On 12 May you can sip tea and nibble delicious dainties whilst listening to Lauraine Jacobs, Tui Flower, Julie Biuso and Julie Le Clerc – four of the many food writers and chefs who contributed to A Treasury of New Zealand Baking.

Also on 12 May, Emily Perkins, Finlay Macdonald, Gordon McLauchlan, Steve Braunias, Bill Hastings and Jennifer Ward-Lealand will argue the moot: “Off the Shelf and Into the Hard-drive: the Book is Dead” at St-Matthew-In-The-City, with Te Radar as moderator.

14 Year Old Daughter’s favourite band Ivy Lies will be talking about songwriting on 13 May as part of the 2010 Schools Programme. If 14 Year Old Daughter can’t talk her teachers into taking the class along I may just have to take her myself, or risk her imploding with disappointment!

If your brain needs some shaping up tutor Kathryn Burnett will lead participants through a series of exercises designed to stimulate imagination and give your right brain a workout in Brainstorm: Creativity Workshop on 15 May.

This is just a sampling of the events on offer, a full programme and ticketing information is available on the Readers and Writers Festival website.

So to celebrate my impending move, I am writing a list. All the stuff you say ‘I should totally do that one day’ – goes on the list. Thanks to my Wellington list, I’ve eaten dinner at the restaurant with Wellington’s best location and worst food (Fisherman’s Table), dragged flatmates on day trips (Somes Island), attended my first sports game (Phoenix) and investigated Welly’s urban legends (the trippy tree).

In return, I may provide vaugley interesting reports back on my list-based activities. So let me know! What needs to be on the list?

If you’re interested in checking out up and coming local bands, head to Global Cafe in Henderson at 7pm on Thursday 25 for the Young Guns Concert. Organised and hosted by Green Bay High School students, top young talent from West Auckland schools cover every genre from blues to punk, hip-hop and rock. Top performers will get to play a spot on the ‘Local Sounds’ stage at the Village Music Night on Friday.

Popular local eatery Hardware Cafe will be hosting some of Auckland’s hottest jazz talent in the Toolroom Bar on the Thursday and Friday nights. Situated beneath Hardware Cafe, Toolroom Bar is only open during the Festival.

Friday night is Village Night, and with several events happening around Titirangi at once the $15.00 Village Night Pass is well worth purchasing if you want to check them all out. I’m particularly keen to head to Titirangi Memorial Hall for Local Sounds, where ex-The Mockers frontman Andrew Fagan will be performing with his band The People.

On Saturday night the Titirangi RSA will be ringing with the sweet sound of Celtic melodies and pulsating modal fusion for Pagan Moon Dance, while over at Titirangi Theatre you are challenged to leave pre-conceptions at home and open your mind to the avant garde, strange, spooky or kooky during the Festival Club Late Nite Show.

Saturday night also sees the festival’s headline act perform: local and international hip-hop star King Kapisi and a six piece band will take the stage for Pacific Roots, along with Souljah, Manuel Bundy and MC Rhythm Slave.

There are many more events on offer than I have listed here, from a tour of Rolling Stones memorabilia to hand drumming classes for children – Titirangi is guaranteed to be buzzing for the whole weekend. For more information and tickets see the Titirangi Music Festival 2010 site.

• * Moist chocolate sludge cake
• * Fresh fruit tartlets with pistachio
• * Pink frosted cupcakes
• * Opera cake
• * Chocolate dipped strawberries
• * Petite macaroons
• * Hand made Grand Marnier and honey truffles
• * Mozzarella, cherry tomato and basil bites
• * Smoked salmon and lemon cream cheese wrapped pancakes
• * Petite sandwiches of Champagne ham with English mustard, roast beef with horse radish cream, cucumber and cream cheese, egg and watercress, grissini wrapped in Parma ham
• * Savoury herb scones with crab meat
• * Espresso coffee and exotic teas

I’d drink champagne and make it last the whole afternoon. Where else is good for High Tea in Auckland? Anywhere cheaper than $36?

What’s not to love about ice dancing? It’s just so very … sparkly. I like the sparkly and I’ve long dreamed of being an ice dancer. But then throughout my life I’ve variously dreamed of being a cabin steward (too short to reach the overhead lockers), a vet (allergic to lots of animals) and a trapeze artist (I cried when they tried to get me on the flying fox at school camp) so it’s safe to say when it comes to realistic expectations I fail.

If you’re a fan of the sparkly, or want to relive your ice dancing dreams then Swan Lake on Ice, performed by The Imperial Ice Stars could be just the thing for you.

