. Captions by Shrutika Gunanayagam. Edited by Virginia Philp. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 MELLOW ELECTRONIC MUSIC BIRDS SQUAWK Waiheke Island has about 9000 permanent residents and half as many again who treat it an island getaway. A decade before I was born, my amazing mother had the foresight to buy a place here for �100 and a fur coat. We grew up between Onetangi and Ostend, playing in the rock pools, swimming, fishing and exploring. REGGAE-STYLE ELECTRONIC MUSIC The natural beauty of this place combined with its relaxed vibe means that it's always attracted people from around the world. In fact, 27% of people here were born overseas. Add to that the artists and the alternative lifestylers and it makes for a rich and diverse community. In this episode of Neighbourhood, we'll meet an Onetangi local who thrives on bringing people together. I love cooking, because when we got together on the beach after work and then we` we just eating and sharing food and talk. We have so much ideas that it's so easy to do it straight away or the ideas that everybody can agree on. An Ostend resident reveals the way her Argentinian dad inspired her lifelong activism. I remember that my father made me a mosaic of a dolphin, and he said, 'I'm making this for you, 'because you will go out and stop the slaughter of` of cetaceans and other animals.' This was quite some time before I actually did go on that journey. We'll see the unmistakable Japanese influence in the art of local potter,... Pottery is very difficult to achieve things and especially when you put the bowls, and I had a` lots of disasters and a bit like a bumpy road, my life. (CHUCKLES) ...and watch as woman with Hungarian heritage works with neighbourhood kids to raise awareness about displaced children. The children get their eyes open a little bit more to what's actually happening (WHISPERS) outside of Waiheke um, and, you know, they're very blessed to have this special island, and there's a lotta bad stuff and a lot of heartache out there. I'm Brooke Howard-Smith, and this is my neighbourhood. UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC My dad was born near Lucknow, in India, and my mum is Ngati Kahungunu. She grew up in Luggate, in the South Island, and I was born in Auckland. I've always loved being of mixed race. After all, I inherited these insanely shish-kebab-like Indian legs. 'Course, there was the odd rough time. In primary school, I was 'black bum'; by high school, I'd graduated to 'curry muncher', and I remember kids in intermediate would pretend they weren't Maori. Aubrey Henare told us his last name was Spanish. GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC CONTINUES My mix of cultures ` Maori, Indian, or Mindian, as I call it ` has been a blessing in so many ways, and I'm not the only person in the neighbourhood who thinks that having a foot in two camps can help fuel their creativity. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC Interracial marriage, it wasn't common at all. It wasn't very popular, uh, with my parents and, uh, my mother, even fairly early stage, and my father was very stubborn, and, uh, he didn't want, um, attend to the wedding. So he agreed finally three or four days before. GENTLE PIANO MUSIC CONTINUES My name is Hiromi Stewart. I was born in downtown of Tokyo, near Ginza, at Kyobashi, the place name, yeah. I met Malcolm at the English language school, and he was a tutor. GENTLE MUSIC We have been married for 50 years. I wasn't happy, uh, that people treat me as, uh, Malcolm's Japanese wife, and I wanted to be something more, and then pottery came, and, uh, I liked pottery, and, uh, I just... involved more and more, and then I had a little award, and then I decided to become a full-time potter. LIGHT MUSIC My pottery is very influenced Japanese style, I think, because, uh, pottery's` you know, you see your past narratives through, yeah,... but pottery is very difficult to achieve things and especially when you put bowls, and I'm, um` I quite interested into the glaze, and then I had a` lots of disasters and a bit like a bumpy road, my life. (CHUCKLES) I made, uh, lots of bowls, uh, which` it's suited to the` some glaze, and I like, um, celadon on the porcelains, and blue celadons with, uh, patterns inlaid, and also I like Shinsha, uh, which has a small amount of the copper in, and I still` I have been doing that for... nearly 20 years, but still, I have no control, and, uh, if it comes, it's all one glaze, just one glaze, but comes` each firing comes out quite different ways, yeah. Oh, look at that. WOMAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY Today we doing Raku firings, and that's a club, uh, members, uh, wanted to do. So, uh, Raku is very short, exciting, uh, firings and originated in Japan for tea ceremonies and the tea bowls. I'm very scared. Shall I lift mine? Oh. OK. Ooh. (GRUNTS) Very hot. They put into the sawdust and then, uh, cover with it and then oxidise and then make a black smoke and then the glaze, you know, painted, that's` glaze comes to shiny, and so it's quite interesting. My pot in there is` I put only brushwork with the glaze, you know, over. Splashed glaze, so, uh, smoked black, and then, uh, shiny, you know, background. HISSING, BIRDS CHIRP First five years, when I go back to Japan, I thought, 'Oh, what am I? 