1814 days ago

One year on: teaching online cooking, wine and history and our News

New Zealand School of Food & Wine

We watch captivated by the spectacle of those impressive America's Cup yachts foiling at 40 knots across the Hauraki Gulf, and at the same time, it's hard not to have a salutary reflection on the last 12 months.

Almost to the day, we were celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the New Zealand School of Food and Wine with special wine tastings, cooking classes, forage and gastronomic dinner for over 75 guests + our students. Many of our Christchurch team, including Lois, Philippe and Victoria had come up for the weekend. My mother-in-law, June Hay had also joined us from her retirement home in Christchurch. By Sunday 15 March, I was getting pretty nervous about Covid-19 and rather than have June stay in the North Island for a holiday, she returned home the next day. A few days later June's rest home went into lockdown and I counted the 14 days to see if we too had a NZSFW Covid Cluster. Fortunately not! See below some photos as we recalled the 10th Anniversary of the Christchurch Earthquakes.

Read the full story on our latest newsletter.

More messages from your neighbours
2 days ago

🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…

The Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?

Do you think you know the answer?

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3 days ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

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J
12 hours ago

Illuminate Market 2026 is coming soon!

Jess from Mount Albert

Hosted by Recreate NZ, Illuminate Market is a true celebration of possibility, showcasing the incredible strengths and talents of young people. A space where empowered inclusion comes to life, and the richness of diverse minds is recognised and celebrated. Illuminate Market is the vibrant, socially inclusive world we all want to see.

Bring your whānau and friends along to this joyful community event featuring market stalls, delicious kai, creative workshops, live performances and fun activities for the whole family. Free entry, all welcome!

Saturday 28th March 2026 | 4pm - 8pm
Mt Albert War Memorial Hall & Reserve, 773 New North Road, Mt Albert, Auckland

Illuminate Market is made possible with funding support from Spectrum Foundation and Albert-Eden Local Board.

Follow Recreate NZ on Facebook & Instagram for the latest event updates or visit www.recreate.org.nz....

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