Featuring 26 World, European and National Championship skaters who between them hold more than 250 competition medals, The Imperial Ice Stars will be performing Swan Lake on Ice at The Aotea Centre’s ASB Theatre from 21 to 25 July as part of a two year world tour. Tickets will be available from 9am Monday 15 March from The Edge.

Other events will also be on offer during the weekend, including heritage tours of the estate; live music, dance and theatre performances; art workshops and demonstrations of Pacific weaving. Local caterer Claire Inwood will be providing lunches, snacks and beverages at the Corban Kitchen Cafe, and fresh coffee will be available from the Flow coffee cart.

More information is available on the CEAC site, the Corban Estate Arts Centre is located at 426 Great North Road, Henderson.

You don’t have to be a gardener to appreciate the rose. In fact, having tried to grow the little blighters in the past I appreciate them more when I’m not having to tend then – they are a lot of work.

At Auckland Museum the exhibition Wonderland: The Magic of the Rose tells the story of the rose and the many ways it appears and is represented in our lives, from its growth and breeding it to its inclusion in poetry and fashion.

“Wonderland is about telling the stories of our favourite flowers in fun and accessible ways,” says Auckland Museum director, Dr Vanda Vitali. “The iconic image of the rose has infused itself with art, myth and legend since the dawn of civilization. This is a chance for Aucklanders of all ages to discover the rose’s allure in a unique setting.”

A programme of events including including panel discussions, Fabulous Fridays, a Midsummer Night’s Dream-themed performance and sleepovers for children accompanies the exhibition, which is on until 16 April. Entry is $8.00 for adults, children under 15 and Museum members are free.

I’m a product of the ’80s – when I was a teenager George Michael was still straight (well as far as we knew anyway), Berlin was a city and a band, and former Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon guest starred as the narrator when The Rocky Horror Show toured New Zealand.

All that is far in the murky depths of the past now, or so I thought, but recently I’ve had the oddest feeling that I’ve stepped back into the ’80s again. Not only has the ever revolving wheel of fashion brought ’80s clothes back to the stores, but now it seems like every band who had a hit song or two back then has reformed and is touring. And actually, that’s fine by me. When Duran Duran played Vector Arena in 2008 I was there, singing along at the top of my lungs.

This year sees at least three big acts from the ’80s coming to New Zealand. Scottish group Simple Minds (whose lyrics thankfully are easier to understand than their indecipherable accents) play The Civic on Tuesday 30 March as part of a world tour to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Then on Thursday 29 April Tears for Fears and Spandau Ballet (who, if my circle of friends was anything to go by, were the subject of many a teenage girl’s daydreams) play a double bill at Vector Arena.

Simple Minds tickets can be purchased from The Edge, and Spandau Ballet/Tears for Fears tickets from Ticketmaster. And if you go to Spandau Ballet and some five foot tall chick is bouncing up and down behind the tall people and shouting “I love you Tony Hadley” at the top of her lungs it’s totally not me, honest.

Yachting doesn’t really have the reputation as a fast-paced spectator sport. However, North Head provided a surprisingly good view of the entire course, and a couple of spectators had brought their transistor radios so everyone could hear the (granted, necessary) commentary. This spectator appreciated far more the experience of watching the race in real life – in particular, at the closest end of the course, one could actually hear the boats creaking when they tacked. That’s kinda cool! Although the competition got quite tense a couple of times, the experience was pretty similar to watching something soothing, like a fire or a fishtank, except somewhat more grandiose.

One observation: it would appear that all the sniping about expat traitors is more restricted to talkback radio than actual yachting fans, if the cries of “go, Russell!” were anything to go by. Unfortunately for the Coutts fans, and despite a couple of promising-looking challenges, BMW Oracle was lagging most of the way, and Alinghi was the winner on the day.

A quick backgrounder: this match racing series was conceived to provide a bit of yachting entertainment for crew and fans, while ongoing legal wrangles hold up the next America’s Cup. The yachts are not the bleeding-edge technology that’s become the controversial highlight of recent America’s Cup challenges, but identical racing yachts, so races are won on the skill (and luck) of the crew. This also makes it difficult to tell the teams apart, from a distance (hence the necessity of commentary). Racing continues daily until February 15th, depending on conditions. You could visit the slightly-annoying Louis Vuitton Pacific Series website, but it’s probably easier to just skip to the detail at TVNZ.

7 February – SJD (Aucklandista top pick)

14 February – Don McGlashan

21 February – Nathan Haines + Hollie Smith

7 March – Mint Chicks + Pluto

The atmosphere is Family Orientated, meaning you can take chairs and picnic baskets and that and lounge around. But no booze. Booze is available, though.  Of course, you are welcome to have a look around the Zoo while you’re there, but apparently the Tiger cubs are past the point of optimal cuteness.

*Kudos to Hadyn Green, factchecker.