Stories

For a relaxed, low-maintenance garden on the Canterbury coast, you want to be thinking stone, wood, seaside natives and colourful exotic plants. Paul Roper-Gee from Canopy Landscape Architects explains. It’s easy to forget that Christchurch is a city that hugs the coastline. For those of us living on the flat in the central or western parts of the city, our collective relationship to the coast only becomes evident as you approach the shoreline. The littoral suburbs including New Brighton, Redcliffs, Sumner and Lyttelton have unique microclimates and soils that offer distinct opportunities and challenges when it comes to designing a garden. Moody seascapes provide a natural focal point or backdrop to your coastal garden. Spaces and views can be created within the garden to celebrate and make the most of this natural beauty. At Canopy we like to think gardens near the coast are relaxed, informal spaces, designed with low maintenance...

A decade ago ‘wellness’ was only just entering our national lexicon. Now, we’ve traded stress for stretching, sitting for stand-up desks and boozing for barre. Here’s what to expect in the next decade of wellness. Flexitarianism becomes the norm Vegans and vegetarians are dining at cafés and restaurants in droves, and chefs are answering the call with gusto. Many menus have gone from one or two token veggie meals to myriad mouth-watering dishes. Even those of us who aren’t 100% plant-based are drooling over avocado-laden Buddha bowls and burgers with mac ‘n’ cheese hash brown patties. With options galore, a lot of us will rein in our meat consumption – good for our bodies, good for the planet. Open mental health discussions Mental health is moving out of the doctor’s office and into conversations with friends, family and colleagues. It’s on our phones, through apps like Headspace and Calm, and it’s...

Trickling down from boutique London skincare specialist Dr David Jack and celebrity hypnotherapist and life coach Malminder Gill, hypnosis facials are set to mesmerise the world. This mindful treatment packs two punches; cleansing and detoxifying the skin and deeply relaxing the mind, removing emotional burdens and anxieties. Hypnotherapy keeps clients in the present and maximises the opportunity to absorb positive suggestions to improve emotional wellbeing. The Dr David Jack version will set you back £500 for an hour’s treatment – we’re hoping that cost might head south as the treatment makes its way here too.

Videos of US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris disembarking from planes have gone viral because everyone’s chirping in on her shoes. It’s usually Converse (which trended on Twitter the first time the internet noticed) or, for a visit to California to asses wildfire damage, some Timberland boots (THOSE TIMBS THO, cried the millennials). Defying the usual conventions of businesswear, Harris tried to wear Chucks into the congressional chamber last year, and was told she had to enter through the cloakroom. Style, maybe, but there’s a certain practicality needed by women in office, and in offices. Texas senator Wendy Davis wore pink Mizuno running shoes for an 11-hour filibuster of an abortion bill, and Jacinda Ardern’s sported Allbirds in a meeting with the Australian Foreign Minister. It could prompt a wave of women turning from heels to something niftier – try it out and let us know if workplace security diverts you hastily...

We’ve got chills and they’re multiplying – as BMW adds more and more electrified vehicles to its range, some sweet new electric and plug-in hybrid wheels will join the current impressive lineup.  With its mission to make over 7 million electrified vehicles by 2030, BMW is bringing some astounding and exciting new tech. And while not all of its concepts are ‘real-world’ yet, we’re buzzing to see what’s on the way. With an increasing focus on hybrid and electric technology, BMW is pushing electrified vehicles to the limits and delivering drive quality, efficiency and performance better than anything that came before. New electrified BMWs come with the latest in high-voltage battery technology, charging capacity and intelligent system control. BMW’s plug-in hybrid models can run in all-electric mode – meaning you might never use a drop of petrol on your commute – and of course the hybrid petrol (or diesel) and electric...

Nik at Mojo Beauty is here to help you get your mojo back. Nik Henshaw is in the empowerment business. She runs Mojo Beauty in Fendalton, and while the beauty industry seems focused on looks, she knows that skin, brows, lashes – all the things a beauty salon tends to – can spark inner confidence. After extensive travel through her 20s, Nik did a social work degree, practicing for over ten years in that sometimes difficult but mostly rewarding industry in both New Zealand and London. She returned home, and six years ago she started Mojo, her own beauty and massage studio. This wasn’t in an effort to leave her past career behind. Nik’s aim is to boost confidence and self-esteem, and one of the keys to that is making people proud of the skin they’re in, so they don’t feel the need to hide behind layers of makeup. It’s a...

