d’Entrecasteaux’s crew. And from that same 1793 expedition, Raoul and Kermadec, well-known as names, but unknown as men.

We spend some time on the back-stories of Joseph Raoul, the sailor from the lower decks who rose to be a hydrographer, then a fighting commander in the Napoleonic Wars, and a rather different personality, much-loved by his crew, the intellectual aristocrat Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. Kermadec, along with many of the French Pacific explorers, did his fighting in the earlier American War of Independence. He died en mission at New Caledonia, a few weeks after visiting New Zealand and the archipelago named after him.

Navigators & Naturalists I hope will go some way to restoring something that has been lost over time – the French contribution to our history.

Navigators & Naturalists – French exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas 1769-1824 by Michael Lee, published by Bateman Books, is available from all good booksellers. RRP $69.99.

Courtesy of Mike Lee and Bateman Books, we have three copies to give away: see page 6 for details.

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the arts

Sit, Good Boy, Sit Remuera-based photographer Mark Smith adds dogs and a new business promoting art photography to his portfolio. By Gretchen Carroll

M

ark Smith brings delight to his dog-loving clients with his photography. One of Smith’s business streams is “sit”, a dog portraiture business, the idea for which evolved from human portraiture.

“Today, portraits of people are not taken anymore, it’s all selfies,” says Smith. “But people want to have a portrait of their pet.”

He usually has the dog sit on a chair with a calico sheet backdrop, and the finished black and white shots have a classic look to them. This creates an old-style portraiture look, a kind of anthropomorphism, says Smith, making the dogs more human-like.

“Dog owners usually experience their pet’s life from young to old, and dogs have a shorter life span by nature. Quite often the owner realises they might not have them that much longer, so want to immortalise their loved pet through photography.”

The photo shoot is at the client’s own place, or at Smith’s Remuera home, where he lives with wife Lucy and their two children (the family is presently “between dogs”).

Smith agrees the old saying about never working with children and animals is true to a degree. “A person rang recently and I could hear the two dogs yapping in the background,” he says with a laugh.

“The owner said good luck photographing these two, but we always get there. It does require patience, and we definitely have our moments. But you get really focused about it, and I make a fool of myself, including using the dog’s toys, to get the good photos.”

As fun/crazy as shooting dogs can be, it’s a small part of Smith’s business. While his bread and butter work is commercial photography for a range of clients (such as Working Style’s architectural campaign recently), under the name “Smith and Smith”, he also works in partnership with his photographer sister, Deborah. And while Deborah followed the fine arts path and Mark went commercial, they collaborate often. They’ve worked together on assignment for brands like Eco Store, Karen Walker and Nature Baby. Currently, they’re at work on a calendar for the popular Ponsonby restaurant, Prego.

“We’re Irish twins, with only a year between our ages. It’s wonderful to share photography with her.”

Another recent Smith development is Photos Inc, which leases and sell photographic prints. The idea for Photos Inc was sparked after his brother-in-law mentioned to him that his office only had “bad art”, and asked Smith if they could have some photographs to raise the tone.

Smith created Photos Inc with fellow photographer Anna Comrie-Thomson, and the pair represent numerous top New Zealand photographers. This makes

photographic works changeable, affordable and tax deductible for businesses. Photography has been hard to lease historically in New Zealand, Smith says, more overlooked than other New Zealand art, so they are working to change this.

Smith fell in love with photography at high school in Hawkes Bay, turning the wash-house at home into a dark room, with his mother’s blessing. After finishing school he went on to do photography apprenticeships with the Herald Tribune and the New Zealand Herald.

He’s been a freelance photographer for 30 years now, with tutoring secondary and tertiary students as part of that work.

“It’s an amazing industry to see how it’s developed.

Now is an interesting time, as everyone has a phone and takes their own photos. So it’s both a challenge and a time for reinvention.”

For information on the “sit” portraits and other works, see marksmith.co.nz For photography sale and hire, visit photosinc.co.nz

the hobson 42

This page, “sit “subjects, clockwise from top left: Milly, Monty and Maisy, Scout, Oscar. Opposite, Mark Smith, photographed at home by his son, Jack.

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the magpie

It’s a Wrap!

You’ve made your list and checked it twice, now The Magpie says relax.

She’s done the hard yards, flying hither and yon to scope out the smartest gifts for everyone in your life, so . . .

Happy Christmas, my active friend!

