Stories

Join schools of brown trout, Doris the friendly eel and local guides having fun around the Ōtākaro Avon River this summer; it’s our inner-city flow-asis providing cubic-litres of fun. Flowing through Hagley Park, winding through the city centre, traversing the Avonside red zone and out to sea, a journey down the Ōtākaro Avon River is a chilled out tour of the city’s most interesting spots. The river’s Māori name, Ōtākaro, means ‘a place of game’, after the children who played on its banks as the adults were gathering food from its bountiful waters. We’re channelling that spirit and heading to the Avon for a playful paddle and some delicious kai. The Ōtākaro Avon River bursts into life at the historic Mona Vale in Fendalton, where the Ilam, Waimairi and Wairarapa streams converge. Start your Avon adventure there (don’t miss the fabulous rose and iris gardens) by fuelling up at the idyllic...

Mindfulness, meditation and mud masks are great tools, but they’re old solutions, and we’ve got some uber-modern problems to solve. Instead, forward-thinking tech-can-cure-everything companies are creating out-of-the-box solutions to our modern health and wellness problems. Here’s what we might be plugging into in 2021. Custom wellness soundscapes Music as therapy is being radically reinvented. It’s no longer about tunes that inexplicably make us feel good – it’s about precision tracks engineered with wellness in mind. Endel, a Berlin-based startup, famously signed the first non-human record deal with Warner Music in 2019. It’s creating ‘generative’ AI-powered soundscapes that pull your biological data to create custom, always-changing audio. MIT-affiliated Sync Project has worked with neuroscientists to develop personalised music therapeutics for pain management (and it’s been bought by Bose, no big deal). All-day, all-night circadian wellness Tech companies are realising that good sleep isn’t just about the night hours. We’re developed to be...

Channel your inner Coco Chanel in Fragranzi’s new make-your-own-perfume studio. You can now create your own scent with the help of a professional perfumer in a fabulous space at the Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora. Professor Conan Fee teaches fragrance design at the University of Canterbury, so he knows how to make things smell sensational. He’s recently opened Fragranzi with his partner Glenda Evans, probably to fulfil all our childhood dreams. First, you choose your own starter blend (try not to have an identity crisis - are you a Fairground Treat, a Pacific Dream or an Evening Affair?) and then modify it to create your own bespoke scent. Follow your instincts and blend your best in just half an hour, or linger longer and have some fun experimenting. Once you’ve created your perfect concoction, you’ll fill a 15ml perfume bottle and take away your own named eau de toilette. Fragranzi...

We’ve had a hectic year, but Deirdre Panapa from DP Herbals is here to calm us down. We made it (almost!). Elections, lockdowns, the Covid-19 pandemic and closed borders have caused unexpected stress, hardships and concern for ourselves and loved ones both here and overseas. They say pressure makes coal into diamonds, but you might be feeling anything but shiny and bright. 2020 has taught us is that through all this uncertainty we must find flexibility, strength and resilience. From daily updates to news reports of outbreaks and soaring financial uncertainty, we have been subject to chronic long-term stress since the beginning of the year, and some more than others. This type of stress strongly affects every system in your body, and if the situation remains urgent or intense then it will affect your mental wellbeing, mood, sleeping patterns, digestion, blood pressure, heart rate, hormones and of course your energy levels....

Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or plant-curious, Christchurch’s specialised plant-based eateries cover all the bases. The days of having a solitary vegetarian option on the menu at a restaurant are long past, and in the Christchurch hospitality scene, the seeds of plant-based eating are sprouting with more enthusiasm than your summer veggie patch. These menus showcase the incredible versatility of plant-based eating. Plant-based specialists The future of vegan Whoever said you had to give up meat and dairy to go vegan was, well, technically correct. But lucky for us, Grater Goods is living in the future. Created by musician and long-time vegan Flip Grater and her husband Youssef Iskrane, this vegan delicatessen’s purpose in life is to provide ex-meat eaters with the taste and texture of popular animal products. Housed in an old Sydenham glass factory, the deli doubles as a bar and live music venue, bringing vibes of second-hand cool...

Artist Gill Gatfield’s works are exhibited around Aotearoa and the world, including her work Suffragette on display in Christchurch at SCAPE’s Studio 125 Gallery. She sculpts a narrative of feminism, activism and art with Cityscape. Can you tell us about Suffragette and the time it alludes to? The Suffragette sculpture reflects the power and poise of 19th Century activists who won the vote for women and the right for women to be legally described as a ‘person’. Up until then, women in New Zealand were more or less the legal property of men. There is added meaning in showing this work in Christchurch with its deep history and strong leadership in the women’s suffrage movement. It holds the gaze and initiates the conversation, like I imagine Kate Sheppard and her colleagues did. You seem to have an affinity for the letter ‘I’ – what does it mean to Suffragette, and your...

