kjelsty

Video's of Dorian

2008-01-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

What's in a name...

2007-12-20T17:50:00.000-05:00

We did not know what sex the baby was going to be so we had thought up a few names for both sexes. I was playing around with changing the spelling of our parent’s names similar to what my mom did to get my middle name Bernae (her mom’s name was Bernice). I liked the idea of this because it seemed like a nice way to honor our parents so Dorian came from combining Dora and Dian. Glenn liked the name because he said it was a nice musical mode.

For a middle name we thought it would be nice to find a Maori word that would fit. We found the word Tihore in a book of Maori songs. At first we thought it was the word for Kingfisher, Glenn’s favorite bird, but learned later that the word for Kingfisher was Kotare. We prefered Tihore and liked the meaning, clearing skies. Here is the song that we found the word:

Tihore
Tihore mai te rangi Clear the sky
Tihore mai clear away
Mao mao mao te ua let the rain stop
Whitt mai te ra and the sun shine.

E rere kotare ki runga puwharawhara Fly kingfisher on to a bush
Rur parihau hai mate I te ua ruffle the rain drops from your
Ruru parihau kat mate I te ua wings lest you catch a chill.

Tihore mai te rangi Clear the sky
Tihore mai clear away
Mao mao mao te ua let the rain stop
Whiti mai te ra and the sun shine.
Mao mao mao te ua
Whiti mai te ra

E rere e noke mai I to pokurua Flee worm from your borrow
Kai ki I te wai kai mate I te ua it might fill with water and
Kai ki I te wai kai mate I te ua. you will drown.

Tihore mai te rangi tihore mai Clear the sky
Mao mao mao te ua clear away
Whiti mai te ra let the rain stop
Mao mao mao te ua and the sun shine.
Whiti mai te ra
e….i…e
whit mai te ra
e…i….e
whiti mai te ra

Baby Dorian

2007-12-05T16:52:00.000-05:00

Here I am a week before Dorian was born. Glenn, mom and I busied ourselves getting the house prepared. Mom did most the work, painting the room and rearranging everything so the our place was baby ready. We also went swimming at the Ocean Spa. I swam quite a bit in the last months because I had some hip pain that made it uncomfortable to walk. It was so nice to swim because the water supported you. I spent at least an hour paddling back and forth. It was a nice meditative activity as well. There were some days that the hip pain was not bad so I did walk when I was feeling up to it.
When Dorian's due date was past my midwife began to talk to me about inducing the labor. This did not sound too fun and I felt fine and did not feel a need to hurry things along. One girl from my antenatal class recommended I try acupuncture as an alternative option. I figured it was worth a try so I did go to an acupuncturist and had two treatments. The first session was to open the cervix and the second was to "move the baby down further into the pelvis". On Tuesday I had the second acupuncture treatment in the morning. That afternoon I went and had a facial--this was a nice treat. We played a few hands of cards that night and went to bed. On wednesday morning I woke around 7:30 am and we started talking about what we would do that day. I checked my e-mails and had a good laugh at the funny e-mails some friends sent, while mom started making breakfast—fresh fruit and cereal (I never got to eat my bowl).

Then I went to the toilet and saw some blood. I asked my mom if she thought I should call the midwife. Before calling the midwife I decided to try and take a quick shower. After showering I braided my hair and Glenn called the midwife. The midwife reassured me that the blood was fine but by this time I was getting contractions quite regularly and I was not in any mood to chat with my midwife. She told me to time the contractions and call her back in an hour or so. At this point my mom was jumping out of her skin because she thought the contractions were quite close and we should be getting to the hospital. Well she was right my next trip to the toilet I felt something like a balloon pop in my pelvic area. Glenn called the midwife again and told her we were on our way to the hospital. I got in the car and felt my water break (we had put a towel on the seat).

