Client News

Five Mile’s family is growing

From a new bar, to shared working spaces, and a cafe/restaurant – Five Mile Business and Retail Centre welcomes a range of awesome businesses to the precinct this year.

Their new Craigs Investment Building at the far end of Five Mile Place will be home to a diverse crew of familiar and new-to-town businesses.

Fresh faces officially opening their doors in early August include Mountain Club co-founders Jason Wilby and Chris Davern.

Mountain Club is a collaborative office space perched on the third floor of the new building. Think sun deck, boutique office spaces, high-tech design and 280-degree views of surrounding mountains.

The business duo expects to build a community of around 100 businesses, entrepreneurs and creatives, channelling ‘boutique hotel’ vibes with its furnishing style rather than a traditional office.

“It feels like Queenstown is on the cusp of a major transition from a solely tourism-based economy to one that can offer highly skilled roles in design, technology and services,” Jason says.

“Queenstown attracts some brilliant talent and we’re going to provide them with a truly beautiful space to work from.”

Mountain Club welcomes everyone from local community members to entrepreneurs and business travellers.

Memberships will include unique perks such as Supreme coffee roasted in Wellington, local craft beers and community nights, plus all the usuals like fibre-powered wifi and unlimited printing.

But wait, there’s more … welcome to the family…

New standalone pub –  Queenstown hospitality entrepreneur Pete Jefford is opening up a pub mid 2020 – details are yet to come but expect lots of brick and reclaimed timber, a garden bar pavilion, and an all-weather kids’ play zone.

Joe’s Garage Cafe – doors will swing open on Joe’s 13^th location in time for spring and summer. Ground floor space, plenty of outdoor seating and a big open fire with The Remarkables as a backdrop. Can’t wait.

AR & Associates – located on level three and opening this month the boutique multi-disciplinary consultancy provides specialist inputs across planning, project management, civil and environmental engineering.

Focus Technology Group – IT and software company – expected to open late August on level two of the Craigs building.

Ace Car Rental – setting up shop on land behind the Five Mile Centre close to the Queenstown Airport, scheduled to open early November.

For more info visit www.fivemilecentre.co.nz

A growing social enterprise founded four years ago by a young entrepreneur has been given a huge boost thanks to one of New Zealand’s top tourism companies.

Adventure tourism company Go Orange has gifted two buses to kiwi social enterprise Got To Get Out, which is on a mission to get people active and outdoors, on free hikes and bike trips organised by founder Rob Bruce.

The trips have become so popular that Rob now works full-time on Got To Get Out, driving the length and breadth of New Zealand transporting people to and from their events.

And now thanks to Go Orange it will have two South Island-based vehicles to help decrease transport costs and time, enabling Rob to increase the social impact of got To Get Out on the community.

Go Orange General Manager Luke Taylor was inspired to donate two former rafting buses to Got To Get Out after hearing Rob speak at a backpacker (BYATA) conference last year.

The 20-seater Nissan Civilian buses were officially handed over to Rob in Queenstown today (June 21).

The rafting buses were surplus to requirements as the company has invested in a fleet of purpose-built, all-wheel-drive Unimogs.

“I like the idea of there being a different tourism model in New Zealand,” says Luke.

“There are lots of New Zealanders who don’t feel connected to the environment we live in, so there’s a bit of social good in us donating these vehicles to a good cause for the next part of their lives.

“We’re delighted to support Got To Get Out.”

Go Orange joins outdoor gear store Torpedo7 in supporting the drive to help people get outdoors and enjoy being in nature with new people.

Torpedo7 last year commissioned Got To Get Out to deliver their Torpedo7 Club free experiences around the country.

Rob previously worked for a corporate marketing agency before developing the concept of Got To Get Out while on a hike to Mt Everest base camp.

After reading a quote by Sir Edmund Hillary which says “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves”, he embraced the concept that different people have their own mountain to climb.

“I decided to use my professional skills to help other New Zealanders conquer their own Mt Everests, and now I’m on this incredible path where a social enterprise helps deliver health and wellbeing to people who may have been feeling lonely or depressed but feel so much better after coming walking, paddle boarding or mountain-biking with us,” says Rob.

“People are coming along more than once because they’ve made friends, they’ve got active and got outside, and it improves their mood and wellbeing. We’re building a genuine community in a sector of society that wasn’t being catered for.

“It was my dream to turn my passion into a full-time job, but that wasn’t quite financially viable until Torpedo7 came on board and we now have the support of Go Orange.

“When Luke called and offered the buses, I just about jumped out of my seat, I was so thrilled and just so grateful.

“Got To Get Out is arranging South Island-based hikes, ski trips, and later in the year mountain bike and paddle board outings in Nelson, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin, all departing from Torpedo7 stores thanks to this new partnership.

