Behind the Scenes

My darling surprised me with a subscription to NZ Life & Leisure for my birthday. He thought I used to get it sent here but that is probably because I have a huge pile of magazines and you sent us a copy of the one WE WERE IN! (Issue 32, Green Street.)
He was the lovely assistant standing with me in our spooky driveway (he is really very handsome under the make-up, hahaha) for the Minnehaha story with Fran Price and The Good Life book.
We have had so many comments about the article from people he works with on The Power Rangers so I thought I would write and thank you. Meant to thank Kate for her hand-written card. Such a pleasure to get... more FUN than bills... SO THANK YOU! I read the wee interview at the end of our drive and had HAPPY TEARS.

Grizelda XXX, the Wyche of Minnehaha Avenue

NZ Life & Leisure magazine hosted its series of Changing Lives reader events throughout New Zealand introducing a most cherished personality to it's readers, Christine Fernyhough. Readers gathered at each of the events held in Auckland, Wellington, Blenheim and Ashburton to be inspired by the author, philanthropist and high country-farmer.

Here are some pictures of our fabulous staff and readers enjoying the event.

Hi Kate and fabulous crew!
Your magazine is brilliant and not only because you have supported my little business with coverage. It is proudly on display at any market stall I do and also in my home.
An extra amount would not put me off as it is such a quality read ??I am extremely fussy as a reader; my regular reads are:
NZ Life & Leisure
North & South
The Listener
NZ Today (when I can find a copy)
Good Mag
Best wishes for a fabulous day,
Marcia

Hi Kate,
You and your team do a fantastic job and I’m always thrilled to see the latest copy of Life & Leisure in my letter-box. No, another $18 would not put me off buying your magazine at all – I believe it would still be great value and I hope (and am sure) others will agree.
Cheers,
Tracey 

Hi there,
I love my NZ Life & Leisure – I must say that first off!
In response to your question, yes, I would still purchase the magazine if it was $2-$3 more each issue. I am a subscriber but I have also bought it off the shelf and would continue to do so if it was more expensive.
My view is that magazines are one of life's most affordable luxuries. What sets Life & Leisure apart is the quality of the paper, the editorial content and the beautiful photography. Perhaps even more so in the times we are living in, savouring and enjoying the little luxuries are even more valuable. So yes, keep the quality and up the price. An extra $18 a year is well worth it.
Also, I have my own business so understand the difficulties of keeping things in the black these days. Keep focusing on customer relationships and a quality product and while there may not be as many people spending, the ones who do will continue to choose to do so with you.
Regards,
Rachael  

Lissa Twomey spends two years pursuing the performances that will thrill audiences for just three weeks at the nation’s International Festival of the Arts. Words: Victoria Moss; Photos: Nicola Edmonds.

SIX HUNDRED PEOPLE have gathered in Wellington for the programme launch of the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts. The chatter hushes and the crowd inches forward. Lissa Twomey, the Festival’s Artistic Director, faces them and declares that the Festival has been upstaged. “At One Red Dog restaurant tonight there’s a four-year-old’s birthday party that is, apparently, the hottest act in town,” she says, referring to her daughter Annabel and a party where the main attraction is a cake smothered in pink icing and decorated with sugar butterflies.

Lissa’s life has two distinct parts. As creative head of an international arts festival she jets to theatres and stages across the globe to entice performers to come to New Zealand to dazzle audiences hungry for new international arts. And as mum to Annabel and Jonathan, 10, her life is all about birthday cakes, homework and bedtime stories. An Australian, Lissa thrives on the balance of the two spheres, both equally captivating to her.

Her role with the Festival entails a huge amount of overseas travelling to scout for performers. She’s away for up to a month at a time, two or three times a year. She maximizes every minute on the road by cramming her itinerary with shows and performances and then squeezes in more discovered along the way. “It’s a fantastic job but it’s not a holiday. There is a lot of travelling. It’s a balance we negotiate as a family.”

She’s a hot international movie director, he’s an award-winning architect and they have two young daughters. Niki Caro and husband Andrew Lister do whatever it takes to keep their family together wherever they are in the world. Words Kate Coughlan; Photographs: Mark Smith & Andrew Lister.

IF EVER that clever Niki Caro were to direct her cameras on herself and husband Andrew, the resulting film would be a love story. “He is magnificent,” she says about him as an architect, a father and a husband. “Niki is everything to me,” he says, “so whatever she’s doing I want to be there for her.”

Niki’s latest work, The Vintner’s Luck, which opens nationwide this month following an invitation to screen the première at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival, took the family to Beaune in the heart of the Burgundy wine district of France. There Andrew set up home for the four months that it took Niki, working six days and all hours weekly, to translate the magic of the novel by Elizabeth Knox into film.

Compiled by Tracey Strange

Bello bellissimo

If you’re in the market for treasures, take a look at the beautiful mouth-blown and handmade Bollen range of glasses. Founded 20 years ago in Amsterdam, Bollen is a small family company which uses centuries-old methods to create the type of exquisite glassware you might see in paintings by Dutch old masters such as Vermeer or Rembrandt. You’ll find Bollen in New Zealand at Wellington’s Bello Traders (04) 385 0058.

Heartfelt

Leanne and Brian Culy aren’t new to NZ Life & Leisure. Their cute-and-quirky Haumoana beach house was featured in Issue 23 and our sister publication NZ House & Garden recently covered their Napier homestead, Balquhidder House. It’s testament to the artistic talents of the couple who together own Home Base Collections, a design company producing an ever-changing range of fabrics, greeting cards, art and homewares. It’s well worth checking them out at www.homebasecollections.co.nz

There’s nothing like a wintry blast to remind us of what lies south of New Zealand. Antarctica does coldness like no other place on the planet – Silent, desolate, ferocious and fragile. we look at ways this frozen continent has inspired artists, scientists and explorers