The Hobson January-February 2021

january/february 2021

the dog days of summer local news, views & informed opinions

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The January/February Issue, No. 75 8

23

28

38

the editor’s letter

the councillor

the sound

the chefs

10

The Ōrākei ward’s Desley Simpson, shares her news

Andew Dickens finds the silver lining to being at home this summer

Mouthwatering recipes courtesy of favourite local restaurants

the plan

29

the menu

The complexities of modern local government requires broad skills, says Hamish Firth

Poor old Wellington. Colin Hogg’s well out of there

the columnists

12 the village Tree protection gets worse, the Erebus Memorial continues to divide, a new head at Vicky Ave, and more

24

the arriviste

25

30

the investment

the magpie

the prizewinners

Warren Couillault rates his 2020 market predictions

Our bird’s annual fly around local art galleries

Local students celebrate at end of year prizegivings

26

32

the second act

the bookmark

the politicians

Sandy Burgham prepares to start a new chapter

Updates from Epsom MPs David Seymour and Paul Goldsmith

27

Nicole England turns her camera again to photogenic pooches and their glorious homes in her new book, Resident Dog

18

22

the suburbanist Safer in the suburbs? Tommy Honey weighs the options

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42 Lauraine Jacobs makes a picnicperfect frittata

40 the district diary What’s going on around here in January and February

42 the cryptic Māyā’s puzzle of the month

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issue 75, january/february 2021 Editor & Publisher Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz Art Direction & Production Stephen Penny design@thehobson.co.nz Writers this Issue Kirsty Cameron, Gretchen Carroll, Wayne Thompson Justine Williams

his issue arrived in your letterbox, or at the library, just before Christmas. I hope it finds you reading it at your leisure, either taking a break in the run-up to Christmas or after, relaxing somewhere very pleasant. A new year brings farewells and new beginnings, and when we return with our March issue, it will be without one of our widely-read columnists, whom we farewell with our deepest thanks as she moves into a new phase of her life.

Sandy Burgham launched The Second Act in our debut issue in September 2013 — that’s her on the left, with me at a photo shoot by Vanita Andrews for that first issue. Over seven years, we’ve not only been reading of Sandy’s personal and professional interest in mid-life reinvention, but we’ve also shared in her very funny and at times, deeply moving, stories about her family. We’ve met her kids (teens in 2013, now young adults) through these pages, her husband, sisters and her dear old dad, Bob, now 93. Now it’s time for Sandy to pay attention to her own inner voice about what she wants to do next, as she explains in her final column, on page 26. Thank you so much Sandy, for everything.

Sub-editor Dawn Adams Columnists Sandy Burgham, Warren Couillault, Andrew Dickens, Hamish Firth, Colin Hogg, Tommy Honey, Lauraine Jacobs, David Seymour, Desley Simpson Photographers Nicole England, Stephen Penny

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

Cover Ranger the Hungarian Vizsla takes a cooling drink at home in Byron Bay. Photographed by Nicole England for her book, Resident Dog. See The Bookmark, page 32 THE HOBSON is published 11 times a year by The Hobson Limited, PO Box 37490 Parnell, Auckland 1151. www.thehobson.co.nz F: The Hobson Magazine I: @The Hobson 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, cafés, and at businesses including the Vicky Ave and White Heron dairies, and Paper Plus Parnell. For more about us, see The Hobson Magazine 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.

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

Don’t forget to nominate your local heroes for a special feature in our March edition. Don’t be shy, nominations can be anonymous, we just want the ‘who’ and the ‘why’ of people in our community you think should be recognised for their good acts.

We won’t be publishing the names of the nominators, but may be in touch with you to get more details.

Email editor@thehobson.co.nz

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 chairperson and CEO of Hobson Wealth, one of New Zealand’s leading private wealth advisory groups. He is also the chair of kōura Wealth, a registered KiwiSaver scheme manager.

Andrew Dickens (The Sound) is the breakfast host on radio station Gold, and hosts Monday afternoons on Newstalk ZB. 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 Urban design critic Tommy Honey (The Suburbanist) is a qualified architect-turned-academic. The Remuera resident is a regular guest on RNZ National, discussing the built environment.

Author, music writer, columnist Colin Hogg (The Arriviste) was born in the deep south. He spent many years living in other parts of Tāmaki Makarau, before relocating to Remuera from Wadestown in recent times.

The Hobson’s food editor, Lauraine Jacobs MNZM lives in Remuera. A former food editor for Cuisine and the Listener, she has published several best-selling cookbooks. She is a passionate champion of NZ ingredients.

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 (The Magpie) 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

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the village

Local News

BUDGET AXE TO TREE PROTECTION Hundreds of large trees face removal from suburban gardens because Auckland Council says it can’t spare the $870,000 cost of adding them to the list of legally protected specimens.

Given the council is stuck in emergency budget mode while builders are busily filling in the gaps between homes, the best hope of keeping native and exotic trees lies with the council’s promise to push for central government resource management reforms to restore some form of general tree protection rules.

Up until 2012, a resource consent was needed to remove a big urban tree but that protection was axed in a change to the Resource Management Act (RMA). The onus was placed back on councils to form a schedule to the district plan which identified and listed notable trees, or groups of trees, that should be protected.

This multi-million-dollar exercise came up with about 6000 listings across the Auckland isthmus. The resulting Schedule 10 to the Auckland Unitary Plan had only 60 trees noted in Parnell and 64 in Remuera. Obviously missing was a large proportion of the urban trees which contribute to the climate and biodiversity of the city. They had no interim protection. To make up for that, Auckland Council put on its website a form inviting people to nominate trees that should be evaluated and added to the list. But this process is now problematic.

Council is sitting on 587 nominations received before and after the Unitary Plan took effect in July 2016. These remain in the database and need checking by an arborist to see whether they qualify for the schedule. As well as the cost of doing this, the schedule itself is more than 10 years old and needs updating.

In November, staff from council’s People and Places department recommended to the planning committee that it stop a review of the schedule and not add any trees or make changes to it. The budget did not stretch to the $871,000 needed to do the checks, identify errors and give it legal weight by carrying out a plan change to the Unitary Plan.

Waitematā and Gulf ward councillor Pippa Coom won support for her suggestion that the work be done when resources permit.

“I think this provides a way forward to schedule trees as we continue to look at options for funding.” Council also supported her call for the Government’s flagged RMA reforms to include some form of general protection.

Many Parnell and Remuera residents have contacted The Hobson in recent times to express their anger and dismay about mature trees being cleared from neighbouring properties, with the resulting loss of birdsong, natural amenity and often, privacy.

Many have said they assumed the trees were protected, and were dismayed to find out they were not on the schedule. (The photos here were supplied by a reader of a before/after clearing in Parnell.)

the hobson 12

Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton says the nominations received for trees in the ward represent only a few of the many deserving protection and people should pursue the government to give councils the legal ability to impose some restriction on property owners culling willy-nilly. “Before they destroy intergenerational trees there should be a filter of due diligence,” says Churton. “There is a filter for historic homes before destruction, so why not trees?”

Churton instigated the board’s tree protection grants to residents who can get financial help of up to $2000 to maintain large trees. The latest grant was $500 which went towards removal of dead branches from one of three significant Norfolk Island pines remaining on Victoria Ave. The applicant noted that its body corporate spends $1200 to $1500 a year clearing pine needles from gutters, and some of its members wanted the tree removed because of ongoing expenses.

— Wayne Thompson p

CLIPPING ALONG Auckland Transport is designing clip-on pedestrian paths for both sides of Ngapipi Bridge to get rid of a pinch point on Tamaki Dr where walkers and cyclists dangerously share a 3m wide path.

The beauty of a clip-on is that when building starts in July 2021, says AT, disruption to the four lanes of traffic should be limited because no road works are involved. Most work will be done outside the bridge from a barge moored below in the Hobson Bay outlet. Ōrākei Local Board deputy chair Sarah Powrie says the clipon is needed for safety because the 1930s concrete bridge is narrower than the rest of the road, forcing walkers and cyclists together. Pedestrians will be on the water side of the bridge and separated from cyclists by the bridge’s original balustrade and cyclists will have exclusive use of the present shared path.

Public consultation on the clip-on plan was held in 2017.

Powrie says suggestions were heeded in order to give a smooth transition from road to bridge, and to allow higher and wider clearances for boats passing under it in the navigational channel.

The local board expects the bridge will continue to attract more cyclists and walkers, encouraged by the new separate cycle path on the city side, which also features a clip-on for pedestrians on the short bridge over the outlet nearest the Parnell Baths. The NZ Transport Authority and AT shared path project to link Ngapipi Rd to the Ōrākei Basin, part of the wider Glen Innes to Tamaki Dr project, created some urgency for the bridge work. “AT has had cuts to its budget so we are grateful for

the village

KIA ORA JANE BUSH what improvement we can get now to make it a safer environment for everyone,” says Sarah Powrie. The bridge widening project complements other safety improvements to the Ngapipi Rd intersection on the Okahu Bay side of the bridge, which have included building a new seawall on a reclamation to give a wider off-road area, and the installation of traffic lights. — Wayne Thompson p

Victoria Avenue School welcomed new principal Jane Bush with a pōwhiri led by Dane Tumahai from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

Students, whānau and dignitaries including local ward councillor Desley Simpson joined the occasion on a sunny Monday in late November.

Bush (enjoying socially distanced hellos, above) joins the school from Hingaia Peninsula School, a full primary in Karaka, where she was the founding principal in 2011.

She takes over from Janice Adamson, who has retired after leading Vicky Ave for eight-anda-half years. p

EREBUS OPPOSITION CONTINUES A long, often heated, often emotional meeting of the Waitematā Local Board in November saw land owner approval granted for the installation of the National Erebus Memorial

582 Remuera Rd, Remuera Auckland 09 520 3119 | staff@sibuns.co.nz www.sibuns.co.nz

the hobson 14

in Dove-Myer Robinson Park, Parnell. Construction is expected to begin not long into the new year, and will take about six months. But opponents who say the memorial is needed, but not at this site, say they will continue to lobby for reconsideration.

