CURTAIN CALL
A hit TV show has exposed one of the Bay’s best-kept secrets. We’re a powerhouse of performance and creativity, from an amateur theatre company that’s been staging productions for almost a century, to the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the praise of one of Aotearoa’s most beloved actresses. As they all tell UNO, the show is far from over.
A hit TV show has exposed one of the Bay’s best-kept secrets. We’re
a powerhouse of performance and creativity, from an amateur theatre
company that’s been staging productions for almost a century, to the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the praise of one of Aotearoa’s most beloved actresses. As they all tell UNO, the show is far from over.
WORDS KARL PUSCHMANN | PHOTOS ALAN GIBSON + SUPPLIED
The Bay’s performing arts scene may not get the same recognition as that of the main centres, but it’s been an integral part of our identity for close to 100 years. In fact, the talent here could be our best-kept secret. With our thriving theatre scene, love of music and festivals, and abundance of visual artists and designers, it feels as if creativity’s no longer happening on the sideline – it’s being celebrated.
No three people understand that more than the president of one of the country’s longest-running theatre companies; the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, who studied to become a dancer right here in the Bay; and an international acting superstar. They each represent different corners of the creative world, but their stories all revolve around the sense of community, and the opportunities, encouragement and audiences that are found here.
Actor Tom Kay backstage as Lord Wessex in 16th Ave Theatre’s Shakespeare In Love.
LOCAL LEGENDS
“We’re one of the oldest theatres in New Zealand,” says Heather Graham, with more than a hint of pride at this Tauranga stalwart’s achievement. “The only time we didn’t have any plays going was during COVID.”
Heather’s the president of 16th Ave Theatre, the much-loved amateur outfit that first raised its curtains back in 1936 and has been powered by what she describes as “passionate volunteers” ever since.
16th Ave Theatre is a true Aotearoa institution. It first opened way back in 1936 and has since become a place for enthusiasts of all ages to come together. During this impressive run, Heather says whole generations of the same families have graced its stage, worked behindthe scenes and joined the committee.
“There are probably about half a dozen families where the grandparents, their children and their grandchildren are all involved,” she says. “The theatre really does appeal to all generations.”
Heather says the longevity of this thriving creative community comes down to its welcoming nature.
“All you need to do is want to be involved.”
She says people join for all sorts of reasons. There’s a love of the theatre, of course, but there are also people looking to expand their social activities, others looking to try something new, and some who’ve decided to return to something they loved at school. Acting, building sets, making props or even just helping people find their seats before a show – there’s a place for anyone who’s keen to take part.
The core volunteer group currently consists of around 60 to 70 people, with about 50 front-of-house volunteers waiting in the wings. “We’re all volunteers, so nobody gets paid,” says Heather. “It’s there for the community. Just come and join in, because we love sharing what we’ve got.”
Each year, 16th Ave stages four major productions, alongside smaller ones and play readings. As part of their 90th birthday celebrations, they recently performed the first two one-act plays the company has ever staged, The Green Monkey and The Bishop’s Candlesticks. The next big show is the comedy Lend Me A Soprano, which opens in late November.
The company moved into its current location in 1954, and now boast a 150-seat main auditorium, plus a bar and café area that can double as a black-box theatre seating around 30 to 40 people.
“We open our theatre to outside performers to hire,” says Heather, noting that many people are involved with more than one theatre company, creating a sense of collaboration and shared talent across the city.
Heather’s own journey started humbly. She didn’t have a background in theatre, but a work friend was directing a play at 16th Ave and asked if she could help out backstage, managing the props, saying, “You look like you need something new to do.” Eighteen years later, she’s president. It’s safe to say the acting bug got her, even if she’s not always acting.
When asked why so many people volunteer their time and put so much effort into putting on productions, Heather doesn’t hesitate to answer. “It’s their love of theatre and the sense of belonging you get here,” she says.
Her reply is equally quick when asked why, in this age of YouTube and doomscrolling, audiences are still showing up. “Because the performances are real. You feel a part of it, and you can feel the emotion in the room.”
A WORLD OF TALENT
The connection between performer and audience is something ballet dancer Ty King-Wall understands intimately. “I started to get really serious about dancing when I was a teenager,” he says. “My training was in Tauranga, so we’d drive half an hour over to Tauranga from Katikati nearly every day to train at the Dance Education Centre.”
Today, Ty is the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB), but his journey to the top of the country’s ballet world began right here. For him, the Bay of Plenty was the place where his dreams of a creative life became real.
Ty, who grew up in Waihi and later near Katikati, says his teacher Scott Millen played a critical role in his development at the now-closed Dance Education Centre.
“Often for boys, doing ballet is quite an isolating experience,” he says, “so to have a male teacher role model at that pivotal time was really important for me.”
Ty had become interested in dance after seeing a RNZB performance of the classic fairytale Cinderella, but it was sitting in the audience for a production of famous ballet Swan Lake that changed his world.
He was enraptured, and vividly remembers thinking, ‘That’s what I want to be doing’. He went all in on making that happen, becoming a devoted follower of the RNZB, driving to Auckland to watch three performances a year, and training and competing in Tauranga.
It was an exciting time, with “a constant influx of ideas, and different creatives”. Eventually, his hard work landed him the opportunity to train at the Australian Ballet School. He smiles fondly as he recalls the region supporting him with vital fundraising drives.
“I really felt Katikati and Tauranga getting behind me in a big way,” he says, adding that it was the essential support he needed to pursue an international career. This gave him a strong belief in the role communities can play in developing artists.
RNZB’s artistic director Ty King-Wall.
“Our young artists are the future. Any support you can give them to follow their dreams and their love is crucial, especially at that formative time.”
This support, he says, doesn’t need to be financial. Attending the shows and productions that are being staged around the region is invaluable. It’s also great entertainment and a lot of fun.
After a celebrated career on stage, Ty now heads one of Aotearoa’s most prominent performing arts companies, but even at the top, he’s quick to stress the importance of grassroots creative communities. As he explains, a show isn’t just about the people on stage. There are directors, producers, costume designers, set builders, lighting artists... the list of people conjuring the magic of live performance is comprehensive.
Local theatres and venues provide invaluable training and experience to all of the people involved in every aspect of a live performance and across the different creative disciplines. On stage or off, experience gained at the amateur level can directly lead to professional careers. Ty himself is proof of that.
“It’s all part of a greater ecosystem,” he says. “These people are our collaborators, and if those artists are lost, then the overall scene is poorer for it. It all starts at the local level, at the regional level.”
He pauses and says, “You can’t presume that it’s unimportant – because it’s all important. It’s all part of it.”
Actor Rebecca Gibney.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, BAY
“Tauranga,” says acting icon Rebecca Gibney matter-of-factly, “is actually the amateur theatre capital of New Zealand.” With a smile, she adds, “That’s why Happiness is set there.”
Although Rebecca has never lived here, she’s well aware of Tauranga’s creative scene and how vibrant our amateur theatre community is. She’s thrilled to be showcasing it to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, via her delightful musical- dramedy, Happiness.
The TV series follows a Broadway director whose circumstances force him back to Tauranga, where he’s reluctantly roped into directing his mum’s amateur musical production. The show’s first season was a hit, winning over critics and audiences at home and overseas with its colourful exuberance, tight comedic scripting, and real sense of place. For Bay of Plenty locals, it’s a lot of fun seeing familiar landmarks pop up on screen. In November, the show will return to Three and ThreeNow for its second season.
“I had no intention of doing a musical,” Rebecca admits, saying she first heard about it on set while filming her popular dramedy Under the Vines in central Otago and Queenstown. Her fellow actors and the crew were all talking about wanting to get work on an exciting new series set in Tauranga.
“The show had such a buzz around it that I couldn’t help myself,” she says. “I had to find out what it was.”
Rebecca believes Happiness has struck such a chord because people need something that makes them feel good while the cost-of-living crisis bites and the news seems relentlessly grim.
“We all need a bit of happiness. We all need a bit of joy,” she says. “I’m all for putting out things that are going to create a positive impact on people when they watch them. I love it because it’s so joyous and uplifting. Happiness is a show that feels like a warm hug. I love that.”
We’re fortunate to live in a region where an amateur theatre company can thrive for 90 years, where a young boy living in Katikati can follow his dreams and end up leading the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and where a series with international appeal can be based here because it’s a place in which the passion of its characters just makes sense. As Heather puts it, “There’s so much going on and so many talented people.”
The arts and our creative scene are a vital component of what makes the Bay of Plenty such a vibrant and exciting place to live. It provides essential experience and support for people who dream of becoming the best in their field, gives enthusiasts the chance to come together and work on their shared passion, and gives the rest of us a place to live where there’s always something to do, see and experience.
It gives us entertainment and escape, brings joy and happiness to all ages, gives memories that stay with you and, in its best moments when the magic truly hits, can change your life forever.
GOOD MOOD FOOD
Fresh, flexible and full of flavour, these recipes from Two Raw Sisters take the stress out of healthy home cooking.
Fresh, flexible and full of flavour, these recipes from Two Raw Sisters take the stress out of healthy home cooking.
HALLOUMI, PUMPKIN AND CHILLI FRITTATA
For some reason, there’s usually a quarter of a pumpkin and a bit of cheese hanging around in the fridge on a Sunday, so this often becomes a quick Sunday night dinner or an easy work lunch for the week ahead. Use any vegetable if you don’t have pumpkin, and any cheese will do – feta, edam, parmesan. If there isn’t any silverbeet in your fridge or garden, kale, spinach or rocket will be perfect. Serve with a generous amount of chilli oil.
60 MINUTES, SERVES 3
INGREDIENTS
2 cups pumpkin (small chunks)
4 tbsp cooking oil
½ brown onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped ½ tsp chilli flakes
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
1 stalk silverbeet, thinly sliced
6 eggs
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
Cheesy seed topping
100g halloumi, grated
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan bake.
On a baking tray, toss the pumpkin chunks in 1 tablespoon of the oil, then roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
In an ovenproof pan, such as a skillet, heat the remaining oil over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and rosemary, and cook gently until the onion softens.
Add the cooked pumpkin. Stir in the silverbeet and cook until just wilted.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl with the salt and pepper, then pour evenly over the prepared vegetables. Sprinkle the halloumi and pumpkin seeds evenly on top.
Cook the frittata on the stovetop for 5–8 minutes, until the edges are golden. Add small knobs of butter or drizzle extra oil around the sides as it cooks, to prevent sticking.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 12 minutes, until the frittata is just set in the middle.
This will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
TOFU CHILLI LIME NOODLES
Coating tofu pieces in cornflour makes it super crispy. Alternatively, you could use 500g of chicken or salmon, cut into small chunks.
55 MINUTES, SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
270g soba noodles
1 cucumber, cut into sticks
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 cup podded edamame beans, blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drained
2 heads bok choy, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped coriander
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup chopped, toasted cashew nuts Crispy tofu
600g firm tofu
3 tbsp tamari
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cornflour
Chilli lime oil
1½ tbsp sesame oil
1½ tbsp chilli oil
1½ tbsp ginger, freshly grated
3 tbsp tamari
2 limes, zest and juice
2 tsp miso paste
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) fan bake.