It is a fifteen-minute drive to the hospital from our house and these fifteen minutes lasted almost too long. My contractions were now one minute apart and sitting in the car seat was not that comfortable. I was worried I might hit the gearshift with my leg and put the car in neutral. Glenn was afraid I was going to grab the steering wheel so he was ready to fight me off. Neither happened and we made it to the hospital just in time it was 9:15 am. Glenn and I got out of the car and mom parked. The walk to the delivery room was a bit of a mission but I did not want to sit in a wheelchair. When we got to the room I immediately felt like I needed to go to the toilet again only this time it felt like I needed to poo. Glenn was keeping his cool and was telling me to breathe and not push yet. I told him to take my shoes and wet pants off! The hospital midwife came to the room and told me to come out to the bed. In the room I stood at the side of the bed, the midwife asked if I wanted to change positions but I was comfortable standing and Dorian was on his way. She said, “…this might be a bit tricky for me, we do not want a bungee jumper...”

After a few pushes it felt like the midwife was cutting me so I told her to stop but she, Glenn and my mom told me it was the babies head coming out. A few pushes more and there was Dorian looking a bit violet. The clock read 9:45 am. Glenn held him while the midwife cleaned up around my feet and I was able steady myself an get into bed. The midwife then help deliver the placenta and Glenn gave me Dorian to hold.

My midwife then came in the door and was a bit shocked that the baby was delivered and in my arms. She told me she was unable to find a park. Oh well the hospital midwife was great and I was actually glad she was the one that delivered Dorian because she was calm and reassuring. Since we had booked a room with the bathtub my midwife ran a bath for me which felt great. We were in the Hastings hospital for about three hours then we were transferred to Napier Maternity Ward where we stayed for three days. We probably could have gone home earlier but it was nice to rest, not have to clean sheets, and spend time with Dorian. There was a midwife there to help me with whatever I needed and since there is only three rooms at this maternity ward you were given lots of one on one attention.

We are home now and settling quite well. Dorian keeps us busy and entertained with his funny noises and faces. We are still in awe.

If you would like to see more of Dorian visit the following web album.

Baby Dorian

Wow Baby touring US in a Big Way!!

2007-08-28T01:17:00.000-04:00

In January 2007, Glenn and I decided we were going to try and get pregnant. I stopped taking birth control pills on the 22nd of January. We then found out in March while my mom was here for a visit that I was pregnant. We did not have to try long, we learned after visiting the doctor that the gestation would have happened one week after I quit taking the pill. In the early months I did feel a bit tired and there were some foods that I just could not eat. Overall I felt good and gradually started developing a speed bump and my pants fit tighter around the waist.

The months of April and May I spent building a clay sculpture and helping the pottery club prepare for the first wood firing set for the first weekend in June. My large sculpture did not make it in the first firing but it will be in this next firing set for the 8th of September. It is a seated figure that is approximately my sizes. Glenn will help out with this next firing, as my tummy is now more mountainous.

After the firing of the wood kiln Glenn and I packed for our trip back to the States. It had been two years since we had journeyed back. The flight was not bad we both experiences sore/swollen feet but we made it to LA and Glenn’s brother, Bill, picked us up at the airport. Glenn had not seen his brother in quite some time—I think they figured around ten years. It was a long awaited visit. Bill had built a house for his family up in the mountains. They had a very lovely view from their house and the layout of the house was cabinesque and cozy. At this point I was still able to fit in my clothes and I was not showing too much. We had a lovely but short visit only two nights.

From LA we continued on to Seattle were we spent an evening with Annie and Kathryn. Annie made us a delicious meal and it was a fun, musical evening. I left the next day for Sitka, AK.

Sitka was a great trip it was quite busy and the classes were a bit tiring but it was great to work with creative tutors and students. The first week I taught a mask making class for four groups of elementary aged kids. Their masks turned out great unfortunately I got sooo busy just trying to help them finish their masks the last day I did not get a photo of their masks…Bummer!

The following week was the middle school kids and camp started Monday. I had two ceramic classes and a mixed media costume making class. Each class went great the students made a number of wonderful and creative pieces. One of my ceramic classes focused on making a face or bust each students was original and unique. The other class focused on making teapots and cups the final show was a Madd Hatters tea party—this class even acted out the tea party scene from Alice and Wonderland it was great. The costume class went really well and the students made lost of inventive outfits made of plastic and clothes hangers. We did have a bit of time on the stage to showcase the student’s costumes this went all right but would have liked a bit more time with the students to work on the stage space—lesson for next time. Once camp was over I was exhausted!