The story of Re:START is the story of a defibrillator applied to the arresting heart of Christchurch. The beats it brought into Cashel Mall pumped life through the CBD, bringing us the thriving collection of businesses present and continually growing in the city today. It was our new High Street while the real thing was cordoned off, and it gave people hope that things could return to normal, even if the mall itself was anything but. The colourful containers became an attraction, a place to hang out, eat, chew the fat, wander and shop. Lonely Planet picked Re:START out when awarding Christchurch a place in its 2013 top 10 cities, calling it “a colourful labyrinth of shipping containers”. Very quickly after the February 2011 earthquake, a committee of CBD retailers and property owners began talking about how to save retail. “We were aware that a whole lot of businesses were looking...

Fabric rationing in the 1940s gave us bikinis, the space race sparked a silver trend, and now 2020 is giving us all kinds of outrageous trends started by creative (and bored) millennials in lockdown, now graduating to Fashion Week main stages. The youthful rebellion Neon punk hair spikes from Christian Cowan and Collina Strada’s pastel-hued pin curls spiced up outrageous DIY tie dye leotards and crayon scribbled jeans. It was high-fashion versions of the lockdown craft projects we’ve all tried and haven’t been brave enough to wear outside the house. Smouldering red lips Internationally there isn’t currently a huge appetite for meeting a sexy sailor in the street and going in for a spontaneous pash, so it’s never been more practical to rock traffic-light-red lipstick on the regular. Colour blocking Tomo Koizumi’s models were spiced up with swathes of overflowing aquamarine eyeshadow, and Chromat was doing lime-green nails. Tom Ford was...

Wedding season is almost upon us, and whether you’re the bride, mother of the bride, a bridesmaid or just want to look ultra-radiant for an event as a guest, now’s the time to start your journey to glowing, radiant skin. Probeauty fills Cityscape in on the dos and don’ts. The first thing you’ll want to do is visit a quality skin clinic or beauty salon to assess your unique skin concerns, and how best to improve them. This may be dehydration (we’ve all been there!), fine lines and wrinkles, acne, or pigmentation and sun spots. Rather than the latest fad serum in a department store, professionals can advise you on the truly powerful cosmeceutical products to create visible change in just a few months, using potent active ingredients. These proven ingredients include retinol (vitamin A), vitamin C, niacinamide, peptides and hyaluronic acid – all in much stronger forms than you’ll find...

Gerard Smyth has become a chronicler of the earthquake recovery, recording hundreds of hours of historical footage and releasing two feature-length docos on Christchurch’s up-and-down decade. When the earthquake hit on February 22, 2011, Gerard Smyth grabbed his broken video camera and within 20 minutes, holding the lens in place with his thumb, began recording the central Christchurch chaos. He had been working on a documentary about what a ‘near miss’ the September earthquake was, and organically flew into the action by the seat of his pants. As a one-man crew he went where he could, when he could, to capture the important moments over the following hours, days, weeks, months and years. Gerard grew up in Christchurch, in an Irish Catholic family with 38 first cousins spread across the economic spectrum. His father – Bernard Smyth – was a well-known local television presenter, and Gerard had a strong grounding in...

SCAPE Public Art has been adorning Christchurch for 22 years, and has been with us through thick and thin. Executive director Deborah McCormick tells Cityscape about the importance of art through adversity. Public art has the power to inspire and challenge us at a personal, local and national level. It invites us to engage, think, respond, and has the potential to inspire conversation about ourselves and what we value. The planning and placement of public artworks, as part of our urban landscape that reflects diverse cultural origins and events, is important to our sense of belonging. Public artworks have rich and varied stories that flow into our buildings, streets and public spaces. We explore our creativity in the places that define us and these are the golden threads that have the power to draw us together. In the last ten years, art has played a part in recognising and dealing with...

Give me mooooo-re. Overshadowed for decades by their more pretentious animal kingdom rivals, the humble cow is finally hitting fashion hot lists. Cow print has taken hold in New Zealand – after all, we have six million of them mooching round in fields to take inspiration from, but this is bigger than just us Kiwis: Meghan Markle’s been spotted in cow print pumps, Kylie Jenner’s been sunbathing in a cow print swimsuit and those super sexy black and brown patches have been spotted in recent fashion runway shows.

