Stories

Hot offerings from the world of cool technology. Superb Snaps OPPO are the kings at perfecting mobile phone cameras and the latest model, the OPPO A9 2020, lives up to these expectations – it has five built in cameras! The front camera is 16MP and the rear quad camera 48MP. It will give you shake-free filming and also sports a huge 5000mAh battery. oppo.com/nz Smooth Cycling If you’re looking for an e-bike that feels like you’re riding a cloud, check out the eZee Sprint T4 Electric Bike. This all-rounder has a smart torque sensor and rear hydraulic brakes that helpsmooth the ride. actionbicycleclub.com See the Sound Transform your music into life with the uber-cool Nanoleaf Rhythm. These smart light panels produce some captivating colours and will connect to your music and dance along to the beat. Our hot tip is to try the sunrise scene – this is where you can...

Our good friends at Three Boys Brewery are buzzing with excitement as they’ve taken home 11 medals, after entering 12 beers at the NZ Beer Awards. They picked up 3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze! We already know Three Boys’ beer is a step above the rest, but this award just solidifies it. Their brewery is well worth a visit, too – you can go on a tour and find out how such perfect beer is crafted, and of course be able to taste the goodness for yourself. threeboysbrewery.co.nz

Circle January 23 to February 16 in your diary for 2020, Cityscapers – everyone’s favourite buskers festival is back! Bread & Circus – World Buskers Festival returns to the city for its 25th year, and headlining the 2020 edition is ‘champagne cabaret’ show Blanc de Blanc. Taking over the always popular Spiegeltent, the show brings together the finest cabaret and acrobatic talent from around the world, serving a blend of vintage glamour, high-end spectacle and titillating acts to infatuate and delight. From the creative team behind the worldwide smash hits LIMBO and Cantina, Blanc de Blanc will hit Christchurch direct from a triumphant run at the Sydney Opera House and London's West End. The ever-popular festival galas will return to the Isaac Theatre Royal, as will the immersive long-table dining event, Feast of Fools, set to take place at an iconic Christchurch location. The full programme of ticketed shows, busking pitches,...

The good folks at BurgerFuel have teamed up with Life Health Foods to create a mouth-watering customised classic burger repping an Alternative Meat Co. plant-based protein. The Alternative Muscle burger will be available for a limited time from November 5 and is for all those flexitarian or reducetarians out there – it can be made vegan too! Think gourmet cheeseburger but better! This bad boy sports an Alternative Meat Co. patty that is formulated to look, cook and taste like real beef, cooked ‘smashed juicy’, a method perfected by the BurgerFuel team that results in a caramelised finish. The burger also includes melted cheddar, tangy sandwich pickles, Dijon mustard, batch-brewed tomato relish, and free-range BurgerFuel Aioli, all within an artisan wholemeal bun – yum! If you’re frothing over the thought of this delicious burger, get it on your radar stat before it’s gone! burgerfuel.co.nz

Cityscape catches up with CoLab Architecture’s Tobin Smith and Blair Paterson to discuss the relationship between fashion and architecture. Urban Cottage Image: Stephen Goodenough International movements in architecture and fashion have often been influenced by one another, and both in turn are heavily influenced by climate, culture and individual identity. Both can also illustrate a balance between necessity and luxury. Sometimes the confluence between architecture and fashion is crystal-clear. Art Deco, for example, demonstrates a period when architecture, clothing, jewellery and furniture were very much aligned. The downside though is that with such a strong and easily identifiable aesthetic, the timelessness of the architecture can be subject to a lifespan similar to the fashion. As we’ve found our design feet in New Zealand, we have evolved a style of architecture that is unique to our local context and climate, moving on from outside influences. Materiality, sustainability and contextual sensibility take precedence...

The racing will be thrilling on Christchurch Casino NZ Trotting Cup Day but for many of those in attendance the real contest will be the trackside fashion stakes, The Crossing Fashion Starts Here Best Dressed Competition. Hand on heart that’s probably true for us here in the Cityscape office! It’s not too late to organise your outfit and you can enter up till noon on the day. To get started on your winning style, head to The Crossing and its great range of fashion outlets from international flagship stores such as H&M, Country Road and SEED alongside top New Zealand designers Barkers, IVYBLU, Workshop and RUBY. Madisons Off Broadway offer a stunning range of special-occasion wear, with brands such as Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren. To give you the inside running, we check in with judges Deanna Didovich, designer with RUBY; Shelley Ferguson, editorial director of home and fashion...