'Who am I? Am I... 'Japanese or am I Kiwi, NZer?' And then 20 years, I felt very comfortable in NZ, and now doesn't matter where I am, and I'm quite comfortable, and I'm quite con` you know, confident being Kiwi. BIRDS CHIRP BIRDS SQUAWK LIGHT MUSIC My grandmother and grandfather moved to NZ from India when my father and uncle were tiny, around the time of the Indian-Pakistan partition. They left their home, their family and friends behind, everything without ever even seeing NZ. In fact, my grandfather went from being a high-ranking engineer in the railways to working a double shift in a tyre factory just to make ends meet, and that kinda sacrifice is something I'm incredibly proud of. BIRDS SQUAWK These days, Waiheke has a bit of a reputation as a playground for millionaires, but, in fact the island has more lower-income groups and less wealthy people than Auckland City as a whole, and with that comes some real social challenges. One Ostend woman has made it her mission to provide a creative outlet for young locals while drawing attention the plight of children overseas at the same time. POIGNANT PIANO MUSIC The reason I feel Hungarian is because I was totally immersed in that life at home. I spoke it, I ate Hungarian. (CHUCKLES) Even though I was bilingual, we never spoke English at home. My family came from a very small, tiny little village, um, called Hegymagas in Hungary. Um, I was born in England, and, um, so that's where they all lived and grew up and... yeah. This next photo is of my mother and my grandmother, and it's taken in Hungary and obviously with quite Communist attire. (CHUCKLES) Life was very tough for, uh, my mother and my grandmother, albeit for all of, um, Hungary at that time. This was around the world` World War II. Um, they were occupied first by the Germans and then by the Russians and basically kept hostages in their own home. Had to cook and clean and take care of the soldiers and` when they didn't even have enough food for themselves, so... quite scary. There tends to be a` definitely a melancholic streak in the actual culture. Hungary has one of the highest suicide rates, as does NZ. I can tell you straight up and down, I have all of those characteristics. (CHUCKLES) I can laugh and cry at the drop of a hat, so` and that's why I'm good at what I do. I can make people do that too in the audience, and it's a really good skill, and it's a great` it's a burden many times, um, but it's also a tremendous gift. Step, and as you take` plant that foot, push your chest through, and then you sink as it's coming through again, and step, chest comes up. Kaleidoscope Performance is my baby. (CHUCKLES) It's a performing arts school. Most of my life has been quite sad, and the way I escaped it was in a dreamworld... and making stories and music, and... it was another plane for me to exist,... LIGHT, UPBEAT MUSIC ...and it's just become an amazing piece of physical` it's a physical theatre company now. We've got some tremendous talent, and it's a vehicle for me to get things off my chest, basically. Y-Y` It's like you're dragging a really heavy weight, OK? And you wouldn't be going, 'Oh God, I wonder what we're having for dinner.' Think about` It's life or death, OK? GIRLS CHUCKLES, SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY It's` (CHUCKLES) I know. It's life or death. You don't know if you're gonna make it to the other end of the desert, OK? And this` this is a poor child you've found, OK? But you don't know if they're gonna make it across the water to the new promised land. Who knows? So I wanna see that in your body and in your face. This particular dance is inspired by the events occurring right now with Syria and the refugees, just the massive trouble that occurring in Europe, basically. Um, it's coming from, I guess, a child's point of view and the refugee's point of view, that they're leaving a place that they've known, and it's all those mixed emotions and mixed feelings that occur when there's a crisis like this. What do you think the marching represents? Child soldiers. Child soldiers. So, they have child soldiers, where they kidnap kids... or pay parents to give them the kids, and they train them to become soldiers. SOLEMN MUSIC BIRDS CHIRP The children get their eyes open a little bit more to what's actually happening (WHISPERS) outside of Waiheke, um, and, you know, they` they're very blessed to have this special island, and there's a lot of bad stuff and a lot of heartache out there. Kids having to work... for people who want` who have no feelings for other people. In the dance, uh, when people were in the circle, that was supposed to be like a fence around the little girl trying to escape. SOLEMN MUSIC CONTINUES What I'm most proud of is the fact that I've got such a wonderful company of young adults... participating, and