The Hobson November 16

november 2016

celebrating modernism p vlad cacala p palm springs local news, views & informed opinions

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King’s College, Golf Ave, Otahuhu www.kingscollegeartsale.co.nz

Save the date for our biggest fundraiser of the year, the King’s College Art Sale.

The Honeymooners’ Bed, by Peter Hackett (St John’s, 1975-78), Oil on canvas, 1560mm x 2160mm, $25,000

In its 13th successful year, the Art Sale will feature an impressive array of art from more than 200 emerging and established artists: from paintings, photography, and ceramics, through to glass and indoor and outdoor sculptures. Proceeds will go towards supporting a variety of sport, cultural, and arts initiatives at the College.

This remarkable art work shown above forms part of The Honeymooners’ Bed series, which exquisitely uses oil paints and a vivid palette to evoke the beauty of nature.

Opening Night Cocktail Party The Art Sale Opening Night Cocktail Party will be the first opportunity to view and purchase the unique artworks.

Proudly sponsored by

Date: Friday 4 November Time: 6.30pm Tickets: $65 per person. These can be purchased online via www.kingscollegeartsale.co.nz Admission to the Art Sale is free over the weekend Date: Saturday 5 November Time: 10am - 4pm Date: Sunday 6 November Time: 10am - 3pm, with collection of all purchased art from 3.30pm

Silver sponsors

Follow us on social media where we’ll feature regular updates on the art works to be displayed: @KingsCollegeArtSale #KingsArtSale2016

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The November Issue, No. 33

Architect Vlad Cacala, modern man, page 30

A stylish destination: a typical mid-century Desert Modern home in Palm Springs, page 46

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the editor’s letter

the heritage

the sound

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Andrew Dickens finds a lot to like with some vintage muso’s new offerings

the columnists

In an exclusive extract from the new Parnell Heritage Journal, the beginnings of the Parnell Shakespeare Club

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the village

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the second act

the destination Palm Springs is a perfect pit-stop between Californian theme parks

Jazzy sounds in the Village Green, Remuera asks Council for clarity over the future of the CAB’s cottage, Grammar’s Art-House event, and more

Sandy Burgham on the return of the salon, a venue to discuss the issues of the day

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the design

Martinborough for wine, Iran by bike — Louise Richardson covers all bases

News from local MPs Paul Goldsmith and David Seymour

Decades on, the eastern suburbs homes designed by architect Vlad Cacala continue to be celebrated

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November at the movies, selected by Caitlin McKenna

the reps

the plan

the check-in

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the author

Hamish Firth thinking of a way out of Auckland’s congestion

Parnell-based best-selling author Stacy Gregg celebrates 21 books for children

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the investment

the pretty

Don’t necessarily fear a Trump presidency from a market viewpoint, says Warren Couillault

Time-saving products for your weekend bag or gym kit, picked by Justine Williams

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the suburbanist

the magpie

Tommy Honey introduces increasingly popular pocket neighbourhoods

On a pre-summer fitness kick? The Magpie flies in to help you do it in style

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the kaitiaki Precious Clark likes the evidence of innovation through diversity

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the cinema

51 the bookmark Gail Woodward starts to build her Christmas gift list

52 the appetite Savoury and sweet: two delicious recipes from the new Little & Friday cookbook, Every Meal

55 the district diary Notable dates for November

the home

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From the front door to the outdoor living, Justine Williams talks to the experts about what is making our homes beautiful

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

the hobson 4

the cryptic

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HEAD-UP DISPLAY

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issue 33, november 2016 Editor & Publisher Kirsty Cameron editor@thehobson.co.nz Art Direction & Production Stephen Penny design@thehobson.co.nz Writers Kirsty Cameron, Jessica-Belle Greer, Penny Lewis, Louise Richardson, Justine Williams Sub-editor Fiona Wilson Social Media Editor Sarah Lynch Columnists & Contributors This Issue Sandy Burgham, Precious Clark, Warren Couillault, Andrew Dickens, Margaret Edgecumbe, Hamish Firth, Paul Goldsmith, Tommy Honey, Māyā, Caitlin McKenna, David Seymour, Fiona Wilson, Gail Woodward Photographers Vanita Andrews, Carolyn Haslett, Lottie Hedley, Stephen Penny

his November, we go far and wide in our content. Far — Palm Springs, an often-overlooked desert city that’s a short trip from LA. We had a very relaxed three-day pause there between theme parks. It’s a two-hour drive from LA, and another two hours to Disneyland at Anaheim from Palm Springs. Our breadth of content is as wide as ever too, all the things we believe will interest you, from local heritage to interior design, and updates on neighbourhood developments.

Our food pages have changed this month — our regular contributor, Sue Fleischl, is looking at such a busy summer that she’s had to hang up her apron as THE HOBSON’s top chef. We’ll miss her, but in her place this month we’re delighted to share recipes from one of our favourite café stops, Little & Friday.

Our other columnists are business as usual, with their insightful writing on their specialist topics. Missing though are the regular reports from the two local boards, who are the first level of local governance in our neighbourhoods. We expect to resume normal transmission with them from our December issue: as we were going to print, both the Orākei and Waitematā boards were scheduling meetings to decide who would be chair, and to assign portfolios. A special vote of thanks too, to the former Orākei Local Board chair, Desley Simpson, who has moved from that role to the governing body, as the Orākei ward’s councillor. Desley has been a wonderful contributor to this magazine, and we hope to be able to keep working with her in her new role.

Enjoy all this issue has to offer,

Cover Palm Springs’ 1961 Morse house, designed by Bill Krisel for the Alexander Construction Company. Photograph by Stephen Penny. See story, page 48 THE HOBSON is published 10 times a year by The Hobson Limited, PO Box 37490 Parnell, Auckland 1151. www.thehobson.co.nz F: TheHobsonMagazine T: @thehobson

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

Ideas, suggestions, advertising inquiries welcome. editor@thehobson.co.nz Or via Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheHobsonMagazine THE HOBSON is Remuera, Parnell and Orākei’s community magazine. We deliver into letterboxes in these neighbourhoods, and copies are also at local libraries, cafes, and at businesses including the Vicky Ave and White Heron dairies, and Paper Plus Parnell.For more about us, visit www.thehobson.co.nz or TheHobsonMagazine on Facebook.

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

Don’t steal, and don’t borrow without checking with us first. We aim for accuracy but cannot be held liable for any inaccuracies that do occur. The views of our contributors are their own and not necessarily those of THE HOBSON. We don’t favour unsolicited contributions but do welcome you getting in touch via editor@thehobson.co.nz to discuss ideas.

The Hobson Ltd is a member of the Magazine Publishers Association

Distribution by

This publication uses environmentally responsible papers

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Congratulations to Mary Lornie, winner of our September issue competition for a year’s supply of excellent Kokako coffee, which is both Fairtrade and organic. Enjoy your brew, Mary.

Why am I getting THE HOBSON in my letterbox? As a recognised community magazine, we may deliver to all letterboxes in our distribution area, except if yours says "Addressed Mail Only". Additional copies can be found at the Remuera and Parnell libraries, at dairies and cafés in our wider area. Our issues are posted digitally too on our Facebook page: The Hobson Magazine

THE PERFECT LOCATION

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The Columnists

Left to right from top row:

Sandy Burgham (The Second Act) is a brand strategist and an executive coach with a special interest in midlife change and transformational behaviours. She runs a central Auckland practice. www.sandyburgham.com Precious Clark (The Kaitiaki) is a professional director who sits on several boards, and a young leader of Ngāti Whātua. A law graduate, she lives in Orākei.

Remuera resident Warren Couillault (The Investment) is an executive director and the major shareholder of Macquarie Equities NZ Ltd, a private wealth advisory group. He is a shareholder and director of Generate Investment Management Ltd; and manager of a registered Kiwisaver scheme.

Andrew Dickens (The Sound) is the host of Andrew Dickens’ Sunday Cafe on Sunday morning, from 9am, on Newstalk ZB. He is also the music reviewer on Jack Tame’s Saturday morning show 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 former architect, Remuera resident and Dean of College at Parnell’s Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design.

Caitlin McKenna (The Cinema) of Remuera is passionate about the cinema — she majored in film, sociology and marketing for her conjoint BCom/BA. Judi Paape (The Teacher) is a parent, grandparent and highly-experienced teacher and junior school principal.

A Parnell resident, her column appears bi-monthly.

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

Gail Woodward (The Bookmark) of Meadowbank is the senior book buyer for Paper Plus Newmarket.

She belongs to, and advises on selections for, a number of book clubs.

the hobson 8

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Remuera Market Day Saturday 29 october | 10am to 3pm It’s almost Halloween so dress up and come along to enjoy free music, street entertainers, a costume competition, Pirongia Clydesdales, face painters, a bouncy castle, Market Day specials and more!

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the village

Town & Around

CONFUSION OVER COMMUNITY SITE The fate of a little yellow building at 4 Victoria Avenue is up in the air, and the Remuera community feels equally in limbo as to what is happening next.

The Auckland Council-owned property, with a stucco house that facilitates the Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) and Plunket’s community services, is in a tight spot while the Remuera Residents’ Association (RRA) and other community members push to have their say on how best to create a new community space.

There is an obligation to provide a right-of-way for the property behind the CAB, 356 Remuera Rd. The owner of that site, who was not available for comment, has proposed an older persons’ assisted living village. That site is accessed currently by a narrow driveway in the middle of the Remuera shops, and the right-of-way easement over 4 Vicky Ave allows access, via a widened driveway, for development.

Representatives from Panuku Development Auckland, the Council-controlled development agency, attended the RRA’s annual general meeting in late August. There it was decided the best options for the little house were to either amalgamate with the property developer or build a new, separate property.

Panuku said they and the Council community facilities department have done an initial assessment, and will continue to look into the options. But this has left stakeholders in the property uncertain.

“I live in the area, I am member of the Residents’ Association and I work in the building. So I would have thought if there was any public consultation I would have found out about it by now,” says the manager of the CAB Remuera/Eastern Bays bureau sited at 4 Vicky Ave, Tess Porter.

A Panuku spokesperson said in an email to THE HOBSON: “It is not Council’s practice to engage with the community when undertaking feasibility assessments.

If redevelopment is an option then Council and Panuku will engage with the community through the Orākei Local Board.”

However after concerns for the building were raised at the AGM, RRA chair Iain Valentine has requested Council initiate consultations with the community. the hobson 11

“This is a once in a generation chance of defining what Remuera really needs, as far as community service is concerned,” says Valentine. “The Council showed great foresight in purchasing that land 30 years ago, but the great disappointment is that nothing has been developed.”

Valentine wishes for a central, multiple-use community hub that could hold meetings, art displays and “all sorts of things that can happen that can make a community come alive”.

The Panuku spokesperson says the existing stucco house “does not appear to be at risk due to these easements”. However, the RRA is wary of Council joining forces with the property developer for the site, as it may take away the recognisability of a community facility.

“Putting something in writing about providing space for community facilities will be messed around in a development… it will probably be put upstairs, and not be very accessible.”

Porter says that at present, the yellow house is the only community facility suitable for the CAB and Plunket in Remuera.

She says although some CABs share spaces with libraries, the Remuera Library is a heritage building already at capacity. And there are no plans as yet revealed for redevelopment of the Council-owned carpark at Clonbern Rd. The closest CAB branch after Remuera is in Glen Innes, which “has its own capacity issues,” says Porter.

She also says the CAB’s number of clients and the complexity of service is growing. Centrallyfunded, CAB provides free, confidential advice on a wide range of subjects and services to allcomers.

It is open to a new property or location to improve its offering, but there is concern around the lack of planning.

“I would like to be part of the planning process so we can make sure that we have an input into what’s been looked at for our service, so we can maximise it,” says Tess Porter. “Certainly for the next generation or two … it will be good to know that it was thought through properly and planned properly.”

Another development, which is awaiting resource consent, is seeking to redevelop the shops and offices surrounding the heritage Remuera Post Office building at 358-364 Remuera Rd. At the time of going to print the RRA was waiting to hear back from Council about bringing forward its community consultation.

— Jessica-Belle Greer The RRA is holding a public meeting to address the future of 4 Victoria Ave and issues around community facilities in Remuera. All welcome, 7.30pm Tuesday, November 15, St Paul’s Methodist Church hall, St Vincents Ave. p

the village

WE, THE PEOPLE At the time of going to press, preliminary results had been announced from the local body elections. As expected, Orākei Local Board chair Desley Simpson romped home to win the ward’s Council seat, beating her nearest rival by more than 13,000 votes.

Simpson replaces Cameron Brewer, who stood down and is now on the Rodney Local Board, having relocated to Riverhead.

Things were tighter in Waitematā and Gulf, where incumbent, left-leaning and long-serving local politician Councillor Mike Lee, saw off his main challenger, the centre-right-leaning Bill Ralston, by 1000 votes. Waitematā Local Board member, independent Rob Thomas, probably made the difference: his 4000 votes were 1000 up from when he ran for Council at the 2013 election. The result would also indicate that the changing demographics of the Parnell to Westmere ward means it’s no longer the left powerbase it once was.

What hasn’t changed is the voting patterns of Orākei, which gave all seven places on the Orākei Local Board to the C&R: Communities and Residents ticket. Returning board members Troy Churton, Kit Parkinson and Colin Davis are joined by new C&R colleagues Toni Millar, Carmel Claridge, David Wong and Rosalind Rundle. Last term’s board members, Desley Simpson, Ken Baguley, Kate Cooke and mayoral contender Mark Thomas did not stand for re-election.

Over the coming weeks, both local boards will choose their chairs and deputies, and distribute portfolio responsibilities amongst the seven members on each board.

On the incoming Waitematā Local Board, the City Vision (Labour) team has held onto a slim majority, with new faces voted on from the Auckland Future (National) ticket, plus independent Rob Thomas holding his place, polling second-highest after the deputy chair, Pippa Coom, as they both did in 2013.

City Vision newcomer Adriana Christie, and former Labour MP and Auckland City councillor Richard Northey join the Waitematā table, along with Auckland Future’s Mark Davey. Final results for the seventh seat were not declared by THE HOBSON’s deadline. At last count, Auckland Future’s Jonathon Good was 65 votes ahead of board incumbent, Vernon Tava, who was only 43 votes in front of his CV colleague, Chang Hung.

Surprises in the result were the high-profile Tava not being returned comfortably, and fellow board member Greg Moyle (AF) polling well down the list. Members Christopher Dempsey and

Deborah Yates did not stand for re-election.

As the only independent on the formerly City Vision-dominated board, Rob Thomas is watching with interest.

“There has been a clear shift towards a great balance of decisionmaking across the political spectrum,” he says. “Fresh faces provide both an opportunity for new thinking but also a challenge of continuity.”