After almost six hours hearing submissions from opponents and those in favour, and after meeting privately with Erebus families, the board narrowly granted its permission, the final hurdle for the application by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. In the final 4-3 vote, the ‘no’ votes came from board members Sarah Trotman, Adriana Avendaño Christie, and Alexandra Bonham. The four ‘yes’ votes were from chair Richard Northey, Kerrin Leoni, Graeme Gunthorp and Julie Sandilands.

Opposing submitters included Save Robbie’s Park’s Anne Coney; and Jo Malcolm, who has family connections to the 1979 disaster (Malcolm’s father-in-law died in the crash) and has led opposition to its siting. Charlotte, Malcolm’s 13-year-old daughter, joined her parents to give a moving plea to the board on behalf of neighbourhood children who use the park, and to protect that enjoyment to continue for future generations.

Supporting submitters included the Rev Dr Richard Waugh, who has led the call for a national memorial; Epsom MP David Seymour (see his column, page 22), and local historian Rendell McIntosh, who referred to both the ancient and modern history of the park, raising the point too that unlike many of Auckland’s parks, there is no management plan for Dove-Myer Robinson.

“Obviously, we are very disappointed, but we are also humbled at the sheer number of people from across Auckland who have supported us and continue to do so,” says Jo Malcolm. Malcolm was also disappointed with David Seymour’s “disingenuous and last-minute appearance”. “He’d committed in July that if [re] elected, he would support identifying an alternative home for the memorial. It would seem he has forgotten the community who gifted him his career.”

Malcolm also takes issue with comments around the size of the memorial, Te Paerangi Ataata - Sky Song, which proponents say will take up half a per cent of the park. “Those that make the claim that it is a very small part of the park are wrong,” says Malcolm. “The impact on the lawn which holds the memorial to Sir Dove-Myer Robinson is significant. It is only one of three open spaces — not in bush or rose beds or car parking — and the one most used and treasured by Aucklanders.”

Opponents now include the newly-formed MataharehareTaurarua working group. “We have deep empathy for those who lost family members at Erebus, and who have suffered subsequently. The full history needs to be known and remembered,” says Paul Baragwanath, one of the working group, which is dedicated to preserving the park’s ancient pā site.

“We also have empathy for the individuals who want to see the memorial here. But the balance is to serve the wellbeing of future generations by protecting one of the last precious remnants of ancient Tāmaki on the shores of the Waitematā. There are a number of other more suitable sites for the memorial which will better serve its purpose.”

Board member Alexandra Bonham said at the meeting that the memorial as it is now did not deliver the ‘story’ of Erebus and as such, would be better located at one of the alternate sites suggested by opponents, such as near MOTAT in the Western Springs precinct, or in the Domain, near the museum (which had been ruled out by MCH).

Board chair Richard Northey says while the board’s decision wasn’t unanimous, it had “carefully considered all the information” available. “We considered all of these views carefully and with an open mind. However by majority, the board felt the proposed memorial fits with the park in terms of aspect and curvature, adding to the attractions of the park and providing a place for solace and contemplation along with other memorials in the park.” p

the village

AIRY IDEAS FOR PARK & RIDE Auckland Council’s development arm Panuku is preparing a business case for selling the air rights above the Ōrākei Train Station park-and-ride space for a commercial or residential building. At present, the council-owned carpark has 178 spaces, which are heavily used by commuters taking the brief train trip into Britomart Station.

A year ago, a report commissioned from PwC suggested a potential boost to council coffers from selling air space above Ōrākei and eight other transport hubs, while retaining the underlying transport asset in council ownership. Ōrākei is the first up for scrutiny as an Auckland Transport and mixed-use development option, after council’s Finance and Performance Committee says it will approve disposal, subject to a favourable business case and transport operations staying in council hands.

The committee was told of interest from a number of development companies in a partnership.

“Over the next 20 years, we intend to realise the latent value and opportunity in these existing park and rides to deliver transportorientated developments with good transport and regeneration outcomes, with new homes and commercial opportunities,” says Panuku’s general manager of assets and delivery, Marian Webb. “We will commence work on a business case for Ōrākei initially, and begin investigations into the opportunities at the Selwyn Rd and Station Rd sites in Manurewa in 2021.”

An AT spokesman told The Hobson it’s too early to talk about parking long term at Ōrākei. Local boards were invited to present potential development options. The Ōrākei Local Board supports such use, with conditions. Chair Scott Milne says the council is pressing local boards to not only cut spending but also to maximise the return from assets. “We are happy for Panuku to explore the selling of air rights above the carpark rather than any other green space in the board’s area,” says Milne.

Panuku has not told the board how much of the site needs to be covered but the board is asking for present parking capacity to be increased and spaces reserved for transport users rather than for the use of the residents resulting from a development. The board also seeks a comprehensive traffic safety plan. “Commonsense must prevail and access to the shared pathway from Tamaki Dr to Ōrākei Basin must be protected,” says Milne.

The safety of the stand of pōhutukawa in the vicinity has not been mentioned though this was of concern to residents a decade ago when a developer sought to build a residential and retail complex on both sides, and over, the railway line, on land leased from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

The crossing plan was dropped and the leasehold land relinquished under a new developer, Equinox Group, which formed the Orakei Bay Village precinct, and has plans to build The Peninsula apartments on its 2ha site on the Remuera side of the line, at the edge of Hobson Bay. — Wayne Thompson p

the hobson 16

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the prizewinners

The Honours Board Congratulations to all students who received recognition at end of year ceremonies for outstanding efforts in 2020.

Here are some of the senior prizewinners at schools attended by local students ACG PARNELL COLLEGE Dux (International Baccalaureate): Prerna Kanji Dux (Cambridge): Sophia Ye Cambridge Proxime Accessit: Charlie Matthews Sir John Graham Cup for Outstanding Service to the School: Matiss Lusis Service to Drama: Ruby Sawtell Service to Music: Andrew Evans Service to Sport: Ruby Conway Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Sacha Earnest Junior Sportsman of the Year: Smeet Shah Senior Sportswoman of the Year: Hannah Nguyen Senior Sportsman of the Year: Ryan Ghee Excellence in Sport: Reuben Lawler, clay target shooting 2021 Head Prefects: Jenna Parkin, Shivaansh Gounder

AUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL B F Connell prize for Dux: Nathan Chen Headmaster’s Prize for Proxime Acccessit: Eddie Zhang Rope Cup (best all-round young man): Michael Hiddleston Torch of Tradition (devotion to the school and its traditions): George Miles Radford Memorial Trophy (contribution to a sport): Daniel Gong Burroughs Cup (all-round effort in sport): Joshua Stephan

Douglas Cup (best sporting performance): Senior A Cycling Team Sportsman of the Year: Leo Fatialofa Turner Cup (all-round participation): Josh Irwin Ian Mackinlay Memorial Scholarship (personal excellence in every field of endeavour): Teina Watling Hedges Prize (character and participation in Form 7): Roshan Naik Harrison Scott Memorial Award (for diligence, determination and courage): Siddarth Pilli

BARADENE COLLEGE OF THE SACRED HEART Dux: Jeny Joseph Proxime Accessit: Kimberley Fernandes Taumoepeau Cup: Neve Petherbridge Supreme Leadership Award: Kayla Lane Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat Cup and Medallion: Crissy Sanders The Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne Pendant: Kate Scotting Te Taonga o te Manawa Tapu the Trophy of the Sacred Heart: Madison Horan Chan Cup for Outstanding AllRound Achievement: Emily Davidson Dedicatio Diligentiaque Trophy: Ann Anson Pinto Cup (for celebration of diversity and inclusiveness of all cultures): Valentina Serrano Becky Sorenson Memorial Cup (for maturity of thought and generosity of spirit): Tyla Harris-Lafaele

DILWORTH SCHOOL

KING’S COLLEGE

Dilworth Trust Board Prize, the Don Gray Medal, the Dudley Berryman Roy Memorial Award and the Dilworth Old Boys’ Centennial Foundation Prize for Dux: Henry Wang Dilworth Trust Board Prize for Proxime Accessit: Thomas Nguyen Gordon Campbell Cup for Senior Sportsman of the Year: Edward Whyte Irish Cup for Performer of the Year: Henry Wang Ludbrook Cup for the Best Allround Senior Student: Lennox Jones Senior Satherley Cup for Good Sportsmanship: Maximus Lynes Bill and Lynsie Cotter Achievement Award: Henry Wang Nicolas Cup and Prize for Integrity, Loyalty and Responsibility and an interest in the field of Business Studies: Tyrane Beazley Callwell Memorial Trophy, Old Boys Centennial Foundation Prize: Aaron Sao Gibson Cup for the Head Prefect, Conolly Prize for Loyal and Outstanding Service: Benjamin Jennings-So

Old Collegians’ Prize for Dux of the College: Nathaniel Masfen-Yan Taylor Cups for Sportsman and Sportswoman of the year: Siobhan Balle, Billy Frazer Foster Prize (best all-round ability, male student): Charles Cleal Lawry Prize (best all-round ability, female student): Lucy Massey

EPSOM GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL Duces: Chen Han Lui, Megan Khan Hilda Chenery Scholarship: Anna Millar John Williamson Scholarship, Kathleen Mandeno Scholarship, Joy Carter Prize for Chemistry: Promise Akindeju Te Kaitaka Cup for fostering encouragement and community spirit, Woolf Fisher Memorial Scholarship: Victoria Sun

the hobson 18

2021 Leaders Head Boy and Head Girl: Maikel Tuala, Muriwai Morris Deputy Head Prefects: Blake Bannan, Max Chaplin, Holly Hunn, Hunter Masfen

