Wild Tomato October 2016

Nelson and Marlborough’s magazine /

ISSUE 123 / OCTOBER 2016 / $8.95

Nelson Arts Festival

a two-week extravaganza of local, national and international acts

Interview Leon MacDonald Tasman United Football

Suter Gallery redevelopment Anne Rush artist

Honda Civic

Summer boating Fashion

Cuba

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There’s something for everyone!

Nelson and Marlborough’s magazine

Features Issue 123 / October 2016

39 22 “I always thought I was one knock away from retiring.”

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– L E O N M A C D O N A L D , P. 2 2

22 The Interview: Leon MacDonald

G

eoff Moffett talks to Tasman Makos coach Leon MacDonald and takes a look back at his career

26 Nelson Arts Festival

F

rom femmes fatales to murder most foul, the 2016 arts festival is a wealth of stories, culture and entertainment, writes Caroline Crick

30 The Suter Gallery

L

ike a phoenix rising from the ashes, Nelson’s Suter Gallery has been stunningly given new life, Di O’Donnell found out

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39 Tasman United Football

A

new coach makes for a promising season for the region’s top men’s football team.

Geoff Moffett takes a look at the season ahead

42 Safe boating

G

et out on the water this summer but stay safe, writes Sophie Preece

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30

The all new Civic. Stand out.

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Civic 1.8S from $29,900 Civic Turbo from $35,500

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After Hours: 027 443 6777

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Columns Issue 123 / October 2016

64 INTERVIEWS

20 My Big Idea Getting on your ebike is an increasingly popular way to get around, writes Jace Hobbs

82 Up & Coming Reuben Jane is studying for his Postgraduate Diploma of Sustainable Aquaculture at NMIT. Deborah Sax explains why

ACTIVE

68 Travel

Mike Bortnick finds there’s more to Cuba than classic cars and Cohibas

70 Adventure

Volunteers are working hard with the Department of Conservation to make a difference in the Top of the South, writes Sophie Preece

71 Boating FASHION

46 Fashion

Styling by Kelly Vercoe photography by Ishna Jacobs

Relax, chill out and take a SEAbbatical, says Steve Thomas

72 Motoring

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The new Honda Civic is the most impressive ever says Geoff Moffett

54 Shoe of the month Step out in brights & metallics

CULTURE

74 Arts LIFE

56 My Home

Home by the sea at Atawhai.

By Sadie Beckman

62 My Garden

Working with natives. By Helen Rose

64 My Kitchen

Yummy lemon bars make a delicious anytime treat. By Nicola Galloway

65 Dine Out

Patacca’s pizza is worth trying, says restaurant reviewer Maxwell Flint

66 Wine

Award-winning wines from the Bragato competition, by Phillip Reay

67 Beer

Tuatara stands the test of time, writes Mark Preece

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Di O’Donnell talks to Anne Rush, artist-in-residence for the 2016 Nelson Arts Festival

76 Music

Celebrating our best songs at the 2016 Silver Scroll Awards.

By Pete Rainey

78 Film

The name says it all! Captain Fantastic is thoughtful, witty and well worth seeing, says reviewer Eddie Allnutt

REGULARS

8 Editorial 10 Bits & Pieces 12 Events 14 Snapped 75 Gallery Must-Haves 80 Quiz & Trivia

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Editorial

D

Amazing artists and extraordinary stories about real people are the hallmarks of the 12-24 October festival

ays are getting longer, the sun is shining brighter and that all adds up to more time to get out and enjoy what is on offer. Nelson is spoilt for choice this month with an enticing line-up of events in the annual arts festival.

A two-week extravaganza of local, national and international acts, the 2016 Nelson Arts Festival looks to be the best yet.

WildTomato is proud to be a sponsor of the Nelson Arts Festival, and congratulates the festival team on putting together such a fabulous array of creative talent. Amazing artists and extraordinary stories about real people are the hallmarks of the 12-24 October festival so pick up your copy of the programme today and get booking.

Go to the WildTomato website – wildtomato.co.nz – and you may even be lucky enough to win a double pass to The Goblin Market.

Another highlight of the arts scene this month is the opening on Sunday 2 October of the redeveloped Suter Art Gallery. What a transformation. The building itself is now a work of art purpose-built to showcase other works of art. Thanks to the foresight of a hard-working group of people, the Suter is also another heritage building saved from wonton destruction – unlike the iconic Trathen building in Trafalgar Street, reduced to rubble a few weeks ago.

An oasis of history, heritage and art, the Suter now looks good for another 100 years at least and, along with various other buildings in both Nelson and Marlborough, is a great example of what can be done to salvage a slice of our heritage for future generations.

Turn the pages for more about both of these artistic endeavours. Keep turning them and you will catch up with summer boating safety, the rise of the new Tasman United Football team, spring fashion, taking a ‘seabatical’ and supping a pint of Tuatara beer. Discover which wines won awards at the annual Bragato growers’ competition, and see Cuba through the eyes of WildTomato film reviewer Mike Bortnick.

The last blast of winter has supposedly passed – if you believe the weatherman – so pack a picnic, pick up your copy of WildTomato and seek out the sun.

Before I sign off, sincere apologies to Nelson mayoral candidate Pete Rainey for a mistake in the September issue. Pete did not contest the mayoralty three years ago; this is his first mayoral campaign.

LY N D A PA P E S C H

Editor

Manager

Design & art direction

Sales Excecutives

Lynda Papesch 021 073 2786 editor@wildtomato.co.nz

Floor van Lierop Klaasz Breukel thisisthem.com

Advertising Design Songs for the Fallen image supplied by Nelson Arts Festival

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Patrick Connor

Laura Loghry 027 378 0008 laura@wildtomato.co.nz

Chrissie Sanders 027 540 2237 chrissie@wildtomato.co.nz Thelma Sowman 021 371 880 thelma@wildtomato.co.nz

Subscriptions

Publisher

$75 for 12 issues Jack Martin 03 546 3384 WildTomato Media Ltd wildtomato.co.nz/subscribe Bridge St Collective 111 Bridge St Readership: 38,000 Nelson 7010 Source: Nielsen Consumer PO Box 1901 and Media Insights Survey Nelson 7040 (Q2 2014 –Q1 2015) 03 546 3384 info@wildtomato.co.nz wildtomato.co.nz

CONTRIBUTORS

Selling your home?

Eddie Allnutt Elizabeth Bean Elizabeth Bean Sadie Features Film Features Beckman My Home

Patrick Connor Advertising design

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With over 742,000* nationwide readers each week, you can be sure you're reaching the biggest pool of potential buyers.

Ana Galloway Photography

Nicola Galloway My Kitchen

Maureen Deward Proof reading

Maxwell Flint Dine Out

Ishna Jacobs Photography

Floor van Lierop Geoff Moffett Motoring Design Features

Di O'Donnell Features

Mark Preece Beer

Sophie Preece Adventure Features

Pete Rainey Music

Phillip Reay Wine

Helen Rose My Garden

Deborah Sax Up & Coming

Steve Thomas Boating

Kelly Vercoe Fashion

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*2,177 members of the HorizonPoll national panel, representing the New Zealand population 18+, responded to the survey between 27 June and 12 July 2016.

The sample is weighted on age, gender, employment status, education status and ethnicity. The survey has a maximum margin of error at a 95% confidence level of Âą2.1% overall.

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BITS & PIECES

LETTERS

Dear Editor, A bit late, but I have just read a copy of your May 2016 issue. Three wonderful articles in one issue: the Godzone adventure race, the Old Ghost Road track and the Paul Morgan interview. Being a keen tramper, I was most interested in the first two, especially the

stunning image on the cover.

There’s got to be a story of its own behind that image: What is the location? How did the photographer get there? How long did he have to wait to get that amazing shot? I’d be really grateful if you could email me an answer to at least the first question.

Although you had a box entitled “Where did they go?’ you didn’t actually tell us where they went. I’d love to see a detailed map of their route, especially that over the Red Hills and Mt Owen.

Then there’s the Old Ghost Track. I really must put that on my list of places to go. Thanks for a great read!

A GOOD CAUSE

Mental Health Awareness Week concert

N

elson singer/songwriter Bryce Wastney is performing an acoustic concert with musical producer Ryan Beehre (Minuit), on Saturday 15 October, to celebrate NZ Mental Health Awareness week.

Mental Health Awareness Week is 10-16 October.

This year’s theme is Naturally Happy: connect with nature for good mental health and wellbeing. The theme has been chosen because of growing evidence that connecting with nature promotes positive mental health and wellbeing.

An engaging storyteller and gifted songwriter, Bryce will help bust a few myths around mental health and share his own personal experiences including his newest batch of songs. Funds raised on the night will go towards local mental health organisations, which will have representatives there on the night to answer questions and provide useful information to the public.

The concert starts at 7.30pm at Nelson Cathedral.

Door sales, cash only, $10 waged & $5 non-waged.

Colin Wratt Upper Moutere

T IC K E T G I V EAWAY

If you visit the website godzoneadventure.com you will find the answers to most of your questions. The cover photo was taken by California photographer Alex Socci. She is on Facebook. - Editor

WHERE DO YOU READ YOURS?

The

Jill Taylor reads her WildTomato by the infinity pool at Korovisi Villa, Savusavu, Fiji. Sheer bliss!

Send your image to editor@wildtomato.co.nz ONLY .JPG FILES ACCEPTED, MIN. 1MB

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Goblin Market awaits. WildTomato, in conjunction with the Nelson Arts Festival, has two double tickets to give away to The Goblin Market show on Sunday 23 October. Suitable for ages 16 plus, The Goblin Market is a contemporary adult circus, spotlighting the story of two sisters and their battle to overcome temptation. Enter via the WildTomato Facebook page (wildtomato.co.nz) and also check out all the other great shows at the Nelson Arts Festival at nelsonartsfestival.co.nz

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EVENTS

OCTOBER EVENTS NELSON/TASMAN Sat 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29

Thur 6 – Thur 27

The Nelson Market

Craft Potters Past and Present: Tutors and Students exhibition

The bustling Nelson Market transforms Montgomery Square into a vibrant showcase of regional arts, crafts, fashion, jewellery, fresh local and organic produce.

MONTGOMERY SQUARE, NELSON

Sun 2 The Suter Art Gallery Reopening Day Enjoy a day of family fun, art, music and explore the redeveloped Suter Gallery in Bridge Street.

A selection of different works from Craft Potters diploma tutors and students feature in this month’s exhibition.

PARKER GALLERY

Thur 6, 13, 20, 27 Isel Twilight Market Nelson’s newest and hottest market offers delicious street food, fresh produce, quality crafts and live music.

ISEL PARK, STOKE

THE SUTER ART GALLERY

Wed 5, 12, 19, 26 Nelson Farmers Market

Wed 12 - Mon 24 Nelson Arts Festival

Rain or shine, the Farmers Market comes to Morrison Square bringing local fresh produce and products from throughout the top of the south.

An array of fabulous events including theatre, dance, music, cabaret, contemporary circus, writers’ talks, comedy, visual arts, community and family events, korero - from near and far, free and ticketed. Visit the website nelsonartsfestival.co.nz

MORRISON SQUARE

ASSORTED VENUES

Sun 16

Sat 22 & Sun 23

Isel in Bloom

The Goblin Market

Enjoy this botanical and heritage event with the gardens of Isel Park in full bloom.

New Marsden Ceramics display opening in Isel Historic house, heritage talks, garden tours and market stalls.

The world premiere of The Dust Palace’s new circus theatre work, following two sisters, their temptation, sacrifice and eventual salvation.

ISEL HOUSE AND PARK

Sun 16 Tasman Makos v Southland Our own mighty Makos take on Southland, starting at 2.35pm, #fins up TRAFALGAR PARK

THEATRE ROYAL

Sat 22 – Mon 24 Art Expo Nelson A three-day art sale of works from more than 150 New Zealand artists. Over 2000 artworks from top painters, ceramists, sculptors, jewellers, photographers and multimedia talent.

SAXTON SPORTS COMPLEX

Friday 21 Nelson Arts Festival Masked Parade & Carnival The theme this year is Flights of Fancy! Enrolments open via: www.nelsonartsfestival.co.nz NELSON CITY CENTRE

Sat 22 & Sun 23 Ben Hurley’s EARTH PLANET WORLD Ben Hurley takes us around every single country in the world, one joke at a time!

A fast-paced ride; think more bullet train than stuck in traffic.

THE SUTER

Sun 23 Moutere Artisans Open Day Each producing special products based on the land, the Moutere Artisans welcome visitors into their cellar doors and galleries. From 11am till 4pm.

UPPER MOUTERE VILLAGE

Mon 24 Dia de los Muertos The Nelson Arts Festival wraps up with the 5th anniversary of the Day of the Dead Nelson, a festive family day with Mexican food and culture.

FOUNDERS HERITAGE PARK

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MARLBOROUGH Sat 1 & Sun 2

Sun 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

Kai Tahi Ki Wairau Sharing the Food of Marlborough

Marlborough Farmers Market

Arbour is proud to present Monique Fiso and her amazing hiakai journey.

ARBOUR, RENWICK

Sun 2 Greg Copeland & Steve 'Guitar' Gilles Greg is a bluesman through and through and is the leader of acoustic blues duo ‘Deep Down South’. With him is good friend Steve ‘Guitar’ Gilles, playing the acoustic guitar and resonator slide as well as blues harp.

DHARMA BUMS CLUB, BLENHEIM

Sun 2 The Kugels Four top musicians have joined together to form the band of their dreams, The Kugels, and play music that makes you want to dance - spirited, wild and haunting.

ASB THEATRE MARLBOROUGH

Sat 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Marlborough Artisan Market Lots of choice for everyone.

Food, coffee, jewellery, preserves, veggies, art, crafts, woodwork, pottery and more.

WYNEN STREET, BLENHEIM

Enjoy the taste of the freshest seasonal fruit, vegetables and produce that Marlborough has to offer. The Farmers’ Market is full of locally grown and sourced food, sold by the producer.

A&P SHOWGROUNDS

Tues 4 Beyond the Barricade The UK’s favourite musical theatre concert - Beyond the Barricade -makes its debut in New Zealand on a 21-city tour. Starring past principal performers from Les Misérables.

ASB THEATRE MARLBOROUGH

Fri 7 & Sat 8 Faulty Towers Dinner Theatre Show Interactive dinner theatre with Basil and Sybil keen to make a dollar in their own restaurant.

CLUBS OF MARLBOROUGH

Fri 7 & Sat 8 St Andrew’s: Around Town Garden Tour A self-directed garden tour featuring 12 much loved gardens in a wide variety of styles in and around Blenheim.

Books, plants, Devonshire teas, cakes and filled rolls at various venues.

