August #04

What makes a city feel like a city? It’s the ability, if you wanted to, to dry your duvet at a laundromat at 2am. It’s having a pharmacy that’s open til late. Or maybe it’s waiting less than 15m for a double decker bus, with a paperback folded into your trenchcoat pocket. Or, the ultimate test, is it having enough of a mainway so that now you have laneways?

If you’re single and dating, all you might be interested in is heading out the door with a handful of back-up conversation topics in your back pocket and knowing that whatever way it turns, you’ve got options. I met my boyfriend on a tinder date at Lazat, and the walk from upper Victoria Street to Wonderhorse, where we decided to take our night next, were the most blissful, exhilarating, easy 20 minutes of my life. Both of us have lived in bigger, more built up cities - but all that matter that night is that there was a place to go to next.

We all know the Wonderhorses, the Ernests, and the Duck Islands - all of which are reliable date-night fodder. But one of our single readers asked us for date ideas that weren’t a certain ice cream store (as much as we love it). And so we have a date night special - not just for singles, but all sorts of different interludes. We reckon we’ve got at least six weeks’ worth here, and after that you’re on your own; at least until you meet someone new and then you can roll the dice all over again.

In other news - the film festival, a Lego symposium (sorry, we mean, “Brick Show”), and the previous late-night favourite Riverbank Lane gets an early riser. And if you’re a little bit sporty we have American Footy, and the Dart Masters.

To all our new subscribers that have joined us over the last couple of issues - welcome! As always, send us your tips, tricks and picks to hello@thewaikatodraft.com.

Date Night Spesh

Best sporty date: Callum Brae Pitch and Putt. More than minigolf but no where near an actual real golf course, it’s fun and not a big commitment if you don’t click with the person or if you turn out to suck at golf. We’ve heard that people bring along own drinks there, which sounds perfect on a sunny day.

Best guys/girls night: Shanghai in the Sky City complex. Zhejiang and Sichuan classics done well.

Best view of the river: Sure Gothenburg is beautiful, but have you see the balcony at Bowl and Social? Reasonably priced pints and surprisingly solid bar snacks available.

Best wholesome date: Rüdi’s (as we said earlier, are taking the old Duck Island’s place in Riverbank Lane) run sourdough workshops - they’re all sold out for now but keep an ear to the ground for more, especially given their new digs.

Best Vegan date: Hello Rosie in Casabella Lane.

Best smarty pants date: Poppies book store. Ask for Infinate Jest, or maybe some Joan Didion, in a loud, performative voice. Next door to the above.

Best Wine Bar: Lol, just kidding, we still don’t have one yet.

Best date night transport: Lime bike, obviously. You can flirt with the bell.

Best off-piste dumpling house: We might have to return to Dumpling King, in Silverdale, in another issue, because their dumplings are the business. Cheap, plentiful and an extremely moreish.

Best eat big date: Korean BBQ at Family House. Appetites are sexy and nothing quite breaks the ice like a beer, a soju, and a tableside grill.

Best to-go date: Crust is serving some of the best pizza in the city, but, alas, has precisely zero ambiance. Not to worry - grab a pizza and take it to one of the many secluded spots around the city, including the slopes around the water tower up high by the lake, or behind The Little Bull, by the glasshouses at the gardens, or one of them many park benches along the river.

Best other lake: The university grounds are beautiful and underrated. There’s no a whole lot else there unless you catch something at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts. A winner if your crush likes fancy music.

Best cinema: The Tivoli, in Cambridge, with a licence to booze and plenty of pretty.

For the morning after: Easy. Browsers, with coffee at Café Kopi.

Scuttlebutt

After – what was that? short weeks? – in the naughty corner for running red lights in Auckland (which readers will know Aucklanders regard as a sport), Te Huia thankfully is allowed back into the Strand again, from August 7.

A free pizza is just a netgun away as Dominos brings out drone pizza deliveries for Huntly. “If we can do it in Huntly," said SkyDrop founder Matthew Sweeny, “we can do it in any suburban location in New Zealand.” Invest now, perhaps?

Did you go to a Women’s World Cup match? You should have. But we found the post-match offerings in short walking distance pretty disappointing - we wanted a pint after a great time at the Vietnam vs Portugal game, but The Healm had already stopped pouring and Speight’s Ale House was completely shut.

This man has a veritable tropical orchard in his Hamilton backyard.