Cook the soba noodles according to the packet instructions, then rinse under cold water and drain well.
In a large bowl, gently toss together the cucumber, spring onions, edamame, bok choy, coriander, sesame seeds and cashew nuts, then set aside.
Pat the block of tofu dry and press it to remove excess moisture. This will help it to crisp up in the oven. Cut the tofu into cubes and carefully place them in a bowl with the tamari, sesame oil and cornflour.
Gently toss the mixture to cover the tofu cubes in the sauce before spreading them in an even layer on a lined baking tray. Bake for 25–30 minutes until golden and crispy.
While the tofu is cooking, make the chilli lime oil by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Add the cooked soba noodles to the large bowl of vegetables.
Drizzle the chilli lime oil over the noodles and veges, and toss again to coat everything evenly. Top with the crispy tofu and serve immediately. Any leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
PRUNE, WALNUT AND GINGER SLICE
This is a totally yum, yum, yum combo. Make a big batch and store it in the freezer to pull out when friends come over for coffee, or enjoy a little moment to yourself with an extra-large chunk. It also makes a brilliant after-dinner treat.
15 MINUTES PLUS SETTING TIME, SERVES 10
INGREDIENTS
250g dark chocolate
2 tbsp coconut oil
1¼ cups walnuts, chopped
1 cup prunes, chopped
¾ cup crystallised ginger, chopped
½ tsp sea salt
METHOD
Line a square or rectangular baking tin (about 20x20 cm or 8x8 inches) with baking paper.
Gently melt the chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave or over a double boiler, then set aside to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, combine the walnuts, prunes, ginger and salt. Gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients until everything is evenly coated. Transfer the mixture into the prepared tin and press down lightly to compact it, using the back of a spoon.
Place in the freezer to set for 30–45 minutes, until completely firm. Remove from the freezer and cut into squares or chunks. This will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months.
MISO, WHITE CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY SQUARE
Miso is a secret weapon in the kitchen. Its umami, salty flavour goes incredibly well with both sweet and savoury recipes. If you’re not a fan of white chocolate, swap it for milk chocolate or dark chocolate instead. Feel free to experiment with different berries, like boysenberries or blueberries, and if you don’t have almond meal, just swap it for more flour.
40 MINUTES, SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS
120g white chocolate
1 egg
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup almond meal
½ cup oat flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1½ tbsp miso paste
¾ cup frozen raspberries
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan bake and line a loaf tin with baking paper. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler and set aside to cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, coconut sugar and butter until smooth. Add the almond meal, oat flour, baking powder, salt and melted chocolate, stirring until just combined.
Fold in the miso paste and berries until they’re evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges are set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes or so before placing in the fridge. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars or squares.
This will keep in the fridge for up to six days or can be frozen for up to two months.
Edited extract from How We Cook by Two Raw Sisters (Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand, RRP $50).
FINDING THE LIGHT
Hawaiian singer Maoli is all about the positive vibes. Ahead of performing in summer’s Kingston Calling festival, he tells UNO how good tunes might just save your life.
Hawaiian singer Maoli is all about the positive vibes. Ahead of performing in summer’s Kingston Calling festival, he tells UNO how good tunes might just save your life.
WORDS KARL PUSCHMANN
Sitting on the deck at his home in Hawaii, chart-topping singer Maoli is relaxed, chatty and excited to be returning to Aotearoa in a few months.
“It’s one of the greatest places in the world to perform,” he says. “I love the people. I feel that aloha spirit that we share. We share similar values and understanding about life. We mesh really well. I’m treated like family when I’m there.”
Then he laughs and says, “And you guys’ love for reggae music is pretty up there.”
He’s not wrong – and nowhere will that love be more evident than at Kingston Calling, the new, two-day music festival being held at Mount Maunganui’s Bay Oval in February. Maoli’s headlining the first night.
Maoli’s music is an unlikely blend of reggae and country. It’s a genre mash-up that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but clicks effortlessly when you hear him play. The unique combination has struck a chord around the globe, but is one he’s quick not to take credit for, explaining it’s been in Hawaii for generations.
“It’s nothing new here. This style and mixture describes the place that I come from in Maui. It’s very authentic.”
He explains it was born out of “backyard jams”, where local musicians would gather to play hits they’d heard on the radio. Inevitably, they’d put their own spin on them and because many people’s grandparents were big country fans, including his own, that naturally seeped in as well.
“I really can’t take credit for it, because it’s been done a long time before me,” he says. “It’s cool that it’s starting to grow. If more of us do this, I think it can become a genre.”
Aside from the ear-catching originality, there’s a real warmth and positivity in Maoli’s music. It may sound breezy, but it’s something he works hard to achieve.
“The world has enough negative stuff going on – we need more positivity, we need more love,” he says. “That’s what I really try to bring in the music.”
Life, he says, gave him this outlook and state of mind, but it wasn’t easy to achieve. “We all go through adversity and obstacles, but I always try to lean towards the positive and bring it into the music. I don’t want anger or fear or all that in the music, but I like to use that energy. I’ll use the emotion and turn it into something positive.”
Then he sighs and says, “I’ve been through so much in my life that I don’t want to share those negative emotions. I don’t wish anyone to experience the stuff I’ve been through. Instead, I want to grab those experiences and tribulations, turn them into something positive and send that out to the world.”
It’s an admirable outlook. Taking negative experiences and channelling the positive out of them is a genuinely hard thing to do. “It can be,” he agrees. “I really had to train myself to do it.”
Having gone through dark times and come out the other side, his advice for anyone struggling is to take things one day at a time. “Understand that this too shall pass,” he says. “There are mountains and valleys, and we have to go through them, but just know that if you let it pass you will find that hilltop sooner or later. You just have to keep going.”
He knows for a fact that the messages in his music are actively helping people. “Many, many, many people have come up to me saying it’s saved their life,” he smiles. “I’ve had people say they were on the brink of ending their lives, and they heard my song come on and something about it just changed their mind.”
Maoli has lost loved ones, been through break-ups and divorce, and turned all of those experiences into positive songs. “It lets people know they’re not alone,” he says.
He says it’s still hard to believe that his music could be powerful enough to change, or even save, someone’s life.
“It’s a great feeling, but it’s a lot of responsibility. It’s a lot of energy to take in. I have to sit down sometimes and be like, ‘Wow. I can’t believe I changed that person’s life’. But it helps me too. These are stories that I’ve written about myself, and when someone comes to me and says that it touched them because they know what that experience feels like, it makes me feel like I’m human and that there’s other people out there who share the same emotions that I have.”
Then he smiles warmly and says, “It lets me know I’m not alone.”
After everything Maoli’s experienced personally and processed through his songs while his career has skyrocketed, for him, music carries a lot of meaning. “Music to me is a sense of healing, love and unity,” he says. “One of my greatest joys is watching music bring so many people together where they lose themselves in the moment and forget about all their worries.”
He could be describing Kingston Calling when he says, “You can have thousands of people from different walks of life coming together and singing the songs. It’s one of the most powerful things I’ve ever seen that music can do. That’s what music means to me. It’s a place where we can bring people together, instead of dividing.”
MIGHTY FINE LINE-UP
A look at the performers coming to Kingston Calling. For two days in February, the Mount will sway to the grooves of Aotearoa’s best loved reggae-roots acts, along with some international favourites. With 14 acts on the cards, it promises to be a joyous celebration of live music.
Maoli headlines Friday with his unique reggae-country blend, supported by local powerhouse R&B star Stan Walker and pioneering rap group Arrested Development, whose hits Tennessee, People Everyday and Mr Wendal defined the sound of summer in the early ’90s. They’re joined by American reggae outfit SOJA and Aotearoa’s reggae legends Katchafire, with Hori Shaw and A.R.T rounding off the first day’s line-up.
Headlining Saturday is SIX60, who return to the Mount to lead what will no doubt be the weekend’s biggest singalongs. They’re joined by the wandering eyes of Fat Freddy’s Drop, whose genre-defying blend of reggae, dub, soul and electronica never fails to deliver.
Bringing the more traditional Pacific flavour to day two of the festival is R&B and soul princess Aaradhna, along with Hawaiian reggae group Rebel Souljahz, covers supergroup Marley NZ All Stars, Te Wehi and Myshaan.
GIVING THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT
A new dessert bar’s delivering to a peachy-keen Mount audience.
A new dessert bar’s delivering to a peachy-keen Mount audience.
WORDS HAYLEY BARNETT | PHOTOS ASH MUIR PHOTOGRAPHY
On our way home from Hamilton recently, after a night of dance comps, my daughter begged me to detour to POPPYPEACH. I figured we’d just wait. A Mount store was rumoured to be opening any day now.
“No,” she said. “This is the original. We have to go to this one.” That’s the kind of pull POPPYPEACH has built in Tamahere, and now it’s landed right here on Maunganui Road.
POPPYPEACH opened in 2021 as a salad and smoothie bar, just around the corner from owner Angie Millar’s home in Tamahere. It was a lovely idea, but a couple of years in, it was clear the concept wasn’t financially viable, and Angie had to find a new way to make the space work.
The answer came from a family holiday in Australia, where dessert bars had everyone lining up together, and from the baking Angie had been perfecting on the side. Cinnamon rolls first, then whoopie pies, both gone within the hour, every time. It didn’t take much convincing after that. If people wanted dessert, POPPYPEACH would give them dessert, and give it to them well.
The Tamahere store has been a destination from day one, but it sees almost no foot traffic, so a second store somewhere with people walking past was always part of the plan. When two of Angie’s best friends, who live at the Mount, sent her a video of an empty shop on Maunganui Road, she went to check it out. The layout was almost identical to Tamahere’s. Eight weeks later, POPPYPEACH Mount was open.
There was no big launch, just Angie posting to Instagram the night before. A few well-followed locals posted about it that first weekend, and by Sunday the store was “slammed”. The pace hasn’t really let up since.
The Biscoff Blondie Sundae remains a firm favourite, alongside POPPYPEACH’s famous cookie pies and a home-baked sticky date pudding, though Kinder Bueno has become the new top seller. Everything’s baked from scratch in-house, and the Kāpiti soft serve and frozen yoghurt flavours change monthly, so regulars never get bored.
Angie isn’t planning another store this year, but further afield is on the cards eventually. For now, she’s focused on her teams at both stores, and on keeping the people fed with whatever sweet thing they’re after next.
DIVA IN DEMAND
Jackie Clarke’s been keeping herself entertained for several successful decades – and music lovers right along with her.
Jackie Clarke’s been keeping herself entertained for several successful decades – and music lovers right along with her.
WORDS JO - MARIE BAKER
There were only six people in the pub when a teenage Jackie Clarke turned up in Mount Maunganui, ready to put on a show. It was a Tuesday night in the mid-1980s and Jackie – wearing a vintage outfit and winklepickers, her hair teased high – was touring with her first band, Marching Orders.
“You really learn your trade by bravely singing your show when no one’s interested,” she laughs.
Four decades later, Jackie’s coming back to the Bay to perform on a considerably grander scale. The much-loved singer, actor and entertainer will return to Mercury Baypark Arena on November 28 for DIVAS! Christmas Special, alongside Tina Cross, Suzanne Lynch and Annie Crummer, and backed by a four-piece band.