ST ANDREW’S CHURCH

Fri 14 Migrant cultural celebration The Marlborough Migrant Centre welcomes all women to a cultural performance, guest speakers and shared food to celebrate the contribution of migrant women in the community. 7pm to 9.30pm MARLBOROUGH CONVENTION CENTRE

Fri 14 – Thus 20 Oliver!

A musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale about a young boy who lives in a cruel workhouse orphanage, under the regime of the cruel warden.

ASB THEATRE MARLBOROUGH

Sat 22 Linkwater Art Auction Doors open at 5pm for art viewing, auction starts at 7pm.

Featuring a range of art from many well-known and up and coming local artists.

Sun 23

Linkwater Fun Day Gates open at 10am – great day for the family with plant stalls, silent auction, games, food and lots of country entertainment.

LINKWATER HALL

Thurs 27 & Fri 28 NZ Navy 75th Anniversary Siemens Navy Players Tour The 75th anniversary of the NZ Navy is a milestone which it is celebrating with all New Zealanders.

ASB THEATRE MARLBOROUGH

Sat 29 & Sun 30 CSO Symphonic Spectacular The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra performs its celebration of classical symphonic works.

ASB THEATRE MARLBOROUGH

LINKWATER HALL

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Snapped WildTomato goes out on the town…

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WildTomato Chamber of Commerce BA5 Whitehaven Wine Rm, ASB Theatre, Blenheim

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLIN FRANCIS

1. Thelma Sowman, Lynda Papesch & Laura Loghry

5. Travis Moriarty & Simon Toneycliffe

2. Jenny Francis, Geradine Haack & Vicki Nalder

6. Jon Haack, Brian Nicholas & Andrew Scott

3. Sue Godsiff & Brian Nicholas

7. Janet Enright & Janine Kydd

4. Dee & Ben Struthers

8. Stephen Gullery

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5 6 7 NOW OPEN

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Celebrations | Meetings | Seminars | Functions | Dinners Conferences | Weddings 2 Hutcheson St, Blenheim T. 03 520 8558 W. asbtheatre.com E. venuehire@mctt.co.nz 14

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Trelise Cooper Fashion Show Karen Jordan Style, Nelson P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A N A G A L L O WAY

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1. Margaret Henley, Frankie Morgan-Stock, Judy Glue & Alison McAlpine

5. Trelise Cooper

4. Kelly Vercoe

2. Julie Forbes, Karen Gill, Robyn Mooney, Rose Pinker & Lynne Ryan

7. Lauren Lewis

6. Bree Robertson 8. Kelly Milne 9. Krissy Pearce

3. Karen Jordan

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If you have a ‘significant’ home or property requirement in Nelson or Tasman check our website first. www.nelsonpremiumproperty.co.nz

ROB WALLACE

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Makos Sponsors Team Launch The Bach Bar and Restaurant, Stoke P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A N A G A L L O WAY

6. Shane Christie

2. David Leonard, Andrew Marriot & Ethan Blackadder

8. Chris and Virginia Thornley & Chris Butler

4. Tony Lewis

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1. Jake Haplin, Tim O’Malley & Shannon Frizell

3. Darryn Adams, Jud Hadfield & Andrew Goodman

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7. Murray Sturgeon

9. Les Edwards, Margaret and Francis Monopoly & Rob Evans

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5. Scott Gibbons

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LIVE LIVE CINEMA:

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS From the people that brought us Carnival of Souls!

Theatre Royal Sat 15 Oct, 8pm Sun 16 Oct, 7pm BOOKINGS & INFO: nelsonartsfestival.co.nz

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S NA P P E D

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3 Marlborough Daffodils Project Taylor River Reserve, Blenheim PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER BURGE

1. Tevita Koloamatangi and a young fan 2. A happy young Makos fan 3. Marty Bank and two young helpers 4. Makos Josh Tafili, Vils Lolohea, Richard Kingi & Siosiua Halanukonuka

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5. Marty Banks and helpers 6. Josh Tafili, Trael Joass & Vils Lolohea 7. Trael Joass & Josh Tafili 8. Siosiua Halanukonuka & Trael Joass

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An outrageous, corset-busting cabaret!

SONGS FOR THE FALLEN

(Australia)

Festival Mainstage Wed 12 Oct, 7.30pm Thu 13 Oct, 7.30pm BOOKINGS & INFO:

nelsonartsfestival.co.nz

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Nelson Airport Redevelopment Launch WOW Museum, Nelson P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A N A G A L L O WAY

1. Carly Arnold & Matt Clarke

6. Sally Russ & Paul Jennings

2. Alistair Cattanach

7. Robert Evans

3. Bede Kearney, Roger Taylor & Mike Drummond

8. Adam & Mat Arnold-Kelly

4. Wayne Klenner

10. Jenna McCowan & Lynne Korcheski

5. Storm MacDonald & Les Edwards

9. Peter Rivers & Paul Streere

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B E N EF IT S O F RE L A X ATI O N : Rel i eves stress , l owe rs b l o o d p ress u re, rel axes m u s cl es , rel i eves te n s i o n , p ro m otes d e e p e r a n d e as i e r b re ath i ng, i mp roves b l o o d c i rcu l ati o n a n d h el p s to co n n e c t yo u to yo u r i n n e r s el f.

W E L L I N GTO N | N E L S O N | C H R I S TC H U RC H | D U N E D I N

w w w. e rb a n sp a. co. nz A b o u ti qu e - st yl e d day sp a l o cate d i n a qu a i n t h i sto ri ca l p a r t o f Nel s o n c i t y, ste p s away f ro m Tra fa lga r S qu a re, E rb a n S p a Nel s o n sp e c i a l i s es i n rel axati o n m assage, fa c i a l s a n d b e a u t y th e ra p i es i n a m o d e rn a n d s e re n e day sp a e nvi ro n m e n t.

We p rovi d e a dvi ce a n d fo l l ow - u p o n a l l o f yo u r ski n a n d b e a u t y ca re n e e d s a n d ti p s to h el p yo u m a i n ta i n a h e a l thy, m o re b a l a n ce d l i fest yl e.

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S NA P P E D

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Elk Launch Shine, Nelson

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P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A N A G A L L O WAY

1. Belinda Wheatley, Stephanie Gray, Julie Varney & Rosie Anderson 2. Francesca Molnar

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3. Jo Menary 4. Gina Fletcher & Ali Mawdsley

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5. Alex Denton 6. Natalie Gousmett 7. Jan McPherson 8. Catherine Potton 9. Tracy Neilson & Edie Porter 10. Julie Walker

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FOR THIS MONTH: Book a relaxing treatment, either a Bliss Relaxation massage or an Antipodes Aroha Facial (1hr treatment) and receive your next booking of the same treatment at half price.

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MY BIG IDEA

Jace Hobbs explains how ebikes are fast becoming one of the lithium-powered wonders of our time.

A CYCLING REVOLUTION

P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A N A G A L L O WAY

My successful, Nelson-based electric bike business grew out of my being a geek for battery technology. I had followed lithium battery developments closely up until 2007, when the technology finally matured.

Electric transportation suddenly became very viable, especially my favourite, the electrically assisted ebike. My immediate application for distribution rights for NZ from Kinetic set me up within weeks with the worldleading brand that I was most impressed with. Electric Bike Hub was to become a thriving business, an outlet for my environmental advocacy, and a passion for seeing bike transport become front and centre in NZ communities.

Now, these many years later, my ideas, which may have been a bit visionary at the time, are being fully

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implemented in NZ. Please allow me a bit of pride in seeing Government and private uptake of something that I worked so hard to promote. Now, my ebikes are used by all six NZ councils that have ebike fleets, most recently Auckland Council.

New Zealand Transport Agency offices in Auckland and Wellington use our ebikes, as do a whole host of rental and private riders. On any given day, we have hundreds of rail-trail riders and over a thousand commuters happily seated on our Kinetic equipment. Each is changing the demands on roading and public health, creating liveable communities, one rider at a time.

When I advertise and represent my ebikes, I just mention the economy, the pleasure and the convenience of use. I don’t mention the environmental benefits, though they are real. I don’t have to tell people they ‘should’ ride a zero-emission ebike – the personal benefits are quite enough.

There are some side benefits for society that are really coming into focus now. With ebike uptake, we don’t need to build new roads, and Middle Eastern fuel purchases dwindle with every watt of home-grown energy we harvest from our abundant natural sources and put into our transport. Win, win, win is what I like to say when it comes to ebikes supplanting cars, and we are ideally poised to be the beneficiaries of this marvellous lifestyle enhancer.

Most Nelsonians don’t know that there is this large display, warehousing and distribution of ebikes going on just out of town. It’s been a great place from which to launch my business, with containers of these beautiful machines coming into the port and being shipped to every corner of the country.

Electric Bike Hub is now in 23 retail shops (including Village and Crankhouse) that display, demonstrate, educate and thrill the public. It’s been a wild ride.

TRIBE - Modern networking

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We now have 2 groups!

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Interview

He went on to a stellar career with the All Blacks, but Tasman Makos coach Leon MacDonald had thugs and gods against him in his teenage rep debut for Marlborough, Geoff Moffett reports.

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Tough coaching pays off for Leon P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A N A G A L L O WAY

C

ould a 16-year-old future All Black have a shakier start Inevitably, MacDonald was soon in the Marlborough Red to a representative rugby career? As debut stories go, Devils, selected at the age of just 16 for that debut game in Leon MacDonald’s is hard to top. Making his dream Westport. It was the first of his dreams-come-true. start for Marlborough as a raw but promising teenager, he His big breakthrough came when Kieran Keane called was felled by a punch in the head and then found himself in on his old Canterbury cohort Wayne Smith, who’d just taken the grips of an earthquake that had spectators fleeing from over as Crusaders coach in 1997, and suggested he come to the Westport grandstand.

Blenheim to see the youngster play. The former All Black first The welcome-to-rep-rugby whack in the face happened five watched Leon from the Lansdowne Park stands and just 30 seconds into the game against Buller, and while he was was impressed enough to select him for a Canterbury still seeing stars, Leon wondered why the Westport stand was development squad tour to Argentina. Soon, Leon MacDonald moving from side to side. was selected for the Crusaders and left the security of Blenheim His rep debut coincided with a 6.7-magnitude quake for a new life in Christchurch, boarding at first and joining the centred in Arthur’s Pass that had rugby patrons – and players Burnside club.

– sitting on the ground until the tremors died away. The game Professional rugby was in its infancy and many of the soon resumed. players had come through the old amateur days when privileges That June 1994 shocker was the beginning of a 15-year like a seat at the back of the team bus had to be earned. “You career that would see Leon play 33 games for Marlborough, spoke only when you were spoken to and in the first year you 122 for the Crusaders and 56 tests for the All Blacks. didn’t put a foot out of place. You did your time to earn your The only box not ticked was Rugby World Cup winner – way down the back of the bus.” but more of that later.

Leon had been chosen as the back-up No.10 to Andrew The Westport initiation into tough provincial rugby in the Mehrtens, the All Black first five, and didn’t get much game last of the amateur days wasn’t the last bang in the head for time for the Crusaders, although he got an opportunity at MacDonald. A history of concussions would eventually bring fullback – and took it. “I didn’t know what I was doing at the his All Black career to an end. start but I suppose my skill set from 10 helped.”

That star-studded career also took him to Japan, twice – The All Black selectors also had Leon in their sights and in ended by another concussion injury.

1998 they had him sent to the Chiefs – But now Leon has returned to where part of a divvying-up process of No.10s it all began; home to Marlborough and around the country. “I wasn’t keen to the head coaching job at his beloved to go, but I was told to.” It wasn’t the “He was tough on me, which Tasman Makos. happiest time for MacDonald – or the was good in hindsight.”

In fact, as far as Blenheim goes, Chiefs team, which was going through – LEON CREDITS MARLBOROUG H Leon hasn’t moved far at all. He and some upheaval – but it signalled the B OY S ’ C OA C H K I E R A N K E A N E wife Hayley and their four children live end of Leon’s tenure as a first five-eight in Riverlands, not far from the home and the beginning of his days as one where Leon was raised with his two of the best fullbacks New Zealand has elder sisters. produced.

His young days were centred Not that you’d get MacDonald around rugby in winter and cricket in summer. Chilly Saturdays suggesting such an accolade. “I’ve always been a harsh critic of were spent at the Redwood Club, now part of Harlequins, where myself and review my games honestly. I very rarely had a good dad Raymond was a stalwart. As a five-year-old Leon couldn’t game in my eyes.” wait for Saturday mornings. He was serious about his footy, He played NPC for Canterbury at fullback and started the setting the tone for a career that earned him a reputation as the 1999 season for the Crusaders there, capping off a stellar year ultimate team man; someone who was courageous and always by winning the Super championship against the Highlanders. up for the physical challenge.

The Crusaders made it three Super 12s in a row the next year, “I never thought about anything other than the enjoyment beating the Brumbies in Canberra 20-19.” and wanting to do well for the team and stuff. Anything more After landing at Christchurch airport on the flight home, than that probably didn’t come ’til I got to 1st XV rugby.”

Leon got the news he’d longed for – an All Blacks call-up.

That also coincided with his introduction to Kieran Keane, “Someone from the NZRU came on the plane. I was probably the Marlborough Boys’ College coach, a man who would play a still a bit hung-over after partying with the supporters and key part in Leon’s life over the next 20 years. teammates after the game. It was an amazing feeling to have “He was tough on me, which was good in hindsight.” If he your name read out as an AB for the first time.” dropped a ball at trainings, he’d get a blast from Keane, or a The initiation into the brotherhood was eased by having half-time rev-up if he’d made a poor decision in a 1st XV match.

Canterbury teammates like Justin Marshall and captain Todd “It taught me I had to concentrate every time, and that you get Blackadder around. MacDonald’s debut was against Scotland at Carisbrook. He felt the pressure of being an All Black, certainly what you deserve.”

Tough coaching paid off as the young Leon was selected for in his first few games. “You’ve got to try to show you belong and you deserve to wear the jersey. Christian Cullen was the the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ team. starting fullback and I was only getting little bits and pieces off He had his local heroes like Ian Stark and Frank Marfell. the bench. I really struggled to feel I was making my way in the “These sort of guys you grew up idolising. I was lucky enough black jersey.” to play alongside Starky, which was a highlight for me.”

When did he feel like he belonged? “I had a test against He also remembers the ‘big deal’ when Wayne Shelford South Africa in Auckland when I felt I was really part of the and Frano Botica came to town, playing for North Harbour team. I got Player of the Match and I felt I deserved to be there.” against Marlborough.

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“I always thought I was one knock away from retiring.”

