RNZ: Spectrum

Spectrum's Alwyn Owen pays tribute to some of our worst - and funniest - New Zealand verse.

This week on Spectrum, 'The V Team'. Katy Gosset is behind the scenes at a lively Christchurch veterinary practice where staff bring their dogs to work and spaying a lioness is just another day at the office.

In various forms, Parsons Books and Music has been a cultural landmark on Wellington's Lambton Quay since 1948. Russian composer Igor Stravinsky called it 'the most beautiful bookshop in the world'. But now Parsons is closing. Spectrum's Jack Perkins talks with Julian Parsons and his sister Beatrice and to long-time customers saddened by the empty shelves.

Chef Jo Crabb and Artist Stephen Allwood live in Martinborough. And France. Jo's got a book coming out next month which tells of travel and food and the restaurants she's run and all sorts of adventures, generally involving food. Amelia Nurse went to Martinborough to join in some culinary escapades.

Auckland has some three thousand kilometres of coastline but it seems Aucklanders know little about the coastline's impact on the health of the Hauraki Gulf. Thirty nine Auckland teenagers recently spent a week on Motutapu Island learning the secrets of life in the gulf. 'Mad Marine' is an annual initiative organised by Auckland Council and the Department of Conservation.

Railway workers cottages dating from 1928 line Tarikaka St in the Wellington suburb of Ngaio. Susan Atkins lived there for 18 years from the mid-1980s. Susan and her son Arnaru recall the tightly knit community of railway workers and their successful fight to save their homes when the Railways Department tried to sell them off.

In late January this year close to 2,500 rowers descended on Lake Karapiro to compete for titles at one of New Zealand's biggest rowing regattas, the Cambridge Town Cup. Spectrum's Jerome Cvitanovich joins rowers, coaches and crew from Wellington's Petone Rowing Club for two days of fierce competition.

When Liz Kiriona arrived in the small South Auckland suburb of Rata Vine 18 years ago there was a lot that was wrong with the place. The local playground was wrecked, and gangs used the little park there for drinking, leaving the place covered in broken glass. Liz and a neighbour got an alcohol ban declared, and Liz fronted up to the gangs. Last year she was declared a 'Local Hero', in the New Zealander of the Year Awards.

The 1918 flu killed Kerryn Palmer's great grandparents. Tragedies like this weren't unusual, over 8, 600 died in New Zealand from the virus. Kerryn decided to find out more about the pandemic sometimes referred to as 'the country's forgotten disaster' and she even wrote a play based on her research. Spectrum's Jack Perkins talks with Kerryn and also introduces recordings made in the 1960s of personal accounts of the country's greatest natural disaster.

In 23 July 1954, the Government appointed a special committee to enquire into moral delinquency following a series of court cases in the Hutt Valley which revealed 'a shocking degree of immoral conduct among children and adolescents of the Dominion'. Produced by Jerome Cvitanovitch and first broadcast in August 1991, the programme marks 60 years since the Mazengarb Report was published.

The Sunburst, a sturdy, safe training boat can be found in garages, basements or upside down under a tree ready to be sailed in the holidays or long weekends. Join Spectrum's Lisa Thompson as she attends the Sunburst 50th anniversary celebrations at Wakatere Boating Club on Auckland's North Shore.

The Spirit of Rangatahi Charitable Trust runs Pacific Youth development courses in Porirua for 14 to 17 year olds. They're in their fourth year now and this summer's two week programme focuses on leadership. Project Coordinator, Joan Buchanan invited Spectrum's Amelia Nurse to attend their final day where there was music, skits, speeches and the fruits of their labours on display.

Nick Bollinger reviews new albums by British Sea Power, Bruce Springsteen, and the Mark Lanegan anthology 'Has God Seen My Shadow?'.

Katy Gosset hops aboard the tall ship Lord Nelson which has taken more than 14,000 people with disabilities to sea. Katy climbs the rigging, shares a bunkroom and finds preserved ginger to be a fine remedy for seasickness.

Retired Rotorua mid-wife Katie Williams has spent the last few years, ticking off her Bucket List: get a tattoo, go skydiving, build my own coffin. The casket is now tucked away at her house, decorated in burgundy wallpaper, some of her 'bling' and the words 'Live, love and laugh'. Katie also set up a Coffin Club which now sees members get together each week to cheerfully build and decorate their coffins.