To reach the standard required to represent your country as an Olympic and Commonwealth Games athlete is extraordinary. To reach that standard across multiple disciplines is, in my view, verging on superhuman.

“If people ask me [to explain my work], I want to have a conversation. That’s really all art is, a conversation. Sometimes it’s real honest, like, ‘What the hell is that?’ or ‘Why do I hate this work so much?’” That’s the kind of things that artwork brings.”

On June 14, 2017, she assumed command of HMNZS Te Mana, becoming the first woman in our navy to captain a frigate. Accepting the symbol of command, she uttered the immortal phrase: “I have the ship”.

I was three hours into trekking across the Greenland ice cap, and all I wanted to do was quit. I’d spent the past six months imagining myself as a strong warrior gliding over smooth snow under bright blue, never-ending skies, the sun warming my bronzed face. The reality, however, couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Jenny Rudd meets two of the world’s top junior surfers, brother and sister, Elin (15) and Jonas (17) Tawharu. They have grown up surfing on their doorstep, here in The Mount.

Both freelance writers, father and son team Tim and Finn Rainger talk about their relationship.

Each of the teenagers featured in this article is self-employed, earns money using their own skills, manages their own income, and in some cases, earn more than many adults.