I think that it's no mean feat,... and... it shows that what I do is meaningful. It` It means something to other people as well, especially that really hard group, so I'm really proud of that, really proud. BIRDS SQUAWK LIGHT MUSIC So, meet my father, my mother. This is Carl. He's a lawyer. Would you say you're pragmatic? Most of the time. Good, good, good. Mum is an artist, and you would be more... loopy? Creative. > Creative, thank you. Creative. > Uh, and they're dynamic opposites. In each of them, I've learnt something fantastic, and with Mum, her art has not just taught me the value of style and form, it's also a bit of a nod to our culture and our heritage. This is a mask my mother made of my great-great-great-grandfather Renata, and it's something you gotta love about Maoridom, that intergenerational connection. An Ostend local believes she has her Argentinian father to thank for her political activism, and she in turn is creating a legacy that's benefitting the entire world. POIGNANT MUSIC I remember that my father did tell me one day that I would one of the people who would be fighting to save the world, that I would stop the killing of animals, the, uh, human-rights abuses. I would be a social justice warrior, if you like, and I remember he made me a mosaic of a dolphin, and he said, 'I'm making this for you, 'because you will go out and stop the slaughter of` of cetaceans and other animals.' This was quite some time before I actually did go on that journey. My name is Susi Newborn, and I was born in London in England. My family are from Argentina. When I was growing up, we were spoken to in Latin-American Spanish at home, so the language in the home was Spanish, and the language on the street was, obviously, English. It seemed normal to me that during the day, I would be this little English schoolgirl, and then I'd come home at night and become the daughter of a South-American diplomat. (CHUCKLES) My father was very interested in Eastern philosophy, and we would have` a quote from Buddha would be given to us at dinner time, and we would discuss what that meant. He was a fantastic father. He was a fantastic father. Uh, I'm just sorry I, uh` he died when I was so young and I never got to know him as an adult, really. Uh, yes, but he certainly made an impression on my life, and I am who I am because of my father. GENTLE ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC This black-and-white photograph here was taken on the rooftop of, uh, the first Greenpeace office in Amsterdam, and this group of people gathered there, uh, in late 1979 and formed Greenpeace International. That's me, there, standing next to Jon Castle who was the captain of the Rainbow Warrior. When we came together to form Greenpeace, the idea was that we would buy a boat. Eventually we` we found a rusty old trawler in, um` in London, one of the docks there, and we converted her into a boat, um, fit for purpose to go out against, uh, whalers in the North Atlantic. So we took all the trawl gear off, chipped her all by hand ` she was terribly rusty ` and, uh, painted her green and put a rainbow and thing, called her the Rainbow Warrior. This must be her coming into, um, Auckland in 1985, and it is always very emotional for me to... to see her there with the sails. I never s` I never saw her with the sails. UNSETTLED MUSIC When I first heard about the bombing and that the` and that Fernando had died, I was absolutely shocked, and I felt totally helpless, uh, because I was thousands of miles away in America. SOLEMN MUSIC I thought the man` the guy had probably died trying to go and get the cameras out of his, uh, cabin and save all the photographic evidence of what` of their` of what they'd seen in the Pacific, uh, in terms of what had happened at Rongelap, uh, with the victims of radiation and other, um, campaigns they'd been on. We must've been doing something right for them to want to come along and stop us in our tracks doing it. REFLECTIVE MUSIC Well, this ring was made for me by a friend of mine called Timmy Smith, who's a Maori jeweller who lives on the island. And I was talking to her about this year being the 30th anniversary of the, uh, bombing of the Rainbow Warrior and that I thought it would be, um, lovely to have something that would commemorate, um, the Rainbow Warrior for me, and I've got that old table from the mess room that's covered in rust, and she said, 'Well, give me the rust, and I'll see what I can do,' and I ground it up with some shells that had been given to me that have grown on the superstructure of the Rainbow Warrior, uh, reef in Matauri Bay. So I sort of ground it up, made a bit of a mixture and, uh, gave it to her, and, um, she incorporated it into this lovely silver, uh, setting, and, um, every now and then, um, when it wears down a bit, she tops it up with a bit more rust, and in doing so, she always says a karakia. She has talked about what an awesome privilege it has been to` to do this work. REFLECTIVE MUSIC CONTINUES It means that I'm constantly` that the Rainbow Warrior's constantly part of