Thomas points out that he, Christie and Jonathon Good are all business entrepreneurs, “and should bring a greater depth to the decision making process”.

“The chairperson will need to act collaboratively and fairly to bring members together. The workloads across each portfolio, business association and committee delegation can no longer be held centrally, but will need to be shared to get the best outcomes for our community.” — Kirsty Cameron p

OPEN FOR BUSINESS IN ORAKEI BAY The long story of the Orakei Bay Village development has a new chapter, with a number of retailers opening while the resource and consent process goes on.

Initially planned as 100 townhouses and 400 apartments on a mixed-use site around the Orākei Train Station, the project has changed hands and weathered a number of set-backs since its inception almost 10 years ago. The development has faced an Environment Court challenge from local residents, concerned about ecological impacts, and the additional traffic it would bring.

Late last year, off-the-plan buyers were offered their deposits back after construction increases forced up completion costs, and the developer, Equinox, cited too many difficulties getting Council and Auckland Transport to proceed with previous agreements.

The project was then cancelled. The whole story, says the Equinox website, is “a 10 part mini series for another day”.

Now, Equinox — who picked up the project from the original developer — has launched retail on the Orakei Rd side of the site, and is preparing to go back to the market with the first phase of a smaller residential development, Peninsula, where Kings Plant Barn currently sits.

THE HOBSON had a quick chat with Equinox principal Kerry Knight about current events at OBV. ➤

A HAPPY 4&20 FESTIVE SEASON We’ve created a menu of festive edibles for you to enjoy. Select for your pantry, or choose gifts to present in a stylish Hamper Box, or Shopper Bag. Our Sri Lankan Christmas Cake looks like a traditional English Christmas cake, but is rich with spices and made with semolina and ground almonds, for a lighter bite. The Austrian Christmas Cake is a delicious concoction of apricots, figs, coconut, rum, chocolate and spices. It wouldn’t be Christmas without mince pies, or our 17th century Christmas Pudding.

Stock up with our jams, chutneys, biscuits, crisp breads and granola — all of these make lovely gifts too.

Order via 4and20.co.nz, phone us on (09) 529 0307 or come and visit us at 3a Clonbern Rd, Remuera.

GRANDEUR & SPACIOUSNESS

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MOUNT EDEN |

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The lavish 6 bedroom property is situated on a substantial freehold site of 1,207 sqm. The huge kitchen and open-plan living and dining rooms get flooded with natural light throughout the day.

Michael Boulgaris Voted Real Estate Agent of the Millenium (REINZ)

Bi-fold doors draw you though to the outdoor decking and swimming pool area. The pool boasts all day sunshine and is a perfect place to entertain guests in an elegant alfresco setting. A separate pool house, currently being utilized as a media room, provides further entertainment space with its own kitchenette facilities and bathroom.

Will Green

M 021 366 366 E michael.boulgaris@boulgarisrealty.com Follow me on Instagram @michael.boulgaris

M 021 083 91612 E william.green@boulgarisrealty.com Follow me on Instagram @will.green.nz

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Land Area 1,207 sqm

6 HOROEKA AVENUE

This wonderful character residence is located in one of Auckland’s most desirable hot-spots, Mount Eden.

It has been lovingly restored and extended to accommodate a large family.

Michael Boulgaris

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The home has retained its grace and charm with ornate fire surrounds, high skirting boards, decorative ceilings and open fireplaces. The rooms are over-sized and the living areas all open out to paved entertainment areas.

The extensive outdoor space has been beautifully landscaped, offering maximum privacy and shelter.

There is ample off road car parking including a secure lock up garage for up to 4 vehicles.

This property provides a peaceful and carefree existence all but a short drive to Auckland’s CBD and well within the much sought after Grammar Schooling Zone makes this property an extremely desirable purchase.

Call Michael or Will to arrange a viewing

the village

There’s the wine store, and the ARThaus creative space now in the warehouses on the site. Who else is coming? Next month will see Brothers Beer, Espresso Workshop, a bistro, florist, The Food Bowl, Father Rabbit, Mexican hot chocolate, a Japanese restaurant, a car wash, and a few others. In February, Kings Plant Barn will move in, with a new format café and café operator, and Farro will also open. There are others coming too.

You’re offering six-year leases on retail. Is the expectation that after that, you’ll be developing that area as Phase 2? They [the retailers] have rights of first refusal, in which when development occurs, they can go back into the retail on the ground floor in a similar location. There will always be an Orakei Bay Village [retail area] as part of any redevelopment of the land.

When do you expect to start selling the new Phase 1 residential, where Kings is now? The Unitary Plan produced an unexpected result from both ours, and Council’s point of view. We are working with Council at the moment so we can get a clear path on what to do on the King’s site. We are hoping to get clarity this month, and then lodge a consent next month. Unlike most sites in Auckland, infrastructure is resolvable, and not a roadblock.

Does the Unitary Plan fill you with new hope? Generally yes, but it’s a blueprint for Auckland, not a specific plan. In relation to our site, we have lost another year to be able to produce much-needed housing in Auckland. The Unitary Plan process put everything on hold.

After all the delays and frustrations of the past years, what keeps you enthused about Orakei Bay Village? Paying back our investors.

Do you have any message for the new mayor? Yes. The mayor

has to change Council’s vision. They have to be knocking on the door of landowners, saying, “How can we help you to produce houses for Auckland?” At the moment the process is very slow, and other than a few people in Council, there is very little real engagement, and Council officers are not given discretion, or the message, to make things happen. Auckland Transport also has to become part of Council, not its own separate silo, answerable to its own board. p

GRAMMAR PAINTS THE TOWN November is the month for school house tours — St Cuth’s holds its day of open homes on November 18 — and art fundraisers, with King’s College hosting its spectacular Art Sale on November 4.

Auckland Grammar School, however, is combining both our love of art, and fascination with other people’s houses.

The inaugural Grammar Art-House Tour will be held on Saturday November 12. The houses have been selected from within the school’s community, and each will also act as a gallery for the day, some with an “in residence” artist.

“We wanted to bring something new to the school’s art expo programme,” says headmaster, Tim O’Connor. “We have been delighted with how the community has embraced this idea, in combining a number of beautiful homes with magnificent art.”

Proceeds will go to the school’s Academic Endowment Fund.

Homes on the tour range from historic villas — including Grammar’s own 114-year-old boarding hostel, Tibbs House — to architect-designed new builds. Featured within each home will be the work of four to five different artists, from paintings to sculpture,

PAUL GOLDSMITH NATIONAL LIST MP BASED IN EPSOM

107 Great South Road, Greenlane PO Box 26 153 Epsom, Auckland 1344 P: 09 524 4930 E: paul.goldsmith@parliament.govt.nz W: www.paulgoldsmith.co.nz facebook.com/PaulGoldsmithNZ Funded by Parliamentary Service and authorised by Paul Goldsmith 107 Great South Rd Auckland

www.national.org.nz

19 – 20 November 2016 Discover the timeless charm of Highwic’s garden and gifts galore in the Christmas shop. in partnership with Dr Keith Hammett, world renowned plant breeder

Mortimer Pass (off Gillies Ave) Newmarket, Auckland

09 524 5729 • highwic@heritage.org.nz • www.highwic.co.nz

all available to buy. As well as independent artists, four leading galleries have partnered with the school — Gow Langsford, Michael Lett, Hopkinson Mossman and Tim Melville.

The ticket price includes a Friday night launch in the school’s Main Hall, where a number of artworks by old boys, including Max Gimblett (Throne, 2014 15" quatrefoil, pictured above), Greer Twiss, Scott Gardiner and Brad Novak, will be auctioned. As well as the artists and galleries, the key sponsor of the event is Barfoot & Thompson. For tickets and information, see arthousetour.co.nz p

. . . AND ALL THAT JAZZ Remuera’s Village Green gets its cool on with a jazz concert series starting on Saturday November 19. The six concerts are a unique opportunity to hear talented jazz musicians from the University of Auckland collaborate with their students. Focusing on the classic jazz repertoire from the ’50s and ’60s, each of the free lunchtime events will give up-and-coming musical talent the chance to perform with their mentors. The concert series was the idea of Poppies bookstore owners Tara Jahn-Werner and Tony Moores, book lovers and jazz fans.

The concerts will be a wonderful opportunity for students and tutors alike, says Ron Samsom, jazz drummer and co-ordinator of the Jazz Studies programme at the School of Music.

“Students will be chosen based on their potential to engage with professionals.”

The free Remuera Village Green Summer Jazz Series runs from 11.30am to 2pm each Saturday, from Nov 19, to Christmas Eve. Enter from Clonbern Lane or 415 Remuera Rd. p

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD ANSWERS (page 56) Across: 1/12/29 Parnell Rose Gardens, 5 Archway, 10 Wigwam, 11 Aim, 13 Dagobert, 14 Lumpy, 15 History report, 18 Mountain range, 22 End up, 24 Retreats, 25 Jung, 26 Rum, 27 Nettle, 28 Remarry Down: 2 Animal, 3 Newtonian, 4 Lambent, 6 Rambler, 7 Harem, 8 Assayers, 9 Battering rams, 16 Pigmented, 17 Molecule, 19 Aspirer, 20 Antenna, 21 Stolen, 23 Dogma

the reps

DAVID SEYMOUR

PAUL GOLDSMITH

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Paul Goldsmith is a list MP based in Epsom and Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs

David Seymour is the MP for Epsom.

ousing affordability and transport have dominated the local feedback I’ve been receiving for some time now, both from surveys or directly while waiting in the check-out line at the supermarket, or walking down the street. And a third topic has been rising recently — concern around crime and safety in our communities.

As one survey respondent put it to me, “Public security is very important for us – we need to have more security for our family”.

There’s no doubt there has been a recent upturn in burglaries. Anyone who has been burgled knows what an invasive and disturbing experience this can be.

I would like to reassure you that the entire National caucus and government remains as focused as ever on preventing crime and helping to keep our communities safer. It is a primary responsibility of government, and one we take incredibly seriously.

We’ve been pleased to see overall crime steadily decreasing for some time now — 16 per cent on five years ago. Violent crime is down 8 per cent and youth crime is down 38 per cent. Even so, we know that rates are still too high, and there are too many lives blighted by violence and theft. We are determined to ensure that crime rates continue to fall.

So it has been particularly concerning to see the recent upturn in burglary. In September, house burglaries became a priority offence, so all break-ins are now attended by police staff within a reasonable time frame. More broadly, the PM recently indicated we are looking at a likely further increase in police numbers. Since we came into government, we’ve increased the number of police on the beat by 600.

We’ve also increased frontline policing half a million hours a year by investing in technology. This year we also gave a $300 million funding boost to support police and the good work they do in crime prevention. We’re cracking down on the perpetrators of crime by introducing the threestrikes policy that ensures the worst repeat criminals receive the maximum allowable sentence, with no parole.

At the same time, we recognise the need to tackle the drivers of crime. Many burglars are drug addicts, desperate to fund their addiction. We have made significant progress, for example, in improving prisoner access to high-quality alcohol and drug interventions. More than 4500 prisoners accessed treatment in 2014/15, compared to just 500 in 2008/09. In the past few years, the number of residential Drug Treatment Units has increased from six to 11, and the number of prisoners placed in them has doubled over six years. Similar efforts are underway to improve the literacy skills and employment prospects of prisoners.

The safety of our community is an essential element of our quality of life. We will continue to invest what is required to steadily reduce crime.

hen I knock on doors in Epsom, Mt Eden, Parnell and Remuera, the residents’ biggest concerns relate directly to local politics. Rates, traffic congestion, and maintenance of amenities impact people’s lives more acutely than the topics dominating debate in Wellington.

I estimate that half of the people who approach me have a Council-related issue. I can’t intervene directly in local politics, but I can help residents through moral suasion of the powers that be. Council staffers and local politicians take more notice of pestering from an MP, probably because we’ve had more practice.

In parliament, progress tends to be made after robust debate, split along party lines. But in local politics, ideology is less important than the ability for representatives to build relationships and work together constructively. So far, I’ve worked with local councillors and board members like Mike Lee, Christine Fletcher, Desley Simpson, and more. Some of them would sit opposite me in parliament if they were MPs, but as local representatives, we find plenty to agree on.

By the time you read this, we’ll have some different representatives, but the fact remains that their (and my) effectiveness will depend on our willingness to listen to our constituents and work hard, together.

But it’s not just politicians who must co-operate. Council staffers, Auckland Transport, police, and businesses all play a role in making our communities functional, safe, and pleasant. Addressing crime around the Greenlane interchange typifies the range of relationships needed to produce results. After a meeting, local school parents, the police, Auckland Transport, Transdev, and Māori Wardens have come on board to ensure the Greenlane train station isn’t used as an entry point for ill-intentioned “windscreen washers”. Councillors Fletcher and Lee joined me in successfully advocating for improved lighting of the overpass, with progress underway for CCTV cameras and security gates.

I’ve also worked with residents and Auckland Transport to achieve smaller gains such as getting the footpath outside Newmarket Primary School properly sealed, and providing a covered bus shelter for residents of Ranfurly Rd. The lesson for me has been that, for all the deserved criticisms that the Council and Auckland Transport receive, some persistent community action tends to get results.

My ability to assist in these projects ultimately depends on relationships. That’s why I’m constantly meeting with businesspeople, educators, parents, elected representatives, police, and community groups, even if just for coffee and a chat.

I need you to help me help my electorate, so remember that my office is open. You can schedule a phone call or a meeting at my Gillies Ave office by emailing davidseymour. epsom@parliament.govt.nz.

BC6031

Stop off in Parnell and take in the sights as we welcome spring amongst the roses.

Food and art stalls will be dotted throughout the park and acts on the main stage include swing, jazz and blues music.

There is entertainment for all ages and plenty of seating so just sit back and enjoy it all.

FREE FA M I LY EVENT

10.30am - 4pm Sunday 13 Nov 2016 Parnell Rose Garden Dove-Myer Robinson Park

Find out more: email parnellroses@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or visit Facebook.com/waitemata

Sign language services available and talks for vision impaired help make this an accessible event.

Catch a Link bus and simply wander down the hill.

the plan

All Hail the Unitary Plan

J

ust when you thought the saviour to the housing crisis had arrived, and the endless commentary of housing affordability was over because the Unitary Plan had been signed off by Auckland Council, 105 appeals were made to both the High Court and the Environment Court.

While these appeals are generally specific, like the Minister of Defence wanting more stringent height controls on the approach to the Whenuapai Air Base, or Smith and Caughey Ltd wanting the demolition controls in the Queen St Valley rescinded, there are some appeals which will slow the implementation of the thrust of the Unitary Plan, being more housing. Who knows how long the more general appeals will take to resolve, but we hope it is within the next six months, so we can all get on with our lives.

