It’s been a wonderful month of celebration, watching ETNZ win the America’s Cup on home waters, my first Splore festival, and a family festive gathering in Russell for Easter. On the work front, we had an incredibly fun brand photoshoot (only delayed by a year, thanks Covid!).
I feel very honoured that I was able to get out on the water on several occasions to watch the America’s Cup racing, and my biggest adventure was ending up dancing and celebrating under Te Rehutai at the ETNZ base the night the boys won!
Enjoying the amazing spectacle of the America’s Cup on the Waitemata Harbour with friends.
Being stuck in NZ with the borders closed has had its benefits, and one of those has been my wonderful first experience of the Splore music festival. For some of my music industry friends, this is the highlight of their year, and I’ve heard them tell so many wonderful stories about it – but usually, I am overseas at the AMWC conference in Monaco. This year it was postponed due to the lockdown, so I was able to get a last-minute ticket and adventure down with friends on a boat for the Friday night. I was lucky enough to have backstage passes (thanks to my music industry friends 🙏) and it was an extra-special night as it was the first time that our friend Clarke had DJ’d at Splore since his partner Jacinda became PM. He played an incredible set, and my friends and I nominated ourselves as his unofficial backstage dancers 👯♀️😂
At Splore Festival with my lovely friend Jo.
Somehow I ended up accidentally being part of the official powhiri/welcome – one moment I was chatting with my friends Aroha and Tali, watching the Topp Twins play a Maori song, the next I was in the powhiri, sitting in the chairs laid out of the rangitira (leaders/elders). It was a huge honour to be part of this particular powhiri, as the tangata whenua broke with Maori tradition and allowed women to korero (speak), in honour of the Splore theme for this year – ‘Mother’. As one of the kaumatua (leaders) explained, without mothers, none of us would be here.
Although I only went for the Friday night, and Splore runs over the whole weekend, I had a delicious taste of what it’s all about, and it really earns its name as the best little festival in NZ! I wish I had been able to stay for the Shapeshifter boys playing on Saturday night, Aroha and Tali playing the main stage Saturday night and Sunday, and my friend Hollie Smith playing on Sunday – I’ll definitely try to get back next year!
Easter has been a poignant and wonderful time of relaxation and creating memories with family. My dad was turned down for a bone marrow transplant last month, but seems to have stabilised a bit with his chemotherapy. My brother Jamie brought his family – his partner Grace and two boys Lachie (9) and Oliver (7) – up to visit dad in Russell, and I braved the 5-hour drive in Easter Friday traffic to join them. My brother and I have loads of memories of growing up fishing with dad, and we created some more for the boys with ‘Poppa Geoff’, fishing off the Russell wharf, and heading out on a friend’s boat. I’m so grateful we have the opportunity to create these family memories while dad is still somewhat well (although he fatigues rapidly) – knowing our time is limited makes it even more poignant and special.
Easter weekend with the family in Russell.
Our team had so much fun with our recent brand photoshoots, which included some of my wonderful friends, as well as some in-clinic shots with our gorgeous team members! Our incredible CMO Mikayla did an amazing job coordinating all the shots and people, managing our photographer, stylist, and makeup artists, heading down Takapuna Beach, as well as taking shots in both clinics and in a ‘studio’ at our a Takapuna clinic, and still making it fun! The laughing shot (top of page) is one of my favourites from my part of the shoot – there are hundreds more to come yet, and we can’t wait to see the rest of them!
Mikayla had actually planned the shoot for April last year, so it felt so good to be in a position where we were able to have people at close range with each other to be able to go ahead with the shoot – unlike some other countries in the world who are going back into another lockdown!
Getting my makeup done by our amazing makeup artist Rae for our branding photoshoot.
Our lovely skin therapist Raechel is celebrating her two-year anniversary at Takapuna TFP, and we thought we’d celebrate with a gift for you (or a friend)! Raechel’s favourite treatment is the Healite LED light (also one of my faves) so for the next two months, you can purchase a course of Healite at the Takapuna clinic for $200 less than the normal price. There are only limited spaces, so get in quick to get your skin glowing!
It’s also the time of year to start booking your IPL treatments at Britomart… if you are planning IPL this year, you will need to book a consult with the skin team first to ensure you are on the appropriate skin products, and for your updated patch test, before you can proceed with treatment. Remember you need to be out of the sun for a month before and after each treatment, so be consistent with your sunscreen, covering up, and wearing a hat!
The last year has given me some big reminders about how precious life is, and how important it is to not take it for granted. I sincerely hope you had a lovely Easter and are making the most of your life with adventures, downtime, and special moments with family and friends.
Have a wonderful month, and we look forward to seeing you in clinic soon!
Dr Cat 😻🥰