The Crossing Fashion Starts Here Best Dressed Competition is a highlight of Christchurch Casino NZ Trotting Day. To give you the inside running, we check in with head judge Jackie O’Fee, owner of Signature Style, to see what she is looking for in a winner. What’s the golden rule of race day fashion? Just look gorgeous and have fun! What will you be looking for on the day? Attention to detail, and that’s every detail from the top of your head to the sole of your shoe – it gets so hard to pick a winner that one year we really did eliminate one of the finalists due to her shoe being broken! I’ll also be looking to see on-trend looks – as an example, this year I’m expecting we’ll see a lot of statement sleeves, and I love colour! How important is it to work a theme? It’s important that...

Rust never sleeps and neither it seems does ‘rust artist’ Don Service, who has added gallery owner to his impressive CV. He tells Cityscape how RightSide Gallery came to be, how his own art has evolved, and how he relaxes when he finds the time. You are something of a jack-of-all-trades in the art world – how did that come about? I get asked to do lots of different things – art hanging, art repairs and art technician jobs – that come in through word of mouth so I usually say yes then figure it out from there. I have a varied background career-wise, which gives me the confidence to say yes, but art and design has always been my passion. Tell us about your new gallery and the artists represented? I have wanted a workshop and showroom for years, it just took a while to bring it all together. I...

November means the start of party season for Cityscapers, with Christchurch Casino NZ Trotting Cup Day kicking off the action, followed by more fun and racing on Show Day. The New Zealand Agricultural Show will bring the country to town, and there’s an early Christmas cracker when Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park brings together onstage performance and offstage pyrotechnics. Culture comes to the party too, with the Royal NZ Ballet in town as well as concerts by renown cellist Yo-Yo Ma, music legends Lloyd Cole and America, and a slice of synth pop from Hermitude. Yo-Yo Ma In a feat of musicality and endurance, legendary musician and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma will perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello in one sitting at the Christchurch Town Hall on Tuesday November 12. This performance is his New Zealand debut and is part of his Bach Project, which consists of 36 days...

Nick Paris from Lumière reviews three of the best from the current crop of cinema releases. Plus a neat round-up of some of the best books, albums and television to satisfy your entertainment needs. Watching The Peanut Butter Falcon A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a wrestling school and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past 2½ years. Starring Shia LaBeouf, Bruce Dern and Dakota Johnson, this tale through the dangerous yet relaxing vibes of the Southern Atlantic land and seascape combines the heart of the Hunt for the Wilderpeople with the ‘pages’ of a Mark Twain adventure. Look out for it in January. Don’t Look Now The chilling and mysterious Nic Roeg classic pitches Venice’s back alleys into a brilliant chamber piece of madness. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie’s relationship is formed by the tragedy...

Cityscape turns to the experts at Cutler & Co to find out what the cutting-edge trends in menswear are this season. Cutler & Co’s Colombo Street store is an emporium of excellence dedicated to those men who dare to be a bit different when it comes to their wardrobe. There’s a huge range of styles and fabrics to choose from in sports jackets, shirts, trousers, denim and all the trimmings but what really sets this independent boutique apart is the expert advice of store manager Liam Strachan. Liam works closely with director John Wright, whose keen eye has been trained through his many buying trips to the fashion capitals of Europe, particularly London, Florence and Milan. As well as their own brand, Cutler & Co stock complementary brands such as LTB Jeans from Turkey, and Dstrezzed and No Excess, both from the Netherlands. Cityscape checked in with these masters of style...

Karoline Tamati, aka Ladi6, is back in the studio, back on stage and back from the brink of completely losing her voice. Ahead of her performance at the South Island Wine & Food Festival in December, she shares her relief and her dreams for the future with Cityscape. How’s work going on the new album? It’s going slowly – I always forget how much time it takes. It’s always good for me to remember to have deadlines but also to trust the process and forget the pressure. You’ve had a rough time over the last few years, including losing your voice – you must be enjoying getting back on stage and back in the studio? Did you ever start to wonder if you would return? When I lost my voice and was recovering I did wonder, and it was heartbreaking, I can’t lie. So, as you can imagine getting my voice...

