Laura Marsh is a feminist sound system builder, conceptual object maker, and sound and installation artist. Very recently she also became a mum. Growing up in Dunedin and Wanaka, Laura could often be found dancing around the lounge with her walkman in hand. 1989 was a formative year with Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and Redhead Kingpin hitting the charts - Laura Marsh had found American hip hop. Laura studied film at Ilam in Christchurch whilst also putting in a healthy effort maintaining her status as a snowboarding and surf bum. It was then that she got her first taste of DJing, with hours upon hours of hangs n’ jams at a friend’s flat with a resident set of turntables and yet another friend’s collection of 90’s hip hop records. Upon graduating from Ilam she moved to the North Island, to join the ‘film industry circus’ in Auckland, finding herself working on American turn around TV. Living with DJs it was only a matter of time before Laura learnt that one could get paid 80 bucks an hour to play records for other people. With that valuable piece of information in hand she hit the secondhand shops to expand her fledgling 80’s vinyl collection, found herself a couple of party slots and excitingly, a way to fund a transition from working in film to ‘being an artist’. In 2009 Laura enrolled to do her Masters in Art and Design at AUT. Her Masters Project ‘The Trouble With Being A Proud Pākehā’ spoke to the culture shock she had experienced moving from the South Island to Auckland, and the troubles inherent in claiming one’s white ethnicity. While Laura had spent her life ‘making’, she was ready to ‘make’ with deeper ideas to inform and shape her practices, which were many and varied. She has a lot of good things to say about the AUT Art and Design School, with its amazing facilities, contemporary approach and openness and support for its students. While in Auckland Laura started the radio show ‘The Lushelection’ on Base Fm, which kept going for ten years and became somewhat of a breeding ground and point of connection for female DJs, who Laura had come to realise were few and far between. A three-month art residency in an ‘arts town of 3 million’ in Java, Indonesia supplied Laura with another culture shock to fuel her creative direction. Some of the projects she initiated there would feed into the PHD proposal that she submitted upon her return to Auckland. One of these projects was a women’s only dance club, for which she hired a big sound system for one night in order that local women could freely enjoy low frequency music in a safe environment. Laura’s PHD thesis focused on the creation of women prominent spaces, to support greater gender diversity in what have traditionally been strongly male dominated and masculine environments; the DJ and bass-music scenes. The benefits associated with growing up in a family of engineers became evident once it became clear that she was going to build a feminist sound system by hand for her PhD. The result is ninthWavesound - a sound system which ultimately is about enabling everyone the pleasure and the benefits of experiencing low frequency music, in a free space that everyone can feel comfortable in. NinthWave has been the soundsystem in Wendy’s Wellness tent for the last two Splore festivals and was the system for the electronic stage at the Earthbeat Festival last year, with Laura curating the stage’s lineup, getting a few more female DJs behind the decks. Laura Marsh is pretty stoked to have landed in the Tairāwhiti at this point in her life and is excited to get amongst some community projects, to collaborate and see what happens when women move into a space of ownership around sound making. Laura’s aspiration for ninthWavesound is as a safe space for people to find their way into sound, and to feel it. While she is currently navigating the early days of parenthood Laura looks forward to hearing from people interested in collaborating with workshops, listening, dancing and sound healing events, and rangatahi-based events…anything involving sound, inclusivity and requiring a kick-ass sound system! You can listen your way through Laura’s old radio shows and mixes on mixcloud.com/djlauralush, connect on instagram @ninthwavesound and check out her art or connect with a sound collaboration idea at lauramarshartist.nz Image credit: Brett Crockett

I’ve been plotting to kill my lawn for a while now. I get pangs of guilt, and not feeling right when I think about it. But that’s the social conditioning. Like Bilbo, on realising he wanted to keep the ring, I decide I will kill my lawn. After all, it’s my lawn. Why shouldn’t I kill it? Recently we heard that climate change is coming faster than scientists predicted, and I’m not ashamed to admit, I’m a little nervous. I am surprised we are not completely panicking at this point. I just may be, on the verge. I do not know much about the science of climate change, and I am a novice gardener, but I would like to grow a forest in my front yard. I have no idea how to do that, but I know why I need to. Planting native species is a straightforward way to decolonise the whenua. Trees store more carbon than lawn, and forests help cool the planet. They restore biodiversity and provide an attractive ecosystem for wildlife. “What will the neighbours think?” Asks a naysayer. “You’ll get no light!” Says another. “What about storm damage?” “It might de-value your property.” “People with kids need lawns, to kick a ball around.’ They say. Anyone who knows me, knows that when someone tells me I can’t do something, it only fuels a raging desire to prove them wrong. These were all fair comments, but they were also challenges that could be overcome, if the planting was well planned, and mindful of utilities like the water pipe. The idea to build a micro forest came mostly, via the algorithm. I have a penchant for ‘garden rescues’ on YouTube, and my searches through permaculture and food forest videos, led me to Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist who developed a method for growing rich, dense, productive, self-sustaining forests in urban areas. The approach ensures that tree growth is ten times faster and thirty times denser than usual. Native trees are planted in bulk in the same area and the forest becomes maintenance-free after the first three years. I start obsessing over every lawn in Tairāwhiti. A vision of every unused lawn space, filled with bushy trees. Imagine all the fantails, Tui, and Kererū we’d see. I’m thinking critically about our outdated, completely passe lawns. They are nothing but a nod to colonial status. For hundreds of years, kiwis have been killing forests to replace them with grass for stock, or displaying non-functional lawns based on English gardens. Mowing the lawn is a staple kiwi weekend feature, but lawn mower emissions are partially responsible for pollution in urban environments. Between five and 10 percent of engine pollution comes from lawn mowers. Death to the common lawn! If you are going to have one, at least let it grow into a meadow and ditch the lawn mower. Science didn’t need to tell me that when I was a kid. I would have traded grass for a forest, any day. I climbed trees, cast spells with sticks, and made huts on the riverbank. In small part, it is that inner child who is driving the decision, to create a magical forest and slay the lawn. I may risk being known as a witch who lives in a forest. Our fire-pit does look suspiciously like a cauldron and I do have a black cat. As someone who prefers the company of trees over people, I like the Witch idea. The possibilities are endless when you have a forest in your front yard. Although it hurts my middle-aged brain, I desperately want to understand the science. Global warming mitigation feels entirely out of my league. The working class have little control over how we deal with climate change. We are relying on the government for policy, and wealthy landowners for bush regeneration. Preventing climate change is an elite sport, and if you don’t speak the lingo you can’t play on the team. I become engulfed in a new world of political, social, and environmental science. I tend to be obsessive if something piques my interest; want to know everything, right through to statistics and comparisons. I want to make as much of an impact as possible, on the things that are within my control. So, I go big. I need advice from an expert in urban regeneration. I contact Bruce Clarkson, a Botanist at Waikato University, who is an expert in restoring indigenous nature in urban environments. I need to know if my idea is feasible or even, worth the effort. We own a small property in Gisborne, 716 square metres to be exact. I have mapped out a 10 x 8 square metre patch of grass to be planted with trees. Will this be beneficial towards climate change? “In brief, any urban forest can be valuable for a wide range of reasons,” Bruce says. “We have been building urban forests here in Hamilton for about 60 years, but mostly the last 20.” The benefits of urban forests are clear, they are good for community wellbeing, they cool down the planet, increase the wildlife and biodiversity, and in suburban homes, they can provide privacy and act