Robyn van Reenen has been running the Wanaka Autumn Arts School since soon after it was started, 28 years ago. It was founded by Peter Mitchell who ran it for two years before stepping down. When his position was advertised both Robyn and Dennis Schwarz applied for the role, and they were given the job to share."He does the money, I do the rest,” Robyn said. "The rest” includes a lot of work, from finding tutors to taking bookings."I’m always on the lookout for new people [tutors], Robyn said. "There’s probably about two months off working on it, in the middle of the year, but I’m always thinking about it.”Whatever her recipe is, Robyn has got it right, and year after year most classes sell out long before the annual art school is held during the autumn school holidays at Mount Aspiring College.Coordinating the school is not even Robyn’s day job. She also runs a quilting supplies business, Christofer Robyn Quilts, in partnership with her friend Chris Bartlett. They operate from a cottage on Robyn and her husband Gilbert’s land in Ballantyne Road, and are open six days a week. Their customers come from far and wide. "It’s great meeting people who do all sorts of things, from all over the world,” Robyn said. "They come here when they’re on holiday and have time to think about their quilting. If they have their husbands with them we send them upstairs to look at Gilbert’s photographs.” (Gilbert van Reenen is an internationally renowned photographer.)Robyn is quite miffed quilting and other textiles arts are often regarded as the poor relation in terms of what is art."I think it’s because quilting has tended to be what women have done forever. The quilting tradition grew from making use of scraps of material, and was not regarded as art. That’s changing, but only slowly. There are still lots of art exhibitions which specify ‘no textiles’."There are a lot of New Zealand quilters who have been successful internationally. It’s hard to see that as any less valid than painting.”Robyn’s other great passion is bookbinding. She did it at the art school in its first year and loved it so much she has been doing it ever since. And what does she do with all the books she makes?"Oh, I squirrel them away, or write in them - recording textile ideas, journaling…” Bookbinding is a regular class at the art school and is always popular. This year the tutor is Phil Ridgway, an Englishman who lives in Melbourne and runs his own bookbinding school there.While she’s passionate about her arts, Robyn hasn’t always been into them. She studied Agricultural Science at Lincoln University and her first ‘real’ job was as a science teacher at James Hargest College in Invercargill. While teaching, she saw an advertisement for an agricultural editor at the Southland Times. "In those days the idea of a woman doing agricultural journalism was ‘off the planet’. They gave the job to someone else.” But that someone else never turned up, so the newspaper reluctantly gave Robyn the job. Her early journalism career also included editing an Auckland-based magazine called Meat and Wool and starting a deer farming annual for the Deer Farmers Association. She became the association’s executive officer, and it was at a Deer Farmers Association conference in Te Anau she met Gilbert, who was working as a vet for Wanaka deer farming pioneer Tim Wallis."Gilbert was starting a vet practice here [in 1981] and we flew up to Halldon Station in the MacKenzie country for a job. I met Bim Innes and her mother and they showed me two quilts. I had never seen any before. I rushed home to have a go at quilting and I loved it. I started a local quilting group and it’s been going ever since.”As time went by Gilbert did less vet work and more photography, and Robyn did less journalism and more quilting, though she is a regular contributor for the national quilting magazine.Anyone wanting to meet Robyn will find her at the Wanaka Autumn Art School at Mount Aspiring College in April, or at Christofer Robyn Quilts in Ballantyne Road.PHOTO: Wanaka App

Graeme Perkins is best-known in Wanaka these days as a musician who contributes to local productions like ‘Stars in Their Eyes’ and as the chair of the Luggate Community Association, but without knowing it, many of us have been listening to his music for years.  An award-winning composer, his creations have played in the background of a range of television and film projects, including wildlife documentaries screened here and abroad, and some of our most-loved children’s programmes.Originally from Invercargill, Graeme moved to Dunedin to pursue a history degree, which included a mini-thesis on Asian immigration. He chose history, he said, because it seemed there was no future in pursuing music as a career. He was wrong.Immediately after finishing his degree, he went into playing in rock bands ("it was mostly loud raunchy pub music”) and teaching piano and guitar privately. He took it further in 1976, when he moved to America to learn more."I needed to know about music, and at that time they didn’t have the wonderful contemporary music courses they have now. You could only study classical, and I was more interested in arranging and orchestration,” he said.Graeme moved to Los Angeles, where he studied under arrangers and orchestrators who worked in the film industry, and then went on to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, a school whose alumni include Quincy Jones, Diana Krall and John Mayer."Then I ran out of money,” he laughed. Graeme came back to New Zealand, settling first in Wellington where he worked as a programme producer for National Radio, then moving back to Dunedin with wife Yvonne, where they started their family.It was there, in the mid-eighties, that Graeme broke into television, the medium through which many New Zealanders will have become familiar with his work, though they may not realise it. He was involved in musical direction and songwriting for ‘Playschool’ for the show’s final two years, and then went on to work on ‘You and Me’ with Suzy Cato.In about 1990, he did his first wildlife documentary, a job that led to a 25-year career doing "one documentary after another”. He worked as a contractor for Natural History New Zealand to work on co-productions with companies like National Geographic, Animal Planet and Discovery, as well as organisations in Europe and Asia. He was involved in the Emmy-award winning ‘Most Extreme’ series, as well as ‘Deer Wars’, and won Best Original Music (television) for ‘Dragons of Komodo’ in 1997. He followed this up in 2002 by taking out Best Soundtrack at the International Wildlife Film Festival in Albert, France, for ‘The Devil’s Playground’.Despite the subject matter of the films, his life wasn’t spent flying around the world exploring its magnificent landscapes. Most of Graeme’s work was done in his home studio in Dunedin; he said he only had one trip into the field, on the show ‘A Wild Moose Chase’, which documented the search for live moose in Fiordland."They set up motion cameras in Fiordland, and every so often the chopper went in to change the batteries, so I got to go in to do a battery change!” he said. Graeme left the wildlife behind four years ago, when he and Yvonne moved to Luggate, a place they had been visiting for holidays since they bought a crib in the village in 1997. He said knowing the area well made it an "easy transition”.He has enjoyed his work with the Luggate Community Association, which he joined right away right away after the move, becoming chair a year ago. "We’ve got a great wee can-do committee that’s a pleasure to work with,” he said, adding he’s learned about political and infrastructure issues he didn’t know existed.Since making the move to Central, he’s also taken to the stage again, for ‘Stars In Their Eyes’ in Wanaka, Queenstown's ‘Saturday Night Fever’, and performing in ‘Grease’ back in Dunedin, something he relishes. "I get to play the piano again, which is great,” he said, and while it’s a long way from the raunchy pub music of the seventies, it’s a kind of full circle for a life spent in music.PHOTO: Wanaka App