The show is a festive reincarnation of the DIVAS! performance that premiered in Tauranga in 2024 before touring the country, celebrating some of the greatest female voices of the past six decades. Expect everyone from Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton and Nina Simone, to Whitney Houston, ABBA, Taylor Swift and P!NK.
Jackie says an important omission from the previous show will also be rectified. “We didn’t have any Mariah Carey last time, and I think we’ll definitely fix that, especially with this show’s Christmas vibe. We put a lot of thought into the songs we choose and it just releases the joy monster in people. It’s a great party.”
There will, naturally, also be frocks.
“We love any excuse to put on an amazing frock and let rip. To sing songs by Celine Dion and Adele and all the greats, you have to have a great frock to get you in the zone.
“Come dressed to the nines. If the audience is better dressed than us, that’s the perfect scenario. Don’t hold back.”
Behind all that glamour, preparations begin in more domestic surroundings. The women spend hours around their kitchen tables, drinking coffee, eating Tina’s home baking and painstakingly working on their vocal arrangements.
“We put a lot of detail into it,” says Jackie. “We don’t just turn up and sing. You work so hard so that it appears effortless, and that’s the magic – and when you get those moments of perfection, it’s just the best feeling in the world.”
That friendship and trust has been built over decades; Jackie has sung with Annie, Suzanne and Tina (in different incarnations) for almost 30 years. Together, she says, they tackle songs she wouldn’t dream of attempting alone, and if something still goes wrong on stage despite all that preparation, she can live with that too.
“People love mistakes. People love the humanity of watching things fall apart. That’s often where the real juice is.”
Tauranga has long been something of a second home. Jackie was involved with Tarnished Frocks and Divas from its humble beginnings in 2005 through to its spectacular arena productions, forging lifelong friendships along the way. The homegrown extravaganza gave hundreds of local women the chance to sing, dance, model and perform, often doing things they’d never imagined themselves capable of.
“The whole thing was such a beautiful kaupapa,” says Jackie. “All these people were given an opportunity to discover their best selves. Tauranga always has a special place in my heart. It lit a fire in a lot of people in the best possible way.”
Jackie’s career has been quite a journey from that near-empty Mount pub. Working across music, theatre and television, she found fame with musical comedy trio When The Cat’s Been Spayed, and became a familiar TV face through shows including Saturday Live and New Zealand Idol.
“It’s a wave that you ride, and it comes and it goes. I’m like a hardy perennial. I keep on keeping on through the highs and lows.”
At 60, she certainly isn’t seeking easier challenges. Just weeks before DIVAS!, she’ll take to Auckland’s Q Theatre in Songs for Nobodies, a one-woman play that requires her to portray 10 characters across five stories involving legendary singers Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas.
“These one-woman shows are so petrifying,” she says, “but it’s a beautiful space to be in when you’re actually scaring yourself shitless with a huge challenge.”
It makes returning to Tauranga to sing with close friends all the more wonderful. The contrast is part of what Jackie still loves about her work – wildly different projects drawing on her “la la la” and “blah blah blah” skills. “I’ve just turned 60, and I feel like I’m in my prime. I really feel like I’m getting the hang of this.
“You can always feel how music feeds people’s souls, and it doesn’t matter if it’s in a bar for six people or it’s a massive arena show. The chemistry is the same. I’ve spent my life entertaining myself, and if you do that, the audience will be entertained as well.”
COME TO YOUR SENSES
Books are only part of the story at Tauranga’s brand new library and community hub.
Books are only part of the story at Tauranga’s brand new library and community hub.
WORDS HAYLEY BARNETT
He Puna Manawa, Tauranga Library and Community Hub.
As the highly anticipated new Tauranga Library and Community Hub gets set to open its doors on October 16, it’s not just book lovers who have something to look forward to.
“For people who maybe reading books isn’t their thing, these other experiences mean everybody’s included,” says Joanna Thomas, Tauranga City Council’s manager of Libraries and Community Hubs. “It’s a place that every family can go and have an outing and create a memory.”
One of those other experiences sits on the first floor, the same floor as the children’s and youth spaces, where things get loud. It’s a soundproofed sensory room with blackout blinds and a wall built for projecting colour across it. When you turn everything up, it hums with lights, texture, vibration and sound. Turn it down and it goes almost silent.
The sensory room.
Joanna says the idea goes back to 2017, when the Council first consulted the community on what a library and museum in the city centre should look like. Families were already asking for something like this. They wanted somewhere neurodivergent kids and adults could go that wasn’t a school or a hospital.
“There wasn’t anything like that that was open to the public,” says Joanna.
One of the people who pushed hardest for it was Joanna’s colleague Michelle Anderson. “She’s been a great inspiration for all of the development,” says Joanna.
The council ran workshops with stakeholders, including Tauranga Special School, CCS and Parent to Parent, to work out what the room needed to do.
“Parents and caregivers who book the room will have exclusive use of the space to meet their children’s needs,” says Joanna. “They’re not out in an open space where it can be quite distracting.”
Joanna Thomas.
Adults with disabilities and their caregivers have the same option. The library runs sensory storytimes too, creating a safe welcoming environment where kids can explore stories at their own pace.
Funded fully by Lottery Grants, the room will be free and booked in advance, and a short induction will be included so everyone knows how to use the equipment safely.
He Puna Manawa, the new Tauranga Library and Community Hub, will open with a dawn blessing, followed by a community celebration day on October 17, with open sessions for the sensory room and tours through the rest of the building.
The sensory space is small, just 5.3 by 6.5m2, but it’s doing what Joanna set out for the whole building to do. “Not everyone who comes through the door is just here for the books,” she says. “Now there’s somewhere for them too.”
LAST DRINKS
The kids are alright – and increasingly, they’re sober. As Gen Z turns its back on booze, older Kiwis are drinking at hazardous levels. UNO looks at why our relationship with alcohol is changing.
The kids are alright – and increasingly, they’re sober. As Gen Z turns its back on booze, older Kiwis are drinking at hazardous levels. UNO looks at why our relationship with alcohol is changing.
WORDS HAYLEY BARNETT
Ask 19-year-old Payten Thomsen what a flat party looks like these days and she’ll break it down like a pie chart. A third of the room are drinking, a third are high on substances, and the rest, herself included, are stone-cold sober.
“There’s not a lot of pressure to drink,” she says of her generation, first-years scattered throughout flats around Hamilton. “If you go to a party, you’re not the only one who’s not drinking.”
Her maths lines up with the official numbers too. In the 2024/25 New Zealand Health Survey, hazardous drinking among 18- to 24-year-olds fell 13.2 percentage points in five years, down to 22.6 percent. Across the whole adult population, three in four New Zealanders had a drink in the past year, down from 81.6 percent in 2019/20, and the number of us drinking at hazardous levels has dropped from 21.3 percent to 16.6 percent over the same period. Something’s changing in how this country drinks.
Associate professor Andy Towers, co-director of Massey University’s Mental Health and Addiction Programme, says the stats are considerably less flattering for anyone over 45. “Everyone keeps talking about youth drinking as the problem. It’s not – it’s Kiwi drinking, and more often than not, it’s actually middle-aged or older drinkers who are the problem.”
Andy’s spent the past decade using Massey’s long-running study of ageing, which tracks around 4,500 New Zealanders, to look specifically at how people aged over 50 drink. What he found surprised even him. Roughly 35 to 40 percent of New Zealanders aged 50-plus qualify as hazardous drinkers, drinking often enough, or heavily enough in a single sitting, to put themselves at real risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke down the track.
When Andy’s team compared that figure with England, the US, South Africa, China, Mexico and several other countries, New Zealand came out worst. “We get the gold medal for drinking,” he says. “We drink more frequently on more days a week than pretty much anywhere else in the world, and about 16 percent of that group binge every single time they drink, which is around six or more drinks, whenever they touch it.”
He traces it back a century, to six o’clock closing, driven by the law that shut New Zealand pubs at 6pm from 1917 until 1967, and allowed no food, entertainment or women at the bar. Workers would finish their shift and race the clock.
“It taught two generations of Kiwis that when you drink, you drink to get drunk – it’s not for enjoyment or atmosphere,” says Andy. “We got rid of six o’clock closing, but we never got rid of the culture. It’s taken this long for it to actually start changing, and it’s not us changing it – it’s our kids.”
So why the generational split? Andy puts it down to a handful of things, including decades of clearer public health messaging that there’s no truly safe level of drinking, a cost-of-living squeeze that’s made big nights out a luxury, and a generation that grew up with phones recording everything.
“My own daughter, who’s 18, said to me, ‘I don’t want to be drunk and have people videoing me. I just don’t think it’s cool,’” says Andy.
Of course, there’s also the fact that Gen Z is doing more of its socialising online rather than at the pub.
Payten sees the same pattern from the inside. “It’s a big cost thing,” she says. “We’re students, we don’t have a lot of money, so it’s just not financially viable.”
She also points to a steady diet of short-form video content on TikTok and Instagram, flagging new research on alcohol and health. “I never see advertising for drinking. I see a lot more negative than positive.”
Where Payten’s non-drinking stance does get pushback is, funnily enough, from her own family at Christmastime. “They always offer and wonder why I won’t have one, and I’m like, ‘No, no, no,’” she laughs.
The rise of good non-alcoholic drinks has made this change feel a lot less like a sacrifice. Andy sees the boom in sophisticated zero-alcohol beers, wines and spirits as one of the reasons the change has stuck.
“People don’t have to choose anymore between being part of the occasion and looking after their health,” he says. “You can still hold a drink that fits a barbecue or a wedding or a Friday night – you just don’t pay for it the next day.”
The change in younger people not feeling the old pressure their parents’ generation still carries is, in Andy’s view, the real story. New Zealand’s official low-risk drinking advice hasn’t changed since 2011, when a moderate drink or two was still considered heart-healthy. It currently allows men up to 15 standard drinks a week and women 10, which is far looser than Australia’s revised limit of 10 drinks a week for anyone, and Canada’s proposed ceiling of two.
Andy’s helping lead the review of New Zealand’s guidelines, work that’s been repeatedly slowed, he says, by an alcohol industry with a habit of turning up to meetings public health researchers never get invited to. Nationally, alcohol is linked to roughly 900 deaths, 1,250 cancer diagnoses and 30,000 hospital admissions a year, at an estimated cost to the country of $9.1 billion.
For 41-year-old Sarah Jesson, these statistics stopped being abstract on a Friday night in May 2023. She and a friend had already worked through a couple of bottles of wine that night when they told themselves they’d just have one between them. They ended up walking to the bottle store for a box of RTDs. “I’d said I wouldn’t, and then I did,” she says. “My husband said he couldn’t really trust my word anymore. I realised then that I wasn’t in control.”
Two nights later, she was at an AA meeting with a friend who’d recently got sober herself. “I think I needed the shock factor,” she says. “I was in a room full of people whose lives had actually been derailed. It was a picture of where things could go.”
