BLOG about PAINTING
Looking up the Valley
It rains a lot here in July. I don't think we've had a single day in the two weeks since we arrived where there hasn't been at least a bit of rain. Yet nor have we had a single day without a bit of sunshine. This is the classic land of 'mix of sun and cloud'. It will be warm and sunny when literally out of the clear blue sky comes a squall - often horizontally driven by gale force winds - and then, just as suddenly, the rain is gone and the sun is back. Often you can see the rain coming for miles. Alternatively, you can sit in the nice, dry living room and watch curtains of rain blowing down the valley. It makes for quite beautiful vistas...
TODAY'S TIDBIT
We got mail today, Saturday, July 30th. Yes, that's right, SATURDAY. Can you even remember when we had Saturday delivery in Canada? (By the way, the Post Office here in NZ is also KIWIBank, so there's a bank in every community. The Leaf Manifesto is onto a good thing.)
Martin's Bay
A couple of days ago, we drove over to Scandrett Park and took the trail down to Martin's Bay, a lovely little settlement looking east into the Pacific. There's a nice, long beach that stretches south for about a kilometre. We found the usual suspects - Oystercatchers, Dotterels and Red-beaked gulls. We also found a beautiful scallop shell lying on the soft sand. That immediately made us think of Phil and his Camino. (The scallop shell is the symbol of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage across Spain.). Phil/Felipe has done two and a half Caminos - one in Spain and one and a half on his own ten acres of Vashon Island, WA. His story never ceases to inpsire me. Check it out at http://caminoheads.com/
TODAY'S TIDBIT
Gosh, I'm having trouble thinking of something. Heaven forbid I should already be getting used to things here down under!
Ah! Rural Kiwis have real mailboxes rather than those awful group mailboxes we in Canada have to endure. They also obviously make their own, given the great mix of shapes, colours and sizes. It's wonderful to see the diversity. Sure beats having box C-11!
There's an olive grove on the hillside across the valley. I have no idea how big the trees are, or what kind of olives they bear. I just see them marching down the hillside, grey-green against the bright green of the winter grass.
Jude has a bunch of her olives marinating on a shelf in the pantry. Imagine getting olives from your own trees! Unfortunately, they won't be ready before we leave. Sigh.
TODAY'S TIDBIT:
Kiwi kids are tough, too, and they don't appear to be coddled like North American kids. At Scandrett Park, there's a steep headland jutting out into the sea. Its sides are perhaps 100 ft. high, precipitously steep and unprotected by any kind of fencing. There is a notice just before the last bit of rough track: "Steep cliffs, Ensure that children are under control." That's it. You've been warned. If your kids fall off the edge, you're responsible, but other than that, nobody tries to keep you away. Compare that to the over-protective approach we have in North America, where if the stairs to the beach are a little wonky, heaven forbid, we have to shut the whole access down in case somebody gets hurt...
The yard is full of trees like this - lemon trees, grapefruit trees, even mandarin trees. It's AWFUL. Why is it awful? Shouldn't I - who love all of the above - be thrilled? Normally, I would be. But it turns out that citrus fruits are a major trigger for migraines, so I can't eat any of them. This is tough. On the other hand, since I have been on the migraine diet, I have my life back again. This will be my only whinge about this, I promise.
TODAY'S TIDBIT
Outside doors in New Zealand open inwardss. It feels quite strange after North American doors, which open outwards. Apparently, outward-opening doors became mandatory in NA after some horrific incident in which people got trapped at a door and were crushed to death by a panicked crowd trying to get out of a burning building.
Another View across the Valley
I keep trying to paint the view across the valley, especially as the sun moves across the sky and creates shadows. Maybe if I work at this long enough, I'll figure it out. Meanwhile, all the paintings are too yellow and green. Nevertheless, I can think of worse ways to spend my time than looking across a lovely estuary teeming with bird life.
TODAY'S TIDBIT:
We Canadians think we're tough, growing up in the Great White North and all that. But, believe me, we're wimps compared to New Zealanders. Kiwis are TOUGH. Here it is winter - albeit 15C - and they're wandering around in shirts and shorts, while we bundle up in fleece. I don't think it's just that we're old f***s who feel the cold. In town I saw a guy our age wandering around the store in bare feet. (And nobody had a problem with that. No snippy 'No shirt, no shoes, no service' signs anywhere.)
Kiwis grow up in houses without insulation or double glazing. There is no central heating. If the sun comes out and warms up the house, wonderful! If not, pull on another jumper (sweater), grin and bear it. It makes for resilient people. More tomorrow on kids in the outdoors.
I never tire of the view from here. After several years living in a beautiful, but enclosed, space, we once again have the luxury of looking a long distance across fields and sky. With the squally New Zealand winter weather, we can sit here in the shelter of the house and watch as sheets of rain drift across the fields and forests.