UK rock legend Lloyd Cole prefers intimate, acoustic gigs these days over the stadium-storming days of performing with the Commotions. He tells Cityscape that breaking a song down for acoustic performance exposes just how strong or weak it is. This is your eighth visit to New Zealand – what keeps bringing you back? It’s what I do. The model for making a living as a musician these days is exactly the opposite of what it was when I started making music. We used to make money from selling records and then we would go on tour to promote those records. Now it’s exactly the opposite. Do you still enjoy touring? I do. The only thing that’s sometimes a little worrying is that obviously I’m not getting any younger and it’s tiring. So I like to try to schedule it properly and I’m also now taking action and working on my fitness...

Since she stopped comparing herself with others and started to lead her own life, Lucy Sheridan hasn’t looked back. Now she shares her insights with others, online and in a new book. Cityscape caught up with the UK author and ‘comparison coach’. So how did you come to be the world’s only comparison coach? Comparison has always been part of my life since I was young. I compared myself often in lots of ways and it has been as exhausting as it sounds. In my late 20s I decided I had finally had enough and committed to exploring the root cause of my toxic habit. This led me first to the self-help aisle of the bookshop, then to psychology videos on YouTube and then progressed more seriously into me exploring my own coaching training. Through this process I was able to create a set of tools and techniques to massively reduce...

Cityscape checks in with what’s new in the inner city, from retail meccas boasting everything from boutiques to High Street fashion, and hospitality venues ideal for everything from an intimate date night to places where the party is guaranteed. Riverside Market This seven-day-a-week market space by the Bridge of Remembrance has been inundated since opening with keen shoppers wanting to get their hands on the multitude of goodies on offer. Stop by and you’ll discover plenty of banging eateries, artisan suppliers and boutique retailers – you’ll be spoilt for choice. You can bop along as you shop, too – there’s an awesome sound system that was put in by Craig Shaw and the team at Harvey Norman. Among the 30 independent food outlets and 40 market stalls are city favourites Pedro’s Kitchen, where you can pick up some delectable tapas; Argentine BBQ bosses El Quincho; Bohemian Bakery, serving up their fresh...

Callam Mitchell heads Team Event, the promoter putting the icing on Christchurch’s cake this summer with a killer lineup of festivals and events. He tells Cityscape about his first event – a high school after-party when he was 16 – and why he loves what he does. Tell us what Team Event has in store for Christchurch this festival season? We have our biggest summer coming up, with five festivals locked in and a number of headline shows. We’re kicking off with the South Island Wine & Food Festival on December 7. We then have the Great Kiwi Beer Festival in January, Nostalgia Festival and Electric Avenue in February, and the first North Island edition of the Great Kiwi Beer Festival in Hamilton in March. We are also involved with the Summer’s Day Disco concert in Hagley Park in January, and we have one or two more announcements yet to come....

Find the clues, solve the puzzle and escape! That’s what the good folks at CodeBreakers live for and they filled Cityscape in on some of the adventures to be had at their two locations. You’re stuck in a room with your friends and the clock is ticking on your escape – the team at CodeBreakers are masters at setting up quirky, challenging and entertaining scenarios for you to break out of. These guys recently had a makeover and changed their name from Crate Escape to CodeBreakers and with the new name comes a whole raft of new escape adventures! An escape room is just that, with a tricky scenario thrown in for good measure. The aim is to work in a team to uncover clues, crack codes, solve puzzles and complete your mission, which is to get out – all within 60 minutes. Sounds fun, right? You’ll discover various themes at...

Health and wellbeing has a new home in Christchurch. The Welder brings all aspects of a healthy life under one roof in Welles Street. Trendy Welles Street has a new hotspot, The Welder, the first health and wellbeing centre of this scale in the country. It’s a place where you can celebrate all parts of wellbeing, expanding further than just healthy eating into physical wellbeing, mindfulness and sociability. Balance is at the core of The Welder, which is located in six beautifully repurposed character buildings dating back to 1880. Some days you might pop in for a yoga class and a salad, other days you might eat pastries and drink beer. Or get a new hairdo. Who’s at The Welder? O-Studio Get the most from your body and mind with yoga, flotation, meditation, ice baths, infra-red saunas and personalised coaching programmes. GoodFor Stock up on pantry goods without the wasteful packaging...