KING’S SCHOOL Foster Cup for Loyalty to the Ideals of King’s School (Y6): Ollie Perry Glenie Cup for All Round Performance (Y6): Seb Segers Baker Cup for Commitment to King’s School (Y7): William Nand DGE Brown Plate and Award for All Round Performance in Y7: Thomas Nand Major Memorial Cup: Connor Sigley Walker Trophy for Preparatory School Fixtures: George Crawford Kay Award for Sportsmanship: Ethan Ola Worsp Citizenship Cup: Ted Coop Hsu Trophy for Outstanding Contribution to Music: Louis Liu The Lazarus Trophy: William Nooijen King’s School Old Boy’s Cup for Outstanding Contribution to King’s School: Varnan Pasupati

Greg Whitecliffe Memorial Cup for Supreme Art: James Hadden Hellaby Cup for All Round Performance: Oliver Coleman Headmaster’s Prize for Head Boy: Varnan Pasupati Victor Ludorum Trophy for Top Sportsman: Charles Howlett King’s School Dux Trophy: Oscar Prestidge

ST CUTHBERT’S COLLEGE Dux: Belinda Hu Proxime Accessit: Amber Waymouth Old Girls’ Award for Citizenship: Hannah Went Waikato Old Girls’ Association Cup for Service in the Boarding House, Development Cup for Y13 Student most respected by her year group:

Caitlin Reelick Student Council Award for Support and Dedication to the College: Isabella Wright Special Award for Head Girl: Ruby Sussock Art Cup for Overall Top Achiever in Visual Art: Yi Ran Zhang Amess Cup for Excellence in Drama Performance: Nellie McKegg Senior Music Composition Prize: Grace Mora 2021 Leaders: Head Girl: Carmel Ah Chong Deputy Head Girls: Katya De Silva, Helena Haldane, Florida Mataio Head of Boarding: Charlotte Berry

Right: King's College head boy for 2021, Maikel Tuala

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the prizewinners

SAINT KENTIGERN BOYS’ SCHOOL

SAINT KENTIGERN GIRLS’ SCHOOL

Dux: Aston Ingram Proxime Accessit: Edison Zhou Ross Perry Cup for Senior School Sportsman of the Year: Samuel Jancys Rex Hooton Cup for School Spirit: Luka Makata AW Smith Middle School Sportsman of the Year: Hugo Bricklebank Knox Family Lion Heart Award: Marco Alpe Joel Campbell Memorial Trophy: Joshua McLister Senior Citizenship Cup: Lachlan Klouwens Poole Cup: Oliver McGuinness Brian Matthews’s Citizenship Cup: Austin Watson

Dux: Mikayla Chung Proxime Accessit: Anastasia Milne Gaudeamus Cup for Making a Difference: Mikayla Chung Lightfoot Cup for Citizenship: Nora Caffery Dr Sandra K Hastie Cup for School Spirit: Amelia Duff Roberts Trophy for Resilience and Perseverance: The Year 8 Prefects Gillian Eadie Cup for Entrepreneurial Skills: Holly Scoones Sportswoman of the Year: Sienna Moyle Clockwise from top left; Baradene dux Jeny Joseph, EGGS duces Megan Kuan, Chen Han Liu, Dilworth Senior Sportsman Edward Whyte. All photos and information courtesy of the schools who responded to the invitation to take part in this feature.

King’s School

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the politicians

David Seymour

Paul Goldsmith

E

M

David Seymour is the MP for Epsom

Paul Goldsmith is a National list MP based in Epsom

rebus remains our country’s most deadly peacetime tragedy.

The controversy that cloaked it evolved a secondary tragedy, which will be familiar to anyone who recognises the phrase ‘orchestrated litany of lies’. With the 41st anniversary just passed, it is beginning to slip from living memory.

It became real to me when I knocked on the doors of Erebus families. Erebus is very much an Epsom electorate tragedy. Auckland was much smaller in 1979, so the electorate suburbs made up a greater portion of the city. Of those who enjoyed the height of extravagant air travel, these suburbs comprised an even greater portion still. Double irony, then, that a memorial to the tragedy being placed in our community would foment accusations of new government conspiracies.

Over the past four years I have been engaged with the bitterly opposed, the passionately supportive, the deeply ambivalent, the government, the Waitematā Local Board and Air New Zealand.

I have knocked on doors, visited homes, had people cry in my office over this issue. Probably no other person has heard such a range of perspectives. And so, I want to put on record why I’ve supported the memorial being built in Dove-Myer Robinson Park.

The easiest way forward is to deal with the objections first, then the reasons why the memorial must go ahead in this park.

‘77 per cent of the community is opposed.’ No, they’re not. The figure comes from a consultation where the participants selfselected. 252 out of around 77,000 Waitematā Local Board residents chose to express opposition. Doubtless there are more opponents than 252, but not 77 per cent of Waitematā.

‘It will dominate the park.’ Rough dimensions are 10m by 25m, or 250m2. The park is about 56,000m2. The memorial is half a per cent of the park, and downhill out of sight from most of it to boot.

‘The Ministry for Culture and Heritage have engaged in a bloodyminded conspiracy to build the memorial in Dove-Myer Robinson Park, deliberately ignoring alternative locations to pursue a hidden agenda.’ If there are dastardly conspirators embedded in the government, they probably aren’t in the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH) aiming to build memorials. More plausible is that, like most government departments, MCH has not been the most organised or officious of operators. They have carried out the wishes of the government of the day to the best of their abilities.

‘There are readily available alternative locations.’ No, there aren’t. Anyone involved in the multi-year saga of trying to install a monument to the Holocaust near the Auckland War Memorial Museum, for example, knows how long these things take.

On the other hand, it is embarrassing that our country cannot build a monument to such a tragedy. We could have had it forestalled for many more years to save half a per cent of a park, because of badly rendered drawings and mischievous statistics, and conspiracy theories that belong in American politics. That is not an outcome our community should be responsible for, we should be graciously memorialising those lost for the sake of our neighbours, who lost them.

y father is one of four siblings; three teachers and an anaesthetist. The joke is that it’s not obvious who can put you to sleep fastest. But it’s handy having grown up in a teaching household – Dad taught maths – now that I’ve been given the education portfolio, post-election. It gives me an instinctive deep respect for the work teachers do. Endless marking of homework and thinking of new ways to inspire unruly kids.

We all can remember some of the best teachers we had (and the worst). For me Bob Hunt, teacher of Japanese and Latin at Auckland Grammar – and coincidentally brother of former Speaker Jonathan Hunt, was inspirational. He taught me fourth form Japanese and I remember it as the first time in my life that I felt excited about learning. The light went on and even subsequent electoral disasters have failed fully to snuff it out.

His style was highly unconventional – spontaneous lolly scrambles would fail today’s health and safety manuals at the first hurdle. With a glass eye, it was hard to know which direction he was looking. But 35 years later I still remember his sayings and infectious enthusiasm for the subject. A good man for Grammar, I still see Bob around the place from time to time.

As a father of four, going through five schools across the Epsom electorate, I’ve seen plenty more of our schools in recent times.

We’re relatively fortunate to have access to good public schools in this part of Auckland.

I have plenty of views about the system – its strengths and weaknesses – but I do want to take the time to test my prejudices before launching forth. So I’ll be visiting schools around the country and talking to leaders and those on the frontline over the next few months. But some things are pretty clear. As the tactful teacher would write on reports – ‘There’s room for improvement’.

As I write this column, RNZ is reporting on a recent study that found that 40 per cent of teens with NCEA level 2 (the qualification for Year 12/sixth form students) couldn’t pass a test of basic literacy and numeracy skills. They weren’t functionally literate or numerate.

A proposed toughening of requirements for NCEA in 2023 is designed to help, but the findings point to serious failings in the system over a long period of time – under governments of all stripes.

Second, New Zealand has been falling off the pace internationally with comparative tests of maths, English and science, according to PISA studies (the OECD’s programme for international student assessment). We won’t maintain world class living standards if we’re not delivering world class education results. No single test or comparison is perfect, but we need to take these international comparisons seriously and have a plan to turn things around.

Third, and most fundamentally, we can’t improve student achievement if students are not at school. Attendance at school is scandalously low. In 2019, before Covid, only 57.7 per cent of students were regular attenders. So, I’m looking forward to the challenge. I’d be delighted to hear from current and former educators, parents and pupils with ideas for how we can do better.

Email me: paul.goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz

the hobson 22

the councillor

Desley Simpson

S

ummer is finally upon us after what has been a difficult year for so many of you, in ways we could not have imagined. I know that many of you will be disappointed to miss out on international trips, especially those with family living overseas. Despite the frustration, we can feel incredibly lucky to be in New Zealand and be able to enjoy our summer while remaining alert, cautious and aware that the pandemic continues elsewhere.

You may be aware of recent media regarding proposed retirement village developments in Kohimarama, St Heliers and Parnell. Ryman Healthcare have applied to build on Kohimarama Rd next door to Selwyn College; Oceania Healthcare have begun earthworks on a site in Waimarie St in St Heliers; and Summerset Group are planning to build on Cheshire St in Parnell.

Local residents have voiced concerns to me about these developments and the impact they could have on the area.

Are the buildings a good ‘fit’ for the neighbourhood, and will they have an adverse effect on viewshafts of the ‘feel’ of the area are two common questions I receive.

At first glance, it appears that the heights of these structures would be in breach of the Auckland Unitary Plan, which determines what can be built, and where, in order for the region to meet its economic and housing needs. The plan sets out ‘permitted’ standards whereby in each specific area, the effects of a particular aspect of a development, such as height, have already been considered to be acceptable.

However, it’s important to remember that these standards are not maximum limits that cannot be broken – this is a common misconception. Instead, they are used to determine whether a resource consent is required for that particular aspect of an activity. Unless a proposed activity is expressly prohibited by the Unitary Plan, the council is obliged to accept, assess, and determine all applications for resource consents.

Kohimarama is zoned Mixed Housing Urban, which allows buildings up to 11m in height to be built without the need to obtain a resource consent for a height infringement.

