Stories

One of Christchurch's favourite craft breweries is expanding, opening a brand-new brew bar on Colombo Street. Two Thumb Brewing Co.'s original brew bar on Manchester Street has been part of Christchurch's craft brewing scene since 2019, and growing in popularity ever since. The new site fills the gap left behind by The Fermentist, and will have a larger brewing capacity and a more restauranty feel than the original. The selection of drinks is expanding too, including guest brews, local wines, a carefully curated gin menu and some seriously sinful cocktails. Food comes courtesy of Illicit Food and includes burgers and shared grazing platters with temptations like arancini balls and pork belly bites. The inner city location gives relaxed, industrial-cool vibes, and you can enjoy your pint indoors or out in the beer garden. Visitors are also welcome to sneak a peek at the brewery and see where the magic happens. Two...

Get your nosy on this weekend and have a look inside some of Christchurch’s most unique and beautiful buildings as part of the Open Christchurch architecture festival. Unmissable experiences at this year’s festival include getting behind the fences for a tour of Christ Church Cathedral in progress, taking in one of the best views in the city at Te Hononga Christchurch Civic Building, and a chance to have a chat with Mayor Lianne Dalziel in the Mayoral Lounge. The festival kicks off on Friday 29 April at Harewood Crematorium, a celebrated piece of New Zealand architecture. It runs over the whole weekend, and over 40 buildings will be opened to the public over the course of the three-day festival. Most of the programme is free, and it’s a great opportunity for Christchurchians to head out and experience our iconic buildings from an all new perspective. With four guided walks, self-guided and...

The next phase of The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora's post-earthquake upgrade is complete, with the Observatory Hotel set to open next week. The hotel lives up to its arty surrounds, and no two of the 33 rooms are quite alike. Named after the 1896 Observatory Tower, it spans three stone-clad buildings that once housed the physics, observatory and biology buildings of the original University of Canterbury. The décor, by interior designer Jessica Close, incorporates a wild mix of colour, lavish textures and distinctive furnishings made by local craftspeople in the guest rooms as well as the spectacular drawing room and library. “I liked the idea of visiting the hotel and being able to request a particular room that spoke to you,” Jessica says. “Every room has its own design scheme and personality.” Individual guest rooms are named according to their unique colour and décor – such as the Rose Madder,...

Add an element of mystery to your next concert experience. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will stage a special event in Christchurch where the music to be played is only revealed just before the concert begins. The show, Daily Catch, has been so popular in Wellington, the NZSO has decided to bring it to Ōtautahi for one night only, this Friday 29 April. Here's the basic idea: you pick up a free ticket, knowing you'll be treated to a famous piece performed by a trio of Aotearoa's best musicians. Once you're seated and comfortable at Christchurch Town Hall, the trio will reveal what piece they're playing. This concert features NZSO concertmaster and violinist Vesa-Matti Leppänen, section principal cello Andrew Joyce and associate principal viola Alexander McFarlane. NZSO Chief Executive Peter Biggs says the Daily Catch series was first devised so the orchestra could perform live to limited audience numbers under the...

Joanna Prendergast, AKA Jo Ghastly moonlights from her day job as a psychiatrist to perform stand-up comedy shows. She got into comedy at age 48, turned a cancer battle into a cartwheel challenge, and is proving there’s really nothing a determined Cool Mum can’t do. So, tell us what it takes to be a Cool Mum? The most important part of being a Cool Mum is self-declaring that you are a Cool Mum. Being able to dab, floss and rap certainly helps though. My comedy persona Jo Ghastly decided to share her coolness with the world in the comedy show The Cool Mum. The Cool Mum is on in Christchurch one night only, June 17 at Good Times Comedy Club. Is your Cool Mum status generally accepted in your household? My kids definitely think I’m a Cool Mum. I could tell by my son’s facial expression, when I did ‘the floss’...

Nathan Ingram, AKA Dr Suits, is laying down paint in a big way. He caught up with Cityscape to talk murals, upcoming collaborations, and the ins and outs of running an urban gallery. Congratulations on your massive mural at Akaroa Area School. Tell us about Polymorph. I had just finished painting at Graffiato: Taupo Street Art Festival when I had an email from Akaroa Area School enquiring about having some work installed in their junior area. After a few conversations with the school principal, Ross Dunn, we agreed that the best outcome would be to get as much colour in the space as possible. The surface area for this project was 360 square meters, and was easily my largest project to date, so my approach to this project was to keep it simple and effective. I wanted to make it bold and bright, allowing the kids to engage with the different...

