Latest news with #KāpitiCoast
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan review – an immersive but imperfect coming-of-age mystery
Writing a story from a child's perspective works like a filter over a lens. Novels such as Sofie Laguna's The Eye of the Sheep, Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time use a younger person's narration to process darker, adult themes and reveal the mythologies of the adult world. Jennifer Trevelyan's debut A Beautiful Family uses a similar framing to tell an immersive yet imperfect coming-of-age mystery set in New Zealand. It's 1985, and 10-year-old Alix – a tomboyish, inquisitive girl who is never without her red Walkman and Split Enz cassette tape – is on holiday with her family, who have left their Wellington home for the nearby Kāpiti Coast. Her novelist mother normally prefers secluded spots, but this time she has curiously opted for a populous beach town. Between her parents' bickering and her older sister's burgeoning interest in boys and alcohol, Alix has often felt invisible. This has made her a keen observer, and she understands more than people think. At the outset, Alix befriends a 12-year-old Māori boy named Kahu with whom she soon becomes inseparable. He invites her over to his house, which is full of cooking aunties, rowdy cousins and dogs – a contrast to Alix's loving yet somewhat siloed family. One day Kahu tells her about Charlotte, a young girl who drowned in the area a few years prior. The two children decide to search for her missing body, combing the beach and the nearby lagoon for remains. But as their investigation stretches on, other secrets begin to emerge. What is Alix's mother doing on her long walks? And who is the strange old man next door always watching them? Alix grasps at the truth of things, but her perspective means only the reader parses the more adult story unravelling around her. This framing is craftily handled, with Trevelyan building suspense as the underlying narratives coalesce, delving into familial ties, a child's desire for harmony, and the pinballing of a child on the brink of adolescence. Innocence is deftly chipped away, and some unsettling revelations begin to dawn on Alix. 'Now I understood that a family wasn't a particularly solid thing,' she says. 'It was a bubble purely of our own making and just like a bubble, it could burst.' A Beautiful Family is most enriching in Trevelyan's knack for character; Alix, Vanessa and her parents are all distinctive and familiar from the start, even with the story taking place from a single point of view. However, the novel stalls somewhat in pace and plot about halfway through, meandering into overwriting and a surfeit of detail – there are four consecutive pages on Alix's Walkman, for example. The novel's imagery also veers from tactile clarity ('the lagoon, flat and quiet as a bath') to lines a bit sensorially inert. ('The soup had a dusty taste, like the inside of a long unopened cupboard.') There's also a curious undercurrent of racial microaggressions. Alix's mother says that 'Chinese people tend to look alike'. A school friend of Vanessa's, Crystal, mentions a boy with mixed parents has skin with the 'perfect mix'. And when Alix is invited to Kahu's house for lunch, her mother becomes overly concerned about whether there's enough food. Trevelyan handles these inclusions delicately, and some help evoke the flawed nature of her characters. But though they appear to build towards something – an evocation of internalised prejudices, of casual discrimination, of a white child's recognition of cultural difference – they ultimately never really say anything impactful. By the novel's end, Alix and Kahu, having spent the summer playing detective, suddenly stumble across a much darker discovery. Treveylan pulls some of her threads taut while leaving others loose – and yet the secrets she does reveal are predictable and only end up undercutting her otherwise immersive story. Indeed, A Beautiful Family is a charming debut, bringing life to Tolstoy's adage that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, but it gets mired in what turns out to be a lacklustre mystery. Hopefully, Trevelyan's next work will lean more on her evident strengths. A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan is out now in Australia (Allen & Unwin, $32.99), UK (Pan Macmillan, £16.99, £15.29 on the Guardian Bookshop) and the US (Penguin Random House, US$28)
The Guardian
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan review – an immersive but imperfect coming-of-age mystery
