5

THE

SOUTH

ISLAND

LIFESTYLE

MAGAZINE

FREE | MAY 2026

A DELICIOUSLY WILD BANKS PENINSULA DAY TRIP WITH CELEBRATED LYTTELTON CHEF GIULIO STURLA | BELOVED BRIT FUNNYMAN

ALAN DAVIES ON THE DARK SIDE OF COMEDY AND THE MAGIC OF THEATRES (INCLUDING DUNEDIN’S) | AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT

FROM GLOBALLY ACCLAIMED, GOLDEN BAY-BASED AUTHOR ELIZABETH KNOX’S MUCH-ANTICIPATED MEMOIR | FAB KIWI FOODIE

RHIANNON BALDOCK’S EASY PEASY CHICKEN SCHNITTY, SMOKY PORK GYROS AND ADDICTIVE APPLE CUSTARD CRUMBLE

Peta Mathias at

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This TRILife Live Talk was part of

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Programme, which was recognised at the

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YOUR SHORTCUT TO

Sunshine

There’s a particular kind of Christchurch winter day. You know the one...

Low cloud hanging over the Port Hills, a chill that seeps in no matter how

many layers you’ve got on. And that little voice in your head that says:

I wish I could be somewhere warmer right now.

Vanuatu

FIVE TROPICAL LOCATIONS, FOUR DIRECT-FLYING AIRLINES:

Cairns Fiji Gold Coast Rarotonga Vanuatu

The good news is, that feeling doesn’t have to stay a daydream. From Christchurch, you can fly direct to a growing

range of glowing destinations. No pesky stopovers. Just pack your bikini or board shorts, jump on the plane, and a

few hours later you’re in the sun.

Fiji

Take Fiji, for starters. With Fiji Airways flying

direct, it’s an easy leap into island time. Think

clear water, warm evenings and the joy

of switching off. It’s the kind of place where doing

as little as possible feels like the perfect plan.

Cairns

If you’re after something a bit closer to

home but still tropical, Cairns is a solid

option. Jetstar flies direct from Christchurch, opening

the door to the Great Barrier Reef, lush rainforests and

that laid-back Aussie vibe. Equal parts adventure and

relaxation, depending on how you want to play it.

Rarotonga

Then there’s Rarotonga, with

Air New Zealand offering a

straight shot from Christchurch.

It’s small, friendly and effortlessly amazing. You can

circle the island in a hour, but chances are you won’t

want to rush anything. Snorkel, eat, nap, repeat.

Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is another easy

win, with both Jetstar and Air New

Zealand flying direct. Whether it’s beaches, theme parks,

shopping or just a change of scene you’re after, it’s all

right there. Vitamin D on tap and plenty of fun to be had.

Vanuatu

If you prefer somewhere a little less

obvious, Vanuatu is well worth a look.

Flying direct with Solomon Airlines, it offers a slightly

off-the-beaten-track feel, with stunning natural

landscapes and a rich cultural heritage to discover.

As well as dialling up the warmth, these five holiday

hotspots have another thing in common: they’re

incredibly easy to get to from Christchurch. Just one

direct flight there means less time enroute and more

time on the beach.

Sun

ESCAPE TO THE

ENTER, WIN, BOOK!

VISIT CHRISTCHURCHAIRPORT.CO.NZ/SUN

PLUS RIGHT NOW, there’s a little extra incentive

to make it happen. Christchurch Airport’s Escape

to the Sun competition is giving locals the chance

to WIN ONE OF TWO $1,000 HOUSE OF TRAVEL

VOUCHERS, just by entering online. Simply sign up

at christchurchairport.co.nz/sun and you’re in the

draw to put your dream trip into motion.

You can also make bookings to any of these five

drool-worthy destinations directly with the airline

So if you’ve been feeling a tad grey lately, remember

there are brighter skies just over the horizon – and

getting to them has never been easier.

Hello

Having moved back to South Island more than four years

ago (and growing up in Nelson), the stunning scenery and

endless possibilities offered on the mainland (*smirks) never fail to

surprise me – in ways both big and small.

So seeing some pics on social media from a recent wild food

experience in Banks Peninsula hosted by Archibalds Land Rover

Christchurch with Lyttelton chef Giulio Sturla, I knew I had our

next cover story on my hands. Twenty-four lucky Landy fans got to

test drive the new Defender while trying their hand at foraging and

sampling next-level food on the way. Find out more on page 32.

We managed to prise one highly prized recipe out of Giulio

(page 36), but if you’re still hungry, turn to page 50, where there are

easy peasy schnittys, smoky pork gyros (with hot chips inside!) and

a delish apple custard crumble ready for the making.

Staying in the south, we had long-time friends and gardening

gurus Rachel Clare and Tryphena Cracknell put together a list of

just some of their favourite native flowers (page 38) and from page

56, world-renowned, Golden Bay-based writer Elizabeth Knox

shares an extract from her highly anticipated memoir.

Enjoy!

PUBLISHER

Charlotte Smith-Smulders

Allied Media Magazines

Level 1, 359 Lincoln Road, Christchurch

03 379 7100

EDITOR

Josie Steenhart

josie@alliedmedia.co.nz

DESIGNERS

Annabelle Rose, Hannah Mahon

PROOFREADER

Laura Griffiths

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Janine Oldfield

027 654 5367

janine@alliedmedia.co.nz

CONTRIBUTORS

Rhiannon Baldock, Mikey Bones, Rachel Clare,

Tryphena Cracknell, Kim Dungey, Rebecca Fox,

Jacob Leaf, Lightchasers, Peter McIntosh,

Tom McKinlay, Spike Sight, Giulio Sturla

Every month, 03 (ISSN 2816-0711) shares the latest in lifestyle, design,

food, fashion, beauty, arts and culture with its discerning readers.

Enjoy 03 online (ISSN 2816-072X) at 03magazine.co.nz

Allied Media is not responsible for any actions taken

on the information in these articles. The information and views expressed in this publication

are not necessarily the opinion of Allied Media or its editorial contributors.

Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information within this magazine, however,

Allied Media can accept no liability for the accuracy of all the information.

Josie Steenhart, editor

A fresh look for Christchurch’s leading florist in the heart

of Fendalton, honouring Jenny Burtt’s longstanding legacy

and welcoming in a new era of modern elegance and style.

Jenny Burtt Flowers offers exquisitely designed and

presented fresh flowers, wedding + event florals and

gifts for all occasions – including Mother’s Day.

100 Fendalton Road, Fendalton, Christchurch

jennyburtt.co.nz | @jennyburttflowers

GLOWING SKIN

IS ALWAYS IN

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treatment to elevate your skin’s radiance. Achieve the

“WOW” effect-fresher, hydrated and more luminous skin.

For a personal consultation at no charge please call 03 363 8810

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8 Magazine | Contents

In this issue

20

COVER FEATURE

32 A delicious day trip

Off-road fine dining in Bank Peninsula

Resene

Unite

COLOURS OF

THE MONTH

DISCOVER

24 A stand-up guy

Brit funnyman Alan Davies chats

theatre, cucumber sandwiches

and his upcoming NZ show

28 The zine scene

Delve into the history of zines

with artist, academic and

zinester Bryce Galloway

38 Flower power

Learn about Aotearoa’s native

flowers, including some special

blooms from the south

HEALTH & BEAUTY

22 Top shelf

The potions and lotions

we’re testing and loving

DESIGN

42 Good foundations

A beloved 1970s Dunedin

home gets a new lease on life

FOOD

50 Deliciously easy

Foodie Rhiannon Baldock serves

up some fast and fun recipes

Beyond the Sale: Understanding the

Emotional Returns in Real Estate

In real estate, we’ve

always understood return

on investment. We talk

about it confidently: the

sale price, days on market,

negotiation intricacies, and

financial gains or losses.

t’s the language of our industry and it’s

well understood by the professionals

that speak it. But I’m seeing a shift.

In a world of fluctuating markets and

international disruption – as well as an

upcoming election adding an additional

layer of uncertainty – clients are no

longer measuring success solely in

financial terms.

There’s a quieter, more personal, question

evolving.

How did that whole process make

me feel?

This is where the concept of ‘emotional

return on investment’ enters the

conversation. It asks the question: what

was the emotional return relative to the

emotional cost, given buying or selling

a property is for most people the largest

financial decision they will ever make.

It’s stressful selling, extremely stressful,

as is buying, when despite trying

hard you may miss the property you

desperately wanted.

Emotional investment in property (your

home – first, second, final – or investment)

is significant. It includes time, uncertainty

and risk. It also provides identity, a family

base, your future and legacy wrapped up

into one complex package. So, there’s a

lot at stake and a lot of emotion.

Recently, our company held an auction

day that included 26 properties. Of

those properties, four involved couples

parting, a number were investment units

that developers had built, and there were

also properties for first-home buyers,

estates and people leaving the region.

Every single one of those scenarios

presented a bevy of emotional factors,

and whilst professional competence is

critical, so is connection.

That emotional support could be seen

as the calm conversation when the

market shifts mid-campaign, the sense

that an owner’s home and story were

represented with care, and the feeling

that their consultant was by their side

and ‘had their back’ throughout the

entire process.

In uncertain times, that’s what matters.

It’s clear that all industries could flourish

by being more than transactional,

ensuring clients feel secure, understood

and confident.

When that happens, there's every chance

that the emotional pay-off justifies

the emotional cost, which, put simply,

benefits everyone. That return is certainly

worth striving for.

Lynette McFadden

Harcourts gold Business Owner

027 432 0447

lynette.mcfadden@harcourtsgold.co.nz

PAPANUI 352 6166 | INTERNATIONAL DIVISION (+64) 3 662 9811 | REDWOOD 352 0352 | PARKLANDS 383 0406 |

SPITFIRE SQUARE 662 9222 | STROWAN 351 0585 | GOLD PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 352 6454 |

SPITFIRE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 027 772 1188

GOLD REAL ESTATE GROUP LTD LICENSED AGENT REAA 2008 A MEMBER OF THE HARCOURTS GROUP

harcourtsgold.co.nz

10 Magazine | Contents

OUR COVER

38

A fleet of Defenders take

on Banks Peninsula’s wild

side at Magnet Bay.

Photo: Lightchasers

Resene

Clockwork Orange

READ US ONLINE

50

Resene

Blackberry

REGULARS

12 Newsfeed

What’s up, in, chat-worthy, cool,

covetable and compelling right now

20 Most wanted

A few of our favourite things

ARTS & CULTURE

54 Night, ma

Award-winning author Elizabeth Knox

shares an excerpt from her new memoir

62 Painting down roots

Acclaimed artist Reece King makes a

big impact down south

60 Book club

Great reads to please even the

pickiest of bookworms

FIND US ON SOCIAL

03magazine.co.nz | @03_magazine

GET A COPY

Want 03 Magazine delivered straight

to your mailbox? Contact:

charlotte@alliedmedia.co.nz

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12 Magazine | Newsfeed

Newsfeed

What’s up, in, chat-worthy, cool, covetable and compelling right now,

specially compiled for those in the south.

Dine wild

Building on the success of its revival in 2025, the Monteith’s Wild Food

Challenge is returning this May, bringing together more than 60 restaurants,

pubs and eateries nationwide to serve the nation’s most daring dishes. Naturally,

the south is well represented – try the pork loin cutlet with apple cider pan

sauce at Ashburton’s The Phat Duck, a West Coast whitebait bagel from

Greymouth’s Monteith’s Brewery or hand-speared butterfish, shaved blackfoot

pāua and crayfish bisque from Chch city’s Bloody Mary’s. The Smoking Barrel

in Motueka is serving up a wild tasting platter featuring 10-hour BBQ smoked

venison short rib, while the Christchurch Casino makes a deliciously dramatic

statement with its house-made wild duck sausage dish, Quackjack (pictured).