EMILY MENZIESTwo enterprising Mount Aspiring College students have taken to the skies, forming their own aerial photography and video businesses in Wanaka.Finn Mueller and Ollie Larkin, both 16, have been busy taking on clients for their burgeoning businesses, The Collaborative Project (Finn) and Vision Workshops (Ollie), which work with local companies to supply them with aerial photography and videography.Finn has been busy building relationships with real estate companies, creating eye catching photo and video presentations for house sales. "The Collaborative Project does aerial photography for different companies. I can do basically anything that you want me to do, aerial shots, make an advertisement, or film you doing [an activity]". It's been a challenge building a business from the ground up, but Finn has enjoyed the whole process. "It has been a lot of fun, getting business cards … emailing the companies, and working with the companies."He chose to get into aerial photography and videography because he thinks it’s the future. "Soon they are going to stop using helicopters because they're too expensive, so hopefully I can get into the niche of [aerial photography] before it gets too hard."Looking forward to continuing to build his business overseas once he is finished with school, Finn is excited at the prospect of moving back to Germany, where he was born, with ideas of expanding into the adventure tourism market.Finn's family and friends have been supportive of his ambitions. "They think it's quite inspiring that I'm making a start at such a young age," he said.Ollie came up with the idea of starting his business after getting into filmmaking a couple of years ago. "It's progressed into specialising in drone videos for people and working with other filmmakers, which is cool."Ollie LarkinVision Workshops has been involved in a number of projects, from fly-fishing promotional videos, to assisting with a recent video featuring rally driver Haydon Paddon.With John-Jo Ritson of Flashworks Media as his mentor, Ollie has been developing his talent for crafting stories, learning the skills needed to take a project from inception through to final delivery. He is excited about the possibilities opening up to him through his new business and plans to head to Invercargill's Southern Institute of Technology after graduation, with the aim of being accepted into their film programme.MAC has been supportive of the ambitious teens and their filmmaking aspirations. Ollie was asked to work with the school on a recent project, putting together a video for the school’s language centre showing the experiences available to foreign students.Forging their way in a notoriously competitive industry, Ollie and Finn are taking the work as it comes and are grateful to have been able to turn their love of filmmaking into flourishing small businesses.PHOTOS: Wanaka App

Wanaka triathlete Nicky Samuels announced on Wednesday (February 1) she will be retiring from international triathlon. The two-time Olympian is expecting her first child in August.Nicky spent 10 years as a professional triathlete, during which time she attended both the London and Rio Olympic Games, placing 35th and 13th respectively. She also raced at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games as an individual and in the team's race, in which the New Zealand team narrowly missed out on a medal.Nicky's career has included world championship medals, world triathlon series medals, world cup medals, an off-road triathlon world championship title and an aquathlon world title. She was New Zealand elite cycling champion and triathlon national champion, and achieved many podium finishes for her pro team in France, TCG-79, which she captained over the last few years.Nicky was ranked as one of the top five triathletes in the world in 2014, and has also won "bucket list” races like the 'Escape from Alcatraz' triathlon, the 'Alpe d'Huez Triathlon' triathlon, and the prestigious Xterra off-road triathlon world championships in Maui, Hawaii in 2013 despite her limited experience in off-road racing.Tri NZ high performance director Hamish Carter this week expressed his excitement for his fellow triathlete. "Nicky has made an incredible contribution to triathlon both as an elite and in the community. Her performances on the world stage have been exceptional for the sport and New Zealand," he said. "On behalf of Tri NZ we wish the Samuels family all the best and look forward to celebrating the arrival of their new baby."Nicky will remain based in Wanaka this winter, where she plans to launch a triathlon coaching business and spend time close to family and friends.PHOTO: Supplied

A Mount Aspiring College student who finished her high school studies last year has pulled off an exceptional academic feat. In what senior staff believe may be a first for the college, Michaela Rogan gained Excellence grades for every one of the 107 credits she sat at NCEA Level 3 across internal and external assessments last year.Michaela was also dux for 2016, and has picked up an Otago University Academic Excellence scholarship worth $45,000.Despite this success, she said, while she had worked really hard over the course of the year, the "straight Es” came as a welcome surprise. The subjects Michaela sat were Maths with Calculus, Spanish, Art Design, Chemistry and Biology."It was definitely a goal to get Excellences in my internals because it was my goal to get dux, but while I wanted to do really well, I didn’t expect to get Excellence in all my externals,” she said. Michaela said when she first checked her external exam grades online, she thought she had misread them. She was particular happy to get top grades in Biology and Maths with Calculus, which she called "ridiculously hard”.Stay in touch with your school. See Schools in the Wanaka AppAs for young students hoping to emulate her success in the future, Michaela said the key was simple: hard work. "Any spare time I had, I studied. I didn’t think of myself as a naturally smart person, I just worked really hard,” she said.Mount Aspiring College principal Wayne Bosley called Michaela "an amazingly-focussed academic who set herself high goals and worked extremely hard to achieve them.”"Along with the entire staff, I am very proud of her and look forward to following her progress at university in the years to come. We all admired her goal to be the college dux at the beginning of last year and her fierce determination to succeed,” he said.This year, Michaela plans to pursue a Bachelor of Arts and Science, majoring in Spanish and Chemistry at the University of Otago.PHOTO: Supplied

