Aquiet life has never been something Peta Mathias goes looking for. She’s a person who needs travel, adventure and excitement. But as she arrives back in New Zealand after a long hot European summer, the celebrity cook, author and broadcaster is celebrating her 76th birthday. And while she doesn’t really feel much different, this seems a good time to take stock of where she is and where she wants to be.
“I’ve always said that I’m never going to get old, but my friends have told me I might and what if it turns out that they’re right?” she reflects.
“I’ve decided that I may as well be ready.”
A life split between France and New Zealand
Peta adores her life of endless summer, with half the year spent at her house in southern France and the other in her rented Auckland apartment. Equally, she loves hosting small group tours in glamorous destinations. But change is bound to come whether she wants it or not.
“I prefer to be in control of my life,” she says.
“So I’m slowly making changes, like doing fewer culinary tours next year and trying to think towards the future. “Do I want to end my days in France or New Zealand? That’s what I’m thinking about at the moment. It’s difficult because I have two distinct lives and two distinct sets of friends, but my family is all here in the southern hemisphere and I’m very close to them.”
Choosing where to call home
Peta isn’t at a crossroads in her life exactly, more circling around one and thinking about which direction she might like to take. Earlier this year, with the idea of simplifying things, she decided to sell her home in the beautiful French town of Uzès.
“It’s the best house I’ve ever had,” she says.
“It was architecturally designed specifically for me and the way I live, and it’s fabulous. But sometimes in life you just have to make tough decisions.”
A flexible approach to homeownership
So far, the place hasn’t found a buyer and Peta is pretty relaxed about that. If it sells, then it sells, and if it doesn’t, then she’ll come up with another plan. But for now, it seems like she’s going to swap things around, owning in Auckland and renting during the shorter periods of time that she will be leading her French life.
“My dream house is a giant kitchen with a bed in it,” she only half-jokes.
“I’d love to find an old warehouse somewhere in Auckland and convert it.”
Healthy reminders from life on the road
While Peta has always been fit and healthy, there have been a few reminders that she isn’t indestructible. Like unpleasant episodes of vertigo and, more recently, bouts of the stomach problem giardia that she picked up while travelling in India.
“At the end of my Morocco tour, I was very sick and in such pain – I lost five kilos,” says Peta, who is now on form again.
“I’m beginning to think that it comes back when I’m stressed or in a country with slightly dodgy hygiene.”
No plans to retire
While she’s planning to slow the pace a little, there is no talk of retirement from Peta. That is something she can’t see herself ever doing.
“I have a very low boredom threshold,” she admits.
“Also, I like working – I think most creative people tend to be that way. Look at musicians, they keep performing till they drop. So I have no intention of stopping. I work hard but it’s pleasurable and the rewards are high.”
Thriving on new challenges
And Peta remains open to new challenges, even when they involve her embarking on a steep learning curve. Her latest achievement is a new book, a collection of gossipy, frank and funny revelations called It’s Been Six Weeks Since My Last Confession.
While Peta has written 18 other books, this is the first time she has ever self-published one. It wasn’t something she did out of choice. After Shed Couture, the story of her passion for fashion which came out in 2021, Peta’s longtime publisher broke the news that they didn’t want any more books from her. At first, it was a hard knock to take.
“I was down about it for two years,” she shares.
“I completely lost my mojo when it came to writing. It wasn’t that I was blocked – I still had plenty of things to say – but I’d lost my self-confidence.”
Returning to writing
Eventually, though, she found herself unable to resist writing. She started producing short confessional personal stories with no plan for what she might do with them. Then one day, at lunch with friends, one of them suggested she self-publish.
“I thought, ‘How hard can that be?’” recalls Peta.
“Of course, there was a lot more to it than I ever imagined. Now I know what it’s like to do the job of about 20 people without any training or ability whatsoever.”
Support from friends along the way
Fortunately, while on her long self-publishing journey, she has had lots of support from her friend, editor and author Sue Copsey (who writes fiction under the name Olivia Hayfield), and the finished book is now being launched with events all round New Zealand.
Peta isn’t sure whether this is her most wicked book yet, but it very well might be.
“Because I was self-publishing, it gave me the freedom to write exactly what I felt like writing,” she says.
“There was no one to tell me what I could or couldn’t say. It was just like I was sitting down and confiding in a friend.”
Revealing the tour secrets
In the new book, Peta dishes the dirt on the worst-ever guests on her tours. She writes about her experience of cosmetic surgery, her A-type friends, a man who let her down and a job that set her up for life.
Peta even reveals that recently she had a night of passion with an old flame who got in touch while on a trip to France. While it hasn’t developed into anything lasting, just like her favourite Edith Piaf song, Peta regrets nothing.
“As I say in the story, I hadn’t thought about him once in 30 years,” she tells.
“But it was wonderful, really lovely. And it was a reminder not to protect myself too much. Don’t say no to things, don’t turn experiences down, keep living and take unusual things in your stride when they come to you.”
A mother’s hidden struggles
While this book is light-hearted and entertaining, It’s Been Six Weeks Since My Last Confession also has a more serious side. There is a chapter on a terrible road rage ordeal she went through in France, for instance. And she writes insightfully about her mother’s mental health struggles.
“People didn’t talk about post-natal depression in those days, but looking back, I think that’s what she must have suffered from,” says Peta.
“She’d just go to bed for a week. Being the eldest, I turned into mother and we managed. My mother was very dynamic – she made all our clothes, she was creative, a real high achiever. She wouldn’t have wanted people to know.”
Bold and colourful living
Peta believes in many ways she is very like her mother – although thankfully without such crippling depression. Like everyone, she has her down days and anxious moments, but she doesn’t let them hold her back from leading her life boldly and colourfully.
This month, once she is back from touring New Zealand and talking about her new book, Peta will be resuming her famous Supper Club. Twice weekly, she welcomes guests into her Auckland apartment, where she teaches a cooking class, entertains with stories, then gathers everyone round the table for a delicious meal.
“I started the Supper Club as a pivot during the pandemic when I was unable to do my gastronomic tours and I fell in love with it,” she says.
“It’s more than just a cooking class – it’s bringing people together. Sometimes the conversations can get quite deep. And it makes people happy, so it makes me happy too.”
Touring the world and beyond
In March, she will be heading to India for another 10-day luxury shopping tour. Then in May, she’ll be returning to Europe for tours in Italy, France and Spain, as well as cooking classes at her home in Uzès.
And while Peta claims she might not write any more books, even she doesn’t really believe it because, out of all her occupations, writing is the one she loves most.
“I want to live a full life,” she enthuses.
“I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t interested in a careful or restricted sort of existence. “I believe in beauty, excitement, adventure and romance – not in playing it safe.”
Nicky Pellegrino
It’s Been Six Weeks Since My Last Confession by Peta Mathias is available at Paper Plus and Mighty Ape.