– M A C D O N A L D ’ S H I S TO RY O F C O N C U S S I O N TO O K I T S TO L L

Taking over from the legendary Cullen was always going to be tough, but that ‘arrival’ moment heralded a fine All Blacks career that was paused in 2004 (after the disappointment of the semi-final loss to Australia in the World Cup of 2003) by a year spent in Japan. Leon just got better when he resumed with the Crusaders, then the All Blacks in 2005.

“I came back with renewed freshness. I was more relaxed and strung together better performances more regularly because I wasn’t over-thinking things, and I enjoyed my leadership role with the Crusaders and ABs.” In his 56 tests for the All Blacks (2000-2003 and 20052008), Rangi, as he was known to his teammates, scored 141 points (14 tries, 25 conversions, seven penalties). He also played three times for New Zealand Maori, scoring 10 points. Add to that 70 NPC games – 37 for Canterbury and 33 for Marlborough.

Leon says his All Black highlight was the three-test whitewash of the British and Irish Lions in 2005. But he says probably the most enjoyable two weeks of his rugby career was being part of the New Zealand Maori team, which also scored a historic win over the Lions in Hamilton.

The two World Cup failures of 2003 and 2007 “leave a bit of a stone in my shoe, I suppose. We trained really hard and tried everything we could”.

His career ended after a head knock and concussion in 2008 playing for the ABs against South Africa. It was one of several concussions for the fearless MacDonald, and when he suffered another serious blow playing in Japan the next year, he decided he could no longer risk his health.

“I always thought I was one knock away from retiring, and I said that to Hayley, that the next one, it would be enough.”

Leon says he hadn’t thought about immediately taking up coaching after his playing days, but he was shouldertapped by Tasman chairman Shane Drummond and put his application in for the Makos position, under his schooldays’ mentor Kieran Keane.

Coming home was an attraction for the whole family – Hayley is also from Marlborough. “I did feel like I owed Tasman rugby. I was very thankful for the way Marlborough gave me opportunities. Those three years playing for Marlborough as a young man were invaluable and Kieran’s input coaching me at 1st XV and senior club was a massive influence, so it all seemed to fit.”

Even with MacDonald’s two-year contract with the Crusaders as assistant coach, he will still be coaching Tasman next year.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP A training session with the Makos; with wife Hayley on the field following the NZ U20s beating England to win the World Cup in Italy in 2015; early days with Todd Blackadder; easy rider; team photo first year of rugby aged 8

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Songs for the Fallen

Arts Festival

A Parisian temptress, Norwegian extremist and Kiwi childhoods – the Nelson Arts Festival offers a wide sweep of entertainment for audiences. Caroline Crick previews the feast.

Femmes fatales and murder most foul 26

M

arie Duplessis was, even by today’s standards, a bit of a risk-taker. Immortalised in literature and opera, she supposedly changed her name and slept her way into notoriety in 19th century Paris. She died of tuberculosis when only 23 years old.

Alexandre Dumas the younger immortalised Duplessis in Lady of the Camellias; Verdi turned her life into the opera La Traviata, which roughly translates to ‘The Fallen Woman’; and she was also the inspiration for Nicole Kidman’s Satine in Moulin Rouge!

Her story is told on the opening night of the 2016 Nelson Arts Festival (October 12-24) in Songs for the Fallen, an ‘invitation to the decadent final party of the real-life woman who captivated a nation’.

Actress and singer Sheridan Harbridge brings Duplessis to life in ‘a beautiful frenzy’ that captures a woman who ‘defied everything in that era’.

“She was clever,” says Harbridge, “and in an era when women couldn’t own property, she defied extraordinary odds to live her life the way she wanted. At 16 she was the most famous woman in Paris.”

Harbridge feels Duplessis was as famous as Princess Diana in her time, and that Dumas’s portrayal does her a disservice. “That made me angry; I wanted to tell her story in her own words.”

The cabaret, which Harbridge describes as having a “wild party feel, baroque pop score, glitter, feathers and champagne”, won Best Actress and Best Musical at the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Harbridge won Best Cabaret Artiste at this year’s Green Room Awards (Melbourne), and the production was recently invited to both the Sydney Festival and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

Songs for the Fallen is just one of the true-life stories being told at the Nelson Arts Festival. This year’s event has the sharp edge of memoir and biography running through it. Lovers, adventurers, extremists and hedonists exploring life, music, literature, comedy, sex and death – they are all there.

Like Duplessis, aviatrix Jean Batten was a heroine of her time whose achievements have to some degree been overshadowed by the reputation she gained after her death, as a woman who charmed men out of their money to fund her exploits.

Alex Ellis (Miss Jean Batten, Sunday-Monday, October 1617, 7pm), brings this remarkable young Kiwi woman’s spirit to the stage.

“I wanted to retell Jean’s story to remind people of her great achievements,” says Alex. “She was a brave young woman risking her life, flying into history in a wood and fabric plane, breaking world records along the way. She was as important in her time as Sir Edmund Hillary is in ours.”

Jean’s ‘Everests’ were long, arduous flights – from England to Australia, Brazil and New Zealand – travelling alone in a Percival Gull Six monoplane.

Alex says she chose to do the show to recognise the influence Jean had on the aviation world, and her role as an inspiration to other women and to pilots. “I wanted to show her in a fresh light, and to give her a voice. She did what she had to do to achieve her dreams. The show is a celebration of her life.”

Scribe became the golden boy of New Zealand hip-hop in 2003 with his number one hit Stand Up. He’s often seen with sunglasses, hat, hoodie – a man keeping his identity under wraps. But alongside his brother Matthias and father John, he bares his soul in the show The White Guitar, a close-to-the-bone,

searingly honest rendition of the dark side of Kiwi culture, driven by the music that rang through all of their lives and led to redemption.

“It’s a musical journey through the darkness in life,” says Scribe. “I wanted it to be inspirational – you see where we came from and how we got through it. My brother was in jail and now he’s doing movies.”

Making The White Guitar has been a rugged journey for all three men. “Seeing myself played by my sons, I was a bad bugger, a bad father,” says John Luafutu.

Matthias adds: “We were a family of men who never spoke to each other. It’s been a healing journey, to speak and be spoken to with love.”

“It was a crazy emotional rollercoaster,” says Scribe, “but there comes a point where you can’t blame the past. Every family has its darkness. It gets swept under the carpet, but now it’s time to vacuum, to clean the house.”

“Every family has its darkness. It gets swept under the carpet, but now it’s time to vacuum.”

– S C R I B E , H I S B R O T H E R A N D FAT H E R C O M E C L E A N I N T H E W H I T E G U I TA R

The White Guitar photo Paul Lambert

Chris Parker would be Scribe’s antithesis – blond, fair-skinned, middle-class – but his Christchurch home also had carpets to sweep things under. No More Dancing in the Good Room is Chris’s funny, confronting but positive journey into discovering his true self, after years of denying that he was gay.

“It’s about paying respect to the younger person. The show includes an old home video of myself at 11, dancing.

For many years after that I was held back by my inhibitions and something died inside me – it was kind of a loss of authenticity.”

Chris says developing the show gave him confidence to be true to himself. “It’s been entirely overwhelming – a very powerful self-examination.”

The show incorporates old home movies, dance and characters – Chris plays both his mother and his father as well as himself. It won him a Best Newcomer Award at the 2015 NZ International Comedy Festival.

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Manifesto 2083 photo John Murray

“After a while you start to think, ‘I can see his point’. It’s very scary.”

– D I R E C TO R A N D E R S FA L S T I E - J E N S E N D E LV E S I N TO T H E M I N D O F A N O RW E G I A N M A S S - M U R D E R E R

Back on the dark side of life, an extremist has blood on his hands in the most benign of lands. From The Rebel Alliance, Manifesto 2083 is a spine-chilling insight into the mind of Anders Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist who, in 2011, killed 77 people and injured more than 200 in his attempt to draw publicity to his manifesto, 2083: A European Declaration of Independence.

Director Anders Falstie-Jensen was drawn to the show because of its difficult topic. “I was interested in the true crime aspect of the story. It’s like a low-fi Ted Talk, but the unnerving thing is that as the play progresses, both the actor and the audience begin to identify with Breivik’s extremist views – it all seems so reasonable but it’s a slippery slope.”

The play focuses on Breivik’s fear of a mass invasion of Islamists, seen through the lens of a right-wing Christian culture and the mind of a lone wolf. “It explores how a man like that will do what he did, and after a while you start to think, ‘I can see his point’. It’s very scary.”

Plays about real killers have a horrific attraction for audiences and writers alike. Local playwright Justin Eade first read about the Maungatapu murders 21 years ago in Confessions of Richard Burgess – The Maungatapu murders and other grisly crimes.

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In June 1866, Burgess, with fellow criminals Philip Levy, Thomas Kelly and Joseph Sullivan, lay in wait on the Maungatapu Track, between Nelson and the Wakamarina goldfields, where they robbed and killed five men. They were caught within a week of the crime, and all four convicted of murder.

Burgess wrote his confession while in jail. “He was a remarkably good writer,” says Justin. “The book is his spiritual journey and hopes for redemption, but he was very conflicted.”

The complexity of the case increased when Sullivan turned Queen’s evidence, leading to the discovery of the bodies.

His sentence was commuted to life and he was eventually pardoned and returned to England. Levy, Kelly and Burgess were hanged at Nelson Gaol on October 5, 1866.

Some 150 years later, audiences can enter Burgess’s world at a Theatre in Development reading of Justin’s play, Maungatapu. “We are in the process of developing it into a full production, which I hope will be ready for the Nelson Arts Festival next year.”

Meanwhile, for any writer of memoir, the thread of telling one’s own story is knotted with questions about truth, integrity, what should be told and what should not.

Witi Ihimaera, (Maori Boy; A Memoir of Childhood) says such writing “is always asking you to go deeper into yourself, your family, your community”.

“In fiction you can invent a character who is actually yourself – but isn’t – and leave out the bits you don’t want to disclose. In memoir, you stand in front of the character.”

Finding the level of disclosure you are comfortable with – and that you think your family can accept – is another matter.

“I’ve always hated secrets and yet there are things I’ve been secretive about, so dealing honestly, bringing them out into the open, means you don’t have to hide any more. And that has brought some catharsis.”

Miss Jean Batten

For Helene Wong, writer, reviewer, actor and director, writing her memoir, Being Chinese: A New Zealander’s Story, was a way of exploring the Chinese identity she’d resisted during her early life. A visit to her father’s home village in southern China turned out to be the first step in a journey to discover what her ancestry could mean for her.

“Writing a memoir was my way of finding the answers to the big questions in my life: Who am I? Why am I? And what’s being Chinese got to do with it?” says Wong.

Her life has roamed through a Kiwi childhood, working in the public service, and then an about-turn to follow her love of the arts and theatre. She is now a full-time writer, and a film critic for The Listener. A rich and varied life has made her wellqualified to write about the experience of being Chinese in an increasingly diverse New Zealand.

Jillian Sullivan’s book, A Way Home – Adventures in Building and Life, is a contemporary memoir about the author’s journey to a new life in Otago, where she bought a piece of land and built a straw-bale home.

“The challenge, and the pleasure, of writing from life is to evoke place for people as if they experience it for themselves, and to write of inner and external experiences in a way that others can see their own lives and choices reflected there – to make the story of my life a place of connection for the reader.”

So that’s a glimpse at this year’s Nelson Arts Festival – the good, the bad and the funny lives of others, a place we can go to imagine, understand, be inspired and, most of all, be entertained.

Nelson Arts Festival October 12-24, 2016 nelsonartsfestival.co.nz festivalenquiries@ncc.govt.nz

The Goblin Market photo LOORK

WILDTOMATO TICKET GIVEAWAY The 2016 festival hosts a World Premiere from top circustheatre company The Dust Palace. The Goblin Market is based on Christina Rossetti’s 19th century poetic masterpiece.

Eve Gordon has memories of her mother reading the poem — a tale of two sisters tempted by the goblin market that appears at night near their home — which led her to want to explore the work in a visual, physical format. “The story is still relevant today,” says Eve. “All those issues of feminism, consent, innocence and sexual connotations. We’re just telling the same story in a new language.” This visual and metaphysical feast of fruit, innocence and temptation will be off to Montréal after its Nelson performances. WildTomato has two pairs of tickets to give away for Sunday 23 October’s performance of The Goblin Market. To be in with a chance to win, go to wildtomato.co.nz/competitions

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Suter Gallery

Today meets yesterday in a fusion of heritage elements and sympathetic additions that allow The Suter to retain the feel of its proud history as it continues to be a Nelson landmark for the next 100 years. Di O’Donnell reports.

P HO T O G R A P H Y BY I S H NA JAC OB S

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Grand makeover for our

heart of art

On

a cold August dawn outside The Suter Gallery, the haunting sound of conches marks the transition of the building from a physical structure to a home. As local iwi bless the newly renovated gallery complex, described by Director Julie Catchpole as a ceremony to “clear the building so that the life-force can now be put back in with the return of the precious artworks”, the crowd wait in quiet excitement for their first glimpse inside this iconic Nelson treasure.

Until now, the gallery has been hidden tantalisingly behind large screens as local contractors, including JTB Architects, project manager Opus, Hans-Peter Froeling and Scott Construction, worked flat tack for more than a year transforming the 100-year-old gallery.

They managed, despite all the challenges, to produce what Catchpole says is “a testament to the local talent of the region”.

With donations from Nelson Pine Industries and other locals, the rejuvenated Suter stands as a representation of what a community can achieve over a 15-year campaign to bring about the renewal of this Nelson landmark.

Respectful and refreshed The Suter is historically significant as the oldest purposebuilt art gallery in New Zealand. Unfortunately, age does have certain drawbacks and for future exhibitions to be held, the old building needed to comply with modern requirements. As well as posing an earthquake risk, the gallery’s lack of spaces meant that many of the pieces had to remain hidden away.

Visitors to the renovated building, which is reinforced with invisible seismic bracing, will find the vision of the director and trustees realised in respectful and thoughtful architectural ideas to create a public forum for the enjoyment of art that truly reflects the cultural heritage of Nelson and New Zealand.

Local architect Marc Barron, who led the team from JTB Architects, says, “Art galleries as institutions can make a city what it is.” The architects were conscious of “preserving everything that is loved about the original building while injecting new life and vitality and bringing it up to modern standards”. Managing this within budget constraints and a tight site were major challenges for all involved. Sandwiched between Queens Gardens and Albion Square, which are both heritage open spaces, it was important not to diminish the leafy edges with an unsympathetic structure.

But significant expansion for more gallery space, educational areas, offices and collection storage sufficient for the next 50 years was also required. The architects, wanting to maintain the original forecourt as a gathering area and to preserve the theatre, decided to clear everything but the two significant buildings.

