Our People

When the going gets tough, it’s not just the tough who get going.

A sip of elderflower lemonade changed the trajectory of two bakers’ lives. Pete and Marleen Suy swapped their whisks for lemon squeezers and haven’t looked back.

A band of hunters and fishers is bringing a rarely sighted bird back to the Waioeka Gorge.

Stuck in limbo between lockdown and audition opportunities, actor Tyler Warwick started uploading to TikTok and Facebook, so far generating millions of views.

Diversification was on the cards when a buzz-loving broadcaster moved to a remote Canterbury valley with a sixth-generation farmer. Million Springs farm is today host to 2000 cows and a business in the trees.

Her modern spin on an ancient craft proves embroidery can be as gallery-worthy as a painting.

A Northland family share the healing powers of their land to help children in crisis, and it’s working.

A third-generation Waiheke Islander has her feet firmly planted on the soil. However, her head and heart are often off with the arts — in a supporting role at least.

Paul Barclay loves to surf, and there was just one thing he needed to make his life complete.

Helmut Modlik recognized early in life that his identity as a Māori was shaping his worldview. Now he leads his community at Takupūwāhia on the shores of Porirua Harbour.

This well-known investigative reporter keeps an eagle-eyed watch over situations — in more ways than one.

Beneath the mild-mannered exterior of this coastal crib lies a fold in the space-time continuum — one this family fell unwittingly into.

If it weren’t for chocolate and coffee, Angela Clifford and her family would be mostly self-sufficient food-wise from their bountiful organic block.

This outdoorsman’s venture, born in a backyard shipping container, is bringing finger-lickin’ good barbecue fare to the masses.

Thanks to the décor-doings of his Scottish wife, a Canterbury sheep and beef farmer now has a fancy new flock on his land — holidaymakers.

This Whanganui artist calls her work ‘mark-making with paint’ and regards it as helping her to beat crippling depression.

Coffee, Cake and Expiry Dates

No doubt it is precisely because of his extraordinary life experiences that Richard Marchant, celebrant and teacher, came to establish the Lincoln Death Cafe .

Sarah Nolan – Living the Fairy Tale

Playing a princess at St Albans School was the first step to Sarah Nolan dancing her way across the globe to a US national championship.

Making it Pop

Jesse Ranson and Ash Topp are new arrivals on the local music scene, having released their first single in July 2021. We ask about their journey so far.

A couple, leaders of a multi-generational legacy, let the power of kapa haka take centre stage in life, love and identity.

After six decades of service, this beloved survivor is hopefully spending the winter tucked up in a blanket in Central Otago.

Rum is the 'wild west of spirits', according to the man behind New Zealand’s first botanical rum. But Matt Bridge has tamed it into a bottle, and it drinks as beautifully as it looks.

Lovely Lola the caravan ensures the Browns relax in colourful comfort whether by the beach, the lake or in the bush.

He was nicknamed after the famous crooner, but Bing Crosby of Browns Bay's smooth style is reflected in his choice of motor vehicles.

In an extract from Spirit: Conversations with Creative Women, we look at four women, four artistic genres and four inspiring stories of how they turned their creativity into a full-time job.

Roots and wings brought this family back together on a slice of coastal land in Northland where they’re flourishing — pandemic be damned.

Lynda Hallinan is celebrating the joy she finds on her block, even when she’s weeding.

This photographer believes a picture does much more than paint 1000 words.

First there was craft beer, then gin. But is mead the next big artisan drink craze?

One couple, one hectare, and a thousand more years in which to write a vision upon the land.

The skills Karen Vercoe learnt representing New Zealand in rugby and touch rugby are invaluable in her tribal leadership roles.

This Matakana local has gone from being classed as a hippie to an environment hero.

Ōamaru is welcoming this troupe of creative nomadic hipsters with arms wide open.

In her new book, The Joy of Gardening, Lynda Hallinan recalls how it nearly didn’t happen to her — the joy of gardening, that is.