The public will vote for their favourites, and the top five will face the ultimate

taste test by a judging panel, who will crown the winners.

wildfoodchallenge.monteiths.co.nz

Winter blooms

As if Pharlain woollies weren’t gorgeous enough, now

you can effortlessly elevate your new favourite knitwear

items (we have our eyes firmly on this Maya mohair and

wool-blend cardigan in Denim Blue) with a limited edition

piece of jewellery created in collaboration with the muchloved

local brand. The Forget-Me-Knot necklace from

Antonia Minor ($75), the small handmade jewellery label

by Antonia De Vere (also well known for her floral work

through Mark Antonia Ltd), is named for the flower, and

draws on Antonia’s botanical world – reinterpreted here

in miniature through delicate seed beads. Designed to sit

neatly at the collarbone, it’s an easy, everyday addition to

any outfit – simple, thoughtful and quietly distinctive –

available exclusively via the Pharlain website.

pharlain.com

One wall

A new initiative designed specifically to support

emerging Ōtautahi creatives to exhibit work at CoCA,

One Wall supports a cohort of seven emerging Waitaha

Canterbury artists to showcase work on CoCA’s annex

wall. Between April and December, one artist has a

single wall to hang one work. The first is Nicholas Burry

with ‘Memory Form. Landfall in Canterbury’, 2022, oil

on bituminous paper (pictured) – on display until May

15. Nicholas’ work is primarily concerned with our

relationship to the past; how the process of history

asserts itself and shapes us, and was painted at a time

when he was living away from the city and reflecting on

growing up in Christchurch. Future exhibiting artists in

this cohort include Marie Porter, Evelyn Fink, Jamie Price,

Lily-Rose Claypole, Sarah Rowlands and Anna Bruce.

coca.org.nz

Merivale

28 Andover Street

*Artists Impression Only, Subject to Change

‘DOVA’

2-3 2 1 122m² - 155m²

Dova, by Crampton and Smith delivers bespoke homes that blend style with

practical, low maintenance living. Executed in a soft neutral palette, each home

features full height cabinetry, subtle curved joinery and brushed nickel tapware,

with Marble Yamuna surfaces anchoring kitchen islands, benches and vanities.

Sun soaked open plan living centers on a statement island with built in banquette

seating, flowing seamlessly to a private deck with custom concrete seating. The

master suite is appointed with a walk-in-robe and dual basin ensuite. Combining

practical inclusions such as integrated Fisher & Paykel appliances and a single

internal-access garage with thoughtful accessibility, including lift access in select

units for easy and convenient movement between floors and all backed with a

MasterBuild 10 year guarantee.

House 1 - SOLD

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House 3 - $1,279,000

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trennie@cowdy.co.nz

JAKE WIEBLITZ - 027 239 7176

jwieblitz@cowdy.co.nz

Residential + Commercial Real Estate | Property Management

cowdy.co.nz +64 3 355 6555

Licensed Agent REAA 2008


Lights, camera… bonjour

After a standout 2025 marked by packed

theatres and widespread sell-outs, the L’Oréal

French Film Festival Aotearoa celebrates its 20th

edition by bringing the magic of French cinema

back to audiences across New Zealand from

May 27. Showcasing 24 fresh French stories

across 24 towns and cities over four weeks,

the programme guarantees a compelling lineup

of standout, hand-selected films including

French box-office hits, Cannes favourites and

award-winning talent from Pierre Niney in Guru,

Angelina Jolie in Couture (pictured), Pierre Lottin

in the modern take on the Alfred Camus classic

The Stranger, and Isabelle Huppert in The Richest

Woman in the World.

frenchfilmfestival.co.nz

Tee up

Slip into a chic and comfy t-shirt for a cause

with the return of Breast Cancer Cure’s mustanticipated

Tees For a Cure for 2026. Featuring

a wide spectrum of long- and short-sleeved

cotton tops adorned with unique prints from

Kiwi designers from Karen Walker, Moochi,

Trelise Cooper, Superette, Hailwood and Kiri

Nathan to Dunedin fave Tanya Carlson (pictured),

100 percent of the proceeds go straight to

BCC, funding world-class research right here

in Aotearoa. Note: Tees for a Cure collection

operates on a pre-order basis to ensure as much

funding as possible goes directly to research, so get

your orders in before May 17.

breastcancercure.org.nz

Go bananas

The latest innovative scent from Wellington natural

perfume co Abel, the notes of Miami Split eau de parfum

($330) promise “Warhol-esque banana meets rebellious

labdanum white oud”. An unexpected harmony of pop art

colour and edgy dark intensity that challenges conventional

fragrance expectations, the new drop is described as

“a fragrance that shouldn’t work – yet absolutely does.

“A celebration of duality, imperfections and personal

expression, Miami Split wearers embrace complexity,

juxtaposition and living unapologetically,” says founder

Frances Shoemack.

abelfragrance.com

made for here

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Twenty-year storm

Founder/creative director/local fashion maven

Deb Caldwell recently celebrated two decades of

label STORM, having opened her first boutique

on Auckland’s Teed St in 2006. To mark the

occasion, Deb has re-released one of the brand’s

best-selling, iconic t-shirts, the ROGUE, which has

been reprinted in either black or white as a limited

edition to mark the 20-year anniversary. “We’re

bringing back an icon to help us celebrate 20 years,”

says Deb. “This tee highlights our signature attitude

– bold and a little rebellious, and truly never afraid

to make a statement.”

stormonline.com

Ōtautahi rocks

One of the biggest and most beloved rock

bands of all time – Rock and Roll Hall of

Fame inductees Foo Fighters – make their

hugely anticipated return to Christchurch

next summer. Supported by Wellington’s

Dartz and Dunedin’s Seek Help!, Foo

Fighters are one of the first international

bands at One New Zealand Stadium.

Christchurch is known to be a city of rock

‘n’ roll loving fans and will be treated to

the first of two New Zealand shows on

January 19, 2027. Tickets are on sale now

at go.venuesotautahi.co.nz/FooFighters2026.

Smooth operator

New from beloved local skincare brand Sans

Ceuticals and following on from their highly

sought-after haircare duo, Activator 7 Body

+ Hair + Face Oil now comes in a Perpetual

kit ($149, refill $99). With an average of three

months use per travel-friendly canister refill,

Perpetual Activator 7 is a potent concentrate of

seven key actives including provitamin A, vitamins

C and E, amino acids and omegas 3, 6 and 9. This

intelligent, high-performance blend delivers facialgrade

nourishment top-to-toe, clinically proven

to repair and protect the skin at a cellular level.

Glide across the body and face, massage residual

oil through hair ends or use as a gentle makeup

remover. Spill-proof and perfect for life in motion.

sansceuticals.com


Dreamy skin

Harnessing a new wave of chrono-formulas, New

Zealand skincare brand RAESO has released its

Lunar Veil Chrono-Active Sleep Mask, an innovative

three-phase overnight treatment that works in

alignment with the skin’s natural repair window.

This skin-aligned overnight treatment builds on

RAESO’s philosophy of delivering ingredients as

the skin calls for it. Cushion-soft and blue-hued,

the overnight mask is powered by a three-phase

ingredient delivery system that works in precision

with the skin’s nocturnal rhythm. “The human skin

doesn’t sleep passively – it moves through a precise

biological rhythm every night,” says founder Katey

Mandy. “Think of it almost as eight hours of sleep

in a jar,” says founder Katey Mandy.

raesoskin.com

For her wardrobe

Co-founded by Christchurch-based Georgie

Fraser and Rachael Munnelly, contemporary

womenswear brand OF HERS was launched

after a combined 20 years in fashion buying. “OF

HERS was conceived on maternity leave, not as

a passion project, but as a direct response to a

gap we saw with our own industry eyes,” says

Georgie. “We saw an opportunity to create

clothing that moves with women through their

different chapters. Pieces that feel effortless,

elevated and enduring. Our debut AW26

collection is a tightly edited capsule of four

silhouettes, crafted in Grade-A cashmere blends

and 100 percent traceable merino wool.”

ofhers.co.nz

Writers’ retreat

One of our favourite luxury South Island stays is offering

something very special to budding authors and booklovers

alike. From June 5-8, step into a storybook setting

with best-selling Nelson author and journalist Naomi

Arnold as she leads her second Creative Writing &

Reading Masterclass at Maruia River Retreat. Creative

writing workshops will help you work on writing that feels

alive, and gentle mindfulness exercises will help you come

up with a plan to tackle any personal and professional

barriers to your writing. You’ll leave with a big dose of

passion and momentum. In between, hot soaks, sauna,

yoga, forest bathing, river dips, guided walks and plenty of

time to read will weave wellness into each moment, while

world-class nourishing meals warm the soul. It’s a retreat

where writing and nature meet, leaving you refreshed,

invigorated and a little (or a lot) more inspired.

maruia.co.nz

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刀攀愀搀礀琀漀最椀瘀攀礀漀甀爀漀甀琀昀椀琀猀愀渀攀眀搀椀爀攀挀琀椀漀渀㼀䘀爀漀洀漀瘀攀爀㔀搀攀猀椀最渀攀爀氀愀戀攀氀猀 Ⰰ 琀栀攀猀攀愀爀攀

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匀琀礀氀攀猀䘀攀愀琀甀爀攀搀㨀

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愀琀㜀嘀椀挀琀漀爀椀愀匀琀爀攀攀琀 Ⰰ 䌀攀渀琀爀愀氀䌀椀琀礀 Ⰰ 䌀栀爀椀猀琀挀栀甀爀挀栀漀爀猀栀漀瀀漀渀氀椀渀攀愀琀眀眀眀 ⸀ 稀攀戀爀愀渀漀 ⸀ 挀漀 ⸀ 渀稀 ⸀

䐀䔀匀䤀䜀一䔀刀䘀䄀匀䠀䤀伀一

䤀一匀䤀娀䔀匀㐀 ⴀ㈀㘀

稀攀戀爀愀渀漀

20 Magazine | Wishlist

Most wanted

From Granny Smith-green light shades made in Christchurch, rhubarb-scented

candles and cult-following minty lip plumpers by Hailey Bieber, to summermood-enhancing

silk scarves, posh white chocolate and rose body washes, and

limited-edition Mint Chicks vinyl, here’s what we’re wishlisting this month.