Christchurch artist Janna van Hasselt tells Cityscape about dreaming big, and drawing inspiration from a preschooler’s wardobe. What’s going on in your life right now? I’m in the process of making 400 ceramic works that look like brush strokes for my next show, switching to a plant-based diet, keeping watch on our 32 monarch chrysalises and settling my daughter into preschool. Is that all? You’re not afraid of scale in your art. What’s your dream big project? Ha! My lecturer at Ilam always encouraged me to think big; he was forever coaxing us to scale up. My dream big installation would have to be blinging out the Tate Modern Turbine Hall; completely smothering it in pattern and colour. A lot of your works have a strong emphasis on intense patterns. What do the patterns mean to you? For me, it’s about hand-made graphic marks and how they interrelate to create an...

Drag diva Buckwheat was in Christchurch for the SCAPE Public Art Avant-Garde Summer Gala, and Cityscape took the opportunity to meet the man behind the makeup, Edward Cowley. What brought you to the SCAPE event? I’ve worked with [SCAPE executive director] Deborah McCormick before. She let me know she thought Buckwheat would be good for an event SCAPE was hosting. It was a pleasant surprise. I get a lot of work in Christchurch. I wish I could stay longer! I come in, work, and leave. I was going to ask if you had a favourite spot here, but… The last couple of times I’ve been with the kids, and we go to the Margaret Mahy Playground, which is amazing. Tell us about your family. I hear it’s a little unconventional? I have three children: a 32-year-old, a six-year-old and a four-year-old. We’re a family with two mums and two dads. I...

We round up three great films, reads, shows to bingewatch, new albums to treat your ears to and a couple of decent podcasts to enlighten. Watching The Batman Robert Pattinson takes up the cape in this long-awaited adaption. This is the Caped Crusader for the next generation, in his early days of saving Gotham and coming up against classic foes The Riddler (Paul Dano), The Penguin (Colin Farrell), and Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent A wickedly tongue-in-cheek adventure in which everyone’s favourite Nicholas Cage plays a fictional version of Nicholas Cage, in debt and agreeing to make a celebrity appearance at a birthday party for $1 million. Only things don’t go entirely according to plan, and then the CIA gets involved. Of course. Everything Everywhere All At Once Michelle Yeoh enters the multiverse in this science fiction romp that sees Yeoh’s Evelyn Wang diverted from the...

The Wellington real estate scene has officially turned to a buyers’ market, with Auckland and other big centres expected to follow. As the national property market continues to cool, Christchurch sales are holding strong and prices continue to slowly rise, but a few indicators show that it may flip over to a buyers’ market later this year. Data from realestate.co.nz show that after several years of fast sales, properties in Wellington are now taking longer to sell than the average sale time over the last 15 years. This is a sign that the capital has turned to a buyers’ market. Auckland property sales are also slowing down and getting close to that 15-year average, which may indicate a trend for the rest of the country. It’s still a good time for sellers in Canterbury, with the data showing that if no new properties came on the market from today, it would...

Our gardens are outdoor sanctuaries, providing us with inspiration, moments of solace and connecting us with nature. They consist of a combination of fixed elements such as decks, paths and pergolas, along with dynamic elements such as planting and wildlife. With more time spent at home during these travel-restricted times, we are interacting more with our gardens, but how can our gardens become more interactive? Adrian Taylor tells us. Foraging Edibles can be integrated throughout your garden, and not confined to raised veggie planters or pots. Passionfruit on sunny fences, herbs with your ornamentals and botanical garnishes around the edges will lure you out for fresh deliciousness. Allow edibles to self-seed for free, future foraging to naturally occur. Playfulness Whether you’re a young child or a ‘big kid’, we all have imaginations which enjoy play. Add in fun ways to journey through your garden, create hidden spaces and surprises, turn rainfall...

Win friends and influence people by giving your next dinner party a fun (and delicious) theme. Themed food is a great start, and if you want to dive right in there’s a ball of fun to be had in themed décor, music and even clothing. It doesn’t even need to involve a ton of work – pot luck is your friend! Midwinter Christmas Indulge in all the cold-weather traditions we don’t get to partake in during our real holiday season: ugly sweaters, roaring fires, mulled wine, and a big roast dinner with flaming Christmas pudding. Bonus points for Christmassy scented candles – try the cinnamon Love Light Soy Candles at Exquisite Gifts by AJ. You can also get Christmas Tree and Christmas Lily scented home fragrances from Fragranzi for the smell of Christmas all year round. TV or movie themed If you want to make it easy on yourself, go for...