The amount of appeals may seem like a lot to many, and the timeframe to resolve them an eternity, but bear in mind one of the previous legacy district plans had 300-plus appeals, and took 10 years to become the operative document. The team that set up the super city should be lauded for providing what is a streamlined process in comparison to the previous iteration.

Let’s fast forward to the final appeal being settled, and specific appeals, apart from the NIMBYs, have been pushed aside, and we have an operative Unitary Plan that generally looks like what we have now. What will this mean?

Well, whole suburbs like Papatoetoe, Te Atatu and Waterview have been “upzoned”. The long-held density requirements (houses/ m2) has been largely disbanded, with bulk, and location, and urban design controls being the key planning drivers — outlines for what an owner or developer may choose to do with a site. This may mean a 1000m2 site with a Terrace House and Apartment Buildings (THAB) zone designation could have five 250m2 threelevel townhouses, or 20 studio apartments, depending on what outcomes are being sought.

In numbers, the Unitary Plan has been designed to accommodate a further 420,000 new homes (for 1 million new people) by 2041.

Over 60 per cent of these will be within the area we know as “urban Auckland”. 190,000 will be apartments and terrace houses.

This city now has the land use rules to allow growth.

Despite this drive for more housing, and more housing choice, and thus a theoretical supply-demand equilibrium, there will be difficulties with the density proposed. I fear that the outcomes have been very housing based, and not community based. There is an appearance that we will be going up and out, but with what thought or planning for the parts of our urban fabric that are required to help us live and work?

Where, for example, are the school zones, the industrial areas for employment and commerce, and the plan for new regional parks?

And at the top of everyone’s list — a transportation system linking these areas, to ensure there is no more traffic congestion in 2041 than there is now.

I often get asked, “Is the Unitary Plan going to work?” My answer is still the same. It will achieve the outcome sought – it will offer communities a way to deliver ‘affordable’ homes for the 1 million new people who will call Auckland home within the next 25 years.

And it is better than the status quo, where the ability to grow has been frozen by inaction and a lack of leadership leading to house prices going through the roof. The outcome: “rich” or existing house owners gain, while the non-home owners or “poor” are priced out.

We can do better. I do not think the solution is suburb upon endless suburb, and then trying to increase the density in each suburb to accommodate more people – that would be like a smaller but growing version of Los Angeles. At the same time, a lot of people want or desire lower density development, and not to live in apartments.

However the reality may be that we have to accept this new — albeit not perfect — paradigm, or forever be trying to achieve a balance between supply and demand where demand is far outstripping supply, pushing house prices higher. The super city has given us a 30-year transport and infrastructure plan, along with the land use-based Unitary Plan. That is an achievement in itself, which would never have been achieved under the previous disparate regime. I just hope the goal is more than 420,000 new homes in the next 25 years.

— Hamish Firth

the investment

Giving you the confidence to smile

The Donald

I

n a few days’ time we’ll know the outcome of the 58th US presidential election. It’s been an entertaining few months watching the candidates on the campaign trail, and one of either the Democrat or Republican nominees is about to become the 45th President. There’s been a bit of uncertainty heading into the election causing some minor market jitters, and some concern in particular that if Mr Trump is successful, then his policies might cause more substantial market wobbles. Regardless of which candidate wins the election, I don't expect significant changes in direction – up or down – to the equities or stock markets.

Uncertainty usually causes sell-offs, but it also creates buying opportunities. And given how little the American president really has to do with the fundamental performance of individual companies, if there were a big enough decline in markets, I would seriously consider selective purchases of those shares that have been sold-off for no other reason. But broadly, I believe stocks won't be nearly as affected by the election outcome as people seem to think.

All this year it’s been the manifesto policies of Republican candidate Trump that have attracted most media attention and broadly negative commentary. At the time of writing (a few weeks before you’re reading this), Trump still hadn’t provided a lot of detail concerning his economic policy (neither had Secretary Clinton for that matter!). The broad thrust though seems to be a stated desire to protect American business — and therefore America — from foreigners.

Some experts have quantified the effect of these policies – if they can get through Congress – predicting them to cause the US to slip back into recession, and lead to as many as 10 million jobs lost over the presidential term. Really? Will a Trump win really have such a negative affect on the US and potentially, on the world economy?

A Trump White House cannot shut down China, it can’t repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and it cannot fireup the coal industry by itself. White House policy needs Congress support, and I just don’t see the broader Republican Party falling in totally behind all of these proposed policies.

Let’s look at what happened during President Obama’s eight years in the White House. When campaigning back in 2007, Obama was widely viewed as somewhat left-wing and anti-business, and the view was compounded by the Democrats having a supermajority in Congress (at least during his first two years in office through to 2010). Since then, the Democrats have lost their majorities, and both houses of Congress have had Republican majorities for the past few years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average now trades at around 18,000, up from 7,500 when President Obama took office.

Does that performance reflect an anti-business president?

The markets went up because of a perfect and unique combination of recovering and strengthening company profits, lots of mergers and takeovers, persistent and record low interest rates, share buybacks and healthy dividend payouts. The markets appreciated because the US economy weathered the 2008 global financial crisis, and bounced back better than anyone thought it would. The market went up because more jobs were created.

As great as the differences are between candidates Trump and Clinton, I don’t think that the person that wins the presidency will mean as much to the stock market as many people seem to believe.

So stay calm and dispassionate over the next few weeks, and remember that companies carry on doing what they do, people work and spend. Remember too, even when people disliked the Obama administration, it didn't stop them from doing well in the stock market. — Warren Couillault

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the suburbanist

ASK KAREN

Local real estate expert Karen Moore answers your questions, so if you are looking for clarity or simple advice, contact Karen at Mike Pero Real Estate Remuera.

Tide Turned On House Sales?

Seasonal trends are no longer the norm when it comes to peaks and troughs for buying and selling property.

The Government’s latest LVR moves has had a marked effect on new home purchasers and investors and while sellers continue to focus on attaining a top price, buyers are much more vigorous at weighing up their options.

Needless to say the media will no doubt claim the sky is falling in but don’t be fooled. Whilst it may take a tad longer to sell it may require more innovative marketing and need a closer review as to what sale method is best for your home: Auction, tender or negotiation. Buyers are still on the hunt.

Our Remuera office has seen slightly lower numbers at auctions but at the same time we are seeing many new faces. This often occurs when slight softening appears, bringing out of hibernation buyers who have been sitting out the madness!

A cautionary message from Team Moore: Homes priced too high for the market are less likely to sell quickly and property listed much more than 4-6 weeks are often seen by many buyers as stale and or possibly flawed. Talk to us for sound expert advice on real and relevant appraisals and optimised marketing that will ensure you maximise the outcomes.

Thinking of selling, contact me for a no obligation in depth market review Karen Moore – Licensed Agent & Territory Owner Remuera – Waiheke Mike Pero Annual Awards 2016 1st - Team Marketing Campaign Remuera

All opinions expressed by Karen Moore in this article are solely Karen’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mike Pero Real Estate. You should consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.

team.moore@mikepero.com • 027 279 5983 279 Remuera Road • 09 524 4393 www.remuera.mikepero.com

Mike Pero Real Estate Ltd Licensed REAA (2008)

The Pocket 'hood

A

midst the angst surrounding the Unitary Plan, and the apparently conflicting issues of density and heritage, one thing can’t be denied: Auckland’s population is growing. Of course it always has, but not at the rate it has been lately.

There are many theories about why this is but the most likely reason is perhaps not that too many people are arriving, but that too few are leaving. Auckland’s net migration was kept reasonably low due to the steady flow of people leaving, to the point where the Kiwi diaspora is now around one million. Many left in search of better jobs and a better standard of living. Lately, this has been less certain, certainly in Australia. The impact of student loans has also killed wanderlust. With fewer people leaving, more staying and more migrants, the population is rising faster than we can house them.

Here’s an experiment you can try. Fill your bath half full. Keep the tap running and try to let the water out. Dependent on your water pressure, the level of the bath will probably rise ever so slowly.

Now partially block the drain; the bath will rise more quickly. This has been happening in Auckland and for too long we didn’t pay attention. We need a bigger bath! Or another bath, or some buckets.

We could put another bath in the bathroom. “There’s no room” say those opposed to development. “How about some buckets, stacked on top of each other?” cry the intensivists. “Put some buckets in the garage and out on the deck,” shout the sprawlers, “and carry the water back and forth.” (Commuting). “Turn off the tap!” say the anti-immigrationists, loudly. “Let’s get someone more important to think about this” (the judicial review) insist the status quo’sers, “even if it means leaving the tap running unattended for a year”.

And while we argue, the bath keeps filling. Sigh.

Amidst all this is fear — or at least concern — about what change will look like, particularly if we embrace higher density. There are historical examples around the city that would give reason for both fear and concern, or at the least, pause. No one was watching when those vertical horrors rose up, like a dentist inserting bad teeth into a healthy mouth.

Well, we’re all watching now and we have high expectations of how increased density should improve our city. Just around the corner from Symonds St, a new development is underway on Khyber Pass. Called Skhy, it is designed by one of the city’s best practices, Cheshire Architects, and it is bringing a new sensibility to the area.

Similarly, the Civic Administration building in Aotea Square — one of our finest examples of early modern high-rise — is to get a new life as apartments, with cafes and restaurants at ground level.

In the city, developments like these make sense. Further out, what can we expect? Internationally, there is a trend towards developments called pocket neighbourhoods. This is a pattern of housing that encourages a strong sense of community, while preserving the need for privacy. They are often clustered groups of houses or apartments gathered around a shared open space — a garden courtyard, a pedestrian street, a series of joined backyards or a reclaimed alley, all of which have a clear sense of territory and shared stewardship.

Lamont & Co's Fabric of Onehunga is one such development now under construction. It will house up to 500 people, in 239 apartments in five buildings, sited in landscaped grounds over the 1.29ha site.

There will be shared green spaces to enjoy, along with atriums and pedestrian bridges. Perhaps this is the model we should be seeking in medium density developments in our city fringe suburbs: areas that increase our green space and enhance our environment, that create new heritage and allow more people to live better lives, albeit at a higher density. It’s not that hard to get right. The trouble is, if we do, then no-one will ever leave. — Tommy Honey

the kaitiaki

Biculturalism to Unlock Innovation

D

iversity” and “inclusion” are the buzzwords of the moment, and for good reason. The private sector in New Zealand is catching on to the international movement to find ways that allow people to bring their whole selves to work, which leads to the development of innovative ways of doing things, and improves bottom lines.

Given that Auckland is one of the world’s most culturally diverse cities, we have a strong platform to leap from, should we figure out how to embrace “other” cultures into, or to sit alongside, the prevailing mainstream culture. Or better still, embrace other cultures to create a new mainstream. Recent political grandstanding by some dinosaurs who tout the message “we are one nation” — which is a polite way of saying that biculturalism, let alone multiculturalism, has no place in NZ — provides a great opportunity to kick off the conversation about how we embrace biculturalism.

The reaction of more enlightened New Zealanders is heartening.

They recognise that it’s the things that make us unique, like our Māori culture, that set us apart in a world fast becoming monocultural. The sun is setting on Don Brash’s antiquated views. As a nation, we are probably the closest in the world to getting the concept of biculturalism right, which is bound by the founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. And the potential impact on our ability to be leaders of innovation, should we get biculturalism right, is unknown and exciting.

If you accept the hypothesis offered by organisational theorist Fons Trompenaars, that “to innovate is to combine values that are not easily joined, therefore scarce and therefore purposeful”, there is an untapped source of innovation on our bicultural plate of kumara and lamb.

Let’s take Waka Māori, the award-winning waka-shaped venue erected at the Viaduct during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. It attracted 140,000 visitors in its first three days. An innovative build

by Ngati Whātua Orākei and Structurflex Ltd, it merged Māori concepts with modern day building practices, to create a unique experience for visitors. But more importantly, it provided a project that saw the constant negotiation between cultures about concepts

of novelty, respect for traditional knowledge and differences to risk appetite and opportunities. It is in this collision zone that innovation flourishes.

This provides a micro-view of the opportunity that comes from a bicultural society, where cultures can merge to create new norms, new standards and opportunities. Creating a society where this is the rule instead of the exception is the type of world our kids want us to leave to them. We can start by asking ourselves the question: in bicultural New Zealand, what are the benefits to my grandchildren and NZ? Then comes the hardest part, having the discipline to answer the question as it is written.

In our attempt to embrace culture to meet diversity and inclusion goals, it makes sense to start off with focusing on how we get a bicultural relationship between Māori and the mainstream right, so as to leverage off 176 years of getting to know each other, before leaping into a conversation about the virtues of multiculturalism.

Yet, leap we will. The skeptic in me suggests it’s an attempt to sweep conversations about biculturalism, which is underpinned by the Treaty, under the carpet, in favour of a conversation about multiculturalism, which potentially dilutes the significance of biculturalism in NZ. Is the desire to leap to discuss multiculturalism fuelled by what I call “Treaty fatigue”? That’s the result of being tired from years of discourse about the Treaty . . . without actually participating in the discussion. It is fatigue caused by both overt and subliminal messages from various media that paints the Treaty as a burden on you, on me, and our nation. It’s like eating from a set menu, while you are asleep.

But the optimist in me thinks we are made of better stuff than that. We are capable of having conversations that lead to nation building. Let’s define the strength of a collaborative relationship between Māori and Pakeha, and do it quickly, so as to ensure the ground is sufficiently fertile to embrace multiculturalism.

Creating fertile ground for exciting cultural collision zones, to stamp Aotearoa’s place on the innovation map? Now that’s a challenge I’m up for. — Precious Clark

the heritage

Shakespearian Parnell This year marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, and to mark the occasion, and to record another aspect of life in historic Parnell, the new issue of Parnell Heritage’s Journal has a fascinating feature on the Parnell Shakespeare Club.

The story, researched and written by retired University of Auckland English academic Margaret Edgcumbe, follows the club and its members from its inception in 1883 to its last meetings in 1938. Many names connected with the area turn up as members of the club, which didn’t put on the plays, but gathered together in private homes to read works aloud. In this exclusive, edited, extract from the Journal, Margaret Edgcumbe writes of the founding of the club.

Lane, and by the end of August she had canvassed the entire district. About 30 Parnell residents, nearly all of them members of St Mary’s Church and the Tennis Club, had promised their enthusiastic support and the first meeting had been arranged.

The new club was off to a good start. Looking to other Shakespeare clubs, including one in Dunedin and those in the US and the UK, the club decided to be “a private Club of friends” who would meet in each other’s homes “for the intelligent and instructive rendering of Shakespeare’s plays”.

I

n the winter of 1883 Mrs Frederica Horne of St Georges Bay Rd had a very good idea.