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6

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9

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1. Imogen Royall, Pasta for the People, Allen & Unwin, $45; 2. LUSH Posh White Chocolate & Rose limited edition body

wash 225g, $45; 3. Silk & Steel Mystique earrings, $139; 4. Beehre Studio Zephyr light shade in Granny Smith Green, $290 at

Frances Nation; 5. Georgina Hoby Scutt, ‘Shadow Valley’, acrylic on linen, 730 x 630 x 50mm framed, $2690 at Little River

Gallery; 6. Kowtow Assemblage long-sleeve t-shirt, $170; 7. Diptyque 190g candle in Rhubarbe, $151 at Mecca; 8. The Mint

Chicks, Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! (20th Anniversary Edition) white vinyl, $87 at Flying Out; 9. Jo Malone London English Pear &

Sweet Pea limited edition hand cream, $65; 10. Ashley & Co. Washup hand wash in Bonberry, $35; 11. Dark Hampton X Cass

Deller Noosa silk scarf, $169; 12. Penelope Chilvers Inclement Cropped Tassel boots, $899 at Rangiora Equestrian; 13. Cecily

Braden lymphatic brush set, $245 at Miria Aman; 14. Rhode Peptide Lip Boost Plumping lip mask in Sugarmint, $46 at Mecca

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Top shelf

From milk toners, chocolate-scented bronzers and honey-infused shampoos,

to 36-hour concealers, covetable creatine powders, a super-sized new take on

ghd’s sought-after hot brush and a lip liner in Clinique’s cult Black Honey

hue, here’s what the 03 team are putting in their beauty bags for May…

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2

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1. Essano Hydration+ Cica Repair Milk toner, $22; 2. ghd Glide+ Max ceramic smoothing hot brush, $349; 3. Too Faced

Chocolate Soleil bronzer in Milk Chocolate, $75 at Mecca; 4. Tom Ford Runway eye colour quad crème in Rose Topaz, $180;

5. Clinique Quickliner For Lips in Black Honey, $47; 6. Bobbi Brown Crystal Eyes shadow stick in Brilliant Bronze, $69; 7. MAC

36HR Smooth Angles concealer, $61; 8. Aesop Solais Replenishing hand serum, $69; 9. Elizabeth Arden PREVAGE Multi-

Restorative night cream, $280; 10. Mitchells Creavitalis creatine sachet 30-pack, $55; 11. Gisou Honey Gloss Ceramide Therapy

hydrating shampoo, $52 at Mecca; 12. Estee Lauder DayWear Glow Boost gel cleanser, $66

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Feature | Magazine 25

A stand-up guy

Ahead of bringing his latest live show to the South Island, British

funnyman Alan Davies talks tea and cucumber sandwiches, the enduring

magic of the theatre and why he’s no longer ducking the dark stuff.

WORDS TOM MCKINLAY

ell, we threw some ideas around, me and Tony

“WBriggs, our photographer, who’s a brilliant

photographer,’’ British comedian/actor Alan Davies says

of the process by which they arrived at the promotional

shot for his new stand-up show, Think Ahead, due in

Dunedin and Christchurch in August.

‘‘And we came upon this idea of someone at a funeral.

It’s like, ‘think ahead’, right? ... Whose funeral it is?’’

That’s an open question, he says, riffing away.

‘‘Is it mine? Is it comedy’s? Is it my father?”

‘‘I don’t know, but it’s just something that you’re

thinking ahead. And this is comic, right, the tea and the

cucumber sandwich and the black tie. It might be you in

the box, or it might be somebody you love, or somebody

you hate, but it’s ahead of you, more and more of these

things are ahead of all of us, sadly.’’

Mortality could have been an even bigger part of the

show, as Alan had a cancer scare in recent years, but that

experience won’t be getting its own joke this time around.

‘‘I don’t refer to that in the show, it almost feels like it

would be a whole show by itself,’’ he says.

‘‘But there are other ailments and health issues, and

the need to go to the pharmacy is frequent.’’

Which does make you wonder, what sort of show is

he touring?

A further check of the cover photo provides

reassurance. No question, Alan is mashing the quizzical

with the nonplussed to find the humour – and there’s the

performatively delicate china and the real slices of cucumber.

And, indeed, over the video call connection from his

London home, Alan is the familiarly engaging presence,

it’s the same practised mischief filling the small screen –

familiar from countless TV appearances.

Funny is definitely still the point here, even as the

funereal vibe signals that Alan won’t be ducking any of

the big stuff with this show. The Guardian review of

his Edinburgh Festival outing sums it up: ‘‘Davies rawly

discusses his abuse by his father and delivers big laughs

with other material’’.

Not just death then.

Alan admits to some nerves before that Edinburgh

show, which effectively road tested the Think Ahead

material – his first new stand-up show in a decade.

‘‘There was some trepidation about going back on the

road, but I think it might be the best show I’ve done.

“I feel like there’s more of me in the show, it’s more

an open show, it’s including some of the more difficult

subjects, things that happened in my childhood and

so on, that I have previously not included in stand-up,

because it never felt like it was the right form for it.

“But it feels to me that after nearly 40 years of doing

this, that I ought to be able to handle it, and manage it,

and work towards a more complete picture, not stop at

the facade and the people-pleasing, you know?’’

The cost of this bravery has been noted by other

reviewers, the comedian’s breathing audibly shortening as

he approaches the painful revelations.

Alan might not have shared these stories before in

his stand-up, but he has previously put them on record

across his serial memoirs.

In Just Ignore Him, in 2020, he wrote of the years

of sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father,

between the ages of 8 and 13. His mother had died of

leukaemia when he was 6, and his father combined the

abuse with manipulating the other relationships in the

family to cast Alan as the outsider.

This latter act, of turning his brother and sister against

him, contributed to his desire to become a ‘‘people

pleaser’’, constantly seeking the approval of others.

Then last year, Alan published White Male Stand-Up,

something of a sequel memoir, telling the story of his

stand-up career, which involved, he says, a search for

family and connection within the stand-up community

– and subsequently the cast and crew of the various

television shows that became a big part of his life, the

likes of Jonathan Creek and QI.

It also covered the cancer diagnosis – and successful

treatment – and the enduring impact on his life of that early

abuse. Alongside his fanatical-adjacent support for Arsenal.

This new openness has fed into both the new stand-up

show and his life away from the stage in positive ways, he says.

White Male Stand-Up talks of the ‘‘angry boy’’ that

dwelt just below the surface of the successful actor and

comedian, a manifestation that could burst into the open

at the slightest provocation. Alan tells of one occasion

when he’d grabbed a man by the collar after the stranger

had tried to hurry him and his children down the stairs

at a swimming centre. Police were called and the story

ended up in the British tabloids.

He realised he needed to confront the root causes

of that anger, the PTSD he endured as a result of his

father’s actions.

“Funny is

definitely still

the point here,

even as the

funereal vibe

signals that

Alan won’t be

ducking any

of the big stuff

with this show.”

PREVIOUS PAGE:

Photo Tony Briggs

LEFT: Photo

Steve Ullathorne

That work done, his experiences can now be

processed further through a comedy lens, lending his

stand-up a new depth, he says.

It feels much better to confront things, he says, to

open up about things, knowing there will be people in

the audience who’ve had similar experiences.

‘‘People come up to me after shows and say ‘I really

appreciate the stuff you were talking about, things

that happened to me in my life’, so it means a lot, it’s

very gratifying.’’

As much as people have arrived to be entertained,

they respond to the tougher material.

‘‘They like that, they want to know about you, you’re up

there a long time, they want you to be honest and open.’’

Everybody has their own experiences, their own stuff,

be it family troubles, or losing a parent, or illness, or

struggling with kids, he says.

‘‘This is just life, and my story’s not that special, it’s just

another story.’’

The stories are, of course, thoroughly mixed in with

the punchlines, so the medicine follows quickly on

the heels of the diagnoses, which again makes it more

accessible and approachable.

‘‘Absolutely, and of course there’s nothing quite like

being in a room where everybody’s laughing. I mean, the

sound of it is wonderful for me, because it’s the currency

of my trade, but it’s also, I know myself, that it’s lovely to

be in a room and all be enjoying the same thing, and all

laughing, applauding the same thing, there’s nothing quite

like a theatre.

‘‘I’m not trying to overstate my role in it, the drop in

the ocean that I am, but the principle is the same, these

beautiful theatres that were built a long time ago for a

reason, to get people to come together, and it’s very

good to see that people still want to do that, possibly

more than ever.’’

So, for these and other reasons Alan is very

pleased to be back on stage, microphone in hand.

In between, there have been those two memoirs

and his TV work, not to mention a third child

with wife of almost 20 years Katie Maskell, but

stand-up, he says, in terms of his professional life,

remains central.

‘‘Walking out onto the stage and going up to

the microphone is the best place for me.”

There’s also the opportunity with stand-up to

go off-piste and riff on the spot, he says. It’s part

of the joy – and something that has translated well

to his long-running stint on QI.

‘‘QI is always off the cuff, you never know what’s

going on. The pictures come up, the facts start

coming, the question’s asked, no-one knows what

it means, and you’ve all got to work together in

the room. You can’t pre-write any jokes, you’ve

got to collaborate and you’ve got to think off the

cuff, and I love that, I’ve always liked that.’’

Alan has played Dunedin’s Regent Theatre

before, remembers it warmly and repeats his

belief in the ability of such places to bring

people together.

‘‘They’re from your street, your neighbourhood,

your old school, your workplace. This is Dunedin

on show, and I know people will have travelled

into Dunedin from other towns around too, and

everyone coming together in one place and being

together in one room is a reminder that that’s

what we are – we’re a big community of people,

and our similarities far outweigh our differences.’’

‘‘That’s why whenever I hear about a new

theatre being built, or an old theatre being saved, I

think good, good, good. We need these places, we

need the Regents of the world.’’

Alan Davies, Think Ahead, Christchurch Town Hall, August 12 and Regent Theatre, Dunedin, August 13, 2026.

OVER

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28 Magazine | Feature

The zine scene

Artist, academic and author of Zines NZ: Punk to Present – the first

ever history of zines in Aotearoa – Bryce Galloway talks more on

the local small-batch-print phenomenon and shares some standouts.

Bryce, how long have you been kicking around in

the zine world?

There were zines in my orbit before I was really

thinking about them. Friends from art school and

elsewhere put together the seminal Daughters of

Slaughter women in comics publication, my bandmate

and his girlfriend edited a collaborative one called

Plastic Green Trees, our musician friend from England –

Mr Snakes – was making something called Circuit 47.

I first made my own in 2002 after releasing a solo

album that was getting no attention from the music

press. I thought, back in the day, when punk was

ignored, fans and musicians just photocopied their

own press to fill the void, so I made a cheeky bit of

promotion for my ignored solo album. That was the

first issue of Incredibly Hot Sex with Hideous People.

Zines are so ephemeral and so few libraries have

collections of them. Is this part of the reason you

felt it was time to tell a history?

The history project came from a genuine self-interest

in finding the thread from today’s plethora of zinefests

back to the punk rock zines of early 80s Aotearoa.

In 2015 I wrote a rather subjective history of 21st

century zines in Aotearoa. I released this as issue 56 of

Incredibly Hot Sex with Hideous People, also presenting

it at pop culture and bibliographic conferences.

I was thinking, who’s qualified, who could I

commission to research and write the earlier part of

Aotearoa’s zine history? Eventually I decided I should

just take the job on myself.

Do you also feel that they’ve been overlooked,

and even looked down upon, by the art/publishing/

library world?

I’m sure they’ve been looked down upon, but many in

the zine scene wouldn’t have it any other way.

For all those who celebrate the growth in this

media, there’s others who see the shift from scrappy

punk zines and zinefests in community halls to

zinefests in major galleries and the like as evidence

that zines have lost their edge.

I don’t think that’s true, but there’s something to be

said for the aesthetic challenge made by your scrappy

punk zines versus your well-crafted Risograph-printed

chapbook for example.

It would obviously have been impossible to include

every zinester in the book. How did you make your

selection of who you’d talk to?

Both the publisher and I were thinking that 50

interviewees was an ambitious but doable number for

this book.

Once I started to break that down into decades and

regions I realised that really only allowed for a couple

of voices from each region per decade, e.g. a couple

of Ōtepoti zinesters from the 80s, a couple of 2000s

zinesters from Tāmaki Makaurau and so on.

