Welcome back!
We made it. You made it. 

There have been several times over the past couple of months where the name of this issue has been a sort of mantra for me – most recently, when Auckland was put back into lockdown the day before this magazine was due at the printer. Everything Will Be Okay. It’s soothing to say it, just as the fear starts to bubble up and you worry about what you thought you were doing. Everything Will Be Okay. Everything Will Be Okay. 

We started Here in June. You loved it. We sold out around the country. You asked about where to subscribe, so we started selling subscriptions. You’re following us on Instagram and messaging us when you like things – and best of all, you tell us what you’d like us to change, because nothing says you care like constructive criticism, right?

You’ve placed your trust in a magazine started during the first pandemic lockdown and repeated in time for its second, with no track record to speak of. We are delighted by that, and it's given us the confidence to carry on.  So cautiously, carefully, we are moving ahead and into the future, planning our new website and selling tote bags (see page 17 – go on). It’s a reality that would have been unimaginable just a few months ago. 

But there is still so much uncertainty out there. How long will this lockdown last? What happens when the wage subsidy expires over the next few months? Will we ever open back up to the outside world? Is tourism really fucked in this country or can the collective $10 billion New Zealanders spent offshore last year somehow save us all? Will returning expats save the property market after they’ve endured quarantine? 

And so on. These are the conversations we have right now. These are the things we gnaw away on, sifting information, trying to read the future, before giving up.

For our second issue, we thought we’d find houses that spoke to some collective need for safety and security, as well as innovation and change and fun. They are houses that make us feel better because they are hopeful – they imply a better future. 

In the end, all you can do is plan for the worst, hope for the best and do the right thing by your fellow humans – and believe Everything Will Be Okay.