BLOG about PAINTING

What a difference a day makes. Today, we went to the beach. Pakiri Beach, north of here, very close to Goat Island Reserve.

Pakiri Beach

(Goat Island in the background)

Miles of beautiful white sand, only a few surfers and a couple of Oystercatchers. Oh, and the gulls of course, gathering around as we nibbled our sandwiches.

After the ups and downs of the last couple of days - having plans fall apart, things being totally up in the air, and having to wait for information from Canada - we needed to get out of the house and clear our heads. Well, Pakiri Beach was the perfect place. I painted while my sweetie explored, then we walked until the beach ran out. We came home whole again, ready to make decisions and looking forward to the next leg of our journey.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Back to the roads. OMG! As My Beloved remarked while we crawled along a gravel mountainside track (marked as a main road on the map), "We have roads like this in Canada. We call them logging roads.". But it was worth the drive!

It was a better day today. No huge disappointments like yesterday. There was even some sun this morning, and the house heated up very nicely. We met a couple more of the neighbours and their aging dog. We watched the Harriers hunting over the valley and getting harassed by the magpies. Just a quiet, more hopeful day

More clouds, of course

I read Felipe's blog (Caminoheads). He was picking corn for his guests. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to have fresh corn on the cob right now!!! Mind you, I did use kale from the garden to make an eggy dish to have with roast cabbage. Yum.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

The cuts of meat have different names down here. I'm totally lost. At least at the butcher's they can translate into North American for me.

We had a big disappointment today. We had lined up a wonderful housesit near Toulouse in France. Great homeowner, two nifty looking dogs, and 30 acres of 140-year-old forest. A land art project in the woods. Plus the use of a car.

This morning, it all fell through. Well, actually, it had been starting to topple for a few days. Since we'd necessarily be in the 'Schengen Area' (EU) for more than 90 days, we'd need visas. This requires an amazing amount of documentation, but that's OK. We could put it all together, bit by bit. The catch is that we can't apply from here. We have to do so in person in Vancouver after we get back to BC on October 11. Our prospective homeowner needed to make her reservations and could not wait until then. So we mututally decided that she would have to go ahead and plan to use some other housesitters. We are all quite disappointed. And talking now about maybe next year...

Just after our Skype conversation, I looked out the window, and the dark clouds mirrored my mood. How appropriate!

Gloomy Morning

Bummed out in Scotts landing. Will go for a long walk to get my head sorted.

Back to clouds, both weather-wise and in art. There wasn't much colour in anything, so I did a drawing in graphite. Used one of Jude's pencils, and it turned out to be a 2H. Hmmm. Oh well, gray sky.

A lot of stuff going on in the background. Considerable stress. More later when it all resolves.

The Olympics are a big deal here in New Zealand. And well they should be. The Kiwis are doing very well indeed! With a population about the same size as that of BC, they're ahead of Canada in the standings (fewer medals overall, but more silvers rather than bronzes). Not that Canada should be ashamed. I think we should be proud of our athletes even if they're not all gold medallists. They've worked their butts off for years and years to go there and represent us, and good on them!

The Kiwis have done particularly well in water sports (five medals today alone). It's not surprising when you see all the boats at anchor, all the dinghies parked in yards, and the boat ramps everywhere. Speaking of which, here's another take on that launching ramp down at Scotts Landing:

TODAY'S TIDBIT:

I think I'm running out of first impressions. Maybe because we've been here five weeks now, and we're starting to get used to things? But, here goes one last one - and a bit of a grumble at that. A lot of NZ drivers are jerks - just like a lot of drivers in Canada, though I'd have to say we Canucks are generally moe courteous and patient.

Another gorgeous day today. Spent the morning sorting through the beginnings of obtaining a visa for France. (Maybe it's because of the horrendous attacks, but France is getting very demanding when it comes to visas. Good on them, but it does make for an awful lot of paperwork on our part.). Treated myself to an afternoon of sketching in the park at the end of the peninsula. Warm sun, turquoise water, Oystercatchers working the beach... what's not to like?