Writing a story from a child's perspective works like a filter over a lens. Novels such as Sofie Laguna's The Eye of the Sheep, Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time use a younger person's narration to process darker, adult themes and reveal the mythologies of the adult world. Jennifer Trevelyan's debut A Beautiful Family uses a similar framing to tell an immersive yet imperfect coming-of-age mystery set in New Zealand. It's 1985, and 10-year-old Alix – a tomboyish, inquisitive girl who is never without her red Walkman and Split Enz cassette tape – is on holiday with her family, who have left their Wellington home for the nearby Kāpiti Coast. Her novelist mother normally prefers secluded spots, but this time she has curiously opted for a populous beach town. Between her parents' bickering and her older sister's burgeoning interest in boys and alcohol, Alix has often felt invisible. This has made her a keen observer, and she understands more than people think. At the outset, Alix befriends a 12-year-old Māori boy named Kahu with whom she soon becomes inseparable. He invites her over to his house, which is full of cooking aunties, rowdy cousins and dogs – a contrast to Alix's loving yet somewhat siloed family. One day Kahu tells her about Charlotte, a young girl who drowned in the area a few years prior. The two children decide to search for her missing body, combing the beach and the nearby lagoon for remains. But as their investigation stretches on, other secrets begin to emerge. What is Alix's mother doing on her long walks? And who is the strange old man next door always watching them? Alix grasps at the truth of things, but her perspective means only the reader parses the more adult story unravelling around her. This framing is craftily handled, with Trevelyan building suspense as the underlying narratives coalesce, delving into familial ties, a child's desire for harmony, and the pinballing of a child on the brink of adolescence. Innocence is deftly chipped away, and some unsettling revelations begin to dawn on Alix. 'Now I understood that a family wasn't a particularly solid thing,' she says. 'It was a bubble purely of our own making and just like a bubble, it could burst.' A Beautiful Family is most enriching in Trevelyan's knack for character; Alix, Vanessa and her parents are all distinctive and familiar from the start, even with the story taking place from a single point of view. However, the novel stalls somewhat in pace and plot about halfway through, meandering into overwriting and a surfeit of detail – there are four consecutive pages on Alix's Walkman, for example. The novel's imagery also veers from tactile clarity ('the lagoon, flat and quiet as a bath') to lines a bit sensorially inert. ('The soup had a dusty taste, like the inside of a long unopened cupboard.') There's also a curious undercurrent of racial microaggressions. Alix's mother says that 'Chinese people tend to look alike'. A school friend of Vanessa's, Crystal, mentions a boy with mixed parents has skin with the 'perfect mix'. And when Alix is invited to Kahu's house for lunch, her mother becomes overly concerned about whether there's enough food. Trevelyan handles these inclusions delicately, and some help evoke the flawed nature of her characters. But though they appear to build towards something – an evocation of internalised prejudices, of casual discrimination, of a white child's recognition of cultural difference – they ultimately never really say anything impactful. By the novel's end, Alix and Kahu, having spent the summer playing detective, suddenly stumble across a much darker discovery. Treveylan pulls some of her threads taut while leaving others loose – and yet the secrets she does reveal are predictable and only end up undercutting her otherwise immersive story. Indeed, A Beautiful Family is a charming debut, bringing life to Tolstoy's adage that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, but it gets mired in what turns out to be a lacklustre mystery. Hopefully, Trevelyan's next work will lean more on her evident strengths. A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan is out now in Australia (Allen & Unwin, $32.99), UK (Pan Macmillan, £16.99, £15.29 on the Guardian Bookshop) and the US (Penguin Random House, US$28)
RNZ News
11-06-2025
- RNZ News
Watch: 'Quite magical': Humpback whales spotted off Kāpiti Coast
A group of mates out fishing on the Kāpiti Coast were treated to aerial displays from a pod of humpback whales. Aidan Hutchison says they watched the whales for over an hour and a half on Tuesday as the whales cruised up the coast. "It was a perfectly flat day, no wind and there was snow up on the Tararuas, it was quite magical aye... it was choice," Hutchison said. "I've never really seen them out there before, the humpbacks, I've seen heaps of orca and dolphins but never really seen humpbacks and not that close to land. "It was sort of like Murphy's law, we stopped and parked up and turned the boat off and got our cameras out and they were sort of just bobbing up and down and then we'd start the boat to go and they'd all start these big aerial displays." The group had been out fishing for the day around Kāpiti Island and having already caught a bunch of fish decided to shoot down to Te Horo. "We parked up for some snapper and we were sort of just chilling for about 5 minutes then in the distance we see the whales jumping