EMILY MENZIESSchool is back in session, and with the new year comes a brand-new challenge for a couple of students principal Wayne Bosley believes are two of Mount Aspiring College’s "brightest shining lights”.Campbell Russell and Mackenzie Ayres, both 17-years-old, were announced as head boy and head girl for the 2017 school year at last year’s prize giving ceremony in November. After a rigorous application process, including an online application followed by a shortlist of candidates interviewed by a panel (Mr Bosley, Year 13 Dean Mr Crosbie and Year 12 Dean Ms Watts), Campbell wasn’t expecting his new title, but is now excited about getting stuck into the role. "I was quite nervous, I wasn’t expecting my name to be called up. It was quite competitive.”It was a nerve-wracking process but the students were well supported by friends and family, Campbell said: "Everyone’s behind you, because we have a lot more on than usual; it’s very supportive.”As part of their duties as head boy and girl, Mackenzie and Campbell will be involved in running a weekly school assembly, sitting in on executive meetings with Mr Bosley and the heads of the different school committees. As well as their internal school duties, Mackenzie and Campbell will represent the school at external events. "We are the face outside the school as well,” Mackenzie said, "It’s a massive honour to be the face of our school, it’s a big school, so it’s incredible to be chosen.”Having both grown up in Wanaka, the two students have enormous affection for the town and their school. Well known for its sporting programmes, there is much more to MAC than meets the eye, according to Mackenzie. "We have so many opportunities for sport, and that’s what people see, but really there is so much more. It’s a really great school.”It’s going to be a busy year for Mackenzie and Campbell, who both have full academic and extracurricular schedules. With an emphasis on the arts, Mackenzie will be taking painting, photography, business, English, maths and OP (outdoor pursuits). She is keeping her future options open, with plans to work overseas for a year before attending university in either Wellington, Australia or Canada.With more of a science focus, Campbell will be taking physics, chemistry, calculus, PE, geography and economics. He is already considering studying civil engineering at the University of Canterbury next year.Both students are looking forward to a challenging and exciting year, with the added anticipation of what’s to come when school lets out.PHOTO: Wanaka App

Making a living in Wanaka requires finding a balance between your skills and what the local market needs, and Laetitia Campe and Hugh Barnard have it down to a fine art."It’s hard to combine what you like doing with what’s viable in this town,” Laetitia said. Having lived here for 24 years, she is in strong a position to know. "You have to balance your background and what’s viable - it’s a real skill.”Laetitia and her partner Hugh’s business Wanaka Heli Hikes supplies a service for a demand they identified years ago. "It’s something that’s evolved,” Laetitia said. "We have mountains all around us but there’s a shortage of walks for the number of people. Huge numbers of people climb Roys Peak and Isthmus Peak and the few other accessible walks such as Rocky Point and Rob Roy Glacier.”Laetitia, whose mother is French and father is German, has lived in Europe where the infrastructure allows people access to the mountains. Here in New Zealand that access is limited to the occasional ski road, she said. "The helicopter is the only thing we have. It’s a taxi!”While she acknowledges helicopters aren’t cheap, she said their heli hikes aren’t just for the wealthy. "It’s approachable.” She also maintains that, apart from the short helicopter flights, their business leaves little mark on the land. Their motto is ‘spread your wings’: "The kea is a symbol of how we want to be - treading lightly, not much impact. We don’t leave tracks.”The pair set up Wanaka Mountain Guides many years ago, offering customised trips. With decades of experience between them in mountain guiding, ski patrolling and heli-ski guiding, they started offering heli-hiking a few years ago but are now concentrating on that aspect of the business. Laetitia is the main guide and Hugh guides less often (he works primarily in the film industry). Aspiring Helicopters does the flying, the Whare Kea Chalet at Albert Saddle provides accommodation and Fedeli does the catering - it’s a flexible mix and they all work together, Laetitia said.The terrain is huge, covering the Harris Mountains - Black Peak, Fog Peak, Isobel Glacier, and the Buchanans - Daniel Spur, Alta Tarns, Albert Burn. Having climbed, skied and hiked the area since 1993 - and having worked for all the local guiding companies - Laetitia knows the terrain "super well”. "There is a huge variety of places to go,” she said, with standard packages and individually customised trips on offer.Laetitia credits good teamwork with Hugh and identifying what’s important in life with the balance they have found. She kept working as a guide after having children Moana (18) and Manu (16), taking turns with Hugh on guiding trips so they could do what they loved while putting energy into their family life.In 2010 they both took time for postgraduate study at Otago University. Laetitia studied printmaking and did a graduate diploma in Fine Arts and Hugh studied documentary filmmaking and did a Masters in Science Communication. Laetitia wanted to nuture her passion for visual arts practice to balance out her outdoor pursuits. "They feed each other,” she said.After the year in Dunedin they returned to Hawea Flat (having travelled the world, Laetitia’s still a bit bemused she has settled in Hawea Flat) and had to redesign their working lives. She went back to guiding for a while, completed her qualifications and the heli-hiking business continued to evolve."It’s not all been plain sailing to get there,” she said, explaining the mix of living in Wanaka, identifying what you enjoy and what other people want - and being a bit entrepreneurial. "A lot of fulfilment for me comes from giving people an unforgettable experience,” Laetitia said. "For most people I take it’s the ‘best day’ of their life. And I get to do that on a daily basis. I feel really privileged.”PHOTO: Wanaka App

Volunteering overseas had been a dream for Wanaka optometrist Katie Bennetts for four or five years. With several years experience under her belt, last year she headed to Africa, working with patients in both Ghana and Cameroon during a three-and-a-half week visit.She took with her 600 pairs of reading glasses which were donated by people in the local community. Donations from Wanaka, Queenstown and Alexandra also funded 17 cataracts surgeries for patients in need."The people were so appreciative of the help we were providing,” Katie said.Katie’s first two weeks were spent with Unite For Sight in Ghana, an organisation that works towards eliminating preventable blindness. The rest of her trip she was working with Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity International in Cameroon.With other volunteers and local eye care professionals, Katie screened for eye disease and provided glasses and medication to those in need.In Ghana, the team was made up of two optometrists and two ophthalmic nurses and they would see up to 400 patients a day. In Cameroon the volumes were even higher, with a team of twelves optometrists seeing from 600-820 patients each day.For local crafts and products see Artisans in the Wanaka AppAs well as the huge volume of patents, Katie said it was difficult to adapt to the limited technology available. "I just had one handheld tool to use, which was challenging. You had to make a call based on what you could see. It really makes you appreciate the technology we have in New Zealand.”Almost 80 percent of visual impairment worldwide is preventable, and 36 million people are left "needlessly” blind because they don’t have the eye care services they need. "For some of the patients I saw, it was hard knowing if they’d just happened to have been born in a different country they wouldn’t be in that situation.”In Cameroon, Katie said, people would begin queueing as early as five in the morning.Katie said it was difficult seeing the overwhelming need for more eye care services, but that by focusing on the individuals she was able to help, she could see the difference she was making.Katie’s boss at Central Vision Optometry, Tui Russell, has volunteered in Vanuatu and her fiance Hunter, also an optometrist, has also volunteered in Africa.Katie hopes to volunteer again in the future, in Asia or the Pacific.PHOTO: Supplied