Marc says this led to the critical decision that the building should be entirely level with the original main gallery, which ended up providing step-free access to the theatre as well.

“The life-force can now be put back in with the return of the precious artworks.”

– D I R E C TO R J U L I E C ATC H P O L E

Linking everything is the Jane Evans Foyer that Marc calls “the hub and new heart of the building; a place for arrival and gathering”. While a fairly narrow space, its length gives it grandeur, with large glass windows at each end providing a physical and visual link from Bridge St to Queens Gardens.

The space has a garden-like feeling and the public can intuitively find their way around the café, shop and gallery spaces as everything is visible, even if just in glimpses.

A triangular roof in a long twisting form – which Marc says “became analogous to the eel pond just outside” – allows light in, and a large window provides a view of the original gable. Parts of the original gallery were hidden by additions from the 1980s, which have been removed to reveal the original beamed-ceiling and facade. Heritage colours, including ‘Nelson Red’, were reintroduced thanks to Ian Bowman, a heritage architect, who investigated the original colours.

The original matai flooring has been retained, the patina of age a deliberate visible reminder of all those footsteps and the spirit of the place over 117 years. New materials were chosen to fit in with the reddish hues of the original 31

ABOVE Large glass windows provide physical and visual links inside and out BELOW Internal, airy exhibition spaces

The architects were conscious of ‘preserving everything that is loved about the original building while injecting new life and vitality’.

– A R C H I T E C T M A R C BA R R O N

facade and the nearby Queens Gardens. Zinc cladding offers a partially reflective effect yet camouflaging influence when combined with the large tree shadows. Basalt has been used to emphasise the important parts of the building. Glass installed alongside the edge of Queens Gardens helps the structure further melt into the greenery.

The importance of protecting the artworks from light was key to the refurbishment, yet light-soaked spaces cleverly link the internal, airy spaces where exhibitions will be held.

Patrons of the café will be pleased to know it has retained its waterside location amongst the trees and now gives the sensation of floating out over the water.

Marc Barron says the renovations feel right, despite some initial controversy, inevitable when any treasured public building faces change – and this question is something that has preoccupied his mind daily for the past five years. He says the opening will unveil surprises as the finishing touches incorporating important artistic endeavours and exciting new art works (still under wraps) are revealed.

Lead contractor was Scott Construction Ltd. Managing director Justin Candish says mixing the old and the new created some unique challenges, with much thought going into the logistics of working on a constrained, triangularshaped site adjacent to an eel pond and surrounded by heritage trees.

Maintaining the integrity of the heritage features in the historic gallery was paramount. Limited access meant heavy 32

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roof trusses. The solution worked incredibly well, enabling the team to work unhindered on the foundations and strengthening, and use the floor as a platform to restore the upper walls and roof trusses.”

The Suter collection has both artistic and historic significance and the ability to display more of these gems will be a huge asset for the community. Bishop Suter was a patron to John Gully and the renovation was badly needed to protect these works, which according to Julie Catchpole, “have suffered too much light damage already”.

The collection has grown through community generosity and, in particular, contributions from Sally Hunt and other Suter patrons.

The Suter’s activities will continue as before, with plenty of new ones too. Education will be an even more significant focus as The Suter brings art into the worlds of school children and tertiary students alike. The shop located in the foyer area will still provide crafted items by top local artisans. Workspaces have been provided for exhibition development, while specially designed storage spaces will ensure any work not on display can be kept in the best possible conditions.

The theatre will continue to be a facility for cinema screenings and performance and a venue for talks. The walkway between The Suter building and Queens Gardens is a zigzagging boardwalk that provides settings for sculpture to be displayed. Enhanced landscaping with native plants will encourage birdlife.

A proud history

Sensitive exterior landscaping enhances the “garden” aspect of the complex

lifts were carefully planned. “We made special arrangements to use the carpark on the western side of the building for long reach cranes to lift heavy objects into the building. We also used a ramp to get vehicles and handling equipment in and out where the new entrance is.”

Scott Construction’s site manager Nathan Edwards came up with some innovative solutions to various challenges, adds Justin.

“When it came to strengthening the historic gallery, we originally planned to cut out a portion of the timber floor and get underneath to do the foundations’ work, but this wasn’t possible. Nathan suggested bracing the entire floor with steel and lifting it to the eaves with chain hoists connected to the 34

The seeds for Nelson’s first art gallery were sown in 1889 when Bishop Suter established the Bishopdale Sketching Club (now the Nelson Suter Art Society). Bishop Suter’s friendship with John Gully, one of New Zealand’s leading 19th century landscape artists, brought about the gifting of a collection of watercolours that are also important images of earlier times. The gift enabled a gallery to be born. This was Bishop Suter’s greatest wish, one that his wife Amelia ensured with the formation of a board of trustees to bring about his vision.

The modern Suter is a wide community of volunteers, friends, trustees and employees. Led by Julie Catchpole, the current Suter team are all deeply involved in New Zealand art. They hope to bring and share that love with others.

Julie came here in 2007, initially filling in as Acting Director. She arrived as the previous redevelopment ground to a halt and became involved in a major change to the nature of the organisation, which had been established by its own Private Act of Parliament in 1896. This was repealed to allow The Suter to become a Council-Controlled Organisation, and the renovations were planned to maximise The Suter’s heritage status. Today there is also a liaison with six local iwi recognised in a memorandum of understanding.

Julie is thrilled to see this come to fruition, and has enjoyed seeing the way the community owns The Suter; how it is so directly in people’s hearts. She feels a huge responsibility, “and it is fantastic to get positive feedback; a reward in itself.” Other permanent staff include curator Sarah McClintock, who came from the Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui, designer Sarah Jones, finance administrator Glenys MacLellan, front-of-house part-time staff, and Esther McNaughton, who is the most experienced art gallery educator in New Zealand.

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Use of wood throughout adds warmth while also being practical and visual

The Bishop Suter Trust, chaired by Craig Potton, is made up of local art patrons who work to maintain the credibility, success and growth of an institution that has been in Nelson since 1899 – and to stay true to the idea conceived by Bishop Suter. The Trust is involved in the finances of the gallery and in ensuring that the ongoing legacy funds continue. A major part of the operational funding is provided by the Nelson City Council with a contribution from Tasman District Council, while the Ministry of Education provides funds for the school education programme.

Friends of The Suter are a loyal audience, generous donors and vociferous advocates for the gallery, as is the Nelson Suter Art Society. Volunteers contribute a wealth of valuable skills.

The blessing by local iwi in August was a moving demonstration of the passion held by the community for the gallery. Among the dignitaries present were MP Nick Smith, who spoke of the integral role The Suter plays in the community;

JANE EVANS REMEMBERED Much-loved and respected local artist Jane Evans (1946-2012) was an honorary life member of The Nelson Suter Art Society and a trustee of The Bishop Suter Trust. Evans was a passionate advocate for the arts in Nelson and worked hard to support The Suter 2000 project until ill-health took its toll.

Her legacy will continue on as her friend Sally Hunt has dedicated the new foyer to Evans. Julie Catchpole says “Jane would be proud of the completed project and will be somewhere looking on in approval.”

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Mayor Rachel Reese, who praised the community support that allowed substantial funding from the Council; and Bishop Richard Ellena, attending in his official garments as a tribute to Bishop Suter.

Craig Potton spoke of the harmony between the outdoor environment and the gallery, allowing the visible connection of art with nature, while Julie Catchpole reiterated her overwhelming gratitude to all those people in the community who have ensured the realisation of a long project.

Opening a fun celebration The journey to renovate The Suter has certainly been long and hard, but the destination is firmly in sight. The grand opening on Sunday 2 October will be a day to remember for locals and visitors alike. Competitions are being held for the best artinspired dress-ups, and there will be a gala atmosphere with food, music and art activities in the gardens. The events will be free, so the whole family can come out and have a day of fun and community spirit. After all, a community has allowed the magic to happen.

As for the gallery, new exhibitions will run throughout summer, refreshed with additions in February. The overall theme is ‘Nelson as a haven for art’, celebrating the Top of the South and the art that is generated here. The Suter’s permanent collection, emphasising the influence of British artworks, will be on display, including recent acquisitions not yet seen.

The Art Society gallery space will also continue, with an emphasis on history and the activities of the society, illustrated by members’ work from the collection. Structured public programmes and activities will happen once everyone is settled in, and after-school offerings of hands-on activities are expanding.

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Tasman United

Nelson football is poised to chase national glory again, reports Geoff Moffett, and the new coach is fired up with fresh ideas.

Richard Anderson

United we stand again P HO T O G R A P H Y BY I S H NA JAC OB S

At

30, Richard Anderson is a new-age coach for a new-age team that aims to revive the glory years of Nelson football when it returns to the national stage on Sunday 23 October.

Nelson United last played in the top flight 22 years ago. The first game for the newly formed Tasman United is in Christchurch against Canterbury United. Three weeks later there will surely be misty eyes among tried-and-true football followers at Trafalgar Park when the team runs out for its first home game, against Hawkes Bay United. Those who know the history of Nelson soccer will recall the great days; a Chatham Cup victory in 1977 and a parade of players who turned out for the All Whites.

The man charged with guiding Tasman United in the New Zealand national league is the antithesis of the grizzled veteran who takes up coaching after hanging up the boots. Fresh-faced Yorkshireman Richard Anderson is not only younger than some of his players, but hasn’t played football at the highest level, not even schoolboy representative level.

He does, however, possess one of the highest qualifications in world coaching and an armoury of skills he’ll use to mould a team

of disparate players from far-flung places. He’s literally the new face of professional football, albeit in charge of an amateur team in an amateur competition.

Anderson says that from the age of 16 he’d decided he preferred the coaching and planning side of football to playing.

His study path took him to renowned Loughborough University in Britain and to progressive steps towards acquiring the ticket that all top club managers must have, a UEFA A licence – and that at the age of 25. Only the UEFA Pro licence remains for him to do.

But his immediate challenge is Tasman United. A year or two ago, the prospect of a united Nelson team back on the national stage was no more than wishful thinking. Passionate support from clubs across Nelson and Marlborough and a persuasive 156-page prospectus got Tasman United across the line – and a licence from New Zealand Football.

Nelson has the football pedigree, for sure. United was in and out of the national league with promotion and relegation (1976-80, 1983-88) and back in 1991 before the demise of the competition in 1992. Nelson Suburbs played in the short-lived national summer league from 1996-99.

Nelson’s rich soccer history had its finest moment in 1977 when Nelson United – a team largely recruited and then coached

by Kevin Fallon – completed a fairytale story, winning the Chatham Cup; beating the might of Mt Wellington in Auckland 1-0 and becoming the first provincial team to win the New Zealand equivalent of the English FA Cup. The next year the team lost in the final at home to Manurewa.

United chairman Mark Sheehan, who played for 10 clubs in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, says he’s never known a football community like Nelson’s. “The first day I arrived I really couldn’t get over it – the spirit and love of the game here. So I just think it needs a spark to get strong support.

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Photo supplied by Tasman United

“We are designing a team pattern that won’t be the same as others.”

– C OA C H R I C H A R D A N D E R S O N A I M S TO S P R I N G S U R P R I S E S

“I don’t see why we can’t get thousands turning up to Trafalgar Park to watch exciting top-level football on a sunny Nelson afternoon.”

Richard Anderson’s aware of Nelson footballing traditions and a reputation for an attacking style of play. It’s what he wants to see from his squad and he’s encouraged by what he’s seen so far.

A-League legend Paul Ifill, the all-time leading scorer for Wellington Phoenix with 33 goals, is Tasman United’s marquee signing. “Paul’s a fantastic acquisition,” says Nelson Bays Football general manager Clive Beaumont. “He’ll not only bring in the fans but he’ll inspire the players around him, especially our young upand-coming stars.”

So how does a coach, quite a bit younger than some of his squad and without any of the playing pedigree of someone like Paul Ifill, manage such a professional – a man who has played in an FA Cup final against Manchester United? It’s no issue for Anderson, who has already spent a bit of time with the ace goal-scorer.

“In terms of managing him, it’s the same as managing a business or being a head teacher. It’s being able understand and work with a person, not dictate to them but try and find a way to motivate them; to fuel that fire. Every individual is different and you have to understand that.”

Anderson was back at Loughborough helping to develop a sport psychology coaching programme, known as the 5Cs, for the English FA when he got a call from university colleague and friend Drew Sherman, who had landed a job as coach of the Cook Islands football team. He quickly said ‘yes’ to a job assisting Sherman.

40

“I had to google to find out where the Cook Islands were, but it was a fantastic experience.”

His time there was a big plus when it came to getting the Tasman United job. “I never thought there’d be an opportunity to go to the Cook Islands, and I never thought an opportunity to become a head coach in NZ would arise. I’m coming to the opinion that these things can’t be planned.”

Anderson says he’s lucky to have the skills and local knowledge of Davor Tavich as his assistant, and highly qualified goalkeeping coach Tom Fawdry. Anderson has quickly worked to identify players who’d suit the formation and style he has in mind.

The local talent signed includes four under-20 players – Labu Pan, Matt Tod-Smith, Bertie Fish and David Maisey – as well as Sam Ayers, Ryan Stewart and Daniel Allan.

Goalkeeper Coey Turipa, 24, who played for Canterbury United last season, was attracted to playing for his home team.

Coey’s father John Brydon played for Nelson United in the national league.

Overseas players have been attracted to the new national league as well. Anderson has signed up Swedish striker Ermal Hajdari, who has a good goal-scoring record with teams in Europe.

Two Australia-based players – Nelson-raised and former agegroup representative Jordan Swanney, now playing in Victoria, plus Scott Gannon, from the Adelaide state league – and a Cook Islands international, Tyrell Barringer-Tahiri, are also aboard for the season “We are designing a team pattern that won’t be the same as others”, says Anderson. “Hopefully we’ll give a few surprises.”

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41

Boating

Awash with water lovers Nelson and Marlborough brace for the annual traffic jam of big boats and little, fast and slow, paddled, sailed, rowed or motored – all seeking a slice of paradise. Sophie Preece talks to those charged with keeping us safe on the sea.

A

flock of white-winged dinghies glides across the water with deceptive pace, duos of eight-year-old sailors at the helm. A little fizzboat and a large launch cross through them, heading out into the Marlborough Sounds, while a small yacht comes the other way, its sails furled as it motors towards the visitors’ wharf.

Two kayaks cut along the edge of the bay, a yellow watertaxi heads out on a run, a mail-boat unties from the dock, and a paddle-boarder sets off from the shore. Add a handful of kids paddling in the water, a tender being rowed to a yacht on a mooring, the float-plane taking off with a roar, a fishing boat coming in with a catch, and a Cook Strait ferry pulling out of its berth – welcome to a typical Saturday morning in Picton.