Then it was a case of making sure there was

cultural diversity, balanced gender representation and

queer representation.

Many of those chosen are kind of a big deal in the

zine scene because they made zines for 20 years, or

started a zinefest or some such, but I balanced this by

selecting others whose interest might be more fleeting;

this is also an important aspect of zine culture –

everybody’s welcome.

Forty years on from those early punk zines, the zine

world still is active and there are good attendances at

the various zinefests. What does that signify to you?

In some ways, 80s punk and the contemporary zine

scene are completely different worlds, but then again,

zinefests are still populated by marginalised voices,

queer voices, trans voices, neuro-diverse voices, those

with political ideas not represented by mainstream

political rhetoric…

The other side of it is that the promises of the world

wide web have failed: AI, algorithms, billionaire owners

of the internet media platforms, the poverty of ‘too

much information’.

Zinesters would rather make a publication by hand

and sell it directly to another human being somewhere

like zinefest.


They can be such a labour of love to create. What’s

their role in today’s world?

Creating something by hand is great for your mental

health, increasingly so as we look to get off the screens

every waking hour and back into our bodies.

Also, the digital world and the world of internet

are all about speed. It’s good to slow down and make

something with a different kind of value.

What are a few notable South Island zines from

across the decades?

In the early eighties the Dunedin or Flying Nun sound

ran alongside more aggressive punk rock stylings. Both

had their scenes and zines. The Clean’s Robert Scott

was more likely to represent The Flying Nun ilk in his

idiosyncratic Every Secret Thing (Chch) as was Richard

Langston in Garage.

A 2006 documentary on the spikier local punk scene

was called The Other Dunedin Sound in acknowledgement

that the bands of that ilk remained underground. PMT

zine by John Farrow and Tracey Wedge was amongst

the zines repping that spikier scene.

Comics artists made comics, but the short-run DIY

nature of many also fits the zine definition. The comic

Fly Paper started by Gregory Edwards comes to mind, as

do the Ballon D’comics of band Ballon D’Essai (Chch) and

the one-off minicomics of Tony Renouf.

In 2011, Dunedin and Christchurch both launched

zinefests. Both would become annual events, and switch

to te reo Māori place names. Ōtepoti Zinefest retains

some of the original punk spirit, running out of

‘post-capitalist’ café Yours. Ōtautahi Zinefest runs

out of Christchurch Art Gallery.

Either way, zines have exploded; comics and punk

rock journalism now rub shoulders with poetry,

photo zines, collage zines, diaries, sketchbooks,

papery memes and more.

In your view, best zine cover of all time? Why?

Let’s go for a three-way tie between: Submission #3

(Ania Glowacz) from the 80s for graphic punch and

its mix of photocopying and fluoro spray paint; 90s

Daughters of Slaughter (Stella Corkery) for freehand

organic goodness and being right there at the start

of Riot Grrrl despite being separated from Riot

Grrrl’s US origins by an ocean; and Daily Secretion

#3 for its abject ziney title and Hannah Salmon’s

detailed yet graphic drawing prowess.

Saddest zine back story?

All the climate change zines yet to come out.

Weirdest?

Damn, I can’t remember the title but I saw one

recently that slavishly indexed every lyrical word

used on some heavy metal album.

Will you always be fascinated by them?

Until the dementia takes hold and I find their

idiosyncrasy just too bewildering. Perhaps even then.

“Creating something by hand is great for your mental health, increasingly so

as we look to get off the screens every waking hour and back into our bodies.”

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Harvest in the wild

A lucky group of local Archibalds customers recently took a deliciously wild roadie

to a secret Banks Peninsula beach with top Lyttelton-based chef Giulio Sturla.

WORDS JOSIE STEENHART | PHOTOS LIGHTCHASERS | RECIPE GIULIO STURLA

On an overcast and misty morning in March,

six new-model MY26 Defenders in signature

Woolstone Green left the Archibalds Land Rover

Christchurch showroom in formation, and, following GPS

directions, headed for the hills.

Inside each were a handful of local Land Rover

enthusiasts, including a special guest, rugby legend Scott

Robertson, aka Razor. Also on board was celebrated

Lyttelton chef, Giulio Sturla, who formerly ran awardwinning

restaurant Roots in the little port town, and

now owns (also award-winning) Mapu out of the

same wonderful old building on London Street.

As well as his six-seater test kitchen, Giulio has

set the Mapu experience up to be mobile, regularly

taking the elevated offering on the road (or into the

skies) to wherever his customers wish to dine.


“It’s very important for me that Mapu is not something

that only happens in between four walls in one place.

Not everybody wants to be in a restaurant. A lot of

people find beauty in nature, find beauty in different

locations,” he says.

For Archibald’s too, “the experience is everything,” says

events and sponsorship coordinator Desireé de Ruiter.

“Recently, we took a group of guests to Flockhill Lodge

with Range Rover for a ‘trust the chef’ experience,

continuing our surprise-and-delight philosophy. Guests only

discovered the luxury destination as they set off, travelling

through the stunning scenery of the Southern Alps.

“We’ve also hosted Defender customers at Lake

Coleridge for an off-road adventure through rugged

terrain, followed by wood-fired pizza served in a teepee

set up on location, combining capability, exploration, and

relaxed hospitality in such a stunning setting.

“This approach allows us to showcase the vehicles in

real-world environments while leaning into the luxury

they are designed to deliver. Carefully curated drives that

highlight the vehicle’s features and identity are key to

bringing each experience to life,” she says.

“I’m always looking for unique ways for our

customers enjoy the vehicles while experiencing

something beyond their everyday routine. After

extensive research and planning, I connected with

Giulio to create a day out that combined the Defender

with an immersive, nature-based culinary experience.”

“The goal was to showcase the vehicle within our

region, so I designed the day around a journey that

highlighted both the landscape and the drive itself.”

Giulio is renowned not just for the next-level food

and dining experiences he creates, but also for his vast

knowledge of ingredients – and where to source them.

Alongside Desireé, he curated the day’s wild food

offering in order to share some of that expertise with

others – not to mention a few of his exceptional dishes.

The first stop for the Defender fleet is the Sign of

the Bellbird, an historic rest stop on Summit Road

complete with a stone structure and walls constructed

in the early 1900s – usually boasting breathtaking views,

though today they’re hidden under the mist.



“The weather was very overcast and misty to begin

with, so our first stop, we couldn’t see as much, but I

think what was interesting – they couldn’t see the views

over Banks Peninsula at that point – but they saw other

things that they’d never seen before,” says Giulio.

“Like, we found wild potatoes growing right on the

side of the little park area, we found berries, we found

mushrooms. There was manuka, other natives, which can

be utilised as well. So they were very interested in the

opportunity to see how you can find food in the wild

and take it home and produce it.”

Giulio says foraging is “amazing, because it tells the

story of the place”.

“I think one of the reasons that I fell in love with New

Zealand was when I found the opportunity to do that in this

country. It’s so available and it’s so close to every one of us.

My restaurant is in Lyttelton, and we can forage all around

the area. Everywhere in the Banks Peninsula is full of food.

“For me, it’s a sustainable way of thinking – when you

cook, you have to be able to utilise what is close to you. It

just makes sense to celebrate these things that are there.

“And then the uniqueness of the flavour you can create

with these ingredients, the uniqueness of varieties, and

the uniqueness for the people that want to try them –

because it’s not a normal product that you can find in the

supermarket, in the shops. I think opens people’s eyes to

something different and probably more connected with

the environment.”

For those wanting to try their hand at foraging,

Giulio says we’re spoiled for choice – but to do some

homework first.

“I’ve been all around New Zealand, you have food

all the way from Stewart Island to the top of the North

Island, it’s abundance everywhere you go. You just need to

know what to look for. Obviously, it’s very important to be

educated about eating from the wild. There are things that

can make you sick. But those are the few compared to the

amount of things that can make you feel good and offer

the opportunity to eat something delicious.

“I really recommend finding food where less people

are around because it’s just cleaner. If you find a good

place where no one goes there is an incredible location

to forage and try something new.”

After their own introduction to foraging, Defender

guests then got their first taste of Mapu.

“We had the first tasting there, right on the top of the

hill – a harakeke seed bread with flax seeds I harvested

by hand, and that was served with yoghurt as well, made

with coconut, and my own milk yoghurt, cow’s milk,

granola and wild peach jam.”

With the skies clearing, the group jumped back into

their Defenders and headed on to one of Giulio’s

favourite spots on Banks Peninsula.

A keen surfer in his downtime, Giulio was introduced

to Magnet Bay as a surfing destination (it turns out that

Scott Robertson also surfs here), but he soon realised

the rugged beach, located down a steep gravel road, had

other charms as well.

“I like to surf in my time off, and I knew that Magnet

Bay was a great location for surfing. It’s the first bay of

the southern bays in Banks Peninsula, so pretty close to

Christchurch, but also for me, I was enchanted by the

emptiness of it, and the wildness and the lack of people

in the area.

“So I kept coming back and that’s how I started to

discover that when you don’t have a big day, a good day

for waves, you can go snorkelling and you have pāua,

you have crayfish, you have seaweed, you have fish…

well, the seals, which you don’t want to swim around

– but you know, it’s something beautiful to see nature

when there are no people around. And that’s why it’s a

place that I keep coming back to, but for me there’s also

the kelp, a very important ingredient in my kitchen.”

Arriving that day in Magnet Bay, Giulio says the

weather “was turning a little bit better, with the

clouds going away. We arrived at the beach, and

it was incredible. It was low tide, we had seals

swimming around. I explained about the coastal

greens you can harvest from the beach, like samphire,

New Zealand spinach, sheep sorrel, all those things

are growing there”.

“It was pretty wild, because it’s such a beautiful place,

but it was only us, you know, six Defenders, 24 people,

just enjoying a beautiful, magical place, and no one else

around. We walked a bit, and then we had lunch –

pickled seaweed, a seaweed oil, avocado, brown rice

– kind of like a vegetarian poke bowl – with seaweed I’d

harvested from Magnet Bay a few weeks in advance.”

For such a stunning place, why does he think no one

else is ever there?

“Well, the road is a little bit hard, it’s a gravel road.

When you get on the top of the hill, and look down…

and there are no services as well, there’s no cell phone

service for some companies, and pretty much if

something happened to you down there it’s very hard

to get out of there. So, I think it’s the isolation of it. It’s

funny to say, as it’s pretty much 20 minutes from Little

River, but it’s still so far away at the same time.

“But it was nice to go in the Defender. It was very

comfy, very spacious, and the best part – when we

got to the bottom of the Magnet Bay road, there’s a

very rough area with large tree roots, like very big –

we could elevate the car, it can be lifted by pressing a

button, so you can go off-road very nicely over these

roots without any problem. It was really cool to see

the full potential of the Defender.”

Desireé says one of the special day’s biggest highlights

was for their customers “to have the opportunity to

take part in something completely different”.

“Initially, the customers had no idea what the

experience entailed, as we intentionally aim to surprise

and delight through both the journey and the locations”.

“In addition, our customers had the opportunity to

drive the latest MY26 Defender from carefully selected

stopping points along the route, allowing them to fully

engage with the vehicle throughout the experience.”

