September #16
Kia ora dear readers, can you believe it’s September already?
We’ve been enjoying the sunshine and warmth over the last week and a half or so, in between the bouts of torrential rain.
This month: String quartets over the landscape of Te Pahuu, a new ghost bridge, a concert and whisky tasting for the Scots about us, and we take a back seat with a flying doctor.
As usual if you want to reach out and let us know how we’re doing, or want to drop us some hot gossip, shoot us an email on hello@thewaikatodraft.com or slide into our Insty DMs.
Scuttlebutt
The council will keep its Maaori wards - which triggers a referendum on retaining them or not, at the next local body elections in 2025.
Waikato Hospital has been in the news for long waits and staff shortages - particularly at the junior doctor level. But apparently, the problem is that we’re spending too much money. Our general advice is to try to avoid getting a major illness in the short to medium term future.
We have a new bridge Te Ara Pekapeka - what a little beauty. There’s more below in the feature.
Hamilton teenager Alexandria Endres played in the World Billiard Championships. Can you imagine how many men in the audience who reckon they’d win against her?
North & South wrote a piece in the print edition, featuring Louise Hutt and Karl Martin-Bouton of The Green, with an obligatory line about people “unironically” loving Hamilton.
Lastly, we’d noticed town is quieter town is on Friday night - this month we headed into town after the Memoir Panel at Hamilton Book Month (with panellists Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, Emma Espiner, and Craig Hoyle - all of whom were excellent), dashed across to Last Place and then to Wonderhorse afterwards. On our way home we got picked up by local aunty and famous uber driver Shelley (with the shortbread). Aunty Shelly agrees and says the young folks are getting turnt on Saturday nights - which makes for a great date-night night without having to deal with a crowd or being confronted by your rapidly advancing age.
Features
The Flying Doctor - We take flight with doctor and British import Hannah Price, and talk about the Waikato Aero Club’s long history, and applying the lessons of aviation to medicine.
Te Ara Pekapeka Bridge - A Review - Weighing in on Kirikiriroa’s newest bridge.
What’s on
IRL
The Hamilton Civic choir wrote to tell us about their Slàinte Mhath - and we were glad they did. The entire evening raises a glass to the Scottish Diaspora at the Cambridge Town Hall September 21, starting with a choral concert, followed by a whisky tasting and a quiz (tickets to these are sold separately), and with prizes for the best dress. Ach aye, yes please.
Matamata - a Texas Pete’s pop-up is coming to you September 4- 7, at the carpark at 91 Firth Street.
Brought to you by Go Eco and Hospice Waikato, Let’s Get Thirfty is back for another year at the Meteor. September 5-7. Bringing clothes from Hamilton’s best thrift stores together to the one spot, adding to the thrill of the hunt but taking away a little of the travel admin. $20 per person, with a 5-bag maximum. Students $10.
Convergence, the big annual shindig from the Waikato Role Playing Guild (that’s tabletop roleplay - the kind with dice, you horndogs) is running September 7-8 at the Distinction Hotel and Conference Center in Te Rapa. They welcome both old hands and fresh faces looking to try something new.
The longest running untutored life drawing group in Hamilton happens every Friday for $20, at St Peters Cathedral.
Cambridge Record Fair at the Town Hall September 6th 4-7pm
Pirongia throws a good little party - and their annual craft day is September 29. Just remember this is when smart people start their Christmas shopping (we start on December 22nd)
Music
By Adam Fulton
NZ String Quartet. Soundlounge, Te Pahū. September 6. Tickets.
Who can honestly say they have watched the New Zealand String Quartet perform overlooking the vast pastoral landscape of Te Pahu? Nobody can, but that will all change on September 6th.
Kirikiriroa Hardcore night. Mesoverse. September 14. Door sales.
The 2nd instalment of monthly hardcore nights organised by Crunch DIY. Martial Law, Cease and Desist and n00bies Hoon.
Troy Kingi and the Cactus Handshake. Last Place. September 20. Tickets.
