The week started out really well with a sketch in the main street of Thames whilst waiting for Fish & Chips at the excellent Green Lipped Cafe on Pollen Street. Thames is a really interesting place with it's gold mining and Kauri logging history from the 1800's. It always amazes me that it was once one of our largest cities, fortunately most of the old buildings remain and they make excellent sketch subjects...
Once at Stony Bay we promptly pitched our tents with the best view overlooking the bay, we couldn't believe our luck that it was vacant. Not until later did we realise that the previous campers on this spot almost got blown away when the Northerly came through! Below is a far more sensible spot, with tents pitched along the stream, safe from the wind and with some protection from the sun, sketched in the rain however...
Our camp cooker setup - ideal for those evenings when it's too windy to light a fire to cook on...
The kids had a ball, on the rope swing, fishing, building sandcastles and feeding the eels at night...
The parents enjoyed a few drinks around the campfire at night (wind allowing of course)...
Our neighbours at one stage (they seemed to have a shop awning attached to their Landcruiser?)...
A trip to Sandy Bay (yes, some bays come with very imaginative names) for a swim one day...
And a 5 hour blast over the old stock route to Fletchers Bay and back. We rode this about 18 years ago, but it seems a lot harder now! Unfortunately the grey day didn't help the view...
So the saturated tent and camp gear is drying at home and I'm back to work!
11 comments:
Oh! Thankyou for some happy memories. Never went right up the Coromandel, but just about any NZ beach camp would be pretty much the same, I guess.
Hope you find more happy sketches in 2012.
Love your sketching style Murray.
Thanks Dinah I'm pleased it brings back some memories! and thanks John!
Great blog. Lovely work.
Hi Andrea, Thanks for your comment, pleased you enjoy it!
I like the simple and rustic houses in the illustration. They are near fishing spots and hike spots that really piques my interest of being an adventurer.
Thank you John Philip and kershaw knives, thanks for checking out the sketches!
I sure would like to go on a camping trip with my friends we haven't gone out in a while.
The sketches are great. Aside from being a good writer, you are also a good artist. No kidding. Anyway, I always want to go on camping. It's one of my ways to unwind and enjoy. For safety purposes, I always have my buck knife with me. It has a multipurpose functionality. By the way, I look forward to seeing more of your great sketches with compelling stories.
I love your sketches. This is a good way of story-telling a camping experience aside from pure words or photos. This is very entertaining. Camping is really an extreme yet fun adventure that this illustrations are really helpful for those who are just new in it. Bringing necessary stuff such as kershaw knives is very important to survive.
These are great sketches indeed. You really are a great artist. I love the simplicity of the drawing with a much greater attention to small details. By the way, I also enjoy camping and backpacking. It's my way of experiencing adventure. As a camper, it is a must to bring survival knives like Kershaw knife and gerber pocket knife.
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