as a wind break. Especially good for us here in Tairāwhiti, to reduce the afternoon sea breeze. Amid my mind mapping, firework display. I speak with Jo Cathie, who spent five years in Melbourne as part of a team, leading volunteers in the revegetation of urban wasteland, with locally indigenous tree species. Their approach was to experiment, with trial and error, rather than just relying solely on existing science. “It’s important to know what plants grow naturally together in certain climates and conditions. Australian natives do not require added fertilisers as they need very little fertility. However, the initial establishment phase is not easy. We found that preparing the site with thick wood chip mulch to suppress weeds and hold moisture was a good start. There would often be a high casualty rate and periodically we would remove the failures and replant. It was an ongoing process. This may have been because the existing biology and mycorrhizal fungi in natural forests, is non-existent in lawns and disturbed urban spaces. The revegetation project was about prioritising biodiversity, community, and vision, over schedules, cost, and productivity.” My Google search history is a souffle of tangents and rabbit holes. I follow each vague notion and end up with the loose ingredients of a recipe for a messy story. I move through the sequestering of carbon, to compostable weed mats. What are mycorrhizal fungi? Best soil? Compost? Mulch? What is this thing called biochar? Do I need to buy a special biochar furnace? Where can I find funding? *Brain malfunction. Blank. Am I really going to make any difference by going through with it? I am silly for thinking I can do this on my own, or, at all. I don’t know enough, and I don’t have the funds to follow this all the way through, as small as it is. I should just shut up and mow the lawn. However, before I get the chance to quit, a friend suggests I contact a local charity called The Native Women’s Tree Trust. And it is here that I find a most helpful Earth Angel. Kauri Forno, and her kuri, Swish, are the managers of The Women’s Native Tree Project Trust, a registered charity who supply native seedlings at no cost to educational or community groups to plant in public spaces. I hit her with about 50 questions. “No, biochar isn’t overly necessary,” says Kauri. “We know the whakapapa of all our seedlings, and they haven’t been babied. They grow well here and we know this. You can plonk them in the ground, and they’ll grow. That’s the beauty of planting local natives, this is where they are meant to be.” The relief flows through me and although I have not been able to source any funding, she gives me at least twenty seedlings to get me started. I talk about my micro forest plan within the community, and in true Gizzy spirit, I receive offers of native seedlings from other people’s gardens. It is feasible after all, if I just stop overthinking it. Cardboard boxes will be my weapon of choice to kill the lawn. It smothers weeds within three weeks and can be left on the soil to break down and provide nutrients for the soil. Worms love it! Cover it with compost and woodchip mulch. Colin from the Nelson Whakatu Micro Forest Initiative suggests that if you can’t access biochar, mushroom compost will do. You don’t have to buy special mycorrhizal fungi to help roots grow, unless you have the time and money to do it perfectly. Take it from me, perfection is not needed. Just plant the damn trees. Colin tells me they sourced their funding from the Nelson council environmental fund, and I’m pleased to find an equivalent available through our local council. I will try my luck and apply for funding once that stream opens, but for now, I have what I need to start. And that is all it is, really. Starting. It’s the hardest part. The autonomy in reforestation is not just there for rich landowners. We can all be autonomous in our efforts toward climate change. Helping in the way that suits us. If we are privileged enough to own a garden it comes with a responsibility to give back to the land. If you decide to act on climate change, act in your own backyard.

Have you heard about Gizzy’s first ever ESCAPE ROOM? It opened to the public during Youth Week this Saturday 7th May 2022. If you’ve somehow missed the escape room hype, an escape room is a themed room that you are ‘locked into’ and you have one hour to solve a series of clues and ‘escape’. Challenging, team building fun for you and your whānau, friends, colleagues and neighbors. Next Gen Escapes is bringing some well needed joy and entertainment to our community while also supporting rangatahi leaders and entrepreneurs. Profits from the escape room mean that the youth pop up shop (in the front half of the building) is rent-free for rangatahi to build their marketing, product design, customer service, budgeting and financial skills. Tāiki e Next Gen was established at the beginning of 2021. The rōpū includes rangatahi responsible for organizing night markets, gigs, murals, podcasts, a youth zine, a trip to Wellington’s Festival for the Future, an online night market, an online platform (like Fiverr for youth), pātaka kai (reducing hunger), Pikup (reducing food waste), as well as supporting over 30 independent youth run enterprises. When rangatahi were asked back in April last year what should be done with the empty shop in Treble Court, the idea of an escape room was put forth and overwhelmingly supported. Rolling their sleeves up, the wider Tāiki e! Impact House whānau embarked on a journey with rangatahi to see the initiative come to life. And it’s been a big one. Cain Kerehoma, of Tāiki e! says “this is for community by community. Too often rangatahi development is siloed in a way that doesn’t allow us to truly recognise the mana and value that rangatahi bring to our community. To me, the escape room stands as a testament to what we can achieve when we work with youth in empowering and meaningful ways.” Follow @nextgenescapes on social media and @taikienextgen to watch their journey unfold. You can book a session in the Escape Room via nextgenescapes.com

The last four books I have read have come from the free library around the corner from my place. Three quarters of that small sample size have been brilliant and somehow just what I needed at the time. My favourite time to visit our neighbourhood library is around dusk. I round up the dog, the kids and often some wheels. We set off down the road and if I’m lucky one of the kids will hold my hand and try to match my steps, and we’ll have the kind of chat that usually only happens at bedtime when they're trying to delay the inevitable; lights out. Personally, nothing beats a meander along an autumnal dusk here in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. The neighbourhood we live in loses the sun earlier than most, but our local free library is on top of a hill, which means we get to see the sun setting over the Wharerata ranges; all those purpling layers of shade and haze and loveliness. The prospect of getting something free serves as a pretty good motivation for getting the kids to the top of a hill. The scavenging instinct is strong in our whānau. Our local free library has a healthy mix of contemporary literature, kids’ books and books that look as if they would have had very fulfilling lives on coffee tables in the nineties before retiring to the little free library on the hill. As you would expect, there is also a fine selection of Mills n Boons, fiction by Maeve Binchy and Co. and magazines to flick through. We return most of the books after we’ve had a jam, along with a couple from our bookcase because it’s always an unruly chaos, and because little libraries only really work if you're putting in as well as taking out. I must admit to keeping one excellent Anne Patchett number however, currently doing the rounds amongst my friends, because it's such a perfect antidote to these times. I must also admit to having sacrificed at least one of our finds to a collage session with the kids. On our trips to the library, we stop to talk to neighbours also out enjoying the last of the day’s sun, inspect the native plantings put in by council to see how they’re faring and look about for whatever weird and wonderful fungi happens to be blooming at the time. We graze on the fruit forest that Carol Ford pulled all the kids from along the road into planting a few years back and call in at the Sharing Shelf some of our neighbours built back in the first lockdown. The kids fill their pockets with whatever’s going. Our little local library is just another one of those small and simple things that connects us to our neighbourhood; both the people we share space with and the land that we live on. Just this week I was delighted to find another beaut of a little library on Maclean Street. There is also one on Murphy Road in Wainui and one on Barkers Hill. If you know of any others please let us know in the comments below! Thanks Wendy Baxter, Chris Somerton and Hayley Trashe for setting up these small structures of goodness that are both conduits for community connection and the ability to access to the simple and sometimes extraordinary pleasure of a good book, for anyone to enjoy.