Occasionally the ferry horn blasts as a brazen or ignorant skipper skims across its path, causing boaties across the bay to hold their breath.

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“It does keep us busy, that’s for sure,” says Deputy Harbourmaster Luke Grogan, on the cusp of another busy summer. He says Marlborough has a range of unique nautical challenges, including the number of recreational users – perhaps fishing, sailing, paddle-boarding, dolphin-watching, jet-skiing, rowing, kayaking, swimming or water-skiing. Then there’s the ferry route, with the second-greatest number of ship movements in the country. Add to those the daily flow of traffic to lodges, baches, beaches and residences – Marlborough has the largest boat-access only population in the country – and there is plenty going on.

The challenges are amplified when you package the myriad of users in the complicated geography of the Sounds, says Luke.

The complex arrangement of bays and waterways can make it difficult for boaties to stick to some of New Zealand’s maritime rules, including the prohibition of travelling faster than five knots within 200m of the shore. “That makes a lot of sense on a lake or open harbour, where it’s very easy to be aware, but it’s a lot more challenging for boaties in the Sounds to comply with that rule.”

Despite all of the above, the Marlborough Sounds are a safe place if you follow best-practice, Luke says. This year his team have set up measures to ensure more people know how to keep safe in the Sounds. Among them are 10 free skipper training workshops, including four over the summer, in conjunction with

Coastguard Marlborough and Marlborough Marine Radio.

This month they will also run an open day showcasing all the initiatives in the marine space, including St John, which runs the country’s only on-water ambulance from a Marlborough Coastguard boat. The campaign is being partly funded by Maritime New Zealand, which has diverted money from its annual TV advertising campaign. Instead of that national focus, it has branched out to the regions for more site-specific awareness. Luke reckons that ‘direct engagement’ will improve comprehension and behaviour in the Sounds. “The shared-space demands are increasing, with so many more users and different modes of transport. Now the sensible thing to do is to develop additional knowledge.”

When that doesn’t work, they have a stick to wield. This summer’s campaign will include zero-tolerance days, in coordination with Maritime NZ, where any speed or code infringers will be pinged.

The Harbourmaster’s office runs water patrols every summer, with two boats out in the Sounds policing regulations, says Luke. “We do pull over boats that are breaking the rules, and focus heavily on speed and lifejackets on board.” This summer they’ll keep a tight rein on lifejacket compliance by paddle-boarders, and the speed of jet-skis, which Luke says are frequently used by people who know little about boats.

Under local bylaws, harbourmasters can impose a $200 fine per infringement. That means if there are four people on a boat with no lifejackets, all four can be fined. Harbour masters also have powers under the Maritime Transport Act for ‘the more serious end of the spectrum’. For instance, someone operating a vessel in an unsafe way, or doing anything that puts other people in danger, can face a maximum penalty of $10,000 or six months in prison.

Luke says the idea of boaties requiring a licence comes up frequently, and while he likes the concept, other countries that introduced licensing have not seen a corresponding increase in safety. The money is perhaps better spent on raising awareness.

“With good education, good campaigns and the process that Maritime NZ is going through at the moment to make funding available to the regions for face-to-face contact, I am pretty confident we will yield some good results.”

’We do pull over boats that are breaking the rules, and focus heavily on speed and lifejackets on board.’

– LU K E G R O G A N , P I C TO N D E P U T Y HARBOURMASTER

Nelson waterways thronged More than 400 arms slice through silken blue waters, propelling 200 multi-coloured heads across the harbour. Safety crew from the kayak club and surf lifesaving club keep pace with the swimmers, while a couple of yachts potter back to the marina, a waka ama charges across the water and a 200m container ship carries its pilot out of port.

This is how Port Nelson Harbourmaster Dave Duncan describes a typical Thursday evening in Nelson Haven, with a multitude of water-users finding their place in this tight and changeable channel. “It’s a limited area but we get four or five different disciplines and hundreds of people all out at once.”

On a Wednesday night the scenario changes, with 30 or 40 yachts out racing, while 10 to 15 rowers navigate their skiffs across the water, and young sailors set out in their smaller boats.

Meanwhile, at nearby Tahunanui Beach, the kite-surfers, paddleboarders and swimmers each find their slice of the sea.

“It’s a very small water space that caters for a lot of different occupations,” Dave says. “And we have the largest tidal range in New Zealand at this port, which is another challenge. At high water the whole area is available to be used, but at low water you can only use 30 percent of that.”

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‘Statistically, 15 percent of people who boat in New Zealand have done a ­­boat-safety course – that means 85 percent haven’t.’

– DAV E D U N C A N , NELSON HARBOURMASTER

Come summer weekends, a ‘huge influx’ of boaties from Christchurch and the West Coast join the throng, along with local fishing boats, weekend cruisers, surf-skis, paddle-boards, kayaks and sailing dinghies. Boat ramps are overwhelmed. “We can have hundreds of boats lined up to launch,” says Dave, who is working with Nelson City Council to make sure last year’s congestion problems are alleviated this summer.

In response to the challenges of a little area with many users, the port works closely with the various clubs, including sailing, rowing and Sea Cadets, and stays up-to-date with events or problems that may affect other users. They have also worked with shipping companies to ensure they know when the highuse periods are. When Dave started his role seven years ago, he would get a call at 6pm every Wednesday as the yacht race began, with a commercial ship trying to come in as the yachts went out. “We contacted the company and asked whether the ship could come in half an hour later.”

Nelson City Council bylaws now stipulate ‘preferential zoning’ so that certain areas are allocated for certain users, but are not exclusive, says Dave. “So if someone is doing their rowing in skiffs and someone else wants to water-ski, but the area is preferential for rowing, the water-skier is asked to move on.”

Exclusive zones are in place for big ships, which present the greatest danger. With the bridge at the back and a wall of containers in front, the captain can lose visibility for 300-400m, meaning these vessels are not to be messed with, says Dave.

Adding tension to the tight space is the fact that many of the people on the water have no qualifications, little experience and scant knowledge, he says. “Statistically, 15 percent of people who boat in New Zealand have done a boat-safety course – that means 85 percent haven’t.”

With 40 years of sailing under his belt, and qualifications as a Royal Yachting Association instructor and examiner, a Coastguard boating instructor and examiner, a commercial launch master and ‘master foreign-going’, as well as a period as a Cook Strait ferry captain, Dave knows a fair bit about the good 44

and bad of boating.

Known to many as Disaster Dave, thanks to a column he used to write for the Nelson Mail (calling on a ‘grain of truth’ for each scary scenario), he is well aware of the many things that can go wrong if people are not sensible on the water.

“I feel really passionately about how silly it is for people at sea to make dumb mistakes. The reason I feel so passionate about it is that I have made many of those dumb mistakes myself.” That’s why he knows there is “no better bailer than a frightened man with a bucket”.

This summer, with $30,000 funding from Maritime NZ, the Nelson and Tasman councils will work to promote boat safety and increase co-operation between various water-users, so that fewer of those mistakes occur.

It brings results. Dave says that in the past six years a campaign on lifejackets has propelled a major shift in boating culture, so that most boaties now comply with local bylaws requiring vessels under six metres to carry a jacket. More people realise that if the skipper asks passengers to put on a lifejacket, they are obliged to do so, and if the weather is rough or the boat is in any kind of danger, jackets must be worn.

Attitudes are changing, he says, but other key messages still need reinforcing. For instance, a lifejacket stowed downstairs or under the bow will be of no use if you have an emergency.

Self-inflating lifejackets should also have their gas canisters checked regularly.

As in Picton, Nelson will run periods of zero tolerance this summer. “That will mean if you are speeding, you are infringed.

STAY SAFE ON THE WATER: WEAR A LIFEJACKET BE A RESPONSIBLE SKIPPER DON’T OVER-CONSUME ALCOHOL CARRY TWO FORMS OF COMMUNICATION ON YOUR BOAT CHECK THE WEATHER

If you don’t have the lifejackets on board, you are infringed.

If you are out there in any sort of danger and people are not wearing their lifejackets, you will be infringed.”

When Dave is not urging clubs to check their safety systems, or piloting a ship in or out of our port, he might be found on his own 26ft (7.9m) yacht Wee Blossom, racing on a Wednesday night, or cruising in the Abel Tasman. “This is one of the best places I have lived in the world,” he says. “You have the National Park on your doorstep, you have sheltered bays and beaches two or three hours away – it’s adventurous sailing but safe waterways, and you’re never far from shelter.”

Key dates October 15 The Harbourmaster’s Regatta, Tahunanui beach, from 9am Harbourmaster staff will race other clubs in various disciplines, aiming to raise awareness of boat safety and the various water-sport clubs in Nelson. Sea Cadets, the rowing club and paddle-boarding club are all getting on board with the event.

October 22: Maritime Open Day, Picton Marina, from 11am A showcase of initiatives in the Marlborough Sounds.

Participants include Coastguard, Police, St John, Niwa, Marlborough District Council, Department of Conservation and Marlborough Marine Radio.

November 6: Skipper Training Workshop, Picton Marina, from 9am A free workshop for skippers, run in conjunction with Coastguard Marlborough and Marlborough Marine Radio. To register contact the harbourmaster office on 03 520 7400.

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ARTISTIC CREATIONS

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MY HOME

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1.

2.

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The home was designed and built to sit lightly on the land, and offer great views Cedar-clad walls and no boundary fences in the Appleby Hills subdivision A native planting plan, using tussock-style vegetation, ensures views remain unblocked

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MY HOME

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Flowing into serenity B Y S A D I E B E C K M A N P H O T O G R A P H Y A N A G A L L O WAY

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ringing the outside in, through clever aesthetic design, has created a natural harmony in the home of Kevin and Helen Riddle. Their Redwood Valley house uses sandy tones in the polished concrete floors and subtle aqua highlights in the interior to reflect the natural environment that surrounds it, resulting in a serene space that manages to be both visually stunning and unassuming all at once.

Large, north-facing ranchsliders allow in the plentiful Nelson sunshine, heating the foundation slab passively for slow-release warmth. Cedar-clad walls and driftwood-inspired interior joinery add a calm and neutral ambience throughout the home. It can also be opened right up to allow indoors and outdoors to blend seamlessly in the warmer months.

Situated on a 3000m2 section in the Appleby Hills subdivision, the house is part of a community without fences, says Kevin. “With 75 percent of the land here dedicated as reserve, and the sections all 2000 square metres or over, we can never be built out,” he explains. “There are no boundary fences; it’s a community of respect.”

Kevin and Helen decided on a new house two years ago, after arriving back in the area from Christchurch. “We looked to buy first, but then decided to build. We didn’t want to live in suburbia,” says Kevin.

The couple approached local architect Keith Hay and came up with a design that combined modern, clean lines and peaceful living spaces with a bach feel, as well as top-quality features such as underfloor heating, Infinity gas hot water and Metrix tapware from Plumbing World.

The design even included a native planting plan, using tussock-style vegetation to ensure the spectacular rural views are never blocked, and the property also has its own water and

sewerage systems, meaning it is self-sufficient in many respects.

Outdoor areas are sited for the region’s unique weather, with decking around the front of the house to capitalise on the sunshine, and a sheltered courtyard for when Nelson’s afternoon breezes visit.

Rustic touches in the courtyard keep the bach feel alive, and an adjoining boatshed, matched in the same cedar cladding, not only shelters the courtyard but allows Kevin to store and maintain the couple’s boat, which they launch at Mapua.

Looking at this aspect of the house reveals one unusual feature – there are no wall windows at all in the rear. Kevin says they chose to use skylights instead, to allow more flexibility for interior layout, as well as – interestingly – more light.

“Skylights actually let in around 20 percent more light than wall windows. It gives more wall space inside, and it’s really nice to be in the bathroom, for example, with the sun beaming down from above. It also adds more privacy to the house.”

The 296m2 home was constructed by Jason Gardiner Builders, a company that Kevin says he would recommend very highly, along with Sharland Engineering, Nulook Windows and Doors and The Sellers Room as other main suppliers.

Kevin and Helen are rapt with the way the build turned out.

“The finished product was even better than we expected,” says Kevin. “In fact, it featured as one of the Master Builders Association’s Homes of the Year for 2016. It wasn’t the category winner overall, but it did win a gold award, which is fantastic.”

The house wowed judges with its quality, simplicity, privacy and perfectly designed indoor-outdoor flow, as well as the stylish and elemental decor choices, creating a home that truly reflects the peace and beauty of its natural surroundings, which Kevin and Helen hope to enjoy for years to come.

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MY HOME

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Light-filled and airy views from the kitchen and dining area Driftwood-inspired interior joinery and polished concrete floors Pops of colour from subtle aqua highlights in the living areas Sandy hues help create a serene ambience

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MY HOME

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More uninterrupted views in the bedrooms Combining driftwood cabinetry, beachy colours and sandy concrete floors in the office area Aqua accents liven the bathroom Calming, neutral ambience in the master bedroom

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MY GARDEN

Going native helps retain NZ’s uniqueness

Frond of a silver fern

BY HELEN ROSE

G

one are the days when having a “native” garden mean a tangle of grasses, ferns and flaxes, a few token hebes or a kowhai tree planted among all the exotic species.

Contemporary gardens often include a wide range of native trees, shrubs, ferns and grasses; sometimes mixed in with exotics, but with more thought to design and the role the plants play in the various garden environments.

Using native plants can enhance your garden while at the same time helping to preserve some of our country’s unique plant life. Native plants also provide homes for native birds and insects, they’re often low maintenance, and they’re more adaptable to New Zealand conditions.

According to the Department of Conservation, more than 80 percent of New Zealand’s native plant species aren’t found anywhere else in the world; also a good reason to include them in your garden.

Obviously there’s not enough room here to expand on the hugely diverse native flora that New Zealand has, so I’ll just mention a few that have stood the test of time.

One of the most popular native trees remains Cordyline australis, otherwise known as the cabbage tree or ti kouka.

Known to thrive in even the harshest of environments, the cabbage tree makes a statement in any garden.

More showy with stunning red flowers in summer is Metrosideros excelsa or pohutukawa which is also labelled New Zealand’s Christmas tree. An excellent nectar source for birds and insects, pohutukawa species include several small, shrubby varieties more suited to gardens than coastal clifftops.

Of the native shrub species – most of which are evergreens – hebes such as Hebe salicifolia (koromiko), are firm favourites, coming in a variety of sizes, shapes and colours for both foliage and flowers.

They’re great for year-round colour, 62

whether from foliage or flowers.

Another firm favourite is Pachystegia insignis aka the Marlborough daisy, which pops with lovely white daisy-like flowers during the warm summer months and with beautifully textural seed heads in autumn.

