Saturday Day Pass Escape

Saturday Day Pass $60 Includes:

Searching for Charlie

Award-winning political cartoonist and journalist Tom Scott spent more than a year dogging the footsteps of New Zealander Charles Upham, winner of two VCs – the only combat soldier to be so honoured, to produce a biography of ‘possibly the bravest man in World War 2’.

Looking on the Dark Side

Praised for their works of fiction, our panellists choose to draw from a deep, dark well. What motivates them to look on the dark side? Join Brannavan Gnanalingam, whose latest novel deals with gang rape and has been likened to a ‘bingeable miniseries’; Nikki Crutchley, a past Ngaio Marsh Award finalist, who focuses on the underbelly of small towns; and Tina Shaw whose March 2020 novel Ephemera depicted a New Zealand devastated by a pandemic.

Up with the Birds

With New Zealand’s birds being hard to spot in the bush or even the garden listening to, and studying, bird song is an important part of identifying these magical creatures. A member of the Western Bay Wildlife Trust and Birds BOP, Paul Cuming will share his vast knowledge in a multi-media presentation about native birds common to the Bay of Plenty and their song.

Intersections :: Whakawhitinga

Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) is increasingly being used alongside Western science but how does it work and what does it mean for Aotearoa New Zealand? Join Rod Oram as he talks to Kura Paul-Burke(Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakahemo, Ngāti Mākino), a Waikato University marine scientist, who has used Mātauranga Māori to assist the restoration of mussel stocks in Ōhiwa Harbour; and Shaun Hendy, director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a centre of research excellence at Auckland University, and past winner of the PM's Science Media Communication Prize.