Avenues

Avenues is Christchurch’s monthly city magazine. I have been contributing features to the magazine regularly since late 2008, from profile pieces to house, business and travel features. Many issues have a particular theme, such as fashion or food, and I have written across most of them.

  • Thomas Petschner, a co-founder of Clown Doctors New Zealand, slips on a red nose, chats about life and explains why laughter matters.

  • Christchurch designer Davinia Sutton is setting the kitchen and bathroom world alight, having won 29 national design awards. She talks about her path to success and the challenges of building in post-quake Christchurch.

  • If Tom Taylor's accurate boots take him all the way to this year's Rugby World Cup, history will almost be repeating itself. In 1987, Tom's father played for the triumphant All Blacks in the first Rugby World Cup.

  • [online] Multisport star Richard Ussher has taken over fronting the Speight's Coast to Coast from race founder Robin Judkins. The five-time Coast to Coast winner is determined to put his own stamp on this month's event.

  • Ricky May made harness racing history at Addington a year ago when he claimed his seventh New Zealand Trotting Cup, driving champion Terror to Love to his third consecutive win. Can the pair repeat the performance?

  • [online] Award-winning designer Dan Rutherford remains upbeat about the future of our Garden City, despite the demise of the Ellerslie International Flower Show. He shares his passion for beautifying the city, one garden at a time.

  • [online] New Zealand’s leading female triathlete, Andrea Hewitt, is preparing to compete at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Her partner and coach, Laurent Vidal, has had to overcome a huge health challenge to be by her side.

  • [online] Celebrated filmmaker Gaylene Preston’s latest production, Hope and Wire, is a television mini-series that pays tribute to the resilience of Christchurch people following the devastating earthquakes…

  • Christchurch dance duo Kate and Lei’ataua Limuloa are hot property after placing second in last year’s New Zealand’s Got Talent. Doors have opened and the couple are high-stepping through them…

  • Less than two years after winning The Block NZ with his sister, Libby, Ben Crawford has launched a book with hot new design ideas taken from the country’s most innovative cafes. We take a walk with Ben to several of Christchurch’s shining examples…

  • [online] A decade ago, Jack Tame left Cashmere High School bound for a career in broadcasting. Now based in New York, he travels to United States hot spots, with camera in hand …

  • Some fashionistas follow their own innate sense of style, not trends or labels. They have an instinct for what works, confidence galore and an ability to surprise. Kim Newth delved into their wardrobes of diversity …

  • [online] George, Adam, Sam and Luke Whitelock are four brothers making a big impact on Super 15 rugby. This power set of men are tough, competitive and hardworking. Best of all, they’re on our side …

  • [online] Christchurch author Rachael King’s first children’s book, Red Rocks, has been shortlisted in this year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. She owes her fascination with the sea partly to her father, the late Michael King, a prominent historian who loved to fish …

  • [online] Halfback Andy Ellis is a Crusaders star, beloved by fans for his fast, aggressive style of play. The 28-year-old is also blessed with good looks and a positive attitude, but it’s his skills as a landscape gardener that will impress the crowds at this month’s Ellerslie International Flower Show…

  • [online] From a writing hut at Otanerito Beach on Banks Peninsula, award-winning novelist, playwright and poet Fiona Farrell writes about how the broken city of Christchurch is being rebuilt …

  • Kite it, board it, ride it or just relax and enjoy it – sea and sand is where the action unfolds over the warmer months. Kim Newth meets a group of people whose summers revolve around Canterbury’s beaches and waterways …

  • February’s earthquake not only wiped out Christchurch as we know it, but people’s plans and priorities have radically changed to cope with a new way of life …

  • Rangiora airfield is one of Canterbury’s hubs for recreational flying. Home of the Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club, it’s not just a meeting place for pilots, but also for aviation enthusiasts and craftsmen who like to build their own planes …

  • Canterbury is ripe with gourmet produders for whom food is more than a necessity; it’s an art form too. Other innovators have grown clever enterprises from simple foods such as pasta and asparagus …

  • Two sporting legends from the 1990s spend some time with journalist Kim Newth, who finds out what their lives are like now they are married with children and retired from top-level competition…(profiling Anna Forrest nee Simcic and Annelise Coberger).

  • Science and high-end fashion are meeting on the catwalk, thanks to the innovative work of Lincoln’s AgResearch team. Kim Newth meets the scientists who are weaving wonders in the lab.