She hasn’t had a drink for more than three years now, though she’s candid that her first stretch exemplified what’s sometimes called ‘Cali sober’, when people swap wine for weed before quitting that too. Real sobriety started just over a year ago.
Underneath the drinking was anxiety Sarah had been managing since experiencing a run of hard life events. “It was masking it, but not fixing it,” she says.
“The odd drink did take the edge off, for a while, but I needed more and more of it just to feel normal.”
She’s seen a free counsellor through the Salvation Army, who talked her through what she calls the “pleasure-pain circuit”. It’s the idea that heavy, repeated use of a substance rewires the brain’s reward loop, and that the first two years of sobriety carry predictable relapse points at three, six, nine, 12 and 18 months.
The part she’s still working on is the identity that came with the drinking. “I’ve always been a party girl,” she says. “I love nothing more than a big night out.”
Rebuilding that without alcohol has meant relearning how to be silly, loud and sober at dinners and nights out that she used to think she needed a drink to enjoy. “It’s actually been a fun challenge, working out if that side of me exists without the chemicals. It turns out it does!”
Sarah admits she’s amazed at how ordinary it’s felt to ask for help, and how rare that seems to be among the generation just ahead of hers. Her mother worked in alcohol and drug detox for years and told Sarah that mid-life is exactly the moment to make the change, because habits set in more the older you get.
“I think it’s a lot harder for that Boomer generation,” says Sarah. “It’s the generation of silence. You’re stoic, you just get on with it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes it so much harder to put your hand up and say, ‘Actually, I don’t want to do this anymore.’”
Andy agrees, and has heard the same thing from retirees who come to his talks. Many only stop drinking once they’re already sick. He’d like to see people feel able to opt out long before that point arrives.
“If you’re thinking about it, there’s a good chance other people your age are thinking about it too,” he says. “They’re just too scared to say it first.”
At Payten’s flat parties, nobody feels the need to be first. Sober is normal on a Friday night, alongside drunk and high and everything in between. It might be a slow handover, in which each generation’s deciding to drink less than the one before, but it’s a movement that’s quickly gaining traction.
New Zealand spent a century teaching itself to drink hard and fast. Now it’s taking its time teaching itself not to.
BEHIND THE SEAMS
Three local designers reveal what it takes to be accepted into one of the country’s most prestigious, and arguably most creative, design shows – the wonderful World of WearableArt.
Three local designers reveal what it takes to be accepted into one of the country’s most prestigious, and arguably most creative, design shows – the wonderful World of WearableArt.
WORDS PIP CROMBIE / PHOTOS ALAN GIBSON + ANNE SHIRLEY + SUPPLIED
Whether as a career pinnacle or pure entertainment, the World of WearableArt (aka WOW – September 17 to October 4) is a significant fixture on the annual calendar for those who love fashion, creativity, drama and theatre. Sophisticated, swashbuckling and sensorial, it’s a show you simply must experience.
A sumptuous visual feast, WOW thrills audience who travel from far and wide to celebrate the creativity of those who are bold, brave and beyond ingenious in their artistic resourcefulness. Conceived by Nelson sculptor Suzie Moncrieff in 1987, it challenges designers to bring art to life.
The first show was attended by 200. In 2005, it relocated to Wellington, a move made to facilitate WOW’s creative and commercial growth. It paid off. Audience size surged 60 percent, with 28,000 attending that year. WOW is now seen by more than 60,000 people annually in sold-out shows that run for two weeks.
GLO! is the theme for 2026. Embedded in this are recurring competition sections (or ‘worlds’) Aotearoa, Avant-garde and Open, plus three unique themes announced annually. This year, they’re Bizarre Bra, Kinetic and Metallic.
The show itself is the culmination of a fierce competition, when finalists’ creations get their moment to shine. Secrecy shrouds the garments until they make their appearance and the winners are announced live. Careers have been launched on the WOW stage, talents recognised, opportunities offered.
So who are the people behind the wearable art, what drives them, qualifies them, tempts them to turn visual concepts into reality? Let’s meet three Tauranga locals who have achieved the coveted status of WOW 2026 finalist – each in very different ways.
ANNE-MARIE SIMON Anne-Marie Simon has worked on the education side of fashion since 2008, as a tutor at Toi Ohomai Polytechnic. Prior to this, she worked as a machinist, pattern-maker, production manager and designer, and overseas manufacturing interior soft goods for luxury launches. Over the years, she’s successfully entered art and design events such as the Miles Art Award and the Parkin Drawing Prize, enjoying working with textiles and thread to explore non-traditional creative works.
In 2025, Anne-Marie undertook academic research following her 2018 Master of Educational Leadership. For this, she explored the impact of technology on wearable art design and how designers integrate digital and traditional textile techniques in their creative practice. “Although new technology has an important place and enables outcomes that would likely be impossible by hand, you still have to have the creative idea, and bring that vision to life,” she explains.
Interviewing and surveying previous WOW finalists about their processes and techniques inspired Anne-Marie to enter. She combined both traditional and digital techniques, experimenting, testing and problem-solving along the way, over many months and late nights in her home studio. Did her research influence her garment? “Absolutely – that and a large bucket of RJ’s Licorice Allsorts. The experience has also led to my next project, The Digital Seam, an exhibition I’m curating for Toi Ohomai’s Mauao Gallery in October, featuring works from previous WOW finalists. I’m thrilled that Georgia [Chalmers-Jones, overleaf] will be part of the panel on opening day!”
GEORGIA CHALMERS-JONES Film and television costumer Georgia Chalmers-Jones has entered WOW three times, each time gaining a finalist nomination. In 2023, she was a sectional winner with her first piece, The Golden Age of Queens, inspired by the reigning queens of the 14th and 15th centuries. The mainly leather piece was made with traditional leather tooling (largely self-taught) and by hand-cutting the lace with a scalpel.
Having studied at the South Seas Film & Television School in 2013, then worked in the UK for a couple of years on Outlaw King and Outlander, Georgia has been part of the film industry for 10-plus years, contributing to movies and TV shows including East of Eden, Spartacus, Time Bandits and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. She’s currently working in Wellington on The Hunt for Gollum, and when UNO spoke to her, she was “hiding in a cupboard because it’s so noisy in the design room! I’m usually part of a 50- to 80-strong costume department... embroiderers, jewellers, sculptors, seamstresses, dye and textile technicians, art finishers, illustrators, leather workers. Each is so skilled and exacting in their craft, there’s such a wealth of knowledge and shared techniques that I can learn from and experience in my day-to-day.”
While creating her current piece for WOW, Georgia was working on The Legend of Zelda. “I made it at home in every spare moment I could find. I didn’t have enough space to paint it, so I laid dropcloths in the lounge. It wasn’t quite as wild as my 2024 entry, Hakuturi, though. For that, I had to soak and flatten the ends of nīkau palm leaf before I could cut it, and the only way was to get in the shower wearing it.”
EMMA HIGHFIELD A six-time finalist since 2007, Emma Highfield’s no stranger to fashion. After completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Elam School of Fine Arts, she launched a bespoke lingerie brand. “I handcrafted everything myself; I’m a self-taught pattern-maker and seamstress. My designs, Emma Highfield Lingerie, were showcased in [lingerie show] Project Born in 2012, alongside Wētā Workshop. I’ve always loved creating art in many mediums. I’m a co-founder at [women’s fashion label] Dear Dylan, which is very design-based work, but also very different to my personal creative pursuits. WOW’s an opportunity to explore my interests in new and exciting ways.”
Having had a break as she grew her business and became a mother, she’s back with passion. Her 2026 entry was inspired by time spent in her flower beds, an environment where growth is shaped by tenacity and care. “It’s always such an amazing achievement to be selected as a finalist and have my work showcased in such a spectacular event,” she says. “I already have a few exciting concepts I’m pondering for WOW 2027.”
Like Georgia and Emma, Anne-Marie’s work may become a fixture at WOW as well. “Regardless of the judging outcome, this experience has inspired me to enter WOW again,” she says. “I was thrilled and genuinely shocked to be accepted. After researching and admiring the work of previous finalists, it feels quite surreal to now be one myself.”
Georgia agrees. “It’s always such an amazing feeling. It’s both a sigh of relief and intense. You spend all that time creating and making and putting your soul into the piece, then you wait while it goes through the judging process, and you almost forget you have an entry. It’s so exciting to see how it’s featured on stage.
“I’ve caught the bug,” she continues. “I was warned by another designer after my first entry, that it’s a real possibility that you’ll give up a good chunk of your life to create a new and exciting piece every year, if you can. It’s definitely not a bad problem to have!” WOW fans are in for a treat, and the judges have a challenge on their hands.
LAUGHING MATTERS
Vulnerable, powerful and a whole lot of fun, Riley Brebner’s brand of entertainment both tickles the funny bone and tugs at the heartstrings.
Vulnerable, powerful and a whole lot of fun, Riley Brebner’s brand of entertainment both tickles the funny bone and tugs at the heartstrings.
WORDS MONIQUE BALVERT O’CONNOR
Former Aquinas College student Riley Brebner used to get in trouble now and then for laughing and talking too much at school. Imagine turning that into the foundation of a career.
Riley’s done just that, and the theatre-maker will soon be on stage to deliver a smash-hit, debut solo show as part of the upcoming Tauranga Arts Festival – at which laughing will be fully encouraged. UNO’s thrilled to sponsor this home-grown talent.
Riley learnt about the power of laughter at an early age. It turned out to be an invaluable tool when it came to dodging detention and fitting in.
“I could diffuse a situation by making my teachers laugh, and I got into the popular group because I was funny,” they say. “I think I laugh more than many people. Humour’s a big thing for me – it’s how I connect with people. I’d never survive in a serious job.”
Instead, 25-year-old Riley has a job that’s designed to make you chuckle. Their hour-long solo comedy show Eat, Sleep, Dance, Repeat, which Tauranga festivalgoers will soon get to enjoy, was a sell-out success in Auckland recently. It also won Riley the Most Promising Emerging Artist award and the Dunedin Fringe Tour Ready award at the NZ Fringe Awards in Wellington.
In a mockumentary format, the show follows four students (all played by Riley) rehearsing for a Stage Challenge performance. It’s written from the teenager’s perspective as they endeavour to win the nationals, and tracks the rehearsal process – in which lots of things go wrong and relationships form.
Speaking from their parents Megan and Mark’s Tauranga home, Riley says, “I describe it as a love letter to the arts. Think of the number of hours you put into preparing for a performance like Stage Challenge, and at a time when your understanding of the world is so funny. It’s when you learn about bigger things, form opinions and your own identity, feel vulnerable, have crushes, discover where your passion lies. As a teenager, I remember thinking, ‘This is my whole world’.
“It’s so fun to perform and play these teenagers, who are based on people I went to school or drama school with – and I reckon I’m a little bit of all of them. It’s nostalgic in terms of overall high school experiences.”
Speech and drama and a good dose of acting were all part of Riley’s school years. They enjoyed performing in Tauranga Musical Theatre’s The Wizard of Oz and The Little Mermaid, then directed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang during a gap year before heading off to study at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art in Christchurch. They graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts and the realisation that acting and creating work was a passion – as well as the way to be seen and get work in Aotearoa’s performing arts world.
