Perth

Belltower , kangaroo sculpture and butterflies in the museum.

Patricia Piccinini

This unusual creation looked like a huge nest strung high in the art gallery atrium . Has a little figure of a child in it.

King's Park

Spent a morning roaming this park high above Perth with superb views over the river and city and great displays of Australian flora. Not much colour though at this time of the year.

Guildford

Spent a lovely afternoon in this quaint little township with old houses and antique shops with reasonably priced bric-a-brac.

Perth

Having an enjoyable holiday with good friends Eileen and Frank, originally of Titirangi who left Auckland for the good life in WA all those years ago. I used to make regular pilgrimages in earlier years and this is our second trip in the last three years. This time it was to see baby Finn baptized which was a happy occasion last Sunday followed by a gathering of the 2 families and friends at Marianne and Dean's with yummy finger food and wine and a delicious christening cake.

Monday was a public holiday here too so we went for a long walk along the coast in the morning with the deep blue Indian Ocean stretching as far as the eye can see, with waves crashing on the beach and black-clad surfers out in force along the various beaches every few hundred metres.

In the afternoon we all went for a drive to Guildford about 40km away. It is an old town with lovely trees, parks, old houses and antique shops. It reminded me of Cambridge and has an Anglican boys grammar school in its midst. It is also in the heart of the Swan Valley, a wine growing area, formerly settled by Croatians like in Henderson.

Yesterday we went for an outing in the morning to King's Park, a very spacious park with native plants and trees, from the different parts of Western Australia in particular but also the rest of Australia. Not much colour at present but it was good to be reminded of the variety of flora and to walk among it, with views below to the Swan River below. Lunched at Subiaco afterwards - prices are high - panini and coffee for 3 was A$45.

Today Dieter and I got the train into Perth and went to the art gallery to look at a Patricia Piccinini exhibition of her lifelike and unusual silicone sculptures. She combines very lifelike figues of children and babies often with rather grotesque animal or goblinesque figures. I liked them and understood them better after watching a video of an interview with her.

Walked to St George's Anglican Cathedral for a lunchtime organ concert by the Cathedral Organ Scholar, a smiling Year 11 Guildford Grammar student by the name of Elijah Lim. He played works by Buxtehude, Bach, Mendelssohn and a couple of later composers.

Big OE

Looking forward to yet another big OE to places I went on my first OE all those years ago. 1965 to be precise.

That time we got off the ship near Naples, worked our way though Italy, round the Riviera , all by train to visit some people in Madrid. I had worked with the woman's mother in a Herne Bay resthome where I was kind of cook and bottlewasher and she wanted someone to take a diamond ring and fur stole to her daughter, Diana who had just got married to a Spaniard, Ramon.

Mission accomplished and after a few days absorbing the day and nightlife of Madrid we trained to Germany for the First Holy Communion of my then 10 year old cousins, Gabi and Joachim.

This time Dieter and I are starting in Spain - Barcelona and going on a cruise round the Riviera, to ports in Italy where we can go on trips to Florence, Rome, Naples and then on to Dubrovnik, Venice and Split before returning to Barcelona.

We are going to fly to Germany, see the twins again, and go to Berlin which I also went to in 1965 in that snowy winter with the Wall dividing the city.

Now it is a buzzing international city iwith imany artists and writers making their home there. l Have just finished Nigel Cox's book Phone home Berlin, which is an account of his 5 years in Berlin where he was employed to set up displays in the then new Jewish Museum Berlin, along with another NZer Ken Gorbey. We visiited that istunning and sobering museum last time we were in Berlin. This time we are also planning museum visits, ,so watch this space.

Arohanui till we meet again.

Achievement

Big event of the day - I got a cup for achievement at the YMCA and all sorts of nice things said ab out me when it was presented. Well I have been going faithfully for nearly three years it seems. We had the AGM after the session today then a shared lunch after a talk by someone from the Arthritis Society. Things could be worse having that condition. Celebrating with a glass of beer - can't find any tonic to go with the gin and the wine is not chilled.

Big event of the week is that we have booked a trip for next month. First we will go to Perth for my goddaughter's baby's christening. It just seems the other day when she was baptized herself but it is over 30 years ago. After a week in Perth and a night in Singapore we will wing our way to Barcelona to pick up a cruise to Nice, on to Italian ports with trips to Florence, Rome round the boot to Dubrovnik, Venice, Split and back to Salerno and home to Barcelona.

From there we will have a couple of weeks in Germany - D wants to go to Berlin and then I wouldn't mind seeing more of the former East Germany.

We have had a wonderful Indian summer with more sunny days to come. Had a couple of days over at Waiheke mid-week and will switch to Orewa tomorrow for the same r and r.

Happy Easter

Spent Good Friday at home , taking in the Good Friday ceremony at Ponsonby Church. Off to Orewa on Saturday.

Round Kaitaia

Pictures taken at the Fire Engine Museum near Kaitaia, Wairere Boulders out in the country where we did a long long walk looking at these huge boulders, a scene from the Gumdiggers Village and the top picture a nice shiny car at a spic and span private museum out of Kaitaia.

Kaikohe Village Museum

Hokianga Trip

This was the view as we came over the hill from driving through the Waipoua Forest on a recent trip with the Historical Society. Spent the night at the Opononi Hotel just across the road from the wharf.

Wanganui

There was a wonderful market on the Saturday morning - a farmers market with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Bought a bunch of rhubarb for $1, some pears, apricot jam and handmade aloe vera soaps. There was lovely home baking but resisted the impulse as we would have had to carry it all through town to get to our bus to Marton the next day.

The Wairarere steamer goes on excursions up the river twice a day - belching out rther a lot of black smoke, which put me off going rather.

The main street is very attractive with hanging baskets and good street architecture, like this lamp.

There were a few tents in Moutua Gardens probably for the 20th anniversary of the occupation of the gardens by local Maori. These tents were occupied over the weekend.

This old building housed an interesting museum on river transport in the past.

Americarna

A sample of the 800 cars in town for this festival.

Art in New Plymouth

The middle artwork is the famous wind wand by Len Lye, situated on the coastal walk north and south of this landmark.

The other works are by the Colombian artist Alberto Baraya, on expedition in Pukekura Park with his huge flower installations among the trees and artifical fern specimens also located within the park. More artificial ferns and flowers are catalogued and displayed in the Govett-Brewster Gallery. He comments on our obsession with representations of nature which somehow often become more prized than the real thing.

New Plymouth Buildings

Some pictures from our recent trip to New Plymouth.