Hello

Finding the perfect balance of stories from every corner of Canterbury can be a juggling act. A change to the male versus female ratio can result in a South Canterbury skew, which can leave us short on Christchurch stories, which means a reshuffle that can result in a shift towards too many Banks Peninsula stories, which means another rejig … and you get the idea. There are often a lot of stories up in the air at one time and we do our best to ensure they fall in the perfect arrangement.

In this ‘perfect’ arrangement we also see the inclusion of a few new voices as the results of our reader survey are in, collated and being actioned! You overwhelmingly asked for more food and it is with delight that I would like to introduce Samantha Parish (page 168). Samantha has had an enviable career as a recipe writer and freelance chef, often collaborating with the likes of Gary Mehigan (yes, Gary from MasterChef Australia, my FAV!) and now she is adding latitude to her fold. Having recently moved to Christchurch she will be serving up dishes with maximum flavour, created with minimum fuss to inspire us all in the kitchen, and boy has she delivered on her first task. I warn you now, I am fearful for our waistlines!

Dr Chris Jansen and Dr Cheryl Doig have joined forces to help reenergise our Lifetime of Learning section (page 52), and Isaac McCarthy joins us with a regular social essay. A beautiful story about people from all walks of life coming together for the greater good, his first piece explores the unity of the volunteers that gave their time to the clean-up of Fox River (page 23). While the Fox River isn’t part of Canterbury, the issue of landfill and environmental sensitivity are issues that surpass location. Many of the volunteers were also Cantabrians. Isaac’s social pieces are set to explore negativelyperceived issues that impact us all, while finding the good in them. He will get us thinking.

They say change is as good as a holiday and here’s hoping this change is more successful than Bali. For those I haven’t spoken to, the wedding was fabulous, the weather divine but the dreaded Bali Belly certainly got the better of us.

Until next time,

‘There are often a lot of stories up in the air at one time and we do our best to ensure they fall in the perfect arrangement.’