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Daisy Thor-Poet: Change-making With Tinted Productions

Daisy filming for Tinted Productions

The Piha surf is pounding; wind and rain are sweeping across the black sand. Usually, only the surfers brave this weather — but today there’s one, lone photographer, hunched into her jacket. 

She’s waiting. Any moment now there’ll be a break in the weather. That’s when she’ll whip out her Sony A7SII camera and get the shots — waves, surfers, footprints on the sand, and the next on-coming rainband rushing across the bay. 

Daisy Thor-Poet is the sole camera-crew, sound operator and director of Tinted Productions. And she will brave any conditions to get the footage for her latest documentary series, “Changemakers.” 

Because, as she explains, “I had one day free in Auckland, so it was my only chance. I got soaking wet, but I got the shots… which ended up working perfectly.”

Daisy Thor_Poet wet but happy shooting footage for the Changemakers series on Piha Beach.
Caught in the rain on Piha Beach, but Daisy got the shots for “Sustainable Coastlines” and that’s what counted.
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Jane Sutherland: Fabulous Fashion In Kingston

Fashion designer Jane Sutherland's iconic photo in an armchair by the lake in Kingston.

Last year Jane Sutherland wowed us in Athol with a fashion show at the Hide. It had everything you’d expect: sleek hair, sexy make-up. Lights, music, models — go-getting locals rocked the gorgeous clothes on stage. What a night!

Jane’s known for her signature style. That’s top-quality fabric and timeless design married with hand-made metal jewellery. More than anything I craved the white coat. Wish I didn’t spend half my life hunched over a laptop and the other half with kids or on the farm. 

I know zilch about fashion. So my questions tumbled out when I met Jane at her Kingston studio. After 20+ years in the fashion biz, there was a lot to talk about.

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Robbies: All For Pickles And Pickles For All

Jars of Robbies Pickles and Preserves on the shop shelf.

I have to confess I’m not a fan of pickled onions, but I do love a good sauce and Robbies has “sauces to die for.” 

I first met Josie and Gus Robinson of ‘Robbies Pickles and Preserves’ at last summer’s Athol Valley Market.

“It tastes just like Nana used to make” is praise they hear time and again, and with good reason. 

Robbies pickles and sauces ARE just like Nana made. In fact, many of them are made from the very same recipes and home-grown ingredients that Josie’s own Nana created in her kitchen so long ago.

Josie Robinson of Robbies Pickles and Preserves with her daily green hill view behind.
Josie Robinson of Robbies Pickles and Preserves.
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Party On: Harvest Festival At The Hops

A pile of hops waiting to be picked.

Take 30+ curious beer aficionados and a bumper crop of hops. Throw in a delicious barbeque and a keg of Altitude Brewing’s best thirst-quenching brew. Mix with a dollop of music and you have yourself a recipe for the Garston Hops 2019 Hop-Picking Party.

The Big Hops Harvest Problem:

200 hop vines on two farms —  all of them covered in ripe, cone-shaped flowers. A tiny window of time in which to pick them —  and only two busy farmers both trying to juggle multiple farm jobs. The big hop companies have this process all mechanised, but we’re a tiny outfit, just starting out.

What to do?

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Buzzstop Honey Centre: Loving Our Bees

The beautiful Buzzstop Woolshed

The little Buzzstop honey sign sits on Queenstown’s busy state highway. The traffic streams past unaware that just over the paddock lies a sweet, rural delight. Recently, I went to visit Nick Cameron of Buzzstop Honey Centre to get the buzz on his latest venture.

A Tale Of One Woolshed

The old girl was sagging at the seams. 70-years worth of bird droppings encrusted every beam. An ancient smell of sheep wafted up through the open floor grating. Even in the thin winter light, Nick could see the thick piles of dung below. He kicked at the thin, slippery boards which covered the floor.

“Whose crazy idea was this, anyway?” he grumbled.

“Yours, mate” the others chorused, hoisting the wheeled scaffold through the gaping doorway.

Nick clambered up the ladder, heaved the first bucket of hot soapy water and disinfectant up behind him and took out his scrubbing brush. It was time to start work.

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Tawhiti Museum: Such A Gem In Hawera

Tawhiti Museum welcome sign

Sometimes your spur-of-the-moment decision becomes a wonderful discovery. That was certainly the case when we visited the Tawhiti Museum in January.

And although most of this blog is centred on Southland and it’s people, Tawhiti, owned and created by Nigel and Teresa Ogle, is such a fabulous museum that I had to let you in on its secrets.

Entrance to Tawhiti Museum
The entrance to the unexpectedly entrancing Tawhiti Museum.
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