Why didn’t some of her neighbours get together and form a reading circle devoted entirely to the plays of Shakespeare? She took the idea to another Parnell lady, Mrs Charlotte Ruck of Prospect House, a well-known amateur actress, and she agreed that a Shakespeare Club would be just the thing for the winter months, and a valuable contribution to the social life of the district. In the summer months Mrs Ruck was fully occupied as the Secretary of the Parnell Croquet and Tennis Club; now she really needed to find something to fill the winter nights as well.

The two ladies next decided that they should enlist the support of the Bishop of Auckland, William Garden Cowie, and he was so pleased with the notion that he agreed to act as President and to make his residence at Bishopscourt available for the readings, whenever he and Mrs Cowie were in Auckland. And so, as the winter set in, Mrs Ruck began to pay visits to other Parnell citizens of a literary or dramatic bent. She probably started with her neighbours, Miss Jane Mowbray at Whitby House, and the American Mrs Goodhue, further down the road at Windsor

The first reading took place a fortnight later on 20 August, 1883, at Mrs Henry Chamberlin’s house in Gladstone Rd. The play chosen was the very popular Merchant of Venice with Mrs Ruck as Portia, and Walter Hammond as Shylock.

It was not the first time that he had appeared in the role in Auckland and the two had recently performed the trial scene, to great applause, at a concert in Devonport. The lesser roles were shared out according to a principle which differentiated the Parnell and Dunedin Clubs: in the Parnell Club, women were allowed to fill male roles if there were not enough men available. Mrs Goodhue was therefore assigned to play Launcelot Gobbo and other women were allotted the parts of Portia’s unsuccessful lovers and Bassanio’s friends. The club was starting as it would go on.

The complete repertoire of plays was never attempted. Measure for Measure, All’s Well that Ends Well, Titus Andronicus, Troilus and Cressida, and Pericles of Tyre were omitted, and the three parts of Henry VI were abandoned after the first readings, as was Timon of Athens, which was described [in club records] as “an unusual style of play and not good for general readers”.

The 2016 Parnell Heritage Journal is now on sale at Paper Plus Parnell and the White Heron Dairy, Gladstone Rd, $15.

For mail order copies, email enquiries@parnellheritage.org.nz

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the second act

Salon Appointments

A

s I turned 50 and made the commitment to live more purposefully, rather than reactively and washed down with wine, I became increasingly interested in expanding my mind. I was also keen to regenerate some of the brain cells that had been decimated by youthful endeavors and buffed away by workplace stress and ambition.

First stop, university. I have previously written about the trials of entering this institution at midlife, and struggling with even the online enrolment system, let alone finding a lecture theatre in a deeply coded campus. I still relish in the learning, and have cut my essay writing time in half by cottoning on to youth-inspired tricks of the trade that younger students seem to have been born knowing, like how to reference an essay properly, or even best use of the library’s resources (I tended to buy books as needed).

My second stage of mind expansion has happened more recently. I’m experimenting with the idea of a salon. Not the hair or day spa kind, but the salon as part of the philosophical movement of the Age of Enlightenment of 17th and 18th century Europe, particularly in France. These private gatherings were both social and intellectual, where matters of importance were shared and debated.

In France, they were almost exclusively hosted by women (salonnières) in their homes. The salonnière would curate a guest list to discuss the selected topic, and then preside over the gathering, effectively acting as moderator and facilitator. What piqued my interest was the salon being one of the few places where women were able to attain a leadership role, while also being educated, albeit informally. But it was also the role of the salons as channels for revolutionary thinking, and influence in cultural-political matters, that really inspired me to start my own.

We‘ve all noted the paradox of social isolation in the age of screen-based social media. Perhaps an unexpected outcome of this is that the value of face-to-face engagement has increased dramatically. And when many bemoan mainstream media becoming more sensationalised and commercialised, the need for

civic engagement has also become more pressing. Have you also noticed the exponential growth of TEDx events globally? On a smaller scale, the rise of dinner groups, and even restaurants like Mt Eden’s Ika, where patrons enjoy a stimulating presentation from a thought leader while dining, points to the demand for this kind of engagement.

A friend who had been hosting a restaurant-based salon for some time encouraged me to do my own version, as part of creating a social movement of people conversing on matters that count. When I met — name-drop alert! — Gloria Steinem earlier in the year, she spoke of conscious-raising circles of the 1960s being a key part of the women’s revolution.

So, I thought, we need more revolutionary thinking. And revolutionaries need space to think. As luck would have it, my office in central Auckland was once a cooking school, so is set up for experimental thinking and doing. In recent months it’s turned into “The Revolution Room” — groups of people getting together to discuss revolutionary thinking on a particular subject.

It’s early days but I think I’m getting the hang of it. So far we’ve had two sessions devoted to the housing crisis, each with about 25 participants bringing different interests, viewpoints and professional perspectives. I seem to have no shortage of people who either want to attend, or want to start a revolution in their own backyard about an issue they care passionately about.

Next week I’m going to my friend’s salon to discuss “the individual’s pursuit for greater meaning, purpose and well-being in living”. Can’t wait. And given the current unbelievable success of an uneducated buffoon against a far more experienced and intelligent female candidate in the US election race, The Revolution Room is getting into gear, planning two more sessions to explore both gender, and specifically, masculinity.

Like the slogan that adorns my environmentally-friendly shopping bag, “I might not change the world but am hoping to be an accessory”.

— Sandy Burgham

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PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF

STRUCTURAL EXPRESSION

By Cathy Roselli, local Ray White real estate salesperson

Do you recognise this beautiful nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace? It’s said to be where Walt Disney got his inspiration for the royal castle in Sleeping Beauty.

Buildings like this are arguably some of the most impressive works of art that exist. Those of you lucky enough to have visited Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell in Barcelona have seen first-hand the creativity that runs through an architect’s veins. It truly is a thing of beauty. Built between 1900 and 1914, it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site that tourists flock to in droves.

Architectural masterpieces personify artistic freedom of expression. As we saw with the Walt Disney example, very often architecture pervades popular culture in ways we’re not even aware of.

Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany

Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell in Barcelona, Spain

Auckland Grammar School in Auckland, New Zealand

With the artistry it takes to be an architect it won’t come as a surprise to know some of the most influential creatives in the world have a background in the field. Musicians like Art Garfunkel, members of Pink Floyd, rapper Ice Cube, actors such as Samuel L Jackson and Courtney Cox as well as fashion icon Tom Ford all studied architecture before finding fame.

Architecture has the power to get our creative juices flowing and inspire us in ways beyond our comprehension. Taking inspiration from different architectural styles and injecting their own style is how many great architects have made their name, including some close to home.

Next time you’re hurtling down the Southern Motorway take a glance at Auckland Grammar School. There’s a wonderful story behind it. Built in 1916, it’s one of the first examples of the Spanish Mission Style in New Zealand.

It’s said that architect Richard Atkinson Abbot got the inspiration for Mission Revival architecture after spending time in the United States of America in the early part of the 1900s.

My 19-year-old daughter Georgi is currently taking in the art-nouveau apartment buildings and Italian Renaissance-style palaces in the architectural wonderland that is Buenos Aires, Argentina. If she harbours any ambition to become an architect like her mother used to then it’s sure to have an impact!

“That’s a bloke’s job” was the response I got from my careers advisor at college when I shared my dream of becoming an architect. It was a career path beyond my reach back then but my transition into real estate 25 years ago has allowed my love for architecture to live on. Being in real estate has increased my admiration for the wonderful architects that have shaped the landscape of our great country over the years. We really are incredibly fortunate in New Zealand. Amidst the gorgeous beaches, breathtaking mountains, lush parks and serene lakes we also have some real architectural gems.

With the record levels of development we’re seeing in Auckland it will be interesting to see how the city’s architecture evolves in the years to come. Let’s just hope that amongst all this new development the city is able to maintain its character and stay true to its roots.

the hobson + remuera live life local

Now Hear This Acoustix Hearing Technologies offers sound solutions for many different needs

R

ecently relocated to new premises down the driveway at 347 Remuera Rd, Thomas Müller’s Acoustix Hearing Technologies is as innovative as its name, offering state-of-the-art hearing technologies and hearing protection.

Thomas, how did you get into the hearing industry?

I’m a Swiss-qualified Feinmechaniker or precision engineer, and have qualifications in electronics, microelectronics, and audiometry. I’m fascinated by miniaturisation and loved the fact that my expertise helps people to live better lives.

How long have you been doing this work?

Over 25 years now. The knowledge and skills I’ve acquired along the way have taken me around the world from my home in Switzerland. I met a Kiwi on my travels who offered me a job here repairing hearing aids. All I knew of New Zealand was that it was a country of volcanoes and sheep. I turned up a year later, and the rest is history.

When did you branch out to start your own business?

Around 12 years ago. I wanted a new challenge, and my vision was to have an independent hearing clinic that wasn’t tied to any particular manufacturer or equipment supplier.

Tell us about your new 3D ear scanner.

It’s the first one in the country! It requires quite a bit of skill to scan the shape of the ear, but it’s a lot nicer for the customers as they don’t have their ears injected with silicone moulding material to get the perfect aid fitted.

What is different about the Acoustix offering?

I offer top-of-the-line expertise in hearing technology. My

mission is to find the solution that is right for each individual, and I can do this because I’m an independent clinic. The best technologies are never cheap — you always end up paying later for so-called bargains.

Has the perception of hearing aids changed?

Hearing loss is often an aging problem. I once had a gentleman who asked me if I had anything that could “help his wife to talk louder”! The older generation are used to the big, boxy hearing aids of the past, so they are more reluctant to admit that they have a hearing problem.

And how has the technology changed?

Aside from the fact hearing aids are now miniaturised, they have become fully digital — versatile hearing computers.

They can recognise speech from noise, and enhance speech automatically and adapt to various sound environments.

You have another part to your business, Don’t Lose The Music. What does it do?

It’s a hearing protection initiative that came about when I went to a concert, then had temporary hearing loss the next day. Tip for young players and clubbers — if you leave a gig or club with ringing in your ears, it was too loud! You need to get hearing protection now. You’ll thank yourself in 10 years.

And for the musicians too? Do you work with them?

Yes, that’s another aspect. I have the exclusive NZ licence for Ultimate Ears in-ear monitors, which block external sound and help you hear better on stage. I can’t tell you who I work with, but I can say that I deal with all types of musicians, from rock and heavy metal bands, to classical and country.

Thomas Müller, with custom Ultimate Ears in-ear monitors for musicians. Photos by Vanita Andrews, interviews by Fiona Wilson the hobson 26

live life local

The Style Destination At Renew Style, fashion finds willing new homes

I

t’s not every day you can pick up a pair of Manolo Blahnik or Jimmy Choo heels at a fraction of the original price, and without jumping on a plane to Saks Fifth Avenue.

But at Toni Church’s Renew Style in St Vincent Ave, you can satisfy your designer desires right here in Remuera.

How does Renew work?

We sell by consignment. People bring us their clothes, and we sell them on behalf, so we’re more of a service provider.

What sort of people bring clothes to you?

Fashionable, stylish women. Women who refresh their wardrobe every season. Women who travel the world. There’s such a mix, and we are always fully stocked.

And what sort of people then buy the clothes?

People with their own individual style. We have such a huge collection of garments, it allows people to pull together unique outfits that really reflect their personal style.

Does your stock follow the current fashion trends?

I do select stock with current trends in mind. We have quality designer labels, often from Europe, a season ahead of ours.

Do you think the perception of second-hand, or recycled, clothing has changed?

Absolutely. It used to be very looked down upon — people would sneak in the door hoping not to be seen! But now, it’s a savvy way to shop.

Have designer labels always been core to the business?

This shop started 20 years ago, when model Nicky Watson opened it to sell her own clothes. Now we have Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Armani on our racks. We have a whole

section for NZ designers too — Karen Walker, Trelise Cooper, Adrienne Winkelmann.

What’s your favourite thing about working here?

I have three sons who are still living at home here in Remuera, so this is my ‘girl’ fix! I also love helping people to look and feel great. I’m so proud of my ever-evolving boutique!

What’s your background?

I did an environmental design degree, specialising in interior design, which led to commercial and retail design. When I had children I continued that part-time, and also worked here one day a week. Funnily enough, I used to ‘sneak’ in here. Working in interior deisgn, I had to look fab all the time, and this was back in the days when recycled clothing hadn’t yet become cool.

Have you always had an interest in clothing?

I got my first sewing machine at five, and my mother had her own shop (The Clothesline at Greenwoods Corner).

My background allows me to see the marriage between architecture and clothing. It’s all about proportion.

What’s your personal style?

I’d say feminine, contemporary. Clothes that flatter the body shape. Oh, and heels. Definitely heels.

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Toni Church at her boutique, Renew Style. To read more about these local businesses, visit remuera.org.nz the hobson 27

Simply Matching Pe

www.remuerareale

f real estate “The Kings� o ith w e m o h r of the ten g ou ss-free of any erience sellin re xp st e t d n n a ce re rd a r Ou htforw r the years. positive, straig ate agents ove st e l a re was the most ith w we have had involvements King five rry and Diana Te h g u ro th e the local hom knowledge of y bought our sl ir u e o th vi re ith p w t g n n Havi lt confide properties. we already fe ach to selling ro p p a ir years earlier, e th mfortable with perty, market and co ent of the pro m ss e ss a te and accura r them iven an honest ive in order fo g ct ra re tt e a w d e e w d n lt ed to t sou We fe ere not expect ted figure tha w e ra e w g t g a th xa e ct e not som o liked the fa past. listing. We als e th re erience in the cu xp se e r to u o n e e b which has enuine go to auction we like their g d n a l a n io ss ings profe the sale ys found the K trust them with to n o si ci e d We have alwa easy it was a very approach, so y. of our propert thrilled with d and we were te lis g in e b it f o within weeks Our home sold the result. aun Drylie Susan and Sh ad 86 Upland Ro October 2016

Terry King 021 484 332 terry.king@remueraregister.co.nz

Telephone: 0

Remuera Real Estate Register

eople with Property

estateregister.co.nz

Proving to be the best way to buy and sell local property Remuera’s only “specialists”

We are Remuera’s only specialist real estate company - we KNOW Remuera. More and more people who wish to buy homes in Remuera come to us first. We take a brief of their requirements, and enter them onto our Register.

Our Register of Remuera buyers

Our Register of Remuera buyers, and their needs, means that we can directly match them to properties that we list. The result is quite often an almost immediate sale.

Little need for expensive marketing campaigns

We sell the majority of properties within the first week of listing. This is often the result of having the ‘right’ buyer already on our Register - so there is little need for open homes or marketing campaigns, or public exposure except to our Register. The majority of sales have been to local buyers; the majority of sales have been for record prices in their respective areas and across the spectrum of price categories.

We prefer to sell by price

We take responsibility for setting a property’s value - we agree values and selling prices with our vendors, and price properties accordingly. This makes it easier for buyers. They know from the beginning whether a house is within their budget. The majority of our sales have been for the agreed asking price, or close to it.