Don’t forget to check out the New Zealand scented broom Carmichaelia odorata or maukoro with its heavenly scented and long-lasting flowers, and the pepperwood (Pseudowintera colorata ‘Red Leopard’) which is excellent for its evergreen foliage.

New Zealand’s iconic silver fern, Cyathea dealbata or ponga, with striking silvery-white frond undersides is a must in any native garden. Native ground fern species are also plentiful and will add lovely soft foliage under trees or used as ground cover.

Then there are the native grasses and flaxes that grow literally anywhere and look great and of course many favourite flowering species such as Libertia peregrinans (New Zealand iris), fuchsia varieties like Fuchsia excorticata (kotukutuku) and one of my faves Myosotidium Hortensia or the Chatham Island forget-me-not.

Pohutukawa

ISEL IN BLOOM

Isel in Bloom is a botanical and heritage event with the Gardens of Isel Park in full bloom. Being held on Sunday 16 October at Isel House and Park from 10am to 3pm, the event will include garden tours, a gardening discussion panel and a botanical themed market.

The heritage side will be the opening of Isel Historic House for its summer season with a new room display of original Marsden Family china, a collaboration between Nelson City Council and Nelson Provincial Museum.

New Zealand iris

Among the Roses A DAY OUT TO SIP, SNACK, RELAX AND ENJOY THE ROSES, MARKETS AND MUSIC

Music includes Nelson Youth Jazz Collective • Avid Opera La Vida (String Quartet) • Nelson Jazz band.

Devonshire tea and sweet treats by Melrose Café • Mahana Wines • Great food Cottage market • Free guided tours of Broadgreen Historic House Rose garden tour • Faerie Lou and face painting for the children Sunday 13 November, 12 – 5pm Samuels Rose Garden, Broadgreen Historic House 276 Nayland Road, Stoke

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MY KITCHEN

In spring our lisbon lemon tree is dripping with fruit. Unlike sweet meyer lemons, the juice of a lisbon lemon has a real sour lemon flavour so it matches perfectly with the sweetness of honey. Meyer lemons will also work for this recipe, however, I would suggest reducing the honey in the topping by 1 tablespoon. And choose a mild honey such as clover.

Lemon & honey bars B Y N I C O L A G A L L O WAY

Base 75g soft butter or coconut oil 2 tablespoons honey 1 cup desiccated coconut 1 cup unbleached white flour (for gluten-free use almond meal) Zest of 1 lemon Pinch of sea salt 2 free-range egg whites, lightly beaten Topping 3 free-range eggs + 2 egg yolks 1/2 cup lemon juice 1/3 cup unbleached flour (for gluten-free use white rice flour) 5 tablespoons honey Method: Preheat the oven to 175C. Line a 20 x 22cm slice tin with baking paper.

In a small saucepan gently melt the butter and honey together, being careful not to boil.

Combine the coconut, flour, zest and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in the honey mixture and egg whites, and use a spatula to mix together into a firm dough. Press evenly into the prepared tin. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden around the edges.

Meanwhile, combine the topping ingredients, whisking together thoroughly for 2 minutes. Pour over the hot base and cook for a further 10-12 minutes until just set. Cool in the tin and then cut into bars. Store in an airtight container in a cool pantry and consume within 4 days.

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Find more of Nicola’s award-winning recipes at homegrown-kitchen.co.nz

DINE OUT

I

am not sure I can trust the computer’s Italian-to-English translation app. According to it ‘Patacca’, the name of Nelson’s new Italian pizzeria, means something worthless, fake or a stain. Another even more unusual translation says it describes a woman’s unmentionables.

Of course, Patacca could be a family name, but otherwise it seems an odd pick for a restaurant. Particularly strange in this case since Patacca is none of the above. It is the latest acquisition for the owners of Babagato, the other Italian restaurant two doors down in Morrison Square. Patacca produces Sicilian-style pizzas, which are a world away from the American pizza monstrosities that most of us are familiar with.

As anyone who has been to Italy will tell you, the Italian pizza is a thincrust affair, with perhaps two or three ingredients. The Italians prefer to taste the individual ingredients in a pizza rather than having a whole roast meal dumped on top. I’d have to say that neither Mrs F nor myself are enormous fans of pizza, chiefly because of past experiences with the cheese-encrusted bloaters we have received from the brand pizza chains.

I like the look of Patacca. It is all open and modern with an upstairs dining area. We were originally seated upstairs but moved downstairs as it was infested with children – well actually, only two children, but they looked noisy.

We started with Arancini ($8), those delicious stuffed rice balls. They didn’t disappoint. Just the right texture, and with three varieties offered: vegetable, ham-and-cheese and a ragu. I ordered Crocche ($8), or potato croquettes to the uninitiated. Perfectly good but not spectacular. An honest, simple starter.

The Italians often refer to the bill as a little sadness, which is rather quaint.

Unfortunately, the little sadness was the next course, a Caesar Salad ($10). Almost

Pizza the Sicilian way

BY MAXWELL FLINT

everything about this dish was wrong. The lettuce was wrong, the dressing not strong enough, the eggs overcooked, not enough anchovies and it could have done with parmesan cheese. Otherwise it was fine.

On to the pizzas. For me it was a Bagherese ($22), with three types of cheese, red onions and breadcrumbs.

I can see what they are trying to do here, providing a platform to highlight the fresh cheeses. While it was pleasant enough, the cheeses didn’t have enough flavour to stand out and it tended to be quite bland. The other pizza was a Parmigiana ($25), consisting of just parma ham and parmesan cheese on a tomato base. This was more like it. Just a simple combination that worked. I liked it.

For dessert we had a Beignet and Tiramisu. Both needed work.

In reading this review you may be tempted to give this restaurant a miss,

Cheese? Please!

which would be a mistake. It’s a new restaurant that has a few teething issues but I like the concept, and once they iron out some problems and find good, simple New Zealand combinations for their wonderful pizza bases, it will be a hit.

The types of Sicilian pizzas being produced here probably require a bit of education for Nelsonians. Patacca do produce Kiwi-style pizzas if you can’t bring yourself to try an original Italian pizza.

Patacca Cost: $134 for two (with wine) Value for money: Food: Atmosphere: Service:

MEDITERRANEAN FOODS

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Cheese? Yes please indeed!

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65

WINE

Collecting the gongs B Y P H I L L I P R E AY

W

ine awards and critiques play an important role in the industry. They are used widely for marketing – we all take note of those Air New Zealand Wine Award and Cuisine rating stickers on bottles at the supermarket. While these and other stickers may not be the definitive gospel as to quality, they give a reasonable indication as to the drinkability of the wine.

The Bragato wine awards celebrate not only the winemaker (viniculturist) but also, probably more importantly, the grower (viticulturist). These awards are named after Romeo Bragato, a viticulturist who, at the turn of last century, identified the potential wine-growing areas in New Zealand.

He was also instrumental in getting the burgeoning wine industry on its feet, and if it wasn’t for the pesky temperance movement that almost destroyed the fledgling industry, we would be much more advanced in our wine quality.

The Bragato awards are open to wines that are grown on vineyards directly controlled by the grower, so this really celebrates the wine grower. This year both Nelson and Marlborough were recognised with several major awards.

The Brother Cyprian Trophy winner and Champion Pinot Gris went to Aronui Pinot Gris Single Vineyard Nelson 2016, from the Whenua Matua vineyard in Nelson.

Marlborough collected two trophies: the Champion Sweet Wine went to Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Noble Riesling Botrytis Selection 2015, from the Rocenvin vineyard in Marlborough. What a year for the Whakatu Corporation. Its Tohu Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2016, from Tohu Awatere vineyard in Marlborough, won the New Zealand Wine Cellars’ Spence Brothers Trophy and Champion Sauvignon

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Blanc. Both Aronui and Tohu vineyards are certainly worth watching as they are producing consistently good, expressive wines.

In somewhat of a surprise, Falcon Ridge Estate took out the Alan Limmer Trophy and Champion Syrah with their 2015 syrah. I say surprise since you’d almost expect that our northern, hotter wine-growing areas such as Hawkes Bay would have a stranglehold on this variety. It is very exciting that Nelson can produce a syrah of this quality, and bodes well for the future.

Local vineyards achieving gold were: Saint Clair Pioneer Block 10 Twin Hills Chardonnay 2014 Jackson Estate Homestead Dry Riesling 2015 Catalina Sounds ‘Sound of White’ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 Vic Williams’ Selection Marlborough Riesling 2015 Eradus Single Vineyard Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Gris 2015 Saint Clair Godfrey’s Creek Reserve Noble Gewurztraminer 2014 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 14 Doctor’s Creek Pinot Noir 2014 Waimea Pinot Noir 2015 Marisco Vineyard The Craft Series The Journey Pinot Noir 2013 Keep an eye out for these wines, but I suspect that since they achieved such a high score, they may be hard to find.

The Bragato Champion Wine of the Show and Champion Single Vineyard Wine was Villa Maria’s Ihumatao Chardonnay 2014.

Considering its size, Villa Maria produces amazing quality and collects medals like no other company in New Zealand.

BEER

Unique beer honours NZ fossil

BY MARK PREECE

Such beers may be one-off purchases and only produced in small volume, but they play an important role in the overall range,” he says.

It’s always good to have your cake and eat it too, so here are three of my favourite Tuatara ‘go-tos’ and a couple of seasonals.

T

uatara beer started out like many classic Kiwi stories – in the back shed of a farm in Reikorangi, in the hills behind Waikanae. But thirsty Kiwis demanded more, and after successive moves to ‘bigger sheds’, it completed its move to its current premises at Paraparaumu in 2012, says Blair Harley, Tuatara’s first sales manager.

“Tuatara had done some great work early on, with a focus on growing the whole craft beer category,” says Blair. They were one of the early entrants to the craft beer market, hitting it on a rising tide, and cementing good customer relations and a well-established route to market.

Blair says Tuatara’s ongoing investment in production capability ensured the

business was in good stead to supply customers as demand grew.

Tuatara’s strategy has been to develop a solid stable of ‘go-tos’ and seasonally release some interesting beers for those who wish to try something different, Blair says. “It’s difficult to base your business on those guys that chop and change beers and they are only a small portion of the market anyway.” Tuatara now has a core of interesting medal-winning beers in its standard range, “and it’s really important that we keep them high-quality, interesting and complex,” says Blair. “People can regularly drink this range, and if they want something interesting, augment it with a pumpkin beer or a Tu-rye-ay. It adds that point of interest and is good for the brand.

NZ APA, Aotearoa pale ale, ABV 5.8%.

They say: takes the spirit of the American version and reanimates it with a hopping regime that’s as Kiwi as a 25-year mortgage; offers a deep, long, New Age flavour profile. Try it with venison sausages.

London Porter, a shot in the dark, ABV 5.0%. They say: our Porter has plenty of chocolate and roast malts to provide lots of body and a healthy shade of dark.

Best served how the Poms like it; flat and a few degrees warmer. Try it with chocolate cake.

India Pale Ale, ABV 5.0%. They say: IPAs were brewed in the UK with prodigious hopping so they’d endure the passage to India. Tuatara’s IPA is hopped up with proper cor-blimey English hops for plenty of bitterness.

Try it with pork pies.

Tu-rye-ay, midnight rye IPA, ABV 7.5%.

They say: we’ve taken a classic American pale ale and added some backing singers to create a beer with a darkly roasted, robust body. Rich chocolate and caramel malts mixed with spicy rye and Amarillo hops.

Wilder Brew, ABV 5.0%. They say: a light golden pilsner with an aroma of feijoa and lemon with notes of wild NZ bush. Try it with wild pork and watercress.

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T R AV E L

Viva la revolución

BY MICHAEL BORTNICK

T

hree hours from La Habana, the temperature inside the bus reached 34 degrees. After two elderly passengers in the back fainted, the driver decided to pull out of the pothole lane and into the carpark of a small café/bar. We were six Aussies and six Kiwis, so of course a drinking competition ensued.

Our guide promised that repairs would be made within 90 minutes, but this I doubted and began tossing back pina coladas for the team. A bottle of rum, known to Cubans as ‘Vitamin R’, comes with every libation, in case you want it stronger. After my fifth beverage, my wife reminded me that I don’t drink.

A mere five hours later, a substitute vehicle arrived.

The contest was declared a draw as our dirty dozen poured themselves into the air-conditioned bus. That very airconditioner failed in 20 minutes and we ended up marooned in a field of weeds with no pub in sight.

Welcome to Cuba, where travellers need to be more flexible than a pretzel in a hot yoga class.

Eventually we reached our destination, but the ride was longer than Fidel’s beard.

At the start of the 1953 Cuban revolution Castro was probably a good guy, but time can be a cruel mistress, especially when you piss off the USA. These days, with Fidel celebrating 68

his 90th birthday, Cuba is generally a deprived, dirty and dilapidated place.

Yet it is simply intriguing.

There are no fast-food chains, few places take US dollars or credit cards, the Internet is dodgy and air-conditioning is rare due to high electricity prices. (The lodgings are referred to as ‘No Airbnb’.) Hot water is rare, but at least the pressure is low. And you risk a week of diarrhoea just by brushing your teeth.

Nobody has any money (the average nurse earns US$50 a month before high tax), but all medical care is free to citizens, so there’s that. And remember, it is hellishly hot and humid and the air smells of rotting garbage.

So what’s to like?

Well, the food, while generally mediocre, is super cheap, as are the drinks. The people are attractive and friendly and, while they grumble about their conditions in hushed tones, they sure know how to party. Even I began a salsa lesson before being laughed off the dance floor.

The place is a photographer’s dream as the crumbling structures are painted in vibrant colors, always with a remarkable character sitting on a stoop or gazing out a window.

On the street, we were offered fake cigars but only bought the real Cohibas, which somehow got smoked.

Most Cubans cannot afford an automobile but many

OLD SCHOOL

V NEW SCHOOL

Time to bring your accounts to the cloud OLD SCHOOL – focuses on the year that’s already been, meets once a year to discuss the accounts, spends more time processing data, bills for every conversation they have with you.

hitchhike or pilot horse-drawn carts. In La Habana, however, we saw an amazing array of vintage cars, many still in everyday use.

For a small fee, drivers are happy to take tourists anywhere.

July 26 is sort of Independence Day in Cuba and we happened to be at Che Guevara’s tomb on that very date.

There’s a statue taller than the Eiffel Tower that can only be properly photographed from Miami. The site was quite poignant and touching. After looking at all the photos and memorabilia, I was touched enough to buy a tee-shirt.

Visiting a local beach for a dip in the Caribbean was something special. The water was boiling and strewn with floating trash; a potential haven for the dreaded zika maybe!

Back in La Habana, we stopped in at La Floridita, where Papa Hemingway drank like a fish in order to write The Old Man and the Sea.

