Wanaka resident and prominent health campaigner Bev Clark has been appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to health.Calling herself a "born and bred Southlander”, Bev was born in Winton and farmed in Hokonui with her late husband Boyd Clark. While there, she became a vocal advocate for Winton’s maternity service. She served as chair of the Central Southland Health Trust and the Winton Birthing Unit for eight years, during which time she helped develop the facility, protecting access to maternity care in the region.Bev is also a veteran of the campaign to retain Dunstan Hospital at Clyde. She was chairperson of Central Otago Health Services Ltd, which was set up in 1999 to manage Dunstan Hospital, a role that won her some notoriety. COHSL was famously called "petulant” in 2003 by Labour health minister Annette King when the board threatened a mass resignation to protest the run-down state of the hospital.The board was backed at a public meeting attended by an estimated 1000 people, and the government eventually came to the table with more than $7 million towards a rebuild. Bev received an award at Dunstan’s 150th celebrations in 2013 acknowledging her work as chair of COHSL.As director of the Southern Regional Health Authority she had responsibility for provision of health services in the southern region, then, as director of the Health Funding Authority, for health services across New Zealand. She also chaired the Consumer Liaison Committee for the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, and was appointed for a term of six years to the New Zealand Psychologists’ Board.Bev moved to Wanaka in 1997, where she worked for nineteen years as a marriage celebrant. She is a founding executive member of the Celebrants’ Association in New Zealand, to which she was awarded an honourary life membership in 2014.A total of 177 New Zealanders (70 women and 107 men) have been named in the Queen's 90th birthday honours this year, including two dames, five knights and 66 new members of the New Zealand Order of Merit.PHOTO: Celebrants' Association of New Zealand

New York born-and-bred, a real estate agent and an engineer move to Lake Hawea to restore old cars and teach yoga. Really? Yes it’s true, and Steve and Jennifer Rumore say life has never been better.They had never thought about living in New Zealand. Steve was working in the family engineering business, designing and building off-road racing cars. Jen had her own real estate business.A man approached Steve about working for him in a business he was setting up designing and building custom vehicles. They worked on the idea for weeks. Then the man mentioned he would like to do it in New Zealand. Would the Rumores like to move too?The suggestion took them completely by surprise, but they did some research, and applied for visas. Then funding for the business fell through and the idea was shelved.If you like to know what's happening then you'll love Events & Places of InterestFour years later, the Rumores received a letter saying their application for New Zealand visas had been approved. They weren’t just offered work visas, they were offered temporary residency."That was in 2009. The US was in severe economic downturn. Real estate and engineering had collapsed. So we thought, why not?” Steve explained."We sold up, packed up, gave away, and shipped a 40-foot container of all our household goods and engineering stuff to New Zealand,” Jen added. "We didn’t know where we were going to live, but Steve had been making biodiesel in America, and we heard that Wanaka Wastebusters was using it, so we thought Wanaka might be a good place. By then we were living in Colorado and Wanaka seemed quite similar with lots of the things we liked; no humidity, a small mountain town with good snow, but no permanent snow in town that needed shovelling every day, and four defined seasons.”They flew into Auckland, bought a car, and drove around the country for six weeks looking for a place they wanted to live. Wanaka still seemed like the best choice, and they now call Lake Hawea home.Initially Steve got a job restoring vintage cars at the Warbirds and Wheels museum. Now he repairs and restores vintage caravans in the winter, and runs his own bobcat business in the summer.He’s also designed and built a prototype teardrop caravan ("basically, it's a bed and kitchen on wheels”) which he launched at the A&P Show this year. It comes in three sizes: a small one which slides onto the back of a ute or truck, the standard model, which you can’t stand-up in, and a bigger one which has a self-contained bathroom.The project he’s currently working on is a new building system for affordable housing. "The majority of the parts will be made in a factory, flat-packed to the site, and assembled in a matter of days. Basically it's made of chiller panels. I'm just working on making it aesthetically pleasing now,” he said.When they first arrived here, Jen started teaching yoga. That soon expanded to include meditation and, more recently, she’s added sessions with crystal healing bowls and metamorphic foot massage. Her latest ventures are a special ‘Golden Years’ yoga class in Wanaka and a regular class with different teachers at the Lake Hawea Community Centre.And when she’s not busy looking after their two children (Nicholas, 14, and Celeste, 8), she’s marketing the caravans."We realised Wanaka’s not the sort of place where you just do one thing to make a living. It suits us very well doing lots of different things. The only problem is, we have too many ideas and we can’t do them all.”For more information on the caravans check out the website www.adventurecaravans.co.nz.To find out more about Jen’s classes call her on 022 097 4596.PHOTO: Caroline Harker