CAROLINE HARKERWanaka mother-of-four Cass Treadwell’s philosophy is life begins when you step outside your comfort zone. That’s something she learnt during a year she spent in Argentina at the age of 16, where she went to school and helped out in an orphanage. She’s been stepping outside her comfort zone ever since."I love travelling in third world countries, because I’m amazed by the people there and their sense of happiness,” she said. "They have taught me a lot about how to live well.”Cass, who spoke at the Wanaka Chamber of Commerce’s women’s meeting this past week, certainly walks the talk. She has a masters degree in medical law and ethics and has worked as a legal medico, before giving that up to do something concrete for children in the thd world.Nearly a decade ago she founded a charity called So They Can which now raises $2.5million annually for schools and orphanages in Kenya and Tanzania. She chose Africa because she had backpacked through the continent and seen the living conditions in Kenyan camps for internally displaced people. "The camps were horrific,” she said. "The people had suffered terrible trauma, the lack of hygiene was shocking and people still weren’t safe.” Representatives of different tribal groups in the camps told her what they needed most was for their children to be educated. "They saw that as the key to stopping tribal violence.”Going out? Check out Food/Accommodation in the Wanaka AppUnder the auspices of So They Can, Cass and her supporters have educated hundreds of children and adult women, set up an orphanage, a medical centre, and more.Eight years ago So They Can built a primary school in Kenya, in partnership with the Kenyan government which provided the teachers. Since then the school has educated 1000 children. So They Can also has a microfinance business school which teaches business skills to 300 women a year, including loaning them $100 each to get a small business started and providing mentoring. "It’s been very empowering for the women,” Cass said. "I love it when they say to me, ‘My husband asks me for money now’.”So They Can has also built a medical clinic which supports an area with a population of 20,000 people. "There were so many children dying of avoidable diseases,” Cass said.The most challenging situation for Cass during her regular visits to Africa was visiting a rubbish dump where children lived, competing with pigs and vultures for food scraps. Since that trip So They Can has set up an orphanage for 100 children, where they live in ‘family’ houses in groups of eight with a house mother. Cass said while they haven’t been able to provide homes for all the children living at the dump, there are no longer any there under the age of seven. While the task of helping the poor in Africa can seem overwhelming, Cass said they simply do what they can. "So They Can works with communities and governments (in Kenya and Tanzania) to educate and empower, so they can break the poverty cycle, realise their own potential and meet their own needs,” she said. "Education is at the core of everything we do.” The organisation has also set up a teachers training college in Tanzania which works with 26 local schools, and a lunch programme for many schools, which provides students with a free lunch every day. "Hungry children can’t learn.”Cass insists that the work she and So They Can do is not altruism. "Giving educates the giver as much as the receiver.” She sees charity as "school for the soul”. She said this approach (based on the African concept of ubuntu - meaning "I am because of you”) means the exchange is equal, sustainable and beneficial to both parties."Our personal well-being is deeply connected with the well-being of others. And giving makes us feel so good. I have learnt so much from the African people, who value people over possessions."If everyone in the world took on the responsibility for one more child this problem [child poverty] wouldn’t exist.”Cass said So They Can fundraises through events, grants and donations from major donors and foundations, and child sponsorship."It costs $800 a year to sponsor a child. The kids over there cannot fathom that someone on the other side of the world cares.”PHOTO: Wanaka App

Wayo Carson estimates he has spent about 20,000 hours in a harness working on various cliffs in the Wanaka region, but he still prefers to relax by rock climbing.Wayo is an industrial rope access expert who has maintained cliffs here since 1999, including those on the Makarora to Haast Road, Kawarau Gorge, the Nevis Bluff, Cromwell Gorge, the Queenstown to Kingston road and the Lindis Pass.While some people with his qualification spend their time washing windows or inspecting dairy factory vats, Wayo prefers to specialise in geo-technical abseiling. "I like the rock aspect,” Wayo said. "Drilling, blasting, rock scaling, meshing - stabilisation type stuff.”Wayo has been climbing since he was a kid: he grew up near Elephant Rocks (inland from Oamaru) and came to Wanaka for the rock climbing in 1997. He’s lived here ever since. For his day job he does cliff maintenance, inspections and emergency responses after slips. Our local cliffs deteriorate all the time, Wayo said, with rain and wind hammering the soft schist.For his spare time (what there is of it for a busy father of four), he likes to climb that same schist. The activities are quite different, Wayo said: "Mostly when I’m at work I’m hanging on a rope, but when I’m climbing I’m avoiding hanging on a rope.”Wayo likes all rock. Struggling to explain why he loves climbing, he settled on "it’s a part of me.” "Forging a line through nature” is how he describes route-setting (identifying a line to climb and placing bolts for protection). Most people look at a cliff and just see rock, Wayo reckons. He sees a line, an aesthetic. "When you’re finding your way up, you don’t necessarily look for the easiest way. There’s always something that draws your eye to where you’re going - a colour in the rock, a plant, a steep point.”Even when he’s maintaining and stabilising cliffs he likes to leave them looking natural. Wayo has done this working for Geovert, Drilling and Abseil Services, Fulton Hogan, Downers and Oamaru Landing Services. He recently completed the final stage of Wanaka’s first via ferrata, Wild Wire, as head of construction (he spent a year and a half on the project, working out the route up the waterfall and placing protection). Now he is setting up his own business, Cliff Care, contracting his services.Wayo working on Wildwire.He has also set routes for climbing competitions and has established rock climbing routes around New Zealand - as many as 60, he estimates. One of his well-known Wanaka routes is a stiff grade 25, five-pitch (approximately 120 metre) route at Wishbone Falls in the Matukituki Valley, called ‘Fat Freddy’. He has also climbed in the USA, Australia, Thailand, France, Spain and the UK.Wayo has worked on the Nevis Bluff since 2004, twice a year for maintenance and on longer term projects too. While the bluff itself isn’t beautiful after decades of manipulation, the vantage point gives Wayo a different perspective. "The sheer size of it, seeing the way it ages…” He and wife Kate named their youngest child Nevis.Rope access is a good way to make a living here, Wayo believes. "It keeps you fit, gets you out in unique environments. My favourite place in the whole area is the Makarora road - it has stunning views and it’s a beautiful part of the lake.”He works in all weather - snow, rain, wind and searing heat but said the worst part of the job is the dust. A hard freeze is difficult too. "I’d rather fry in the heat than shiver in the cold.” He likes heights but also respects them. "I’ve been hit by a few rocks. I’ve had a few moments on some active slips when things have starting falling down around me.”There’s a whole other world on the cliffs: Wayo sees plants and wildlife, mainly geckos and spiders, the odd rat and possum. He sees a few falcons, including one that lives at the top of the Nevis Bluff.Maybe you’re the kind of person who sees nothing but rock when you look at a cliff. Next time you’re travelling our roads beside the precarious cliffs Wayo helps maintain, try to glimpse that other world, the one that keeps Wayo in his harness.PHOTOS: Supplied