At the middle school camp I also performed a few nights with the theatre folks and that was laugh. We did a performance called the Cirque de Fromage which was a parody on Cirque de Soliel this performance then lead to another project with the video editing teacher and the Cirque de Fromage mockumentry was born. I have yet to see the final production.

Once I had rested at my friends place for a few days after camp I flew back down to Seattle. Glenn and my mom met up with me there each of them were surprised to see how much me belly had grown. In Seattle I got to catch up with friends I had not seen in a long time Ben, Joel, Pat and Shelly. The next day we took my mom to the airport, she was flying to Chicago for a wedding. Glenn and I drove down to Portland. Glenn got to stay a few days in Portland but had to fly back to NZ for work. He missed Eve and Ryan’s wedding by a day. I got to be the camera girl at the wedding met up with more friends and got to stay with Ellen, Art and Karla in Hood River.

My mom got back from Chicago on Monday and I picked her up at the airport. We drove back up to Seattle and I went to another wedding Shauna James from Sitka Fine Arts Camp there were more friends that I had not seen in a long while. After the wedding my mom and I went back to CDA. It was nice to be back at the house but hard in some ways as well. At this point I was ready to be a bit more stationary for a while it had been a busy month lots of traveling and visiting. The property looked great and the inside of the house had more color as my mom had painted some of the walls. We spent an afternoon rearranging pictures and deciding on additional wall colors. There is something to be said about having someone else around to help and inspire you with these projects. My mom had a pretty packed schedule while I was back so the three weeks went by quickly. Baby was growing as well so had to have rest times. We did get down to the lake a few times and swimming in the lake was wonderful nothing better when pregnant. Before I knew it I was back on the plane flying to NZ had a bit of a hiccup with my flight leaving Spokane an hour or so late but I did manage to make my connecting flight—luggage did not make it but no worries the suitcases arrived the next day. The long flight did go by quickly but my tailbone was sore for a few days and I slept hard and long when I got to our flat.

It always takes some time to transition back into things and get your bearings after a long trip away. My dad must have been in constant transition the way he traveled three weeks here two weeks there. I have been to my midwife and things are all good the baby is bouncing around more then every these days. I have been out walking most days. It does get harder to do certain things I have found like touching your toes I am luck all my shoes are slip-ons. The weather has been pretty warm for winter.

It has been drought conditions not good for the farmers especially the beef cattle and sheep farmers because the grass is dry and not growing fast. This means quite a few cattle and sheep have died and mothers are abandoning their lamb. I learned all this when a woman came into the pottery shop on the weekend with a lamb under her arm. It was a Merino Lamb and since the mother had abandoned it she is now its mamma and she has to take the lamb everywhere she goes. (Sounds familiar eh but no her name was not Mary.) Merino wool is much more expensive then regular wool thus making the sheep more of a commodity. The lady said the Merino Sheep also have more of a personality and seem to be a bit smarter.

I am spending the cold days knitting and trying to relearn my spinning techniques. Also making a few things for the baby. The baby is pretty high putting pressure on my ribs, which makes it a bit hard to sit for too long. This seems to be getting a better but still sore. Yes, the bambino is a rib kicker must be practicing those soccer techniques from coach Glenn “Go for Goal!” What a wild experience though to feel the kicking and to think there is a little person doing that--wow baby! I am now at a point where we can actually see the kicking when watching my belly. The baby is now 30 wks old. Some mornings when I get out of bed my tummy will be lopsided. It seems to even out once I am up moving around.

Bambina was really dancing around this weekend when we went and saw the movie “Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Man”. It was a great documentary style film that included clips from a concert performed in Sydney, Australia honoring Leonard Cohen and his songs. There was a wonderful mixture of very talented musicians singing his songs and along with their performances there were clips of Cohen talking about his life and songwriting. We give the movie six thumbs up.
Kissing the Buddha Belly

Christmas at the Beach

2006-12-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

It was a day at the beach. We had a nice time catching up with my friend Erin and her new husband Joey. They are touring around New Zealand and stopped at Napier to see us for Christmas. What a treat to have visiters from home during the holiday season. It can be a time when Glenn and I get very homesick.