Ever wondered who that woman is who does the huge bubbles around town? The Wanaka App caught up with Wanaka's very own Lily Lightly (AKA Diana Hickey).WA: Where did your bubble journey begin?DIANA: I was fascinated with the colours in puddles as a kid. Then at art school I chose bubbles - I was fascinated with the concept of conception and the magic of the embryonic sac and I wanted to emulate that. I started trying to perfect ice bubbles. I was trying to push the boundaries of what bubbles were and explore the life cycle of ice bubbles. Bubbles were the perfect sphere for me. I started doing performance with them, then got into street theatre with bubbles and working with inner-city kids doing clowning and bubbles. I worked with the Irish National Clown theatre.WA: You were born and bred in Ireland. How did you end up in Wanaka?DIANA: I came to look at the snow as I'd never been on a wave that didn't dump me and snow is like one big beautiful wave.WA: As well as making bubbles what else do you do in Wanaka to make a living?DIANA: I teach [instruments and voice], write and arrange music and vocals, and do the odd visual arts thingumy here and there, as well as mucking in with public events when I can.WA: How long have you been here?DIANA: I've been here in NZ for 17 years and while I'm proud to be a Kiwi citizen, my heart is still Irish. I've bounced between Wanaka, Dunedin, Christchurch and Auckland for study and work, but the Wanaka bubble always lures me back.WA: What kind of work has taken you away?DIANA: Wanaka is partially responsible for the various paths I've skipped down over the last 17 years, including studying art psychotherapy and gaining a Clinical Masters, and then working for the District Health Board at the coalface.WA: What did that involve?DIANA: I was doing art psychotherapy with children and young adults, in oncology and in palliative situations. And working with their parents and caregivers.It was an incredible experience, but in the end I needed to take some time out and get back into creativity, for my own self care, and that’s when I came back to Wanaka. WA: What do you enjoy about living in Wanaka?DIANA: The joys of working for great events like the Rippon music festival and YAMI, Rhythm and Alps, re-igniting my clowning past, peppered with visual arts exhibits and personal musical projects here and there. It's a town where not many of us are nine to fivers. To stay we need to creatively adapt to thrive. Maybe it's the mountains and these stunning pristine lakes and rivers we're surrounded by. I aspire to be more creative by simply being here. The community is hugely supportive of one another too, all manner of colourful expression can be born and I am very grateful to call the place home.WA: Will you share the perfect bubble mixture recipe?DIANA: You will need: the snot of a northern prismic sealion (obviously you have to wait until they get a cold - which doesn't happen often); the dust off the wings of a South American Wobble butterfly (but they are hard to catch) and some mermaid scales (scraping them off can be tricky). Save yourself the trouble and buy some from Lily directly on her Flying Colours Facebook page, or phone 021 400 857.Lily Lightly will be performing at the Matariki celebrations at the Wanaka lakefront on Saturday.PHOTO: Supplied

CAROLINE HARKERThe three little pigs were wrong when it comes to building construction, or so say a local couple who gave a talk on building with straw recently.There’s no way a big bad wolf could blow down one of their straw (bale) houses, in fact they claim they would last longer than many regular homes.Local design and build team Jessica and Ben Eyers (Hiberna Construction and Architecture) are speaking at a Southern Sustainable Building meeting about their work on Tuesday night at Kai Whakapai. The talk will focus on how straw bales can be used to make a durable, affordable, environmentally-friendly, mainstream construction material.The Eyers philosophy of building is based on creating houses "your children’s children will be proud of". "The market is flooded with large mediocre homes and we are trying to reverse that trend,” Jessica said. "We think there is more long-term value in quality buildings, built to last, that don’t break the budget because of their size. For a building to last the centuries it needs to be loved, and our buildings will need to be maintained - but unlike a lot of modern materials, earth, lime and timber can be maintained relatively easily and cheaply.” The straw bales themselves are fully enclosed, so they don’t need any maintenance.Jessica said what they have is "a high performance ultra low carbon insulation technology that is proven to reduce heating costs by 90%.”Jessica is from England and Ben from Wanganui. They met while rock climbing in Wanaka, and found they had a lot in common. One thing led to another and they designed and built their first house in 2008. Located in Wanaka, it was for Ben’s parents and is an energy-efficient passive solar house.Since then they have started their own business, had two children and built their own straw bale house, "where we try out all our building ideas”. They have also designed and built houses in Tekapo and Warkworth.Jessica has previously worked for Sustainable Wanaka (2006-2009) and for QLDC as an eco-design advisor. She has two degrees in architecture. Ben is a licensed builder and natural plasterer. They are currently applying for a research grant to explore the potential for mainstreaming straw bale as a building material.Southern Sustainable Building is a group of people involved in sustainable building projects in Central Otago. Their meeting will be held upstairs at Kai Whakapai on Tuesday June 28 at 7pm. Anyone interested in attending is welcome.For more information contact Clair Higginson on 03 448 6115 or 021 102 2182, [email protected], or Jessica Eyers on 022 013 9062 or [email protected]: www.alpineimages.co.nz

It’s a family affair at Wanaka’s newest eatery, as the "food-obsessed” Lahoods have set up a cafe to serve the kind of food they love to eat.Chrissie, Sharon and Paul Lahood are three siblings from a family of ten, joined in their new venture by Paul’s wife Tasha."We’re used to having lots of people around,” Chrissie said. "And we have plenty of backup,” Paul added. The siblings have teamed up their complementary skills in hospitality (Paul and Tasha are part-owners of Relishes), accountancy (Sharon was an accountant in Perth) and advertising (Chrissie’s Wellington background) for Big Fig.Even the name has a family connection. It comes from the huge fig tree in the Lahood’s childhood backyard in Taranaki. The siblings’ mother, Dorothy, made fig jam from the fruit every year, but the young Lahoods didn’t appreciate it much then.Their mother was "a great cook”, the Lahood siblings said. Dorothy learnt Lebanese food from her mother-in-law, and passed on her "stock standard” Lebanese dishes to her children. Middle-Eastern flavours are therefore a big feature of Big Fig’s menu. The "modern Middle-Eastern” menu is influenced by the east, but "anything goes,” Tasha said.Expect slow-cooked meats, spiced rotisseried chickens, lots of hot vegetarian dishes, big-flavour salads, stuffed pitas, pastries and baking made in Big Fig’s mini bakery and, of course, good coffee."We wanted to make the food we love to eat: tasty, modern, real, good food that’s super accessible.” Chrissie said. "Slow food, served fast.”Big Fig features a pita oven with a baker working full-time to ensure there is always a pile of warm, fresh pitas. All the food is made from scratch, and is free range and locally-sourced where possible, Chrissie said. "You can come in for a bowl of hot, minty, yoghurty lamb meatballs, a roast harissa-spiced salad, a steamy pita just out of the oven, and it’s all ready for you. You can sit in to eat or take out.”The Big Fig homage seems likely to compensate for any lack of appreciation the Lahood children had for their mother’s fig jam.Big Fig, next to the i-SITE Visitor Information Centre on Ardmore Street, opened yesterday (June 24).PHOTO: Pip O’Regan