“Up until now I’ve been driving from Auckland to Dunedin, then making the grueling1500km return trip home before repeating. It’s a hectic schedule that involves huge miles, and significant cost in ferry crossings, petrol, road user charges and time.

“The Go Orange buses will decrease those costs and time, and therefore increase our social impact by helping me focus on getting more of the community outdoors, especially in the South Island.”

The Got To Get Out online community has now grown to 15,000 people.

With volunteer help and additional vehicles Rob can now run simultaneous trips in both islands.

Thousands of people and 34 unique light installations filled every nook and cranny of the Queenstown Gardens for LUMA’s light festival over Queens Birthday weekend.

LUMA Light Festival Trust chairman Duncan Forsyth said visitor numbers were slightly up on last year, with well over 50,000 people exploring the free multi-sensory event, illuminated by lights, gnomes and a little bit of magic. 

“We were just stoked with everything from the performance pieces to the signature installations; it was another incredible year full of diversity,” he says.

LUMA Southern Light Project’s new initiative ‘Adopt-a-Gnome’ provisionally raised over $25,000, which will fund an emerging artist to create an installation for next year’s festival.

Thirty beautifully crafted fibreglass-concrete gnomes were transformed into mini works of art by some of New Zealand’s top artists.

They were an extremely popular feature on display in ‘Gnome Alley’ during LUMA and were auctioned on Trade Me.

Bidding on the gnomes intensified throughout the four-day event and culminated in the highest bids being made for Mossy Gnome by Dick Frizzell at $3010 and Elemental by Jenny Mehrtens at $2700.

Duncan says the 250 people involved with the festival’s delivery worked tirelessly, with many LUMAteers being first-year helpers. 

“We rely heavily on funding and volunteers to bring LUMA to life, and although we deliver an amazing event it’s hard work for everyone involved.

“We wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of our incredible community, partners, community funding and donations.”

Crowds were greeted by an Angus Muir Design installation called ‘Tilt’ which saw a geometric themed lit up colonnade luring spectators into the wonderful world of LUMA.

There were lights around every corner, lining the footpaths, in the trees, along branches and even in the water.

An installation by ‘Creature’ gave viewers a look into what could be beneath the cold depths of the Queenstown Gardens’ pond with ‘Monstrum Marinum’.

Moving images of a Taniwha, Loch Ness Monster, Jaws and more were projected onto the water’s surface.

Among the installations around 40 performers dazzled crowds, from fairies to gold miners and tree dancers – it was nothing short of a spectacle.

“The performances added one more piece to the puzzle for us and it’s something we intend to continue with, we’re not sure in what fashion, but we have plenty of ideas already,” says Duncan.

LUMA would like to thank its principal partners including Queenstown Lakes District Council, Central Lakes Trust, Mainfreight, Tom Tom, SILO, Summit Events and Angus Muir Design.

From fairies to gold miners and tree dancers – around 40 performers will dazzle and delight during Queenstown’s LUMA as the festival evolves its sensory experiences.

 The festival’s Performance Director and Curator Emma Vickers, says the introduction of more performance aspects will “engage the audience on another level”.

“If visitors can connect visually, emotionally and physically with live performance, it enhances the overall performance of the festival.”

She speaks from experience – her performance and production work has taken her all over the world with management jobs in prestigious events such as Splore Festival, Tuki Festival and Rhythm and Alps.

Choreographer Amber Stephens, who boasts an eclectic resume across several visual and kinetic genres from dance and choreography to film, music, painting and photography says audiences will be taken on a “magical journey”.

“We’re excited to present another dimension to experience and to include local community groups and schools,” she says.

“Expect to be surprised, to be delighted, to see the Gardens in a new perspective, to see the rose gardens in a new, fresh way; there’s a little spiritual element to it too.”

Festival Trust Chairman Duncan Forsyth agrees that LUMA is ‘upping the ante’ with performances at this year’s event, being held over Queens Birthday weekend (May 31 – June 3) in the Queenstown Gardens.

“Every year there’s something new because we’re changing and evolving, we’re upping this year’s performance levels, everything from theatre to dance, as we evolve into more of a full sensory arts festival.

“It’s like launching a new art gallery each year that’s always going to be different.”

There will be two distinct performance zones within the Gardens, bringing together visual and aural installations.

The Rose Garden area or ‘Fairy Wonderland’ will feature Millie Begley from Flame Entertainment with her fairies, Theresa Swain’s young ballerinas from the Wakatipu Conservatoire of Ballet and young contemporary dancers from Amber Stephens Dance Collective – perfect for the kids.

