Last year was a tough one for the new management team and
staff at the Fortune Theatre, but this year they can start
enjoying it, says Lara Macgregor, the theatre's artistic
director. She tells Charmian Smith about the new programme
and many other initiatives they are looking forward to.
With the warm weather we usually get in February, a
well chilled rosé is an ideal drink with a long lunch
or on a relaxing evening. It's easy and unchallenging - just
the thing for unwinding with.
Whether it's for health, ethical or environmental reasons,
many people are eating less meat and dairy and heading
towards a vegan diet. Charmian Smith talks to chef Tanya
Hickman about the joys of, and reasons for, a vegan
lifestyle.
From exquisite porcelain and ancient bronzes to kitsch
damper babies, from exotic Chinese opera to the glamorous
film industry, Charmian Smith experiences a whirlwind of
Taiwanese culture and discovers an unusual artistic goal.
Waimate, north of the Waitaki River, may not spring to mind
when you think of wine and vineyards, but Gary and Ann
Dennison have been making wine from their 2.5ha Point Bush
Vineyard on the Hunter Hills above the town for a couple of
years.
Visiting wineries in Marlborough recently, I was told
people often skipped the chardonnay. Chardonnay may be out of
fashion, but it can be a delicious wine if well balanced as
most of those in this tasting were.
John Dodd (1838-1907) introduced the world, and particularly
the United States, to Formosa Oolong tea, a fine tea grown
mostly in the hills north of Taipei. Oolong falls somewhere
between green (unfermented) and black (fully fermented) tea.
A new work celebrating the centenary of Captain Scott's
ill-fated expedition to the Antarctic will be a highlight of
the Southern Sinfonia's 2012 subscription series, which is
released today.