CAROLINE HARKER A local boy has won the New Zealand Duck Calling Championships for the second year in a row. Luggate apprentice builder Hunter Morrow, 18, quacked his way to success in Tauranga on Saturday (July 9), beating more than 20 other duck callers from all over the country."The best bit of winning is you get a free trip to the US,” Hunter said. He’ll be heading stateside for the World Championships in November where a win would earn him US$10,000 and "heaps of other prizes”. Although he came fifth in the World Championships last year, he hasn’t yet dwelt on the possibility of winning this time - he couldn’t tell the Wanaka App what he would spend the money on if he did win. "Dunno. Maybe some ammunition for next season. Definitely something hunting related,” he said.Duck calling requires a fair bit of skill and a lot of practise. Hunter started calling when he was five years old, and is rumoured to practise for up to four hours a day.Duck callers use a small woodwind instrument which many say requires the same level of skill as any musical instrument. During the competition entrants had 60 seconds to do a "live duck routine”. Hunter said the more time he spends with ducks, the better he can understand what their calls mean. "You can tell just by the attitude of the call what they mean,” he said."I live for duck shooting”, he said. "It’s what I do every weekend. I love it.” The duck shooting season ends in three weeks time, and this past weekend, when he was in Tauranga for the competition, was the only one he’s had off this season.”"I travel all over the South Island to hunt,” he said. "I go wherever the bad weather is. Windy and stormy is best. The ducks love it.” Although, by his own admission "I’m a pretty good shot”, Hunter doesn’t compete as a shooter. "It would take up too much of my hunting time.”He loves to eat duck ("otherwise I wouldn’t hunt them”) and he’s keen on cooking them too. "Duck burritos, stir-fry, you name it, Mum will cook it,” he said. Hunter lives with his parents Tracey and Brett Morrow.The duck shooting season finished at the end of July, but that’s not too drastic for Hunter because he also loves hunting geese, and they can be hunted all year around."Goose hunting is actually more exciting. The goose is a bigger and noisier than a duck and they’re extremely smart.”You can hear Hunter and others duck calling on the NZ Duck Calling Championship facebook page.PHOTO: Supplied

CAROLINE HARKERWanaka’s newest childcare centre is very much a family affair, and the culmination of a lifelong dream.The four directors are husband and wife Sharyn and Murray Thomas, and their two adult children Jordanah and Josh. Originally from Whangarei, the Thomas family moved to Wanaka earlier this year and opened WanaExcel earlier this month (July). The centre caters for up to 60 children aged from babies to six-years-old."We created our first centre over 20 years ago because we wanted to [create a place] where our own children would be provided with opportunities to thrive in inspiring, educational environments,” Sharryn said. "WanaExcel continues our philosophy that a childcare centre should be a place where every single child and family feels important.”Sharyn said staff from most of the other childcare centres around town have already been in to visit them. And what did they think of WanaExcel? "You’ll have to ask them,” she said.Son Josh agrees with his parents’ education philosophy. "Growing up in a family involved in all aspects of education, I have been constantly surrounded by people of all ages, from all walks of life,” he said. "Taking time to interact with people, learning about their lives, listening to their lessons and understanding what they wish to achieve is a concept that has been taught to me from day one and is something that has had a substantial influence on my approach to both education and healthcare.”Josh is a qualified osteopath and plans to run a clinic out of the same location as WanaExcel, in Cliff Wilson St. Daughter Jordanah is equally enthusiastic about the new centre. "Being totally immersed in my family’s style of education since I was 18-months-old has taught me the value of determination, respect for others, a strong work ethic and a love of learning,” she said. "The creation of WanaExcel is made up from the life lessons and learning environment I had the privilege of growing up in, and I can’t wait to extend this unique experience to more children and families.”WanaExcel directors (from left) Josh, Sharyn, Murray and Jordanah Thomas.WanaExcel currently includes WanaExplore for babies to three-year-olds, and WanaDiscover for three to six-year-olds. In the future it will expand to be the WanaExcel Education and Health Hub. This will include WanaExperience for five to 10-year-olds (including a homework help service), a gymnasium and an osteopathy clinic offering treatments for all ages groups.PHOTOS: Supplied