This doesn’t mean buildings over 11m are not prohibited by the Unitary Plan, but that they require a resource consent for an infringement of the height standard. If applications such as Ryman’s come in for height limits above the Unitary Plan rule, council needs to undertake an assessment of the effects caused by the height of the buildings proposed.

Similarly, several of the buildings in the integrated residential development proposed for St Heliers exceed the zone’s height limit of 8m. After considering evidence,

expert advice and submissions provided, specifically the character of the development, the hearing panel made up of independent commissioners (who are required to hold a specific qualification from central government and are independent of council) determined that the consent be granted.

It's also worth mentioning that there is significant demand for this type of retirement style housing in Ōrākei.

The ward has a large population of people in the over-65 bracket, many of whom want the option of staying in the area and like the security housing of this nature provides.

In all these cases, the developers are within their rights to proceed with these projects. This doesn’t mean however, that your views are not important. It’s absolutely possible for residents, local representatives and developers to work together to ensure an outcome that works for everyone.

What you can do is reach out to your residents’ associations and local representatives to voice your concerns. Sometimes the best approach is a friendly meeting with developers to discuss the issues to find common ground and I am always happy to facilitate these discussions.

Local boards are charged with decision-making at a local level, and similarly have a role to play in communicating community views on these kinds of issues. Local boards have input into the decision on public notification of a resource consent application and can also comment on the substantive matters of the application. This is not treated as a submission for the purposes of the Resource Management Act, but it is given weight by a hearings panel or commissioner according to the merit of the arguments made. So please keep in touch with them too.

Finally, as a result of all our efforts in saving 7 billion litres of water this year (the equivalent to 150,000 swimming pools), the mayor and councillors unanimously agreed to relax the water restrictions to allow the use of outdoor hoses provided they are handheld and have a trigger nozzle. I’ve advocated for this for some time and finally achieved the vote necessary. Timing couldn’t have been better allowing for us to tidy up our homes and maintain our gardens over summer.

As it’s the holiday season I wish you all a wonderful summer and hope that you are able to enjoy a break from your busy schedules to spend some quality time with your friends and family.

Desley Simpson is the Councillor for Auckland representing the Ōrākei ward

the hobson 23

the plan

Who'd Put Their Hand Up?

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hen Tenby Powell, mayor of Tauranga, resigned effective immediately and urged the government to appoint commissioners, it came as a surprise. There was no scandal, no pants dance in the Ngāti Whātua room. He just quit.

Yes, he was having treatment for cancer but this had been flagged and a leave of absence agreed. I cannot remember the last time a sitting mayor just quit. And Mr Powell does not seem like a quitter.

It has since come to light that there was in-fighting amongst the city councillors who had been name calling through text messages.

Powell parted with this very strong statement: “If we are constantly around small thinkers who live in shallow silos and operate constantly in a mode of self-protection or even self-interest, the role of leading a city in desperate need of progressive thinking will inevitably be demanding and challenging. In my experience it has been soul destroying.”

And then you have Invercargill, where it appears from the outside that the mercurial Sir Tim “I don’t care where as long as I’m mayor” Shadbolt may not be up to the rigours of the office. On the other hand, it may be disgruntled councillors attacking someone when they are down.

Managing local government has become more difficult, more complex and more political. We have noticed the increase in politics playing out where two recent votes by the Waitematā Local Board went 4-3 in favour of the motions, with the same people voting for and against. One was the removal of the dangerous pine trees in Western Springs and the other the National Erebus Memorial. Very different issues which should not need political leanings to make sensible decisions, especially the removal of the pine trees in what is now a park closed due to safety issues.

In terms of complexity, you have new fresh water and urban development legislation with an increased requirement (read increased cost) on every decision as well as a greater polarisation of views as change is being foisted on ratepayers who have enjoyed a relative status quo for a long period of time.

In Auckland you have projects like the never ending CRL which seem to have sucked every last dollar from the council

at the expense of maintenance and those more boring matters, like providing more than adequate water storage for a growing population.

So, the demands of the job have increased but have the calibre of those who represent us? It seems now that a mayor will more likely get voted in on name and personality recognition rather that innate experience and ability to deal with the issues at hand.

We are also faced with ageing infrastructure which has not had the required maintenance and thus needs expensive replacement.

Wellington has had ongoing issues with burst sewer mains — at one point, five million litres of raw sewage leaked into the harbour.

This would not be happening if rates went on programmed maintenance. However, what we see is an erosion of services (the boring parts) and ever increasing rates. Perhaps it is time councils got back to first delivering on those essential services, much like other utilities do and keep the vanity projects as ‘nice to have if we can afford it’. And then look at productivity – and that may require outsourcing. And maybe cut down on the amount of PR and communications staff, and accept that sometimes things go wrong and need to be fixed.

Coming back to Tenby Powell, a successful businessman who would have been used to setting the agenda, hiring (and firing) staff and making things happen without delay and constraint of process.

It must have come as a shock to sit in the council boardroom, sipping the Nescafé and eating the crustless cheese sandwiches, to find that not only did people disagree with him, but many of them came from very different walks of life and perspectives, but all voted in by the people, and all he had was his one vote. The process to get anything done is slower and costs more. Nothing gets achieved or changes in a hurry. Consensus and concession trump the more single-handed style of a self-made businessman.

We have had a very inward looking 2020, which will continue this year. As the sun shines upon us let’s hope for an effective vaccine so we can broaden our horizons again and not be befuddled by things we would like to change but know require structural reform which is beyond many of us. — Hamish Firth

Paul Goldsmith

National List MP Based in Epsom 107 Great South Road, Greenlane 09 524 4930 paul.goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz paulgoldsmith.co.nz paulgoldsmithnz

Funded by the Parliamentary Service.

Authorised by Paul Goldsmith MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

the hobson 24

the investment

The Forecast, Revisited

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s I do each year for this edition, I look into the coming year and provide a set of predictions for what we expect to happen in the financial markets. And as always, I self-check on how my predictions were from this time last year. Western governments’ reaction to the coronavirus outbreak (let’s call this ‘the Covid effect’ for want of a better term) clearly had a significant effect on financial markets, amongst other things, this past year so I will have to accordingly temper the ratings I give my forecasts from a year ago. Remember, all assets collapsed, albeit briefly, in March/ April at the height of the Covid effect panic: shares, bonds, real estate and certain currencies. But I’m not making excuses.

First, exchange rates. Last year I predicted: “. . . I think we will see the NZ dollar hover in the mid-60s, perhaps range-trading around current levels, as we see some support with interest rates in NZ bottoming out (read more later) but some pressure from a continued strong US-dollar as her economy continues to exhibit strong GDP growth.” Even allowing for the Covid effect, this currency outlook turned out to be an excellent call.

The kiwi started the year around 0.68 against the greenback and looks to be finishing the year around 0.70, after falling to as low as 0.564 at the height of the panic back in March. I can’t see 2021 bringing too much change to the kiwi.

Inflation. I have consistently written over the past few years “forget about it!” and, for 2020 at least, this remained a good call. Last year I wrote: “With the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) slashing the OCR a hefty 0.50 per cent to a record low of 1.0 per cent, one could be forgiven for lazily predicting a lack of inflation is here to stay. NZ central bankers have always had a tightening bias so to see the OCR that low in conjunction with a cautious tone to growth and activity forecasts tells me I am pretty safe with my continued ‘forget about it’ prediction.” So true – and with the RBNZ slashing the OCR even further earlier in 2020 to just 0.25 per cent and talking about going negative if necessary, I think that a very benign inflation outlook still holds true.

Interest rates here in NZ. An OK call last year: “For 2020, more of the same: low interest rates.” Actually, that was probably a bit better than an OK call with the yield curve becoming an oxymoron – there is no curve, she’s as flat as a pancake!

Wholesale and retail rates are at all time lows here causing effective hyper-inflation to those living off savings balances but dreamtime for those borrowing to buy assets. There is massive demand for any sort of yielding assets and this will not change for at least the next few years (in spite of finance ministers sending letters to Reserve Bank governors). By way of example, at my business we are flooded with demand from our clients for each and every new capital note or bond issue in which we are participating at present. Corporates and local authorities are issuing new paper yielding in the low 2 per cent p.a. levels and our clients cannot get enough! Low interest rates for a long time, everybody.

Stock markets. Last year I said, “I’d anticipate sideways to positive (sub-10 per cent) for the NZX50 for much of the same reasons as I raised last year, but stronger US market gains. I

think the uncertainties regarding the US outlook mentioned earlier will not come to fruition and her strong underlying GDP growth will drive earnings and stock prices.” The NZX50 started 2020 at around 11500 and, in line with most share markets around the world, collapsed around 30 per cent to a low of 8500 in late March. But now, and again consistent with nearly all other share markets around the world, it’s more than recovered and at the time of writing is around the 12700 level. Amazing! So about a 10 per cent gain for the year which is better than I had predicted as noted above. But, in this case, I’d have to say that without the massive fiscal and monetary stimulus as a result of the Covid effect, I think my prediction of sub-10 per cent returns would have been about right. For 2021 and beyond, more of the same: strong share market performance will continue here and around the world as monetary settings and fiscal stance remain supportive, stimulatory and expansionist.

Residential property prices. For the past four years I have monotonously predicted “. . . the conditions for further price increases remain . . . strong inward migration flows, population growth in Auckland, and nowhere near enough new dwellings being constructed. Demand continues to exceed supply.” Great calls if I may say so, and I don’t yet see a need to change the outlook for the coming year. Minister Robertson and Governor Orr cannot successfully interfere in the housing market.

So, an excellent scorecard last year with my 2020 predictions of financial markets, even allowing for the Covid effect.

Mixed results though with my other important predictions: I said Trump by a landslide, and that Brexit would happen, finally. Brexit was nearly finalised but Covid-19 got in the way. I predicted Labour and the Greens would falter and that National would sneak home — Labour and the Greens were nearly finished but Covid-19 saved their day. NZ First did fade away as it did in 2011 and Mahé Drysdale would have won his third Olympic gold but, alas, Covid-19 got in the way there too.

