Who ate all the Easter eggs? We did
We're trying to find New Zealand's most delicious mini Easter eggs. Plus, everything else you need to read to help you relax into your long weekend...
Kia ora and welcome to The Spinoff Weekend’s Easter special. Wherever you are, I hope you’ve got a super chill, relaxed four days planned to make the most of this ongoing sunny weather. We’ve got a great line-up of feature reads for you to dip into whenever you’ve got some spare time. So relax, put your feet up and pour yourself a fresh cup of Coffee Supreme. You made it. Welcome to Easter weekend.
-Chris Schulz, senior writer
The mini Easter eggs of New Zealand, ranked
You’re no doubt enjoying a few tasty treats of the chocolate variety this weekend, but if you’ve saved your Easter shopping to the last minute, you may want to read this. Across the past week, Spinoff staff have been chomping their way through as many different Easter eggs as they can find, all in the name of research. What did we eat? Literally everything: eggs with salted caramel, eggs with peppermint, eggs flecked with candy, and eggs with nuts (wrong, wrong, wrong). Find out how your favourite eggs fared in our taster’s guide to every mini egg available this Easter.
In 2006, a room full of journalists attempted to scoff as many Creme Eggs as they could in five minutes. Why? And where has the footage gone?
Why masks must be part of our new normal
We’re in orange for Easter. What does that mean? Thankfully, Siouxsie Wiles is here to clear up the confusion. “Basically, there are no capacity limits any more, or spacing requirements. But there is still the requirement to wear a mask in some settings,” she writes. Just because mask rules are relaxing, that doesn’t mean you should too. “There is still Covid-19 circulating in the community in New Zealand. That means many people are still trying to avoid catching the virus to protect themselves or their vulnerable friends and family members. Don’t think of a mask as a restriction. Think of it as a public health measure that is enabling others in your community to do things that you take for granted.” Read her full explanation of the rule changes.
“I don’t know what it’s like to be a doctor in a non-Covid world” writes Emma Espiner in her compelling Sunday Essay, On the Frontline.
From our friends at Coffee Supreme: It feels like we’re all spending more time at home at the moment. Naturally, this means keeping your mug topped up and rocking your slippers during those online meetings (yeah, we see you). Having your favourite oat milk, peanut butter or chocolate within reach can be a real day-maker. Not only do Supreme have your coffee needs taken care of, they’ve also made keeping your pantry shelves stocked super easy with their free shipping and next day delivery. Grab your favourite pantry bits here.
A landlord gives his own tenant a bad review
When vaccine pass rules were relaxed, bars, restaurants and venues that decided to keep mandates in place for entry were flooded with one-star reviews. That happened at Auckland’s Whammy Bar – with one big difference. “I was quite surprised to see my landlord was one of these people leaving reviews,” says co-owner Tom Anderson. That review came from Paul Reid, the former Shortland Street star and Rubicon front man who criticised the venue for continuing to request vaccine passes. The fallout was swift, with a blitz of feedback attacking the landlord for criticising his own tenant. You can find out how the saga unfolded here.
Wondering how the vaccine mandates work now? Reweti Kohere talks to several businesses in an attempt to unravel the uncertainty surrounding the rules.
A secret relationship with her music teacher
(Content warning: This feature contains distressing descriptions of a sexual and emotional nature, along with their mental health implications. Please take care.)
He was in his 50s, she was 16. David Adlam is a highly-regarded clarinettist, conductor and composer who took on Eva* as a music student in the mid-2000s. A complicated and imbalanced relationship developed that still affects Eva’s life today. Now in her 30s and still playing clarinet, she finds her profession a daily struggle and worries about running into her former teacher. “I sometimes grieve over how difficult it is for me to keep doing what I do,” she says. “I sometimes think about who I would be, or what my life would be like, if this had never happened to me.” Alex Casey spent six months putting together her caring, sensitive investigation, which you can read here.
A note from deputy editor Alice Neville: While most vaccine mandates have ended and the occupiers have left parliament grounds, the story is far from over. As Covid continues to spread, so does mis- and disinformation, which makes fact-based and level-headed journalism more important than ever. We’re keeping a close watch on this ongoing story, from the inadequate regulation of disturbing online content, to those trying to turn the parliament occupation fury into a political force, to the next target of the protest ringleaders. But we can’t do this – or the award-winning collaborations between Toby Morris and Siouxsie Wiles, painstakingly, sensitively reported investigations or up-to-the-minute live updates – without your support. As we continue to struggle against commercial pressures, contributions from our members are more critical than ever. If you want to support what we do, please consider becoming a member today. Donate now.
I tried getting high on binaural beats
For the past week, Spinoff writer Josie Adams has been trying to get high at work. “My bosses agreed to let me go on an audio binge last week in pursuit of even a tiny buzz,” she says. Josie wasn’t using real drugs. Instead, she attempted to get high by using the digital version, binaural beats. “These binaural beats, sometimes called ‘digital drugs’, can be downloaded as audio files, watched on YouTube, or streamed on Spotify from playlists named after the drugs they emulate – peyote, DMT, cocaine.” To find out how she’s feeling after heading down the k-hole, you’ll have to read Josie’s hilarious story.
Is it a game or a book? With online interactive fiction, the answer is “yes” writes Shanti Mathias. She investigates local authors writing digital versions of those paperback choose your own adventure novels we read as kids.
Everything else we loved this week…
David Farrier has been publishing some astonishing deep-dives into Arise megachurch via his excellent newsletter Webworm. Start here for background, then read this astonishing account from someone who escaped.
What is a “cult cruiser” and why are they desperate for cruise ships to get back in action? The New York Times (paywalled) explains why some people spend all their lives on big expensive boats.
Yes, you can get your groceries delivered from Australia. But should you? We unwrap the pros and cons of using Amazon AU here.
Nerds unite in the New Yorker’s excellent account of what happens when 12,000 game developers attend a San Francisco conference together.
Struggling to understand what’s happening in the Aussie elections? Here’s Ben McKay’s drongo’s guide to understanding the race to the 2022 polls, cobber.
What do you do when you played one of the best characters on Game of Thrrones? For Maisie Williams, she tells GQ she’s trying to find herself.
Prepare yourself for this one. In NYT’s paywalled account of what Russian forces did while occupying the Ukrainian city of Bucha, it finds evidence of horrifying war crimes (warning: contains graphic violence and imagery).
Finally, there’s only one film you need to see over the next four days: the dizzying, inexplicably complicated and absolutely captivating Everything Everywhere All At Once. It’s the most fun you’ll have in a theatre this year.