Jamie Urquhart of Hawea’s Nook Nursery hasn’t let the weeds grow under his feet since he retired a few years ago: he has swapped trees for Tai Chi, and plans to spend the next three years studying the martial art in California."It will change my life - it’s already changing it,” Jamie said of his decision to begin a three year course studying White Crane Tai Chi and Qigong. He will leave for the USA in August, leaving the Nook behind for a while, along with his wife, three of his children who live close by, and seven grandchildren.Jamie, 62, said the move will get him out of the garden and off his children’s hands. "No more pulling weeds,” Jamie said. "It’s given me a new energy, a new direction.”His family (children Gabriel, Lochlan, Eli and WIllis) are all "a bit jealous” of his new direction, Jamie said, and Vicki, his partner of more than 40 years, is very supportive. "The easiest way to keep your relationship alive is to live in different houses, towns or countries,” Jamie joked.Jamie spent 30 years developing Nook Nursery, which he closed in 2012. "It was a lot to let go of. It was good to let go of it,” he said. After retiring, he and Vicki travelled around Australia for nine months, but since then he had been searching for something else to do with his time. "I sort of threw it out to the universe and this is what came back,” he said.Jamie has always been interested in the Chinese model. He first studied traditional Chinese massage in the 1980s and had his first taste of Tai Chi 15 years ago, taking lessons from Wanaka’s Sifu Glenn Hight, aka the G Man. "He gave me a really good grounding,” Jamie said.Jamie wanted to immerse himself in Tai Chi and Qigong and thought of going to China, but was put off by the language barrier and the approach to teaching there. He first came across his teacher, Dr Yang Jwing-Ming, in a CNN interview on TV. "I was really impressed about how he dealt with the interviewer, the way he spoke, his ease,” Jamie said.Jamie’s son Eli had hurt his back and Jamie was looking for something that would help. He came across some videos by Dr Yang on easing back pain. He googled Dr Yang and found he has a training centre in Northern California which offered - at that stage - a ten year course. Jamie emailed him to apply for entry to the course and Dr Yang emailed back suggesting he may want to attend a shorter course first to see whether the training and the environment suited him. There were a few courses available over five weeks and Jamie signed up for them all: Tai Chi form, basic Qigong, meditation and massage.He loved the environment. The centre is in Northern California, off-the-grid, with organic gardens, chooks and great food. Jamie enjoyed being part of community learning new skills and interacting with others. One day during training he was standing balanced on bricks: a brick on its end under each foot. "I was totally in the zone. I had a wee afternoon drop-off,” Jamie said. He lost his balance, woke up and stepped back, falling with his weight on his shoulder.The resulting injury - a grade 3 separation of the AC joint - hasn’t put Jamie off. He practices Tai Chi and Qigong for at least an hour and a half most days (he wakes up about 5am and likes to practice early) - and he’s back on the bricks. The tangible feeling of physical energy, or ‘chi’, happens only occasionally, Jamie said. "But when something like that happens it makes you want more.”Tai Chi dates back about 400 years and Qigong dates back about 4000. Dr Yang told Jamie: "I can teach you everything I know in ten years but it will take you 30 years to learn it”. Dr Yang’s personal goal to become enlightened through meditation, Jamie said. "Most of the training is about developing the skill to ‘know without knowing’.”Only six people are accepted for the three-year course, with the selection process taking more than a year. Candidates must be be fit, committed, and be able to get on with people, Jamie said. He’s not concerned about the very structured life he will be living (meditation starts at 6am, and students will have perhaps five hours to themselves each day) as he grew up in a structured environment. He also remembers early morning runs at boarding school (Otago Boys), ”rain, snow, whatever”.These formative experiences have set the scene for Jamie’s early-rising, busy approach to life - one which will be focused on Chinese martial arts and energy practice, rather than tending trees, for the next three years.PHOTO: Vicki Urquhart

Wanaka performer and vocal tutor Jenn Shelton is walking her talk, preparing to wow audiences on stage with the musical State Highway 48.Jenn is currently in rehearsals in Auckland for the rock musical. She is one of a cast of 10, including the well-known leads Shane Cortese (Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune) and Delia Hannah (a highly acclaimed musical theatre performer) - both of whom have performed on the West End and Broadway."It’s such a privilege and an honour to work with them. They're very talented,” Jenn told the Wanaka App.Jenn was flown to Auckland a few weeks ago for a call-back audition - called while she was in the middle of a concert for her Wanaka Singing students. "It is good for me to walk the talk,” Jenn said. "I currently have 30 private singing students and two vocal groups in Wanaka and it’s good for my students to see me out there 'doing' it.”State Highway 48, first staged in 2014, tracks the life and times of an everyday family as they navigate the road of middle age. Featuring 26 original songs, the musical looks at changes in family, the workplace and friendships, set against the backdrop of the recession and with the lead character dealing with depression. The musical’s publicity describes it as "unique, touching and universally relevant”, with a message for everyone about recognising depression and facing up to it, as well as communication, love, friendship and the strength of the family unit.State Highway 48 will tour the North Island from August 19 to October 29. There are also plans to tour all the main centres of New Zealand early next year and possibly Australia.PHOTO: Supplied

Doug Stalker has been voted the new president of the Upper Clutha A&P Society, as preparations for the 80th Wanaka Show are underway.Doug is a helicopter pilot and fencer who has spent the past two years as senior vice president and the two years before that as junior vice president. He is joined by Grant Ruddenklau as the new senior vice president and Mike Scurr as the new junior vice president. Doug replaces Tarras farmer Robbie Gibson, who has held the president’s role for the past two years."It’s an honour and a privilege to be elected president,” Doug said. "What makes it pleasurable is having a good, solid, enthusiastic team around you – including the show committee, our sponsors and our many volunteers – all of which help put on a hugely popular, major annual event for Wanaka.”Doug has been involved in the Wanaka Show for most of his life, having competed in equestrian events as a child and teenager, and had parents who were heavily involved at committee level. He has also spent more than 10 years in charge of the cattle section of the show.Doug acknowledged Robbie’s contribution over the past two years: "The Wanaka Show has evolved significantly in recent years and Robbie certainly helped move it along. He has been instrumental in securing corporate sponsorship for the show and will continue to help with this. We’re a not-for-profit society so it’s essential that we gain sponsorship to help deliver an event of national significance.”Preparations are underway for the 80th annual show which will be held on March 10 - 11, 2017. Next year will be a busy one for the society, as it will also host the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) conference in Wanaka and the RAS National Golden Fleece Exhibition on June 23 to 24.PHOTO: Supplied