Widely recognised as Rotorua’s answer to Sufjan Stevens, Troy Kingi brings his latest band to Hamilton a for a night of “Desert Rock”. [This gig is sold out at the time of writing, so approach a scalper maybe.]
Theatre
By Louise Drummond
Firebringer: A New Stone Age Musical, Meteor Theatre, 10-14 September, 7.30pm.
Readers familiar with Team Starkid will know everything they write is hilarious. (A Very Potter Musical is the musical parody Harry absolutely deserved.) Firebringer: A New Stone Age Musical has a great cast and to summarise really quick: a tribe of early homo sapiens who worship a duck deity, but then fire is invented and stuff gets complicated. Top notch.
Eli Matthewson: Night Terror and Kirsty Webeck: I'll Be The Judge of That, Meteor Theatre, 27 September, 7.30pm (Eli) and 9pm (Kirsty)
Actually a comedy evening, and with two separate shows from comedians at the top of their game. Eli talks about that one time his boyfriend tried to kill him in his sleep, and Kirsty talks about dating farmers and her mysterious run-in with a concert band, amongst other things. You can choose to just see one of the shows, or you can see both and even get a promo code discount if you book through The Meteor's website.
Glamilton Drag Show, Meteor Theatre, 28 September, 8pm.
Kirikiriroa's fabulous drag scene comes out for another gorgeous night of raunchy, glittery fun. I am due to be giving birth that week, but honestly, if it wasn't R18, I'd so just pop some earmuffs on the baby and bring her along because it's going to be awesome. And where is she meant to get her drag fix now queens have been run out of libraries?
Movies
By Jason Marshall
It’s a quiet-ish month for movies releases, but here’s a couple that we’re excited about.
Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee! Te Awamutu’s The Regent hosts a sing-along screening of Grease, on September 13. Trailer. Tickets.
The visually striking Disney musical deep dive into Colombian folklore, Encanto, is being re-released in Te Reo with a limited run at The Regent and Event Cinemas Chartwell. Screenings September 13 (The Regent) and September 14-15, 23 (Event Cinemas)
What we put in our mouths this month (Or, WWPIOMTM)
Firstly, we’re feeling pretty smug because we nabbed a December booking at The Green. We’re trying not to be insufferable about it, in fact. Bookings were all snapped up in the course of an hour or so, but if you missed out last time, January’s bookings open up on Monday September 23rd at 6 pm. Bring your A game on this one, and potentially rely on the skills of a younger relative who secured Eras Tour tickets.
We’ve started decanting our wine - previously I’d assumed it’d be wasted on my usual mid-low-price-point cheerful plonks. Then I was given a carafe, which I started to use for arseholey-aesthetic reasons, but now I’m hooked because I realise it can save an average drop and make it taste $20 more expensive. Cheap wine is exactly what you should be decanting, is this writer’s uninformed reckon. (Incidentally we also know of a reader who has been known to run cheap chardonnay through their Soda Stream, for DIY bubbles. We have not sampled this method.)
Our favourite Polish person made us Bigos, which is one of those if-you-know-you-know dishes. A stew of sauerkraut, meat, and veges which we’ve never seen appear on a restaurant menu here in Aotearoa.
We got some Father’s Day biltong from @Food Culture (That’s not a social media handle, they’re actually called that) which is made in house. We had a royal sampler and it was all great but the stand out was the droëwors.
The Duck Island salted pistachio is extremely good and is apparently flying off the shelves.
We attended the Mayor of Mustard pop up at Last Place and were blown away by the brisket, wings, and pulled pork. An absolute must attend next time they’re in town (or catch them in Raglan if you can’t wait)
We’ve been introduced to Tea Ceylandia in Garden Place, by a dear Sri Lankan friend, and had it twice this month via delivery. Described to us as like very authentic Sri Lankan home cooking, it is worth ordering in advance as it can take a while (but is worth the wait). The Kotthu roti (which is a national dish) is a stand out, as is the deviled chicken, the chicken fried rice, the chicken parotta and the fish rolls. We’re looking forward to dining in some time soon.
