Montebello Hair

Montebello Hair is a small home based Friendly salon situated in Beautiful Sunny Nelson just five minutes from central Stoke

✨ School Ball Season is Here ✨

Your dress is sorted, your hair is booked... now it's time for the finishing touch. 🤎

A flawless, natural-looking spray tan will have you glowing with confidence on the night and looking incredible in every photo.

✨ Custom colour matched to your skin tone
✨ Streak-free, even finish
✨ Fast appointment times
✨ Perfect for school balls, photos and celebrations

Limited appointments available during ball season, so book early to avoid missing out!

📍Auré Sunless Tanning
📩 Send me a message to secure your appointment.

28/07/2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbWwI8Phoic/?igsh=MTZxM3Z2enZjM3Izag==

Highly recommend 💫

✨ School Ball Season is Here ✨ Your dress is sorted, your hair is booked... now it's time for the finishing touch. 🤎 A flawless, natural-looking spray tan will have you glowing with confidence on the night and looking incredible in every photo. ✨ Custom colour matched to your skin tone ✨ Streak-free, even finish ✨ Fast appointment times ✨ Perfect for school balls, photos and celebrations Limited appointments available during ball season, so book early to avoid missing out! 📍Auré Sunless Tanning 📩 Send me a message to secure your appointment.

27/07/2026

Small businesses supporting each other.

Did you know we have a Coffee cart in Montebello! ☕️
Also a Book Nook 📖📕

Head on up and grab a coffee and or wee treat an bring to your appointment. Or on your way home.
(Up by the old pool)

Crust & Co.

16/07/2026

New website up and running! Link in bio.

12/07/2026

Colour and or keratin appointments available this week are :

Wednesday 15th 11:30am
Thursday 16th 1pm

Some back to school appointments available.

🤗

06/07/2026

NGAWHATU HOSPITAL — PART ONE: THE ROAD IN

The road into Ngawhatu Valley narrowed as it twisted away from Nelson and disappeared into the hills. For thousands of people taken down it, there was no way of knowing when they would come back. Some would be gone for months. Others would remain for years.

At the end of the road stood Ngawhatu Hospital.

Opened in 1922, the institution grew into a sprawling complex of 13 villas hidden deep inside the secluded valley. People with mental illnesses were sent there, along with people with epilepsy, developmental disabilities and dementia. Some entered voluntarily. Others had little say in where they would live or how long they would stay.

From the outside, Ngawhatu could look almost idyllic. There were beautiful gardens, wide lawns, golf, tennis and croquet. There were no towering walls or guard posts, but they were hardly needed. The long road, the steep hills and the isolation separated the hospital from the outside world.

By 1971, Ngawhatu held 641 patients with just 164 nursing staff. One former nurse later recalled occasions when only four staff members were responsible for 50 patients in a single villa. Overcrowding became so severe at Rata Villa that some patients reportedly slept on mattresses on office floors.

For decades, hundreds of people lived in the valley at any one time, largely out of sight of the rest of New Zealand. Some found care and safety there. Others lived with overcrowding, little privacy and almost no control over the decisions being made for them.

Behind the peaceful gardens and quiet valley, a much harder question was waiting.

When a patient said no, did anyone have to listen?

PART TWO: Behind the villa doors