Hana

“I’ve been involved in Te Ahu Pātiki (Conservation Park) since before its inception, but I’ve only been formally on the board since 2022. The founding board members wanted me to go on for quite a while, but my life was pretty busy; I didn’t feel like I could give it what it needed. I represent […]

Tutu

“I’m from Tamaki Makaurau. I have a good job with Riverside market. I am security, and we need this area nice and clean. We don’t want dirty things everywhere, like rubbish. I like Christchurch because there’s lots of entertainment, lots of people, all loving, give me aroha, tautoko mai. Kia kaha, be strong.” I’ve been […]

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 […]

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 […]