1 'NEIGHBOURHOOD' THEME MUSIC CONTINUES GENTLE MUSIC Te Henga, or Bethells Beach, as the Pakeha like to call it, is one of the jewels on Auckland's wild west coast. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES Te Henga is special to me because I have recorded an album here ` in a barn. I have spent lots of precious time with my father here. I may or may not have kissed a few too many girls here. I've done plenty of gigs here, and I also had a first date with the love of my life. Yay. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES I'm not a religious person, but I do believe there's something very spiritual about this place. I think it radiates love. And the 800-odd permanent residents who choose to live here are a diverse and colourful bunch. We're going to meet a local woman who channels her Romany Gypsy heritage into helping others. There's a whole cultural identity and a certain way of behaving and certain beliefs, if you like, such as everything has a spirit. A man from Germany tells us why he has chosen this place to continue his spiritual journey. I remember the first thing my wife said to me was, 'It's OK, Harald. I had a good life ` a really good life.' And, uh, then I said, 'Well, then, Bhutan has to be here ` in Bethells.' We'll share a family feast, Greek style,... Initially, you know, the men did it over the pitch with a piece of wood that they skewered the meat on and had to turn it manually, and then, over the years, I guess, they were turning it and thought, 'Well, this is dumb.' (LAUGHS) Um, 'Maybe we could do it a different way.' It was an Archimedes moment, probably. (LAUGHS) ...and discover the work of a prolific and controversial local artist. And people say, 'Oh yeah, you're shocking,' or people say, 'Oh, this is shocking,' but it's like, 'Well, nah, this is what I'm thinking,' or, 'This is what's exploding in my imagination.' I'm Anika Moa, and this is my neighbourhood. 'NEIGHBOURHOOD' THEME Captions by Tom Pedlar. Edited by Imogen Staines. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016 # In the summer, he's a summer breeze, # shooting at all his possibilities. So, I used to come out here quite a lot with my father, um, when I was` when I was younger, but in my teens as well, and he used to live in a car, and he was quite a gypsy, so he'd travel from Cape Reinga to the Bluff, any` everywhere in between. We socialised. We met people. We sang for our supper. And my father's since passed away, but he` he left me so much ` uh, you know, a lot of humour ` and` um, but he actually mostly left me his love of the guitar. # But we are what we have done, sweet soul sitting in the sun. # I really believe the gifts that you receive from your whanau can have a huge influence on your life. AMBIENT MUSIC One of the biggest reasons I've moved here ` apart from it's an amazing energy up here; it's so clear and beautiful and pure ` the people here are great. They're really alive and passionate. And there's a real sense of community here. People will help each other. We do a lot of swaps, you know. I mean, I'm always swapping things ` my healing work for things. This` It's a beautiful place, and most people, I would say, feel a strong connection with nature here and a strong sense of creative energy. And we have some great parties here. (LAUGHS) Usually quite a lot of good dancing, so I'm pretty much at home. BIRDS CHIRP My grandmother was Romany Gypsy, so my mum likes moving a lot, of course, and my dad does as well. I think maybe he's just restless. I don't think he's got any Romany roots, but (LAUGHS) we moved, oh, every two years. We always had a caravan, and so we travelled a lot, so even when we were kids. I was born in Derbyshire ` very beautiful village ` which is actually right in the heart of England. The Romany people say they originally came from India ` from Rajasthan. Um, and there were two tribes, if you like, went on two different journeys ` or two groups of people. So some came through Egypt, which is where the word Gypsy comes from ` from Egypt. And others went through` up through Europe ` that way. There's a whole cultural identity and a certain way of behaving and certain beliefs, if you like, such as everything has a spirit. SOOTHING MUSIC Well, this owl's wing was gifted to me by a really good friend of mine. She was present at my son's birth. Um, she found the owl on the road. And so she has one wing, and I have the other. Um, it was gifted to me because (CHUCKLES) I've always had owls around me ` always. And later on, when I started to do more of my spiritual training ` owl medicine, if you like ` the spirit of owl and what that means came very much to work with me, and I realised that my whole life has been really connected with owl, without realising it beforehand. When I first came to live in NZ, um, I brought it with me, of course, because it goes everywhere with me. It` It's very much a connection with my heart. And I didn't realise (CHUCKLES) that you're not allowed to bring things like this into the country. So I was on the plane thinking, 'Oh no. What am I gonna do? I've got my owl's wing.' Um, I got through customs. I declared it, and it was taken off me by the Department of Conservation, and they directed me to the Maori Chief Advisor, who was