36 Magazine | Recipe

HARAKEKE POTATO BREAD

This bread mix is very convenient for home use because the dough can be made in

advance and stored in the fridge for up to two weeks if you have it covered properly,

so you can just pull out the amount of dough you need. You can shape into flatbread

of any size or even roll out thinner into a kind of tortilla/wrap. If you don’t have

harakeke seeds you can swap with other seeds, toasted grains or toasted chopped

nuts, or just leave it plain. It works with almost any topping/filling. For the Defender

experience I served it topped with Canterbury wagyu beef that was seasoned with

a salsa made of wild parsley and wild onion from Lyttelton, locally foraged porcini

mushrooms and a little bit of my own maple vinegar made with apples and pears.

350g potatoes (to make 300g fermented potato)

360g plain flour

120ml water

3g harakeke (native flax) seeds

6g salt

FOR FERMENTED POTATOES

Cook potatoes with skin on in boiling water until

thoroughly cooked, strain and leave to cool.

Once cool, peel the potatoes and put a 300g amount

into a vacuum bag with the salt. (If you don’t have

a vacuum sealer use a plastic bag with a secure seal

and ensure 100% of the air is squeezed out.)

Completely seal the bag and leave to ferment for

seven days.

FOR BREAD PREPARATION

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and

mix with a dough hook until combined.

Rest dough overnight.

Roll out 60g portions and flatten to cook over

the grill or barbecue until cooked in the middle

(around 5 minutes depending on the heat).

Serve with your choice of topping.

Grit, grace: 20 years on the water

There’s a specific kind of silence you only find on the Selwyn

River at 5:30am. It’s cold, and the kind of Canterbury cold

that bites through layers. For the rowers of St Thomas of

Canterbury College, it’s where the day begins.

Unlike the polished boathouses you’ll see in the headlines, our

fleet lives outside. Our boats sit on racks 100 percent of the

time, exposed to the elements. They aren’t the newest or the

flashiest; in fact, until very recently, we hadn’t seen a brandnew

hull in nearly a decade. But there is a certain Manawa, a

heart and spirit, that grows in an environment where nothing is

handed to you on a silver platter.

Take our Under-17 Pair, for instance. This year, they didn’t just

compete; they took the national title. They did it in a 13-yearold

boat, a second-hand purchase from St Margaret’s that we

refurbished, repainted and fitted with new slides. It’s a fast boat

with a good pedigree, sure, but it’s a living testament to our

belief that while gear matters, it’s the character of the rowers

that crosses the line first.

A legacy in the making

This year marks our 20th Jubilee, and the timing couldn’t have

been more poetic. Exactly 20 years to the day after our school

won its first-ever Maadi medal, we secured our second-ever

national title in 2026. It had been 16 years since we last stood

on that top step, and seeing that gold medal around the necks of

our U17 pair felt like the culmination of two decades of legacy.

Our programme is unique. We are fully independent, running

a high-end operation with 31 boys, 23 of whom made the

journey to Lake Ruataniwha for the 2026 Maadi Cup Regatta.

Through our in-house strength and conditioning and mental

skills programmes, we’re preparing them for life long after they

leave the water, and shaping the whole young man in front of us.

Educated Hearts and Minds and our values

At St Thomas, we speak often of ‘Educated Hearts and

Educated Minds’. In the rowing squad, this is the core philosophy

at the centre of all that we do. As for our values, you’ll see them

the boats themselves.

On the bow of every boat, the word ‘Compassion’ reminds

the boys to lead with faith. On the stern, ‘Manawa’ signifies the

heart and the willingness to sacrifice for the brother sitting in

the seat behind them.

We even divide our squad into four ‘values groups’ that

compete in everything from erg times to domestic chores at

camp, ensuring that character is built in the kitchen just as much

as on the lake.

It takes a village

We wouldn’t be where we are without our community. This

year, thanks to the incredible support of sponsors like John Jones

Steel, we finally have a custom-built trailer to safely transport

our fleet across the country.

And for the first time in eight years, we’ve just purchased our

first brand-new boat.

The programme is thriving, and the results are following. From

our first-ever U18 Eight A-Final in 2025 to qualifying two Eights

for Maadi this year, the momentum is undeniable. We’re even

looking at a squad of 40+ for 2027.

Beyond the finish line

People often ask how the boys manage 10 to 11 sessions a

week while keeping up with their studies. The reality? Our

rowers are often amongst our highest academic achievers.

The rigour of the river breeds a level of time management and

diligence that translates directly to the classroom.

Whether we’re staying at Te Whare Mahana marae in Twizel,

connecting our boys to the tangata whenua, or training through

a southerly on the Selwyn, we’re building something permanent.

We’re building men of grit who understand that success is

earned, not given.

Not only are our boys successful on the water but at St Thomas

we’re incredibly proud of the 87 percent success rate of UE

results, placing them amongst the best in the country.

As we look toward the future (and a hopeful staff entry in a

‘Corporate 8’ race later this year), we remain focused on that

simple, powerful goal:

Educated Hearts. Educated Minds. One stroke at a time.


Flower power

Longtime friends and passionate gardeners Rachel Clare and

Tryphena Cracknell share their journey to writing new book Aotearoa

in Bloom, plus just a few of their favourite native flora.

WORDS RACHEL CLARE & TRYPHENA CRACKNELL | PHOTO JACOB LEAF

We’ve been friends ever since we started secondary

school in Napier. As lovers of nature, books,

Victoriana, poetry and chocolate fondue, we quickly

formed a bond, marching around the school padlocked

together through the belt loops of our school uniform.

We coordinated our lunches (a carrot and orange salad

garnished with borage flowers was popular) and hosted

decadent dinner parties and highly curated picnics. We

even purchased matching shorts with butterflies and

flowers on them at department store DEKA (we weren’t

very cool).

In between watching Ghost at the movies and singing

our hearts out to ‘Love… Thy Will Be Done’ by Martika,

there were always flowers. We drank from old china

teacups decorated with violets, gave miniature roses as

birthday gifts, served floral-elixir parfait amour at parties,

and grew a kōwhai in a pot at the front door of our

flat in Newtown, Wellington. We tramped through the

lush coastal bush of the Abel Tasman where, even as we

gasped for air up the hills and ran low on freshwater,

we’d stop to admire the flora.

Now, middle-aged, visits to each other’s homes in

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Ahuriri Napier invariably

involve a walk around our gardens, where we grow

flowers, both those that whakapapa to Aotearoa and

introduced species.

Our 13-year-old selves would be so excited to

know that, as adults, we wrote a book about puāwai

flowers together.

This isn’t our first creative collaboration though. Back

in the third form, we worked together on a combined

mythology project incorporating Greek and Māori

stories. Several decades later, we didn’t argue over who

got to type this manuscript out, or even which plants we

chose to write about.

In fact, as soon as we started narrowing our flower

selections down, we immediately knew which ones we

wanted to cover, messaging each other ‘I’ll write about

kōwhai’, ‘I’ll do ngutukākā’ simultaneously. Our choices

were led by the plants we feel emotional connections with

– flowers that are woven into our personal stories, and

the plants we grow and love and use in our gardens now.

Others were plants we knew little of but were intrigued

by, like te pua o te rēinga Dactylanthus. There were many

Sound of Music jokes when covering the adorably fuzzy

native edelweiss, and it even inspired a playlist.

We’ve shared some mutual eye-rolling at the ‘his’ story

of botany, the dominant voice of the colonial man, and

the casual way that ownership and the word ‘discovery’

was so brazenly used for plants that were already known

and named by tangata whenua.

However, even while we’ve baulked at lenses so

different to our own, we also feel grateful to the early

Pākehā botanists, who painstakingly collected plants and

recorded so much information, aided by tangata whenua

generously sharing generations-old knowledge.

There were far too many flowers to fit into this

book. And to challenge the notion that Aotearoa isn’t a

particularly floriferous country, out of our 2400 native plant

species (80 percent of which occur nowhere else in the

world), 2071 of them produce flowers.

While some of these plants are delights often only

viewable in the wild, such as the alpine buttercup, we

also wanted to include plants that can be grown in

home gardens.

If we hope to achieve anything through writing this

book, it is to inspire others to become familiar with

Aotearoa’s many different flowering plants.

Grow them in your garden, go on excursions to see them

in nature. Embrace a gardening aesthetic that is full ngahere

bush or mingle them with favourite introduced plants.

In our own gardens, we grow harakeke alongside

roses, kawakawa with camellias, pots of rengarenga and

ngutukākā mixed with pots of succulents and salvias.

Support our native nurseries; plant, share, utilise and

advocate for all of our native flora. So many of our

taonga plants are at risk, and those that are faced with

extinction in the wild need our help and our voices, so

they might still be around for future generations.

Most of all, cultivate your own relationship with these

special plants that are of our whenua.

Extracted from Aotearoa

in Bloom: The history,

culture and practical uses of

New Zealand’s flowers by

Rachel Clare and Tryphena

Cracknell, published by

HarperCollins NZ, RRP$60.



CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Carmichaelia

odorata, C .flagelliformis and fruit, C .Williamsii and fruit,

Notospartium carmichaelia and fruit, Sarah Featon,

c. 1885, purchased 1919, Te Papa, 1992-0035-

2277/121; Bernard Spragg, Wikimedia Commons,

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Cook_Lilies_

(Ranunculus_lyallii_)_(8114907039).jpg, public domain;

Watercolour illustration of mānuka (Leptospermum

scoparium), plate 15 in New Zealand Native Trees, c.

1967, Nancy Adams CBE, Wellington, purchased 2007,

© Te Papa, CC BY 4.0, Te Papa, CA000888/006/0022;

Paula Vigus; Hannah Whittall, Wikimedia Commons,

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leucogenes_

grandiceps_195682863.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0; Phil Bendle.

10 SPECIAL SOUTH ISLAND NATIVE FLOWERS

Marlborough rock daisy: These stylish-looking blooms

are all dressed up for the weather in their fuzzy coats

of tomentum on the stems, buds and the undersides

of the leaves. This protects them from extreme

climatic conditions, such as intense sunlight, by reducing

transpiration (the water leaves ‘sweat’ out through their

pores during periods of dry or cold). These tough little

daisies are localised to the Marlborough region and the

Kaikoura coast, where you’ll find them clinging to craggy

rock faces, but they grow well throughout most of

Aotearoa, except in humid areas.

Edelweiss: We adore this flower that looks like it’s a craft

project made out of wool! (Again, this helps these plants

withstand freezing conditions.) Plus if you encounter one

in an alpine landscape, we insist you sing the famous song

from The Sound of Music.

Red-flowering mānuka: In the wild, mānuka generally has

white flowers, but these days we have lots of colourful

pink and red hybrids. One ancestor of red-flowering

mānuka today was found on Sandilands Station, north

of Canterbury, in 1898. When Canterbury wool buyer

William Nicholls wore a sprig of this red-flowering

mānuka in his buttonhole while visiting Christchurch

nursery Nairn & Sons around 1905, the nursery owner

begged for a cutting. These failed, but seeds from the

cuttings germinated and in 1912 the red-flowering

mānuka won a gold cup for the best novelty plant at

the Chelsea Flower Show. Many of the red-flowering

mānuka cultivars around today are descended from this

parent plant.

Mt Cook buttercup: Not only did these flowers become

the iconic logo of Mt Cook Airlines but they’re the biggest

buttercups in the world. It’s a bit of a ritual for trampers

to drink water from the cup-shaped leaves after rainfall.