1. Tom Carroll Outer Reef 10’6 Package, $1895 from the SUP Centre. supcentre.co.nz 2. adidas Originals SST Track Jacket, $120, adidas.co.nz 3. Sunnylife Glitter Ping Pong, $59.95 from Hedgerow, 371 Remuera Rd, hedgerow.co.nz 4. Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Serum, $57, Mecca Cosmetica, meccabeauty.co.nz 5. Dermalogica Protection Sport SPF50, $65, from Dermalogica counters 6. Beats Studio3 Wireless Over-Ear Headphones, $499, from Noel Leeming, noelleeming.co.nz 7. B&O Play A2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker, $699 from Harvey Norman, harveynorman.co.nz 8. Loop It Up Yoga Mat Strap $29, available in six colours. From lululemon.co.nz 9. Motomail Vespa GTS 300 Supersport Euro 4. Matte Grey, $10,490, from motomail.co.nz 10. adidas by Stella McCartney Ultra Boost X, $380 from adidas.co.nz

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For you, my young buddy!

2 1. Hover Soccer by Britz, $45, from Mainly Toys, 333 Remuera Rd, mainlytoys.co.nz 2. Lucky Mimi by Lucky Doggy, $58.70, Hedgerow, 371 Remuera Rd, hedgerow.co.nz 3. Sick Science Insta-Snow Jar Science Kit, $15, Gogo Kids, 315 Remuera Rd, gogokids.co.nz 4. Bumble & bumble Glimmer Finishing Spray, in gold. $27, available at selected stockists 5. Disney x Karen Walker Runaway Mickey and Minnie Mug, $40 from Karen Walker Playpark, or karenwalker.com 6. Sunnylife Giant Tumbling Tower $79, from Hedgerow, 371 Remuera Rd, hedgerow.co.nz 7. Tenzi game, $20 (for 40 dice). Mainly Toys, 333 Remuera Rd, mainlytoys.co.nz 8. Dermalogica Clear Start Kit, $50, from Dermalogica counters 9. Frank Body Babe-A-Chino Coffee Cup with two scrubs, $33, Mecca Cosmetica, meccabeauty.co.nz 10. Element Tye Dye Complete Major League 8 Skateboard. $100, from Hyper Ride, hyperride.co.nz

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the magpie

With lots of love to my stylish pal!

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1 1 & 2. GlamGlow Glowstarter Illuminating Moisturizer, $78, and Tatcha The Pearl Tinted Eye Treatment. $76, both from Mecca Cosmetica, meccabeauty.co.nz 3. Hideseekers Salty lilac/grey tank. $115 from The Luxe Edit, Orakei Bay Village, or hideseekers.com 4. Deadly Ponies Mr Frizzling PVC bag, $355, and Mr Mini Woolf, $495.

16 Osborne St or deadlyponies.com 5. Workshop Denim Men’s Standard T with Martin Poppelwell Good Skull Print. $129 at Workshop Morrow St or workshop.co.nz 6. Minimalux cufflinks, $208, from Simon James Design. simonjamesdesign.com 7. All Round Diamond Band, made to order from Antheas, 333 Remuera Rd, antheasjewellers.co.nz 8. Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust Steel & 18ct gold with mother of pearl dial. $9450, About Time, 324 Remuera Rd. abouttime.co.nz 9. New York Yankees 4TWENTY Strapback in olive. $59 from Superette Nuffield St or superette.co.nz 10. Beauty Dust Oval Boar Bristle Brush, $45, from Hedgerow, 371 Remuera Rd, hedgerow.co.nz 11. Stila All Eyes On You Liquid Eyeshadow Vault, $311 at Mecca Cosmetica or meccabeauty.co.nz 12. Wouf Leopard tote, $165 (other sizes available). At Hedgerow.

13. Kowtow Resort Ivy asymmetrical one-piece swimsuit, $239, kowtow.co.nz 14. Birkenstock Arizona in rose, $190, birkenstock.co.nz

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I thought this would look great . . .

1. Urban Apothecary Fig Tree Candle, $75 from World/WorldBeauty, worldbrand.co.nz 2. Morso Kamino Outdoor Terrace Fireplace, $2799. Outdoor Concepts, 77 The Strand, Parnell. outdoorconcepts.co.nz 3. Ferm Living Planter Boxes, $347 each, from slowstore.co.nz 4. Circus Floor Light by Resident, $6950, from Simon James Design. simonjamesdesign.com 5. Janka Splashed rug by Jan Kath, custom made to size, from $18,000. Artisan Collective, 31a Normanby Rd. artisancollective.co.nz 6. AÄ“sop A Curious Connection Christmas gift kit of Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser and Rind Concentrate Body Balm. $73, aesop.com/nz 7. Resident Dog: Incredible Homes and the Dogs that Live There by Nicole England (Thames & Hudson). RRP $59, good booksellers.