We form real relationships

We form real relationships with our buyers and sellers, and this makes a tremendous difference in understanding needs and negotiating end selling prices. Have a look at the testimonials on our website - they say it all.

Our fees are highly competitive

We own the business. For this reason our fees are remarkably competitive.

New properties urgently required!

We have cash buyers waiting.

Diana King 021 613 884 diana.king@remueraregister.co.nz

09 520 6624

Limited licensed REAA 2008

the design

The Modern Master The eastern suburbs houses of architect Vlad Cacala continue to inspire, and influence in a number of ways. By Penny Lewis

T

he mid-century modernist homes of architect Vlad Cacala are dotted around Auckland, with many in the east, including Remuera, Meadowbank, Parnell, Orākei and Kohimarama. The houses include those celebrated in design books — the 1960 Kay house in Victoria Ave, the Harbour View` apartments on St Stephen’s Ave, and St Heliers’s Blumenthal house.

The late Vladimir Cacala was born in Prague in 1926, studied under Bauhaus tutors and came to New Zealand in 1952.

His style of mid-century modernism is mostly associated with elegant houses with flat roofs, brick or block bases and cantilevered balconies. You could almost imagine his houses in Palm Springs, except for the fact that most of them are in Auckland’s eastern suburbs.

Cacala died in 2007 and had not worked much after his beloved wife, Maree, died in 1983, but his homes are back in the spotlight for more reasons than their appreciating market value to fans of classic, mid-century modernism. Cacala homes are being celebrated in the latest campaign from Working Style.

Working Style photographed its spring/summer 2016/2017 collection at two Cacala-designed houses – the Tapper house in Kohimarama, designed in 1957, and the Cacala family home overlooking the Orākei Basin on Lucerne Rd, which was built in 1962.

This homage to Vlad Cacala is the fourth iteration of Working Style’s “Celebrating Heritage” series, which has seen its seasonal collections photographed in striking examples of NZ’s built heritage — Auckland’s St James Theatre; at the Khandallah, Wellington, home of the late, celebrated architect Ian Athfield, and at the Titirangi masterpiece Ron Sang designed for renowned photographer, Brian Brake.

Working Style founder Chris Dobbs lives on the edge of the Orākei Basin with his wife Penny and their three children.

He says their own house is large, but not architecturally significant. “We just muddle along and raise our kids there.”

So why the celebration of New Zealand architecture for a business that sells men’s clothes? Chris says he has always loved Vlad Cacala’s work. “These are cool houses that have stood the test of time. We’re now a heritage brand, celebrating 30 years next year,” he says of the business he set up in his Greenlane Rd flat before the crash in 1987. He sold shirts doorto-door, and the models were friends helping out in their spare time. The first retail premises were on Parnell Rd and Chris lived above the shop. “We wanted to tell a story about heritage and where we’ve come from, but in a way that is contemporary and now. A nice part of the campaign is the feedback from people who are interested in design and architecture.”

The Cacala campaign was shot in one day in August and involved 20 outfits, a camera and styling crew and an Italian model who’d just shot a Tom Ford campaign. The Cacala family home is now owned by Chris Dobbs’ friends Tania CliftonSmith and Terry Smith. Sandy Burgham and Luke Nola, also friends, own the Tapper house.

The Cacala Family Home At the time of Vlad Cacala’s death in 2007, he had lived in his family home for 45 years. According to one of his daughters, Vicki Wallace, he “never wanted to be anywhere else”. When she was growing up it was a happy, sociable household, with an open-door policy for friends.

Vicki says she is “immensely proud and very respectful” of her father. “One of the most amazing things is he came from Europe to New Zealand not knowing anything about Auckland, the city he would settle in. Working with clients on blocks of flats and houses he always found the best locations, with a north-west aspect and views.”

He was instrumental in finding the best sections for people, such as for his best friends, Bernd and Judy Koningham, when he persuaded a family to relinquish their rose garden so the Koninghams could build their home on Lucerne Rd. (This is one of four homes Cacala designed along the Lucerne Rd ridge, including his own home).

He had a real following among his friends and contemporaries, and designed apartment buildings as investments for his friends, including for philanthropist and businesswoman Raye Freedman, who commissioned the Cacala-designed St Heliers’ Blumenthal house, which featured in international architecture magazines. Vicki says coming from Europe, flats were nothing new to her father (he

the hobson 30

An image from the Working Style campaign, co-starring Cacala's Tapper house in Kohimarama. Left, two Cacala houses above Orakei Basin: the Cacala family's now-renovated home is on the left.

designed more than 20 apartment blocks) and he was also responsible for industrial buildings, offices, warehouses and showrooms.

Current owner Tania Clifton-Smith says the Cacala family home is a “phenomenal” place to live. “It’s a real treat,” she says. “It’s so relaxed here.

Looking out at the view we can see the pony club in Orākei and to the west we see the Orākei Basin.

We feel totally blessed here, there’s an unbelievable sense of space.”

Tania and her husband Terry previously lived in Ngapuhi Rd and often walked past this house.“We’d seen outside, and I often thought I would love to look inside it.”

Since they’ve been there, they have restored the house to its original external blueprint, working with architect Paul Clarke of Studio2 Architects.

“We really wanted to honour the original architect,” says Tania. ➤ the hobson 31

the design

the hobson 32

This page, a closer view of the Cacala family home, photo courtesy of Vicki Wallace. Inside the Tapper house: Cacala motifs include the use of stone for feature walls, and timber detailing (photos courtesy of Working Style). Opposite page: top, the Corinth St house with its NZIA-award winning extension by Daniel Marshall. Photo by Simon Devitt, courtesy of Daniel Marshall Architect. Middle: the Heim house, Epsom, in 1955 and 2014, designed by Cacala when he was with the Brenner Associates practice.

Images courtesy of Gregory Smith, curator of Lost Property, a website devoted to Auckland's modernist built heritage. See lostproperty.org.nz Bottom: the Kay House, Victoria Ave. For more about modernist homes, see our Palm Springs story, page 46

the hobson 33

The Tapper House For one of their first dates, leadership coach Sandy Burgham — also THE HOBSON’s The Second Act columnist — and art director Luke Nola went to “The 1950s Show” exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery, which ran over the summer of 1992-93.

There was a 1950s room setting in the exhibition, and the new couple said to each other “wouldn’t it be amazing to live in a place like that?”

In 1995 they went to an open home for a Cacaladesigned house in Corinth St, Meadowbank. They were hooked (as would be the house’s future owners, design aficionados, dentists John McCabe and Maron Clague, who later bought the house and added an extension by Daniel Marshall that won a New Zealand Institute of Architects national award).

At the time they were living in a Mt Eden villa and wanted to move, but only to a very specific sort of house. As Sandy recalls, they “had a total vision of it being up a right-of-way, with four bedrooms and a big garage, ideally a Vlad Cacala. What are the chances?”

One day Sandy and her daughter Pippi, then 2, were visiting family in Glendowie. Sandy was flicking through a Property Press and there it was – her dream house. “I rang Luke and said ‘I’ve seen it!’”. Two hours later she was looking through the 1957 Cacala-designed Tapper house in a Kohimarama cul-de-sac. “I was just about hyperventilating.” The auction was a week later and the house was theirs.

Not long after they moved in, Sandy and Luke invited Vlad around for lunch, along with his daughter, Vicki. Vlad knew Luke’s father, Peter Nola, who founded Peppertree Fashions. Sandy recalls watching from the balcony as the car pulled up and Vlad got out of the car. “He looked up at the house in wonderment, like he was greeting an old friend.”

A couple of years later, Sandy found out quite by chance that the room setting she and Luke had admired at the ’50s exhibition was even more significant than she realised. Heavily pregnant with son Pete, now 16, Sandy was having an ultrasound.

The sonographer saw the address in Sandy’s notes and said, “I know that house. I used to live in it.”

The 1950s exhibition came up in conversation and the sonographer revealed the room setting that so captured Sandy and Luke’s attention early in their relationship, turned out to be inspired by none other than the Tapper house – their home, which after 18 years, Sandy and Luke are now selling.

For Vicki Wallace, who works in property herself as a Bayleys’ agent, it’s a source of happiness that almost 10 years after his death, her father’s legacy is respected and recognised.

“Dad was all about form and function, his designs were always so practical. He was a very humble man and loved people, so I know he would be very happy to know that people today love and appreciate his style of architecture and are enjoying the properties he designed.” p

the author

A Gem of an Idea Author Stacy Gregg celebrates a special milestone with her 21st book for children

N

ine years ago, Stacy Gregg swapped fashion journalism for the life of a full-time author when her first novel for children was published. Mystic and the Midnight Ride would become the first instalment in the Pony Club Secrets series, global best-sellers that were credited with reinvigorating the pony book genre, and making her one of New Zealand’s most successful authors. The winner for the past three years of the prestigious Children’s Choice Award for Junior Fiction in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, she has just published her 21st book, The Diamond Horse.

Growing up in Ngaruawahia before finishing her schooling at King’s College, Gregg used her days at the Ngaruawahia Pony Club as inspiration for the Secrets series, but now travels widely in her research for each new novel. The Parnell resident spoke to Kirsty Cameron.

21 books, congratulations! Does the inspiration for each book in a series flow from the previous one?

They’re all individual novels, however I’m definitely continuing a theme of “based on a true story” with my current fiction. The main storyline of The Diamond Horse takes us to Russia in the time of Catherine the Great. We’re at the estate of Count Alexei Orlov, a cruel giant of a man who murdered Peter III, so that Catherine could take the throne. Count Orlov also happened to be a very good horse breeder, and his eponymous Orlov Trotter was the best horse in Europe in its heyday if you were trying to negotiate your way at speed across the taiga.

The central character is the daughter of Count Orlov, twelve-year-old Anna.

I travelled to Russia to do the research, which is how I generally work. I’ve been to Arabia, Spain and Italy for the last few books, and I loved Russia. I expected the place to be grim and the food in particular to be miserable – imagining that I’d be queuing for hours to get a boiled potato, but in fact it was the most amazing cuisine I have ever eaten. We stayed at the Hotel National in Moscow because that’s where the fictional character Eloise, of Eloise from the Plaza fame, stays when she visits. I pretty much took all my travel cues from her Cold War-era journey. Eloise was right, the Hotel National is brilliant. I had a view over the Kremlin.

I know it’s like asking about a favourite child, but taking away the first and latest books, is there a favourite amongst the others?

I have an undying affection for The Princess and the Foal. That book is based on the real life story of Princess Haya of Jordan, and in the course of writing it and visiting the royal palace and stables in Jordan, we became good friends. I think Her Royal Highness’s story is incredible. She’s an amazing woman — a UN ambassador for peace, head of several NGOs and an Olympic showjumper. The book is based on her childhood. When the Princess was three, her mother, Queen Alia, was killed in a helicopter crash. To help her

through her grief, her father, King Hussein, gave her an orphaned foal to raise. Having lost my own mother when I was young, putting myself in her shoes during the writing process was heart wrenching. It remains a very special book for me.

Before you became an author, you were a well-known fashion journalist, and you still write on fashion from time to time. Is there a relationship between the world of style and equestrian sports? So many fashion people seem to also be horse people.

Absolutely! I always think of Lady Amanda Harlech, the British stylist who divided her time between riding her horses on her country estate and being a muse for Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano, sweeping about the stables in her floor-length couture gowns. I think there’s something dead glamorous about horses, and at the same time they are great levellers. It’s hard to be posh when you are up to your armpits in mud trying to deal with a headstrong mare who won’t let you tack up! The polo scene is of course very Jilly Cooper novel, but I can assure you that my life at the Huapai Pony Club is not exactly bubbling over with Argentinean playboys in tight white jodhpurs!

Talking about those fashion days, what were some highlights?

I was editor-at-large of Fashion Quarterly, editor of Style magazine, fashion and beauty editor at Sunday magazine, and founder of Runway Reporter, the website I sold to ACP [now Bauer]. I travelled to London with Karen Walker. I attended the ready-to-wear shows in Paris. I loved all of it. I don’t miss it though – the new gig is great. I love everything about being an author, from the research to the writing and then touring with the books. I write for middle-grade readers, so ages eight to 12, and they are a very rewarding age group to work with – passionate and so fun.

Does fashion influence riding clothes? Or does practicality overrule style?

It’s exactly like the fashion business in that you don’t want to over-dress. You would look like a tosser turning up at the stables where I graze in white competition jodhpurs and polished boots! Equestrian style is very in-the-know and clique-y. The showjumpers dress with loads of diamantes and $800-a-pop flash jodhpurs. The dressage riders look prissy, the “showies” wear too much makeup too, and so do their horses. And don’t even start me on the flannel shirt abominations of the western riders. I think of all the cliques, the polo players look dead sexy but, as I said, that’s Jilly Cooper’s terrain, not mine!

You don’t have your own horse at the moment, as you’re support crew to your teenage daughter’s pony. Would you like your own horse again?

I have become surprisingly satisfied with being the pit crew. It’s

the hobson 34

a bit like being the fashion editor and not the runway model. Yes, sometimes I am itching to get onboard but then I am reminded that horses are expensive, time-consuming and dangerous creatures! I still do ride casually. Nicky Pellegrino, who writes fabulous Italianate foodie novels, is a good friend of mine and we go for long forest hacks and discuss our work on horseback. It’s a nice way to catch up – it beats having a coffee.

You’re very open in your journalism when it comes to personal experiences: cosmetic procedures, why Botox is an author-ontour’s best friend. Do you think this ease with authenticity is helpful in your fiction?

My journalism has always been so different to my fiction. When I was a fashion writer, I was extremely forthright and I recognised that it was my job to entertain and inform the reader with critical commentary. With my fiction, I see myself in a different role entirely. My books have heartfelt, aspirational heroines. I’m not into gloomy realism – I like the idea that girls will feel uplifted and empowered by my books. I am very sincere with my books, and I’m frequently reduced to tears writing the crucial chapters.

You write for tweens. Is there a horse novel for adults to come?

Jilly Cooper already nailed her territory back in the day, and I would not want to be compared with the master. If I ever wrote an adult novel I don’t think it would be horsey.

You’ve recently moved from the other side of town to Parnell.

What’ve been some of your discoveries?

My daughter and I moved to Parnell three months ago, after

20-plus years for me of living in either Westmere, Point Chev or Ponsonby. It was like moving to another country! We would go to the shops up the road and joke about what currency they accepted and what the exchange rate might be – the vibe was so foreign to us! But straightaway I loved Parnell. We’re in the Axis Building which is amazingly cool in a chic, deliciously dilapidated, creative community way. I love the high ceiling studs and steel windows of the apartments. I love listening to the raucous crowd dining at Cibo – it’s like you are always on the periphery of a wonderful party without ever having to actually commit to changing out of your pyjamas.