I started a line dancing club by accident. I’d been looking for an activity to keep me more active during winter and somehow it all just snowballed from there. There are certainly people who are better dancers than me, and many who know more about line dancing, but Rhythm n' Lines is more than a line dancing class - it’s a community and it’s that sense of belonging for our dancers that I hope I bring to the club. I've always maintained that Rhythm n Lines is not an exercise class, it's a club where everyone knows one another, supports one another and where people can come - even if it's by themselves - and feel a part of something. I get such a kick out of seeing people wearing our merchandise. When I see a Rhythm n' Lines cap or t-shirt I think, "How did all of this grow from a crazy idea and a Canva session?" In 2014 I was diagnosed with Prosopagnosia or Facial Blindness, not the most advantageous condition for running a line dancing club! Facial Blindness can be congenital or the result of an accident. I was born with it but it took 40 years to diagnose! Previous to that everyone, including myself, thought I had terrible eyesight and was a bit of a flake. I've hopped into the wrong cars, not recognised my children in the street and I’ve always had difficulty following TV shows and recognising people out of context. Before my diagnosis I was working in a new role where recognising people was crucial for building relationships, and I made some embarrassing mistakes. I had just lost my mother to brain cancer and my first thought was that I too had a brain tumour, which is probably why my GP and neurologist tested so thoroughly. The worst thing about this condition is that people invariably think you're a snob and are habitually ignoring them. It's easy for me to miss people, especially if they've had a change of hairstyle or I'm tired and not concentrating. I've learnt more about the condition over the years and recognise now that if I don't see people regularly they just drop out of my memory. I have to work hard to keep everyone in my head, and can become quite mentally fatigued at times. Not being able to recognise faces has made facilitating and maintaining relationships within the club more of a challenge, particularly when you layer mask wearing on top! I'm constantly making mental notes in my head of characteristics that will help me to remember people - actually everyone wearing the same t-shirts mightn't have been the best plan! I'm really grateful to the people that took a punt on our club when it was just a crazy idea. Darryl Monteith allowed us to dance at Smash Palace Bar Gisborne, which was a brilliant start for us. It's still one of our favourite places to dance because of the great atmosphere. A core group of line dancers have been involved in the club from the start, without whom we couldn’t run the club. Any kind of dancing is good for your well-being physically, but also for your mental health. It gives you energy and keeps your brain active, but the greatest benefit for me has been the people I have met and now consider to be friends. I'm thankful everyday that by some kind of cosmic mix of marketing, chance and facilitation we have an amazing group of people who regularly come together to dance. I often think of the Julie Murphy quote "The best of friends have nothing and everything in common all at once." Linedancing brings us together and provides that common ground. There are other great line dancing groups in Gisborne and I think a lot about what our point of difference is. Firstly I try to keep it Country and Western. Both the general feel and the music. This is not because of the culture and dubious history of rodeo, there's just a coolness and resilience I admire about those vintage cowgirls and cowboys. I also enjoy the irony that for a country and western themed line dancing club, we couldn't be further out east if we tried! The club has a broad appeal. Some people are there for the dancing, some for the music, the company and some for the boots! As we approach our first birthday, officially April 11th, I've been reflecting on our first year together. I think the club has given many people a positive focus in a challenging year. We've been able to keep dancing and growing despite lock downs, restrictions, and the difficulty of navigating the fraught realities of restrictions and vaccine mandates. It's been tough at times, but throughout it all the club has kept growing - from two Sunday sessions a month, to three weekly classes, fortnightly Matawai classes, and two Sunday sessions a month in Gisborne. We've danced at private parties, hens parties, school holiday programmes and a couple of successful fundraisers. People want to come together and dance, and we're doing our best to find ways to celebrate and encourage that. I'm so glad this club is turning one and I can't wait to see it grow out of its infancy - actually its adolescent phase might be pretty entertaining too! Story by Janine Hamilton-Kells Images by John Flatt

Every day we face a series of seemingly small decisions that can have a huge impact on our overall health. Do you have that second cup of coffee or skip it? Do you choose a hard workout or a walk on the beach? Amanda Roe is passionate about educating us on the importance of these moments, and guiding us to make the choices that help us feel best. Amanda, aka Functional Them on social media, is a naturopath eager to help us feel our best, particularly during challenging life transitions. Amanda grew up in the Southeast region of the United States, and her interest in science started at a very young age. By high school she was spending summers studying ecology in the Florida Keys at marine science camp, convinced she was going to be a marine biologist. And she’s always been a keen researcher. One early experiment studied the antimicrobial effects of aloe from her household plant. “I did a whole experiment swabbing everyone in the family’s skin, and then tried to grow microbes on coffee filters - none grew around the aloe gel!” That project won her the science fair, and established the curiosity and patience to spend many, many hours in research laboratories in the years to come. Near the end of her university study at James Madison University in Virginia, she faced a choice between two different tracks for graduate study, one for ecology and research, and one for medicine. At the time she was deep in a study of water scorpion penises, of all things. She loved the research process, but thought, “do I want to do this forever?” Medicine had always been a possibility, especially after Amanda became “completely obsessed” with Anatomy courses in college. She took all the required pre-med coursework, but was often turned off by the cutthroat nature of the medical track, until a personal experience introduced her to naturopathic medicine. In her senior year of college, she contracted glandular fever. She went to the clinic where she was told “go home, it’ll take 6 weeks to feel better and there’s nothing you can do.” Determined to not lose so much time from a crucial academic year, Amanda plunged into researching how she could speed her recovery, which led her to naturopathic medicine. With a regimen that included vitamins C and A, echinacea, fever and rest, she recovered in two weeks instead of six. Energised by her discovery, she did a tour of naturopathic medical programmes as soon as she felt well enough and following her college graduation, enrolled at the renowned National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She chose a track specific to midwifery, to which she felt a strong, inexplicable pull. “I didn’t have any particular experience with midwifery, I hadn’t been through childbirth myself yet. It was just something that wouldn't let me go and I couldn’t not do it. It was more a spiritual thing that became very real.” Just as Amanda was finishing her medical training, she met her husband Mike, a born and bred Gizzy guy, soon after he had moved to Portland for a nursing job. After a short stint away in Hawaii, Amanda started a Family Medicine and Midwifery practice with a colleague from school, there in Portland. Amanda’s practice wasn’t just limited to women’s health however. “The joke is, it’s a practice builder, because you start with one patient and then get two. But I would very often get the whole family.” Patients have always appreciated her comprehensive approach. Amanda explains, “Just like in my research background, you might have a specific goal, but you have to think in a holistic 360-degree way. I always think that way, to see the big picture and not just the problem in front of me.” That’s an important distinction between traditional medicine and the functional approach Amanda takes. Rather than just treating a particular symptom, her approach is more encompassing and integrative. “My expertise is in understanding how systems talk to each other all day long, not just discrete cardiology, endocrinology, etc.” In 2020, Amanda and Mike decided to make the move to Gisborne, along with their kids Iris and Harry. Many factors spurred the move, including a desire for a different quality of life and wanting to be closer to Mike’s mum. Professionally, Amanda felt increasingly limited in how she could practice medicine in the States, faced with high malpractice insurance and tax costs and lower reimbursements. “Mike never pressured me to move back, but for both of us it just went from “when we retire” to “let’s go.” She describes her initial impression of life here as magical, “I can’t even believe how beautiful it is here.” They’ve felt very welcomed, with many people eager to help make