just right there in his office. Um, he looked at me. He didn't say much. He just looked at me, or looked through me. And he said, 'You have to have it back,' which was great ` to be just so seen, the importance of it. LOW, AMBIENT MUSIC Hi. I've got someone coming today. I will introduce him a little bit to owl. It's bringing in the owl energy and the owl medicine ` both for me and for him. He will then be, sort of, smudged, they call it ` or that's a translation of it ` so he'll be covered in smoke. So if you like, you can close your eyes. Yeah, and just let... I'll be connecting with the owl side of myself, that sees more clearly, that hears more clearly, that feels more clearly, so that I can be of service to him. So I've called in the spirit of owl, and owl is very much about going into those places that maybe we're not even aware of. My love of dance always` and rhythm, it's always been so natural. And my expression and my passion, the travelling, pet names for everything. All the things that I didn't talk about too much at school, cos I thought our family were weird, but were definite` are all Gypsy things. I feel like I've learnt a lot from my mum and my nana ` yeah, how to wild and free, how to dance and enjoy myself and how to, um, not take life so seriously and to` to have a passion for life. SOFT, BRIGHT MUSIC I actually recorded my second album, Stolen Hill, here. And, um, I brought my band out, and we filled this whole room with recording gear. I was in this corner all by myself in a little, uh, vocal booth, and then there was a drummer down the other end. There's a keyboard player here, there's a bass player here, there's an electric guitarist here. And... there was a lot of beautiful music made in this place. This is a really grounding place for me, so it's no wonder Te Henga attracts so many people searching for a profound sense of peace. PEOPLE CHANT What drew us to Buddhism is that, in fact, it is` it is not a mere belief system like most of the religions, you know, where ya have to... But it's more investigation of how things are. CHANTING CONTINUES, BIRDS CHIRP And that's what drew me, very much so, into Buddhism, cos I` I really like this adventure, I really like to investigate, I really like to find out. I like to open closed doors, you know? And, uh, I always found that I gain immensely from it; I evolve. CHANTING CONTINUES We have a prayer house ` a Gompa ` we built 10 years ago. And, uh, because my teacher, uh, comes from North India ` from Dharamshala ` uh, he always came up and gave a teaching up here. BRIGHT, RELAXED MUSIC I grew up in Germany. I met my wife, Gabi, in 1979. That was it. It was love at first sight. What started the journey onwards, I think it was this` this joy of just seeing different cultures, of exploring, adventure, uh, seeking for knowledge and also, you know, this kind of purity that you are in nature. BRIGHT, RELAXED MUSIC CONTINUES In Nepal, we lived there for a year, and we did many many travels. Uh, we went to, uh` to the border with Mustang, close to Tibet. So, we had absolutely no experience of (CHUCKLES) high mountains. There was nothing there ` no accommodation ` so we had to sleep in caves. We made our fire and cooked on yak dung, you know, and had the local people inviting us, and because we didn't speak any Tibetan, we just had to sing. BRIGHT, RELAXED MUSIC CONTINUES There's a lot of memories. They last us` They last many lifetimes, you know, still to come. You know, so there's no lack on it, you know, and if times get difficult, like, it's good pictures you really draw on ` you know, the quality of the pictures and the happiness generated. Eventually, um, we` we left Australia, in December '85 coming to NZ. And we just really fell in love with the bush. It was just paradise. You know, and, um, so we built up the bus, made it nice-looking and put an old pot belly in, um, and we lived for four years in it. And my wife and I, we really enjoyed this time immensely. She always said` When we started building this house, she said, 'If it's not working out in our relationship, let's move back into the bus.' And my wife, Gabi, was diagnosed in March 2014, with lung cancer, adenocarcinoma stage IV. And it was a shock. We were just devastated. We were actually planning to go to Bhutan. I remember the first thing my wife said to me was, 'It's OK, Harald. I had a good life ` a really good life.' And, uh,... then, uh... then I said, 'Well, then, Bhutan has to be here ` in Bethells.' GENTLE MUSIC We had good people who helped with everything, you know. But we did everything here, at home ` everything. And it was a beautiful time, because even till the last moment, there was love. WARM MUSIC I think that Buddhism can be very helpful, right? It can focus ourselves, uh,... first of all on ourselves, to actually ask, 'Am I happy?' If I am not happy, we should always start with ourselves. And that helped me, really, with Gabi too. You know, like, for example, you know, I can look at the same situation ` 'I'm alone, I don't have this, and I don't have that,' or I can look at, 'Oh, this is what I have,' or I can look at other people and say, 'Look, I rejoice in what they have.' Because everything is` is interdependent. It has the same effect; it creates happiness. WARM