Chef Norka Mella Munoz’s exceptional seasonal menus have won Martinborough vineyard restaurant, Palliser Kitchen, its first-ever hat at the Cuisine Good Food Awards 2025, Aotearoa New Zealand’s premier awards for culinary excellence.
Wairarapa Lifestyle caught up with Norka earlier in the year and first published this article in the Wairarapa LifestyleWinter 2025 edition. Photo by Lucia Zanmonti.

Glorious garments, awe-inspiring performances and a live show that will leave your jaw on the floor - it can only be The World of Wearable Art (WOW). Ahead of opening night in September, we met some of the talented behind-the-scenes team helping to make the magic happen.

Growing up on a farm in North Otago, Susie Jamieson was naturally creative and with a love of the outdoors. So back in 1990 when she couldn’t find a cooler bag sturdy enough to keep food and drink safe and cool, but soft enough to be pushed under a seat, she designed it herself.
Photo by Lucia Zanmonti.

If one small thing expresses the spirit of Martinborough Football Club’s Women’s team, it’s their handknitted, woolly hats.  Made for each team member, every green, pink and black beanie with leather label  is individual but still part of the team.  

With Special Character, tradition and values in common, Trinity Schools – Hadlow Pre-School, Hadlow Preparatory School, St Matthew’s Collegiate and Rathkeale College – offer pupils a well-rounded education that equips them well for life.

Run by the same busy family, two businesses in Eketāhuna complement each other, and serve as a hub for their community and travellers passing through.
By Katherine Robinson. Photo by Lucia Zanmonti.

Getting out of the office and into a different environment can take away distractions, stimulate new ideas and help bring a team together. Just 15 minutes from Martinborough, Shepherd’s Hideaway is a brand-new venue that feels away from it all but offers everything you need for a productive meeting or training workshop.

With works taken from across from across the motu, Aratoi’s Autumn exhibition schedule is a nod to the lessons of our past and how we can adapt them to create a better future.

Simple and timeless - a plump and cozy winter hat that is equally at home on ocean-side walks, cheering on the local football team, going bush or striding out on city streets.
With autumn comes cool mornings and longer nights reminding us to get ready for the cool winter days ahead. When you’re a knitter ‘getting ready’ inevitably means casting on a project or two! Words and photo by Emma Smith. Miss Maude

Last spring, the Brownbutter bakery and café opened at Masterton Golf Club. Rumours of moreish pastries, sweet treats and tasty lunches spread faster than you can say mascarpone custard doughnut.

A Martinborough landmark, this is a house that people – including the current owners – fall in love with. A two-storied Edwardian beauty, it sits serenely among the vineyards on the village’s Golden Mile. You might have sat on the wide verandah sipping rosé when it was the heart of Vynfields Estate or danced outside when it was a flagship venue for Toast. And you might have wondered what was beyond that grand front door.  Now, meticulously restored and renamed Waitohu Lodge, that front door is open to lucky guests revealing a world of luxury and comfort.
Photography: Rebecca Kempton

When artist Thérèse Quinlivan moved from the UK to New Zealand in 2006, she thought she would spend her new life sitting on a beach, painting. Instead, she and husband John live in an historic Featherston cottage where Thérèse creates needle felt pictures out of wool, silk and other natural elements. By Katherine Robinson. Photos by Lucia Zanmonti.

Romantic magnolia must rank high on the list of everyone’s favourite flowering trees. Steve and Louisa Portman of Clareville Nursery and Garden Centre share their know-how on growing this most elegant of trees.

For Ceara Lile, a beautiful, hand-crafted garment cannot be rushed. Ceara is the creative force and skilled pair of hands behind Perpetua Studio on Featherston’s Fitzherbert Street - where she sells her own range of eco-friendly women’s fashions, accessories and homewares. By Erin Kavanagh-Hall. Photos by Esther Bunning.

There’s nothing like a cup of tea and a warm slice of fruit and nut loaf on a rainy winter day. Will Geisler reinvents an old favourite. Photo by Lucia Zanmonti.

Once a manufacturer of paua shell jewellery, aimed at the overseas tourist market, Covid restrictions led to Dimensionz making a swift and successful change.. By Simon Burt.

Bookings are open for the summer season! Get your crew together for a classic walking track that combines spectacular scenery, a few hard yards, and some extremely moreish food. Photo by Mike Heydon, Jet Photography.

An energy-boosting classic, published in our Autumn 2021 edition, with thanks to Tora Coastal Walk Recipes – a Second Helping. Photo by Mike Heydon, Jet Photography.