Occasionally Auckland Sketchbook escapes the city to somewhere interesting — and close. This time the sketchbook got a workout in The Bay of Islands . Only 3.5 hours by car and a world away from work. The sketch above was made in down-town Paihia, it doesn't look it, but it is literally behind the main street. The view is the back of an old homestead called Williams House . I was attracted by the orchard of very old fig trees on the left that had me imagining eating juicy ripe figs. Sadly they weren't in season but it must be a fun place at harvest time. Right over the other side of the bay you will find his falling down old house on Matauwhi Bay. For a while there the water had a turquoise glow until the sun went into hiding. This is Pompallier House and Clendon Cottage in Russell sketched with my back to the sea. I may have used a little too much artistic licence in moving them close enough together to fit on my page so don't look too closely. Anyway, I have sketched Po...
A couple of old cottages on the edge of Basque Park. I like the way they cling to the steep little green strip that breaks up Fleet Street.
Seems they may be the last of the old houses in what used to be Auckland's most densely populated suburb. From what I've learned the park was created by demolishing homes with unpaid rates during to Great Depression. The idea was to give some relief to the most overpopulated area of the city which sounds like it was basically a great slum.
In my memory the area has been a bit of an industrial wasteland but in recent years that has turned around as high rise apartments go up and once again it becomes a populated part of inner city.
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