MUSIC SWELLS Yes, I have three sons. My oldest is living in Dunedin, and my middle one is living in Hamilton, and the youngest one is still in Auckland, studying at Auckland University. So, they all have offered to help build a memorial walk for Gabi. And we will put a little tiny monument, with a little bench, just to reflect and reminisce on Gabi. Yeah, yeah, just, kind of, around here in the forest. Uh, and just, yeah, take us out here, and she'd show us this spot a few times and talk about how this was, kind of, her favourite area, cos there's a bit more light and a nice view. Hmm. Yeah. This is the spot where my Gabi` where she told me she wanted her ashes to be, uh, buried, you know, and we will put a little monument up here ` a little stupa ` with a bench so she has this amazing view. Right? And it is also good that we can remember her as she is being here and looking out. WARM MUSIC LINGERS LIGHT MUSIC I realised I was gay when I was around 20 and I fell in love with a woman. I remember feeling two things. One was amazed that I could be in love with a woman, um, but the other one was shock, um, and I felt a little bit awkward about my sexuality. But I came to realise that love is love, and I just` just couldn't fight it. (LAUGHS) These days I know who I am, and I'm very comfortable with my sexuality, and my mum raised me with the belief that you fall in love with the person and not their sexual orientation. Although, if Leonardo DiCaprio was right in front of me, I'd be like, 'Whoo! Let's do it!' A local artist has spent a long time resisting labels. These days he's found his artistic home as part of Bethells' creative community. LOW ELECTRONIC MUSIC How would I describe myself? Well, I'm an artist ` yeah, a living and breathing artist. Yeah, I think I was, like, a super queer freak. Cos, I mean, I'm not hiding; I never have. And I use my art to actually try and say truthful things sometimes or things that make people ` possibly other people ` uncomfortable. But I would like to point out that part of my journey is being to be able to, um, embrace differences and embrace changes. CHIME MUSIC I was ex` exposed to film, and I wanted to utilise some experiences and put them on film. And people said, 'Oh yeah, you're shocking,' or people say, 'Oh, this is shocking.' But it's like, 'Well, nah, this is what I'm thinking,' or, 'This is what's exploding in my imagination.' CHIME MUSIC Again these people say, 'Oh, it's gay,' or whatever. Um, I'd say, if anything, it was queer. Uh, it was more out there. It was more on the edge. DEEP AMBIENT MUSIC Well, I've been here since January of 2015. And, yeah, I'm just kind of, like, a different guy ` you know, the kind of guy who likes to dig a long drop for my mates down the road or whatever, you know. I know what needs urgent attention right now; it's the planet. And it's so obvious out here at Te Henga. It's just like, 'Wow.' You see the rock formation and things like that. This is called Gutter Bird. None of this came from anywhere else other than the side of the road. It's the first sculpture I've really ever done. It is what it is. It's, like, um, made completely out of human trash. And, um, that's my job as an artist. Uh, I wanna transcend the` the stuff, and so it goes into another level that, um, makes people think, 'Wow,' you know? And then I put my paint job on it, of course, give it some more colour, and it's not too dissimilar to, actually` to some of the paintings. It looks like it's come out of one of the paintings. Nobody wants to see the trash on the side of the road, ya know. So if I can make use of it, make art come out of it, I'll do that too. I` I had a fear of painting, (SCOFFS) cos, um, first of all, when I was a little kid, one of my friends, his dad was a landscape painter, and I didn't really like them. But I was, kind of, quite admiring of his dad, that his dad did that full-time. And, uh, so I started filling up exercises, um, in my visual diaries. And basic` And then, um, I got into an art school. (SCOFFS) And then they could never get rid of me. When people look at my work, I want them to be walking away more spiritually guided. I want them to` (CHUCKLES) I could be cheeky, but, um, nah, nah, I just wanna give them an uplifting sense of colour ` that there's more colour out there than what they think is in their lives. As I said to one famous, very rich collector ` she goes, 'Well, uh, Brent, actually, I don't` you know, my works on my wall, 'I'm a black and white` I just like black.' I goes, 'Well, Jenny, if you ever need colour, I'm the man. National Radio recently said I was a, um` a neoprimitive, (CHUCKLES) and some people go, 'Really? Oh, how do you feel about that?' But thought, 'Yeah, that's OK. Neoprimitive. Hmm. All right.' I wear many masks ` on many faces. I can't help it. You know, I just want to get into whatever I'm into. BRIGHT UKULELE MUSIC PLAYS # No drill, no spill, no blood runs thicker than oil, # on Bethells' soil. # You get good cash, you gonna make some trash, in the... # That's a song that I virtually wrote on my bike going out to Bethells from Scenic Dr, picking up the scraps, really, literally, from the side of the road, looking at all those handmade signs and just thinking, 'There's a song here somewhere.' UKULELE