Ottolenghi birthday feast

Ottolenghi birthday feast at Hōkio prepared by Andrew and Alec #hōkio #hokiobeach #feast #birthday #friends #dinner #delicious

Dishes: • Tomatoes with sumac onions and pine nuts • Brussel sprouts with burnt butter and black garlic • Sweet potato in tomato, lime and cardamom sauce • Lime and coconut potato gratin • Curried carrot mash with brown butter

Collage of Ottolenghi dishes

Chill’n in the garden #hōkio #hokiobeach #garden #chill #chilling #palms #weekend #tunes

pillows on the deck under the dappled light of palm trees

Fire in the Sky #mōrena #morning #sunrise #pōneke #wellington

bright orange, pink and red sky over a cityscape

Misty morning #tāmaki #tāmakimakaurau #auckland #quickvisit #mōrena #morning #misty #harbour #view #sammackay

View across CBD buildings to a misty but otherwise sunny Auckland harbour

A little art in Auckland #tāmaki #tāmakimakaurau #toiotāmaki #aucklandartgallery #tate #light #sammackay


Golden hour in Hagley Park 🌳 #ōtautahi #hagleypark #christchurch

late evening sun on trees in a park

Just a little party. 🌈🎉 #CubaDupa #HouseParty #EvaSt # HannahsLaneway #Pōneke

collage of various house party pictures

Mōrena Tāmaki Makaurau #mōrena #AtaMārie #morning #workout #LesMills #KyberPass #Newmarket #Tāmaki #TāmakiMakaurau #Auckland

Orange early morning sky over Kyber Pass Road, Newmarket. Red Les Mills sign on the side of a building

Great way to start the day after a fabulous concert 🎶 📚 🥯 #deli #federalstreetdelicatessen #florenceandthemachine #concert #books #unitybooks #auckland #tāmakimakaurau

bag of books from Unity in a booth at Federal Deli

A Night to Remember

Fantastic party for Mayor Tory Whanau's 40th. Wonderful party, great people, and a chance to recover and catchup the day after. #party #wellington #pōneke #torywhanau #billhastings

A night to remember


Pōneke - a collage #tepapa #toiartgallery #stjohnsbar #goldings #pōneke #sun #autumn #sammckay

Poneke collage - sunny waterfront St Johns bar, art gallery, Goldings bar


Fabulous Day Party at the White Barn with Hamish and Alastair, a quick visit to see Mum and Dad at Eketāhuna, and dinner on the deck with Bill and Simon at Hōkio. ❤️💙💚 #DayParty #WhiteBarn #Carterton #Wairarapa #Eketāhuna #EkeCountryCottage #Tararua #Hōkio #HōkioBeach #Horowhenua

collage showing garden party, white barn with green plantings, country cottage and dinner on a beach house deck

If anyone in Pōneke needs an in-depth guide to the Scythians and other historical steppe peoples I can probably help 😂. I actually did not set out to create this collection… but now that I have it I love it 😍 📚 #books #history #scythians #steppe #collection #serendipity

A bookshelf with 10 books about the ancient Scythians or related steppe peoples

Temporary solution to the 2023 shelving crisis - double stacking. Not an acceptable long term solution but needs must… 📚 #books #shelving #crisis #2023

Horribly over stacked double shelved book case

Currently reading: The Darker Angels of Our Nature edited by Philip Dwyer 📚

A refutation of psychologist Steven Pinker’s 2012 “The Better Angels of Our Nature” by historians of violence. The editor is the Professor of History and Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence at the University of Newcastle, and co-editor of Cambridge World History of Violence.


Blissful time at Hōkio.


A Man and His Pride by Luke Rutledge

Review: A Man and His Pride by Luke Rutledge 📚

This was the prefect book to read on the way home from Sydney World Pride 2023. It has been a while since a book made me both laugh out loud and cry for the characters and for the things they represent. Luke Rutledge’s debut novel is set at the time of Australia’s Same Sex Marriage referendum. It skilfully weaves a tale of flawed deeply human people dealing with different sorts of trauma inflicted by many varieties of homophobia and self repression. It’s equally a story about how heteronormative expectations damage us all - queer or straight - but also about the gentle love of friendship can help us overcome and heal our hurts. Truly, love wins - just not always how you expect it will.


What a crew! What a parade! #parade #tradies #gay #sydney #mardigras #worldpride

Mardi Gras parade Gay Tradies float mid parade

Mardi Gras parade Gay Tradies float mid parade


The Sydney World Pride / Mardi Gras 2023 Sussex St Library 📚 #books #library #sydney #worldpride #mardigras

A stack of books purchased on a visit to Sydney

Incredible collection at the Sydney Modern art gallery. #art #modernart #gallery #sydney

Selection of art from the Sydney Modern gallery