Features

When Sam met Jess on a ski field in Turkey, neither guessed they’d end up running a yacht-support business together in Vanuatu

“I KNEW IMMEDIATELY she was a perfect match,” says Sam Bell of the Californian language tutor he met at a 2005 New Year’s Eve party on a Turkish ski field a few hours south of Istanbul. “She was cute, nice to be around and liked boats.” Jess Patterson, on the other hand, took a little more convincing. “He was rougher around the edges than I was used to but I soon realized that rough around the edges meant he was always doing something cool.”

Jess was head of an English-language programme at a local Turkish university when she met the Plimmerton-born graduate of Auckland Unitec’s boat-building and marine-engineering course. At that time Sam was part of the engineering crew on a newly launched and revolutionary yacht, the 289-foot Maltese Falcon. Sam proposed in record time – six months – and Jess accepted, but within a few days Sam had departed aboard the Maltese Falcon for its maiden voyage in the Mediterranean.

The universe clearly had plans for this newly engaged couple. A crew member fell ill and guess who was called in as a replacement? Jess, with no previous sailing experience, joined the yacht in La Spezia in southern Italy and promptly went shopping for her engagement ring. “I was busy with the boat’s launch so she went out with some of the girls and found the ring she wanted,” says Sam.

The tiny dimensions of a crib on the Otago coastline are magnified by the manifold delights it offers its owners

“WE HAVE TO PUT that ladder across the steps,” explains Robert, “or the seals climb up and make a hell of a mess at the front door.” Bolshie seals with sloppy table manners, pods of orca cruising the coast and right whales passing by add to the teeming aquatica of Wickliffe Bay, a tidal inlet on Otago’s Peninsula. Perched on a steep kerchief of land overlooking the bay, as cute as those cheeks nana loved to pinch, is Wickliffe Cottage.

Robert Clark and Lyndall Frost decided on a simpler life 10 years ago, exchanging Auckland for Robert’s home town of Dunedin.

“Robert’s father was living here, and at 90 still in good health, so we decided to be closer in his remaining years,” says Lyndall. “We often remember him, always laughing.” Robert had left Dunedin at 17 and always yearned to come back, pulled by the memory of a childhood spent outdoors. “After the Sunday roast, Dad would take us for a walk on Victory Beach or over the hill to Sandfly Bay.”

Tiny Wickliffe Cottage teeters on the plump rump of the pulchritudinous Peninsula like a cup-cake on a pony. Lyndall opens the French doors off the powder-blue bedroom and the water below immediately bobs with a paddling of ducks. Mr Drake puts on a show of macho posturing. The ladies turn their backs; he’s trying too hard.

Natural disasters cannot destroy the cultural diversity on show in Papua New Guinea's spectacular Mask Festival

Words and photographs: Don Fuchs

These days, one of new zealand’s best-known artists is as often behind the camera lens as he is wielding a paintbrush, capturing the much-loved landscapes of his home. observe his relationship with the land through these images from his latest book

Words and photographs: Grahame Sydney
 

Her work as a TV cook and traveller takes Nici Wickes around the world but her heart belongs to the small holiday township of Port Waikato

Words: Yvonne Van Dongen; Photographs: Tessa Chrisp

EVERY SUMMER for the last five years Nici Wickes has run three-day cooking courses for children at the community hall in Port Waikato. The local resident says the non-profit-making courses are her way of giving back to the community that has welcomed her so warmly. Besides, Nici loves children and loves teaching although her methods are a little unorthodox. If the dish works, she’ll praise the budding cook. But if it fails, she’ll not hold back. “Oh dear, those tarts don’t look too good, do they? Bit of a disaster.” To which the errant cook might mumble, “Yeah, I know. I burned them.” Nici is then likely to
pat them on the arm and say cheerfully, “Oh well, no harm done. They’re only tarts. Let’s move on.”

Taine Randell has exchanged the professional rugby field and corporate life overseas for scoring carbon credits and coaching junior teams in his Hawke’s Bay home town.
Words: Ann Warnock; Photographs: Tessa Chrisp

For the first time, a team from the Southern Hemisphere will compete at the us department of energy’s Solar Decathlon in Washington DC.
Words: Bette Flagler; Photographs: Nicola Edmonds

The plight of displaced and poor African children affected a Wellington woman so deeply she ran and didn’t stop until she came up with a plan for help.
Words: Kate Coughlan; Photographs: Tessa Chrisp

The television series Extreme Homes of the World found much to admire in a Coatesville home and its captivating owner whose life is also filled with extremes. Words: Kate Coughlan; Photographs: Jane Ussher