Ask Gavin Key what he does with his time, and his answer will include, in no particular order, mountain bike coaching, graphic design, landscaping, track building, riding and parenting.It’s a very Wanaka response: the town is full of polymaths who combine pursuing their passions with the business of earning a living and raising their children.Originally from Gisborne, Gavin surfed competitively for years, before a visit south in 1992 saw him head back home, sell all his stuff to pay for a ferry ticket and petrol, and move to Queenstown. He took up snowboarding seriously, spending 21 winters in a row going back and forth between New Zealand and Canada, the United States, Japan and Switzerland, working both as a freestyle snowboard coach, and designing and building parks when pipe and park was in its infancy."It saved me having to find a summer job,” he told the Wanaka App with a laugh. He added his favourite of all the places he worked was Bear Valley, California, both for the snow and for the people he met there. "People make places,” he said.Similar reasoning saw him end up in Wanaka for good in 2009, where he started to apply what he learned from working in snowboarding to mountain biking. "I was snowboard coaching before there was a formal certification, and when that did all start to come through I never bothered to get my tickets, so I ended way out of that loop,” he explained. "When the opportunity came up to do a coaching certification in biking, I took it.”Gavin is now certified as a mountain bike coach through Cycling NZ, and is pursuing an advanced Performance Advance Coaching programme with Sports New Zealand, a programme he had to get nominated for by Cycling NZ, as a restricted number of places are awarded in the programme each year."It’s non-sports specific. You go and learn fundamental coaching skills and implement them into for your chosen sport,” he said. He has also studied Physiology and Anatomy through the New Zealand College of Massage, and Sports Psychology through the Stotts Correspondence Education school.It has all paid off, with Gavin now well-known locally as a private bike coach as well as a contract coach with Mission WOW (Women of Winter/Water/Wheels), which brings together groups of women who want to share their love of, and progress themselves in, adventure sports.Outside of elite racing, Gavin said, the bulk of bike lessons are taken by women, not men. "It’s the Kiwi psyche, it’s hard for men to ask for help,” he said. This, however, is changing, as mountain biking grows, especially with the advent of lift-assisted bike parks like the one at Cardrona, where riders are looking to progress downhill-specific bike handling skills beyond those needed for everyday cycling. Gavin said it’s an area of sports coaching that is growing more and more. "I don’t think people realise what’s happening yet. It’s going to explode,” he said.He is also coaching two elite Downhill mountain bikers, Finn Parsons and Nikki Clarke. Both are 14-years-old but have been racing above their age grade, in the Under 17 instead of Under 15. Despite this, Finn took second in U17 downhill at the Mountain Bike National Championships at Cardrona in February, while Nikki came first in the U17 women’s event."They’ve both chosen to race the category above where they could be. I’ve got to keep checking myself they’re only 14,” Gavin said. He said working with athletes that age involves mentoring as well as coaching, and he has learned almost as much as them through working together.He said one thing he’s come to understand is the need to work on the same basic skills whether he’s training beginners or experts. "I start with a lot of the same basic fundamentals, and I’ll repeat them all the way through to the elite athletes.”Gavin’s success has been recognised recently with a nomination as one of five finalists for the Coach of the Year award in this year’s Central Otago Sports Awards, the winners of which will be named at an awards dinner in Queenstown on April 28.As for combining making a living and growing his coaching career with finding time to ride his bike for fun as well as to help out with the building and maintenance of local tracks, Gavin said none of it would be possible without the support of his partner, Chloe, especially since the arrival of their young daughter, Ella.Coaching full-time is in the life plan, Gavin said, but for now he’s basking in the enjoyment of watching his daughter hit the trails on her balance bike. "Maybe that’s why I gave it all those hours, and gave it the love I did,” he said.PHOTO: Supplied

Public Health staff from across the district this month (April) farewelled their long-time colleague Dr Derek Bell, a Queenstown-based Medical Officer of Health for Otago and Southland, who is retiring from his position after having enjoyed a long and varied career in public health.Over the last 19 years Dr Bell has played a pivotal role in leading the DHB’s response to many major public health challenges, including the SARS outbreak, the Pertussis epidemics of 2001 and 2005, Meningococcal outbreaks, the dramatic floods of Wanaka and Queenstown in 1999 and the Bird Flu epidemic - to name but a few. He has also taken a driving seat when it comes to establishing protocols around tourism health issues such as border control and dealing with cruise ship and bus tour outbreaks that have been shared nationally."I’ve been privileged to have had the role of a medic in a public health department,” Dr Bell said. He began his health career as a GP initially, but after a stint on the Wakatipu Health Committee his eyes were "opened to the world of public health and its many unique challenges”.Dr Bell spent time working for the Southern District Health Board as a strategic advisor in its very early days and also worked as the national director of training for the College of Public Health Medicine. He took on the position of Medical Officer of Health for Queenstown in 1998 and has held that role since.For heating and firewood, search Trades/Services in the Wanaka AppDr Bell will be retiring from mid-April and will remain based in Arrowtown, although he will be spending a lot of time in the North Island working on a conservation/ecological project.Public Health South staff presented Derek with a carved mauri kohatu (touch stone) from the local area as a recognition of the enormous contribution he has personally made to public health over many years. In his speech Dr Bell acknowledged "the fantastic teamwork displayed by my public health colleagues over the years, who are more than happy to swap disciplines, and all pitch in when the need arises.”Public Health South Medical Officer of Health Marion Poole said, "From his base in Queenstown, Derek has observed massive growth in the area and has had to respond to various high-profile public health issues in the resort and surrounds. His keen interest in environmental issues meant he took a "big picture” perspective to work and life in general. His strong working relationships with all staff, and other organisations were invaluable in ensuring effective responses to serious outbreaks of disease and developing good systems and processes for working with others on a range of issues.”PHOTO: Supplied