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"Welcome to Cuba, where travellers need to be more flexible than a pretzel in a hot yoga class."

Often we saw guys with leashed pigs, but otherwise, heaps of dogs and cats roam free. Since nobody is following them with a small plastic bag, the streets and footpaths are a minefield and one must walk with an eye to the ground. I soon learned the Cuban method of removing the faeces, using the bottom of my shoe – which may also now have zika.

Whatever it offers, Cuba should be seen before her uniqueness is spoiled by America. We had an enlightening experience but won’t return. Forget it Jake, it’s Cubatown.

Olivia van Vugt Regional Partner, RightWay Limited p: 0800 555 024 m: 027 964 1980 a: Nelson, New Zealand

BUSINESS ACCOUNTING

s: www.rightway.co.nz e: olivia.vanvugt@rightway.co.nz

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A DV E N T U R E

last year. She is getting younger kids out alongside the students who have been trapping for a while, and this year she has around 25 students involved. Krissy takes 10 on each trip on a ‘first-in, first-served’ basis, along with adult volunteers who help the school out.

In the course of a morning or day they will cover three traplines, two of which are 3km and 30 traps long. The kids are “so into it”, she says. “I have to slow them down because they set off running between traps. We’ll pull out some horrendous squashed rat and they are really interested in it.” They’ll then present a slideshow of the trapping, showing images of the big stoats and rats they’ve caught.

Sally says two adults initially volunteered to help the school, but by last year the workload was getting too great.

“We thought, ‘These guys need a hand’ and put a call out.” Now they have 16 adults and two teenagers helping with the project.

Photos supplied by Doc

Saviours in the wild

BY SOPHIE PREECE

H

undreds of volunteers are helping to protect the conservation estate in the Top of the South, including a team of Tapawera students. Sally Leggett, Department of Conservation volunteer coordinator for the Motueka and Takaka offices, says whenever she puts out a call for assistance she is inundated with offers.

Sally started a newsletter to promote volunteer opportunities in September 2014 and now has 600 subscribers. “It’s amazing. There are so many people who are keen.” Teams of volunteers rally for everything from hut painting to pest control, from the easy-to-access edges of DOC estate to the remote backcountry, and from one-off projects to regular tasks.

One of her favourite voluntary programmes is the Wangapeka Whio 70

Protection Team, which runs with the help of Tapawera Area School. The Wangapeka security site is one of eight in New Zealand dedicated to protecting the whio (blue duck), with front-country predator traps close to the road and other less accessible traplines in the backcountry, some of which have to be accessed by helicopter.

Tapawera became involved in 2009 with the help of science teacher Sharon Rogers and a group of students, who volunteered to check traplines monthly.

Sally says the main target is stoats, with rats a close second. The students are also involved in the release of whio to the area, “so there’s a really nice buy-in”.

Krissy Ridder teaches outdoor education at Tapawera and picked up the Wangapeka Whio Protection Team project

Tapawera became involved in 2009 with the help of science teacher Sharon Rogers and a group of students, who volunteered to check traplines monthly.

She says other volunteer opportunities with DOC include hut warden roles at Angelus Hut in Nelson Lakes National Park and in the Tableland area of Kahurangi National Park. There are also plenty of opportunities outside of DOC, such as the Waimea Inlet project and the Battle for the Banded Rail, which are canvassed in her newsletter.

If you are interested in doing volunteer work with DOC, go to doc.govt.nz and search ‘volunteer’ to see opportunities in your area.

B OAT I N G

Take a SEAbbatical

BY STEVE THOMAS

Do

you feel drawn to the ocean? Do you love the idea of discovery, adventure and pursuing paradise?

Can you picture yourself sailing to an island paradise with a becalmed bay, anchoring in clear turquoise water, stepping ashore onto a golden beach with lightly lapping waves surrounded by tropical rainforest?

Okay, I’ll stop now and ask the obvious question – how?

Take a ‘sabbatical’ and go boating; could this be the answer?

Apparently, sabbatical leave was originally designed to keep universities progressive in their thinking. Today, top companies around the world are adopting sabbaticals to retain and recruit the best talent. The concept is gaining traction in the business world. It’s now estimated 37 percent of British companies have a career break policy, up from 20 percent only a few years ago.

But the ‘how’ questions are fairly daunting. How do you drop everything – your job, your family, your mortgage, your life – to go sailing the seven seas?

The questions were hanging heavily on Aussie boat-broker Brent Vaughan’s mind a few years back. The outcome? He wrote a book, SEAbbaticals – how to pursue paradise by sea, before you retire.

I first met Brent at last year’s Auckland On Water boat show. He runs a growing Aussie boat sales business, Multihull Central, with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

He quickly won me over. He obviously has a passion for boats but more so – a genuine desire to see that everyone can live their boating dreams.

Brent is not just selling boats, he’s selling a lifestyle plan.

He points out that a SEAbbatical is not just a holiday – it’s an adventure and a path to self-discovery all at the same time. It will test your character in pursuit of paradise without safety nets. It could be described as one of the last great adventures.

When I quizzed Brent about his motivation for writing the book he was quick to answer: “Having sold hundreds of boats to successful people over two decades, I’ve witnessed how many of these people have made time in very demanding jobs and businesses to go cruising around the world, and returned better people for the experience. On the other hand, I regularly meet

customers in my office wanting to break free, buy a boat and go sailing, but often give up because they think it’s too hard. How do they turn a dream into reality?”

Want to know more? Sorry, you’ll have to buy the book.

Here’s the gist of it though.

The Five Waypoints to Paradise: 1. Plan a suitable course 2. Purchase a boat for purpose 3. Profit from running your boat as a business maybe?

4. Prepare your skills and family 5. Prosper with a successful SEAbbatical and exit plan for an efficient sale If you feel the need to reset your work/life balance to allow more time for adventures on the water, this book is a good place to start. You can buy SEAbbaticals online at Amazon.com or hard copies can be ordered from the Multihill Central website at multihullcentral.com. Happy dreaming.

Yacht, Launch and Commercial Vessel Sales Your first port of call!

nzboatsales.com 71

MOTORING

H

onda’s 10th generation Civic is undoubtedly its most impressive ever – and that’s no small claim from someone who’s old enough to remember the impact the first Civic had in 1972. Those were the days of kaftans and platform shoes and, in motoring fashion, the coming of the hatchback. Honda out-sparkled everyone with a small fivedoor car that was fun, cheap, reliable and economical. Soon, it seemed, everyone was driving one.

Over the years, though, as successive generations sometimes do, the Civic has strayed from its path. Too many indifferent Civic models came and went, pale imitations of the original. Not now – this new Civic has returned to its youthful traditions; a car that has people sitting up and taking notice again.

In every respect the 2016 Civic is recognisable in name only. Most noticeably, it has grown into a mediumsize car, bigger than older Accords. In fact, its cabin room is striking for a supposed ‘compact’, with so much leg-stretch space in the back you won’t need a bigger car for the family.

Four versions of the new Civic are offered, starting at the $29,990 Civic S, and then moving to the Civic Turbo and RS Turbo and then the full-house NT Turbo at $42,990. They are all wonderfully sleek and aggressive to look at, with sharp, edgy lines, a snarly front and a coupe-like sweep, starting at the B-pillar and flowing smoothly down to the rear (the spoiler on the RS model).

The Civic S is the only variant with the normally aspirated 1.8-litre engine, the single overhead camshaft giving 104kW of power. The other cars get the new turbocharged DOHC 1500cc four, which ramps up output to an impressive 127kW while returning combined fuel use of 6l/100km. In the RS Turbo I drove, the tail spoiler, bigger wheels, sporty leather seats and perforated alloy pedals all promise performance, and it delivers.

Honda aims to reduce its vehicle CO2 emissions 30 percent by 2020 through engine and transmission efficiencies it calls ‘Earthdreams Technology’. Even if the terminology is a bit flowery, it doesn’t disappoint in practice. The turbo is great fun to drive and the car feels instantly alive, with Honda’s familiar automatic CVT transmission delivering smooth power. You can push a green ‘Econ’ button to ease up on fuel consumption, but if you’re in sports mode and using the

72

Civic rediscovers wow factor

BY GEOFF MOFFETT

paddle shifters, enjoying the car’s taut handling, there’s just enough noise to enjoy. Cruising, though, is quietly relaxing.

In the best Honda traditions, the cabin feels high-quality, with good materials and an excellent fit-out, especially with the perforated leather seats of the RS. There’s also piano-black detailing and lovely ambient lighting.

Equipment includes power driver’s seat (with both front seats heated), electric sunroof, smart proximity key and a 10-speaker premium audio system. Safety systems include a lane-watch camera.

All models have a 7 inch touch screen display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth and USB and HDMI connectivity, plus LED daytime running lights. Step up to the top-line NT and you get an in-built Garmin navigation app and a bundle of safety devices, including adaptive cruise control, lane-keep system, collision mitigating braking and lane and road departure warning systems.

Tech spec

Model reviewed: Honda Civic RS Turbo Price: $39,990 (Civic S $29,990, Civic Turbo $35,500, Civic NT Turbo $42,900) Power: 1.5-litre DOHC VTEC 4-cylinder 16-valve intercooled turbo, 127kW @ 5500rpm, 220Nm @ 17005500rpm, 7-speed paddle shift automatic transmission. 1.8-litre 4-cylinder 16-valve SOHC i-VTEC, 104kW @ 6500rpm, 127kW @ 5500, automatic CVT transmission Fuel economy: 6 litres/100km (1.5 turbo), 6.4l/100km (1.8) Vehicle courtesy of Bowater Honda

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When a disability makes even everyday activities a struggle, imagine what it must feel like out here .

For people with disabilities, sailing provides a unique sense of freedom and movement – life’s daily frustrations are forgotten. Sailing pushes comfort zones and there are new risks to overcome. The sheer joy of sailing is immense for someone with a disability.

Sailability Nelson is one of ten active clubs across New Zealand, all of whom are part of a worldwide movement.

From the Nelson Yacht Club we sail two person Hansa yachts set up for any disability and any age. Each yacht has an experienced sailor helper and each sail is for around 30 minutes.

Our sailing season commences in October and we will sail every second Sunday until mid-March.

Please join us on a Sunday sail day and see what a difference we’re making. You are welcome to support us by becoming a volunteer, helper sailor, sponsor, or donor.

To discuss how you would like to help please contact John MacDuff: 0274 245 112. macduff@tasman.net

Join us to help disabled Nelsonians experience the freedom and joy of sailing. sailabilitynelson.org.nz

Your support is greatly appreciated If you are looking for an animal to add to your family, please consider adopting from the SPCA and help out an animal in real need of a home.

Our opening hours are Monday – Friday from 9:30 – 5pm and Saturday & Sunday from 10 – 1pm

Sponsored by Nelson Oral Surgery 73

ARTS

Anne Rush Dreaming big dreams & transforming perceptions

BY E L I Z A B E T H B E A N P HO T O I S H NA JAC OB S

I

was excited to learn that the 2016 Nelson Arts Festival is hosting an ‘Artist in Residence’. The idea is to give artists space – physical and mental – to explore and create, while inspiring the rest of us.

The prestigious Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship allows a writer to work in France for six months and comes with a sum of money. In Nelson we do things differently. Anne Rush is our 2016 Artist in Residence with a 12-day

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residency in a studio10 minutes’ drive from home.

Anne is an ‘installation artist’. She uses three-dimensional works in sitespecific ways to transform perceptions of space, and experiments with darkness, light and motion. The first exhibition of Anne’s that I saw was Arum – a white room filled with 500 arum lilies at the Suter Art Gallery in 2008. Since then I have kept an eye out for her.

From 12–24 October, installations

celebrating the past 10 years will be re-formatted and displayed at Founders Heritage Park as part of a retrospective exhibition.

Founders is a perfect venue for Anne’s work, which tends to be large.

“I’m looking forward to taking advantage of the high studs as well as the outdoors.

I like exhibiting in public art galleries, or in experimental places in collaborative relationships with other artists,” she says.

Her installations are hand-built, adapting skills like knitting and jewellery in new ways. She uses quartz, glass, silvercoated wire, stainless steel and fishing line. Rather than brushes, her tools are knitting needles, crochet hooks, fingers and pliers.

Anne jokes that she is Nelson’s biggest purchaser of fishing supplies – the seven life-sized dancing figures at Light Nelson required 7.5km of line and swivels that help the dancers move. I am looking forward to reacquainting myself with these gorgeous and graceful ladies, Luminous Dancers, at the retrospective.

Light Nelson – of which Anne is a founding trustee – drew 55,000 visitors in 2016. Anne says it was an amalgam of “lots of people coming together with their experience and skills. Everybody is as important as everyone else and that’s why it’s successful”.

She also co-founded the Nelson Bays Arts Marketing Network, which publishes the Nelson Arts Guide, and lobbies councils and Government to increase financial support for art. She was a member of Creative New Zealand (Arts Council of NZ Toi Aotearoa) from 2009 to 2014, and served on the Nelson School of Music and Suter Art Gallery steering groups. Appropriately, considering her prodigious commitment, Anne received a New Year’s Honour for services to arts and culture (MNZN) in 2004.

When asked about her achievements Anne says, “No one moves and shakes on their own and the key to a successful arts community or event is building a great team. To make it happen, we have to work together.” Anne’s dream for the future is that Nelson, with its rich history of philanthropy, will continue to nurture the arts. She is optimistic about our young emerging artists and hopes the Artist in Residence programme becomes a permanent part of the Arts Festival.

It would also be nice if we were able to attract more funding for our artists to explore and create art for the natural and built environment.

G A L L E RY M U S T- H AV E S

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Marilyn Andrews Through The Window, 100x74cm Marilyn Andrews Gallery, 03 548 9400, $3,000 Jens Hansen The Nelson Ring, competition winning design in red gold, Jens Hansen Studio 03 548 0640, $1,290 Jane Blackmore It will pass, Kereru Gallery 03 5403 725, $2,100 Roz Speirs Green Lips, Art@203, 027 500 5528, $395 Clare Reilly Earthsong, Kereru Gallery, 03 5403 725, $5,200 Nina Cook Conchord, Kereru Gallery, 03 5403 725, $4,000 Bill Burke Enjoying the Day, Nelson Bill Burke Gallery, 03 5466 793, 110x89cm Russel Papworth Heron, Forest Fusion, 03 540 2961, $1,250

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MUSIC

Joel Little and Lorde, Silver Scroll winners in 2013 Photo: Topic Photography

Celebrating our best songs

BY PETE RAINEY

In

2001 a list of the best songs ever written in New Zealand was created to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Australasian Performing Rights Association.

APRA has 87,000+ members across New Zealand and Australia who are songwriters, composers and music publishers. The association licenses organisations to play, perform, copy, record or make available its members’ music, and distributes the royalties back to the members.