The ‘Forest Zone’ is a nod to Queenstown’s gold mining past and the characters who lived during that time. Dancers are set to invoke the spirit of the forest including animals and elements of land and lake. 

Performances in this zone are choreographed by Amber for her own dance collective and The Remarkables Theatre Group, Chloe Loftus for her Arboreal Dancers, alongside a collaboration of Auckland’s Nocturnal group and Plant Contemporary Dance bringing multi-sensory design art.

It also features live, original music from local busker AJ Hickling and Mike Hodgson alongside a sound score including music by Paddy Free and Richard Nunns – iconic New Zealand electronic and Maori instrument sound artists.

“People need to make sure they go on a journey to all the different places, dress warm, bring children along and because there’s so much to see even plan to come on a couple of different nights. Don’t rush it,” Amber says. 

An award-winning light festival in Queenstown which attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year, has gone gnome-mad.

 Queenstown’s LUMA Southern Light Project, from May 31 to June 3, will be ‘gnome sweet gnome’ to around 30 of the legendary little garden creatures.

But in true LUMA style there’s a twist to this tale – they’ve been lovingly transformed into mini works of art by some of New Zealand’s top artists.

 In the build up to and throughout LUMA, the fibreglass-concrete gnomes are being auctioned off through TradeMe as part of an ‘Adopt-a-Gnome’ programme, raising funds for an emerging young artist to work on an installation for next year’s event.

Art lovers and businesses from around New Zealand are being encouraged to liberate a gnome through the auction. Before LUMA lights up Queenstown, some of the gnomes are on display at the new Macomos art gallery at Five Mile Centre.

During LUMA, part of the Queenstown Gardens will be transformed into ‘gnome man’s land’ with an area dubbed ‘Gnome Alley’, showcasing their transformation.

The brief for the artists was broad – they could decorate, pull apart or incorporate the gnomes into a larger piece of art, and were generally encouraged to go gnome crazy! Resene Paints jumped on board as a sponsor with primer, paints and a clear glaze to ensure the gnomes survive chilly winter nights in the garden, and the project is also supported by the Queenstown Lakes District Creative Communities Scheme and local landscape company Patch Landscape.

Due to the notoriety of runaway (or liberated!) gnomes, they’ll be kept under lock and key at the end of each evening during LUMA.

Each artist will have their name featured alongside their gnome – including luminaries such as Tony O’Keefe, Ben Ho and Mary Mai of Queenstown, Jenny Mehrtens of Arrowtown, Dick Frizzell of Auckland and many more.

Tony Cribb of Christchurch has designed an ice-cream gnome called ‘Gnome in a Cone’ with its hat painted as a cone and its legs and body looking suspiciously like a goody-goody-gum-drops ice cream.

Astro is a seasoned ‘astrognome’ who’s completed over 200 missions as part of the gnome colonisation space programme. Flint is a homeless gnome looking for a loving family (anyone?) while Mossy Gnome from artist Dick Frizzell is apparently the oldest of all the garden gnomes.

‘The Highwayman SH6’ is a time stealer who works tirelessly to hold up all the good people of Queenstown (something of an ‘in-joke’ gnome), while a familiar-looking Minbot is the oldest known gnominion.

LUMA Light Festival Trust chairman Duncan Forsyth predicts the gnomes will be the “sure fire hit” of this year’s event.

“We did tell the artists that ‘anything goes’ for their gnome makeover and they haven’t disappointed us,” he says.

“We’ve had some pretty serious expressions of interest already from art lovers who are ‘in the know’ and are proud to bid on a gnome so they can help us fully fund an emerging artist to develop, construct and exhibit a new piece of artwork for LUMA20.

“Who knows where some of them will end up!”

The Adopt A Gnome auction is underway on TradeMe and finishes on Tuesday June 4 at midday. All gnomes can be viewed on the LUMA website where there is a link to TradeMe.

Now in its fourth year, around 50,000 people are expected to brave chilly winter nights to go on a sensory journey through the gardens and around the Queenstown Bay waterfront.

LUMA Southern Light Project and the LUMA Light Festival Trust are very proudly supported by the Central Lakes Trust, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Queenstown law firm Anderson Lloyd.

Hundreds of primary and high school students from around Queenstown are adding their own special touch to the multi-award-winning LUMA Southern Light Project.

The countdown is on to four evenings of illuminated art, light sculptures and entertainment in the Queenstown Gardens over Queen’s Birthday weekend (May 31 – June 3).

Community participation, collaboration and support is a key driver for organisers of the event – now in its fourth year and expected to attract over 50,000 people who brave winter nights to immerse themselves in the light and sound spectacular.

And for over 250 students whose work will be on display it’s the culmination of months of hard work and creative effort on their collaborative installations.