Our scarlet, red and yellow pirita, or mistletoes, are

all found in beech forests and flower around Christmas

time. Apart from the green and the leafless mistletoe,

these are mostly endangered, and one is extinct, so it’s

a thrill to see them in full bloom. Rachel: I was thrilled

to spot one decorating a beech tree while driving

through St Arnaud on the way to the West Coast last

Christmas. In full bloom they look like a bunch of messy

tinsel shoved in a tree. Red mistletoe can also be seen

flowering at Arthur’s Pass. For yellow mistletoe, check

out Te Anau or Kepler Track. Scarlet mistletoe can be

seen flowering in the Catlins.

Tikumu (mountain daisy): Looking for some

waterproof wet-weather gear? The texture of the

underside of the leaves on this yellow and white daisy

has been compared to kid leather or suede. With

many of the species thriving in the south, tikumu is a

particular taonga for Ngāi Tahu iwi. The plant was used

as a scent and in headdresses, and was incorporated

into garments well into the 19th century, including

pōkeka (rain capes), taupa (leggings) and tahau-taupa

(shin protectors). Trade in this treasured South Island

plant extended at least as far north as Taranaki.

Southern rātā: This cold-weather-loving cousin of the

northern-dwelling pōhutukawa (they both belong to

the genus Metrosideros) are a site to behold when

they’re in full bloom. You’ll find southern rātā in the

Catlins and on the West Coast, where it grows around

the glaciers and in cloud forest at the Southern Alps

end of the Hokitika River. Tryphena: My mum grew up

in Ōtira. Every year her family would look out for the

first flowers of a special yellow rātā near their home,

and my grandad would always photograph the blooms.

Taunoka (Carmichaelia) or native broom: Central

Otago is a broom hotspot, with seven of Aotearoa’s 23

endemic species growing there. The native brooms are

a diverse bunch, coming in all shapes, scents, colours

and sizes, from towering trees to creeping dwarf forms,

with pretty yellow, pink, white or lavender flowers.

Pūwharetāiko (Brachyglottis rotundifolia): Also known

as muttonbird scrub because it grows on Rakiura

Stewart Island, the leaves of this tree daisy were once

used as postcards in the early 20th century because

they don’t roll up when dried. Eventually, in 1915, the

post service put an end to it, declaring: ‘Loose treeleaves

are prohibited, and if posted, are to be sent to

the Dead Letter Office for disposal.’ We reckon writing

leaf letters is a trend that deserves a comeback!

The fragrant tree daisy: If you’re looking for a

deliciously perfumed tree for a small garden, consider

the fragrant tree daisy (Olearia fragrantissima). It has

wiry zig-zagging branches and yellow-orange flowers

that smell like peaches and apricots! In the wild it grows

in coastal areas from Banks Peninsula to Invercargill.

Design | Magazine 43

Good foundations

What started out as a modest renovation

of a beloved 1970s Dunedin house became a

stunning, almost-entire rebuild.

WORDS KIM DUNGEY | PHOTOS PETER MCINTOSH

H

aving decided their 1970s home was not quite large

enough for them, the local doctor and lawyer started

looking for another house to buy.

But after failing to find anything to match the views,

privacy and convenience of their location near the Town Belt,

they turned to Brent Alexander of The Design Studio to

reconfigure the existing layout.

The two-storey property, which included a basement flat,

wasn’t ‘‘too bad’’, one of them explains.

However, it lacked the thermal qualities of a new build and

had some quirky features, including an area under the house

that they could drive through, ‘‘kind of like a bat cave’’.

While there was potential to expand into the large roof

space, doing so would have required rebuilding much of the

existing structure, Brent adds.

‘‘And even then it would not have produced a truly

functional area – the resulting space would still be constrained

by low, sloping ceilings and the need for dormers.”

Instead, the drive-through area under the house was filled in,

the basement strengthened and the concrete floor retained.

Everything above the foundation was demolished and in

its place there’s a contemporary addition, clad in cedar and

black aluminium.

The basement now includes the guest bedrooms and

bathroom, along with a cosy library and a wine cellar.

On the middle floor, the open-plan kitchen-dining-living

area – with cabinets and flooring in American white oak –

opens via sliding doors onto the original deck surrounded by

trees and birdlife.

A 5.2m high ceiling creates a sense of space while large

windows bring in views and light.

In contrast to these two levels, the top floor is more of a

private retreat.

The main bedroom suite includes a deck at one end and a

sitting room with floor-to-ceiling glass at the other.

In between are a large dressing room and an ensuite with

a bath cantilevered out over the bush. The glass behind the

bath can be made transparent or opaque at the flick of a

switch, providing picturesque views or privacy.

Because the house is tall and reasonably difficult to access,

a low maintenance cladding was called for – powder-coated

aluminium fitted the bill as it doesn’t need to be painted.

High windows capture sunlight year-round and cedar

louvres promote natural ventilation.

44 Magazine | Design

“Ideally, it would have had

glass walls like the one in

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, he

jokes. ‘I thought a full wall

of glass would be fine but

neither the designer nor

the engineer were similarly

enthused. Maybe they’d

seen the movie as well…’”

Design | Magazine 45

‘‘It’s essentially a new house so it’s built to very high

thermal standards,’’ Brent says.

‘‘The windows are very high spec, and it’s packed

full of insulation.’’

Cantilevering the garage over a steep, bush-clad

bank in an otherwise unusable corner of the site was

one of the architectural designer’s best ideas, one of

the owners says.

Ideally, it would have had glass walls like the one

in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, he jokes, describing how

the teen in the movie is winding back the odometer

on his father’s rare Ferrari after a joyride, when the

car falls off the jack and crashes through a full-length

window into the woods below.

‘‘I thought a full wall of glass would be fine but

neither the designer nor the engineer were similarly

enthused. Maybe they’d seen the movie as well…’’

There is, however, a barrier so they can’t easily

drive right through.

Brent says the garage – which was inspired by one

built on the side of a cliff in Wellington – involved a

massive amount of engineering.

‘‘There’s a network of beams, struts and big concrete

foundations that extend well beyond its footprint.’’

While he wouldn’t always suggest such extensive

home alterations, in this case it was justified because

the Town Belt provided so much ‘‘amenity value’’.

‘‘It’s very private and wherever you look, there’s

bush or a harbour view.’’

The project was an opportunity to convert an

ordinary building into something special and to ‘‘fight

against the challenges of the landscape’’.

‘‘We’d normally try to work with the landscape but

in this case – and I’m referring to the garage mainly –

we had to come up with an engineering solution and

make it work.’’

The owners say despite Covid lockdowns and 18

months in a rental, the build was stress-free and this

was largely due to their tradies, who included Steve

Mowat Building, Stevenson and Williams, as well as

Design Windows.

They particularly like that the house has as much

room as they need without ‘‘vast acres’’ of space they

don’t use.

‘‘It’s just the right size and, being a modern build, it’s

hugely comfortable.

‘‘There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t come

across some aspect of it that makes us glad to be

living here.’’

Seeing red

Paint the town – or at least your walls – red to add a touch

of warmth, richness and statement style to your life.

Rich, saturated shades in deep bold

hues are a short-cut to warmth and

appealing cosiness and arguably no colour

does it better than a deep shade of red.

Though it can be a little intimidating

at first thought, red is a surprisingly

versatile shade, and when you work with

the right moody tone, the results are

bold yet sophisticated and classic.

“Red isn’t for the faint-hearted, but

combined with the right shades in your

palette, red can bring just the right

amount of drama to a room,” says

Resene colour consultant Meryl Southey.

Dark, rich reds with purple or rich

quieter rooms like bedrooms, dining

rooms or sitting rooms try darker

rich reds with raisin or earthy brick

undertones for the feel of a classic

homestead, Meryl suggests.

If you like the idea of red but are

still feeling a little unsure about making

the bold commitment, a good place to

start is to look at the full spectrum of

Resene’s wine reds, which run the gamut

from deep plum Rustic Red, through

classic burgundy Merlot, to more midtoned

Vanquish, and on to more muted,

yet moody reds like Persian Red and the

almost garnet Cab Sav.

As with any bold, darker shade,

it’s important to try your favourite

Resene deep reds in your space, paying

particular attention to light, both natural

and artificial, to make sure you’re happy

with how the light plays against your

colour. If your room is naturally cooler,

or on the south side of the house, look

to deep reds with warmer undertones

like Pohutukawa or Rustic Red to bring

cosiness. For rooms that feel naturally

warm try cooler undertoned shades like

Dynamite or Merlot.

ABOVE: Colour-saturated reds lend themselves to luxurious and sophisticated looks.

Walls painted in Incarnadine, floor painted in Athena, DIY artwork in Heliotrope,

Incarnadine, Funk, Solitaire, Dawn Glow, Arriba, Pandemonium, Solitaire and Athena.

Chair, ottoman and drum table from Soren Liv, vase and flowers from Urban

Flowers, rug from Baya. Project: Amber Armitage. Image: Wendy Fenwick.

Resene

Vanquish

Once you have those colours in place,

think about whether you want to intensify

the sense of cocooning comfort, or pair

your rich reds with palette-cleansing fresh

neutrals or contrasts.

For a cocoon, try layering a heritage red

like Red Oxide with a slightly coppery-red

like Lusty, and desert red-brown Redwood.

If you prefer some freshness with your

rich reds, try peppery or brick tones like

Salsa with versatile off-whites like Double

Merino or creamier Thorndon Cream.

Meryl adds that if you want to go down

the red route, remember you don’t have to

go all in. Even touches of these bold shades

will add intensity and visual impact.

“These shades will always enliven your

space, so it becomes about balance to make

sure the space feels inviting and not chaotic.”

Top tip: to maximise the luxe feel of your

deep reds on walls use a low-sheen or

matte finish such as SpaceCote Low Sheen

or SpaceCote Flat.

Ask a Resene Colour Expert online

at resene.com/colourexpert, or book

in a colour consultation at resene.com/

colourconsult.

Resene

Salsa

Resene

Merlot

ABOVE: A bold red effectively anchors

the ethereal pink of this room. Upper

wall, floor, table and lamp base painted

in Dust Storm, lower wall and chairs

in Avante Garde, vase in Thunderbird.

Project: Amber Armitage. Image:

Wendy Fenwick.

Resene

Aubergine

Resene

Pohutukawa

LEFT: A colour-drenched room in deep red

creates a cocooning and cosy bedroom. Walls

painted in Aroha, floor washed in Colorwood

Breathe Easy, headboard in Inspire, bowl

in Black. Lights from Kmart, bedding from

Foxtrot Home, books and mug from Father

Rabbit, cushion from Baya. Project: Amber

Armitage. Image: Wendy Fenwick.

48 Magazine | Promotion

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50 Magazine | Recipes

Deliciously easy

Simple-to-follow yet elevated, fun and full of flavour – much-loved foodie

Rhiannon Baldock’s recipes are designed to inspire Kiwis to put down the

takeaway menu and put away the toaster.

RECIPES AND PHOTOS RHIANNON BALDOCK

SESAME CHICKEN SCHNITZEL WITH APPLE SLAW

There is nothing not to love about schnitzel, and this is one of my favourite ways to enjoy

it. The crispy, crunchy sesame-crumbed chicken paired with the creamy yet zesty slaw,

flecked with apple and red onion, is an undisputedly scrumptious combination. Apple

also pairs perfectly with pork, so you could sub the chicken for pork chops just as easily.