After wowing punters on Wellington’s waterfront in August 2020, the wildly popular Van Gogh Alive exhibition is returning to Christchurch in 2021. Make no mistake – this is no ordinary art exhibition. Van Gogh’s art has been enjoyed around the world for over a century, but you’ve never experienced Farmhouse in Provence, Wheatfield with Crows or The Starry Night quite like this. Setting aside traditions of walking silently through galleries and observing art in quiet contemplation, Van Gogh Alive is a multi-sensory experience designed to give the feeling of walking right into the Dutch master’s paintings. Visitors are surrounded by a vibrant symphony of light, colour, sound and even fragrance, indulging the senses and bringing visual masterpieces to life as never before. Air Force Museum of New Zealand, from Friday 19 Feb. livenation.co.nz  

2021 is gonna be the best year ever! Just like how we said 2020 was gonna be the best year ever. Well, at the very least we learned a bunch about things like boardgames, sourdough starters, looking out for our neighbours, Dr Bloomfield (rrrrrrrr), Zooming with buddies (including ones you definitely wouldn’t have seen otherwise), working in comfy clothes, the unfettered joy of talking like a Star Wars character while wearing a mask, and the privilege of being in a country that’s relatively got its shit together. Yeah, okay, sometimes you’ve just got to eat your words and we’re ready to admit we were a bit premature with our predictions 365-odd days ago, but we’re pretty confident 2021 is actually the big one. You’ve just got to visualise it, right? We’re visualising a long and warm summer with enough rain to keep the gardens green and the water flowing; wicked festivals...

A deranged businessman snorting rails off a boardroom table; a homoerotic flute-off; and random members of the public popping in and out. This ain't opera like we've ever seen it before. To call New Zealand Opera's Eight Songs for a Mad King a one-man show would be an injustice. The King (played by the convincingly insane Robert Tucker) interacts freely with the conductor (mad), the six-piece orchestra (mad), and the audience (varying degrees of mad). The very modern performance takes place in Tūranga, the central library, with the audience split in two. For the first half, we're placed in the audience seated outside (hot tip: wrap up warm – this is Christchurch after all), while half of the punters are directed inside to cosy seats near the upstairs window. We're assaulted by sound through our headphones – bizarre noises, clacks, scrapings, and melodies. And yelling. Singing and yelling. Singing, and yelling....

In celebration of the god of wine, master mixologist Rachel Powderly shares her next-level recipe for her famous Bocca di Bacco – a primo, bourbon-fuelled take on the classic sour that will have you seeing stars. FIXIN’S 50ml Maker’s 4630ml lemon juice25ml Tamarillo Tea and Pinot Noir syrup5ml simple syrup1 fresh free range egg white1 cinnamon stick1 star anise METHOD Smoke a brandy balloon with cinnamon (light cinnamon stick until it is smouldering, then place on a plate and cover with a brandy balloon). Put all ingredients (excluding star anise) into a Boston Shaker and reverse dry shake (shake with ice to chill the ingredients and shaker, strain and remove ice, then return to shaker and shake dry to create foam). Double strain into the pre-smoked brandy balloon and garnish with the star anise.

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū is here to keep us basking wonderment all season long with the All Art All Summer programme. Some of the sensational exhibits are already up and running, but the season in earnest kicks off with the Hello Summer! Family Fun Day on Saturday 5 December featuring Levity Beet, lei-making, waiata, spin art and tours, All Art All Summer runs through to March 2021. It will include a whole range of exhibitions, performances, music, family days, workshops, shopping and more. Here’s what we’re most looking forward to: Judy Darragh and Sean Kerr: In Kahoots 28 November 2020 – 21 February 2021 Combining artificial intelligence, highbrow concepts, lowbrow humour, dance and retro pop music, In Kahoots is an unforgettable summer experience, unique to each visitor. Pauline Rhodes: Blue Mind Saturday 28 November 2020 – Sunday 7 March 2021 The new exhibition puts the focus on our...

This summer of festivals is looking to be a massive list of homegrown hits, if the talent on display at the Aotearoa Music Awards are anything to go by. Benee and The Beths were the big winners on Sunday night, between them taking home the top prizes for Single of the Year, Best Solo Artist, Album of the Year and Best Group, and several other gongs. Catch The Beths playing Nostalgia Festival at Ferrymead Heritage Park on February 13, 2021 and Benee is one of the headline acts at Electric Avenue in Hagley Park on February 27. Te Pukaemi o te Tau (Album of the Year): The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers Te Waiata Tōtahi o te Tau (Single of the Year): Benee - 'Supalonely' Te Roopu Toa (Best Group): The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers Te Kaipuoro Takitahi Toa (Best Solo Artist): Benee - Stella & Steve Te Kaituhura Puoro...