Launching Ramp, Scotts Landing

I'm trying to be. more watercoloury... Hmmm.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

A couple of times each morning, just before the news, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) plays the call of the 'bird of the day'. Now how's that for making your listening public more aware of the natural world around them?

We went somewhere new today - Goat Island Marine Reserve. And, boy, is it ever nice there! There's a Marine Centre run by the University of Aukland, but unfortunately it's open only at weekends. That was just fine because there were great alternatives.

First of all, we headed for the Lookout. It was supposed to be a 45 minute round trip. We got there in about 10 minutes, though it was uphill all the way. Mind you, the trail was gravel roadbase, so it was dry and firm, and so there was no muddy slogging. The northerly view from the lookout is back down towards the marine station and Goat Island (a heavily wooded island just a few hundred metres offshore.) To the south, one could see a rocky coast and the continuation of the trail. We kept right on going, up and down stairs, in and out of very 'jungly' forest, until we reached the end of the trail - Cape Rodney. What a view. I immediately hauled out my paints, while my Beloved watched the gannets fishing just offshore.

Cape Rodney

As soon as I finished my sketch, we headed back to the car and our packed lunch. I was starving, but it was worth it! We sat on a log on the beach and opened up the container. Immediately, we were surrounded by Red-beaked gulls, posturing and calling. Do you think maybe visitors feed them a lot? They were out of luck. We're not into giving birds people food. That didn't seem to dissuade them. At one point, we had a juvenile gull, a one-legged female Mallard, and a male House sparrow all begging. Interesting mix.

Afterwards, I tried another w/c, this time a more traditional one without any pen & ink. Not very successful, but it's the first time I've painted with an entourage of gulls serenading me from just a few feet behind me. And, of course, they'd screech just as I was starting to do something very delicate. I was tempted to shake my paintbrush in their direction, but this was a reserve, so I'm supposed to be nice to the fauna!

Goat Island Marine Reserve

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Schoolbuses here are white, not yellow. They have a big sign on the front, saying 'SCHOOL', and the ones we've seen are all quite new and modern.

The Valley at High Tide

It was a gorgeous day today, sunny and warm. I got to go painting outdoors - in shorts!!! It's the equivalent of February down here, so to be able to play the Kiwi and wear shorts in winter is a big deal. Especially when I'm sitting still. Usually I need all kinds of extra layers to stay warm when I'm painting. This was very nice. I could get to really like this!

TODAY'S TIDBIT

They have 'pumpkin' down here, It looks a bit like a squat hubbard squash, and its flesh is bright orange. It's really tasty as either soup or a dinner vegetable. And it's a great bargain - $2.50 NZD each. Considering a single pumpkin can give you several days' worth of soup and a few veg dishes, it's one of the best buys around. Sorta makes up for the $3.00 leeks. Sorta...

It was sunny today! Oh, joy! Not only does that make things warmer outdoors, but also it means that the house heats up very nicely from passive solar heating. Also, the hills across the way are bathed in sunlight, and the sheep show up as tiny bright white dots against the spring green of the pastures.

The local farmer has his herd of cattle in the bottom lands. Every day, he moves the electric fence over about 25 metres to let the cattle have fresh grass. Unfortunately, since the field is so wet from all the rain, the hooves really chew up the sod, and you can see each day's progress down the field. Hey, maybe I should try to paint that. Maybe tomorrow. For today, it's another sky:

TODAY'S TIDBIT

The climate here is subtropical, so all kinds of plants naturalize on their own. It's not unusual to see Camellias growing on the hillside overlooking the Mahurangi River or Jasmine blanketing every bush within sight. Right now, most shrubs and trees are flowering. Makes everything awfully pretty.

A quiet day here in the antipodes. Went for a longish walk out toward the point and checked out some of the side trails that run from the road up on the ridge down to the ocean on either side of the peninsula. You can go down one, walk the beach at low tide, and head back up the next. Good workout for the legs, and one always sees Oystercatchers on the beach.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

There are no marinas here. All of the boats anchor out. The harbours are fairly shallow with good bottoms. Owners keep small dinghys on the beach and row out to their moorings when they want to go sailing. It makes for a much more natural shoreline, but then again, the open bays are all full of anchored boats.