The ‘Best’ list involved 900 songs chosen for APRA members to vote on.

The winner was Nature, written by Wayne Mason and performed by the band Fourmyula.

The search for good songs still

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happens and the Silver Scroll awards is an annual event organised by APRA to do just that. This year’s awards were held at the Vector Arena in Auckland in late September.

These awards are in their 51st year.

The top five finalists this time were: Tami Neilson with The First Man, cowritten with her brother Jay Neilson; The Phoenix Foundation (Samuel Scott, Lukasz Buda, Conrad Wedde, William Ricketts, Thomas Callwood, Christopher O’Connor) with Give Up Your Dreams; Lydia Cole with Dream; Thomas Oliver with If I Move To Mars, and Street Chant (Emily Littler, Billie Rogers, Alex Brown, Christopher Farnham) with Pedestrian Support League.

On the night, a host of Kiwi artists

cover each of the songs in unique performances – a part of the show that’s become a highlight of the annual awards.

I’ve attended a few of these award nights and it’s always exciting to hear how artists interpret each other’s material.

Some of the collaborations and outcomes have been simply stunning.

The other awards presented on the night were: APRA Maioha Award, celebrating exceptional waiata featuring te reo Māori, SOUNZ Contemporary Award, celebrating excellence in contemporary composition, APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award and APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award.

Each year APRA also inducts a songwriter or songwriters into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. Announced on the night, this is a sought-after accolade from the local songwriting fraternity.

Last year’s inductee was 92-year-old bandleader, composer and master of the slide-guitar, Bill Sevesi.

The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, established in 2007, pays tribute to those who have made a significant contribution to our lives and culture through music.

Sevesi’s induction made him the 17th addition to the Hall of Fame. Sadly, the Tongan-born master passed away in April of this year.

Each year APRA teams up with a charity partner, this year The NZ Music Foundation, which provides emergency assistance to people in the music industry experiencing illness, distress and hardship. It also works nationwide to positively influence the lives of people in need through music projects.

I was tremendously impressed when Foundation general manager Peter Dickens contacted me to offer support when I was helping to organise a charity fundraiser for terminally ill Nelson musician Suzi Fray, lead singer of The Johnnys. His concern for Suzi was genuine, and the fact that the Foundation had its eyes on what was occurring right around the country was heartening.

New Zealand songwriting is in good hands.

BUSINESS PROFILE

Your local award-winning realty company B Y M A I K E VA N D E R H E I D E

J

P HO T O BY I S H NA JAC OB S

ust five years after Craig and Kellie Hamilton started Mike Pero Real Estate and the company sold its first house, it is fast going from strength to strength.

The franchise has just won the Mike Pero supreme award for the South Island and was also named number two franchise in New Zealand.

It’s a huge achievement given that just five years ago, after Craig heard about the Mike Pero model from a friend and thought it might suit him and Kellie, the real estate agent couple started the franchise from home.

They worked 6am to 9pm each day until gradually they acquired office space and have now grown to two offices, eight sales agents and two administrators.

The team’s most recent accolade comes on the back of being named number one franchise each year since the Nelson and Richmond franchises opened, as well as many other awards for financial performance, client marketing and sales performance.

Craig attributes the success of the business to his enthusiastic, experienced team and great customer service.

Clients who sell their property through Mike Pero receive a full information pack containing everything they need to prepare for the sale.

“I believe that it is important we give out the best information when people list with us, and they thank us for it. There are a lot of differences between what we do compared to everybody else,” says Craig.

“We also put every single property that we sell on prime time TV free of charge, nobody else in the region does that.”

The footage is also used on Mike Pero’s website and Facebook page, says Craig.

“We are very big on local marketing.”

The Nelson office also includes Mike Pero Mortgage Broker services and brokers can meet clients in Richmond if necessary, for a complete and comprehensive service package, Craig adds.

That solid marketing plan, and fully informed vendors, is vital as the Nelson and Tasman real estate market continues to rise, at pace.

Mike Pero Real Estate currently has eight subdivisions for sale, and Craig says the company’s two rural sales specialists are selling about five sections each week.

“The market is really hot and the prices certainly are reflecting that - on average, houses have gone up in price by about $50,000 to $60,000 in the last six months.”

Craig says Mike Pero Real Estate Nelson and Richmond are very involved in the local community, particularly through the Mike Pero Foundation.

This programme reaches out to people who are in need because of illness, accident or other adverse situations.

Craig says Mike Pero also raised $12,000 recently for the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter, during a fundraising evening at Nelson Bays Holden. Mike Pero Real Estate has also just signed with the Nelson Giants for a third year.

But Craig says one of the great delights of his job is seeing first home buyers succeed in getting on the property ladder. However, he has some sage advice for them: “They just have to bite the bullet.

Just buy something, don’t be fussy. Some people have been waiting to buy for six months and look how much prices have gone up.”

Call Craig, Kellie or one of the team if you are buying or selling to discuss your real estate needs.

Contact mikepero.co.nz 16 Bridge Street, Nelson 03 545 6060 238 Queen Street, Richmond 03 544 4634

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FILM

Comedy, Drama, Romance Directed and written by Matt Ross Starring Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella 1h 58 minutes Rating R

BY EDDIE ALLNUTT

Captain Fantastic V

iggo Mortensen said that when he first read the script for Captain Fantastic he laughed as much as he cried. For an actor of his calibre, that’s an emotional and honest response to this spirited dramedy that will leave us thinking as it grapples with important questions about parenthood in today’s fastpaced world.

Captain Fantastic starts in the middle of a forest somewhere in the idyllic Pacific Northwest of America.

Ben Cash (Mortensen) is living in an isolated off-grid cabin along with his clan of six children. Their mum Leslie, who suffers from severe bipolar, is currently away from them in a hospital, and she’s sadly missed.

The Cash kids are survivalists with skills honed so sharp they could teach Bear Grylls a thing or two. They’re exceptionally fit and strong for their ages and adept at stalking and bringing down wild game, just as a cougar would. These unregistered, home-schooled hunters and gatherers are also bookworms with high IQs who read classics from authors such as George Eliot and Nabokov. Dad continually tests his kids with challenging questions and appreciates knowledgeable replies.

They’re fine musos too, but just how are they going to fare outside their comfort zone, in the land of fast-food, contemporary gadgets and the opposite sex? We discover this as they embark on a risky road trip full of twists and turns, all the way to New Mexico. Those who’ve seen Little Miss Sunshine may find it subtly reminiscent.

Mortensen isn’t only fantastic with his family, but with his multi-faceted acting too. His protagonist is a rugged, yet intellectual, father-type with alternative ideologies but also sensitive enough to see the effects this has on his kids. Along with this, he’s also portraying a loving hubby in adverse conditions. He looks the part, bearing tats and a beard that Grizzly Adams would be proud of.

He gets good support from all the kids, especially a chiseljawed and youthful-looking George Mackay playing the oldest son, Bodevan. Frank Langella (Dracula, 1979) does his bit competently as Jack, a stern mainstream grandfather who has concerns for his grandchildren.

Besides receiving a 10-minute standing ovation at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Captain Fantastic also won an award for Best Director in the Un Certain Regard category. It’s written and directed by Matt Ross (28 Hotel Rooms), a father himself, who knows the significance of putting his characters through conflict and dilemma in order to make us believe in them – and that we certainly do.

Oh, and Bodevan – what sort of name is that, you might ask? Well in fact, the entire Cash brood have cosmic and unique names, but once this widely appealing and thoughtful movie takes a hold, that uniqueness may well change.

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Sat & Sun 10am-6pm Mon 10am-4pm

Saxton Stadium

QUIZ

Crossword

Across 01 Unstable (of chemical) 05 Object of worship 07 Towards interior of 08 Straw-roofed (cottage) 09 Commander 12 Sheep pelts 15 Revised 19 Genetically copied 21 Leaving empty 22 Govern 23 Actor, ... Nolte 24 Accentuates

Sudoku

Wordfind B O A T B U I L D E R B H

Last month’s solutions CROSSWORD

Remember no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.

Every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: Each of the nine horizontal rows Each of the nine vertical columns Each of the nine 3x3 boxes

Down 01 Futilely 02 Audibly 03 Place in crypt 04 Tooth covering 05 Earnings 06 Ski chalets 10 Amongst 11 Prepare (newspaper) 12 Short-lived trend 13 Wicked 14 Maize 15 Irregular 16 Go on offensive 17 Covets 18 Vipers 19 Tobacco product 20 Giant monsters

SUDOKU

R R J L A A K C Y B I A M

A E C R R T R Y N O F N V

I T Y R B B N R L F A P B

N S R J E X O O I M G R M

S A E D R L G T S S I R R

U C V T E I L S A C T E I

R D I K S K E E K N K E M

G A R T H N V L S S I Z R

E O D D I L A Q U K B S N

O R S S P Y F B U K O L T

N B U R E D N I B K O O B

Q B B R B E L L H O P Y B

BARBER BARRISTER BELLHOP BIOLOGIST BOAT BUILDER BOOKBINDER BOOKSELLER BOTANIST BRAIN SURGEON BRICKLAYER BROADCASTER BUS DRIVER BUSINESSMAN BUSKER

Find all the words listed hidden in the grid of letters. They can be found in straight lines up, down, forwards, backwards or diagonally.

Theme: Jobs starting with ‘B’

Anagram WORDFIND ANAGRAM Instagram, Wikipedia, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Goodreads Mystery word: Twitter

P D P I N F L O R A L B L

P T N E M E V E I H C A C

F I B H N M F R F R U E E

M G H E T T E S O R R D U

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

D H P L N H C L I H S N A

A E T A D O Y F C T I O T

L A B A C M I T E I L B S

L U A P E C E P Y Q V B D

I U F D A R G D M D E I R

O B A T B R W E A A R R A

N C E Z H X F X C L H J W

A E E N G R A V E D F C A

Unscramble the letters of the phrases to make five words relating to the theme, each starting with the given letter. The letters in the shaded squares will spell out another word relating to the theme. This is the mystery keyword.

SMARTER PUP I STORE HAM SEA GEL HAD ROADIE NUDE DRAGONS

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S A E R S

Theme: BAND NAMES

D I R E C T O RY

(e) mike@michaelrobertson.co.nz (p) 021 143 2738 (w) www.michaelrobertson.co.nz (f) www.facebook.com/michaelrobertsonphotography

NELSON based WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY - relaxed, unobtrusive, journalistic approach.

graphic design motion graphics & art direction

find me on facebook

STYLIST

colour analysis, styling advice, body shape analysis, wardrobe audits & shopping trips.

Jackie can help you enhance your appearance and make you feel more confident.

Jackie Halliday P: 027 484 6790 delamere20@gmail.com 118 Bridge Street, Nelson cardells.co.nz • 03 548 1505

DRESS CODE

to create a confident new you

Have you booked your company's Christmas party yet?

03 540 2028 www.jellyfishmapua.co.nz

Finalist 2016/2017 for Best Cafe & Excellence in Customer Service

Nelson-Tasman 104.8 • Nelson Central City 107.2 Takaka 95.0 • Blenheim 88.9

What’s that you say?

GET ON AIR RADIO BY, FOR AND ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY Want to do your own show?

We want to hear from you!

www.freshfm.net

Phone 03 54 69 891 81

REUBEN JANE

UP & COMING

Aquaculture is New Zealand’s fastest growing industry within the seafood sector. With 70 percent of NZ aquaculture based at the Top of the South, NMIT Nelson is at the forefront of aquaculture education.

This month Reuben Jane, a Postgraduate Diploma of Sustainable Aquaculture student, talks about his passion for ecological and ethical science and his role in the Blue Revolution.

BY DEBORAH SAX P H O T O G R A P H Y A N A G A L L O WAY

How did your interest in aquaculture develop?

Following my bachelor’s degree and PhD in chemistry at the University of Canterbury, I did four years of postdoctoral research in Sweden and France on renewable energy.

Upon returning to New Zealand to be near family there were few opportunities for research chemists, so I decided to retrain.

The large presence of aquaculture research in Nelson made this an appealing field for additional study.

Why did you choose NMIT for your study?

I found the Sustainable Aquaculture Postgraduate Diploma particularly attractive because of its focus on solving global problems. The course also includes a management paper which creates opportunities for graduates beyond research. The involvement of the aquaculture industry also provides an excellent chance to make contacts in the field.

What do you enjoy most about studying at NMIT and, in particular, in Nelson?

The strong industry focus of the course, the small class size allowing a high level of personal contact with tutors - and the tutors themselves, who are highly knowledgeable and extremely approachable. Nelson is my wife’s home town so studying here has been great, especially the proximity to national parks and beaches, and the local Nelson music and arts culture. I love to get out tramping with my family.

How will this postgraduate programme help you meet your career goals?

Short-term I hope to get work doing research locally.

Longer term, to continue working with issues surrounding sustainability, in a research or consultancy role. The Diploma’s strong focus on sustainability has given me a good foundation on which I can continue to build.

Tell us about your research project.

My research project is related to a problem that occurs on salmon farms, when certain marine isopods (small crustaceans related to woodlice) enter the pens and are eaten by the fish.

In juvenile fish in particular this can cause severe gastric damage which may be fatal. We are looking at solutions to keep them away and reduce mortalities.

How will your research make a difference in the world?

I hope the work I undertake will help to provide the growing global population with the food and energy required to maintain a high standard of living, with minimal negative impact on the environment or the lives of others.

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Hairdressing graduate Check out Kim’s classroom

You’ll be so glad you did

Te Ha-para (Diploma in Ma-ori Studies), Certificate in Te Rito o Te Reo Check out Kapohau’s classroom

APPLY NOW

FOR FEB 2017

nmit.ac.nz/applynow

0800 788 391

Programmes available in: Aquaculture, Aviation Engineering, Conservation, Maritime, Viticulture and Winemaking, Adventure Tourism, Business, Information Technology, Arts and Design, Nursing, Health, Fitness, Ma-ori Studies, Automotive, Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Construction, Social Work, Counselling, Supervision, Cookery, Hospitality, Business Administration, Interior Design, Retail, Writing, Music, Hairdressing, Beauty and Body Therapy, English Language, Horticulture, Vocational Skills. Or take a Bridging Programme to help you into your future study.

Certificate in Superyacht Crewing Check out Zach’s classroom

Trainee Ranger Certificate Check out Zealand’s classroom

Tasman’s Lifestyle Property Specialist

“John inspired confidence and trust.”

Deb and Brian Grover

John Bampfylde M +64 27 325 1325 john.bampfylde@sothebysrealty.com Level 1, 295 Trafalgar Street, Nelson

Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated.

Browns Real Estate Limited (licensed under the REAA 2008) MREINZ.