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...
Our youngest had been badgering me to take him to MOTAT for ages. It's
such a great place for sketching that I caved in easily – not that he
had any plans for me to stop and sketch for more than about five
minutes. Sketching with kids is more like a speed event where you dash
the linework down and if you're lucky splash a bit of colour on the
page.
In the end it was a toss-up between sketching the Short Solent and the Lancaster bomber, both impressive beasts. It's bizarre to look into the tiny tail turret of the Lancaster and imagine my old colleague Denis freezing his proverbials off while being shot at over 3 tours of Europe during the war. Those guys were seriously brave.
I decided on the Solent because I could include the Transavia Airtruck (on the right), the Australian designed, kiwi built top dresser which is shaped like a flying flea.
The Short Solent Aranui has an interesting and much more fun history — run by TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) it originally flew between Mechanics Bay, Auckland and Rose Bay, Sydney. We're talking pre-harbour bridge days here — it would have used a LOT of the harbour as it's runway!
Once land based planes took over the Sydney route Aranui flew the 'Coral Route' — that's Auckland to Fiji, onward to Samoa, then the Cook Islands (landing at Aitutaki not Rarotonga), next stop would have been Tonga and finally Tahiti — about 20 odd hours in total. Now that would be a superb way to fly to the islands!
In the end it was a toss-up between sketching the Short Solent and the Lancaster bomber, both impressive beasts. It's bizarre to look into the tiny tail turret of the Lancaster and imagine my old colleague Denis freezing his proverbials off while being shot at over 3 tours of Europe during the war. Those guys were seriously brave.
I decided on the Solent because I could include the Transavia Airtruck (on the right), the Australian designed, kiwi built top dresser which is shaped like a flying flea.
The Short Solent Aranui has an interesting and much more fun history — run by TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) it originally flew between Mechanics Bay, Auckland and Rose Bay, Sydney. We're talking pre-harbour bridge days here — it would have used a LOT of the harbour as it's runway!
Once land based planes took over the Sydney route Aranui flew the 'Coral Route' — that's Auckland to Fiji, onward to Samoa, then the Cook Islands (landing at Aitutaki not Rarotonga), next stop would have been Tonga and finally Tahiti — about 20 odd hours in total. Now that would be a superb way to fly to the islands!
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