Whether you enjoyed or just endured the post-natal coffee group, or if you don’t have a clue what coffee groups do, Losing Faith, a new play written by local playwright Liz Breslin, has something for you.Set in the lead character Faith’s lounge, the play invites the audience to watch Faith, a first-time mother, as she hosts coffee groups, meets with the Plunket nurse, spends time with her husband, and time alone.It’s a darkly comic look at life after birth and the issue of post-natal depression (the trigger-warning tag on the play’s poster advises viewers to be aware the play contains "distressing baby cries, post-natal depression and sweary language”). It’s an honest take on a subject - parenthood - that can be both one of life’s best experiences, and one of its most difficult ones."Comedy is such a good vehicle for serious issues,” Liz explained. "Dark humour is a coping strategy in its own right.” And she pointed out that post-natal depression is a timely topic, with the numbers of parents who suffer from it on the increase. "It’s 15 percent of new mothers and 13 percent of new fathers. It’s a lot of us,” she said.The play is directed by Fiona Armstrong, who was one of the lead actors in Liz’s last locally-staged play, the freedom camping farce ‘It’s Your Shit’. The show enjoyed five sold-out performances in the Hawea Flat Hall and a two-night stint in Arrowtown.Losing Faith also features Gilly Pugh, well-known in Wanaka for writing and directing her own pieces and running the Aspiring Children’s Theatre School. Becky Plunkett, who trained formally in London and was a "jobbing actor” for a few years before taking up ski instructing, plays the role of Faith. And Will Cole, the youngest member of the cast, will be familiar to audiences from his role as the Reverend in this year’s Mount Aspiring College musical, ‘Footloose’.None of the new parents in the cast are parents themselves. To this end, they have been researching hard, and director Fiona has been putting them through their physical paces. "They’re an amazing group of actors who have invested so much into their characters. They have done their research, they have improvised key moments in their lives and they have both physically and mentally committed to telling us their story,” Fiona said.‘Losing Faith’ is being performed from September 27-30 at 7.30pm, and on October 1 at 11am, at Edgewater Resort.Cash tickets can be purchased for $20 ($10 concessions) from Pembroke Wines on Dungarvon St.PHOTO: Laura Williamson

Wanaka writer Annabel Wilson has won the inaugural AAWP/UWRF Emerging Writers' Prize, awarded by the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) and the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF).The 2016 theme was 'Tat Tvam Asi', a Hindu concept meaning 'I am you, you are me'.Annabel won for her prose poem ‘Quire’, which she described as "25 vignettes which 'sing out' to each other.” Quire is an old fashioned book-binding term, but it also means to sing in unison, and is the front part of the church where singers perform together - probably, Annabel said, the basis for the modern term "choir”."They are snapshots based on observations and journal entries centred on time I spent in Bali,” she said, adding the "Quire’ pieces were developed further during a period when she was working towards her Masters In Creative Writing through Massey University.The work is a thoughtful, meditative and humourous mix, some of it beautifully precise: "Two cups on the doorstep. A red-beaked plant drapes like a Christmas bauble above us, velvety to touch. We sit here every morning, sip sweet tea. A sooty butterfly swoops over your shoulder.” And some of it whimsical: "Boys on the beach selling Bintang from chilly bins ask where is your husband? Where you go next? Sunset turns everything copper. I buy a towel that says Toughen Up Princess and a floaty dress.”One of the judges, associate professor Dominique Hecq, gave the following feedback on Annabel’s entry: "‘Quire’ is compelling and haunting. It is also playful and linguistically inventive. With its cool tone and striking imagery, this work seems to me unostentatiously individual and ambitious - fastidious but also marked by unexpected images and turns. ‘Quire’ takes no shortcuts; it works always subtly and with its own particular combination of wryness and lyricism.”Previously an English and Media Studies teacher at Mount Aspiring College, Annabel is spending this year based in Wellington, where she has been writing full time as well as developing a feature-length play entitled 'No Science To Goodbye' with director Anna Shaw, also a former MAC teacher.Annabel’s prize includes a ticket to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, accommodation for the duration of the festival and $500 towards economy airfares. Her work will also be published in an upcoming issue of Meniscus Literary Journal, and she has been invited to present her work at the annual AAWP conference in Canberra in November.PHOTO: Supplied