I did my first foray as driver on the roads into the nearby town of Warkworth. (My sweetie had been doing all of the driving since our arrival.) It's pretty scary barrelling along at 80 - 100 kph on these narrow roads, but in some ways it's easier than sitting in the passenger seat (on the left side of the car) and watching the edge of the pavement only inches from one's body.
TODAY'S TIDBIT
I've already whinged about the roads - their narrowness,twistiness, outrageous speed limits, etc. - but I had failed to notice that almost everywhere, there are broken lines down the middle, meaning that you can pass even approaching blind curves!
Clouds to the north
A lazy day yesterday, looking out the window at the clouds racing across the sky. It's very windy here, reminiscent of Metchosin. So far, most of the winds have been from the southwest or west (prevailing winds), though last night they were from the northwest with gusts to 45 knot winds. Luckily, the patio faces northeast, so it's usually well sheltered.
Also, so far, we haven't had any of those typical Island wet days where it socks in and the rain drizzles down for hour after hour. Instead, you get lovely warm sunshine, interrupted by sudden fierce gales of wind and sideways rain. The best thing to do is to simply take your raingear everywhere with you. You spend a lot of time pulling on layers and peeling them off. Sounds like a hassle, but it's really rather fun. And, so long as I have my neck hood thingie to pull up around my ears in the wind, I can stay migraine-free. Mind you, I do look a bit like an idiot all bundled up when the natives are are out in shirts and shorts...
TODAY'S TIDBIT
I see that when I write the blog, the date automatically comes up in North American time, i.e., today is shown as Saturday, July 23. Actually, here in New Zealand, because we're on the other side of the international date line, it's Sunday, July 24. Mind you, we're five hours behind Vancouver Island... but a day ahead. Hmmmm.
Another little quirk of being down under - many of the calendars begin the week with Monday rather than Sunday. Takes a bit of getting used to.
Trees out front
We went down to the sea again. How can we not when it surrounds us on three sides?
This time, we walked across the tombolo (isthmus) to the little island off Scotts Landing at the south end of the peninsula. We scrambled up a sttep incline to a grassy meadow on the top, then bushwhacked across part of the ridge of the island. (There are no trails.) Didn't go too near the edges since there are sheer cliffs, and crumbling ones at that. Managed to find our way back to the access and returned to the beach, which, as always in this area, is absolutely covered with the tiny native oysters. Circumnavigated the island just in time before the rain started. Saw some people in gumboots, scouring for something in the low tide waters. Apparently, they were looking for what are know locally as 'sea slugs'. No, not our little gastropod beauties, but rather sea cucumbers.
TODAY'S TIDBIT
Another thing that is very hard to get used to is that down here in the southern hemisphere, the sun moves from right to left. It's a good thing we haven't been too deep in any bush because I'm not sure our sense of direction would work...
Anchor Bay, Tawharanui
That's pronounced TA-fa--ra-NEW-ee, by the way.
Whatever it's called or however it's pronounced, it's a marvellous place. It's a regional park with a large section that is an open sanctuary free of plant and animal pests. Many of NZ's indigenous birds evolved with no predators, so they are flightless, poor fliers, or otherwise easy prey. Therefore, when the islands got inhabited by white man and his hangers on, the local populations were decimated. The sanctuary at Tawharanui has been completely fenced so that no predators such as dogs, cats, rats, etc., can get in. There's even a sliding automatic gate to guard the road access. The strategy seems to be working. The native birds and plants are coming back, and they're a wonder to behold. The place is great for research. We saw mist nets put up by local uni students, and we ran into a fellow trapping the native robin. He pointed out a number of bird calls and explained just how rare and special the site is.
P.S. The interdict doesn't include sheep. There are sheep all over the fields in T. and in every other park we've been to. Only in New Zealand, as they say...
TODAY'S FIRST IMPRESSION
So much is new and astounding that I'm overwhelmed at how to convey our sense of wonder. So, every day or so, I'll post a little tidbit about our first impressions - while they're still new and fresh.
Driving in New Zealand
Driving here is hair-raising. For Vancouver Islanders, imagine the Malahat with single lanes 2/3 as wide, no barriers, no shoulders, no guardrails, a speed limit of 100 kph, and you have to drive on the wrong side of the road. This is no exaggeration! Hopefully by the time we leave, we'll be used to it.
Well, here we are in New Zealand. And it's just marvellous. There is so much that is wonderful that I don't know where to begin.
Perhaps rather than all the beautiful landscapes and the amazing trees, I'll tell you about this delightful little bird while I still have the excitement of meeting it.
It's call the Fantail - for obvious reasons:
Its beauty would be enough to make it memorable, but it's its behaviour that is so charming. This little bird - slightly larger than a wren - is exceptionally tame. In fact, it follows people around, flitting about one's feet and landing on any nearby perch. Apparently, it catches insects that our passing scares up, but it's much more gratifying to think that this delightful little bird simply likes our company. I'm smitten!