8. Renee Boyd Jug in Mint, $45, The Poi Room, 17 Osborne St, thepoiroom.co.nz 9. Masello Teak Modular Sofa shown with Jak Wicker and Jimmy Side Tables, and Blok Concrete Square Coffee Table (pieces sold separately). All available from Design Warehouse, 137 The Strand, Parnell. designwarehouse.co.nz

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the sound

Byrning Down The House about microphones and wires and amps? So he did. Using wireless tech and microphones around the stage, he’s freed everybody. They carry their instruments everywhere, whether they’re keyboards, drums or xylophones. And with everybody free anywhere on the stage, he brought in Annie-B Parson, the artistic director of New York-based Big Dance Theatre, to make sure they took advantage of it through choreography.

With the entire band structure formed in the past 50 years of rock n’roll completely broken down and reimagined, he was then free to play with the concepts of song choice and interpretation. Again he’s done a great job, with his concert having a theme and a narrative. You know I could go on, but I’d like to consider if this is in fact the greatest live rock show of all time.

Over just a few decades we have seen an incredible explosion of staging and presentation. From the 60s, when projections, oil slides and kaleidoscopes expanded already expanded minds, we’ve progressed to a point where if you can imagine it and you have the readies, you can do it.

And yet only a few artists have combined all the elements of performance.

Many have come up with spectacle but little meaning. Justin Timberlake’s massive show was a dance extravaganza. Prince’s Sign of the Times took the stage to an imagined streetscape. Many artists offered vignettes. AC/ DCs giant bell. Pink’s circus tricks. Madonna’s bed scenes.

But to be the best, you need to go a step further.

David Bowie was an early innovator, with the life and death of Ziggy Stardust enacted on stage. But other shows like the Glass Spider tour and even the Stage show were high on visual zing, but low on deeper meaning.

U2 took pride in a number of concepts but only one spanned the whole show. While their Claw tour looked amazing, and involved architecture as well as rock, it was still a grab-bag of music. But the Zoo TV tour took the globalisation of electronic media and entertainment to its technological limit of the time.

But then there’s David Byrne and Talking Heads and Stop Making Sense. A film, a show and a collection of incredible songs. Each song brings a new element and each element expands on the other. From an empty stage, a man, a tape machine and “Psycho Killer” it grows to an enormous polyrhythmic beast. It’s often rightly called the best live show ever.

And yet here we are. In 2018 — 34 years on. The same man has come up with a jaw dropping re-imagination of a rock show. AGAIN! Give me a month or so and I’ll tell you if he’s beaten his previous high tide mark. — Andrew Dickens

the hobson 48

Photo by Jody Rogac

B

y the time this piece is published I will have seen David Byrne in concert for the third time in my life. One was the greatest gig I’ve ever seen. One was enormously weird, complete with opera singing and little known favourites. This next one should be just as exhilarating.

The Talking Heads’ frontman has been touring the world with a remarkable show, promoting his latest album, American Utopia.

I am immeasurably excited for this show. Unfeasibly giddy, with a younger man’s energetic anticipation. Or, in other words, I’m really up for it.

Not because of the album, which I’m not wildly fond of. It has an echo of earlier, solo Byrne as in The Catherine Wheel, but without the lightness of touch.

Its lyrics are knowing. It’s Byrne trying to be Byrne, instead just being David without trying.

No, I’m excited because Mr Byrne, 66, of New York City, has brought his back catalogue and his new material together in a show that has been lauded all year long as possibly the best show ever. And that’s a big thing to say, because 34 years ago he was the architect of another “best show ever” in Stop Making Sense.

The reviews in the 134-date tour have been laudatory. A “kaleidoscopically entrancing spectacle of music, dance, and theatre”. “One of the most mindblowingly, meticulous and aweinspiring productions you could ever hope to see”. It was NME that said it may just be “the best live show of all time”.

I’ve been following the tour ever since last summer, when I blundered into a video of Byrne and his troupe performing at a music festival in Chile. First of all, how funky is that! Immediately it was unlike anything I’ve seen before.

It was David on guitar, and 11 others. They’re all barefoot and in sleek grey suits. I’m mentioning the suits, because it was discovering the story behind those that first blew me away. They’re made by Kenzo, from a space-age material that’s flexible and keeps its shape and is the most lovely shade of grey. So modern and cool. There’s an extra flap behind the shoulder, which gives the performers even more freedom to move. David does up all three buttons. Sartorially wrong, but it keeps him contained when moving. And there’s three pockets on the right flank.

No-one knew why. There’s the pocket, and then the so-called “ticket pocket,” but what’s with a third pocket? A triple decker?