Anna Dick from Anna Margaret Interiors reveals how following our senses can help us create wonderful spaces. I’m always inspired this time of year. Warmer days, living more outdoors, and the Christmas and New Year break is a real joy for the senses – the colours, smells, patterns, sounds and textures. I’m drawn to designing calm and open spaces during these months when everything feels elevated – the sun is higher, the days longer, and the trees leafy and full of birdlife. The best place to start designing is to listen to your senses. While you’re feeling relaxed this holiday season, pay attention to colours that grab you, whether they’re the hues of your favourite bach or campsite, colours that remind you of your favourite people, or the natural shades of the season. Think about the sounds and smells that invigorate you outdoors and inside. Notice patterns and shapes that relax...

Empowerment coach Saskia Clements drops some advice on creating healthy habits by actively controlling the important things, and shedding the rest. If we’ve learned anything from 2020, it’s confirmation of that well-worn phrase, we just don’t know what’s around the corner. While we can’t control the circumstances we find ourselves in, we can do a lot to impact how these circumstances affect us. Here are five tips for managing the things in our control that will greatly assist in making 2021 the best it can possibly be, no matter what’s around the corner. 1. Declutter your life Take time to declutter and rid yourself of de-energisers. We all have things we’re procrastinating about, or tolerating, and these things drain us of vital energy. It can be anything from the kitchen drawer that sticks every time you open it, to the pile of paperwork cluttering your office, to the phone call you’ve...

A new beauty oasis has opened in Merivale, and this is one to wash all your worries away. BHAVA is a bespoke nail bar in Merivale Mall, offering a full suite of manicures, pedicures, nail enhancement treatments, and even nail services for the wee ones so they can join in the pampering fun. For now, these feel-good experts are focusing on nails, but keep an eye out: they’ll be rolling out beauty treatments in blissful BHAVA style come early 2021. bhava.co.nz

A unique combination of geography and generosity shaped Christchurch into the craft beer mecca it is today. Ralph Bungard of Three Boys Brewery explains. Beer was not a part of Aotearoa’s pre-European culture, and even in the early days of European settlement it was imported spirits such as rum, with its longer shelf-life and bigger bang-for-buck, that dominated New Zealand’s consumption. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s, when local breweries began to pop up, that beer consumption really began to get a foothold. Canterbury, with its ideal climate for grain production and malting, was quick off the mark. In Ōtautahi Christchurch an early local brewer dominated the landscape – a brewery established in 1854 by Archer Croft and later bought by John Hamilton Ward. The Ward’s brewery provided industry and employment. In 1923, Ward’s amalgamated with another Christchurch brewer, Crown and Manning, to form New Zealand Breweries. A stormy battle between ‘temperance...

Make your Christmas planet-friendly with Green Dinner Table’s absolutely lip-smacking Christmas menu. The main event is a too-good-to-be-true maple and cranberry glazed Grater Goods furkey with herby cider gravy. Then you’ll be eating til you’re stuffed with new potatoes, mint, celery and smoked aioli, sugar snap peas with hazelnuts and sumac butter, stone fruit and tomato salad with avocado, bitter lettuce and cherry vinaigrette, and roast sweet peppers, feta and candied almonds. Green Dinner Table’s Christmas menu feeds four to six, is just $200, and will be delivered Christmas week. All the ingredients you need you need are delivered to your door in one handy package, and you cook it fresh on the big night. Thought vegan meant you wouldn’t need an elastic waistband this Christmas? Yeah, you were wrong. greendinnertable.co.nz

The Drifting Table is a new yakitori joint that comes to you – it’s a portable operation for small events run by the charismatic Chef Yuki Maekawa. Chicken. Beautiful, smoky, marinated, charcoal grilled chicken. That’s what yakitori is all about. Everything else is a beautiful accompaniment. The skewers and tenderloins are all perfectly cooked without a hint of dryness, and the different seasonings complement the smoky charcoal flavour. Our favourite is the yuzu and pepper sauce – a fresh, green, spicy condiment that picks you up by the nose. Another top dish is the simple and flavourful chicken meatballs with ginger and onion. Yuki has been a chef for over 20 years, and wanted to bring his skills to the table serving traditional Japanese yakitori alongside dishes with his own twist. In September he launched The Drifting Table and began drifting into lively household parties and corporate functions. He turns up...