Ex-triathlete and mother-to-be Nicky Samuels spoke at the Wanaka Chamber of Commerce women’s coffee morning on Wednesday (April 19) about her life as a professional athlete.During her eleven year tenure as a triathlete, Nicky competed in both the London and Rio Olympics and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, before throwing in the towel after a sooner-than-expected pregnancy late last year. Nicky and her husband Steve Gould were told because she was an elite athlete, conception could take "a couple of years” but she was delighted to become pregnant faster than planned.Nicky was refreshingly honest about the ups and downs of life as a professional athlete. She said for a long time her life was "eat, sleep and train” as she juggled back-to-back summers with strict training and competition schedules. Not being able to do certain activities like skiing and waterskiing for fear of injury, and missing out on holidays and trips with friends were some of the downsides.Being successful in professional sport came down to motivation, she said. "I’m a real believer in ‘what you put your mind to you can achieve’,” Nicky said.Attending Whangarei Girls High School, Nicky played sports and particularly enjoyed field hockey. She wanted to become a vet, but was put off by the seven-year-long course in Palmerston North, and decided instead to head to the University of Otago with her friends, where she studied physical education and teaching.Keep fit, search gyms and pilates in Trades/Services in the Wanaka AppIt was through contact with professional triathlete Sam Warriner at her summer job as a lifeguard that Nicky became interested in triathlons. She began swim training with Sam, who wanted company, and soon found herself biking and running with her too.In 2003 Nicky competed in her first triathlon, and her third place finish meant she qualified for the World Championships. "My goal for that race [the World Championships] was not to come last,” Nicky said.After finishing second, Nicky realised: "I might be quite good at this triathlon thing. Maybe I should give it a go.”After finishing university and struggling to find a job in physical education, Nicky was offered a place on the TCG 79 Pro Triathlon team in France. It was the beginning of what became a very successful career as a triathlete. "It was an opportunity that changed my life and my direction, and I’m glad I took it,” she said.As well as being a two-time Olympian, Nicky has won the 2012 ITU Triathlon World cup, the 2013 Xterra World Championships, the 2014 OTU Sprint triathlon Oceania Cup and more. She said she was lucky to be injured only twice during her sporting career, once shortly before the Rio Olympics, and despite the setback, Nicky came in at thirteenth place. "With hard work and patience you can get where you want to be,” Nicky said. Despite all the achievements during her career, Nicky seems to have no regrets since announcing her retirement in February this year.Nicky now runs for "only an hour a day” and she hasn’t been back in the pool since discovering she was pregnant. "I originally thought I’d keep going [after having my baby] but I really just want to focus on being a mum,” Nicky said.Nicky and her husband have just finished building a new home here in Wanaka and she’s ready for a change of pace, allowing more time with family and friends while she waits for the arrival of her baby, due in August.PHOTO: Supplied

TIM BREWSTER"Hitting the wall,” after nine years of top end endurance racing was a seriously low point for Wanaka’s Floortje Grimmett."Feeling the signs of over-training etc, being scared, not to be able to exercise again as you are so exhausted, no energy, immunity low.” Her description of last year’s slump might surprise anyone who witnessed her mashing the pedals down last weekend. As the first woman across the line and 11th overall in a time of 7.31 in the 160km Centurion MTB event of the Contact Epic, she has shown her class as an athlete after a remarkable comeback.Originally from Holland, Floortje immigrated in 2000 to live permanently in Wanaka, marrying Darren who manages Outside Sports (useful for the never ending equipment requirements for multisport) and becoming the mother of Ella and Liam.She had competed in athletics as a youth in her home country, but only started competing seriously here ten years ago. [I have a] "big passion for the rugged back country in New Zealand. I like to achieve, pushing limits for myself and also together with my teammates and not knowing what's around the corner.”In the summer of 2015 she had been on a high after her team Tiki Tour had placed third in the Godzone event and the experience had given them the belief in themselves to compete against the world’s best. "We had huge confidence after that,” she said.Floortje Grimmett was the first woman across the line in the Contact Epic Centurion event last weekend.An insight into the world of adventure racing at that level was her recollection of having a few hours sleep on the Pisa Range as a snowstorm halted night travel. "My bike pants were frozen onto the ground; I had to peel them off to put them on.”Determined to keep her fitness up after that race, and despite advice to the contrary about her early warning signs of the stress of overtraining, Floortje entered in the ironically named "Ultra Easy,” a 100km mountain run over Mt Roy and the Pisa Range. It was in the midst of that gruelling event she realised that while she "absolutely loved” endurance racing, her body was shutting down and she needed rest.But for the relentless competitor that she is, overtraining and a thyroid condition simply became another teachable moment she was determined to overcome. A year later after her worst experience in sport (well, eight months of rest to be precise), the mother of two who celebrates her 40th this weekend - "I won’t be an Open women anymore” - had her highest point ever with her team Tiki tour winning the Godzone 2017 in February by a large margin. "It was the best feeling ever. It's absolutely about being in a good team. There’s no ego.”Her Tiki Tour team mates from Queenstown, Mike Kelly, and brothers Tom and George Lucas are now looking for sponsors to assist them to compete in the World Adventure Racing championships in Wyoming, USA, in August.Godzone was followed with a second place in the two day Red Bull Defiance sports category with a new training partner, Cardrona Valley farmer Hamish Mackay."Floortje is probably the most dedicated trainer I have ever met,” Hamish said. "There are countless hours that go into gaining the fitness levels needed to succeed as she has. Probably the one thing that sets her apart from most is mental toughness and the ability to get through the toughest of physical situations.”The two feel they have "unfinished business” in the Red Bull event, Floortje said, after being overtaken in the last leg of this year’s event to leave them in second place. She now feels she is training and competing smarter after her setback. She’s also grateful for strong support and mentorship from fellow Wanaka multisporter Jo Williams. Jo is also heading to the world championships competing with team Seagate who are the current world champions.With both Wanaka women entering the World Adventure Racing championships with formidable reputations as competitors focussed only on the finish line, the race will generate a lot of local interest.PHOTO: LMS Events

