Switching off the brain with a good book
Great style, well put together, or just someone who catches our eye. Every week reporter Carly Gooch gets out and about to discover the people behind the clothes in Canterbury.
A good book, swiping through preloved clothing racks or getting into the great outdoors, these women find various ways to switch off the brain and find their happy place.
Rachel Pepper, 50s, lives in Ilam, Christchurch,
and is a manager at Seletti Concept Store.
Originally from Christchurch, Pepper was a pharmacist practising around the country before her husband’s job took the couple around the world for the last 28 years, including to Kuala Lumpur and Norway.
She says she loved Asia, but it’s “good to be back in Christchurch”, having moved back last year.
She is passionate about fashion, especially vintage and thrifting, having what she calls an “eclectic” style. Clothes are a “game changer,” she says, changing your mood, the day or your vibe.
She wears a top from H&M, a pre-loved Storm belt, a vintage Annmaree Chambers skirt, shoes and necklace from Zara, a jacket from Norway and the bag is her “late grandma’s sewing bag”.
Annie Harris, 43, is a legal executive living in Redwood, Christchurch.
She grew up in Wellington before moving with her family to Christchurch when she was 13.
She has a 6-year-old, Albie Buchanan, who she describes as being at a cute age where “he still loves me”. “He’s a sweet wee man.”
Her favourite way to “switch off the brain” is sinking into a good book at bedtime. She likes to read all genres and authors of fiction to escape from work. She’s currently reading a historical romance drama by Sara Donati and her next novel lined up is by Gregg Hurwitz, who writes the Orphan X series.
She wears Merchant boots, Decjuba jeans and tee, a Shine On cardi and Fate and Becker jacket.
Liz Cyca, 46, is a nurse living in Glenholme, Rotorua.
She started off the school holidays tramping the Abel Tasman Coast Track with her husband and two boys.
It took them three days and she says “the last day was pretty tough” with children – but she’s no stranger to hiking.
The huts she normally stays in are small, only sleeping about six people, but she says the first night on the Abel Tasman was spent in a hut with 30-plus trampers. “It was full,” she says. “There was nowhere to hide.”
After the tramp, the family went to Rununga on the West Coast where her husband grew up.
The last day before flying out was spent in Christchurch, a city she says she really likes.
As great as the 12 days away were though, “I’m ready to go home,” she says, to her own bed.
She wears a Seed cap, an Anine Bing sweater, Running Bare pants, New Balance shoes and a Saben bag.