Lewis de Jong (middle), with bandmates Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds (left) and Henry de Jong (right) make up Alien Weaponry. Photo / Piotr Kwasnik
Lewis de Jong (middle), with bandmates Tūranga Morgan-Edmonds (left) and Henry de Jong (right) make up Alien Weaponry. Photo / Piotr Kwasnik
Lewis de Jong is guitarist and lead singer for te reo heavy metal band Alien Weaponry. Here, he gives his guide to the best of his hometown, Northland's Waipu.
Waipu is a pretty small place, but there is pretty much everything you need here to live your life – afew shops and cafes, great beaches, rivers and caves, friendly people. We even have our own Christmas parade, Highland games, car show, Easter carnival, midwinter (Art & Tartan) arts festival and a museum.
The local music scene is pretty diverse too – everything from bagpipes to heavy metal.
Our good mate Riki at FEOH Espresso has the best coffee in New Zealand, possibly the world. We went to school with Riki's son Benji, who also works there. They taught Henry [de Jong] and I everything you need to know about making great coffee, which has come in handy a few times when we came home from tour with no money and needed a job. They roast their own beans and Benji does the baking, and it's a cool place to sit and enjoy the sunshine with friends.
Industry Vintage is one of my favourite places to spend an hour or so. I'm a bit of a magpie and I like collecting strange and unique things, so this place is a real treasure trove for me. Everyone there is always friendly and full of information, so there is usually good conversation too.
I'm a keen surfer, so Waipu Cove is always good for a surf or swim. Lots of people go fishing there too, and there is some pretty awesome scenery on the beach and on the walk over the hill to Lang's Beach. And there's a great cafe right on the beach and a dairy, so you can pretty much spend all day there and find something interesting to do.
We have done a few photoshoots at Waipu Cove, and actually made part of our next music video there – I can't tell you too much more about it at this stage, but we can't wait for everyone to see it.
The Pizza Barn is world-famous in NZ, but there are also lots of other great food places in Waipu. My current favourite is Lydia Sushi, and Goody Goody also sells great food and coffee.
There are a few hidden secrets, including one of NZ's most popular clothing-optional beaches at Uretiti, and a bunch of swimming holes that only the locals know about (I'm sworn to secrecy, sorry); but maybe the most surprising thing for most people would be that Waipu has its own circus school, Circool Circus. It's where I learnt to unicycle and spin fire, and they always bring something unique and different to community events like the Christmas parade, Easter carnival, Art & Tartan and the Highland Games on New Year's Day.
As part of NZ Music Month, Alien Weaponry is performing with the NZSO, at Cladelands Arena, Hamilton/Kirikiriroa on May 22, and Christchurch Town Hall, Christchurch/Ōtautahi on May 29. nzso.co.nz/concerts-and-tickets/season-2021/stronger-together-nzso-and-alien-weaponry/