For two weeks every other year, Lindsey Schofield becomes one of the most high-profile members of the Wanaka community. She’s in the Wanaka App, on the radio and all over social media. Then she disappears - but not because she’s stopped working. That goes on year round.Lindsey is the general manager of the Festival of Colour, Wanaka’s own biennial celebration of the arts, and of the annual Aspiring Conversations festival of ideas. She has held the position since 2007, when she took over ahead of the third Festival of Colour, which took place in 2009; 2017 was her fifth. "It will be 10 years in September,” she told the Wanaka App.Originally from Leeds, Lindsey studied Media Studies at Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University) with plans to be a journalist - she went to polytechnic instead of university because the course she wanted to do was not available through university, a decision she said was a little controversial with friends from her high-achieving private girls’ school, and family. "It’s the only rebellious thing I’ve ever done,” she laughed.After poly, she decided journalism wasn’t for her, so fell into work that, indirectly, led Lindsey to where she is today: working at a call centre in Leeds. "The guy in the corner had a sign on his desk that said ‘marketing manager’, and I thought that’s cool, I could do that,” she said. She got a job as a marketing assistant for the Leeds Permanent Building Society, where she worked for a couple of years before heading to London, where she started working for a marketing agency.A job with KLP Media Ltd, a world-wide media conglomerate, followed, with Lindsey working her way up from a position as a "measly” account manager to be on the board - as part of the job she spent a year in Brazil, setting up an office for the agency in Rio and running Coca Cola Brazil’s promotions for the 1998 Football World Cup.The story of how Lindsey ended up in Wanaka is a familiar one, similar to that of many a foreigner who has ended up permanently in this beautiful corner of the world. "I came with my first husband on our honeymoon in 2001 - we were stopped in our tracks and, like everyone does, we decided we wanted to live here.”After moving to Wanaka, Lindsey saw the Festival of Colour job advertised, and decided it was for her. "It ticked all the boxes for me, I’ve always loved the arts,” she said. (She’s particularly into music, and is currently taking bass lessons, part of expressing her "inner rock chick”.)In the time Lindsey has been involved, the festival has gone from success to success, developing a national, and international, reputation as one of the best little festivals around, something she attributes in part to the fact that it is a truly local endeavour. "It’s got a core local community that really want it and really support it. It came out of Wanaka, driven by a group who could see a need for it. There are so many people here who are interested in the arts who previously had to travel for culture.”She explained the festival works hard to make sure the community is involved, with locals able to take part in many facets of the event, including as audience members, patrons, volunteers and performers.She also pointed to the sense of pride Wanaka has about the Festival of Colour, especially around the high calibre of performers who take part. "Time and time again, we get comments along the lines of ‘I can’t believe this happened in our town’,” she said. "Festival directors from other festivals always remark on how everybody just loves it.”As for what she does for the 102 weeks between festivals, "I have lots of meetings,” she said. "Actually, one of the things I love about the job is the variety. No two days are the same.” Her off-season tasks include completing funding applications, contacting sponsors, database management, marketing, updating the website, social media and doing all the accounts.She says one of the highlights for her during the time she’s been involved with the Festival of Colour has been seeing local performers, such as the local students in Sing It To My Face, the members of The Blue Moments Project, and Liz Breslin, who spoke at the ‘True Stories Told Live’ session in 2015, on stage: "You feel pride when you see local people you didn’t know could do that kind of thing.”The next Aspiring Conversations is scheduled for April 6-8, 2018, with the Festival of Colour set to return April 2-7, 2019.PHOTO: Supplied

Wanaka’s Nicky Blennerhassett has just walked the length of the South Island, but she’s not sure why."It’s funny because I don’t really know what the reason was. Why do you decide to do anything?” Nicky had tramped before but not in the last few years, and had never done a walk of significant length.She began the Te Araroa trail in Bluff on February 10 and finished at the top of the South Island two months later. Nicky had hoped to complete the whole trail in one go, but curtailed her trip after short days and cyclones made the going difficult.She described the walk as a great experience. "One of the amazing things was seeing the changing landscape over the course of the track. Lots of these places I’d never been before and it was so varied.”From drainage to dog training, kitchens to curtains, find it in Wanaka App Trades/ServicesNicky said it was hard to pick a favourite spot, but thought the Mavora Greenstone Walkway, in Mavora Lakes Conservation Park, was particularly special.Nicky, who is 57, estimated that 80 percent of the people she came across on the trail were in their 20s. "I probably came across about four people my age,” she said. The overwhelming majority of people she came across were foreigners. "I probably only met about eight or nine Kiwis on the trail.”Nicky said she has been asked a lot why she chose to walk the trail alone. "People were surprised, but the huts are very social,” she said. The longest amount of time Nicky spent without seeing anybody was about four days, but the isolation didn’t bother her. "I really do really enjoy the solitude of walking on your own and taking that time out to think”.Nicky said her only sticky situation was while crossing the Richmond Ranges. "Up the top of the range I was in really misty conditions. The forecast was for 70km winds and I think they were about that. It got a bit spooky because occasionally I couldn’t quite see the markers for where to go, and then they’d appear out the mist."There’s the odd day that you don’t like what’s happening but you just accept it and carry on. I missed the Takitimu section [approximately three days long] due to a broken pack, and also had to escape from the trail for a few days when Cyclone Debbie was coming through, missing about four days of the trail south of the Pelorus River section.”"Afterwards I thought I was done with long walks, but after basically three weeks of rest I was ready for it again,” she said. Nicky plans to walk the two South Island sections she missed and the North Island leg of the trail next summer.The Te Araroa Trail is New Zealand’s longest-distance tramping route, spanning 3000km from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Completed in 2011, it is one of the world’s longest walking trails.PHOTO: Nicky Blennerhassett

