Some time ago I found an old wiro notebook in a drawer. A scruffy wiro bound notebook with a photo of 2 men in a kayak with a bear on the front cover. In that notebook I found terrible sketches drawn in pencil made while travelling in 1991. One sketch leapt out at me. It was a rough pencil sketch of Mt Ararat from a backpacking trip to eastern Turkey. The sketch really surprised me – it was a very basic pencil sketch, drawn using a .5mm technical pencil on a cheap notepad. The sketch is just black and white… To my surprise the sounds and smells of the day came flooding back. Meeting some Kurdish goat herders and their flock near the base of Mt Ararat, about 10km from the Iranian border on a bright sunny but cool, alpine day. Along with memories of driving across the mountain steppe in an old Renault 19 and the smells of chai and coffee in a Doğubayazıt pasta solunu. It all came back come flooding back! Why did it evoke such vivid memories? I’m not really sure to be honest. Maybe t...
We've been taking advantage of the warm weather lately and escaping Auckland for the beaches of Northland.
This last long weekend we headed up to Waipu Cove. We had pretty nice weather, with the water temperature around 22°C so the days revolved around spending as much time in the surf as possible with regular pit stops to fuel the hungry hoards.
This last long weekend we headed up to Waipu Cove. We had pretty nice weather, with the water temperature around 22°C so the days revolved around spending as much time in the surf as possible with regular pit stops to fuel the hungry hoards.
Occassionally I obliged their requests but mostly I had a blast learning to catch waves on a paddleboard. It's exhausting work and I had lots of embarrassing and uncoordinated failed attempts which are all very funny to onlookers apparently, but it's pretty damn nice when you get it right and actually hook up on a swell.
As a result my sketches were generally completed while laying exhausted on the beach recovering from the surf (and at one stage a blood nose from trying to get out through the break).
Unfortunately all this great beach weather has had a major impact on drowning rates in New Zealand this year. For a small country we have an extensive coastline with some pretty rugged tide and surf conditions so it's always satisfying to be at a beach with a surf lifesaving patrol. Our surf lifesavers are all volunteers, and they're absolutely indispensable. In recent years their fundraising drives have seen them pick up some pretty cool new tools, just check out this Yamaha 4x4 Wolverine - I'm desperate for a blat on one of those.
By the way, the rocky headland in the background of these sketches is called Whangarei Heads. Legend says the largest mountain, Mount Manaia, was named after the chief Manaia who arrived by canoe from Hawaiki during the great migration (today the mythical island of Hawaiki is thought to be the islands of Tahiti). Fast forward 1000 odd years to 1984 and the craggy headland filled in for Tahiti in the filming of the movie The Bounty starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins.
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