Dux de Lux is coming back! A group of dedicated people are putting their heads together to restore the legendary Christchurch music venue. Cityscape is 100% behind this idea, so here’s the story of the new Dux, and how you can help. James Stewart had a light bulb moment when he saw a famously optimistic friend of his down in the dumps in central Christchurch. “I’m just pissed off,” the friend said, “because every time I walk past the Dux, I get really disappointed that we’re a decade on from the earthquakes and nothing gets done about it.” The friend went on to talk about how he’d met his wife at Dux de Lux, and how he had a lot of good memories tied up in the establishment. “I got thinking,” James says. “I’m the same. I’ve got so many memories in that place. I wished there was something I could...

You’ve mastered the art of homemade sourdough, you’ve thrown everything you can think of in the air fryer and you’ve had enough baked feta to last you a lifetime… so what are the new food trends to sink your teeth into in 2022? Reducetarianism We’re leaving hard-and-fast rules back in ‘21 and focusing on the changes we can sustain. The latest trend to sweep the culinary world, and a happy middle ground between carnivore and vegan, is a little something called reducetarianism. It’s all about doing what you can: whether it’s a regular meat-free Monday or switching to oat milk instead of cow’s, whatever works for you is key. Eating less meat and more plants has now become decidedly mainstream, and with plant-based alternatives to animal products in every supermarket, it’s never been easier to cut a little bit more meat and dairy out of your diet. The return of the...

Christchurch's new convention centre is officially inducted in the sustainability hall of fame, taking home a Gold Sustainable Tourism Business Award from Qualmark. This is a big deal, especially so soon after Te Pae opened to the public. Following on from its earlier achievement of Toitū enviromark gold certification, Te Pae is already blazing a trail to a new standard in sustainable building. Read more: Behind the scenes of the new Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre Te Pae Christchurch General Manager Ross Steele said he was very proud of what the team had achieved so soon after opening. “Very early on in our journey at Te Pae Christchurch we set a standard for how we want to operate and work with clients, suppliers and our industry. Sustainability and strong focus on customer service are key pillars for us and it’s humbling to see our efforts recognised with gold by the Qualmark...

Hills Boutique, a Christchurch fashion store rocking exclusive European looks, has found its new home in The Colombo. The new shop is larger than any of Hills Boutique’s previous locations, with huge front windows showcasing the latest fashion the way it should be – visible to all the world. On display are exclusive pieces from Denmark, Greece, France, Spain, UK and New Zealand – including hot Kiwi label Dressed New Zealand. “I absolutely love the Dressed label,” says Hills Boutique manager Sarah Hunt. “It’s Christchurch-designed and a great fit. It’s made in New Zealand for the average woman.” The boutique launched in Hornby in 2019, just before the pandemic hit. It was supposed to be a short term pop-up, but there was such a good response from customers, the store needed a forever home. It was a bit of a journey, with the uncertainty of Covid making it difficult to find...

Whether you're keen to hit up some big Christchurch gigs, or planning to get on the road for an Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin show, there's no doubt the options for international acts are opening up. Flex your ticket-buying fingers and practise your dance moves because these gigs are going to be well worth the two years we’ve spent waiting for them. Ed Sheeran just announced he’s going to be treating Kiwis to two huge shows next February, and we are fizzing for it. Don’t lament the long wait too much, though – there are plenty of equally awesome concerts to let your hair down to between now and then. In September, Grammy Award-winning punky pop princess Billie Eilish will rock out the stage at Auckland’s Spark Arena, with three incredible shows poised to show off her killer vocals and signature stage presence to maximum effect. Next up is the pop phenomenon...

If you’re spending more time at home you can do yourself a favour by maximising creature comforts. With just a few small touches here and there, you can make your home into the peaceful haven it was always meant to be. Going green It’s scientifically proven that filling our homes with greenery has a positive impact on our mental wellbeing, physical health and productivity. This part’s not exactly science, but plants add some sweet aesthetic to your space as well. Court Florist’s range of seasonal flowers to suit any style or occasion, and there is literally nothing stopping you from getting flowers for yourself. You’re worth it! For greenery of the more permanent kind, check out Moffatt’s selection of houseplants. Read more: If you're not living in an indoor jungle, you're not really living. Bring the good vibes There are a few things that can add a peaceful, relaxing aura to...