Riley says their favourite thing about theatre is how impactful it can be. Educational work to benefit young people was an early post-graduate focus, via school tours of performances including Crash Bash, about safe driving, and Sex Wise, on sexuality, consent and online safety. Then came a successful audition for TV show, Camp Be Better, which spurred a move to Auckland.
Riley loves that their adopted city has a fabulous improv scene and a group called Bull Rush that puts its hilarious, fast and fearless acting on show every Friday at Basement Theatre. “That’s been my launch into the Auckland theatre scene... how I got seen and got to meet the right people and set up important connections,” says Riley, citing comedian Tom Sainsbury as a mentor.
Performing with Bull Rush, touring Eat, Sleep, Dance, Repeat, writing a TV show, creating a play, working to pay the bills, and studying towards a post-graduate qualification in teaching all keep Riley happy and busy. Becoming a drama teacher one day could be on the cards.
“I have a passion for working with teenagers. It’s the seed from which a lot of my work inspiration comes from. Teenagers need stories in which they can see themselves.
“My favourite theatre is vulnerable comedy – it comes from people living in their truth. ‘Tickle the ribs, then stab the heart’ is a quote I really love. You’re allowing your audience to feel safe, connect with you and let you in, and at the same time you’re talking about really important things. These are the shows that affect me and inspire my own work.
“Oh, and it’s great to have people laughing.”
A Canadian acrobatic troupe, singing sensation Macy Gray, local legends Hittmen Bucket Drummers, bilingual theatre, cult cabaret, music shows, classical piano, a pocket orchestra, a light installation, a poetry slam, a zinefest, a literary programme, an interactive gaming event, comedic performances and more – Tauranga Arts Festival 2026 is set to deliver big time.
Eleven days and nights will be jam-packed with fun from October 22 to November 1.
Visit TAURANGAFESTIVAL.CO.NZ for information and tickets. Tickets are also available from Baycourt and Eventfinda.
BETWEEN THE LINES
Make a well-deserved date with one of the latest page-turners to hit our shelves.
Make a well-deserved date with one of the latest page-turners to hit our shelves.
THE NOWHERE BOY
Anne Cleary, Allen & Unwin
Winner of the 2025 Allen & Unwin Aotearoa NZ Fiction Prize, Anne Cleary’s debut novel explores the razor-thin line between love and obsession. When three-year-old Oliver vanishes from a remote beach carpark, suspicion and desperation ripple through everyone left behind. As the search for Oliver intensifies, another woman clings to the impossible belief she’s been handed a second chance at motherhood. Tense and impossible to put down, The Nowhere Boy is a haunting must-read for fans of psychological drama.
FAMESICK
Lena Dunham, HarperCollins
Part memoir, part reckoning, Famesick sees Lena Dunham reflecting on the dizzying highs and brutal fallout of fame. Charting the years after TV show Girls turned her into a cultural lightning rod, Lena writes candidly about chronic illness, addiction, ambition and the cost of living publicly while privately falling apart. The book peels back the glossy veneer of celebrity to reveal a woman trying to reclaim herself beyond fame.
YESTERYEAR
Caro Claire Burke, 4th Estate
This unsettling and addictive debut novel takes a sharp swipe at influencer culture. Natalie Heller Mills has built an empire selling the fantasy of wholesome pioneer living to millions online, with polished sourdough loaves, a cowboy husband, perfect children and all. Then she wakes to find herself trapped in the brutal realities of the 1800s she’s been romanticising. Darkly funny, Caro Claire Burke peels back the performance of modern femininity and asks what’s left underneath.
ORGAN SPEAK
Giulia Enders, Harper Collins
More than a decade after Gut, Giulia Enders is back with a wider look at the body’s inner workings. Organ Speak explores what our organs can teach us about stress, healing, safety and connection. Enders has a knack for making science feel surprisingly intimate, by swapping dry medical jargon for sharp storytelling and everyday insight. This is the kind of book that makes you pay closer attention to yourself.
WHY WE GARDEN
Hannah Moloney, Simon & Schuster
In Why We Garden, Australian gardening guru and Gardening Australia presenter Hannah Moloney digs beneath the soil to uncover what really draws us to growing things. Page by page, she weaves together stories from gardeners, artists, activists and everyday people to reveal how gardening nourishes far more than our backyards. Hannah makes a compelling case for gardening as an act of hope and care in an increasingly disconnected world.
RULE OF LIES
Jamison R Firestone, HarperCollins
This political thriller plunges readers into the chaos of post- Soviet Russia through the eyes of an American lawyer caught in the middle of corruption and rising authoritarianism. From mafia threats to exposing state corruption alongside Sergei Magnitsky and Alexei Navalny, Firestone’s real-life story unfolds with the pace of a spy novel. Rule of Lies is an eye-opening account of power and survival under Putin’s Russia.
FOR THE LOVE OF IT
One-time cleaner now award-winning writer Anne Cleary’s lifetime of storytelling is finally paying off.
One-time cleaner now award-winning writer Anne Cleary’s lifetime of storytelling is finally paying off.
WORDS HAYLEY BARNETT
PHOTOS GISELLE BROSNAHAN
Anne Cleary didn’t set out to become a prize-winning novelist. Always a hobby, and a way to take the edge off life, writing has simply been slotted between jobs and family life.
“I’ve always just been a recreational writer,” she says. “People often ask why I didn’t pursue it as a career, but I’ve never wanted writing to become a job.”
Her pastime has now culminated in a major literary win. At the beginning of the year, her novel The Nowhere Boy won the Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand 2025 Fiction Prize, but the path to publication was far from easy.
Anne has worked a string of jobs, from cleaner and Salvation Army store worker, to caregiver and photo lab assistant, alongside raising her children.
“You just grab the time when you’ve got it, and ideas come when you’re not sitting there forcing them,” she explains.
A mentorship that began through a library writing group stretched over years and shaped her understanding of the craft, pushing her work toward publication standard. Anne credits that long-term support with helping her find her footing as a novelist.
It wasn’t until later in life, after her children were grown and she moved from West Auckland to Tauranga, that writing became something she felt she could seriously develop.
The Tauranga Writers’ group proved pivotal by offering feedback and, more importantly, belief.
“There’s a real focus there on getting people published,” she says. “That made a huge difference.”
Though the award may have brought recognition, and a nice monetary prize, it has also highlighted the industry’s unpredictable nature.
“It’s important not to think about money,” Anne advises novice writers. “There’s not a lot in it. You do it because you love it. If you’re writing for the market, you lose something essential.”
The Nowhere Boy began with some real-life inspiration passed to Anne through a friend, who told her about a memory of child who briefly went missing in the US in the 1960s. From that seed, Anne built a novel that's driven by character rather than plot, and explores the emotional fallout from the disappearance.
“I just wrote a short story from what she told me, then it kept expanding,” she explains.
Winning the prize came at an unexpectedly emotional time. Anne had been caring for her father in his final months, and he died just weeks before the announcement. The phone call from Allen & Unwin arrived the day before she left New Zealand on a long-planned overseas trip.
“I just sat there thinking, ‘What? I’ve won?’" she says. “And then I was just sad that he wouldn’t know.”
The loss, and the win, only provide more motivation to keep writing.
“I have more in the works,” hints Anne, “something I’ve been working on for a long time.”
While more prizes might be on the horizon, for the meantime, she'll continue writing for fun, between everything else.
EXPERIENCE NECESSARY
Diners might have traditionally come for the food and drinks, says new UNO columnist Rae Baker, but more so than ever, we’re staying for all the feels.
Diners might have traditionally come for the food and drinks, says new UNO columnist Rae Baker, but more so than ever, we’re staying for all the feels.
Somethin’ Somethin’.
There was a time when dining out was simple. You chose a place, ordered a meal, and if the food was good, you’d come back. These days, something else is at play. We’re not just going out to eat, we’re going out to feel something.
I’ve spent much of my career working in events and experience design, and what’s happening in our food scene feels like a natural evolution. We’re living in what’s often called the ‘experience economy’, in which people place value not just on what we buy, but also on how it makes us feel.
In hospitality, that means the lighting, the music, the story behind the dish, the welcome at the door and the company around the table matter just as much as what’s on the plate.
For operators, this creates both opportunity and pressure in an already demanding environment. It’s no longer enough to simply serve great food – the expectation now is a complete experience. Diners want atmosphere, personality, connection and something that feels memorable enough to justify both their time and their money.
It’s exciting to see how this is taking shape in the Bay of Plenty. Pop-ups and collaborations are creating space for creativity to thrive without the commitment of a permanent venue, while established operators are reimagining their spaces through one-off takeovers and themed experiences.
There’s a growing willingness to experiment and invite people to be part of something a little different. In doing so, communities are forming around food.
Leopard Boy Pizza.
Take Leopard Boy Pizza, for example. Owner Andy Bowker started out working at Sal’s as a teenager, honed his craft and began exploring how making pizza could become not just a skill, but also a business. By leaning into the Bay’s grassroots hospitality scene and collaborating with the likes of Special Mention, Blondie, Benny and Brew, and most recently Best Behaviour Rum, Leopard Boy has built a pop-up model that feels distinctly local.
Pizza is only the beginning – it’s about that unmistakable feeling of connection that defines genuine hospitality. That same thinking is showing up in different ways across the region.
Wine bar Solera recently wrapped a month long Spanish takeover, complete with Spanish wines by the glass, regionally inspired dishes woven through the menu, and lively Saturday pintxo afternoons built around sharing food and conversation.
Solera.
Somethin’ Somethin’ has cultivated a Honey Club following by using the loyalty club to engage customers beyond their daily coffee ritual and fill seats across a growing calendar of themed events. Over the coming months, they’ll be hosting Latin-inspired evenings, Ragtag collaborations and a Beaujolais Nouveau celebration, all designed to turn casual customers into an engaged community.
We’re keener than ever to invest in experiences that feel thoughtful, immersive and worth talking about long after the table’s been cleared. Perhaps that’s the real change. Forget simply consuming meals, we’re collecting moments. In a region rich with creativity, produce and passionate people, it’s a shift in thinking that opens up a world of possibility.
SOUND BITES
UNO editor Hayley Barnett drops in on Med Lounge and Garden, where live beats and culinary genius are stealing the Village spotlight.
UNO editor Hayley Barnett drops in on Med Lounge and Garden, where live beats and culinary genius are stealing the Village spotlight.
PHOTOS CHAD FERNANDO
If experiences are the latest craze in the epicurean world, then Med Lounge and Garden is right on trend.
Sitting in the middle of the Historic Village, the restaurant, bar and event space has become one of Tauranga’s most interesting hospitality hybrids. It’s partly a neighbourhood eatery and partly a live-events hub. But make no mistake – it’s very serious about food.
For co-owner Jose Lavin, the vision was to create a place where the food feels fun and fresh, and the vibe social. That’s easily achieved when you combine two of the best events guys in the biz.
Med is the brainchild of co-owner Mitch Lowe from Audiology Touring, one of New Zealand’s leading DJ touring businesses. Knowing Jose’s extensive background in hospitality and events, Mitch brought him on to manage things. Jose runs Euphoria, another festival business, and now Med, where he shaped its recent menu revamp.