Well, in that third pocket is a sensor. Turns out the lighting system being used is cutting edge LEDs that track every performer continually, and separately, through that sensor. So that’s big lighting rigs and spotlight operators made redundant.

And then Byrne wondered what else he could get rid of. How

the district diary

December 2018

1 Santa arrives into Remuera today via Remuera Station’s fire truck, and the Village Green will come alive to the sounds of Christmas jazz and family fun. 11am-2.30pm Parnell Baths open today 1-2 Put your best PJs on and be whisked away on the North Pole Express. Delight in the magic of Christmas on this two-hour train journey, which includes entertainment, cocoa and biscuits, a souvenir mug and amazing memories. Old Auckland Railway Station, 26 Te Taou Cres, Parnell.

Tickets and train schedules at ontrackevents.co.nz The Basement’s 10th annual Christmas show, Work Do, takes you back to 1997 and the Go Away Travel Agency’s Christmas party.

Written by Rose Matafeo and Alice Snedden, the laughs are guaranteed. To Dec 21, book at basementtheatre.co.nz The 2018 NZ Flower and Garden Show winds up this weekend. Enjoy displays from over 100 acclaimed designers.

The Trusts Arena, 65 Central Park Dr, Henderson. Tickets at nzflowergardenshow.co.nz or at the gate, 10am-6pm 2 Including a curated collection of jewellery from the Edwardian,

Victorian and Art Deco periods, the fine jewels, watches and luxury accessories live auction at Webb’s is sure to have something for the discerning buyer to leave under the Christmas tree! 33a Normanby Rd, Mt Eden, 2pm With around 50 floats, the Ellerslie Santa Parade is a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. Ellerslie Village, Main Highway, 11am-12pm

The Renegades, at the Remuera Club’s Christmas shindig. From 6.30pm, tickets at the door or email anton@remueraclub.org.nz. $40pp, 27 Ohinerau St 8 Spend a Christmassy day in Remuera – get your family photo taken with Santa and Mrs Claus, chill to the beat of Christmas jazz and carols. From 10am, see Remuera Live Life Local on Facebook for exact times

3 MP David Seymour invites you to morning tea, with special guests from the Salvation Army.

10.30am, Somervell Church, cnr Greenlane and Remuera roads.

Free, rsvp for catering, 522 7464

Get your rock on with Blindspott, reuniting for the 10-year Reunion Tour this summer, with special guests Devilskin. Logan Campbell Centre, 8pm. R18, tickets from theticketfairy.com

4 Webb’s are holding their final fine art sale of the year which has collectible works by Peter Robinson, Greer Twiss, Philip Trusttum and many more. Don Binney’s Mananui, Queen Charlotte is also included. 33a Normanby Rd, Mt Eden, 6pm.

See webbs.co.nz for details

8-9 Shortland Street – The Musical wraps this weekend. Infectious tunes, side-splitting laughs, 90s throwbacks. Relive cliffhangers with musical numbers like “Not in Guatemala Now” and “The Five Wives of Doctor Warner”. ASB Waterfront Theatre, 138 Halsey St, shortlandstreetthemusical.co.nz

6 Orakei Bay Village holds its first Christmas night market. Food trucks, fun, 6-9pm

14-15 The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra brings goodwill to all, in this family celebration. Carols, excerpts from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and other favourites.

Holy Trinity Cathedral, Fri 7.309pm, Sat 3-4.30pm, tickets from purchase.apo.co.nz

7 Enjoy a festive buffet and bop the night away to the sounds of 70s, 80s and 90s pop with

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15 Catch Santa today at Orakei Bay Village, 9am-midday. That is, if you haven’t hit the water in the Ocean Swim Series The Gem: Omaha. Adults and kids events, 10.30am-4pm oceanswim.co.nz 16 Auckland Puppy Rescue comes back to Remuera with their adorable puppy kissing booth, and your fur-babies (and twolegged ones!) can have their photo taken with Santa from 10am-2pm 17 Operatunity presents a madcap, nonsensical pantomine, with a new twist on Cinderella.

Only those willing to be seriously silly need attend!

Somervell Presbyterian Church, cnr Greenlane and Remuera roads, 11am-1pm. Tickets from operatunity.co.nz or 0508 266 237, lunch included after the show 24 Have you had the chimney swept?

The big guy in red visits tonight.

Keep track of where he is around the globe via various Santatracking websites, including weatherwatch.co.nz and noradsanta.org 25 Merry Christmas, and safe and happy holidays!

the cryptic by mĀyĀ

An important note to the solver - Mary-Louise Browne’s artwork in Lorne Street gets from WORD to DEED by changing one letter at a time.