out, they were pretty far away. We were in 20 metres of water so they must have been like 10 metres of water of so, it would have been shallow as." Carlos (left) and Aidan. Photo: Supplied They dropped the anchor and watched the whales cruise up the coast. "They were just bobbing up and down and doing some jumps. "We've all caught heaps of fish before but never really seen humpbacks so we decided to pull the anchor and just sort of cruise up the coast a bit. We didn't get really close to them, we just kept our distance, sort of just chilled out, had a cup of tea and watched them. "It was pretty cool aye." This upcoming Matariki long weekend the annual countrywide whale and dolphin count takes place. One of the organisers, Christine Rose, says it a great reason to get out into nature at a time when the big migrating species like humpbacks and southern right whales come close to shore on their way to their breeding grounds. "All that's needed is to head to a beach or high point, in warm clothes and stare out to sea, for a couple of hours. Whales and dolphins can be distinguished by anomalies on the water surface, including sun shining on their backs, their spouts, and often, tail slapping and leaps - special traits of humpback whales in particular. "For people venturing out to look for whales for the first time, we recommend taking a pair of binoculars if you have them - but no worries if not, because often whales and dolphins are easily spotted with the naked eye. A whale spotted off the Kapiti Coast near Te Horo Beach. Photo: Supplied "Having a family or team of spotters helps cover a wider area. Prepare for excitement, and a fun day out in the fresh air, whether you see them or not, by getting involved. People are taking part in a unique citizen science project that helps raise awareness and celebrating both the mighty and the small lives we share our beautiful ocean planet with." If you're in Wellington and hope to have an experience like Hutchison and his mates, Rose said the region has many great places for whale and dolphin watching. "Sometimes they come right into the Wellington harbour which makes them really easy to spot! They're also seen from the Kapiti coast, as they head north. And elevated spots like Pencarrow Lighthouse are also good vantage points - places that give a wide perspective of the sea, to watch for any whales coming, and heading past."
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Councils vent frustration at Otaki-Levin expressway downgrade to government
Photo: Supplied / NZTA / Mark Coote Councils at the bottom of the North Island have written to the government to say changes to the Ōtaki to North of Levin (02NL) expressway are short-sighted. Months out from work beginning, a revised design for the highway has seen on-ramps and overbridges removed and the northern end reduced from four lanes to two. The design also canceled the bridge that would link Manakau Heights to the rest of Manukau. The four councils which work together under the Wellington Leadership Forum - Greater Wellington and Horizons regional councils and the Horowhenua and Kāpiti Coast district councils - said the changes would curtail development. In a letter, they told Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Waka Kotahi chair Simon Bridges the proposals were retrograde and undermined the government's growth strategy. They said the downgraded proposals announced by the NZ Transport Agency reduced 02NL to what they described as a "minimum viable project". Significant new residential development was expected as a result of the development of Transmission Gully and the Kāpiti Expressway, the councils said. "We request an opportunity to meet on this issue, to understand what options you have to intervene as the Minister of Transport and the Chair: Waka Kotahi, to give the Lower North Island the quality of roading infrastructure that it is going to require to cater for the urban and industrial growth that is already materialising on this corridor." Waka Kotahi has said the design changes were primarily driven by the government's drive to save money. But Project Director Glen Prince said eighty percent of the design remained intact and the road would still be of significant benefit to the region. He said more work would have to be done before the agency could say how much money would be saved by the changes. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Horse riders feel 'overlooked' by snubs for road protections