connections. One of those connections led her to Dr. Leigh Willoughby, another local doctor passionate about functional medicine. Leigh had a room available in her clinic, Functional Again on Ormond Road, and Amanda now sees patients out of that space, working as her own entity. One challenge she is looking to overcome is that “people don’t get that I’m a doctor. I’m medically trained in North America, but there’s no equivalent medical degree in New Zealand yet.” Working with Amanda means taking a look not only at problems, but also at goals. The first visit is 90 minutes long, to give full attention to all concerns. Before that first visit, Amanda has already reviewed all the patient history and labs and has a good handle on what to suggest for homework. Seeing Amanda and a GP are not mutually exclusive, and in fact they complement each other quite well, “I like to partner with GP’s so it’s a team effort”. For Amanda, a big upside of working with her is that she is “never at a loss of what to try next.” She appreciates the ability to really spend time with patients, but most opt for brief regular check-ins, either monthly for 30 minutes or fortnightly for 15 minutes. At this point in her career, Amanda describes her niche as women’s health and hormone regulation and balance. This includes supporting women trying to get pregnant, guiding women through pregnancy, and helping to address the hormonal changes experienced in puberty and perimenopause. An avid trail runner herself, Amanda particularly enjoys working with athletes, advising how hormones impact performance throughout a women’s cycle. She was really able to hone that aspect of her practice in Portland, which is home to both the Nike and Adidas headquarters, and a huge athlete base. To reach more of our community, Amanda holds lecture series on evenings and weekends. So far, perimenopause is the hottest topic. It’s the transition time all women go through on the way to menopause, and brings with it all kinds of changes and struggles such as weight gain, fatigue, sleep difficulties, and mood swings. “People want to know what in the world is going on. It becomes easier when you’re not in the dark, and know you’re not alone.” Her favourite new venue for these talks is at private parties. “Friends get together and I do a teaching session over wine and cocktails. It’s a fun, uninhibited environment for women to ask questions and share what they’re going through.” Outside of work, you may recognise Amanda from the beach, where she’ll be working out, swimming (in togs, year-round!) or collecting rubbish. Initially her science brain was drawn to sort and classify the rubbish she picked up as data collection but since then, she has been inspired to create with it and has become drawn to it as a relaxing thing to do. She talks about the strong link between creative process and wellness “Our nervous system is not wired for so much input all the time. We need spaces where we don’t have to be productive, and there’s less input from the outside world.” Amanda plans to sell prints with proceeds going to non-profits that support women’s empowerment education and beach cleanups. Health struggles can be overwhelming, and Amanda’s central aim is to take away the feeling of helplessness. “When people understand what’s happening, they make better choices, every day. When you make supportive decisions, you feel better, and that better quality of life makes it easy to choose well.” In an age of information overload, having a relationship with a local expert that you trust is an opportunity to treasure. www.roe.co.nz or find Amanda on Instagram @functional_them or Facebook Functional TTo learn more head to www.roe.co.nz or find Amanda on Instagram @functional_them or Facebook 2Functional Themwww.roe.co.nz or find Amanda on Instagram @functional_them or Facebook @Functional Them By Victoria Williams

The lack of diversity in the technology workforce is dismal in Aotearoa, and the Tairāwhiti is no different - only 1.9% of our technology workforce is Māori. With New Zealand’s tech sector one of the country’s biggest earners, contributing $12.7 billion to the economy in 2019 and predicted to be worth $16b by 2030, this is a worrying statistic. If you have come across the passionate and enthusiastic team at Tōnui Collab, you will know that they are determined to disrupt this trend and are working to create opportunities for rangatahi Māori in Tairāwhiti to thrive in the sector. Shanon O'Connor, Director of Tōnui Collab worked in Web Development and Information Systems in the early 2000s and talks about her sense of imposter syndrome during her tertiary study and also when entering the workforce. “There were not a lot of Māori in these spaces, I felt like I didn’t belong, that maybe this wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing”. After returning to the Tairāwhiti to retrain as a teacher, Shanon taught at local primary school Te Wharau for a few years before joining The Mind Lab - an Auckland-led enterprise that created digital learning workshops for children and a post-graduate programme for teachers across the country. In 2018 however The Mind Lab started closing their youth-focused labs across the country. This was the impetus for Shanon to take on the challenge of creating an innovative bilingual learning space for rangatahi to explore not only digital tools but the diversity of STEMM (Science Technology Engineering Maths and Mātauranga) locally. In 2019 Tōnui Collab was established and a stellar line up of trustees appointed, with Glenis Philip Barbara, Edwina Ashwell, Isaac Hughes, and Alex Hawea working alongside Rena Kohere as Chair. “We started to experiment with how to create digital learning experiences that celebrated and amplified local pūrākau. The response from students and teachers was positive - students demonstrated really rich understanding of the pūrākau and teachers were able to see how motivated their students were to share their learning using digital tools.” At the heart of Tōnui Collab is the recognition that more than 50% of our population is Māori. Pūrākau now sit front and centre to the Tōnui approach, storytelling being “so intrinsic to being Māori” and the perfect way to bring not only local context but also a wealth of knowledge, matauranga Māori, into STEMM. Kiri Wilson, Tōnui Collab EdTech says, “Learning the language of code and algorithm is familiar, we have code and algorithm within our whare tipuna..whakairo, tukutuku and kõwhaiwhai. While Digital Technologies can be intimidating this is a great place to explore and discover another strategy to retell our stories and ignite the best learning experience.” Kiri shares her aspiration to have “the Reo for Digital Technologies become more fluent. Tauira will be confident in their learnings and comfortable to share with their taina.” The team have worked with Iwi groups to envision how different pūrākau could inform the learning taking place in the lab. Over the past two years thousands of kids have learnt the stories of this place and used this new knowledge to develop computer games, map the path of Paikea and his arrival in Aotearoa, and design interactive digital artworks. Shanon says they have received generous support and guidance from Albie Gibson and his team at TROTAK and Te Manuhuia Paenga and her team at the Museum, “there is a wonderful community of educators in the Tairāwhiti providing our schools and kura with access to unique and rich learning opportunities”, expanding that, “STEMM learning is also a powerful medium for developing “resilience, collaborative learning and problem solving”. Young people start making decisions about what they want to do in their lives at primary school, and from Year 9 they start making course selections. If they haven’t had exposure to STEMM, or the diversity of career opportunities available early on, they just aren’t going to feature in their options. Shanon is certain that this kind of exposure needs to happen early on and this she sees as the role of Tōnui in our community. The kind of learning that goes on at Tōnui is problem-focused, which means that ‘failure’ happens as a matter of course - something to be celebrated as students learn to work and grow through them via a reflection process. This kind of learning creates critical and reflective thinkers, and forward planners. When we’re younger we’re more confident with taking risks but, as we get older we don’t want to be caught out not knowing stuff! Tōnui also works on making the career opportunities that await down the track visible and relatable for both students and their whānau, as well as their teachers. It’s all about shifting the opportunities to where they are most needed. Mac Burgess, Tōnui Collab EdTech says he loves seeing “the genuine excitement from the tamariki as we see them experience and do things they've never done before. I love seeing our tamariki have a go at, and thrive at things they've never dreamed would be an avenue for education. I also love that we bring big world tech and ideas down to accessible and bite sized workshops to inspire our tamariki with what they can make the world into, in years to come.” Which is one of the reasons why Tōnui Collab has opted to respond as they have, to the loss of their portside premises in 2021. A major reason behind their decision to adopt a mobile strategy is to improve the accessibility of their services. Transport and travel time have been identified as significant barriers to the learning opportunities they offer, especially for whānau and kura up the coast. The requirement of Covid passports from parent helpers has further exacerbated the challenges schools face when