MARK THOMASWanaka man Mark ‘Curly’ Thomas opens up about his experiences with clinical depression and the need to talk about what is a treatable illness.Like a shorter, slower version of the great All Black John Kirwan, I have decided to speak up about depression. My life is fantastic and I get immense pleasure from my love of sport, travel and the amazing people around me. But here’s a simple statement of medical fact – I have experienced major episodes of clinical depression since the age of 18. I don’t know how that works. How the same mind that allows me to drink in life like an intoxicating nectar can also turn dog on me and drag me to the depths of emotional hell, but that is the truth of it.I do know that depression can afflict anyone, regardless of how good or seemingly enviable their life is, just like cancer, heart disease or any other illness can strike anybody regardless of how happy, famous or wealthy they are."I will no longer run from depression or from discussion about it"Until now, I dealt with my illness in secret because I grew up in a pre-John Kirwan era when depression and other mental illnesses were stigmatised, taboo, and definitely not openly discussed. I felt ashamed that I suffered from anxiety and depression, and hid it from the world.I no longer feel that way. In fact I have learned something very important, which is one of the reasons I am piping up now. It feels really good to be honest about this condition. It feels good to discuss it openly and by doing so connect with others who have experienced depression or know someone who has.There is beautiful strength to be had in sharing a heavy load with those close to you. In my experience there is only loneliness, emotional misery and a downward spiral in mood if I try to go it alone.I now view mental illness as just like any other form of illness – something nobody chooses or wishes upon themselves, but which has to be dealt with openly and honestly. As my good friend Jeff Ellis (Joffre) told me: "You can’t treat a secret.” And another good mate of mine, Bill Moore, often and wisely states: "The truth will set us free.”Which is why I have chosen to out myself and to stand proud. I will no longer run from depression or from discussion about it. I will no longer pretend it doesn’t occasionally get its claws into me. I would dearly love to think that by doing so I will help people, even just one person, to find a way through the darkness.Because make no mistake, people are suffering out there. Discussion about depression may be uncommon, but the illness itself is not. It is estimated that one in six people will experience depression in their lifetime and one in four will suffer from significant anxiety. So the chances are that you or someone close to you could really benefit from unburdening themselves.Another thing people need to realise about depression is that at its worst, it is a fatal illness. People kill themselves rather than continue living with what they mistakenly believe is a permanent and inescapable sense of emotional pain and hopelessness. That view of the world is of course flawed, but it becomes frighteningly real for those suffering true clinical depression.I surf and kite-surf all around the world. I ski powder runs with my mates every year. I have an incredibly loving, smart and beautiful wife, wickedly good friends and a freehold home. Yet I have fantasised about death many, many times. That is not a reflection on my life, but rather tells the truth about just how misleading, yet compelling and powerful, the lense of depression can be.More than 500 people a year commit suicide in New Zealand. These aren’t just empty numbers. These are real people, our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and work mates.We all know of someone in our community who has taken their own life. My own father, an immensely intelligent, big-hearted and talented man, a man I am incredibly proud of, killed himself aged 49 after a long bout of depression.WE NEED TO STOP OUR PEOPLE DYING FROM A TREATABLE ILLNESS. We need to normalise depression, to get it out there, so those who are suffering don’t think twice about raising the subject with their friends, their family or their doctor.Depression has made a couple of significant runs at me, convincing me it would be better for all concerned if I no longer existed, that I was a burden. The scary thing about depression is that although it passes it fools people into believing it won’t. Many, many people have died when a better day was undoubtedly just around the corner.Depression can be tricky. It can be sneaky and conniving. It has often persuaded me I should stay in bed, stay quiet, keep my thoughts to myself and battle on alone. I say fuck that. Depression thrives in the darkness, in the dead of night, in the depths of my mind. It does not do nearly as well when I talk about it with someone. It does not do nearly as well when I address it as a problem to be solved rather than an insurmountable mountain of gloom in my soul. Depression recoils when exposed to the light and to love.I don’t suffer from depression all of the time, or even most of the time. But it is a part of my medical landscape which I have to accept. The really good news is that accepting it doesn’t mean lying down and letting it run rampant.Depression is a treatable illness. A big part of that treatment is seeking support when you need it. I sincerely thank my wife, Janey, my family and my friends for the love and support given to me. You held me up when I could barely stand alone. A big part of showing my appreciation is to get well, stay well, and be there to help others along the way.I am here today to tell anyone who cares to listen that it doesn’t matter how low you go, how hopeless and desperate things may seem, there is a way forward. There is love out there. There is help out there. There is a path back to the light, I promise you that. And more often than not that way forward will begin with something as simple as a honest conversation with someone you trust. Try it. I did, and it worked.Need help or advice?https://www.beyondblue.org.au/https://depression.org.nz/PHOTO: Supplied

Wanaka author Nathan Weathington is back from a five-week tour of the United States to promote the release of his latest book, Invasion of the Bastard Cannibals.The book, Nathan’s second, is a comic memoir following on from the equally-memorably named Where the Hell Were Your Parents?, which was released in 2014.Where the Hell Were Your Parents? is a coming of age memoir about growing up "feral” in the rural South, while Invasion of the Bastard Cannibals was described by Nathan as about "the idea of taking someone like me from reserved rural south and moving to the hippie infested-coast of Canada”.Originally from the small American town of Bremen, Georgia, Nathan lived for a time in British Columbia with his Canadian wife, Morgan. The book takes a humorous look at his experiences in western Canada, including the time he met a "retired stripper from a vegan strip club”. There are also anecdotes from his childhood in Georgia, such as about the time Nathan and his brother set up a "racoon removal scheme”.Nathan said one highlight of the tour was launching the book on September 16 at ‘The Shoe Burnin’ Show’ as part of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance’s Discovery Show in New Orleans. Nathan appeared alongside writers like Harrison Scott Key, author of The World’s Largest Man and winner of the 2016 Thurber Prize in American Humor, and New York Times bestselling author Karen White. He said he took the stage after a serious moment in the evening and was told by one of the organisers his job was to make everyone in the room laugh. He did."To see 300 people laughing at some joke I wrote is better than anything,” Nathan said.The tour lasted for nearly six weeks and involved at least one event per day, as well as sometimes a second lasting well into the night. ("My publisher said if I had a speciality in the industry, it is selling books to drunk people,” Nathan laughed).Nathan said touring as a writer is sometimes a surreal experience, as it was not a career he expected to fall into. He has a bachelor of Civil Engineering from Auburn University and an MBA from the University of Victoria, and has worked as everything from a bartender to a maths teacher to, latterly, a media executive putting in 70 to 80 hours a week, something he said he does not miss. He moved to New Zealand five years ago with Morgan and their two children, now aged seven and nine. The books had their genesis in a moment onstage in a Korean karaoke bar where Nathan, who is not much of singer, elected to tell jokes and funny stories instead. "I had all these skits and stories in my head, but had never written them down or performed them. I basically delivered a five-minute comedy set.” He said there was a brief millisecond of silence, then the whole audience started laughing. "That’s when I was hooked,” he said.He explained that, while he loves writing and poetry, he still doesn’t put himself in the same category as many writers. "As my publisher said, we’re not selling prose, we’re selling laughs,” he said.As for the best feedback he has received on his writing, Nathan said it has to be this response from a reader called Michelle Goodwine: "My husband just read this book for the third time. I’ve never actually seen him read a book. I honestly thought he couldn’t read."  You can buy Invasion of the Bastard Cannibals now from Amazon. See More below. PHOTO: Supplied