Mount Aspiring College Year 12 students Max Hall and Leo Munro Heward have both recently received awards recognising their contributions to the community in leadership, acceptance and encouragement for all. The teens caught up with the Wanaka App this week.Leo was the recipient of a Giving Back Award in the leadership category at the 2017 New Zealand Youth Awards, while Max received a Diana Award, an international award for young role models who are "selflessly transforming the lives of others”.Among other things, the two 16-year-old students are active members of Sticks ‘n’ Stones, a student group dedicated to promoting positive action online. Max became a member in Year 9 while Leo joined in Year 10. "We raise awareness about what can happen online for young people and also in real life,” Leo said.Max decided to join Sticks ‘n’ Stones after observing bullying happening around him. "I have never been a bully and I have never been bullied myself, but after witnessing bullying happening around me it occurred to me that something wasn’t right, and that it had to change,” Max said.Need help? See Useful No's in the Wanaka AppLeo, on the other hand, had experienced bullying firsthand when he was in primary school. "I didn’t want anyone to go through what I went through. It was a short experience for me, but it was still a bullying experience,” Leo said.Leo traveled to Wellington to receive his award at Parliament alongside other nationally-recognised youth. His Wellington-based uncle attended the awards ceremony with him."It was an incredibly proud moment and an amazing moment,” Leo said. "There are some phenomenal things that young people are doing in this country”.Max was one of just two Kiwis ever to receive a Diana Award. He said he was surprised to receive the award. "Everyone in Sticks ‘n’ Stones is so phenomenal in what they do in their work so it could have been anyone,” Max said. "It was very honouring.”Neither Max nor Leo thought there was a lot of "serious” bullying in Wanaka, but there was definitely teasing and lesser forms of bullying going on."MAC is a very mellow school and a mellow town, but we do have quite a lot of teasing and people can be very judgemental,” Max said. "You’ve got bullying and then there’s what comes underneath it.”Their work with Sticks ‘n’ Stones encourages acceptance for all people. Both Max and Leo are also active in the community outside of their work with Sticks ‘n’ Stones.Max is an artist and particularly enjoys painting and photography. He’s spent time teaching painting at primary school. He also enjoys acting, which he started doing at a very young age, and likes outdoor activities like rock climbing, mountain biking and kayaking.Leo loves to dance, focusing mainly on jazz, hip hop and contemporary styles and teaches dance to primary school-age kids. He also loves to sing and spends a lot of time online. After finishing school Leo hopes to study Performing Arts at University.The Wanaka’ Sticks ‘n’ Stones group has 18 permanent members who meet weekly or fortnightly. They are currently setting up a peer support programme at MAC, and also promote events through the school including Random Acts of Kindness Day and Pink Shirt Day - which is coming up later this month (May 26).PHOTO: Wanaka App

Wanaka ultra-distance runner Mal Law will be one of the Kiwi story-tellers featured at this year’s NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival in Wanaka.Festival audiences connect most strongly with content that bears a cause beyond adventure for adventure’s sake, festival organisers said this month, and Wanaka’s Mal Law represents this contingent of filmmakers able to balance adventure and art on the big screen.From early childhood Mal Law devoured stories and Great Walks back to back in just seven days raising a serious amount of money for Leukemia & Blood Cancer NZ. As a nine-year-old he had lost his older brother to this disease.Next mission on the list was to run 50 mountain marathons and climb 50 peaks in just 50 days – The High Five O Challenge. Mal completed the mission on behalf of the Mental Health Foundation of NZ, with more than 300 support runners signed up to join him for a day or so each. The challenge raised a staggering $510,000 for the charity and was instrumental in helping reduce the stigma around the topic of mental health.The festival will offer a chance to hear from Mal about his experience preparing for and running the High Five-0 Challenge, as well as stories behind the making of his award-winning film ‘FIFTY’. Physically, not everything went to plan, with injury, illness and weather forcing the shortening of some days, but 50 peaks were climbed on 50 consecutive days and the equivalent of 40 rough, tough off-road marathons were achieved.The 15th NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival will run from 30 June to 9 July in Wanaka, Cromwell and Queenstown. The festival programme will be announced when tickets go on sale on 1 June.PHOTO: Supplied

The travelling pianist has moved on, but we haven’t seen the last of him - a local film-maker is working on a documentary to tell his story.Vojtěch ‘Pango’ Zámečník caught local attention recently playing his piano, mounted on a wheeled platform, on the beach in front of That Wanaka Tree, the lone willow in Roys Bay that has become an Instagram sensation.The Czech pianist arrived in Wanaka last month, having travelled around New Zealand for a year playing his piano in public places. The right kind of freedom camper, he’d been travelling in, and living out of, a customised Land Rover, which he retrofitted at a cost of $11,000 to carry his piano into off-road locations (the piano itself cost him considerably less - he won it at an auction in Auckland for $1).It’s the sort of story you couldn’t make up, and it’s one that caught the attention of a Wanaka-based creative, film-maker and photographer Pedro Pimentel.A trained mechanical design engineer, Pedro, who is originally from Portugal, has always been "crazy about visuals”. His dad is a photographer, and he said he grew up surrounded by cameras, slides and drawers full of photographs. Professionally, he started out doing mostly editorial photography, particularly working with high performance athletes and expeditions, covering sports like highlining, mountaineering and BASE jumping. He then moved into film - today, his paid work includes everything from large projects like doing marketing and instructional videos for a big ski company in China, down to local jobs such as a promo shoot for a Wanaka water taxi company. But when it comes to film, his true love is telling stories. "Human interaction, our stories and our memories, is what makes us different from animals,” he said. "We exist in the stories we tell each other.”Pedro ran into Pango when he was down by the lake with his family. "I heard music, which didn’t make much sense. This guy was just there with a piano in front of the Wanaka Tree, with about 50 people looking and listening - there was even a girl in her wetsuit who had come by kayak. I said, this opportunity is too good!”Pedro went home, googled Pango, and sent him a Facebook message. They met up the next day and a plan was hatched. It was a very simple plan ("there was no storyboard, no pre-production - it was literally have a coffee and go shoot”) and the time frame was short, as Pango was about to leave town.With editor and film-maker Whitney Oliver on board to lend a hand, they set out to get as much footage as they could, in as many beautiful places as they could, in one day. It didn’t go that smoothly. The weather was awful, there were low clouds everywhere, and they broke the piano before the shoot even started.The piano came to grief on a rough section when they were driving off-road to a spot on Glendhu Bay. But it turns out Pango has many talents. "He went from Pango the romantic poet / pianist to Pango the jack of all trades,” Pedro said, repairing the damage with some of the "arsenal of tools” he keeps in the Land Rover. Pedro filmed the repair action - it’s all about stories after all - and they made it to the location, and got on with the shot.Further filming at a sun-bathed paddock on Mount Aspiring Road followed, and despite the dramas, Pedro said he has enough footage to put together "a cool 10- to 15-minute piece”. But he hopes to take it further. Pango has said he plans to return to Wanaka, and several local businesses have expressed interest in supporting the project going forward. Who knows, it could even go global. "How about Pango at the Great Wall of China?” Pedro suggested, adding he’s already discussed the idea with a contact from China who has shown interest. Either way, he said, he’s made a friend, and captured a story for all of us. "Pango believes he’s not giving people music, but memories: a memory of space, sound and time, all in one.”Visit the Pedro Pimentel Visuals Facebook page for updates and sneak peek clips from the shoot, or to get in touch if you’d like to get involved in the project (click on MORE below).PHOTO: Pedro Pimentel