The Avalon Bakehouse’s bacon and egg pie has taken out top honours at the Bakels Supreme Pie Awards.

We’re quite taken by the Old Hamilton & Surrounding Districts Facebook page - it does what it says on the tin. Packed with old photos of Hamilton and its surrounds (and, curiously, *lots* of photos of old gas stations) with cameos from the Waipa Delta, the old Garden Place, and some of Hamilton’s best brutalist architecture on display.

The Meteor is looking for new trustees for its board.

And lastly check out the Kirikiriroa Metro substack; a cheat sheet for Hamilton city planning.

What’s on

Music

by Adam Fulton

Heavy Chest LP release. 11th August. Last Place. Reverb laden indie pop from former Pōneke outfit, now based in Melbourne.

Soft Bait, KMTP, The Sour. 12th August. Last Place. Extremely refined post-punk group Soft Bait from Tāmaki Makaurau as part of their mid-winter tour. Joined by KMTP and The Sour.

Video Nasty, Static. 17th August. Nivara Lounge. Abrasive and chaotic grunge from Tāmaki Makaurau 3 piece Video Nasty as part of their nationwide tour. Supported by Static.

Film

by Jason Marshall

Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) kicks off on August 9th with screenings at the Lido until August 29th.

Our picks for the festival:

Reality. A dramatisation of the arrest and interrogation of US intelligence whistleblower Reality Winner, Reality sees a breakout performance from Sydney Sweeney. Screenings on the 21st and 22nd of August. Trailer.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline. A climate change polemic built like a heist thriller, How to Blow Up a Pipeline follows a disaffected crew of activists with an explosive solution to a nearby oil pipeline. “A matter-of-fact portrayal of the palpable anger emanating from a betrayed generation,” writes Clarisse Loughrey of the Independent. Screenings on the 12th, 16th, and 17th of August. Trailer.

Past Lives. A slow burn romantic drama about two childhood friends reconnecting after twenty years apart, Past Lives has been charming critics since its US release, with Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post calling it “a film that expertly holds back wellsprings of emotion, until it unleashes a deluge.” Screenings on the 11th and 12th of August. Trailer.

Outside of the festival:

The long awaited new Wes Anderson flick, Asteroid City, opens on August 10th. We’ve heard mixed things about it, but we’re still excited.

Theatre

by Louise Drummond

All I See. Saturday 5th August, 7pm-8pm. The Meteor. This is the unmissable show of the month. Cian Parker is amazingly talented, known for the amazing stories she tells. She's just returned from touring this piece in the UK and Serbia. All I See is a dance/theatre show performed by Cian and Mihailo Lađevac that tells the story of two bereaved friends who bond over their journeys of grief.

Hairspray. 12-26 August, 7.30pm (and some matinees). Riverlea Theatre. Most people have already heard of this 1960s Baltimore-set musical, thanks to the John Travolta movie, and judging by the cast (led by the very gifted Hannah Doherty), this is going to be a very fun night out!

Randy Feltface. 13th August, 7pm. Clarence St Theatre. A puppet who has performed in London and New York and been nominated for Best Comedy at Edinburgh Fringe is looking for your vote in politics.

Urban Hymns. 30th August - 2 September, 7.30pm. Meteor Theatre. A vibrant NZ play originally written by Mīria George for the Young and Hungry festival gets an outing, performed by the talented local crew of TAHI TA'I TASI. Urban Hymns tells the story of Joseph, who has suddenly been made redundant from his petrol station job in the middle of a recession. TTT's past work has been really impressive and their advocacy of Maori and Pasifika work is such a vital part of our theatre scene.

Food

The Cuisine Good Food Guide for 2023/2024 features a few Waikato favourites - Hayes Common, Alpino in Cambridge, and Mr Pickles. You can read it for yourself on August 7th.

Events

Keen to try out American football? The Hamilton Hawks are holding a muster on August 26th.

Alternatively, the Dart Masters are on at Claudelands on August 4 and 5.

The Hamilton Brick Show is on August 5 - 6, from 9am to 4pm, bring your little, or big, Lego lovers.

Hey, Sprechen Sie talk? The Waikato Goethe Society hosts their monthly German Talk event at The Helm on the last Wednesday of every month.

Contributors: Sylvia Giles, Jason Marshall, Adam Fulton (music), Louise Drummond (theatre), Jacob Sparrow (art director)