Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Well done to Spark Arena

So an email landed in my inbox - Spark Arena named among the world’s top 20 arenas.

Now, this is a big deal. This isn’t a list that’s put together by some random Instagram account in Norway with 100 followers. This is a list put together by IQ Magazine. And if you’re into music in a big way - like, really into it, more than a Rolling Stone kind of way - you’ll know IQ Magazine is a big deal.

Judy Gill: Just Another Failed Trip to Auckland CBD

18 January 2025.

So we came by ferry to Auckland CBD from lovely Waiheke Island — lovely socialist, neo-Marxist Waiheke Island — I and my young son, intending to catch a train to visit his sister in Onehunga.

The trains weren’t running. Not in January. Not through the CBD. Not in peak tourist summer season. Not in cruise ship season. So the plan changed.