I have a writer’s routine of walking up Garfield St most mornings to get coffee at Little Johns - they are the best at knocking out a consistently great latte. I love the pork buns at the French markets. I think Pasture, the Nordic-modern restaurant on Parnell Rd, is probably the best fine dining establishment I have ever been to in New Zealand, if not the world. I adore getting a mani-pedi every weekend at Eternity Nails in Broadway — so clean, so cheap, and surely tax deductible for an author, as you need good nails when you are signing books! And I am very excited about spring at the Rose Gardens, and then summer at the Parnell Baths.

The Diamond Horse by Stacy Gregg, published by Harper Collins, RRP $24.99, is on sale now at Paper Plus Newmarket, Poppies Remuera and other good booksellers. See stacygregg. co.uk for more about Stacy’s books.

Author Stacy Gregg, photographed with grey gelding Ed, by Carolyn Haslett the hobson 35

the pretty

No Sweaty Betty Justine Williams finds fast, out-the-door essentials for home or gym kit Don’t want to wear a faceful of makeup while exercising, but don’t really want to bare all in case you power-walk into someone you know? Clinique Pep-Start HydroBlur Moisturizer, $58, is your answer. A lightweight all-day hydrator that blurs imperfections and controls oil, it will plump and calm skin while you work out.

Available from Clinique counters A solid defense in the fight against UVA/UVB, Clinique’s SPF50 Mineral Sunscreen Fluid for Face, $54, is a top-notch mineral sunscreen, without any chalky residue. Suitable for all skin types, this is an absolute must-have in your kit. From Clinique counters Designer tan in a tube, Trilogy Instant Bronzing Gel delivers instant colour on application, using light-reflecting mineral mica. Use as a one-off for a hint of a tan, or build it up over two to three days for a deeper bronze on those ballet barred-legs. $25.99, from pharmacies Garnier Ambre Solaire UV Sport Mist SPF 50, $22.99, is ultimate sun protection for active types that go hard with their fitness.

Sweat-proof and super water-resistant, it’s a lightweight mist that is non-greasy, non-sticky, and allows the skin to breathe. Available from pharmacies and Farmers

No time to smooth and style postworkout? Spray and scrunch (without the crunch) for sexy devil-may-care beach hair. Matrix Style Link Mineral Mess Maker Salt-Infused Spray, $23.50, is perfect for creating that soft messy look on the go. Available from salons stocking Matrix Estēe Lauder’s new Genuine Glow collection is inspired by Korean beauty trends. Essentially a skincare/makeup hybrid collection, this Reviving Oil Lip Tint, $50, does double duty. It goes on clear, and then the pH-activated stain works to enhance the natural shade of lips, while plumping and hydrating. Available from Estēe Lauder stockists

Osmosis Pur Medical Skincare focuses on the integrity of the skin by working on the immune system, reducing inflammation and accelerating collagen production to enhance the delivery of nutrients. Their serums, like Catalyst Plus+ are pricey but amazing.

A worthy addition for your home shelf or post-workout regimen. From $242, from osmosis.com

Estēe Lauder’s Double Wear Nude Cushion Stick Radiant Makeup has a built-in cushion tool to distribute and blend, minimising the need to carry both foundation and a brush. This long-wearing makeup leaves your skin looking fresh and smooth. $59, from Estēe Lauder counters

Some days you just can’t fit in a hair-wash, and we know what too much shampooing does to your colour.

Pureology Fresh Approach Dry Shampoo, $39, refreshes hair (read, sucks up the excess oil) from root to end.

Containing orange oil, pure minerals and Pureology Anti Fade Complex, it will also help reduce colourstripping, and extend the life of your colour. Available from Pureology stockist salons Want to streamline what you’re carrying around?

Redken has created the Genius Wash range — gentle, non-stripping formulas that cleanse and condition in one step. A perfect addition to any gym bag and available in three formulas to transform medium, coarse and unruly hair. $40 each, from Redken salons

the hobson 36

Every gym bag — and your office emergency kit — should have L’Oréal Paris Skin Perfection Refreshing Cleansing Wipes. They’re the ideal freshen-up after exercise, before reapplying makeup, or just on a hot day between showers.

Moisturising, refreshing and suitable for sensitive skins, they’re active enough to remove makeup and grime. $10.99 from New World

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

– Jane Patten, Clinic Manager

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

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

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

the magpie

You Go, Girl This month, The Magpie is all about her activewear

Head off on your morning walk in this baby from the activewear line designed by Beyoncé, Ivy Park.

This shade of blue is epic, and the cut-out mesh and cropped styling is hot right now. If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Ivy Park Seamless Keyhole Mesh Crop, $55. From Topshop Queen St, or topshop.com

Sonus Faber sound rocks the Magpie’s nest, so you can imagine her delight on discovering Maman in Remuera now stock Pryma Headphones, handmade in Italy by Sonus. Put them on and you can hear the angels sing – and they are beyond stylish. $999, from Maman Boutique, 2 Clonbern Rd, Remuera

So 90s. So now! The Magpie loves these Ray-Ban sunglasses, $240, from OPSM. Super-cool for power-walking, or cruising, the leafy streets of the eastern suburbs

They started with skateshoes, branched into street shoes and enjoyed world domination of walking shoes. Now Skechers is running for gold with their Skechers GOrun 400, $139.90. So many million wearers can’t be wrong. Available from Rebel Sport

Compression tights with all the whiz-bang technical advantages one would expect, but with the bonus of aesthetically-pleasing luxury styling.

You could live in these. Vie Active Rockell Elite Compression Tights (shown in black leopard). $175, from Maman Boutique, 2 Clonbern Rd, Remuera

Sports bags need to be light and breathable to avoid the less fragrant aspect of gyms.

The Magpie spied this gem and thought it looked like an explosion of energy – just like her workout sessions. adidas Sports Bag, $75, from adidas, Broadway

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White kicks are still on point, as the kids say, and pink is making a play too. Express your love for both with the iconic and awesome adidas Stan Smith, $170. The subtle dash of dusty pink will keep you comfortable and looking cool on those busy errand days. Available from Platypus

More of a going out, than a working out, piece from Queen B. If you stretch your mind all the way back to the 80s, you’ll remember the bodysuit was worn with jeans or shorts. Bringing it back is the Ivy Park Logo Bodysuit. $80, from Topshop Queen St, or topshop.com

The Fitbit craze shows no sign of abating. With multiple colours, sizes and functions out the wazoo, you can track your steps, heart rate and fitness levels, monitor your sleep patterns, and it will even guide you through relaxation breathing.

Ommmm. Fitbit Charge 2 Heart Rate Wristband, $329.99, from Noel Leeming, Broadway

Don’t mess around with cheap socks if you’re really putting your feet through their paces.

Stance Run Momentum Socks are so high tech they mould (not mold) and breathe like a boss. $33, from Rebel Sport

Adidas technical know-how teams up with Stella McCartney’s eye for style. This Stella Sport by adidas crop top, $60, will support you, literally, during your workout. Aprés les gym, the Magpie likes to throw on the Stella Sport by adidas hooded sweatshirt, $90. Bright and bold, but never garish.

All hail Stella. Both available from Stirling Woman, Sylvia Park

It’s not summer without smoothies. The George Foreman Mix & Go, $99.99, comes with two BPA-free drink bottles and a couple of chill-sticks for good measure, to keep your smoothie totally chilled until post-workout.

Throw everything at it, ice and all, blend and go.

Available at Farmers

the hobson 39

the home

A New Bloom Late spring always makes us want to throw open the doors and windows, have a good sort-out and a refresh, big or small, of our living spaces, indoor and out. Justine Williams spoke to some of THE HOBSON’s insider friends about what’s happening in indoor and outdoor living.

THE KITCHEN Starting big — an updated kitchen is often high on the home improvements wish list — we spoke to Alec Taylor at Neo Kitchen Design, who tells us that they are creating as many character kitchens with full panelling, or Shaker styling, as they are minimalist kitchens. By minimalist, Alec is referring to clean lines and uncluttered elegance, without visible handles or extraneous detailing. What all new-installed kitchens have in common however, is that drawers are preferred over cupboards, and that the tucked-away scullery — or butler’s or working pantry — to hide mess and give another workstation, has become a must-have feature. Neo Kitchen’s clients are also choosing white as their preferred colour, but timber accents are on the rise. For bench tops, it’s all about a matte/silky/satin finish, like honed granite or smooth Corian, as opposed to a high-gloss finished surface.

THE BATHROOM If the kitchen is the hub of the home, a luxurious bathroom is increasingly in demand as the place to get away from it all and rejuvenate, not just a place for a quick shower. Metrix finds that increasingly, customers want baths and showers to give the options of various water presentations, like the rain shower and cascade bath spout from Dornbracht, to enhance that sense of escapism.

The Marblo Mojo and Duravit Cape Cod freestanding baths are stunning, and create the desired look in any bathroom while offering form and function in equal measure.

Chrome still dominates taps and mixers, but black, white, brass and other metallic finishes are making an impact. Bold, funky colours are also an option taken up for kids’ bathrooms, or for those wanting an impactful splash of brightness.

DECORATIVE STATEMENTS Working at the forefront of international interior design, Hamish Lewis of the Parnell branch of Kiwi family business, Trenzseater, sees a lot of trends come and go, so the firm’s design focus “tends to be more classic and timeless, the use of materials and designs which don’t tend to date quickly.” Hamish and brother Ben, who runs the Christchurch store, are noticing the increasing use of marble for feature walls, entrances, and in furniture design. Particular favourites are the stunning Calacatta gold and Statuario marbles, highlighted with brass and gold accent metals. the hobson 40

“We are also seeing a lot more attention to detail in door hardware, the use of different materials like brass and matte black,” says Hamish.

For furniture, velvets in strong, classic shades are popular for feature armchairs, ottomans and cushions, while detail on cabinetry is also a strong design element. “There’s a lot of high gloss black coming through, and solid oak detailing like fluting and scalloping on sideboard door fronts.”

Central to the Trenzseater design ethos, says Hamish, is that “lighting gives a room a sense of presence. It is a dominant feature of the room and is

Clockwise, from left, a green-hued benchtop and a lighter shade in the subway tile splashback bring colour to the Shaker-inspired detailing in a new bungalow kitchen by Neo Design; tap choices in a rainbow of shades; the organic form of the Marblo Mojo bath; spouts and showerheads offering different bath and shower experiences; the Cape Cod bath; tapware in metallic finishes (all taps and bathroom fittings from Metrix); Neo kitchens offer a range of styles to homeowners' individual tastes

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the home

fast becoming just as important as the rest of the furnishings.”

Tom Davies at Remuera’s Gracious Living points to custom-made furniture as a trend he is seeing in his business. As well as being aesthetically pleasing with endless scope for fabrics and finishes, custom-made chairs and sofas take body shapes and preferences into account.

“We are all different shapes and sizes and we all tend to sit differently in furniture,” he says. “If you have your furniture custom-made to suit your personal taste and lifestyle, it means that you’re able to achieve the right balance.”

Tom has also noted a trend towards cool colours, such as soft greys, pinks and blues, for upholstery and accessories, along with the always-enduring natural tones.

An increased sense of confidence to know what you like and what you want to live with, has also been noted by Arjen Bloem, of PBF Paint and Plasterboard Finishers, national winners of this year’s residential award from the Master Painters of NZ. Arjen, who’s overseen the paint jobs of more Remuera and eastern suburbs’ homes than he can count, has also noticed a change in the way we use our homes is reflected in design choices.

“More and more people are designing their space to suit their personality and their everyday environment,” he says.

“So many people are spending more time at home, and working from home, so they are choosing colours and home designs that are practical and they know they will enjoy long term, rather than going with the latest trends. It’s a refreshing and more sensible approach.”

Statement piece: a Boivin chandelier from Trenzseater

THE OUTSIDE ROOM When it comes to the outdoor relaxing or dining area you step into beyond your four walls, Carole Farrow of Design Warehouse understands just how important it is to create an inviting space that both looks fantastic, and is functional.

“We love creating awe-inspiring dining sets that use a mixture of materials, for example using a concrete table and pairing it with teak chairs; or using a teak table and pairing it with contemporary wicker dining chairs.”

With so many options, customers at Design Warehouse’s vast Parnell showroom are encouraged to create their own settings that reflect their style, whether it’s ultra-modern, mid-century with a retro nod, or traditional.

Lounging and seating is a must for a luxurious outdoor space, and sectional sofas that offer versatility and can be configured many ways are in high demand, says Carol. These sofas can be arranged to create a long linear couch, or an L-shaped arrangement – whatever suits the space.

This summer, Design Warehouse expects texture accents to be popular.

“Our Ventura sectional sofa is made with a reclaimed teak wood frame and accented with rope,” says Carol. “The rope is made with polypropylene fibres

A-grade teak chairs and a raw concrete table combine for modern living

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Design Warehouse's Toni dining table and Edge chairs

that are durable and give the Ventura collection an organic vibe.”

Generally, mixing natural materials and organic forms with modern styling hits the right note for many homes. “We love a soft white palate, or a striking black vibe with natural materials mixed in — the new Sahara relaxing chair comes in all white or all blbblack, and is looks great paired next to an organic teak root accent table.”

THE FINISHING TOUCHES There’s an old maxim in interiors that no room is finished without a rug. Flooring experts Artisan say the increasing popularity of open-plan living spaces means there’s less call for wall-to-wall carpeting outside of bedrooms and play areas, and more interest in hard flooring for the rest of the house, with carefully chosen rugs used to define different spaces.

“Rugs offer an opportunity to frame a space,” explains Artisan’s Jane Barron. “You may have kitchen, living and dining all in one big space, but the living area can become its own “room with no walls” if we define the borders with a rug.”

Trends noted by the Artisan team include one extra-large rug anchoring all the living room furniture, the rug offering texture and movement of colour and tone. A rug with a silk or art-silk pile can have a soft appearance from one side, and a bold appearance from another — this relates to which way the pile falls.

As for colours, darker shades with deep tonings are popular here and globally, and the metallic accents seen in other areas of interior furnishings are also happening underfoot.

While the pure silk rugs continue to have a deserved and enduring appeal, the convergence of digital technology and traditional, hand crafted aesthetics allow fibres, patterns and finishes that meld past and present. Classic designs utilise techniques that give an aged, muted or distressed appearance, while understated shades of gold, silver, ivory and copper are a favoured look amongst designers in NZ and internationally.

Jane says the popularity of internal courtyards for urban dwellers mean outdoor rugs are increasingly in demand, often paired with throws or Moroccan rugs to snuggle up with around a fireplace. p

Top: Modern and aged forms working together — Design Warehouse's Sahara relaxing chair with a teak root side table.