The person with the biggest job of all is Wakatipu High School (WHS) technology teacher and LUMA school liaison co-ordinator Rebecca Lund.

She has brought together students not only from WHS but from Queenstown, Remarkables and Shotover Country primary schools to work with the theme ‘Lanterns’.

With sustainability in mind though, the theme has a twist — students all have to use recycled materials.

Plenty of plumbing of all shapes and sizes (even sewage pipes) have been repurposed for the works, after students were tasked with finding plumbers, construction and project managers willing to donate materials for them to transform.

Media students at the high school have also been able to get involved again this year, introducing an element of sound to the school pieces encouraging people to interact with the artworks by finding sound-sensitive buttons to press in conjunction with the light elements.

“The students are as excited as they can be because they’re presenting their work not just to our schools’ community but to thousands more visitors and locals at LUMA,” says Rebecca.

“Because of the ‘soundscape’ element of the installation it’s meant we can be more cross-curricular than ever before, involving more than 70 students from the high school alone.”

For the first time the WHS Art Department has dedicated a Scheme of Work to the LUMA project and created a ‘cityscape’ using clay. Under the watchful eye of teacher Abbey Brown, students have learned how to handle, bisque fire and glaze clay structures.

“I sometimes wonder why I sign up for this year after year, but when I see the end result and how proud students and their families are, it’s all worth it,” says Rebecca.

Over the past two months, LUMA director Simon Holden has been coming into schools to give authentic stakeholder feedback on student ideas and concepts.

“Students have found that pretty challenging but have accepted the challenge,” says Rebecca. “It’s a valuable lesson for them to learn that this is the way things happen out in the real world. I really value the fact that this is an amazing authentic project.

“It has actual stakeholders that students have to listen to and adapt their work accordingly depending on feedback.”

Another ‘first’ for WHS students is the chance to help in the set-up of their works, working on site with technicians to install their creations before the crowds arrive.

LUMA Light Festival Trust chairman Duncan Forsyth says the level of involvement from local schools is a key element of community initiatives and engagement, aligning with the Trust’s core values.

“These students work so hard each year and we’re as thrilled as they are to see their work literally come to life over the LUMA weekend,” he says.

LUMA Southern Light Project and the LUMA Light Festival Trust are very proudly supported by the Central Lakes Trust, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Queenstown law firm Anderson Lloyd.

Two major Queenstown businesses are flying the flag for the multi-award-winning LUMA Southern Light Project.

Skyline Queenstown and Queenstown Airport are supporting the event as installation partners, with the countdown well and truly on to four evenings of illuminated art, light sculptures and entertainment in the Queenstown Gardens over Queen’s Birthday weekend (May 31 – June 3).

Now in its fourth year, around 50,000 people are expected to brave chilly winter nights to go on a sensory journey through the gardens and around the Queenstown Bay waterfront.

The free public event is a riot of light and colour, focusing on the transformation of space, public interaction, art, culture and education. It’s all made possible by curated collections of stunning light sculptures and thought-provoking installations, brought together by a group of young Queenstown professionals who donate thousands of hours’ time to bringing the event to life.

Skyline Queenstown is supporting the creation of a two-part projection titled Superposition by Creature, by artist Lakshman Anandanayagam, which will link the gardens installation to the Skyline Queenstown complex on nearby Bob’s Peak.

Queenstown Airport is supporting ‘Trilogy’ by visual arts initiative the South Island Light Orchestra (SILO) and & AMD. The installation has been designed specifically for LUMA and will also appear at the airport after the event.

Duncan Forsyth, LUMA Light Festival Trust chairman, says the increased business support is a new phase of growth for the event. Skyline is a first-time installation partner and Queenstown Airport returns to the event after taking a break last year.

“We’re thrilled to be an official installation partner for LUMA19,” says Skyline General Manager Wayne Rose.

“At Skyline Queenstown, we continuously look to support local community initiatives we feel align closely with our core values and represent who we are as an organisation.

“LUMA is the perfect opportunity to do just that and by mirroring an installation from the gardens within the Skyline complex, we’re also providing Gondola Annual Pass holders with another reason to ride up the Gondola. And it promises to be a lot of fun!”

Duncan Forsyth says the trust is delighted to see more local businesses than ever before recognising the value LUMA brings to the town.

“Community engagement is at the heart of everything we do at LUMA so this is part and parcel of that,” he says.

“The event continues to evolve as a sensory experience with a broader focus this year on live performance, so this increased support from two very prominent local businesses goes a long way to confirming we’re on the right path.

“We can’t thank them enough.”

LUMA Southern Light Project and the LUMA Light Festival Trust are very proudly supported by the Central Lakes Trust, the Queenstown Lakes District Council and Queenstown law firm Anderson Lloyd.