Equestrian groups and riders have been organising petitions for at least 14 years. Photo: Supplied Horse riders feel "frustrated" after years of inaction on repeated bids for greater safety measures to protect riders on roads and shared pathways. Equestrian groups and riders have gained support from tens of thousands of people for petitions over at least 14 years, to provide greater transport protections like road signage and better road education. In October, the New Zealand Equestrian Advocacy Network (NZEAN) and the Pass Wide and Slow NZ movement took a parliamentary petition to the government's transport and infrastructure select committee, with support from NZ Riding for the Disabled, Equestrian Sports NZ, NZ Pony Club Association and Te Hapori Hōiho. The petition with more than 7500 signatures called for safety provisions in legislation for horse riders in the Land Transport Act, and for their inclusion in road safety and shared pathways initiatives. NZEAN chairperson Shelly Warwick said sharing roads with cars could be dangerous for horse riders. She said excluding horse-friendly areas like Hanmer Springs and Kāpiti Coast, local authorities did not encourage riders to use shared pathways either. Riders were feeling "frustrated" their pleas for greater safety considerations locally and nationally had been "overlooked". "There have been petitions since 2011 asking for road safety considerations, and nothing has changed," she said. "And in that time, horses and their riders have been maimed and killed on our roads." NZEAN chairperson Shelly Warwick says sharing roads with cars could be dangerous for horse riders. Photo: Supplied A spokesperson for the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said there had been three cases of injuries from road crashes involving equestrians in the past five years, excluding on shared pathways, but no road deaths. "One serious injury crash in 2020, one minor injury crash in 2020, one serious injury crash in 2024. In all three crashes the horse rider was injured," the spokesperson said. "There have been no fatal crashes involving equestrians in the last five years." However, the spokesperson said crash data was limited to crashes involving equestrians and non-fatal crashes were often under-reported. Since 2019, ACC confirmed there had been "low numbers" of new claims relating to road deaths of horse riders in 2020, 2021 and 2023, but the number which was fewer than four was suppressed for client privacy. ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker said people riding horses had just as much right to use the road as car drivers. "If you are approaching a horse and rider in your car - share the space and carefully choose an appropriate opportunity to pass wide and slow," Whitaker said. "Riders should ensure their gear fits properly, especially your helmet and saddle, before going for a ride." "If you are approaching a horse and rider in your car - share the space and carefully choose an appropriate opportunity to pass wide and slow," ACC's James Whitaker says. Photo: Supplied ACC spent $3.6 million in costs relating to claims for injuries involving horse riders and vehicles between 2019 and November 2024. In that time, the highest number of new claims involving riders and cars was in Canterbury at 92 claims, 77 in Auckland and 72 in Waikato. NZTA said the New Zealand Road Code included guidance for motorists on sharing the road safely with horse riders, and guidance for horse riders to help keep them safe on the roads. Guidance from the Land Transport Act included riders keeping animals on the road margin to the left as far as practical, single-file riding, and they were prohibited to ride along a footpath adjacent to or forming part of the road. "NZTA reminds motorists to follow the rules and take extra care when sharing the road with horse riders," the guidance said. Old NZTA documents referred to "vulnerable road users"' as people at heightened risk including pedestrians, people on wheels like mobility scooters or wheechairs, or people on animals. However, the term was excluded from the Land Transport Act. Warwick said in efforts to improve driver awareness, riders wanted to be recognised as vulnerable road users, as pedestrians and cyclists were often referred to, though it was not a legal term. "Vulnerable road users, they use that terminology and yet they don't actually define who the vulnerable road user is, which is what we're asking them to do." An NZTA spokesperson said there was no legal status for cyclists, pedestrians or horse riders as 'vulnerable road users'. "'Vulnerable road user' is not a term currently used or defined in New Zealand transport legislation and rules for any road users. "A legislative change to include such a definition in transport law would need to be initiated by the Ministry of Transport." Warwick said riders felt they had "got nowhere" with numerous letters to transport ministers, on a local level with councils and appeals to government. "One of the questions that one of the MPs did ask, which was very poignant actually, was he asked directly to NZTA and to the Ministry of Transport, 'In the last 20 years, what proactive measures have you made to ensure the safety of horse riders on the roads?' And neither of them could actually answer that question." Drivers faced a $55 fine for failing to exercise due care to driven animals like horses. The next steps for progressing the parliamentary petition was to be reported and referred to the Minister of Transport.