"Skylines, snowlines, fishing lines, washing lines: the ties that bind.”So begins the programme for the new work by Wanaka playwright Annabel Wilson set to have its local debut next month with a "showing of moments”. The still-evolving play, called ‘No Science To Goodbye’, will be showcased on Saturday November 12 at The Rippon Hall through a presentation of moments from the work with music and spoken word woven in."It’s more than a rehearsed reading, it will be performed scripts down,” Annabel told the Wanaka App, saying the "showing of moments” would be a key part of the development phase of the work, which is set in an alpine town similar to Wanaka. The show will be followed by a Q & A session with the audience.In the play, Elsie, an expat writer, returns to her hometown to look after her terminally-ill brother, and finds herself confronted by past. The story had its genesis in the creative section of Annabel’s Master's thesis, ‘Aspiring Daybook’, which she completed in 2014 for her Masters in Creative Writing through Massey University, and for which she received a Distinction grade.A former English teacher at Mount Aspiring College. Annabel has been working on the script while living in Wellington, where she moved earlier this year to spend time focussing on her writing. The play is being directed by another MAC alumnus, the school’s former Head of Drama Anna Shaw. Set designer Ivy Urquhart also attended MAC as a teenager.They are joined by a cast of Wellington actors, Frankie Berge, Calvin Petersen and Jack Sergent-Shadbolt, as well as Electric Wire Hustle's Cory Champion, who created the soundscapes for ‘No Science To Goodbye’.Annabel was this year named the 2016 R.A.K. Mason Writing Fellow, which earned her a residency in the Wairarapa to work on the play, and has received support from the Central Lakes Arts Support Scheme to bring the work to Wanaka.Earlier this year she also won the inaugural AAWP/UWRF Emerging Writers' Prize, awarded by the Australasian Association of Writing Programs and the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, for her poem ‘Quire’.See ‘No Science To Goodbye - Moments from a new play’ at The Rippon Hall on Saturday November 12 from 4pm.to 5pm.Get tickets here: http://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2016/no-science-to-goodbye-moments-from-new-play/wanakaPHOTO: Supplied

They say travelling is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer, a statement borne out by listening to anyone tell their stories of places and sights seen. So it was with some excitement I sat down with Fran and Gary Tate, owners of Latin Link and South America Journeys.As the names suggest, the couple specialise in travel to South America. That’s where the couple spent their honeymoon, and two children and more than 30 years later they still love introducing others to the sights and sounds of the "continent”."We’ve been back there annually since those days,” Gary said, "developing new styles of travel tours, bike trips which we’ve initiated - we’re constantly doing new things.”The Tates’ love affair with travel started in Auckland in 1984 when they launched Adventure World, a wholesale travel company which grew significantly with 45 staff and offices around the world. In the late 90s they decided the Auckland lifestyle wasn’t for them and moved to Wanaka. After a transition period they sold Adventure World. "We’d like to think we helped initiate interest in South America. There’s lots of different areas; we still haven’t seen two thirds of it,” Fran said.On moving to Wanaka the Tates decided to start a lodge and operated Minaret Lodge for 15 years, selling the Eely Point Rd property this year. Their interest in travel and South America never waned and with loyal clients and industry contacts they started Latin Link Adventure and South America Journeys, operating from Wanaka."We’ve kept it fairly low key, but of recent times South America is back in the trend again, especially with Air New Zealand flying directly,” Fran said."We do about 15 trips a year now,” Gary said. "I do all the organising. It’s a mixture of general interest type tours, nature, wildlife, kite surfing, wine tours. My latest project is organising a car rally for three months.” Fran’s specialty is guiding mountain bike tours through the Andes, aided by her proficiency in Spanish.Trips for 2017 and 2018 are now being marketed. "We have a maximum of 14 people on the tours, it’s quite intimate with personalised service,” Gary said. Fran is quick to nominate Bolivia and Peru as their favourite places: "The scenery, the mountains, the remoteness and the culture, and the people. It’s very different yet there are similarities in the landscape to Wanaka.”As for the future: "We’re just going to keep doing what we do, and what we know how to do,” Fran said. "And it’s fun.”For more information see http://www.latinlink.co.nz/ and http://www.southamericajourneys.com/.PHOTO: Wanaka App

Paul Roy has seen a lot of changes over the course of a 40-year career making films, but one thing has stayed the same: no matter what the technology, or the budget, it’s the story that matters most.Paul has been working in film since the early seventies, mostly making documentaries which have seen him travel to more than 40 countries and spend eight to nine months on the road every year. He is best-known locally for the 70-minute feature documentary ‘Deer Wars’, about helicopter deer culling in the Southern Alps, and its follow-up, ‘Deer Devils’, which focuses on live deer capture.Originally from Hamilton, Paul started his working life at the New Zealand government’s National Film Unit (NFU); there was no film school back then, so the NFU served as his first training ground. He then went to the United Kingdom and worked for the BBC on documentaries, something he said gave him an "incredible grounding” in the industry. More than twenty years in Sydney followed, working for SBS Television, ABC TV, and for the German ZDF and ARD networks as a stringer, covering Australasia and the South Pacific."We had amazing freedom back then,” he told the Wanaka App. "They’d say, we’ve got something in Papua New Guinea, and we’d leave the next day.”Paul has also worked extensively for Al Jazeera, producing the observational documentary ‘Indian Hospital’, which looks at the work of Dr Devi Shetty (one of the world’s top cardiac surgeons, he was Mother Teresa’s specialist), who does surgery on a large scale at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital Complex in Bangalore, creating efficiencies that allow the facility to provide world-class surgery on a "pay what you can” model.Like stories about locals? See People in the Wanaka AppLooking back now, as free online content and reality TV come to dominate our screen time, Paul said he felt fortunate to have enjoyed the career he had and to make a good living at it. "We were really lucky in the period during which we were making films. I’ve been able to always be an independent filmmaker,” he said. "Now, I’ve got ten stories in New Zealand that would be wonderful, but the networks won’t take them. Shows like ‘Piha Rescue’ and ‘Road Cops’ are so cheap to produce.”Evolving technologies, however, have also had a positive impact, Paul said, extending his working life and allowing him to work more efficiently. "We used to travel with boxes and boxes of equipment,” he said, but in recent years he has been able do a major series by himself with just a backpack, thanks to the shrinking size of camera equipment and HD technology.Based in Wanaka for the past 13 years, Paul was also able to move here from Sydney with his wife and three children thanks to the advent of online and digital technologies, which meant he didn’t need to live near a major television station anymore.The forward march of technology has also allowed Paul to set up a new endeavour, Birds Eye Productions, which provides drone video and photography services for a wide range of things including the marketing of real estate, 3D and 2D mapping, structural inspection of buildings, aerial surveys and weddings."Drones offer a unique perspective,” Paul said, explaining he first started using them on documentary shoots when they were new to the filmmaking scene and required two operators: one to steer and one to man the camera. Now he can do it on his own, and while he is still working at a high level making films and images for clients - tech or not, he said, you still have to have "the eye” - the drone work affords him a slower pace of life, and time to get out more and enjoy his favourite pastime, tramping.He also had a crack, on Friday night (November 11), at his first PechuKucha talk at the PechuKucha Night Wanaka in The Rippon Hall. PechuKucha is a presentation style for which a speaker talks to 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each, a format Paul called "a fantastic discipline”. "You have to be pretty ruthless. You have to really focus on what you’re talking about,” he said. Whether it’s PechuKucha, drones, or making documentaries for major television networks, Paul said the same thing still matters most: the story. "Don’t worry about the technology. The story is what you’re there for,” he said, pointing out that much of the footage for ‘Deer Wars’ was shot on 8mm film by amateurs, and it was the highest-rated show in New Zealand the year it came out. "You have to have technical excellence, but that doesn’t have to overcome the reason you’re there.”PHOTO: Supplied