me, it's part of my life, like, it sort of, uh, re` rekindled my relationship, and so I... I grew to love her all over again and realised that she has always been very much a part of my life, um, most of my life, in fact. LIGHT MUSIC If you're part Indian, you have to be influenced by the food. It's just stunning, and Lord knows I didn't get any of the Indian cricketing skills, so I'm happy that I can cook the odd Indian dish. This is my famous tandoori chicken salad with pikopiko, kind of a nod to my Maori and Indian heritage. Would you say I'm OK? You're 'moderaste'. Y-You're moderate. I-I wouldn't go` (CHUCKLES) I wouldn't get too overpowered by` 'Moderaste' is an awesome term too. I'm not that great, but I'm humble about it. (CHUCKLES) The simple act of sharing food is such a powerful thing to bring people together. There's nothing like it to create a strong bond between people, even from different cultures. RHYTHMIC CLAPPING # In the island, Waiheke Island, # where all the dreams come true. RHYTHMIC CLAPPING CONTINUES I was born in Mataram, Indonesia, in Lombok, small island, and it's beautiful, tropical island. It's three little islands. (PLAYS GUITAR) ALL SING 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' IN SPANISH My name's Asih Aprianingsih, uh, given by my parents. It's very Indonesian name. # ... all the dreams come true. CHEERING, LIGHT APPLAUSE Now, here in the island, they call me Mona Chica. It's mean 'cheeky monkey' or it's more friendly name, as, um, my character is happy and fun to be around or just laughing and joking. # A colourful cloud in my skyyyy. # My friends are mostly Latin-American friends ` Argentina, uh, Chile. I think the culture is, with Latin America, we are similar culture. The food is similar, and we are connect more, and we love, um, living art ` music and food, sharing and everything else. # Yeah. # PEOPLE CLAP ALONG Five` Eight years ago, I open my home, and they come to stay, and then word from mouth to mouth, then` and that's how` now it's probably people round the world looking for a place to stay, and just easy to find me. (CHUCKLES) UPBEAT PERCUSSIVE MUSIC Everything. I love to cook any food, yeah. Someone say they're hungry, I will get up and cook. (CHUCKLES) It doesn't matter what time. (CHUCKLES) I'm making peanut sauce for the kebab. SIZZLING Onions, garlic,... peanut butter, soy sauce, salt and pepper,... and just add some water to make it little bit thinner. CHEERFUL MUSIC We go crazy about the sauce. We can eat the sauce all day. I love cooking, because when we got together, um, on the beach, uh, after work and then we just eating and sharing food and talk. We have so much ideas that it's so easy to do it straight away or the ideas that everybody can agree on. LIGHT MUSIC Indonesian people are friendly. We smile a lot. Yeah, we easy, living, um, life easily, and we bless a lot of things in life and enjoy more, um, everything that we have. I'm cooking for all my friends from Latin America and, uh, one from Germany here. We are so lucky we have this barbecue in every beach, like Palm Beach, Little Oneroa, Oneroa. And you meet people, you share food with everyone. So, some French people came, then we shared the snapper and tried stuff from there. I love corn. Corn is, um,... very Indonesian or NZ or Latin American. Potato, of course, because, um, all these vegetables for vegetarians. Thank you, Mona. MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY Mmm! Dip it on the... Thank you, Mona. Nice sauce, Mona. Thank you, Mona, for this... amazing food. Yes, it's really... Thank you. Yeah? Yum. A very good mix. Yes. Mmm. Mmm. She's, like` yeah, everyone goes to her with their concerns and... She knows everything about everyone, because everyone talks to her. Yeah. She's like a friend, mom, everything. (CHUCKLES) Uh, sister? No? Sister, oh, yeah, sister. It's easy to meet Mona, because if you're in a good moment, uh, funny moment, Mona appear, yeah. (CHUCKLES) MONA: Yes, Waiheke's home for me, and... I create all sort of environment, home for anyone else, yeah, that want to make that home, so they know that I'm here. They can come to see me, and, yeah, it's` it's a good feeling. It's my heart in Waiheke, you know. I'm become local now (CHUCKLES) of Waiheke, party of Waiheke property. (CHUCKLES) MID-TEMPO ELECTRONIC MUSIC Waiheke is my turangawaewae, my standing place, and I feel absolutely at home here. It'd be hard to find a more beautiful island in the world, and I mean that in every sense of the word 'beautiful', but it also attracts incredible people, and it'd be hard to find a more open and understanding place. I think the one thing we share as NZers is that at some point in time, one of our crazy ancestors decided to leave everything familiar behind in order to make a better life here. New migrants are making that same journey today, and the moment we understand that commonality, that's the moment we understand what it means to truly be a Kiwi. Captions by Shrutika Gunanayagam. Edited by Virginia Philp. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016