Maybe this year Mahé! My other major prediction for the year is that the Labour Government will keep the border closed until we are all vaccinated . . . but what do we do when the next coronavirus strain inevitably comes along?

I think we all deserve and should enjoy a restful summer break after such a strange year. Let’s forget about all this for the next month or two and enjoy the summer. I hope you can all be with family and loved ones in spite of the ridiculous international travel restrictions — I’m mainly referring to the trans-Tasman situation.

May common sense prevail in 2021. Safe and happy holidays. — Warren Couillault

Disclaimer: This article does not consider the objectives or situation of any particular investor. It should not be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any security or product, or to engage in or refrain from engaging in any transaction.

the hobson 25

the second act

The Curtain Comes Down on this Act

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have been a columnist for this magazine since its very first issue more than seven years ago and over that time have been compelled to share my insights and learnings about mid-life reinvention. It has led to some lovely exchanges with readers as well as a specific course called ‘The Second Act’ that has run through the professional development practice I founded.

But I woke up the other day and thought, “hmm, it’s time to move on”. What I have come to know through all the work we have done in this area is that people often ignore the whisperings of their wise selves which are guiding them to another way of being. Perhaps the messages are being drowned out by the fearful urges of the human ego — “you better not do that”, “why on earth would you do that?”, “you should do this or that”. But while you don’t have to respond radically or immediately to these gut instincts, you might at least give them the courtesy of taking notice. I am now wellattuned to know that one must honour the whisperings with a courageous conversation. So, I had one with the editor soon after, who is releasing me as a columnist with her blessing. It’s time.

In studying the lives of people who are wanting to reinvent or in the process of doing so, it has become obvious that life has a habit of throwing a person pebbles in the hope that the little ripples attract their attention. Most people ignore them and so life throws them a brick to really make the point. I got one of those a couple of years ago when I randomly broke my leg doing nothing in particular after I had ignored my promises to myself to slow down for some months. Slow down? I was stationary for 12 weeks.

One of the most common metaphysical bricks is thrown to people who stay too long in a job despite secretly dreaming of alternative careers and lifestyles. They might say that the reason they hang on in is because of security. But really it’s to do with fear, money and status. Moreover, in many cases, a person might cling desperately to their current work situation despite it creating other problems, because the job or job title provides the scaffolding to their identity. In these cases the workplace has to literally restructure to let them go and this can end up being the making of the individual if they allow it to be. It’s the same with many relationships of course, people just hanging on in there despite a thousand alarm bells. And when life throws them the brick, the person is thrown into turmoil, desperate to hang on when really there is no choice but to move on.

I didn’t keep writing for The Hobson for seven years for status or money. For a long time it has served my interest in second acts in general. I had gone through the process of professional reinvention and lifestyle transformation and was keen to support others wanting to do so. But it no longer feels the right thing to do so I am moving on to leave a space for someone else who has a new idea they are keen to share.

What I have learnt through writing this monthly column is that writing itself is a critical creative outlet for me. It is the thing that puts me in the state of ‘flow’ which in positive psychology terms is a mental state when one is so fully immersed in a feeling of enjoyable and energised focus, that

their relationship with time changes. Hours can pass, but it feels like minutes. Those that do not have a pursuit that gives them this sense of being in the flow might take stock of what it is they simply love to do for the sake of doing it.

(By the way travel doesn’t count, it’s more a sign of privilege than a passionate pursuit.) Many people complain that they do not have time for passions and interests outside work yet time would be created if one had a pursuit that created flow.

For me, I will continue to write, as it’s such a big part of who I am. But I am being called to take my writing in a different direction and my post-graduate studies and research projects are part of this.

I have also learnt through this column that discipline is critical if one is to explore that which they love. Just because you love something doesn’t mean you will do it. The monthly column needed to be written and despite usually having no idea what to write when deadlines loomed, I knew that if I sat down at my computer and started writing, something was bound to come out. This discipline recently held me in good stead when I completed a 15,000 word dissertation in amongst many other commitments. I decided to sit down for 90 minutes every morning, not a minute more nor a minute less, over three months without fail, to work on it.

I was as surprised as anyone that a half-decent dissertation was produced just through sitting down and typing on the computer.

And lastly, the biggest learning for me was about vulnerability and human connection. It is easy for people in my profession to keep their personal lives and god forbid, feelings, out of any dialogue that is primarily professional.

There were months where I wrote things that I thought ought to be written about to fit in with the column’s intention, but when I felt compelled just to write what was in my heart at that time, those were the columns that seemed to touch people the most.

In fact, it is the idea of human connection that is really piquing my interest now. Rather than being interested in the ‘second act’ of the individual, I am now more invested in exploring matters to do with the second act of the collective and the deep sense of connections that exist in organisations and social groupings beyond differences in power and status.

This has impacted my professional practice — there has been movement there too as we play with our collaborative framework and principles. Despite being the founder, I am now far more inclined to go with the flow of the practice than try and steer it. This would not have been the case at the start of my second act and might seem counterintuitive to many leaders and managers. But the more I serve the idea of our practice versus my role in it, the more the practice is taking on a life of its own into new pastures, and my collaborators and I simply surf in its slipstream.

Thank you to the editor of The Hobson for allowing me to play, and to you for reading my reflections. I hope you continue to learn and grow as that is what I fully intend to do.

— Sandy Burgham

the hobson 26

the suburbanist

Suburbia, the Saviour?

Your local home renovation specialists

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or decades it has been fashionable to deride the suburbs, seen by city-dwellers as the waiting room of the lonely; dormitory, and worse, dormant. But now, as we leave behind the annus unprecedentus and look towards a new year with, if not fresh but, cautious eyes, perhaps the time of the suburb has come.

Of course, it has had its time in the sun before, notably in the early 20th century when Ebenezer Howard, a British urban planner, whose 1902 manifesto, Garden Cities of To-morrow, led to the garden cities of Welwyn and Letchworth; and the postwar boom in America that produced Levittown and Frank Lloyd Wright’s own version of utopia, Usonia.

The appetite for suburbia is tidal, influenced not by the moon, but many forces, economic and social – but not, until 2020, health. Covid-19, in order to proliferate, likes nothing better than tightly congested spaces where contact between people is unavoidable; inner cities for example. In an article in The Atlantic, ‘Revenge of the Suburbs’, Ian Bogost wrote, “Urbanites are trapped in small apartments with little or no outdoor space, reliant on mass transit that now seems less like a public service and more like a rolling petri dish.” He says “Rejecting mixed-use planning has made suburban communities unexpectedly resilient in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic,” noting that “safety has always warmed the suburban soul.”

For the first two decades of this century the lure of the city increased in power and promise, aided and abetted by the temptation of technology. Buildings went up not out, public transport went in and around. All roads led to a bus lane. Whole movements grew out of our movement – walkable, bikeable, personable. Everything is electrified, from cars to cycles to scooters; more and more we are motivated to be our own motive power. The epicentre has been the city but now the centre is on the move – or perhaps breaking up. The need for a contactless environment is turning us away from the city and the shared lifts of apartment buildings in search of fresher air, greener space and our own door we can lock behind us.

Eva Wiseman, writing in The Guardian, says that moving out of the city might be seen as “a kind of failure” where the suburbs are associated with ‘such painful ideas as “settling down” and “big shops” and “her indoors”.’ She advises that you will become either “a passionate gardener and official ‘outdoorsy person’ . . . or you will become me, a person on polite nodding terms with the garden . . . come for the outside space, stay for the view of it from your bed”.

For an alternate view look no further than Annalee Newitz, whose article in the New York Times titled, ‘Want to Flee the City for Suburbia? Think Again’ rails against the suburban drift. “Now the cycle has come around again, as the middle class flees cities in pandemic panic, seeking unpolluted — yet car-dependent — places.” She says the answer to our current problems “isn’t to run away from the metropolis [but] to build better social support systems for people in cities so that urban life becomes healthier, safer and more sustainable”.

Ian Bogost thinks that sustainability can be found in suburbia which “makes the illusion of self-sufficiency material . . . [it] was never as bad as anyone said it was. Now it’s looking even better.”

He says, “There was always comfort to be found in a big house on a plot of land that’s your own. The relief is even more soothing with a pandemic bearing down on you”. He admits that those “who already prefer sparse, low-slung living will likely use their fear of Covid-19 to entrench their preference.” — Tommy Honey

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the sound

Sounds Like a Great Summer

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St back in the day. Never would I have imagined that they ood Lord! We made it to another summer and another would then fill Spark Arena. The Biggest Pub Gig in the World holiday season. And here I am. Lolling around the occurred on December 11. house. Idly napping and snacking and trekking to the It featured Th’ Dudes in what was billed as their last ever beach and schlepping back home. Reflecting on a year like no gig. Joining them was a who's who of the pub circuit glory other. days — Citizen Band, the Jordan Luck Band, Hello Sailor and We are having a staycation this year. Two reasons. After Hammond Gamble. Bars were put on the stadium’s floor. The downsizing to an apartment at the beginning of 2020 we stage was lowered and the place was heaving. thought that maybe there’d be a chance of finally owning How good was this? Hammond Gamble has played every our own holiday home. Which we would now be in. But after pub in New Zealand. I particularly remember blues nights at the pandemic broke and we became trapped within our own the long-gone Globe Hotel, with friends like the Willie Dayson borders for the foreseeable future, and interest rates plunged to Blues Band. They were unfathomable depths, it seems remarkable. Anywhere else in the rest of the country of a the world Hammond would be certain age had the exact same revered by many and not just thought. those with long memories. I We came close a number was so pleased for him. of times but as Qui-Gon Jinn Citizen Band were other in Star Wars: The Phantom pioneers, being the first Menace noted, it seems there’s modern NZ band to have the always a bigger fish. Such cojones to book and sell out a suffering. We are bachless, still. big venue like the Town Hall.