“I think everything has a little bit of personality,” Jose says of the menu. “A lot of colours, fresh, healthy.”
Co-owner Mitch Lowe.
That philosophy shines through when the dishes arrive. Halloumi salad, falafel and house-made pita bread have already become favourites on the lunch menu. The bread is baked fresh each morning through a collaboration with the team behind Tauranga’s well-known Falafel Metro, whose Middle Eastern roots helped inspire Med’s original direction.
Since taking over the food offering earlier this year, Chilean-born Jose has recently designed the new dinner menu to become something broader and more exploratory, mixing Mediterranean influences with Spanish, Italian and South American touches.
“We’re trying to create a menu that gives an experience,” he says. That means retaining signature elements for the new dinner menu, such as hummus, labneh and romesco, while introducing shareable plates, like cheese and prosciutto cigars, octopus toast and Basque lamb.
Jose says the goal is to give regular diners a reason to return. “If you like a place, you want to go and probably have something new that isn’t on every other menu in town.”
Their approach suits Med’s setting, hidden among galleries, boutique businesses and heritage buildings. The Historic Village is one of Tauranga’s more eclectic precincts, and Med’s audience is largely creators and art lovers who love good food.
The sense of discovery is what drew both Mitch and Jose to set up this business hybrid. Their music backgrounds and impressive contacts have helped put Med on the map as an intimate live-music venue. Together, they’ve already hosted sold out shows there, including gigs from international DJs such as Carl Cox.
“To add value to a city, you need to give it something that it doesn’t already have,” says Mitch. “That’s our goal at Med, to create a unique social atmosphere with food to match.”
Med’s point of difference in the Bay’s dining scene is an important one, and highlights the lack of smaller venues in the city. But so too is the need for quality food.
As Med cements its place on Tauranga's foodie map, the Historic Village gem has become a destination eatery that feels genuinely unique and new.
OUTWARD BOUND
Through their new online series, Kids Unplugged, a local family of filmmakers is encouraging young ones to turn away from their screens.
Through their new online series, Kids Unplugged, a local family of filmmakers is encouraging young ones to turn away from their screens.
WORDS KARL PUSCHMANN
The question of how much screentime is too much screentime is one many parents wrestle with. Thanks to the rise of streaming services and devices like iPads and smartphones, kids could have access to virtually any TV show or movie they want, whenever they want.
It’s a problem previous generations of parents haven’t had to face, so it’s no wonder that when it comes to screen time, many parents feel the genie has escaped its bottle.
It was while reading social psychologist Jonathan Hyatt's book, The Anxious Generation, that producer Kylie Dellabarca Steel realised something needed to be done to encourage kids to unplug.
“There are a lot of devastating statistics in that book,” she sighs. “The addictions, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation… all that negative stuff that comes with too much screen time. No parent wants their kids to resemble the statistics in that book. It’s sad and depressing reading.”
Kylie gave the book to her husband, director Anton Steel, who felt the same. They began thinking about how they could “use the tools in our hands” to make a positive change.
The eureka moment came, as these things often do, unexpectedly. “It just popped into my head when I was in the shower,” laughs Kylie.
The idea was Kids Unplugged, an online series of 10-minute episodes that show children how much fun there is to be had when they unplug, and profiles inspiring locals who’ve found joy, fulfilment, health, purpose and human connection after switching off their screens.
At Otanewainuku waterfall, clockwise from left: Kylie, Anton, Malachi, Judah and Ezra.
The clever part is that the show isn’t doom and gloom, nor does it try to scare kids off their screens. Instead, the couple’s three children, Malachi (15), Judah (12) and Ezra (7), present it, making it hugely relatable to its intended audience and ensuring it stays light and fun, and doesn’t become preachy. The goal was to make kids want to unplug, rather than being told to.
“In mountain biking, there’s a saying, ‘Where you look is where you hit’,” says Anton. “What that means is if you look at the trees, you’ll hit the trees, but if you look at the trail, you’ll focus on that and go where you want to go. If we just talked about all the negatives of screen time, we’d actually lean towards them, but if we tell the story of the positives of unplugging, all the health and wellbeing benefits, that’s where people will go.”
Having crowd-funded several other independent productions, the filmmakers followed the same steps to fund Kids Unplugged. It was a topic that resonated, and people were quick to support the project.
The six-episode series heads off on outdoorsy adventures like hiking, snorkelling, horseriding and skiing, while showing the unplugging journey other kids have made. For example, it features a 15-year-old former videogame addict who gave up screens and found a new calling as a political activist, cycling to Wellington to present a case for the continuation of Māori wards in his hometown of Whakatāne.
“Jack's a good example of someone who was overweight, sleep-deprived and addicted,” says Anton.
“He had played 3000 hours in the video game Runescape,” Kylie says, almost in disbelief. “He went from a complete screen addict to a child who’s full of life. He’s thriving, happy and healthy, and gives so much to his community.”
“He really turned his life around,” says Anton.
All up, the show took a year to make, from idea to funding, filming to production, to now streaming for free on RNZ’s website and YouTube. It’s been quite a journey, but the family’s keen to get to work on season two.
“We filmed the series in the Bay of Plenty for budget reasons, and because it’s the fantastic place we live in, but we’d love to take it nationwide,” says Kylie.
Anton nods: “The dream would be a family road trip to find amazing kids all around New Zealand.”
As for Judah, he was initially a little wary of the project, having grown up watching the amount of work mum and dad put into their productions.
“I knew it would be a lot of time and effort,” he says, “but it was quite fun. I enjoyed making it because I got to meet other people who live unplugged and I got to do fun activities with them.”
3 TOP TIPS FOR UNPLUGGING
1. “It can be as simple as making a cushion hut in the lounge or going for a walk. Instead of hopping straight onto screens straight after school, just get yourself outside. Start with small steps like that.”
– Judah
2. “Don’t be too hard on yourself to begin with. Ease into it. It’s tricky for parents, but be intentional and recognise that you're your kids’ role model. There’s no point preaching unplugging to them if you don't practice it yourself. We try to be those role models and not use screens recreationally ourselves.”
– Kylie
3. “Aim for balance. We want to eat healthy, we want to exercise for healthy bodies, and we want to think healthy too, so try to encourage balance in your kids’ lives. If they’re going to spend some time on a screen, then think about what they can do to balance that time.”
– Anton
MEET YOUR GROCER
Ian Harrison’s rapt to have opened a restaurant all his own, and
everyone’s invited. Just don’t call it fine dining though, okay?
Ian Harrison’s rapt to have opened a restaurant all his own, and everyone’s invited. Just don’t call it fine dining though, okay?
WORDS HAYLEY BARNETT / PHOTOS ERIN CAVE
As I enter The Grocer through the kitchen, the first thing Ian Harrison does is apologise for swearing. The second thing he does is swear again.
He’s standing in the middle of his new restaurant's kitchen on Tauranga’s Strand, talking about duck fat and why he hates the term ‘fine dining’. He’s also prepping plates of confit duck, mushroom gnocchi and crispy chicken, all updated versions of dishes from his revamped menu.
“This isn’t fine dining,” he says, gesturing toward a duck salad layered with beetroot, orange and walnuts. “If it was fine dining, the orange would be a jelly, there’d be micro herbs everywhere and the sauce would be some over-reduced, complicated bullshit.”
He looks at me, warily.
“I just want to cook really good food.”
For people in Tauranga, Ian Harrison hardly needs an introduction. Over the past decade, he’s become one of the city’s defining hospitality figures. He’s helped shape restaurants including Sugo, Clarence, Alpino and Florence. Ask around local food circles and his name comes up quickly, usually alongside words like ‘perfectionist’, ‘obsessive’ and ‘brilliant’
– sometimes all three.
The Grocer is different because, for the first time, it’s entirely his. After years spent building other people’s visions, this is the place where he finally gets to cook exactly what he wants.
It’s only a few months old, yet Ian has already reworked the menu, tweaking dishes, refining portions and adjusting it based on what people have responded to. Winter is pushing things further toward hearty British gastropub territory, with slow braises, rich sauces, duck fat potatoes, steak and Sunday roasts. Summer, he says, will pull everything back toward lighter seafood and vegetables.
“It’s probably more Pommie than anything,” he laughs. “But then there’s Asian influence, Kiwi influence, Māori influence. If I feel like putting a curry on later in the year, I’ll put a curry on.”
Ian talks about food the way some people talk about architecture or music. He doesn’t like trends, but he does like details.
“If we do eggs benedict here, I want it to be the best eggs benedict someone’s had,” he says. “Not because we’re trying to be fancy – just because we’ve thought about it more.”
Ian’s mentality was moulded long before he arrived in Tauranga. He grew up in England and spent years cooking his way through Europe. He worked in Michelin-starred kitchens where precision ruled everything. He cooked at three Australian Grand Prix without seeing much more than the inside of a kitchen. Eventually, exhausted by the intensity of hospitality, he decided he wanted out altogether.
He planned an enormous trip from Papua New Guinea to London, using boats and buses, working and diving along the way, but after arriving in Auckland in 2011, he stayed.
“I remember thinking, ‘I’m not doing those chef hours anymore’,” he says, “so I went front-of-house instead – because I’m good with people, I can talk.”
His talent earned him hospitality awards and briefly pulled him away from the kitchen entirely. Then he met Krystal, now his wife, and eventually followed life south to Tauranga. Now they have two daughters, Hine Ao Manawanui and Māia, who have become the centre of everything.
“I probably would have left hospitality completely if this place didn’t happen,” he admits. “It was kind of now or never.”
The Grocer occupies a historic building on The Strand that once housed a grocer’s store, among other things, and Ian liked the idea immediately. He wanted to recreate a neighbourhood place filled with essentials, like preserves, sauces, wine, good bread, conversation. He’s already begun bottling house-made condiments to sell, including tomato ketchup, duck fat and preserves made from ingredients used in the kitchen.
“I like the idea that people can take a little bit of the place home with them,” he says.
The restaurant itself feels warm. There are candles at night, heavy plates, proper portions and staff encouraged to read tables rather than recite scripts.
Ian talks as passionately about service as he does food.
“I wanted adults,” he says of his team. “People with personality. People who can actually read the room.”
He speaks openly about the realities of hospitality too, especially in Tauranga, where rising costs and cautious spending have made survival increasingly difficult for restaurants. He jokes about seeing himself less as a restaurateur and more as a “drug dealer”, trying to get customers hooked on the experience before they drift elsewhere. But behind the humour is very real pressure.
“This winter’s going to be rough for a lot of places,” he says. “You’ll see casualties.”
Ian remains optimistic, partly because he believes Tauranga’s dining culture is changing. He intentionally chose this location before major developments around the waterfront are completed, because he still believes people want genuine hospitality.
That’s also why he’s resisting labels like ‘fine dining’, despite his background. He says he doesn’t want hats or awards. “I don’t care about being a celebrity chef – I really don’t.”
Ironically, Tauranga already treats him like one. Customers regularly stop to talk to him. Diners specifically ask whether he’s cooking that night. His social media videos pull strong engagement, despite the fact he openly admits he hates spending time on his phone.
