One of a kind

Colourful characters of Christchurch

Colleen Simpson meets four of our eccentrics, from New Brighton's Sandman to a storm chaser.

Petra Vieting

A short woman with a blond quiff answers the door and, although she offers no greeting, she invites Avenues in with a broad sweep of her arm.

Petra Vieting is, without a doubt, eccentric, but doesn't like to label herself as anything other than cosmopolitan and a survivor.

Born and raised in the East German town of Potsdam, she arrived in New Zealand in 2001, with partner Herbie, in search of a different life to the one she had.

Having forged a career in the film industry - styling hair, applying make-up and making costumes - the hunt for a job here was difficult, but one element of her new life was a pleasant surprise.

"One day, I went out and people stared at me as if I was an alien," she says. "I even checked on top of my head to see if I had any antennae up there. I think I just had some dots painted over my eyes or something, but people were like 'wow'.

"At home in Potsdam there are loads of celebrities, and beautiful women are everywhere, and it's good to be different, and so lots of people are. Here it's easy for me to go 'pop'."

Petra's Linwood home would give even the most casual observer a clear idea that the residents are people who live a life less ordinary.

Petra's kitchen is the size of a postage stamp, but what it lacks in square metres is more than made up by style. Colour is a huge expressive outlet for Petra and the theme chosen for the kitchen is carrot orange. Empty spaces on the wall are used for hanging mostly bright orange items, which possibly might not fit in the cupboards, but, more likely, are considered peculiar or unusual enough to display.

The sitting room is also cosy and dinky, a warm retreat from the chilly drizzle outside. Its walls are lined with books, Petra's handmade clothing, dozens of rescued necklaces, tribal masks, and furniture the couple recycle.

Breathing new life into old furniture is just one skill Petra uses to make ends meet. She also utilises her hairdressing skills, but her approach is not for the unadventurous.

"I talk to the clients, but sometimes what they want is not what they need. I don't use a mirror; they just have to trust me and wait until the end to see it."

Petra's favourite creative activity, though, is film-making. Her and her partner's dearest wish is to combine their talents (Herbie's lie mostly behind the camera) to bring one of their screenplays to life.

To that end, the couple are on the hunt for an investor with deep pockets and, presumably, a significant appetite for risk. They estimate the screenplay for Angel's Fall, based on one of Petra's dreams, would cost about $1.2 million to produce.

"I have very beautiful dreams. I have dreams about Mother Nature and about how she starts to fight back," Petra says.

She has another idea to film a movie entitled How To Grow Old Fabulously, which would feature six women over 45 who would be made over by Petra and decked out in her designs.

"I think women have forgotten how to be sexy and I do mean sexy, not provocative," she says. "Being sexy is not about just consuming what someone else made in China and costs a lot of money."

*To read about storm chaser John Gaul, Sandman Peter Donnelly and op-shop-oholic Maria Hawkesby, read the July issue of Avenues*