Joe (Dark Ballad)

“It’s my own obsessed brain. I’ve got a to-do list of what I want to do in a week, but there’s 50 things on each day that obviously can’t all be done. Because I’m always thinking about these things, the moment is not really lived in at all. I was always pretty neurotic like that, […]

‘Weedy’ Will

“I’m an amateur botanist. It’s definitely my passion. I grew up in Halswell. This place [Ngā Puna Wai] is like my second home. I spend so much time here weeding and planting and walking the dogs and whatnot, all the planting I do here is sanctioned. I did start out guerrilla planting, I was working […]

Vanessa

“Giggly girt! Giggly girt!” “See I got my hair cut on Friday. I’ve got my hair band to keep it up. See? Like this I keep it up. Biscuit Blair – she’s my favourite woman. And you. And that cheeky lady over there. My last name is Rule. I’ll write it down for you, you […]

Kalle

“Sports and travelling run in the family, and that’s kind of what’s led me to come to New Zealand.” “I grew up in a small town in Finland. My dad was involved with sports all his life, he was a shot putter, discus thrower, powerlifter, we traveled quite a bit when I was a kid. […]

Hero

“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories. I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially […]

Kaitlyn

“I’ve been doing compost workshops for the community for four years. But I guess composting for like the past eight years. It originally started because we moved and our house came with the compost bin. I was curious to know what it was, so we started composting, but like, just chucking stuff and not really […]

Kate

“I was in Cambodia for work. It was a very hot night, and I literally swept my hand down my body and said out loud, ‘Oh, it’s so hot!’ And I felt this lump, It felt like half the size of a golf ball. I thought, I’m not going to be too worried about it, […]

Shamla

“I am a reader. I didn’t grow up with siblings, I had a lot of free time. From my childhood, I read lots of books. One of my favourite authors, she’s Enid Blyton. I grew up reading Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers – they constituted a big part of my world. The first thing […]

Sawdust – Part 2

“I’ve been travelling since I was 21. “It all started one night I went to post a letter at the post office. I got talking to a guy, and I said, ‘what do you do?’ He said ‘I’m the Commander of the Navy, down in Antarctica and the top of Alaska.’ He said he didn’t […]

Sawdust – Part 1

“I’m known all over New Zealand as Sawdust.” “When we left the mill we were all covered in sawdust. We used to go to the pub – four guys and me, had our little corner. By the time we left there was about half a metre of sawdust on the floor. I was called Chuck […]