So we came late to booking No kidding that Brent Eccles is holiday accommodation only the drummer. He was also the to find there was no room at promoter. And he’s also the the inn this Christmas and even promoter that got Six60 into the stables were full. So home Western Springs. He’s a big we stay. And we couldn’t be thinker. happier.

And that’s what Covid did.

If there’s an upside to the Got Kiwi bands thinking big Covid Year, it’s appreciation again. Benee sold out Spark of the simpler things and the twice. Fat Freddy’s is spending treasures close to home. The this summer filling stadiums, busy streets of Auckland are whether they be festivals or now deserted for us to enjoy one-offs. The Beths suddenly on the electric scooters that found their confidence and appeared this year. There are sold out the Town Hall three 111 beaches in Greater Auckland times. and they’re all ours. Try to find Other bands re-found their an Amano in the holiday spots. mojo. The Phoenix Foundation I feel this new found almost gave up after their appreciation of the local has Hammond Gamble, with Street Talk, 1979, photo Stephen Penny. album GUYD (which stood been keenly felt in the music for Give Up Your Dreams!) but world as well. At the start of came storming back with an album and tour that might just be the pandemic there was doom and gloom for the performing considered their best ever. Marlon Williams advertised his tour sector. Closed venues meant cashflow disappeared most rapidly with full page ads in the papers. At every level New Zealand for those paid per gig and those paid to support them. Whether musicians took chances and filled bigger venues than they it was bands or sound systems or stage performers, whether it would ever imagined. was chamber orchestras or opera or jazz bands.

Maybe it was more dollars in pockets because money was not But with our return to a level of social distancing unequalled going to overseas touring acts. Maybe it was just desperation for in the world, we saw an explosion of opportunity that was a good time. quickly and hungrily devoured by Kiwi musicians.

I think it was a realisation that New Zealand musicians and I think of Th’ Dudes, who for much of the year thought their shows are as good as any in the world. I also think New they'd never take to the stage for their 40th anniversary. But in Zealand musicians and promoters really started to believe in the end they did and the demand ballooned. Extra gigs were themselves. I think that Covid-19 will spark a renaissance. Not added. They sold out the Town Hall three times for goodness the first time a pandemic has done that. sakes, and then the crowning triumph, Spark Arena.

— Andrew Dickens I saw Th’ Dudes at Charley Gray’s Island of Real in Airedale

the hobson 28

the arriviste

Wellington, My Part in its Downfall

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or a country that doesn’t have a lot of cities, we certainly know how to be mean-spirited about the few that we do have. Take Wellington, for instance. Please, someone, take Wellington.

That’s an old joke and not a very good one. But people have recently been saying awful things about the once ‘coolest little capital’, though maybe Wellingtonians were rather too keen on that piece of self-celebration to ever survive it in the end. Being cool is a bit like having mana. You shouldn’t refer to it.

But the truth is poor old Wellington has fallen slightly apart in recent years. And I do know a little of what I’m talking about, having lived there for six years until early 2020. I know about other put-upon places too, having grown up in Invercargill, perhaps the single most misunderstood settlement in New Zealand.

It used to be, or so it seemed, that every place in the country needed somewhere else to look down on. In Invercargill, we had Gore. Dunedin was a bit superior about Invercargill and Christchurch about Dunedin. Auckland, being so big, has never seemed to care about that sort of thing, which possibly makes it cooler than Wellington.

It may be sheer coincidence, but I think I can trace Wellington’s latest downfall to my arrival there in early 2014, an unhappy émigrè from Auckland, where I’d lived for 40 years or so. My wife had landed an exciting job in the capital and it seemed churlish not to go with her, so I did, along with our angry teen daughter. It took a while to fall for the considerable charms of the place.

But, despite the climate (don’t say weather, it’s permanent), I did eventually, though the daughter fled back to Auckland as soon as she turned 18. Then Wellington suffered more serious wounds than it admitted after the brutal Kaikōura earthquake.

The city filled with ghosts. Broken public buildings, including the beloved city library, closed.

Then, because the transport system worked so well, the people in charge fiddled with it and broke it too and then the city’s ancient drainage systems failed. Ordure ran in the streets.

There were 2096 sewage spills in 2020. Also, the mayor’s at war with his council – or is it the other way round? And the rates seem set to rise by double figures.

But, of course, that hardly means that Wellington’s finished.

Towns have their ups and downs. Auckland, for instance, has experienced quite a few of both. Looking at the rising sea of cars and the deserted mess that’s been made of the CBD, I’d say it’s in a bit of a low at the mo. But that’s part of the deal for big cities everywhere.

Though here in New Zealand, the rest of the country has devised a particular meanness about Auckland – aimed not so much at the place, but at those who live here, Aucklanders. That word alone has long been regarded as an insult out there in the sticks, though more pointed variations have been wrought from it, Dorklander, Jafa, for two.

I recall having my wellbeing threatened when a surly local in a West Coast pub learned I was from Auckland. He let loose such a flurry of insults I considered taking him outside and thrashing him with my credit card, which might have made matters even worse between Auckland and the rest. Instead, I mentioned I’d grown up in Invercargill and he calmed down.

And there are the people you meet out there who tell you that they ventured to Auckland once and how awful it was, when the truth is they’re small-towners and they simply couldn’t cope with all the excitement, especially the traffic. Poor dears.

The ignorance and the bad manners are hard to take, though there’s some fear and jealousy mixed in there too. But let’s not get into that here because you, dear sophisticated readers, understand, having probably at one time or another been on the receiving end of such nonsense for the sin of living in Auckland. It’s a price we’re happy to pay. — Colin Hogg

David Seymour MP for Epsom

For an appointment, please contact me on 09 522 7464 or mpepsom@parliament.govt.nz

Epsom Electorate Office Level 2, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket the hobson 29

Promoted by David Seymour, MP for Epsom, 27 Gillies Avenue, Newmarket

the magpie

Hang On The Magpie swoops on beautiful things to live with 1. Karl Maughan Maewa, 2020.

Oil on canvas,1500 x 1500mm. $30,000, Gow Langsford, 26 Lorne St. gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz

7. Tom Barter Paper Cranes.

Hand-cast glass, 100mm H x 170 W x 150 D. In various colours, $180 each, Blackdoor Gallery, 251 Parnell Rd. blackdoorgallery.co.nz

2. Hamish Allan Eaves Dropper.

Acrylic on canvas, framed, 550 x 700mm. $5500, Föenander Galleries, 455 Mt Eden Rd. foenandergalleries.co.nz

8. Elsie Barling A Moonlit Fishing Port. Oil on canvas, 510 x 660mm. $12,500, Jonathan Grant Gallery, 280 Parnell Rd. jgg.co.nz

3. Ans Westra West Coast Road. Archival pigment inks on Hahnemhule paper, edition of 25, 380 x 380mm. $2150, Suite Gallery, 189 Ponsonby Rd. suite.co.nz

9. Terry Stringer Art Truth and Beauty, 2020. Bronze, 300 x 120 x 120mm. Edition of three, $8500, ARTIS Gallery, 280 Parnell Rd. artisgallery.co.nz

4. Michael Dell Even Now ii.

Acrylic on linen, 390 x 340mm. $2200, Föenander Galleries 455 Mt Eden Rd. foenandergalleries.co.nz

10. Neil Driver Chair by Open Window. Limited edition giclée print on canvas, 500 x 585mm. $500, Parnell Gallery, 263 Parnell Rd. parnellgallery.co.nz

5. Alice Rose Mirage vase. Ceramic, $380, Black Door Gallery, 251 Parnell Rd. blackdoorgallery.co.nz 6. Aaron Scythe Yobitsugi Style Large Vase, 2020. 245mm high. $2500, Masterworks Gallery, 71 Upper Queen St. masterworksgallery.co.nz

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11. Derek Henderson Rosa 2 (with Simone Gooch florist). C-type photographic print in two sizes: 1200 x 960mm, edition of three plus artist proof, $5000 unframed; 500 x 400mm, edition of 10, $2500 unframed. Melanie Roger Gallery, 444 Karangahape Rd. melanierogergallery.com

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the bookmark

Paws and Effect Photographer Nicole England's love of architecture and dogs comes together in Resident Dog, the book

the hobson 32

the hobson 33

the bookmark

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idway through 2017, The Hobson was delighted to publish work by Nicole England, a once-local, now Melbournebased photographer. You may remember Lucy, the bulldog who made the cover. At that time, England launched Resident Dog as a project, publishing her architectureand-dogs works on Instagram and acquiring a devoted following. Now, Resident Dog: incredible dogs and the international homes they live makes its stylish debut; a book celebrating amazing living spaces, and their (very) at-home canines.

Whether sprawling on exquisite furniture in London, dozing by the pool in Melbourne or tearing around a stunning pink Barragán courtyard in Mexico City, England’s dogs are having a ball. “People will do anything for their dogs,” says England in the introduction to her book, of how she was invited in to some extraordinary private spaces around the world.

There are 25 homes featured, all architectually designed and all with the character and warmth added by a resident dog (or in the Barragán house, by eight of them).

This page: Brick the Boston terrier has enjoyed living in his famous mid-century modern house since he was a tiny puppy. The 1957 butterly-roof Palm Springs house by pioneering architect William Krisel draws hordes of admirers, who will often find Brick gazing right back at them.

Artwork over fireplace Chad Kleitsch, Untitled #42, 2002. Previous pages: Daisy, Iggy, Clover and Ambrose Bear, a mixed family of rescued dogs, have landed on all four paws at Silvertop, a cinematically-scaled 1956 house by John Lautner, which overlooks LA's Silver Lake Reservoir.

the hobson 34

the portfolio

A graduate of the University of Auckland’s Elam art school, England worked as a fashion photographer before heading to Melbourne (her parents, Carole and Graeme, live in Remuera). She had built a successful career as an interiors and architecture photographer working for many high-end design publications when a conversation about a ‘dream scenario’ brought forth the idea that in England’s vision, a great day at work always involved a dog.