heading out on excursions - ‘going mobile’ is a particularly timely move for Tōnui in 2022. The team are particularly excited about the opportunity to take their work into new spaces - schools, kura, marae and other community spaces. They are also enthusiastic about changing the way they teach - day-long and multi-day Wānanga style sessions provide more time to introduce new concepts, embed Mātauranga, allow for exploration and the cycle of reflection and new learnings. As of February 2022, the Tōnui Collab team will be available to schools, kura, Marae and other community groups to bring STEMM learning to the young people of the Tairāwhiti. The main thing they will require is space. Theirs is an exploration-based practice, so alongside laptops, their van will also be loaded up with hula hoops, balls, bits of paper and pencils. Learning about how computers work is just as likely to involve an obstacle course as it is a laptop! As we were talking, Shanon reflected on how the measurement of impact has been such an enduring part of their journey. She talked about the immediate, frequent and easily perceptible impacts - the excitement on a young person’s face, and reports from whānau or teachers about a child that has been seemingly ‘awakened’ by their Tōnui experience. Shanon has also been able to witness the development of some kids who have been going to The Mind Lab and Tōnui over the course of four or five years. In just two years they have worked with over 20,000 young people - some of these are obviously kids who have liked what they are doing and have kept coming back. Moana Kerr, Tōnui Collab Administrator says, “It is our hope that at least another 20,000 of our tamariki will have the opportunity to be awakened by Tōnui Collab over the next two years, no matter where they are in the motu.” We’re inspired by this team of educators who continue to rise to the challenges they face, with the needs of our community and our young people front and centre of everything they do. They are an indispensible force here in the Tairāwhiti to ensure that science, technology and engineering are not only accessible and fun for our young people, but are present as a viable and achievable career for them in the future. * If you’re interested in engaging the Tōnui team this year, check them out at https://www.instagram.com/tonuicollab/ or https://www.facebook.com/TonuiCollab/

When Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust’s inaugural AGM began with the clink of a local brew and the self-proclamation of a “rag-tag bunch of misfits”, I knew I wasn’t in your usual corporate boardroom. And herein lies part of what makes the Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust something different and a massive force of action - in all facets of the word. Rewind to just over a year ago when the now-members were a disparate group of individuals, albeit passionate sporting individuals, with national and international successes to their names, attending a meeting that would catalyse the Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust’s formation. A facilities workshop was held to assess our region’s sporting facilities with a view to build a business case for investment. It was a joint venture between Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti, Trust Tairāwhiti and the Gisborne District Council. A consulting firm from Wellington was brought in to frame a business case and it soon became apparent to some of the people at the meeting that there was this “massive hole in it. When we stood up and asked about recreation, we were told ‘there is no recreation within scope’” and that...was seemingly that. The discussions that followed that meeting, with local skaters, surfers, adventurers and “anyone that didn't have a voice” due to lack of club backing, were the impetus for forming the Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust. The Trust is a not for profit organisation that lobbies for action, for adventure sporting groups and individuals, to secure funding for facilities and provide pathways for local tamariki and rangatahi wanting more healthy and positive things to do here in the Tairāwhiti. The Trust see themselves as catering to sports that the whole family can enjoy, and providing help to our youth who want to go onto the national or world stage in their chosen, and often these days, Olympic recognised sports. The Trust forms a club voice for sports without clubs “we add structure to the unstructured; we are breaking the mould of traditional representation”. Fast forward to the present day and the Trust’s first project, the creation of what will soon be one of Aotearoa’s best and world class Skateparks is well underway, starting with the ‘big bowl’. Concrete is in the ground, with old school pool-style lines, glass-smooth transitions and the highest copings I’ve seen atop concrete waves, ever. “There’s nothing like this in New Zealand.. nothing” And that actually, is that. The park has been designed by Rich Landscapes with and by its users, utilising pen on paper expression sessions with local kids, ‘feet on the street’ talk and networking through social media with local skate groups. Liaison is ongoing, “I’m on like heaps of group chats, we’re in continual dialogue with them, it’s not a tick-box” and the kaupapa of the Trust is about “having it owned and operated by the user group, to empower the user group and community, to facilitate and look after that asset because they’re invested in it”. The ‘first cab off the rank’ is how the Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust describes the model used by Councils around the country when providing community facilities, and the ‘recipe skateparks’ that exist nationwide are but one example of this model. Instead the Trust has chosen to precipitate a world class facility to attract talent but even more importantly, to support the talent that’s already here. It’s a fairly big undertaking for the Trust’s ‘first cab off the rank’...Peering over the top of the new park’s copings I’m taken back to a time when Steve Caballero pulled the first ‘cab’ off the ramp exactly 40 years ago, and though it won't be me attempting it, I’m sure one will be stomped here at some stage soon. If you have checked out the photos of the park thus far and are feeling a tad nervous as to the future integrity of your bone structure, fear not, because as the build progresses there will be something usable for anyone willing to self propel their wheels. Watch out too for Aotearoa’s best skaters as they make their way to the country’s latest park - an opportunity for us locals to watch those steep and deep bowls get ripped to proverbial pieces. Enough to achieve in a year in which the rest of the world stood still? Nope. The Trust’s new pump track build planned for March 2022 is something I’m personally psyched about and gauging by the way the Tairawhiti Adventure Trust have rolled so far, this is very much going to happen! So limber up your old knees and prepare to race your kids around a concrete hydroslide. As all adults (or oversized kids in some of our cases) know, where there are fun facilities of this magnitude (Read $3.2 Million in funding secured from Trust Tairawhiti), there needs to be a business model to make it happen. Like a lot of what they do, the Trust’s business strategy is anything but traditional. Sitting in their AGM it was glaringly apparent that this group is not territorial over the mahi they do, whether it’s their processes, feasibility studies or planning, even as it’s done without any profit to the members, and on top of their day jobs and businesses of their own. The Trust has shared the skatepark build documents and project pathways with Wellington and Tauranga City Councils and alongside their own major projects they have also helped Mahimahi Bowlriders and Surely Skate with process support and to secure funding, and are helping community groups in Mahia and Ruatoria with skate and bike projects. Next on the to-do list for this group of do-ers is the facilitation of a local competitive climbing wall build, so watch this space and get your fingers flexing. The Trust says that being outside local government has enabled them to push ahead faster on projects as “there’s less red tape”, although they admit with a laugh that “there is still a lot of red tape”. As with anything worth doing in the world, there have been challenges along the way. When you have real people acting as the guarantor on monthly build invoices that could form solid house deposits (yes even in this climate) there have been plenty of make or break moments for the group. But these are adventure racers that have been in their share of headwind kayak stages, so they have just dug their paddle in, pivoted hips and put pressure where it's needed to keep the boat moving forward. Their motto seems to be simple: “You just get __it done”. Though it is us that should be thanking them, the Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust has a lot of thanks for others that have made this all possible, notably Trust Tairāwhiti, Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti and Currie Construction who have provided huge support for the skatepark build and the pump track coming next year. So Gizzy… other than getting out and amongst the amazing facilities coming your way, if you’re keen to get behind the Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust, give them a holler, look them up on their website, Facebook page or give them a shout out when you see them out and about. Time, skills and financial support are always appreciated, especially if you too subscribe to the motto of just “Get __it done”.