Wanaka locals know Wanaka Airport operations manager and volunteer fireman Ralph Fegan is a top bloke, and now TVNZ audiences know it too. Ralph was featured last Sunday (November 13) on the One News ‘Good Sorts’ segment, a weekly celebration of unsung Kiwis who are doing good things. He was nominated by fellow firefighter Jodie Rainsford, who praised the caring way Ralph looks after his fellow firefighters, following up with calls and texts to check on them after difficult call-outs.Ralph called the Good Sort experience "very humbling”. "You don’t do these things for recognition, you just do it because you enjoy doing it,” he said.The segment highlighted Ralph’s work with the Wanaka Volunteer Fire brigade, his role officiating at funerals and at weddings, and his skill as a matchmaker - he is reputedly responsible for the pairing of four local couples (leading host Hadyn Jones to call him "Good Cupid” in pre-show publicity). There is also touching footage of a first meeting between Ralph and Gena Bagley. Gena and husband George Konia lost their seven-year-old daughter Scarlett earlier this year, and Ralph managed to organise for a note for Scarlett to be sent skyward on the NASA weather balloon when it launched in May.Ralph said he had organised the gesture through Gena’s father, Ken Bagley, so had valued immensely the opportunity to meet Gena in person through the ‘Good Sort’ filming. "For me, the show was worth doing to meet that lady even for just two or three minutes. That was really special,” he explained.The only part of the segment Ralph said he was a little uncomfortable with was being called "the glue” of the fire brigade. "It’s about everybody, not just one person,” he said. He added he could not do what he does without the exceptional support of his wife, Lynne. Without her help, he said, he wouldn't be able to help others. And with that in mind, it was a good weekend for all the good sorts of the fire brigade, with the official opening of the new fire station in Ballantyne Road, held on Saturday afternoon (November 12). This was followed by the Hollywood Heros Dance Party and auction at Lake Wanaka Centre, a fundraiser for the Wanaka Volunteer Fire Brigade and Wanaka St John Ambulance.‘Good Sorts’ has been airing since 2009, and runs weekly after the weather on Sunday night's on One News.Click More to watch Ralph’s ‘Good Sorts’ segment.PHOTO: Supplied

TIM BREWSTERThe extraordinary life history of a generous donor to the Upper Clutha Hospice Trust has been revealed in a recently-published biography.Stina Mooyman, 93, a Wanaka resident for 20 years, immigrated to Dunedin in 1956 with her mother, brother and his fiancee to escape the ruins and economic hardships of post-WWII Holland.‘Stina’, her biography by Auckland writer Susan Buckland, describes the challenges of growing up in the 1930s during the Depression and living in Nazi-occupied Holland before starting a new life in Dunedin and Te Anau in her thirties.Starting with a job as a kitchenhand in the Otago University residence of Carrington Hall, she went on to found successful businesses in Te Anau with another vigorous Dutch woman, Dirkje (Dick) Veenstra.Retiring to Wanaka in their seventies, Dirkje unfortunately died only a few years after their move, but Stina remained very active in the community, mowing her lawn and tending to her highly regarded gardens at her McDougall St house well into her eighties. She recently moved north permanently to the ‘Ons Dorp’ Dutch retirement village in West Auckland. However, she has left a strong legacy in Wanaka. Through her trustee, John Harrington, she was the foundation donor to the palliative care suite developed by and owned by the Upper Clutha Hospice Trust at the recently-opened Aspiring Enliven Care Centre.The suite is named the Stina Mooyman Palliative Care Suite and is accessible to those suffering terminal illnesses in the region.In the final page of the biography, Stina outlines her reasons for the donation: "New Zealand has been good to me. I feel lucky that I can give something back. Dick and I both wanted to help those who suffered from cancer and so it's her legacy too.”Trust chairman Russell McGeorge told The Wanaka App, "Our trust was stunned when approached regarding Stina’s wonderful donation, as we had not anticipated such individual generosity. It has secured the Trust’s operations and provided a needed facility to the residents of the Upper Clutha.”‘Stina’ is available at Paper Plus in Wanaka and at the care suite at Enliven.PHOTO: Tim Brewster