Below, a soft Moroccan throw from Artisan. Left, a selection of Artisan rugs. Zamora Glacial, Rio Ebro Smoke and Mesaluna Indigo (1,2 & 3) show the trend for embellished detail; the soft, art-silk pile luxury of Abrash rugs (4 & 5); a geometric-patterned Scandanavian flat-woven rug (6); modern techonology meets historic inspiration in Isparta Silver Blue (7); soft underfoot, striking to the eye Precious Metals (8) and Himalaya Diamond Zali Grey (9); a fibre with enduring appeal, Sari Silk Orange (10) and Sari in blue (11) 1

2

3

STOCKIST INFORMATION

4 8 7

Artisan 31a Normanby Rd, Mt Eden (09) 302 2499 artisancollective.co.nz Design Warehouse 137-147 The Strand, Parnell (09) 377 7710 designwarehouse.co.nz Gracious Living 384-386 Remuera Rd, Remuera (09) 520 1735 graciousliving.co.nz Metrix 155 The Strand, Parnell (09) 379 7399 metrix.co.nz Neo Design 96 Hillside Rd, Glenfield (09) 443 4461 neodesign.co.nz PBF Paint and Plasterboard Finishing 021 842 102 pbf.co.nz Trenzseater 80 Parnell Rd, Parnell (09) 303 4151 trenzseater.com

5 6

9

10

11

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the sound

Hope I Die Before I Get Old

I

know I've used something like that headline before [“Hope I Die Before I Become Irrelevant”, November 14], but the last time I was talking about revival concert tours. This time I’m talking about albums.

It occurs to me that in 2016, for some unknown reason, our senior citizens of popular music have got a second, third or even tenth wind. There seems to be a burst of creativity, confidence and output from dinosaurs that we all thought were extinct, or at least, quite endangered.

So here’s my basic theory. You’re a pop star. You get around five years to break through. Then you get 10 years of relevance.

Then you get 10 years of trying to recreate your relevance, but more often than not fail because a new generation has taken over. Often you resort to extreme plays to prove you’re edgy, and everyone laughs instead of gasps.

So now it’s 25 years later, and you're hitting 50 and the promoters come hunting for the “comeback” tour, because now you’re retro cool. Then you record an album, which tanks because everyone has got over the warm buzz of reacquaintance, and realises you’re dated. Then you either accept your lot, and live in whatever size house you've managed to retain out of your pop life, and, from time to time boost cashflow with a “classic hits” tour. Or you go crazy, and you’re depressed.

Just as a reminder, Simple Minds, the B52s and Icehouse are touring this summer.

But also this year, some old guys are breaking the mould.

Some of the best albums this year have come from silver foxes.

Radiohead’s ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool, is already staking a claim as the Best Album of The Year (BAOTY). Thom Yorke is 47, separated with two children, and singing “I’m not living/I’m just killing time”. The album is at once comfy and yet very disconcerting, and at its heart, true. Maybe 20-year-olds don’t get it, but it’s quite devastating for 50-somethings.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ Skeleton Tree is another contender for BAOTY. Nick has always played on “genius of a generation” labels. The Johnny Cash for a new millennium, but he sometimes came off as stagey. Honestly, doing a murder ballad where you kill Kylie Minogue was straight out of a publicist’s fantasy. But Skeleton Tree is a bona fide work of art. Desperately sad, yet wise, it’s piquance from the death of his own teenage son, who wandered off a cliff near Brighton while tripping. The human condition stripped bare.

But then there’s dear old Paul Simon. Stranger to Stranger

grows on me every day. His 13th solo LP combines Rhymin’ Simon with everything else he's done. African stuff from Graceland. Latin stuff from Rhythm of the Saints. And then there’s the genius of the single “Wristband” — look for live versions on YouTube to realise the musicality of it. Then there’s the trick of comparing a wristband into a gig, with the privilege afforded to those at the top of the “trickle down tree”. Paul turned 74 in October, and is still doing it after all these years.

As is 71-year-old Van Morrison, who's just released Keep Me Singing. It’s his, wait for it, 36th album! It’s lovely. Pure Van. I put it on the other Saturday and the woman of the house thought I’d put on an old one. But it’s not just a facsimile. It really is lovely and vital and from time to time, a little bit angry. It feels true, and musically, obviously, it’s superb.

And there’s more. Bruce Springsteen’s released his autobiography Chapter and Verse, and a greatest hits album that includes five bonus tracks of the raw young Boss. The book is a good read with honesty, and the album is a good sampler if you haven’t already got this stuff.

Meanwhile he’s performed four-hour shows in New Jersey and is coming to play Christchurch this summer because he cares about ruined cities. Not bad for a 67-year-old.

And it doesn’t stop there.

At the time I’m writing this, I’m waiting for Barry Gibb’s first solo effort since all his brothers passed away on him. I’m told it’s great, and there’s a big buzz about the new Sting album, his first pop one in a decade. (Thank goodness, another madrigal scenario would do my head in).

Then, back home, I'm still grading up Don McGlashan’s Lucky Stars, which really is something, and I’m so happy he’s thrown out all other gigs to concentrate on songwriting on the back of the album. Dave Dobbyn’s Harmony House is another stand out.

The thing is all these records are very good, they’ll sell well but not stratospherically and they’re not going to be played on ZM, or even on Coast. That’s the radio’s problem and not something artists should worry about. The thing is they are honest and sound awesome. The older artist has the luxury of doing something pure, and all the records I’ve mentioned here are pure. You might notice I haven’t mentioned Dolly Parton’s, Madonna’s or Barbra Streisand’s latest. They felt like someone from marketing was in the studio with them.

So all hail the OAPs who still rock the house. I’m very glad you never listened to Townshend and topped yourself when you realised you were old. — Andrew Dickens

Nick Cave, photographed by Kerry Brown. Courtesy of Nick Cave the hobson 44

the destination

Desert Fox

A brief hop from LA, Palm Springs is well worth a detour

T

he city of Palm Springs lies below the spine of the San Jacinto mountains, at the mouth of the Coachella valley in southern California’s Sonoran Desert.

“Coachella? Are we going to Coachella?” asked the 14-year-old, fast-forwarding into a fantasy of VIP access with her Instagram buddies Cara, Gigi and Bella at the Coachella music festival. “No love, it’s just you, me and your father going to Palm Springs itself, to look at houses.

Coachella’s the name of the valley . . . ” I lost her at “you, me and your father,” before I even said, “to look at houses”.

The trade-off was this: she got to go to Universal Studios in LA, and Disneyland in Anaheim; we chose to see Palm Springs in between the theme parks. Happily, it was a choice enjoyed by all: the teenager found plenty to love on our short stop.

Palm Springs is a straightforward side-trip between LA and Anaheim. It can be done by two hours of not-enjoyable freeway driving east of LA (tip – get a Nav with the rental, rather than drain your data on Google maps) or an hour-long flight from LA. Accommodation ranges from affordable in the town’s many renovated mid-century motels — there’s a fair number who don’t take kids, but will welcome your dog — to the deluxe lodgings of hotels like the Parker. There are also many large resorts, often with golf courses, stretching out down the valley to Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells.

What sets Palm Springs apart from other small cities in south-ern California is its collection of midcentury modern homes and civic buildings.

“Desert Modern” architecture is to Palm Springs what the wooden villa and bungalow is to Auckland. For many decades, Palm Springs was just another town with an arid climate not far beyond the suburban sprawl that radiates out from Los Angeles.

Its massive surge in popularity came in the 1950s and ’60s. Movie stars were not allowed to be more than two hours away from LA during filming, and Palm Springs is two hours. Land was affordable, the sun-all-year climate friendly for golf or tennis, and like attracts like. Bob Hope built a place, so did Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Their friend Dinah Shore lived around the corner from Frank. Steve McQueen was there. Dutch and Nancy — the Reagans — were on another block. The celebrities engaged leading architects of the day — Donald Wexler, Richard Neutra, John Lautner — to build their second homes. And so Desert Modern evolved: open plan living with lots of glass looking out to pools, the brise soleil, or screening feature wall to filter the desert sun from the house, dramatic roof lines, sweeping overhangs and porticos, giving both privacy and shade.

Our stay was brief, just three days. But it was a great introduction to a piece of America that left us wanting more.

— Kirsty Cameron the hobson 46

Scenes from the Mod Squad tour of Palm Springs' well-preserved neighbourhoods. Opposite: the 1954 Edris House by E.Stewart Williams. Above, a butterfly roofline and the detailed blockwork typical of Desert Modern homes, accessorised with a modern classic, the Citroën SM.

ARCHITECTURE TOURS You can self-drive with a map from the visitor centre, but you’d be missing out on all the great information that passionate tour guides share. Several operators offer small group architecture tours. At random, we called Kurt Cyr of Palm Springs Mod Squad. For a lucky dip, we were in luck indeed. Kurt is passionate, and educated, about Desert Modern, plus he’s well versed in the fascinating history of the area. We chose the 90-minute “Essential Palm Springs” tour (US$60 per person) which focuses on the work of six key architects: Wexler, William Cody, Albert Frey, Hugh Kaptur, and E. Stewart Williams, who

designed Sinatra’s house, plus examples of the Alexander Construction Company (like the 1961 Morse house, on the cover). Modern fun fact from Kurt: because of its wealth of preserved homes and little-altered streetscapes, Palm Springs often stands in for 1950s and ‘60s Las Vegas in movies. The Vegas home of Elliot Gould’s casino mogul character in the 2001 remake of Ocean’s 11 was in Palm Springs. Another tip: on the tour, you get to admire Leonardo DiCaprio’s weekender. That tends to spark the interest of teenage passengers. See PSModSquad.com. If you really want to immerse yourself, PS hosts Modernism Week every February: modernismweek.com ➤

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the destination

Palm Springs' 1948 Kaufmann house by Richard Neutra was built for Chicago department store owner, J. Edgar Kaufmann Sr. A decade earlier, Kaufmann had commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build Fallingwater, another one of the US's most famous houses. Below, The Parker's dramatic brise soleil entrance, the lobby lounge and adult pool.

Photos by Stephen Penny

OTHER ACTIVITIES It’s a resort town, so it’s a perfect place for some pool time.

But there’s also plenty to do if you want activities. Highly popular is the Aerial Tramway, the mountain incline means the views are stunning. There’s also botanic gardens, the PS Art Musuem, many hikes and day trips on offer to the Joshua Tree National Park and nearby Desert Hot Springs, plus cultural tours to the lands of the indigenous people, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. See visitpalmsprings. com. If you like your holiday to be enhanced with retail opportunities, a short drive away is the Desert Hills Premium Outlets, at Cabazon. Here, a serious shopper could pick their way through a heavily-discounted designer alphabet of 180 stores, from Agent Provocateur and Balenciaga, through Marni, Nike, Prada and Polo Ralph Lauren, to Valentino.

THE PARKER There’s around 130 hotels and motels in the area, but The Parker Palm Springs is pretty special for a large hotel. The Starwood-owned Parker is infused with personality — designer/ceramicist Jonathan Adler is responsible for the interiors. Visit for an al fresco brunch or a cocktail, and a stroll around the lawns and tropical gardens. If you’re staying, there are two pools (family, adult) and lots of shady places to lie on a lounger and think of it raining in Auckland. theparkerpalmsprings.com

DINING Before we left, a friend who regularly visits PS told us the down-town area “feels like Rotorua” in size and layout, and it’s a good analogy. In central PS, the accommodation tends to be clustered, and the eating is too. The main street, South Palm Canyon Dr, has a host of restaurants, bars and cafes serving a range of cuisines. We loved the margaritas and the Mexican food at the picturesque Las Casuelas Terraza. Off the main strip is the highly rated El Marisol, another longestablished restaurant offering authentic Mexican fare. p

the check in

Idyll Thoughts From Martinborough to the Silk Road, Louise Richardson finds destinations for all travel tastes

A TOAST TO THE SOUTH Toast Martinborough, New Zealand’s premier wine, food and music festival, has reached its dignified silver anniversary, and just like a good wine, it gets better with age.

2016 sees a new format, new technologies, and even new glassware. This year will also include a special end-of-theday 25th anniversary garden garty in Martinborough’s Town Square, with festival favourites, The Beat Girls, playing.

If you are a lover of fine wine and great food and of course, the many charms of the Wairarapa, this is a must-do event.

But get in quick to secure your ticket, as it will sell out. Toast Martinborough 2016, Martinborough Wine Village, Sunday November 20. For tickets, go to ticketek.co.nz or 0800 TICKETEK, and for more information, visit toastmartinborough.co.nz p

PERSIA BY PEDDLE Now that sanctions for foreign visitors have been lifted, Iran is welcoming tourists once again. After years in relative isolation, the ancient land is putting out the welcome carpet in anticipation of a growing tourist market.

Early to add Iran to its list of destinations is SpiceRoads, a seasoned cycle tour provider. SpiceRoads run 150 different tours to around 30 destinations across

costs around $6000, which includes the accommodation, meals and bicycle hire, but not air fares and visas.

See spiceroads.com We would also advise reading about travelling in Iran on safetravel.govt.nz The most recent update has an “Extreme Risk” warning for border areas (the neighbours are Afghanistan and Pakistan) and provides wide-ranging general advice for travel in other parts of the country. p

Asia, and assure intrepid travellers looking for something new and enriching, that Iran is the place to go.

The 15-day itinerary sets off from Shiraz, (that’s the route, above) and is rated for reasonably fit people ready to do 50 to 80km a day. It takes in deserts — where you’ll camp under the stars — magnificent ruins, lush gardens, exotic mosque architecture and embellishments, and of course, the caravanserais, or travellers’ inns, dotted along the legendary trading route, the Silk Road. Other nights are spent in modern local hotels. The tour finishes in Tehran.

The 650km route covers moderately difficult terrain at times, but if you feel like a break there’s always a support vehicle behind the group.

Departures are scheduled in April, May and September next year. The Iran tour the hobson 49

CRUISE INTO CHRISTMAS Many of the shorter European cruises are over the summer months, but a few companies are offering a winter experience on the waterways. If you’d like to experience the magic of the northern hemisphere holiday season, Uniworld’s Boutique River Cruises’ 8-day “German Christmas Markets” itinerary will bear you by boat from Nuremberg to Frankfurt.

And true to its name, you’ll experience the local markets at each stop, sampling Nuremberg’s gingerbread, Bamberg’s specially brewed holiday beer, Frankfurt’s apple cider and the national winter favourite, a warming mug of gluhwein.

Priced from $4198 per person twin share, with departure dates this month and in December. The cost includes your stateroom, all meals and drinks on board, excursions and transfers. uniworld.com or ask your travel agent. p

the cinema

November at the Movies HACKSAW RIDGE

with her true parents, who believed their infant daughter lost? Or do they stay quiet, and hope their idyllic life together remains as so?

