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...
Rotorua, Rotovegas or just plain old Vegas, you know you've arrived when that delightfully sulphuric rotten egg aroma has a firm hold on your olfactory senses.
We visited to ride some of the fast flowing mountain bike trails behind the town with the kids. Once we'd worn ourselves out on the trials and washed off in the pools it was time for a bit of culture at the old Bath House, now the Rotorua Museum. Set in a sort of steaming Victorian time warp, the old tudor style building is surrounded by formal gardens, thermal vents, various monuments and croquet and bowling greens.
The sketch possibilities here are endless, I sketched some of the taonga inside the museum, the ancestral carvings that stand guard at the gates and a crack at the whole building, though I quickly regretted it when I realised the how much detail there is!
Comments