The five Cs of Golden Bay vegan cafe AROHA AHORA are being celebrated this weekend at the venue’s one-year anniversary.
AROHA AHORA, which is a fusion of the Māori word for love and the Spanish word for now, offers community, culture, couture, care and cacao which come together in a relaxed and calming space, says owner Jenny Lyn Walker.
Jenny, who is known locally as Aroha, has been a fashion designer for 22 years, and the café houses a gallery of her sculptural fashion art. Included in this attraction is her award-winning Tiki Dress – later worn by Keisha Castle-Hughes – which scooped the supreme prize and won the designer a trip to Milan at the Auckland-based Westfield Style Pasifika Fashion Show in 2003.
AROHA AHORA’s Being Prescence Centre is a prayer and healing room, and Aroha says she uses this space for her life path guidance sessions, to “help you to figure out why you are here and how you express you to the world, inner and outer expression”.
Nelson’s original ‘Possibilities the Shop’ has also been resurrected in this space, with spiritual, relationship and health books offered alongside greeting cards, figurines, giftware, incense, jewellery and gemstones.
The venue is also a community hub space where various groups gather to practise or meet up. Aroha says anyone is welcome to book in and use the space for groups, healing sessions, meals, birthdays, launches or gatherings.
This weekend, she is asking the community to come together to celebrate AROHA AHORA’s one-year anniversary, on Saturday 31 May, 11.11am to 4.44pm “with music, food, friends and positive vibes for the future of the space”. It is located at 90 Commercial Street, Tākaka.