“I’d rather be home with my wife and kids, having a wine, than sitting on Instagram.”
That said, he understands modern hospitality requires visibility, and so he appears in videos; talks to media, like me; and promotes the restaurant, even if reluctantly.
“No one sells the place better than I do,” he says with a shrug.
Really, all The Grocer’s aiming for is good food, generous hospitality and enough warmth to make people want to stay awhile. And while Tauranga’s still figuring out exactly what its dining culture can become, that might be exactly the right recipe.
TASTE OF HOME
These dishes from Home Foods by Elizabeth Hewson prove great cooking doesn’t need to be complicated. A few honest ingredients and you’re away.
These dishes from Home Foods by Elizabeth Hewson prove great cooking doesn’t need to be complicated. A few honest ingredients and you’re away.
CRISPY SAUSAGE, TOMATOES AND GARLIC GREENS ON POLENTA
This is a very ‘me’ bowl of food: garlic, chilli, lemon, greens, sweet, blistered cherry tomatoes and gnarly, crispy pork sausages, all piled onto a bed of buttery, cheesy polenta. I know purists may baulk at the idea of instant polenta, but for a midweek meal, cooked with plenty of butter and cheese, I’m all for it. If polenta isn’t your thing, toss this through pasta or stir in a can of drained beans when you add the greens.
SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
4 good-quality Italian pork and fennel sausages 200g cherry tomatoes
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp rosemary leaves, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup chicken stock
80g kale, leaves stripped and roughly chopped
1 lemon
Quick polenta
1 cup full-cream milk
450ml chicken stock or water (or a combination of both)
100g instant polenta
1 tbsp butter
½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
METHOD
Heat a deep, heavy-based frying pan with a lid over medium-high heat. Once hot, pour in the olive oil.
Cut the ends off the sausages and squeeze out nuggets of meat into the pan. Fry for 5 minutes, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat into small nuggets, until they're golden and crisp.
Throw in the tomatoes and leave to cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, to get some colour on the tomatoes.
Add the fennel seeds, chilli flakes, rosemary and garlic, and give everything a good toss.
Cook for 30 seconds, then pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape all that sticky goodness off the base of the pan. Let the wine simmer for 2 minutes, then pour in the chicken stock and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for another 5 minutes for the flavours to mingle.
Meanwhile, to prepare your polenta, bring the milk, stock and water to a simmer. Add the polenta in a steady stream, whisking as you go. Continue to whisk the polenta for 3–5 minutes, until thickened. Once it’s thick and oozy, stir in the butter and cheese. Season.
Now, back to your sausage. Add the chopped greens to the pan, toss through, then put on the lid. Give it a minute or two to wilt, then toss and turn off the heat.
Zest the lemon over the top and add a squeeze of juice to brighten everything up. Spoon the sausage mixture over the creamy polenta with extra Parmigiano Reggiano showered over the top, and a little kiss of olive oil.
Leftovers: This will keep for 3 days, but it’s best to keep the polenta and sausage mixture separate.
FISH PUTTANESCA WITH
GARLIC AND CHIVE BREAD
This is a one-pot fish dish with all the punchy, briny flavours of a puttanesca – anchovies, olives, capers, chilli and a good hit of garlic – only here, they’re wrapped around fillets of fish instead of pasta. Like puttanesca, which was famously thrown together from pantry staples, this comes together with little effort but delivers big on flavour. A side of garlic bread to mop up the sauce is non-negotiable for me.
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 anchovy fillets
Pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional), plus extra to serve
⅓ cup dry white wine
1 × 400g can cherry tomatoes
200g whole cherry tomatoes
½ cup Italian black or green olives, pitted
2 tbsp capers in vinegar, drained
½ cup basil leaves, plus extra to serve
½ tsp caster sugar
4 × centre-cut fillets of firm white or pink-fleshed (trout or salmon) fish
1 lemon, for zesting
Garlic and chive bread
60g salted butter, at room temperature
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp chives, finely chopped
1 small loaf ciabatta or baguette
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350˚F) fan-forced. In a large frying pan with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, anchovies and chilli flakes, if using. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring to help the anchovies melt into the oil. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble, simmering for about 2 minutes until it starts to reduce. Add the canned cherry tomatoes, then rinse out the can with about ¼ cup water and pour that in too. Stir in the whole cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, half the basil, and the sugar. Taste, and add a pinch of salt if needed. Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly.
Meanwhile, for the garlic and chive bread, mash the butter, garlic and chives together in a bowl. Slice into the baguette at 1 cm intervals, stopping just before the base so it stays intact. Using a teaspoon, smear the garlic butter between the slices. Wrap the bread in foil and bake for 15 minutes, until the butter has melted. Open up the foil slightly so the top of the bread is exposed and cook for a further 5 minutes, until golden and toasted.
Once the sauce has had its 10 minutes, nestle in the fish. Season each piece with salt, pepper and a lick of the remaining olive oil, then lay the remaining basil leaves over the top. Reduce the heat to low, put the lid back on, and poach the fish gently for 6–8 minutes, until it’s opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
When the fish is ready, zest some lemon over the top and serve, spooning the sauce over the fish. Scatter with basil leaves, a pinch of dried chilli and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with the warm garlic and chive bread to mop up every bit.
Leftovers: This will keep in the fridge for 2 days.
INSTANT CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE CREAMS
Although I mostly prefer to serve dessert in the centre of the table to allow guests to help themselves, I will admit there’s a certain elegance about individual servings. These billowy creams look beautiful in little glasses, but don’t let your eyes get the better of you – they’re rich, so a little goes a long way. They do need to be made in the moment and served straight away, but considering the effortlessness of them, this shouldn’t be cause for concern. Berries make the perfect partner, especially big, fat strawberries that can be dipped and twirled in the chocolate cream.
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
120g dark chocolate (70%), roughly chopped
1 egg
250g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
¼ cup full-cream milk
To serve
Salt flakes
Fruit of your choice, such as berries or cherries
METHOD
Fill a medium-sized saucepan with roughly 4cm water. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Suspend a heatproof bowl on top of the pan, ensuring it fits snugly but doesn’t touch the water. Reduce the heat if needed to maintain the gentle simmer, then add the chocolate and slowly let it melt, giving it a stir to encourage it. Once melted, take it off the heat and immediately whisk in the egg. The mixture will become very thick and shiny. Add the mascarpone and vanilla and continue to whisk until combined. Pour in the milk to loosen things up. You should have lovely, billowy cream. Spoon into small glasses or bowls and sprinkle with salt flakes, then serve immediately with the fruit.
OLIVE OIL CAKE WITH LEMON AND THYME GLAZE
This olive oil cake is hard to beat. Irresistibly moist with a golden crust, it’s rich, flavourful and achingly simple. In fact, it’s about as straightforward as a cake gets. It suits any occasion, equally happy served for morning tea or rolled out for dessert (with the help of a little cream). It’s a cake that takes me through the seasons, as I serve it with the best fruit of the moment. Sometimes I’ll poach the fruit, other times I’ll serve it fresh – always with a dollop of crème fraîche or thick Greek yoghurt.
SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS
2 cups plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1½ cups caster sugar
½ tsp salt flakes
3 eggs, whisked
1 cup full-cream milk
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup lemon juice
Lemon and thyme glaze
45ml lemon juice
115g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
To serve
Sliced peaches (or your favourite fruit)
Crème fraîche or Greek yoghurt (optional)
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170˚C fan-forced. Oil a 20cm round cake tin with high sides, then line the base and sides with baking paper. I like to have a 5-10cm overhang of baking paper to encourage the cake to rise evenly. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, olive oil, vanilla paste, and lemon zest and juice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
Pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is a beautiful golden colour and a skewer comes out clean. The cake sides will also be coming away from the tin. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn it out onto a cooling rack.
While the cake is cooling in the tin, mix the glaze together by combining all of the ingredients. Once you’ve turned the cake out, flip it right-side up onto a cooling rack and drizzle the glaze over the top.
Leave to cool completely (for at least 1 hour) before slicing.
Serve with fruit and crème fraîche or thick Greek yoghurt, drizzled with olive oil. Leftovers: This cake will keep quite happily for 3 days in a sealed container at room temperature.
CULTURAL COUP
Claire Regnault is bringing big ambition and fresh energy to Tauranga Museum.
Claire Regnault is bringing big ambition and fresh energy to Tauranga Museum.
WORDS JO-MARIE BAKER | PHOTO YOAN JOLLY, TE PAPA
For a city that has waited decades for a museum, the appointment of Claire Regnault is a major coup.
A highly respected curator with more than 30 years’ experience, including 15 years as senior curator New Zealand Histories and Cultures at Te Papa, she will now shape one of the most visible parts of Tauranga’s new museum: its temporary exhibitions and public programmes.
She wasn’t actively looking for a new job, but one look at Tauranga Museum’s plans was all it took to lure her north.
“It was exciting to see something that was ambitious and obviously had momentum. The buildings aren’t just pragmatic, they’re beautiful buildings designed with care and thought.”
For Regnault, it was that sense of pride and forward thinking that stood out. Public infrastructure projects can often feel constrained in New Zealand, -but Tauranga’s willingness to invest in something culturally bold was compelling.
Beyond her curatorial work, Regnault is also one of New Zealand’s leading voices in fashion history. Her book Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910 won the illustrated non-fiction category at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. She plans to quietly work away on a new book while focusing on building an engaging museum programme that will appeal to visitors of all ages.
“The team have their dream list of projects that they would love to do – things from the collection, or ideas that they’ve been sitting on relating to Tauranga. So it’ll be a mix of exhibitions that we develop ourselves, plus exhibitions from the national touring circuit. There’s aspirations to also bring in international shows. We really want the museum to hum.”
That ambition extends beyond exhibitions themselves. Programming will be designed to activate the building and create a sense of energy and connection. “It could be anything from an in-gallery hands-on learning activity to a lecture series, floor talks or film nights.”
At its core, Regnault sees the new museum as a place for enjoyment, reflection, and social connection – a warm, welcoming space where there’s always something on offer, and where visitors can keep returning and engaging in different ways.
“You want some levity and fun, but it will be balanced with opportunities for serious reflection and exhibitions that might be a bit challenging to prompt people to think and create empathy.”
Outside of work, Claire’s already settling into Tauranga, describing the city as gentle and beautiful. Much of her time is spent exploring local parks and walkways with her greyhound, Devo, and connecting with the region’s greyhound community. She’s also looking forward to joining the Tauranga Film Society.
At the museum, work is already well underway on what will be a dynamic programme of exhibitions and experiences. While the doors won’t open until 2028, some exhibitions can take up to two years to develop.
“Our job is to make sure the exhibitions are as spectacular as the building itself, and people feel like they belong, take ownership, and are really stimulated and excited by what’s inside.” LETSTALK.TAURANGA.GOVT.NZ/PROJECTS/TAURANGA-MUSEUM
WILD ABOUT FLAVOUR
A vibrant and varied hospitality scene is one of the keys to a great city, argues UNO wine columnist Jess Easton, and every one of us can play a part in lifting Tauranga Moana’s.
A vibrant and varied hospitality scene is one of the keys to a great city, argues UNO wine columnist Jess Easton, and every one of us can play a part in lifting Tauranga Moana’s.