MUSIC CONTINUES # I'm living in a episode of The Twilight Zone. Well, I'm bringing, um, colour and culture and life to the place, and I share in the visions. # All right. # UKULELE MUSIC ENDS LIGHT AMBIENT MUSIC So, this is the lagoon, which travels out to the sea, and this is a beautiful place I take my children on a nice summer` summer's day. Um, the sand's always hot. It's always windy out here, and it's just a beautiful place to be. I never knew my dad, growing up, which means I was a bit confused about my Maori heritage, which meant I didn't know my whakapapa. But being the songwriter that I am, I kind of just mixed it up and threw in a few famous people here and there, and, um, yeah. Having a whakapapa is something truly worth celebrating. My parents came to NZ separately. They met here in NZ ` in Wellington. They came here knowing full well that they're Greek and that they came for a better life, but they came to retain their culture, so, um, they made that a really big part of their lives. AMBIENT MUSIC As I was growing up, till 5, I didn't know any` anything else. We had to speak the language; we weren't allowed to bring English into the house. And then you go to school and no one else is Greek. (LAUGHS) And, yeah, so then it became a little bit difficult, because you wanted to be like everyone else, I think, as a 5-, 6-, 7-, 10-year-old, and so` but you'd come home and you were Greek again, and you'd go to school and you'd try and pretend you were like your friends. UPBEAT MUSIC So, this is, you know, quite a treasured photo, cos it shows Pappous about your age, and, um, that was how` I remember when we first started going on our Greek picnics at Waikanae Beach` um, Waikanae River, that's how they did the souvla ` on the rocks, yeah, with sticks ` just sticks ` willow sticks or whatever. And they'd just thread the meat on the sticks. Just, yeah, they didn't have the metal skewers or anything. Amazing, eh? Mm. As long as it was green wood. So, well, that's me, and that's Uncle Basil, and that's my cousins. And I guess that's what we used to do; that was our social life ` just hanging out with our cousins. That's what we did every weekend. I think, when I got my own house` yeah, when I moved into my own house, Dad presented me with my own souvla. (CHUCKLES) LAID-BACK ELECTRONIC MUSIC And it was, like, a really big deal. It was, like, you know, there was something` Well, it was about passing on tradition, maybe. And I'll never forget the first time I actually made a souvla on my own, with Dad in Wellington and me in Auckland and, you know, the phone ` 'OK, Dad, now I'm doing this.' And he talked me through it. And it was a really amazing moment. It's lamb, and it's marinated overnight with, um, red wine, lots of lemon juice, um, olive oil, um, oregano and, um, crushed whole coriander seeds. (CHUCKLES) And, oh, it's just` Yeah, gives it a lot of flavour, and then, once you've threaded them, just before you cook them, that's when you salt them. And when I say salt, (LAUGHS) I mean you pour the salt over it, and, I mean, I can never believe how much Dad puts on. I don't think anyone does it exactly that way. It's definitely Dad's recipe, yeah. ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTINUES Initially, you know, the men did it over the pitch with a piece of wood that they skewered the meat on and had to turn it manually, and then, over the years, I guess, they were turning it and thought, 'Well, this is dumb.' (LAUGHS) Um, 'Maybe we could do it a different way.' It was an Archimedes moment, probably. (LAUGHS) So they` they worked out this... motor, and the, um, the bike chain to turn itself, and what they did, when we went on these picnics, um, in the later years in Waikanae, they'd just bring their cars, and they'd connect the battery to their car battery, and it would make it go round. BRIGHT ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC Today I've got Joshka, my son, and his lovely girlfriend, Kate, and my two best friends, Lucinda and Greta. Greta is first-generation Danish, and Lucinda is half Greek. So there's a real connection between us from that cultural perspective. BRIGHT MUSIC CONTINUES Oh, this was worth waiting for. It's delicious! Oh, good! > Yeah, I like this too. Bloody good. I guess when my parents left, in those days you knew that it wasn't going to be easy ever coming back, so they were leaving for good. Mm. It wasn't a trial, or... That's right. There was no going back. Mm. You know, coming together and having souvla, it's almost like, 'Oh yeah, that's right; we're Greek, 'and we're family, and this is how we grew up.' So it's quite a significant thing in our lives, I think. UPBEAT MUSIC I love Te Henga because it's the place where me and my` my fiancee and I are gonna get married, and, um, this place has always brought about a sense of love and purpose and romance in my life. UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES Te Henga's a place that I will always take my children in summer and winter, and this is a place where I'll teach them. We'll have a lot of beautiful days swimming, laughing, eating yummy food, and, yeah, it's a treasure. Captions by Tom Pedlar. Edited by Imogen Staines. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016