Preparation time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 10 minutes | Serves: 2

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

½ cup plain flour

2 eggs

1 ½ cups dried breadcrumbs

½ cup sesame seeds

neutral oil, for shallow frying

1 lemon, to serve

APPLE SLAW

¼ white cabbage, thinly sliced

1 green apple, cored and thinly sliced

½ red onion, thinly sliced

handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

½ cup mayonnaise

juice of ½ lemon

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon white sugar

Place the chicken thighs on a large chopping board, then

cover with cling film. Using a rolling pin or meat mallet,

pound the chicken thighs until they are an even thickness

of around 1cm.

Sprinkle the flour onto a plate and season with salt and

pepper. Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. Combine the

breadcrumbs and sesame seeds in a third shallow bowl.

Crumb the chicken thighs by dusting them with flour,

dipping them in egg, and then coating them with the

sesame crumb. Set aside on a plate.

Make the slaw by tossing the cabbage, apple, red onion

and parsley together. Separately, mix the mayonnaise,

lemon juice, mustard and sugar together and season to

taste with salt and pepper; then pour over the slaw and

toss to combine.

Place a large nonstick frying pan over a medium-high

heat, with enough oil to create a 1cm-deep layer. Once hot,

pan fry the chicken thighs on each side for 3-4 minutes,

ensuring they’re golden and cooked through (you can cut

into a piece to check; it should be opaque with no pink

juices). Set onto a plate lined with a paper towel once

cooked to catch any excess oil, then sprinkle with salt.

Serve the schnitzel piping hot alongside the slaw.

Recipes | Magazine 53

SMOKY PORK GYROS

I have always loved Greek food. It’s fresh, punchy when it needs to be, and I crave the

flavours all year round. Not long after I signed the publishing deal for my book, I spent four

months in Europe and had the joy of spending three weeks across some of the less-visited

Greek Islands, living my Mamma Mia fantasy and enjoying real Greek food for the first time.

Gyros is a dish, or more authentically a snack, that you could find on any corner for only a

couple of euros (a traveller’s dream). Filled to the brim with juicy chicken or pork, lashings

of tzatziki or garlic yoghurt, salad – and hot, crispy fries. This is my take on it, trying to pack

in as much flavour as possible and honour its origins while making it deliciously achievable.

Preparation time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 25 minutes | Serves: 4

600g boneless pork belly slices or chops

olive oil

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons dried oregano

juice of ½ lemon

450g frozen shoestring fries

tzatziki (see recipe)

pitas or flatbreads (see recipe)

shredded lettuce, diced tomato, thinly sliced red

onion, to serve

Preheat the oven to 220°C fan bake. Slice the pork

into small chunks, then put into a bowl.

Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with the

paprika, oregano, lemon juice and salt, then use

your hands to combine and massage into the pork.

Set aside.

Scatter the frozen fries onto a lined baking tray,

and cook as per packet instructions until golden

brown. Set aside and keep warm.

Thread the pork chunks onto metal skewers*,

making sure the meat is compact, then lie the

skewers on top of a wire rack set onto a lined

roasting tray. Set the oven to grill, and grill the

pork for 5–7 minutes on each side, or until cooked

through and browned.

Spread a generous amount of tzatziki onto each

pita or flatbread. Use a fork to pull the pork from

the skewers, then top the pita with the grilled

pork, fries and salad ingredients.

Wrap and secure with paper if desired, or enjoy open.

* If you don’t have metal skewers, you can use

wooden ones, just remember to soak them in water

for 10 minutes so they don’t burn in the oven.

TZATZIKI

As a lover of Mediterranean-style food, I love

tzatziki in gyros, as a barbecue condiment or

for dipping, and it’s easy to make from scratch.

Makes: around 1½ cups

½ telegraph cucumber, grated

1 cup Greek yoghurt

2 cloves garlic, minced

zest and juice of 1 lemon or 1 tablespoon white

wine vinegar

handful fresh dill or mint, chopped

Use your hands to squeeze as much liquid

from the cucumber as possible. Discard.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Season to taste with salt and white pepper and

keep stored in the fridge.

FLATBREADS

Flatbreads are so easy to make at home! To

make around six, simply mix 1 cup of Greek

or plain unsweetened yoghurt with 1 ½ cups

of self-raising flour, a drizzle of olive oil and

a sprinkling of salt until the mixture comes

together. Turn the dough out onto a bench and

knead with your hands until smooth, then cut

into 6 even-sized pieces. Bring a heavy-based

frying or cast-iron pan to a high heat. Roll the

dough balls with a dusting of flour to around

half a centimetre thick, then cook for around

1 minute on each side or until the dough has

risen and they’re golden brown. I like to brush

them with melted plain or garlic butter hot

out of the pan, then serve them straightaway

while still hot.

54 Magazine | Recipes

APPLE CUSTARD CRUMBLE

Why pour custard over the crumble, when you could make it equal star of the show? This

recipe also works beautifully with rhubarb if it is in season, and if you don’t want to make

the custard, you can buy a tub from the supermarket instead; you’ll need around 500g.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Serves: 6

CUSTARD

2 egg yolks

90g caster sugar

1½ teaspoons cornflour

500ml milk

2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract

4 green apples, peeled if desired and diced

1 tablespoon cornflour

1⅔ cups plain flour

½ cup brown sugar

180g butter, melted

pinch of cinnamon

vanilla ice cream, to serve

To make the custard, put the egg yolks, caster

sugar and cornflour in a mixing bowl and whisk

until smooth.

Put the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat

and bring to a simmer. Temper the egg mixture

by adding a dash of the hot milk to it while

stirring, then slowly stream and whisk in the

remaining milk.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and

cook while stirring over a low- medium heat for

a few minutes or until the custard has thickened

and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from

the heat, stir in the vanilla and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.

Scatter the apple pieces into an oven-safe dish,

then pour the custard evenly over the top.

Make the crumble topping by combining

the flours, brown sugar, melted butter and

cinnamon. Use your hands to squeeze the

mixture into clumps, then crumble over the top

of the custard and fruit.

Bake for 30–40 minutes, or until the topping is

golden and the fruit feels tender when tested

with a knife or skewer.

Leave the crumble to rest for 10 minutes before

serving, then enjoy.

Extracted from More

Than Toast by Rhiannon

Baldock, written and

photographed by

Rhiannon Baldock,

published by Bateman

Books, RRP$45.


Night, Ma

Multi-award-winning, best-selling Golden Bay-based writer Elizabeth Knox

shares an excerpt from her much-anticipated new memoir, Night, Ma.

My mother was a person who thought with her

hands. Which isn’t to say she wasn’t given to

reflection—she was, and she very much enjoyed

telling or hearing stories about what people said and

did. She and I would spend hours analysing why such

and such a person might say this, or do that. About

human beings she was neither believer nor doubter,

only endlessly interested in other people’s behaviour

and thinking, in how they organised their ideas of

themselves according to their views of the world, and

how those views might be deduced, both from what

they did and from how they explained themselves.

I think I’m a novelist partly because of

those conversations.

When Mum came to make things, she always

began with her hands. She had to have the materials

in front of her. Two yards of orange-and-white

cotton gingham. A freezer full of Black Doris plums.

A gap in the garden where a hebe might go nicely.

Mum wasn’t a contented or apt online shopper.

Indeed, once going out involved a wheelchair, it was

suggested to her by daughters that Farmers had a

website, and that browsing and choosing from a

website might be less of a bother. After all, she had

shopped out of catalogues—Living Nature and Postie

Fashions—‘with variable success,’ she’d say. A year

after her diagnosis, when we’d take her out, she’d get

in among the racks at Farmers, pinching fabrics to

see what kept a crease, and delving for the label low

down inside the garment, the label that would give

her its percentages, cotton to polypropylene, Tencel

to spandex. There’d always be too many clothes

crowded in too small a floor space, even in quarteracre-sized

stores, and she would have to manoeuvre

her wheelchair through wobbling carousels with

sleeves and sleeves trailing over her busy hands.

Mum reasoned and calculated by touch. She built a

rock garden at our house in Paremata, perhaps having

planned where to put various shrubs—depending

on wind and sun—but certainly not planning where

the rocks might go. Dad had acquired those. He had

driven over to the Wairarapa and backed onto a

riverbed. He’d made a ramp with a couple of two-bytens,

and used a crowbar to free boulders, then main

force to roll them up into the boot of the Torana.

He’d driven back home with great care, the drive

wheels not really doing their best connecting with the

road on the upward slope of the Remutaka Hill and,

on the downhill, the weight in the boot propelling

him rather too quickly. Dad put the rocks roughly

where Mum wanted them. Got them down from the

kerb on Bayview Road. But of course Mum changed

her mind, deciding, for example, that it would be

better to make a hole and sink the sharp end of that

particular rock so that the flat side would offer a

warm seat to anyone wanting to perch beside the

daphne to drink their coffee.

I have a clear memory of watching her, out in the

mud, in her old tramping parka, her hair plastered

to her forehead, bulldozing a boulder up the slope.

She was five foot and usually weighed around 60

kilos. Her fingernails were always cracked and often

spotted with black blood blisters.

Mum is holding a tree trimmer and performing a

kind of dance with her tall partner, the ornamental

plum. She positions the trimmer’s blades, then hauls

the nylon cord that closes them. There is a rain of

purple leaves, a crack, and she steps deftly back for

the branch that drops at her feet.

Mum has secateurs. I don’t know what she’s doing

with them, apart from threatening me as I go past on

my way about some activity far less hands-on.

Sometimes I worry about her and offer my help,

then cause her great amusement by vigorously

attacking a branch with the blunt side of the saw.

Mum shuts one eye and lifts the weight off the

valve of the pressure cooker. Mum squeezes the

pillowcase stuffed with crushed apples and tied

to the bathtub tap in order to release juice that is

brown now but, with boiled sugar and extra pectin,

will magically become jewel-pink apple jelly. Mum

stalks a blowfly around the lounge with her fly swat,

saying, when it lands on the light shade, ‘Oh come

here, bother you.’ Mum slides open the glass door of

the mouse cage and lets our pet mice out into our

bedroom where they run around all day, their tails

high with happiness.


In the evenings of those Picton visits, Jack would curl

up on the divan in the sunroom with Mum’s big tabby,

Cheeky, tucked in the crook of his knees. A large cat, solid

of muscle, soft of fat, thick of fur, Cheeky appreciated the

sizable docking bay behind Jack’s bent legs.

Jack would read. Mum would cut up Cheeky’s

nightly helping of chicken breast then, when he didn’t

immediately come to get it, she’d slip the plate under

his nose wherever he was sitting: on the couch, on the

carpet, on the divan in the sunroom. Even when his

back was firmly turned to the noise of the kitchen, Mum

would pursue Cheeky with food. Then she’d do food

prep while I washed the wall above the splashback, out

of the reach of her short arms, and her eyes, which

were now missing fly specks and bits of concretised

garlic. While we worked we’d have white wine. Mum

had started mixing hers with lemonade. ‘It’s too

astringent neat,’ she explained. ‘It makes me cough.’

She was coughing a lot. Things were always ‘going

down the wrong pipe’.

Our talking always meant dinner was slow—and later

anyway than home, where it better suited Fergus’s blood

sugar management to eat around six-thirty.

When Fergus was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes,

when Jack was still under two, I thought the rigid

mealtimes were a terrible oppression, coming as they

did on top of the still-recent constraints of parenthood.