Director Mel Gibson. Starring Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Sam Worthington The somewhat controversial Gibson goes behind the camera again to direct this biographical WWII drama. Set during the War in the Pacific’s Battle of Okinawa, Seventh Day Adventist and army medic Desmond T. Doss (Garfield) became the first conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. Drafted to serve despite his pacifist beliefs, Doss’s amazing feat of saving 75 of his comrades’ lives while under fire remains one of the better-known military stories of WWII.

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Director Tom Ford. Starring Amy Adams, Isla Fisher, Jake Gyllenhaal, Aaron TaylorJohnson, Michael Shannon A story inside a story from the stylish hand of fashion star and A Single Man director Ford. Part 1 follows Susan, who receives a manuscript from her ex-husband, 20 years after they had split. Part 2 — the manuscript comes to life, its story about a man whose family vacation turns violent, leading to deadly outcomes. The truth of Susan’s story and that of the manuscript unfold at the same time, fusing together in this dark, psychological thriller.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Director David Yates. Starring Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Jon Voight, Katherine Waterston A feast for Potterites. Set in “fantastical” 1926, writer and wizard Newt Scamander arrives in New York to attend a covert meeting of wizards and witches. With him, he brings his trusty suitcase. But being from the imagination of J. K. Rowling (who also wrote the script), this is no average bag. The case contains a number of dangerous creatures, which then escape, causing the American wizarding authorities to set off after Newt. Set 70 years before young Hogwarts student Harry Potter even reads Fantastic Beasts, this film is bound to capture the imagination and draw Potter fans back into the wonderful wizarding world.

ALLIED THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS Director Derek Cianfrance. Starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz Lighthouse keeper and WWI veteran, Tom, and his young wife, Isabel, cannot conceive a child of their own, so finding a baby washed ashore in a rowboat is the answer to their prayers. Living off the remote coast of Western Australia, the couple contentedly raise the baby as their own, until by chance they encounter the parents of their beloved daughter. So the question is posed. Do they tell their daughter the truth? Do they reunite her

A UNITED KINGDOM

Violence

Director Robert Zemeckis. Starring Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris It’s 1942 and intelligence officer Max Vatan is stationed in North Africa, when he meets French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour. Immediately smitten, the two fall in love while on high-stakes counter missions behind enemy lines to kill the same man. The heightened circumstances of the war make for many twists in this romantic thriller.

— Caitlin McKenna All titles are scheduled to screen at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket in November

Advance Screening Wednesday 7 December. Arrival 6:00pm for 6:15pm film start.

Tickets: $24.50* each and include a glass of wine & goodie bag.

Book online: www.rialto.co.nz *Plus, $1.20 online booking fee.

the bookmark

Inspiration for the Giving Season

CHINA The Cookbook Kei Lum & Diora Fong Chan (Phaidon) In the tradition of the bestselling Mexico, China is a magnificent insight into a cuisine. Featuring more than 650 recipes for delicious and authentic Chinese dishes, this authoritative book showcases the culinary diversity of one of the world’s richest and oldest cuisines, with recipes from 33 regions and sub-regions. The gold foil edges, translucent cover, and literally mouth-watering photography make this a book to devour.

ATLAS OBSCURA Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras & Ella Morton (Workman Publishing) This book revels in the weird, the unexpected, the overlooked and the mysterious of our planet. With compelling descriptions, hundreds of photos, charts and maps, it is as appealing to the armchair traveller as it will be to the die-hard, beenthere, done-the climb-adventurer. Not your usual travel pictorial, it will make a great gift and is definitely on my wishlist.

PLANT Exploring the Botanical World (Phaidon) This offering from innovative Phaidon is a stunning compilation of botanicallythemed images, selected by an expert panel. Photos, micrographic scans and illustrations bring plants vividly to life.

It includes works by celebrated artists, scientists, and botanical illustrators, as well as rare and previously unpublished images, arranged in a sequence to highlight contrasts and similarities. A super gift, perhaps the ultimate tome, for both art lovers and gardeners.

NASTY GALAXY Sophia Amoruso (Penguin) I loved one of the opening phrases: “Warning: this is not a style book. It’s not about how to mix prints – it’s about how to leave yours on everything you touch.”

Amoruso, founder of the hugely successful online fashion retailer NastyGal, and author of the bestselling Girl Boss, follows up with part scrapbook, part inspo-

journey. Stacked with illustrations, photos and short essays that embody the style and spirit of the NastyGal brand, Galaxy approaches style, philosophy and advice in the same way Girl Boss approached business: by turning it on its head. A fascinating and refreshing tome, even if you’re not of the Nasty demographic.

THE STORY OF THE HAURAKI GULF Raewyn Peart (Bateman) For us who live in Auckland, and even those who no longer reside here, this very special publication is an environmental, social and cultural history. With more than 300 historical and contemporary images, and commissioned maps, I think Peart sums up her book beautifully:“I hope that the stories in this book will prompt readers to recall their own special stories of the Hauraki Gulf and other treasured locations. Because it is only if we remember our stories, if we tell our stories and if we act on them can we ensure our special places will endure”.

— Gail Woodward

the appetite

Little & Lovely The Little & Friday cafes dotted around the city are popular stops for delicious baking and wholesome savoury dishes too. We're delighted to publish here two recipes from Little & Friday's new book, Every Meal. Enjoy!

FENNEL & LEMON PASTA SALAD Fennel was not around in New Zealand when I was growing up. It’s a popular vegetable in Italian cuisine thanks to its aniseedy flavour and great crunch. Fortunately it’s now available year round and is perfect in this lemony pasta salad — Kim Evans, founder, Little & Friday Serves 6 500g dried farfalle 400g crème fraîche 100ml good-quality extra virgin olive oil 100g grated Parmesan zest and juice of 3 lemons salt and freshly ground black pepper 150g rocket leaves, roughly chopped 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced

Cook’s note: Can be made 4–5 hours ahead of time.

PEAR & HAZELNUT LAYER CAKE Hazelnut meringue is layered with hazelnut spread in this decadent cake, which also makes a good winter dessert when fruit options are limited. You can assemble this the day before and store overnight in the fridge to slightly soften the meringue, which will make cutting it a little easier.

Meringue 9 egg whites 1½ cups sugar 5 cups ground hazelnuts ½ tsp salt ½ tsp vanilla paste

Hazelnut Spread 2 cups whole hazelnuts, skin on 120g butter 450g dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids) ¼ cup sugar 1 cup cream pinch of salt To Finish 2 cups mascarpone

1. In boiling salted water, cook the farfalle for 10–12 minutes or until al dente, then rinse the pasta in cold water and set aside 2. In a bowl, mix together crème fraîche, olive oil, Parmesan, lemon zest and juice. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper 3. Add cooked pasta, rocket and fennel to the bowl and toss together until just mixed 4. Check seasoning and serve

Makes one 20cm cake

Honeyed Pears 12 pears, skin on 1 cup good-quality honey 1 tsp vanilla paste 100g butter

To Make Meringue 1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line three baking trays with baking paper. Draw a 20cm circle on each piece of baking paper (you can trace around a 20cm cake tin) 2. Place egg whites in a clean, dry mixing bowl and whisk with an electric beater on high speed until soft peaks form.

Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until fully combined and meringue mixture is glossy 3. Using a metal spoon, fold through ground hazelnuts, salt and vanilla paste, being careful not to over-mix 4. Spoon a third of the mixture in the centre of the circle on each tray and spread out to a flat disk, using your drawn circles as a guide 5. Bake for 40 minutes, then turn oven down to 140°C and bake for a further 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks before removing meringue from baking paper To Make Honeyed Pears 1. Preheat oven to 200°C 2. Halve 3 pears and quarter the rest. Core all of the pear pieces 3. In a small saucepan, melt honey, vanilla and butter over a low heat 4. Place pear pieces in a baking dish and pour over honey mixture, making sure pears are fully coated 5. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and baste with the honey mixture in the dish. Turn oven down to 180°C and cook for a further 20 minutes, basting again after 10 minutes. Cool in the dish To Make Hazelnut Spread: 1. Preheat oven to 140°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper

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the appetite

2. Place hazelnuts on lined baking tray and roast for 10 minutes 3. Melt butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over a low heat and allow to cool 4. Remove hazelnuts from oven and rub them between the folds of a clean tea towel to remove skins 5. Place nuts in a food processor with sugar and blitz until fine crumbs form 6. Pour in melted chocolate mixture and cream, add salt and blitz until fully combined.

Refrigerate until ready to use To Assemble 1. Spread hazelnut spread evenly over meringue discs 2. Spread 2 meringues with mascarpone and top with the quartered honeyed pears.

Stack these 2 meringues on top of each other. Finish with the third meringue disc, with the hazelnut spread facing up 3. Arrange the honeyed pear halves on top, to decorate Extract reproduced with permission from Little & Friday Every Meal by Kim Evans and Sophie Beck. Published by Penguin NZ. RRP $50. Text Š Kim Evans and Sophie Beck, 2016. Photography Š Lottie Hedley, 2016. Available at Paper Plus Newmarket and all good bookstores from October 28. the hobson 54

the district diary

November 2016 1 Catch the last week of the Intellectual Fashion Show 2016 at the Gus Fisher Gallery in Shortland St (until November 5).

More than 60 creatives from a broad range of disciplines – fashion designers, milliners, jewellers, ceramic artists, poets — are exhibiting. Free entry, nzfashionmuseum. org.nz for days/times 2 Snap up the last tickets for school fundraising events this month. The Kings’ College Art Sale launches with a ticketed cocktail evening on Friday November 4, $65 per person. See kingscollegeartsale.co.nz. There’s also the Grammar Art House Tour, on Saturday November 12, and the St Cuthbert’s House Tour, which happens on Friday, November 18. See arthousetour. co.nz and stcuthberts.school.nz for ticket information

Tour. Launch and live auction from 6.30pm, Friday, in the school’s Great Hall.

Then the Art House Tour day, 10am-4pm, Saturday. Visit arthousetour.co.nz for info and tickets For three days only, The Ice Skate Tour mobile ice rink will be at Meadowbank School. Fri 3pm-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-3pm. Adults $13, kids $7, door sales only

18 The St Cuthbert’s House Tour is on today, taking in eight houses and raising money for the Old Girls’ Association-funded scholarships. See stcuthberts. school.nz for details 19 It’s a big weekend of familyfriendly festivals: Highwic’s Christmas Garden Festival starts today. Live music, roving carol singers, folk dancers, carols by ukulele, coal range activities, garden tours and Santa! Today and Sunday, 10am-4.30pm, $10 at door for adults, children free.

Highwic, Mortimer Pass

Enjoy the King’s College Art Sale this weekend, with the work of more than 200 artists for sale.

Free entry, 10am-4pm today, 10am-3pm Sunday, at King’s, Golf Ave, Otahuhu

11 Join in the Armistice Day memorial service to remember those who served and those who have given their lives in military service, at the WWI Sanctuary at Auckland War Memorial Museum. 11am-2pm 11/12 In a first for Auckland Grammar School, the chance to step inside 10 superb homes and to buy art from local galleries and individual artists, at the AGS Art House

Head to Cornwall Park for some kite flying fun for the whole family. See big kites in action, entertainment for all ages. Free entry, 11am-3pm, on the league fields (Puriri Drive) 15 Join the discussion about community facility issues in Remuera at a meeting of the Remuera Residents Association tonight, 7.30pm, St Paul’s Methodist Church hall, St Vincent Ave

5 Don’t miss the annual Michael Park School Summer Fair. Over 120 stalls, silent auction, raffles, organic and vegetarian food, magical ‘kids only’ fairy cafe, games and activities. 55 Amy St, Ellerslie, 9.30am-3.30pm

It’s the most miserable night(s) of the year for cats and dogs, with the “celebration” of an irrelevant British festival, Guy Fawkes

Get your vintage on at the Auckland Retro Fair, Alexandra Park Raceway, 10am-4pm.

A vast and eclectic mix of mid-century items. Entry $8 at the gate, parking is free

12 Bringing the community together, this is NZ’s biggest board games event. Buy a weekend pass or go for just one day: gaming, special prizes and exclusive discounts. Family friendly, food for sale.

Visit boardgamesbythebay.org.nz for times and prices. Auckland Bridge Club, 273 Remuera Rd 13 The annual celebration of spring at the Parnell Festival of Roses starts at 10.30am at Dove-Myer Robinson Park, Parnell. Food, craft stalls, coffee, exhibits, entertainment.

Till 4pm, free admission the hobson 55

Gather your bairns and give them a bonny day of Scottish heritage and celebration at the Auckland Highland Games and Gathering.

There’ll be highland dancing, strength competitions, haggis to taste, Highland cattle, Shetland ponies, and of course, the sounds of pipes and drums. Free entry.

Today, 9am-5pm, at Three Kings Reserve, corner of Mt Eden and Mt Albert Rds Orākei Market – gourmet, artisan, vintage, fresh. Every 2nd Saturday from 9am, Orākei Community Centre, 156 Kepa Rd 26 Craft Harvest market, 4th Saturday of every month from 8am, alongside Parnell Farmers’ Market, 545 Parnell Rd

the cryptic by mĀyĀ

ACROSS 1/12/29 Solar panels Dr Green placed around park (7,4,7) 5 Knowing road to a type of door (7) 10 Perhaps hide enclosure from rug bang, say (6) 11 Attempt to hit article; I miss at first (3) 12 See 1 13 Unfit to badger Frankish king (8) 14 Rough, plump youth caught holding (5) 15 “Thy posterior art unclad” - radical school project (7,6) 18 Atlas, say, showing e.g. “Narnia Through the Looking-Glass” behind horse (8,5) 22 Finish with bottom in the air (3,2)

24 Goes back in regard to indulgences (8) 25 Shrink when placed before the French gives wilderness (4) 26 The odd drink (3) 27 Incense from stingy plant (6) 28 Give a second ring concerning harm to railway (7) 29 See 1 DOWN 2 Beastly to return blade (6) 3 A 2 with active Scot, related to Isaac (9) 4 A 2 with Ernst, oddly brilliant (7) 6 A 2 with audible smear; might be fond of a Tramp (7) 7 A 2 with Bond's boss; it may have

contained sultanas (5) 8 A 2 with rock inspectors (8) 9 A 2 with ringmaster arranged means to force entry (9,4) 16 A 2 with chess pieces Edward coloured (9) 17 A 2 with esculent heart, but very small (8) 19 A 2 (legless) that is mixed up with right Romeo wannabe (7) 20 A 2 (6-legged) Princess upset receiver (7) 21 A 2 may have provided this neckwear knight struggled to achieve (6) 23 A 2 mother's principles (5)

Answers on page 15 Set by Māyā https://thehobsoncrossword.wordpress.com/ the hobson 56

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