Resident Dog is the result of many such dream scenarios, for the owners and two-legged residents, and the canines who bring joy, energy, fur on hand-woven rugs and wet noses on freshly-cleaned glass. As England observes, they bring an energy and warmth that adds another dimension to a house, and that’s exactly the mood she’s captured. — Kirsty Cameron

Resident Dog: incredible dogs and the international homes they live in, by Nicole England, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available now at good booksellers, RRP $60. All images copyright Nicole England/Hardie Grant and reproduced with permission. Instagram: nicoleengland or resident.dog

This page: Miracle, a mixed breed lady, in her art-filled Sydney home. Architect Donald Esplin, interior design, Don Cameron and Andrew Burns. Zhang Huan's Family Tree, 2000, hangs in the dining room.

Opposite, top: Rosie the cavapoo in her Cotswolds, UK, rural retreat. Found Associates architects added a contemporary extension to a heritage-listed gamekeeps cottage, c1730.

Below: Schnauzer cousins and besties Noodle and Poppy take in the sweeping views from one of the living spaces at their home on the Isle of Man, UK. The drystone house, which abuts a 19th century cottage, was designed by architect Foster Lomas and won three awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects.

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the chefs

Bring a Plate Chefs from some of our favourite local restaurants get out their recipe books to share favourite summer dishes with The Hobson

Morell's Spanner Crab & Prawn Tagliolini with Crispy Capers, Cherry Tomatoes & Chilli 200ml extra virgin olive oil (+ 150ml for shallow frying capers) 50g capers 200g tagliolini 200g spanner crabmeat (fresh or thawed) 200g prawns 1 chilli, sliced 6 garlic cloves, sliced 100ml vegetable stock 100ml white wine 12 cherry tomatoes A bunch of Italian parsley, chopped Flaky sea salt (and salt for the pasta water) 1 lemon, quartered Serves 4 Heat oil in pan, when hot, add capers and shallow fry until crispy.

Put them into a paper towel and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta and cook to al dente.

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aniel Morini is head chef at Morell, the popular bistro on the leafy intersection of Upland and Benson roads. He owns and runs the restaurant with wife Sarah, who “runs front of house and everything else”, he says. “I love cooking for friends and whānau. Being from Italian/Māori descent, putting on a big spread for summer brings me a lot of joy.

“Something that everyone enjoys is the ultimate summer pasta – nothing like a big bowl in the middle of your Christmas table. Often pasta is heavy and rich, but it’s easy to create something light and delicate, especially using an egg pasta like I recommend. Sarah and I love seafood, fresh and readily available, so Kiwi, so summer and so Italian! This recipe is a signature dish on the Morell menu, but it’s a meal that can be easily prepared at home. Send the crew out diving!

“I love tagliolini because it is so light almost like angel hair pasta. Fresh pasta made daily is ideal for this dish, but if you are going to prepare this recipe at home you can use an Italian brand of dried tagliolini pasta. Be sure to follow the cooking instructions carefully.” the hobson 38

In a fresh pan, heat oil and when hot, pan fry the prawns, crab, chilli, and garlic. Toss well together until slightly caramelised.

Add white wine and vegetable stock. Add the pasta to the crab and prawn mixture, and drizzle with olive oil to emulsify the ingredients. Add cherry tomatoes and Italian parsley and toss gently, then add the crispy capers.

Season with flaky salt. Divide between four plates and serve immediately with a wedge of lemon.

Morell Bistro and Bar, 93 Upland Rd. (09) 600 3259 morell.co.nz

Copia’s Barbecued Broccoli with Black Pudding Crumble 2 broccoli heads 500ml buttermilk 100ml apple syrup Salt to taste 200g black pudding 1 small onion 200g panko breadcrumbs 50g butter 50ml oil 10g dried parsley

Heat up the barbecue, or the oven to 250C. Break down broccoli into medium florets and roast for 6-10 minutes in the oven, or barbecue until charred and cooked to your liking (we prefer it crunchy).

When it’s cooked, set aside and reduce the heat of the oven to 180C. In a bowl mix the buttermilk, apple syrup and salt. Store in fridge until needed.

Blitz black pudding in a food processor or chop until it is crumbled up to the size of small pebbles. Roast in the oven at 180C until it’s crispy.

Finely dice onion and lightly brown in a pan with the oil. When brown, add butter, breadcrumbs and the cooked black pudding.

Mix thoroughly, then return to the oven and bake at 180C until breadcrumbs are golden. Remove from oven and add parsley.

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t’s hard to beat Copia for location — the relaxed eatery with its own productive garden and greenhouse sits on the edge of Hobson Bay, at the far end of the Orakei Bay Village complex. Chefs and o-wners Ken O’Connell and Sam Sykes share kitchen duties. “We like cooking barbecues at home during summer, everything from fish and meat to vegetables,” says Ken, pictured above. “Sam has a Weber and I have a ceramic egg barbecue — it’s a much more relaxing way to cook and be social. We make our own sauces and marinades at the restaurant, and take those home with us. We have a side dish on the menu at the moment that’s very popular. This dish – barbecued broccoli with an apple buttermilk dressing and a black pudding crumble – is also something that we’d use at home for family get-togethers or barbecues. The black pudding is a nod to my Irish heritage and it took a while to find the perfect one in New Zealand, which we source from Blackball on the West Coast.”

Ken says the dressing can also be used with potatoes, pumpkin or cauliflower, and the crumb is also great used on salads, steaks, fish or any green vegetables. The dressing and crumb recipe will work for up to 10 serves, adjust for the amount of broccoli you’re using.

the hobson 39

To serve: place your broccoli into a mixing bowl, and add enough of the buttermilk mixture to coat.

Put into serving bowl and sprinkle black pudding crumb over the top.

We use about half a cup of crumb per head of broccoli, so use more or less to your liking.

Copia, 236 Orakei Rd at Orakei Bay Village. (09) 520 2234 copia.nz

the chefs

Gerome's Greek Loukoumades 150g sugar 450ml full fat milk 45g fresh yeast 150g unsalted butter 640g plain flour 6 egg yolks Pinch sea salt Vegetable oil for deep frying

Heat sugar and milk slowly until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Crumble yeast into a large bowl and pour over half the milk mixture. Add the butter to the other half and melt it gently.

Whisk yeast to dissolve.

Sift flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yolks, both milk mixtures and the salt and bring altogether gently to make a dough. Do not overwork it. Place in a clean floured bowl and cover. Let rest at room temperature for around 90 minutes to proof.

Knock back the dough and roll out into a rectangular shape on the benchtop. Cut into small squares with a dough spatula, around 30g per doughnut. Let rest for around 30 minutes, covered.

Deep fry the loukoumades in batches at 170C until light brown on the outside.

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erome’s modern Greek food has won many devoted fans since it opened on Parnell Rd. The restaurant’s philosophy is that ‘food is reflective of many elements – a way of thinking, a view into someone’s culture and the nostalgia of one’s upbringing’.

The team in the kitchen love fusing Greek classics with local New Zealand produce.

These sweet treats are a modern version of traditional Greek dessert doughnuts. They take a little time to create — the dough needs resting — but the end result is well worth it: light and totally moreish. At Gerome they’re made fresh to order — we suspect you may have a queue forming as you lift them out of the deep fryer at home.

Text Gretchen Carroll, photographs Stephen Penny.

the hobson 40

Enjoy with a good quality chocolate or caramel sauce with nuts of your choice sprinkled on top.

Gerome, 269 Parnell Rd. (09) 373 3883 gerome.nz

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the menu

Picnic Perfect

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here are two things that always make food taste better for me — eating outdoors on sunny days and balmy evenings, and food that can be held in my hands.

After the disappointments of 2020, like many others I am eagerly anticipating the holiday season. We are looking forward to barbecues, picnics and impromptu gatherings with family, friends and the neighbours and celebrating the freedom that we can enjoy in our far flung corner of the world.

I have no idea why food tastes better outdoors, but it does. Is it the tangy fresh air, the natural light or the fun of a haphazard occasion at the beach or in the backyard? And who doesn’t revel in the sensuousness of food when knives and forks are abandoned so we eat with our fingers. Packing up a picnic is a true Kiwi summer tradition. I have fond memories of Friday nights at Judges Bay when my mother would make her wonderful bacon and egg pie and we’d troop off, collecting Dad from work en route, to enjoy an outdoor dinner and a swim.

My perfect picnic fare is food that has been cooked ahead, that can be carried easily, and leaves no washing up on the return home. Picnic essentials include a large chilly-bin filled with wellchilled beer, wine and water, paper plates and napkins, good plastic glasses, and a sturdy rug. And the food, of course. Picnic food must be able to be eaten in the fingers. No messy salads, no sloppy chilled soups, no cream or custard to ladle over desserts and absolutely nothing that requires the family silver to eat with.

Pies, sandwiches, filled rolls, chunks of fresh raw vegies, lots of fresh fruit and cheese, and sweet treats like sticky slices, chocolates or a lovely cake are all on my list.

Never overlook a well-made sandwich. Be sure you use delicious fresh sourdough bread and be generous with your fillings. Stuff pita pockets, crusty rolls, flaky croissants, thick slices of sourdough or middle-eastern style wraps with tasty cold meats, crisp vegetables and leafy salad mixes with a good dollop of chutney or mustard. Ensure they’re all wrapped well in clingfilm or foil so they keep as fresh as possible.

I also love pies and savoury pâtés for picnics. They require a little extra work that’s well worth the effort. One of my favourite dishes to prepare ahead for picnicking is a light frittata, baked in a loaf tin. This recipe can be viewed as a ‘basic’. It can be easily made as a completely vegetarian dish by omitting the sausage and just increasing the quantities of vegetables in the loaf. I love to use Frank’s veal sausages but any good sausage will work so choose your favourite snarler or even substitute chunks of ham or hot smoked salmon in that layer.

