- Taupo’s $5 Million Rubbish Question — Part OneWhat Council told me, what it didn’t, and why I somehow ended up reading legislation about rubbish I’ve been pondering whether I should write about this for a while now. Since I started collecting cans and looking more closely at things involving waste management, there’s been a fair bit of flip-flopping over whether I should… Read more: Taupo’s $5 Million Rubbish Question — Part One
- An Introvert, an Extrovert, and a Microphone Walk Into a Radio Studio…
I’ve avoided writing about this.Not because I wasn’t excited, but because I didn’t want it to come across as, “Look at me.” If I’m honest, I’ve never been particularly comfortable being the centre of attention. I’d much rather write about someone else’s story, ask the questions, or sit quietly behind a keyboard. But tomorrow morning […]
- The Annual Plan… in Plain English
Or how I somehow squeezed 64 pages into ten lines. If you ever picked up my Lunch Club Letters and wondered how on earth I managed to explain Council’s Annual Plan in just ten lines, here’s the secret… The official version is 64 pages long. Actually, the real Annual Plan is even longer once you […]
About Me
Hi, I’m Sophie.
I’m not paid to write. I just keep doing it anyway.
I started out writing about Taupō politics during election season, when clear information was… not exactly easy to come by. It became a bit of a sounding board for locals. Especially the ones who weren’t sure if they’d even bother voting.
Yes, some of it was controversial.
But most of it? Stuff people were already thinking. Just not saying out loud.
Call it a no-filter filter, with a bit of humour so everyone could breathe.
It got a little heated at times. A few councillors didn’t love it. That’s a story for another day.
Toward the end of 2025, after the elections, I shifted gears. Not away from politics completely, but away from it being the only lens.
Because there’s another story here that’s just as important.
The land.
The buildings.
The decisions that quietly shape both.
That led me back to something I’ve always been drawn to: architecture.
Back in my early twenties, I was studying design and working alongside architectural writing. Thesis layouts, documentation, the formal side of things. That’s where my interest in architecture really took hold.
What I’m doing now feels like coming full circle. The good kind.
So in 2026, this space sits somewhere between architecture and politics.
Because the two are tied together whether people like it or not.
Here you’ll find:
- writing on Taupō’s architecture — past and present
- observations on how buildings sit on the land, and how people actually live in them
- commentary on council decisions, planning, and development
- documentation of places before they’re altered, stripped back, or disappear
- the occasional deep dive when something doesn’t quite add up
I come from a design background with a strong interest in pattern language. Why some places feel right, and others don’t. Why some buildings last, and others slowly lose their identity.
Sometimes I write formally.
Sometimes I don’t.
Sometimes I sketch, photograph, or map things out.
Sometimes I just say what needs to be said.
Mostly, I’m just trying to slow things down enough to actually see what’s going on.
If You’re Here For…
Architecture. Politics. Or the space where the two collide.
You’re in the right place.
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