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...
Earlier this year a group of us entered the Woodhill Endura 360, a 6 hour endurance race in West Auckland. We raced as a team because none of us were anywhere near fit enough to race for 6 hours by ourselves, and surprisingly we won our classification!
The advantage of racing as a team was that I got to sketch in between laps. Dan, the instigator of our team entry — he entered us without running it past us first — wrote an excellent race report in his usual wry sense of humour. Visit www.inspiring-riding.co.nz for a copy.
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