Similarly, you can get from 29 across to 26 down via 22, 24, 27, 2, 25, 12, 10, 6 and 3. The clues for these each contain one or more 1 downs.

Set by Māyā. Answers will appear in our next issue (Jan/Feb 2019). Can’t wait, or need help? Visit https://thehobsoncrossword.wordpress.com ACROSS

DOWN

1 Gobble without evasion? (4,6) 6 Abstract art with Klee extremely radial (4) 9 Yearn for a man in uniform, audibly found in pesto (4,6) 10 The Trench film almost reaches Taupo, for example (4) 11 Dab at input and output outside area (5) 12 Wash non-starting Mini on... (4) 17 . . . a belt in reverse, the beasts! (7) 18 Very lawful to go to court (7) 19 Bury, for example, in a “whole” (7) 21 Stag grass the German’s over? (3,4) 22 Tuff, like Bond without a . . . (4) 23 . . . clump of MPs to offend (5) 27 Bluff hero returning on time (4) 28 New black, small, yes - also known as Tiger (6,4) 29/26 Down Inheritance of Grant Jaguar has no inclusion (8) 30 Satirical magazine featuring Sherlock Holmes? (7,3)

1 Party politicians hiding a defect (4) 2 Hover inside of railway track (4) 3 Put belly back in the Maori nipper (4) 4 Serenader drops English and, oddly, goes over again (7) 5 Laments the Spanish siege-buster (7) 7 Woman pierced vein, injecting heroin, then came down in a rush (10) 8 TV show? The answer’s simple (10) 13 Car reversing in gear, initially, with exhaust - this starts the contest (6,4) 14 Overhear cant and “Revolution No.9” (6,2,2) 15 Disease of hair covering golden head (5) 16 Be around young man who’s dashing? (5) 20 He goes to bed and, in the USA, may make your ride smoother (7) 21 Tsar Nicholas and Caligula, say, round five (7) 24 Past Lye time (4) 25 Be bad in reverie (4) 26 See 29 Across

NOVEMBER CRYPTIC CROSSWORD ANSWERS Across: 1/6 Ngaio Marsh, 9 Fluence, 10 Ought, 11 Ethel, 12 Enfield, 13 Ibsen, 16 Shave, 19/23 Kate Sheppard, 20 Hind leg, 21 Joggle, 22 Reuse, 24 Wasabi, 25 Hatters, 26 Been, 27 Kneel, 30 Mabel, 33 Autopsy, 35 Runga, 36 Shearer, 37 Sutra, 38/34 Helen Clark Down: 1 Naomi, 2 Angus, 3 Often, 4 Suffrage, 5 Sneeze, 6 Meeds, 7 Rehua, 14 Britain, 15 Endgame, 17 High tea, 18 Valerie, 19/8 Keri Hulme, 21/26 Jean Batten, 27 Kicks, 28 Exact, 29 Laksa, 30 Myrrh, 31 Banal, 32 Learn

the hobson 50

Stunningly curated outdoor furniture from Italy, Belgium, Indonesia, France and the Philippines. Manufactured with a-grade teak, reclaimed teak, wicker, rope, concrete, 316 marine grade stainless steel, Sunbrella®, Batyline®, and aluminum. Everything is in stock, fully assembled, and available to take home today. Sunbrella® cushions are free with the purchase of our deep seating pieces as shown on site.

GAZZONI TEAK & ROPE MODULAR SOFA - SUNBRELLA® CUSHIONS ARE FREE WITH DEEP SEATING PURCHASE AS SHOWN ON OUR WEBSITE

BIANCA

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www.designwarehouse.co.nz 137-147 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland / 0800 111 112 / Open Daily 9:30 - 5:30

FOR SALE

112 BENSON ROAD, REMUERA

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nzsothebysrealty.com/NZE10737

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A Family Estate This once original farm homestead complete with its own dairy and stable now offers the ultimate modern family estate with the features of a 21st century home along with the character and charm of a passed era. It sits proudly with extensive views across the harbour to Devonport and the city.

Set on a secure and gated 2,600 sq m (more or less) of flat prime land, the home and cottage are on a grand scale with approximately 655 sq m of living areas (plus veranda’s).

Throughout the property there are numerous living areas for formal and informal living, allowing the whole family easy and private entertaining.

The layout and bedrooms will suit young growing families through to teens and extended families. The location is a stroll along the road from the Benson Road village, and easy access to all top schools.

Price by Negotiation.

Ross Hawkins M +64 274 720 577 National Top Performing Licensee 2013 - 2018

ross.hawkins@nzsir.com

Pene Milne M +64 21 919 940 pene.milne@nzsir.com

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