With The Sleeping Beauty arriving in Christchurch next week, we're amped on ballet and already looking forward to what next year will bring us. Luckily for Kiwi ballet lovers, RNZB has just announced its performance schedule for 2021. From February, Royal New Zealand Ballet will bring hope, magic, emotion and a little bit of mischief to theatres across Aotearoa - created by some of the country's, and the world’s, best-loved dance masterminds. Giselle Isaac Theatre Royal, June 4 – 5 RNZB’s immensely popular production of Giselle, one of ballet’s timeless classics, returns. Stolen moments, secret passion, and innocence betrayed - former RNZB Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel and distinguished principal dancer, director and choreographer Johan Kobborg’s acclaimed production of Giselle first toured New Zealand in 2012 to sell-out audiences, returning in 2016 to great acclaim. Performed in China, the USA, the UK and Italy, and turned into a feature film by director Toa...

Head on over to Ferrymead this weekend for the first taste of Pizza Republic. Pizza Republic is launching this week featuring a wicked pizza menu, with all the traditional hits and a whole range of creative new additions. Owner Mike (AKA The Big Cheese), who started in hospo as an 18-year old wine waiter on the West Coast, has spent over a decade working a pizza joint in Ferrymead. There are a ton of things worth making your way to Pizza Republic for, like happy hours on Thursdays and Fridays, Family Fiesta deals on Sundays and What Up Wednesdays. For competitive folk, the highlight of the new menu might just be 'The Big Cheesy', a collosal 75cm pizza that comes in Beef & BBQ, Margherita and Pepperoni. If that's not worth getting your mates together for, you're too hard to cheese. pizzarepublic.co.nz

Cinema Italiano Festival launches tonight at Lumière Cinemas and runs until November 18 with 18 amazing films made with all the mastery and character you'd expect of Italian cinema. Here is festival director Paolo Rotondo's pick of five must-see flicks. 1 - Amazing Leonardo / Io, Leonardo It's 500 years since the death of one of Italy's most important sons – Leonardo da Vinci. This film brings beautiful storytelling and imagery to the retelling of the master's life. The creative re-enactments make it accessible, particularly the Sistine Chapel scene, where da Vinci is depicted as a sort of film director, directing his models like actors and in the process voicing his thoughts and motivations. 2 - Loro I've picked two films by the same director – Paolo Sorrentino – to highlight. A lot of people say this guy is the heir to legendary Italian director Federico Fellini. With this film, we're...

It’s the biggest, most epic dance club you’ve ever been to, and more. A thrill of anticipation and excitement rippled through the packed floor of Auckland’s Spark Arena, as host General Lee welcomed the Auckland Symphony Orchestra and conductor Peter Thomas to the stage. It must have been a strange feeling for the classical musicians, filing to their seats in their professional blacks to the deafening applause and cheers of a 6,500-strong crowd. Fitting, because there was nothing usual about this performance. Synthony is a unique musical, visual and dance spectacular, with club anthems of the last decades transformed into a swelling orchestral tidal wave of furious musical power that you can’t help but be swept up in. The show kicked off with DJ sets from Greg Churchill and Otosan, and the crowd was amping by the time the orchestra took the stage. From the opening strains of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right...

In his current comedy tour, award-winning comic Raybon Kan gives touchy subjects the kind of careful touching you'd attribute to an overworked courier driver – or an eager intestinal surgeon. He tells Cityscape about the nature of laughter, and bullfighting a crowd. How's the Raybon... Kan Touch This tour going so far? Surprisingly good, thanks. I feel like I'm hitting notes I didn't used to. If I was an athlete getting results like this, I think they'd demand a drug test. I'm really enjoying the audiences. Can you give us a peek behind the curtain? What kind of things are you going to be covering in the Lyttelton and Christchurch shows? Haha, the topics wouldn't necessarily make people want to come. But they're subjects that people tend to have a strong opinion on, and the general background vibe we're in now, the shifting lines of what you can and can't say....

Cellar Door was a big winner on the night, taking out four award categories, including the presitigous gong for Supreme Establishment. The awards were announced on Monday night at Addington Raceway & Events, presented by the Restaurant Association of New Zealand and acknowledging the region's outstanding hospitality professionals, all of whom are making a positive impact on the local café, dining and drinking scene. This year's Canterbury Hospitality Awards featured recognition for establishments that had gone above and beyond during lockdown and the Covid recovery with outstanding innovation (Riverside Market owners Kris Inglis, Mike Percasky and Richard Peebles), community spirit (The Vagabond Chefs) and a local hospo hero (Tristin Anderson, Smokey T’s). Riverside Market offered its tenants rent relief across March, April and May to help them keep their doors open. The owners also introduced Market Box – containing fresh food, meat, vegetables, fish and other raw ingredients that could be ordered...