But they were better for everyone. Dinner on the table

when everyone was hungry. Dinner for adults and

child—no special children’s meals served at five-thirty,

so that the children would be bathed and ready for bed

when the husband came in from the bank or insurance

firm or minister’s office. At our house we still eat

together at six or six-thirty and have the whole evening

ahead of us to write another chapter, or check the

proofs, or read a book or manuscript, or watch TV on a

computer, as Jack and I did for several years, snuggled up

in my bed, head to head, my laptop between us.

At Picton dinner was late and, rather than complain,

Jack would quietly come into the kitchen and shut

himself in the pantry. We wouldn’t notice. Sometime

later Mum would go to fetch—say—arrowroot to

thicken the gravy. She’d open the doors and there would

be Jack, leering at her. He did it often and got the same

satisfying reaction every time. She’d jump, then burst into

her deep giggles, and prod him out of the way with the

backs of her wrists. ‘What are you doing in there? Are

you hungry? Would you like…’ Crackers and chicken

pâté, crackers and Barry’s Bay cheeses. Mum loved to

feed Jack, loved to see the butter on his chin, or the pile

of stripped pork bones on his plate.

I can stop now with the sacramental everyday. Those

visits, when Jack was nine to fifteen, from minigolf on the

shore reserve to lying on the divan with his feet thrust

“Going to Picton to

visit Mum always

made me happy. It’s

happiness I remember.

That’s the foreground.

But someone has cut

holes in the backdrop.”

out of the covers and propped up on Mum’s adjustable

sewing chair, in the dark, his face lit blue, silent but for

the chattering-teeth noise of his gamer’s thumbs on the

buttons of his Nokia, texting his girlfriend.

Going to Picton to visit Mum always made me happy.

It’s happiness I remember. That’s the foreground. But

someone has cut holes in the backdrop. There is a slip

before the start of the track to Bob’s Bay and it’s come

down on one of the stray cats who live in the bush

above the yacht club. It has rained. The cat’s black fur is

washed and dried and, lying there, its body is absorbing

the light like a little hole in the world. Or I’m coming in

at five on the two o’clock sailing in a blue winter dusk. A

heron is our pilot, skimming in, its body and reflection

bent wingtip to wingtip. Picton is lying under the smoke

of its hearth fires, and that’s the only smell, woodsmoke.

I can’t smell the beech trees on the headland.

Mum is there to meet me at the ferry terminal. She

cries when I come down the gangway. This woman who

never cries. And the next day when I come in from my

favourite waterfront cafe, where I’ve gone to read the

weekend papers Mum doesn’t subscribe to, I find her

sunning herself in the sheltered courtyard directly inside

the tinny-house fence. She’s still full of feeling. That’s

what I think it is. I think I shouldn’t have gone out. Before

she speaks I can see the motion of a muscle trembling in

her cheek, because the sunlight is shimmering in the soft

down there. Her voice cracks and wavers. Did I go past

the Trade Aid shop? Was Shona—her youngest sister—

volunteering there this morning?

‘I didn’t go that way. We can check later when we

shop. Have you got a cold, Ma?’

‘I’ve hardly spoken to anyone today,’ she says. ‘It takes

a while for my voice to warm up.’

I sit beside her on the bench and ask about a plant,

her new muehlenbeckia. She tells me about its pot

which she got in the Pottery Barn at Blenheim. She runs

the engine of her voice. I listen to that faulty valve, and

think nothing of it.

Edited extract from Night Ma: A Memoir by Elizabeth Knox, published by Te Herenga Waka University Press, RRP$40.

60 Magazine | Read

Book club

Great new reads to please even the pickiest of bookworms.

The Things We Never Say

Elizabeth Strout | Penguin, $38

Artie Dam spends his days teaching history to

high schoolers, expanding their young minds and

lending a kind word to those who need it most.

He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three

decades, makes small talk with neighbours,

and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the

beautiful Massachusetts Bay. But inside, Artie is

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Every Wild Soul

Katherine Johnson | HarperCollins, $38

On Tasmania’s wild and remote Maria Island, 18-yearold

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Maybe Baby

Emma Neale | Bateman, $39

Nate, a grieving widower, is determined to

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Slash

Gavin Strawhan | Allen & Unwin, $38

From the author of the globally bestselling, awardwinning

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takes her from the wrecked forests of Tairāwhiti to the

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a killer who’d do anything to keep the past buried.

Read | Magazine 61

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Gabriel Tallent | Fig Tree, $38

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Song of the Saltings

Rachael King | Allen & Unwin, $28

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62 Magazine | Arts

Painting down roots

Dunedin’s art community has gained

another member with last year’s Frances

Hodgkins Fellow Reece King – whose new

exhibition recently opened at the Hocken

– deciding to stay in the city.

WORDS REBECCA FOX

Reece King has always wanted to paint big – wallsize

big – but never had the opportunity to do so

properly until last year.

As the Frances Hodgkins Fellow, Reece had access to

a studio with a large wall space for a year, enabling him

to create as large as his heart desired.

While he has attempted large-scale works before, he

had always had to work on them on the floor which did

not give him the opportunity to look at them “properly”.

“This was the first studio that had a big enough wall

to see the big paintings through,” he says.

The large-scale works appealed as it gave Reece

the opportunity to create all-encompassing works

that engulf the viewer, looking down on them,

demanding consideration.

“I want people to sit down, recalibrate, slow down.

That’s why I put the couches in here as well and have

it not totally abstract, where there’s nothing definable,

but not totally figurative or it’s too literal. We get to that

point between abstract and literal painting, which I think

allows you to really slow down and think, ‘what am I

looking at?’ – it makes you think differently.”

During the 12-month fellowship he made about 10

to 12 large-scale paintings, and rather than following a

theme allowed the works to paint themselves.

“I don’t want to give anyone answers.”

Given the size of the works, using normal artist’s

paints at $50 a tube was not an option, so Reece

sourced whatever house paint he could.

“I’m into grey at the moment. Grey is good because I

like the opacity of it. I can paint over things easily.

“I like to create colour combinations that I wouldn’t

necessarily think about. It’s sort of like painting over

graffiti or something, or old houses where you try and

colour match it, but they don’t quite match, and you get

these unexpected cool colours, sort of like Dunedin. It’s

all these mixes of colours. You can’t pick the colours,

but they’re perfect.”

Traditional acrylics are used in small areas where

more details and washier colours are called for.

While he brought brushes back into his practice last

year, most of the works are painted using rollers, rags

and the occasional splash of water as the paint is layered

and removed by rubbing or sanding, depending on the

work’s direction.

In other works, such as ‘Razzle, Dazzle’ and ‘Up, up

and away’, he has used airbrushing, starting out with light

circles and keeping going until he could see something in

the work and then going over it repeatedly.

The large works, which often feature an abstract

figure, can take anything from three months to a year to

finish. Some he sets aside until they are dry, then rolls

them up until he is ready to take another look; others

like ‘The Conductor’ are left on the floor until he is

ready to hang them and continue working on them.

“I keep working on them until they come forward and

I can create a world for them to be happy in.”

Taking a break from the large works, Reece also

experimented with more traditional-sized works using

wet pastel, which turns paint-like when it dries.

“Tubes of paint are so expensive now, but with pastel

you can buy a 24-pack. You have 24 different colours for

the same price you could buy one tube, so I had all the

colours at hand in one go. So I really liked that. It’s a bit of

a challenge because it dries a different colour to what you

put it down on. When you put it down wet, everything’s

quite deep, and then it dries – it goes quite light.”

Despite knowing he would be exhibiting his work

from last year in the Hocken gallery, Reece hadn’t really

imagined the work in the space.

“I was worried that the show wasn’t working but then I

brought it into the space and everything worked out.”

Two works in particular were problematic. Initially

starting out as a diptych, Reece decided it wasn’t working

and painted the two works separately.

“Then I brought them into this space. In the studio it

wasn’t working but this space was created for the work. It

was really easy.”

The two works have been hung side by side in the end

gallery as ‘Great Hall’ – as if made for each other.

The exhibition’s name, The Ogee & Manaia, comes from

the many observations Reece wrote in his studio notebook

during the year. An ogee is an s-shaped architectural

feature, while manaia is a spiritual guardian figure.

Reece, who grew up in Te Henga on the west coast

of Auckland, holds a Master of Design in painting (2021)

and a Bachelor of Design and Visual Arts (2012) from

Unitec, and is determined that on every painting he tries

something new.

ABOVE: Artist Reece King in front of ‘Great Hall’, 2025,

acrylic enamel on canvas, 7400 x 2660mm.

Photo Craig Baxter

“I don’t like doing the same thing over and over

again. I like to always challenge myself and always

think of a different way to get to the same place,

which is the finished painting. If I start repeating

something too much, it gets a bit boring, like eating

the same dinner every day.”

While there may be linkages between some of

Reece’s works, they are usually spaced far apart in

time and varied.

After a year of intensive work as part of the

fellowship, Reece decided it was time to take a

break from painting. Now a month later, he is

ready to get back into it although in a much smaller

space – the spare bedroom of his Dunedin flat.

“So it’ll be a bit smaller I think, maybe more

drawing-based.”

64 Magazine | Arts

For him, art has never been optional: it is just part of him.

He has been drawing, painting and designing since he was a

child, getting more serious as he grew up.

“I think it’s a by-product of me being alive anyway. I’ve

just naturally been in the art world.”

Reece opened Sanc Gallery in Auckland in 2021 in

response to his and his friends’ struggle to get their

paintings shown in an art world focused on installation and

other forms of art.

“Everyone was anti-painting for a while, so I made

a gallery to sort of champion painting and – to quote

someone – to make painting cool again. And I think I did

that and now everyone wants to show paintings again.”

Experience with the gallery made him proud to be a painter.

“I don’t need to hide that with harder statements or

academic ideas that aren’t anything to do with painting.

Painting is very academic and all of that without disguising

it. So I think ‘just champion painting’ is what I got from that

and to just stick to my guns and keep going.”

It has taken a lot of hard work and discipline to get to

where he is. Reece was awarded the Church Road Art

Initiative (2023), a residency at Eden Arts Karekare House

(2021), and the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking

Award (2020).

“Consistency. Rigorously going to the studio every single

day for at least 10 years before anyone starts to notice.

You’ve almost got to trick people into initially looking. Once

a few people do, then a lot more people start to notice.”

His work has been exhibited at Auckland Art Gallery

Toi o Tāmaki, Anna Miles Gallery (Auckland), Gallery

9 (Sydney), CoCA – Centre of Contemporary Art

(Christchurch) and PEG Gallery (Wellington).

Now that his work is hanging in Dunedin, he feels like

there has been some sort of creative force behind his time

in the city.

“In retrospect now that we’ve got the shows up I feel

like there’s been a force behind it. Maybe seeing them all

together I can recognise it now. I quite like that energy and

I want to continue tapping into it.”

He has been enjoying the more relaxed art community in

the city and people’s genuine interest in his work which he

has found to be quite refreshing, “coming from Auckland”.

ABOVE: Reece King, The Ogee & Manaia,

installation views. Photos Reece King

Reece King, The Ogee & Manaia, Hocken Gallery, Dunedin, to August 1, 2026.

9 May - 1 June 2026

OPENING EVENT 9 May 2pm

FERAL GRACE

Vashti Johnstone

03 325 1944

art@littlerivergallery.com

littlerivergallery.com

Main Rd, Little River

Book Your Free In-Home Consultation Today! 0800 502 333

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66 Magazine | Last Word

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WORDS MIKEY BONES

PHOTO SPIKE SIGHT

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A Phil [Baker] from Papa Smashies was approached

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The lead-up to the stadium has been very

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5

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