Ten minutes drive south from Gisborne city, and a left turn down a quaint country road you will find the tranquility of Matawhero Wines and their Cellar Door. It’s an iconic boutique winery, which is steeped in local history and lives on as a testament to the passion of the people who have shaped it along the way. The Riverpoint Road property was first purchased by Bill Irwin in the 1960’s; a time when people either raised livestock or grew maize on the Poverty Bay flats. Bill however, was determined to transform the land into a vineyard. He began to import new grape varietals from Europe and America in earnest, most notably the Gewürztraminer variety, which the vineyard was the first in the country to plant. Bill had previously worked as a bookseller with no horticultural background to speak of, but the clones he propagated were taken up by vineyards all over the country, and he became known as New Zealand’s “father of modern viticulture”. In 1975, the first wines were produced under the Matawhero label and in 1977 were internationally recognised at the World Wine Show in Paris, where they achieved overall fourth place for their 1976 Gewürztraminer. Bill’s enthusiasm and drive was passed down to son Denis, who left overseas to get experience, working in wineries in South Africa and Germany before returning to nurture and grow the Matawhero vineyard in innovative ways over the ensuing years, to great success. In 2008 Kirsten and Richard Searle bought the by now dormant Matawhero vineyard and winery from the Irwin family after a ‘rigorous process on Denis’s part’. While they were already busy with starting a family, the couple couldn’t let the opportunity of Matawhero pass them by. Kirsten had a background in the wine industry and found her ‘vine roots’ re-ignited with the prospect, and Richard is from a grape growing family and had previously managed the family vineyard in Gisborne. The idea of owning a winery together made perfect sense… With three children under the age of 4 years, the early years of taking over the property were understandably busy. The winery and vineyard hadn’t produced or sold wines for 8 years when the couple purchased the winery, but with the guidance and encouragement of Denis, Kirsten and Richard learnt the rich history of the winery, picked up tips of the trade and set about bringing the vines and the winery back to life. Living on site, the first step was to tackle the overgrown garden and vineyard, and after 18 months of ground work they launched their brand and took on two grape growers, who are still with them today. The team has continued to grow over the years and Kirsten emphasises that human relationships and Gisborne are the essence of Matawhero Wines. After having worked with Gisborne grapes for his own label for over 30 years, Kim Crawford joined the Matawhero team to head their winemaking. They feel so fortunate to have someone of Kim’s calibre guiding them to get the best wine out of the region. While all of their grapes are grown locally their wines, along with the Matawhero story, make their way all around the country and the world. Richard works full time as the General Manager for Economic Development for Trust Tairawhiti but is very much involved in overseeing the vineyard and working alongside Kirsten on the business side. He takes a hands-on approach to replanting, lawn mowing and all the general property management that comes with owning a winery. Kirsten is a passionate vintner and works full time at Matawhero in all aspects of the vineyard and winery, and when she is able, especially loves to talk to customers and clients who visit the cellar door. The vineyard produces naturally dry farmed wine, which is a great point of difference in these times. The grapes aren’t irrigated, instead they rely on natural rainfall; possible because the soil is moisture retentive. With water such a precious resource, this is a more sustainable way to grow grapes and also allows for a more “fruit driven wine varietal” to be produced. A memorable moment for Kirsten was the launch of the “Irwin Chardonnay” in 2016, which she reckons was the “Bomb daddy of Chardonnay, the absolute top notch and the best we could produce out of the region”. It was hand picked and pressed to barrel with love, care and attention in tribute to a couple of pioneers of New Zealand’s winemaking industry, Bill and Denis Irwin. It was an extra special release as it was the only one Kirsten “was allowed” to produce as a full barrel fermented style Chardonnay with five years of cellaring! Kirsten and Richard have recently expanded their vision for the Winery to include onsite accommodation with two luxurious cabins nestled amongst the vines, and two more coming. It’s a way of sharing the beauty and tranquillity of their little slice of paradise with others. The couple have a deep appreciation for the history of the vineyard and winery and are honoured to be the kaitiaki of a vineyard and winery which have such significance both in our own local and national viticultural and winemaking history. Gisborne’s oldest Cellar Door is open all year around, just give them a call to book a table. You can head out for a platter and a wine tasting amongst the vines, enjoy live music on Sundays over summer and get a taste of this iconic Gisborne gem! By Gillian Cowperthwaite Photos supplied

On a clear night in Gisborne, the starry skies are downright awe-inducing. Not only are we blessed with dark skies for optimal viewing, but we also have a tremendous resource in local astronomer, astrophotographer, and teacher John Drummond, who also created Gisborne’s first astro tourism business last year. If you want to know more about what you’re looking at up there, he’s your man. The timing of this story is bittersweet, as John has recently lost the person who first sparked his interest in astronomy. His mum, June Drummond, died at age 95 earlier this month. She bought John his first telescope, and opened his eyes to the wonders above. He remembers the exact moment it happened, “When I was about 10, my mother and I were walking down Rutene Road after swimming at the McRae baths. It was a December evening, and the stars had come out. She said ‘Look John, there’s the pot’ (part of the Orion constellation). And something just went off in my head, like the universe poured into my soul. And I’ve been fascinated with astronomy ever since.” Gisborne has long had a well-established astronomy community, with a local club operating since the 60’s, and the opening of the Cook Observatory atop Kaiti Hill in 1971. As part of the junior section of the club, John started spending weekend nights up at the observatory. From the age of 12 or 13, his mum would drop him off up there for “meteor watches” with a small group of other guys, most of whom were a bit older. Around that time, an Auckland astronomer named Ronald MacIntosh was making a list of new meteor showers, and the boys would observe to confirm or deny what was on that list. They would stay up all night, rotating. Half the group would be up top on the parapet to observe, and they would phone down to the rest who were recording observations in a notebook. Their observations contributed to MacIntosh’s research and were even shared overseas. John got even more excited in 1973, when an infamous bright comet appeared in the sky, Comet Kohoutek, named after the astronomer who discovered it, garnered a lot of hype in the press and fueled a religious movement, “Children of God,” who claimed the comet was a sign of impending apocalypse. For John, it was the first time he saw a comet with his own eyes, and it propelled him into a specialised interest in comets. Astronomy took a bit of a back seat when he hit his teenage years and started spending a lot more time surfing and partying. He would often bunk school to go surfing, and remembers his brother running down to call him out of the water at Stock Route, “Lytton High School has phoned up, they wanna know where you are!” Of those rebellious years, John says laughingly, “if you told me then that I would be a school teacher now...” John laments that he wasn’t more serious about his studies then, to pursue science and math at university, but his more circuitous path has made for an interesting journey. After high school he got into horticulture, and owned a Christian bookstore for six years. It was there that he met his wife Elizabeth, who expressed her interest in John through repeat visits to the bookstore. Sadly they only had a year and a half together before she died of cancer. After