PHOTOS ILK PHOTOGRAPHY
Hospitality, in case you haven’t heard, is doing it tough right now. Every now and then, though, something comes along that restores faith and lightens the gloom.
Five Go Wild With Food, my team at Kitchen Takeover’s offering at this year’s Flavours of Plenty festival held in April/May, hit that mark perfectly and left me reflecting on why I enjoy this festival, and the hospitality industry, so much.
Proudly sponsored by Pyramid Valley Vineyards, the Five Go Wild With Food event featured five courses created by an international array of talent – Samoan/Māori chef Nancye Pirini (Te Kaahu), Japanese/Korean couple Rika Inagaki and Brian Kim (RikaRika), British whiz Ian Harrison (The Grocer), Italian Stefano Raimondi (Autentico) and Kiwi Dan Lockhart (Kitchen Takeover).
Although Nancye, a remarkable wahine, hails from the East Coast and is now based in Tāmaki Makaurau, the rest of the chefs are right here in Tauranga Moana.
They’re far from alone. We have some amazingly creative chefs and restaurants in this city; I was also lucky enough to enjoy a couple of extraordinary, envelope-pushing meals at Mount Maunganui’s Solera during Flavours of Plenty, for example.
What I absolutely love is the collaboration and sense of community in this town. Most owners are incredibly generous and helpful towards each other, chefs support one another, and talent is nurtured and shared.
I’m really excited for one of our young chefs, Christian Schurink Gardner, who got to work with all the incredible talent at Five Go Wild and will hopefully pick up some gigs with them in future.
A quick word on Pyramid Valley, too. I spent an incredible afternoon with winemaker Huw Kinch at the North Canterbury vineyard a couple of years ago and came away dazzled by what they’re producing.
Huw is a craftsman extraordinaire and some of the single vintages – Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay and Snake’s Tongue Pinot Noir spring to mind – are mind-blowingly good.
We were thrilled to be able to showcase Pyramid Valley’s Sauvignon+ at Five Goes Wild, and really appreciated their support.
Hospitality, when all boiled down, is all about heart. It's about those all-too-rare connections between people and palate. Times are really tough at the moment, but we can take a leaf out of hospitality’s book and pull together by supporting our local eateries and venues as much as possible – because a city is only as vibrant as the people and places we each choose to support.
Jess Easton is a director and owner of Kitchen Takeover, a venture that complements her career as a Tauranga-based lawyer.
CHASING THE LIGHT
For Tauranga artist Tracy Stamatakos, the Bay of Plenty is a constant source of inspiration. Her photography transforms local land and seascapes into atmospheric works that invite viewers to pause and look again.
For Tauranga artist Tracy Stamatakos, the Bay of Plenty is a constant source of inspiration. Her photography transforms local land and seascapes into atmospheric works that invite viewers to pause and look again.
PHOTOS DEBORAH DE GRAAF
UNO: For people who might be seeing your work for the first time, how do you describe what you do?
Tracy: Sometimes there’s confusion at first glance. What is it – a drawing or a painting? It’s photography, but not in the literal sense. I use single-capture long-exposure techniques to record light, colour and shape, moving the camera while the shutter is open to achieve the desired result. I also create new lines and shapes by recording the movement of objects or specular highlights. I believe art can act as a transfer of energy from the unseen into the physical world. My images are imprinted with my energy, the energy of movement and the grounded energy of a place. My hope is that the viewer feels this too. You talk about “painting with light”.
What does that actually look like when you're out shooting?
I’m sure it looks really odd! Sometimes it’s fluid movements, other times it’s following shapes. It feels meditative to photograph this way. I love remote locations where I can be fully present and recharge at the same time. In contrast, trains can be fun to shoot from – scenes approaching and disappearing just as fast. I can spend six to eight hours in an outside carriage, and love the challenge of having to react quickly with no way to refine the scene. The funniest response I’ve had was on the Northern Explorer. A woman who had watched me for hours finally said to her husband, “I don’t know what she’s doing, but her photos aren’t going to be sharp.” I just smiled.
What is it about the Bay of Plenty that inspires you?
There’s beauty everywhere, but I tend to find it between the sun and the rain, where the pressure builds and the light breaks through. We’re blessed to have the ocean, rivers, hills and mountains on our doorstep, changing minute by minute. It’s a spectacular show.
Do you tend to head out with a clear idea of the image you want, or is it more about responding to the moment?
“Responding to the moment” is a perfect description. Most of the time, I leave it up to the universe to present me with options. Sometimes there are certain images that make my heart race, or I can see the opportunity to develop an idea. In that case, I’ll make a clear plan to capture a series. That might include returning to a certain location, choosing another one with more potential, planning to shoot at the optimum time of day, or waiting for the weather gods to sprinkle some magic. I’ve learnt that booking 10 days in the South Island in the middle of winter doesn’t guarantee moody weather. Full sun is not my friend, but I’ve accepted the challenge on many occasions. I guess that’s how you move forward.
You've been working in photography for decades now. What’s changed the most in how you see things?
This industry is all I’ve ever known. My first job was with Bob Tulloch at No 1 The Strand in the early ’90s. I hadn’t set out to be a wedding photographer. I fell into that quite by accident, but quickly realised it’s some of the best training you could ever have. Twenty years of constant pivoting, catching curveballs, working under time restraints, learning to breathe under extreme pressure… but somewhere in all the madness, you create magic and you keep going. Photography was a love, and then it became a job. It’s also highly technical, with lots of components to control and briefs to stick to, especially commercially, so it began to feel clinical and suffocating. I found the love again by shooting for myself, by throwing out all those rules in 2006 and creating emotionally charged imagery, which is dark, moody, soft and serene. With age, I think you become more aware of self. There’s also an element of knowing we’re all on borrowed time – although I’m putting it out there that I’ve only reached the halfway mark and am keen for another 50 years. You start wearing your heart on your sleeve and caring less about what other people think, not worrying so much about mistakes because you understand that’s how growth happens. Making art connections outside the photographic industry was also key for me. Being able to bounce ideas around with people working in different mediums was refreshing.
What’s it like being based in Tauranga and running your own gallery space?
I took over the 9th Ave space 11 years ago, when my business switched to focusing on commercial work. The signage on the window has always read “studio + gallery”, but it’s only been in the past 18 months that the gallery has had regular hours. I have to thank my talented ceramic artist friend Lynn Ross for backing me and sharing the gallery hours to make this possible. We’ve always had an appreciation for each other’s work and visitors enjoy the way it intersects. It’s delighted us recently to have people waiting for the doors to open. That sure makes up for the quiet days, but that’s the nature of retail.
When someone stands in front of one of your pieces, what do you hope they feel?
A moment of pause, and space for their own memories and interpretations to surface. It’s also a direct transfer of energy. For example, I have one image that has been purchased four times as a remembrance piece, and it was photographed in that spirit. That makes me smile, to know my visual communication is working. I think it’s very important to connect emotionally with a piece for longevity. Will it still mean something to me when my surroundings change? Art can create future memories too. An image you live with becomes a backdrop to everyday life.
GOOD VIBRATIONS
Armed with only buckets and drumsticks, a group of five local teens has become a global sensation. We caught up with the Beat Street Drummers to learn the secret of their success.
Armed with only buckets and drumsticks, a group of five local teens has become a global sensation. We caught up with the Beat Street Drummers to learn the secret of their success.
WORDS KARL PUSCHMANN / PHOTO ALAN GIBSON
The beat thunders through the Historic Village, its rhythmic pulse grooving and full of joy. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stops – a one-minute blat of head-nodding bounce and skilled exuberance.
The drums were booming out from the village’s iconic live venue, The Jam Factory, but when I enter, there’s not a drum kit, conga, bongo or percussion instrument to be seen. Instead, carefully positioned in two rows, are five bright-orange Mitre 10 buckets.
These humble buckets are the instruments of choice for Elliot (14), Tristan (15), Daniel (17), Lucas (18) and Noah (18), better known as the Beat Street Drummers.
“The buckets are a way for us all to play together at the same time,” explains Elliot.
“And they’re unique,” adds Tristan.
“People like that,” says Lucas. “Once we set up our social media page, it grew real quick.”
It certainly did. The group, who all met through school and drum courses, have been jamming together for just over four years, but only got more serious with the Beat Street name and Instagram page last year.
“We originally started at one of our houses, just jamming and playing along,” recalls Daniel. “Then we created the Beat Street social media accounts on TikTok and Instagram, and people just loved it.”
The young group quickly became a viral sensation thanks to their fun and impressive choreography – lots of stick twirls and big arm raises – their infectious,cacophonous rhythms played at mind-boggling speed, and their decision to play covers of popular chart hits, like 2014’s Changing by Sigma and Paloma Faith.
That video alone clocked up more than 1.4 million views, but it’s far from their only viral hit. Collectively, they have 22 million-plus views and a loyal fan base of more than 700,000 followers.
“It was our improvs that went viral at first,” says Lucas. “People liked the buckets, but it was the small things that caught their attention – the angles, location.”
“We did a video in a shed on a barnyard and there was a tractor in the background,” says Daniel. “It was quite Kiwi New Zealand.”
“Yeah, people just kept commenting things like, ‘I love that backdrop!’,” laughs Noah. “It’s the little things that make it.”
The secret, they reckon, behind their viral success is that they’re just having fun. The videos aren’t big, over- thought affairs or calculated for maximum engagement.
instead, “something that shocked a lot of people was that our biggest video took us about 20 minutes to choreograph and film,” says Daniel. “Filming our videos is quite quick. I think that comes with the chemistry and the length of time we’ve been together. We have similar thought processes and ideas.”
Beat Street Drummers’ online success has now transferred into the real world, with the group starting to travel the country to perform at music festivals in front of thousands of fans. They’d wanted to play live since the beginning, but weren’t quite sure how to go about it.
“It was hard to think how we were going to get to play at bars or club nights or anything because we’re just drums,” says Daniel. “It seemed like a tough sell.”
Now, however, festivals are coming to them, asking them to play. It’s a dream result. When the quintet gets going, it’s a thoroughly unique experience, with the lads knocking out complex polyrhythms and beats at speed in perfect unison. It does beg the question, how many plastic buckets do they go through?
“We haven't broken any yet!” says Elliot. “We've had these since we started.”
“Yeah,” nods Noah. “It’s the sticks, though. They break a lot.”
Having played together for so long, they’re now relaxed and comfortable when they perform.
“Initially, we had to focus on what we were doing, but then as time went on, it was less about that focus and more like having fun,” says Lucas. “Naturally, we got better and better as we played, so it’s just turned into a fun thing that we look forward to doing.”
Noah grins and says, “We don't really put in as much practice and effort as we did in the beginning, because that work’s already been done.”
The group is enjoying the overnight success that has come after five years of work together, and is excited about what the future holds.
“We all love music,” says Daniel. “We’ve grown up in houses with music, and we play music. It’s our passion. And we're really tight friends as well.”
Then, he inadvertently reveals the true secret of their success.
“Lots of bands are just bands,” he says. “We’re friends and family first – then we’re a bandafter that.”