The loaf can be kept in the tin it was baked in if you’re planning on transporting it to a picnic or to take along to a shared summer meal. Don’t forget a little jar of spicy chutney to accompany the frittata. It will keep refrigerated for a day or two so make it a day ahead for an even more relaxed feast. Enjoy your summer!

— Lauraine Jacobs

the hobson 42

Spinach & Sausage Frittata Loaf

Pre heat the oven to 175˚C. Fry the sausages in olive oil in a heavy frying pan until golden brown. Remove from the heat and, when cool, cut each sausage into several slices. If there are more than 2-3 tablespoons of fat in the frying pan, tip some out.

Slice the onions or fennel and add to the pan. Cook very slowly until soft, golden and nutty. Remove to a plate and keep aside, add the spinach and cook until wilted. Remove from the pan and keep aside to cool. Peel the potatoes and cut into small dice. Cover with water in a saucepan and simmer until just tender.

Line a loaf tin with baking paper. Scatter half the herbs on the bottom and add all the potatoes in an even layer. Then spread the sausages in a layer above this, followed by a layer of spinach and the onions or fennel.

1 tablespoon olive oil 4 sausages (I like Frank’s veal) 1 large onion or 1 bulb fennel 2 large potatoes 3-4 cups baby spinach leaves, washed

1 cup cherry tomatoes 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (thyme, basil, parsley) 8 free range organic eggs salt and freshly ground black pepper 100g tasty cheddar cheese, grated

Beat the eggs with the salt and freshly ground black pepper and pour evenly over the vegetables. Top with the tomatoes, remaining herbs and grated cheese and place in the heated oven for about 45 to 50 minutes until firmly set and the top has browned.

Serve warm or cold accompanied by spicy chutney. Serves 6.

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the district diary

January/February 2021 Dates and events correct at the time of going to press, but please do check for changes due to any restrictions on gatherings

January 11-15 Artz on Show is running Annie-themed performing art workshops for kids, culminating in a show for parents and families at the end of the week. All ages welcome, EGGS, Silver Rd, Epsom, bookings at artzonshow.co.nz 15 Justice of the Peace service desks reopen today after a Christmas break at the Remuera Library and St Chads Church, Meadowbank.

The desk at the Parnell Library is back in action from January 18. For more info on opening hours and public holiday closures, see jpauckland.org.nz 17 Every Sunday from 12.30-2.30pm come along to the LEGO Club at the Remuera Library.

Create your own build or try the weekly challenge. Free, ages 5 and up 21 Food vendors, art, jewellery and more at the Ellerslie Night Market, War Memorial Hall, 138 Main Highway. Free, 4pm-8pm 30 Farewell a somewhat ratty 2020 (pun intended) and welcome in the Year of the Ox at the Chinese New Year Festival & Market Day. Over 200 stalls, food, arts & crafts, entertainment, games and rides. ASB Showgrounds, 217 Greenlane West. Free, 9.30am-4pm Experience the Pacific flair of sevens rugby at the Ulalei Sevens tournament held on the Auckland Grammar School turf. Gate sales only, 8am-6pm. See eventfinda.co.nz Roll up, roll up! The Extravaganza Fair is in town loaded with stalls, arts and crafts, food, music, circus shows and old-school fair

games like tug-o-war and sack races. Plenty of parking, free entry, Ōrākei Domain, 9am5pm, until Feb 1

February The fun, free Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on for the month. Encourage your colleagues to join too because the more riders the more points, and the more points the bigger the prizes. Go to lovetoride.net for info and registration 1 Happy birthday Auckland, you beautiful thing. See the Waitematā come alive with hundreds of vessels taking part in the Ports of Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta, 9am-5pm 6 Waitangi Day (public holiday Monday 8)

on fictional beats in Auckland. Free, 7-9pm, Antique Alley, 240 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden 27 The City of Sails turns into the City of Swims for the Interislander Bean Rock Lighthouse Swim. Fun for all the family with the Full, Half and Quarter Beans, and the Banana Boat OceanKids 100 and 200m swims. Tickets/ registrations at oceanswim.co.nz, 6.30am1pm, Mission Bay Beach 28 Run, jog, wheel, walk, skip over the finish line at the Ports of Auckland Round the Bays then head to Madills Farm to recover at the post-run BBQ. Starts 9.15am, Quay St and Britomart Pl. Register at roundthebays.co.nz All Summer Long

14 The Auckland Fringe Festival starts today and runs through till March 6. See aucklandfringe. co.nz for artists and venues The Remuera Sunday Market will be at the Remuera Mall from 9am-1.30pm with food trucks, artworks, produce, jewellery and more. Live music and entertainment too (and Happy Valentine’s Day) 18 Celebrate sporting excellence and support physically disabled young Kiwis at the ISPS Handa Halberg Awards Decade Champion event. Red carpet, black tie gala dinner, auction, raffle and award ceremony. Spark Arena, 6-10pm, tickets at halbergawards.co.nz 19 Come along and listen to 10 Kiwi authors discuss everything from small-town crime to international espionage; serial killers in the Coromandel bush to undercover cops

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the cryptic by māyā

Set by Māyā. Answers will appear in our next issue, March 2021. Can’t wait, or need help? Visit https://thehobsoncrossword.wordpress.com ACROSS 9 May, say, follows a circle with nothing taken out back to 25’s second port of call (9) 10 Raquel cut in two in the Middle East? (5) 11 Emphatic statement about Vegan clothing heard at 25’s first port of call (7) 12 Rule lover announced for LGBT+ (7) 13 25’s last port of call is in show (8) 15 Strongly felt by Barry Crump? (6) 17 Terrible person getting nothing back before reptiles from exploding star acted as guides (15) 21 Chase (with Kiwi pronunciation) - hurry up! (6) 23 She’ll arrive shortly? (8) 26 I alarm a flying being carried by mosquitoes (7) 27 Trip over Japanese coin after our - after their leader (7)

28 Princess holding sexy loincloth (5) 29 Drops on it roughly, and attacks violently (5,4)

DOWN 1 Soup used as tipple? (5-3) 2 Have greater liking for judge taken in by rising agent (6) 3 Māori had unusual method of communication (3,5) 4 Caucus member used to illustrate nonexistence (4) 5 My ‘Red Riding Hood’ originally presented to Jesus? (5) 6/21 In which 25, 8 in the 27 across of our 16, visited the 11, 9 and 13, guided by 22, later by 23, and finally by a Saint Bernard (6,6)

7 Greta holding bank’s chickpea (8) 8 The battle of half-time? (6) 14 Switch to putting feet up (4) 16 First letters, letters in front, end sentence (4) 18 Vast amount of money? Roll in it, silly!

(8) 19 Giver of almost all (puts one in trust) (8) 20 Observe stain about to cause a disease of horses (5,3) 21 See 6 22 6 upset girl, poet and third person in space (6) 24 Affixing no parking to period of play (6) 25 Poet - Hans Christian Andersen, perhaps - holding to principal (5) 27 She’s blue in the plural (4)

DECEMBER ANSWERS Across: 1/8 Had we but world enough and time, 10 Nereids, 11 Whereof, 12 Upset, 13 Spaghetti, 14 Havoc, 16 Air launch, 18 Nosebleed, 19 Dinah, 20 Termagant, 23 Snafu, 24 Mildred, 25 Macbeth, 26 Pepper-and-salt. Down: 2 Abrasives, 3 Whist, 4 Basis, 5 Tow-haired, 6 Overheard, 7 Lieut, 9 Uffish thought, 15 Cobra trap, 16 Alexander, 17 Nonpareil, 21 Rilke, 22 Timon, 23 Sacks.

the hobson 46

DESIGN WAREHOUSE HAS SUBSTANTIAL INVENTORY FULLY ASSEMBLED AND AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY

VENTURA RECLAIMED TEAK OUTDOOR FURNITURE COLLECTION

WESTSIDE ALUMINIUM OUTDOOR FURNITURE COLLECTION (GRAPHITE)

BOB OUTDOOR WICKER SIDE TABLE (SAFARI)

BLOK SQUARE CONCRETE DINING TABLE AND BENCHES

POLLY OUTDOOR WICKER RELAXING CHAIR

BRADFORD OUTDOOR DINING TABLE WITH OLIVIA DINING SIDE CHAIRS (BLACK)

STUDIO ROPE OUTDOOR FURNITURE COLLECTION

KOVE OUTDOOR ALUMINIUM SIDE TABLE

NEIL TEAK OUTDOOR DINING CHAIR

Design Warehouse has been manufacturing and supplying luxury outdoor furniture to architects, designers, landscapers, hotels, resorts, private residences, and more for over 25 years.

Everything is sourced from Italy, Belgium, France, Indonesia and the Philippines. The designs and variety of the outdoor furniture pieces are eclectic, organic, and stunning.

All products are in stock, fully assembled, and available for nationwide delivery. All Sunbrella® Cushions are included in the price of all our deep seating as shown on our website.

137 - 147 THE STRAND, PARNELL, AUCKLAND / 0800 111 112 / OPEN DAILY 9:30 TO 5:30 / DESIGNWAREHOUSE.CO.NZ

H E IG HT S OF S O P HIS T ICAT ION

51 Albert is the prestigious new address for Auckland’s premium residential tower and first class hotel.

This contemporary masterpiece of architecture and design recreates a lasting legacy with the original beauty of restored Edwardian heritage facades on both Albert Street and St. Patricks Square. Just 30 palatial residences, constructed from quality, durable materials form a marriage between historic and modern features creating a feel of timeless elegance.

Two and three bedroom residences and whole floor penthouse options available.

CONCIERGE

VALET PARKING

WELLNESS FACILITIES

RESIDENTS LIFT

FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT: Jason Gaddes M +64 21 994 921 jason.gaddes@nzsir.com

Scarlett Wood M +64 21 686 856 scarlett.wood@nzsir.com

51ALBERT.COM

Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. Browns Real Estate Ltd (Licensed Under The REAA 2008) MREINZ.