Elizabeth’s passing John sold the bookshop and went traveling overseas, surfing world class breaks like Pipeline in Hawaii, Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa, and even a novelty wave in Israel after a strong west wind created head high swell. Travels concluded, John studied for his teachers qualification in Auckland and returned home to Gisborne to teach. While teaching, he continued to study, earning a Master of Science in Astronomy online through Swinburne University. It took about six years to complete, and once he finished the program in 2015, the doors opened to teach what he really loves. John now teaches Astronomy at both Sonrise Christian School and Gisborne Boys High. Along the way, John became one of the country’s leading amateur astronomers and a prolific astrophotographer, served as President of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, and developed his own observatory. Friend and mentor Bill McLachlan, who John refers to as a “genius” had built a rotating observatory in the 1970s. The clever invention spun around on a pea combine harvester ring, and when Bill died, he left it to John. Eventually John bought land at Patutahi and moved Bill’s observatory there, and “Possum Observatory'' was born. Over the years Possum has expanded to include four powerful telescopes. Its rural location offers even better viewing than the now defunct Cook Observatory, which was declared an earthquake risk and closed in 2015. John’s photos have won a number of national awards, have appeared in books and magazines around the world, and have even featured on postage stamps. They also serve an important research purpose. When astrophotographers around the world share their images and measurements, they can figure out the trajectory or path of the photographed comet or asteroid and determine if it might hit Earth. Astrophotography requires a combination of passion and patience. In the days before DSLR photography, the process required looking through the crosshairs on the lens and physically guiding it on a guide star, often for hours. John is primarily self-taught, via trial and error. Every time he took an exposure, he’d record all the details in a notebook, which allowed him to review and replicate what worked best. He jokes, “the best book on astrophotography is the one I wrote.” A big underlying motivation for John is discovering the undiscovered. For almost a decade he has been part of an international team, working through Ohio State University, that has been searching for exoplanets (planets that orbit other stars). So far they’ve discovered 20 of them, including one significant finding, which caused astronomers to question their modeling of how solar systems form. Once John came painfully close to discovering a comet. In July 1999, he was comet hunting and came across a fuzzy blob. He was excited to examine further when two friends, Robbie Dobbie and Glen Furness, knocked on the door for a chat and a look around. By the time they left, the object had set. Days later came the announcement of a new comet discovery in Australia, and when John traced it back, he realized it was that blob he had seen. If he hadn’t opened the door to his friends, there could have been a Comet Drummond! John’s studies continue, currently for a doctorate through the University of Southern Queensland. His thesis will focus on the history of astronomy, on New Zealand’s historical role in the study of comets, starting with indigenous Māori through until 2007 AD. Careful observers of the sky, they viewed comets as portents of doom, and had names for different appearing comets and even types of comet tails. John has a lot of research ahead of him and reckons he’ll probably finish around the time he retires. Luckily, he’s got an unwavering passion for the subject to carry him through, and it’s still the night sky that lights him up. John is notorious for falling asleep during a movie, but he can walk outside, dead tired, and the sight of the stars wakes him right back up with energy and enthusiasm. In the meantime, John has brought to life an idea to share his knowledge and tools with the community via his business Gisborne Astro Tours. “I want people to feel the ‘wow’ and wonder of the universe”. He constructed a roll-off roof observatory at Possum Observatory, and opened for astro tours just before the first Level 4 lockdown in 2020. This has not been an easy time to launch a tourism business, but it’s now taking off. He also hosts school groups, and offers a more in-depth 6-week astronomy course open to anyone. For the astro tour details head to gisborneastrotours.com A Gisborne Astro Tour includes a short lecture and slideshow by John, before moving outdoors to identify constellations by laser and look through the telescopes, which include one of the largest astro tourism telescopes in the country. Gisborne is nearly as dark as the famed Tekapo. But on this point, John has a request: please tilt your household security lights down! Many of these lights are placed in a way that shines upward into the sky, which defeats their purpose and cumulatively compromises our dark sky viewing. Winter provides the best viewing, when the nights are long and the heart of the galaxy is overhead, but Summer offers some delights as well. Very soon we may be treated to a sighting of Comet Leonard, which could even be visible to the naked eye through early January. Unlike a shooting star, the comet will appear to sit in the sky, and possibly show a tail. John will be on watch photographing and welcoming visitors at Possum Observatory who want a better look. For John, it really is about looking, and the reflection that it inspires. “My best day is a good day's surfing followed by a good night’s astronomy. When I surf I'm looking at the ocean, the beautiful landscape, and then at night I can just carry on looking, further out into the universe.” One of his goals is to help people realise we are not the centre of the universe. We’re more like a speck of dust in the universe. John believes in God, but he doesn’t preach, “I let the stars speak for themselves.” Story by Victoria Williams Portrait by John Flatt Astro Photography by John Drummond Facebook @JohnDrummond Instagram @gisborneastrotours

I've always wanted to try my hand at calligraphy so jumped on a Gisborne Artists Society workshop recently with Ray Crafts, a renowned master calligrapher from Tauranga. Ray is currently exhibiting his work alongside his sister Heather Van Wyk’s ceramics in ‘The Creative Gene’ at the Tairāwhiti Museum. Calligraphy, or the “Art of Beautiful Writing” is as old as writing itself and is a living link to past cultures and extinct civilisations. It flourished in the hand-lettered tablets of Greek and Roman scribes and survived the dark ages in the illuminated manuscripts of cloistered monks. Ray is a fascinating man whose passion for calligraphy is palpable. Now in his 80’s he has been honing his talent for seven decades. His interest in calligraphy started at the age of 8 when his grandfather gave him a lesson in copperplate writing. With an interest in Celtic Art and later on the illuminated manuscripts of the 13th to 15th century, he has always been intrigued by Europe and has continued to study and reproduce the manuscripts ever since. During the workshop we learnt not only about the tools of the trade, but also the importance of the correct sitting posture. Both feet need to be flat on the floor with the left arm resting on the table and not moving from this position. I was caught out of position a couple of times! The positioning of your writing arm and pen or brush is integral as well, all of which combine to activate the motor areas of the brain, including the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. At the same time, it engages the language portion of our brains. Another novice Marie Cramp found it was an enjoyable day spent with ink and nibs! Receiving instruction from a Master in the Art, the experience engaged parts of the brain never reached before and rekindled her love of letter writing. We practiced calligraphy roundhand script including italics, and gothic, and spent time in the ‘Creative Gene’ exhibition. I was blown away by the intricacy of the calligraphy - with every single piece delicately crafted and framed, the images that feature within the calligraphy letters are so unreal. You have to see it for yourself! Ray styled each of our names onto a card to take away. He just knew how to add those finishing touches, “just give it a flick at the end” he would say. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and would recommend it to anyone wanting to explore the art of beautiful writing. You don’t have to be an expert, it is a comfortable environment in which to learn, and I left having grasped some basics which I intend to practice, practice, practice. Learning something new can be as good as a holiday! As you awaken different parts of your brain, work through blocks and challenges in a supportive environment and meet people you might not otherwise have come into contact with, these kinds of experiences can propel you into a new hobby or practice and sometimes a whole new phase in your life! Keep an eye on the Gizzy Local events calendar for one-off workshops, workshop series and free classes such as those offered at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. The Gisborne Artists Society and Gisborne Boardriders regularly put on different opportunities to hone new skills. Make 2022 your year for learning something new! The exhibition ‘The Creative Gene’ Raymond Crafts, Heather Van Wyk runs until 23 January 2022 at the Tairāwhiti Museum. Ray is planning to return to Gisborne next year to hold another workshop, keep an eye out for information on the Gisborne Artists Society Facebook page and gizzylocal.nz Story by Sandra Groves Hosted by Gisborne Artists Society

Pull up to the beach when the waves are pumping and there’s a good chance you’ll see the Salt Shack van, sporting its signature lightning bolt. Its owner is Holly Quinn, the woman behind both the design and the surf school it represents. She calls the logo “the boom,” which could also describe her dynamic energy and charging surfing. Reminiscent of a superhero symbol, Salt Shack is all about giving you the confidence of one in the water. Founded by sister and brother duo Holly and Jay Quinn, now run by Holly, Salt Shack is not your typical surf school. For starters, there is some serious surf cred at the helm. All three Quinn siblings (including brother Maz) are world class surfers who have competed professionally around the world and contributed to Gizzy’s reputation as a serious training ground. Among many titles, Holly was the NZ Women's Champion multiple times. Holly started surfing around age 10, part of a pack of grommets who quickly devoted themselves to improving and competing. At that time the Quinns were living at Wainui Beach on Murphy Road, along with kids from a group of families including the Gunnesses, the Carters, and the Stewarts (all of whom are still strongly connected to surfing). Together they would surf at Cooper Street, when it was still just an empty section, and they would bike to school instead of catching the bus, in case it was offshore and they needed to hightail it to the surf. It was a group of keen surf kids that would go on to compete, and together dominate, local competitions for years to come. Holly remembers, “Everyone was really into it, we were surrounded by it. Back then it was all about competition. That’s all we knew.” All through intermediate and high school, they were away nearly every second weekend, traveling to compete. The highlight of the year was the world grom title held annually in Bali. Even those who didn’t qualify would work and save to be able to go and be part of the scene. Gisborne would send a huge contingent, and Gizzy surfers dominated across all the age groups. Throughout the year the groms trained with coaches, some came in from abroad, and it showed. “So many people helped us as kids so much. I think that had a major impact on that reign of surfers in the 90’s.” They were also remarkably self-motivated. Most teens will sleep in at any opportunity, but not Holly. “I used to get up every single morning and throw stones at my friend Nicki’s window to wake her up for a dawny at 6 am.” And she and Jay had a pact that they would surf every single day, no matter the conditions. This was when wetsuits lacked hoods, and they would wear their gath helmets to try to keep their heads warm in winter. When high school ended, the prospect of continued competition and the struggle for sponsorship was daunting. Holly opted for Uni, earning a scholarship to study design in Auckland. It wasn’t exactly a smooth transition. For the first time, she couldn’t surf regularly, living in West Auckland without a car. “I think I rang my parents every night trying to come back.” Surfing came to the rescue when she was invited to the trials for the World team in Whangamata. In her search for a ride there (she hadn’t yet learned to drive), she met a family that eventually took her in, moving her into their garage so she could live in Piha where there was surf. They also taught her how to drive so she could make the daily hour-long commute to the city for classes. Pulled back into competing, she went to the World Games a few times as she completed university, before being drawn to Australia where Jay was living. He bought her a ticket for Christmas one year and she stayed, launching her design career there, working her way up through the ranks to be lead women’s designer at Volcom, and later Speedo. Running a surf school was never part of Holly’s plan. But years later she found herself, married and pregnant, back in New Zealand on the Kapiti coast, where her husband Jackson grew up. “I would go to Waikanae beach and see beautiful tiny little waves, and no one was there! I couldn’t work out why no one used it.” Volunteering for the local surf club, she saw the demand for surf lessons and convinced Jay, who had been coaching in the UK, to come back for the summer and start a surf school with her. Holly got her coaching certificate, they bought all the gear, and settled on the moniker they both liked. They were busy from the start, but Jay returned to the UK at summer’s end. Holly managed to keep going solo, even with two little ones, with friends stepping in to help coach. Their focus was teaching kids, but Holly noticed the mums hanging around wanting to give surfing a go, so she started to host regular womens nights. A huge success, the events continued to grow to include end-of-term contests with barbeques and drinks, the community rallying around the occasions to socialise. She also continued her design work as a freelancer, bringing her bold and eye-catching style to branding. For Holly, “Gizzy will always be home.” Moving back was always on her mind, and when the opportunity arose just before the lockdown in 2020, she returned with her family and the surf school in tow. Now in its second season on the East Coast, Salt Shack serves both tourists and locals through its diverse offerings. This year it’s blasting into summer with after school programs, “learn to surf” lessons for kids and adults, ladies’ multi-week sessions, and women's weekend surf camps (aka “Mums on Tour”). Another summer highlight is the “Martini Mingle,” a tag team surf competition that teams up surfers of all levels followed by martinis. Not your average surf comp, as evidenced by the screaming and giggling that go with it. The women's events bring Holly back to what was created for her in her youth, when “it was a totally different scene back then, not always a welcoming one for girls.” It was her mum who took charge and started a women’s surf club, teaming up with other mums to create a supportive environment for the girls, with their own contests and Women on Waves nights. And now some of those same older ladies who used to plan events for Holly’s generation participate in the Martini Mingle. Promoting the community vibe is motivating for Holly, and staying in touch with that motivation is important, especially when it gets full on in summer running Salt Shack, parenting two children, and maintaining her design work. She also surfs nearly every day, not because she has to, but because she can. If the popularity of her offerings is any indication, her passion is contagious. Just like it was for her as a grom, Holly sees what a difference the presence of some surf buddies makes for her kids, too. Now aged 8 and 6, they’ve been in the water since they were little, but they can still be resistant to the idea of going to the beach. But add in their friends and it’s a different story of stoke. They love the idea of having their own club too. Leave it to the groms to remind us that it’s not just about learning how-to skills. The best kind of surf school, like Salt Shack, is also about inspiring a way of life that includes finding joy in the ocean, and sharing that joy with your friends. Story by Victoria Williams Photography Shaun Tunny