30th Birthday Hangi

2006-10-18T22:46:00.000-04:00

A hangi is a traditional Maori way of cooking food. First stones have to be heated with a large fire. The ashes from the fire have to be cleared off the rocks. Glenn told me it was the hottest he has ever been. He thought he might have burnt a few eyebrow hairs off. Then the food is placed in cloth bags and put in a basket. The basket of food is then placed on the rocks and it is covered with a number of wet sheets of fabric. Then the basket and cloth are covered with earth and left to cook for six to seven hours.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Then the basket of food had to be dug up.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The boys unwrapp the basket of food.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Hugh revealing the basket of food, covered in wet cloth.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

These are the hot stones that cooked up the meal.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Looks like the hangi was a success ... time to eat!
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

A bag full of kumara, parsnip, yam and garlic mmm good.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

They cooked up three whole chickens, a lamb roast and porkchops surrounded by watercrest. The meat just melted off the bone.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Oh and the stuffing was to die for.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Aussie Newcastle to Sydney

2006-10-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

Well we landed in Sydney early on the 21st of September. It was a nice clear day and we were not too tired even though we had to get up around 4 am to make our flight out of Wellington, NZ. From the baggage claim we made our way quickly to the train platform to catch the next train to Newcastle. Our first stop was Sydney Central train station where we had to change trains. It was a bit of an adventure trying to figure out which platform we were to take but we managed and found some seats by the window.

Train station at Sydney
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The train ride was nice and we saw some pretty countryside. The train route traveled through some national forest areas—the green is more desert in Australia. You can tell the rain fall is much less then New Zealand. On the train Glenn got a bit annoyed with all the people talking on their cell phones. It seems no one can leave home without one, we saw people biking, walking, swimming and sleeping with cell phones in hand beeping.

We made it to Newcastle. The trainstation was classy.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

It took us about three hours to make get to Newcastle, so it was mid-day when we arrived. We checked into the flash hotel we were staying for the few days Glenn had his conference. Our room was on the parking lot view side unfortunately—the other side had a wonderful view of the ocean but no complaints, as it was comfortable and lovely.

Beautiful beach at Newcastle lots of surf and surfers!
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Newcastle is known for its beaches and beaches they do have. There was the surfer’s beach, the teenager beach, the family beach, the nude beach, the boogie boarder’s beach and there was even a dogs—crazy! Right out the door from the hotel was the beach so Glenn woke up and went for a swim before going to the conference. We also spent a day walking the beaches and body boarding. The pelicans were the funniest sights we saw in Newcastle. They would hang around the fisherman hoping to get some treats. They were not at all afraid of people and they are big!

The storks that made me laugh.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

There was a wonderful group of ladies from Newcastle at the conference and one of them offered to take us to see a wildlife reserve park called BlackButt—tehe! I thought they were joking when the told us the name, I guess the park is named after an Australian plant. It was kind of like a zoo park but it was great to walk around and see the koala bears and the funny birds of Australia and of course kangaroos.

This cute Koala bear is just waking up for his evening meal.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

One of the best parts of the park was seeing the emu; Glenn started whistling a tune and one of the emus started making this deep sound like a drum beat as it strutted around. It was amazing they seemed to be jamming together.

Here is Glenn whistling with the emu.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Emu dancing.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Our last day in Newcastle Glenn and I walked through town and went to the Newcastle Gallery. They had a video/instillation exhibition on called Experimenta check out the website about the show http://www.experimenta.org/, we spent hours looking at all there was there to see. Both Glenn and I thought this was one of the best exhibits we had seen since we have been in the Southern HemisphereJ. It made me want to get back working on video editing stuff and performance.

Just chilling out in Newcastle.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

There were also some fun little shops in through the town and we had a delicious Capone burger at Big Al’s. But we sure miss the thick milkshakes you get in the States down a milkshake is very literally just that flavored milk that has been shaken up. Oh well can’t have everything. That night we went to a music session at the local bar. It was music and dance. The dancers were unbelievable and very skilled. There were also some very good musicians. Glenn and I joined in and had some fun sharing stories and tunes.

Newcastle was a major port for export of coal, the large cargo boat is leaving the port.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The next day we took the train to Woy Woy, a small town halfway to Sydney from Newcastle. It looked from the map that Woy Woy was close to a national park. When we got to Woy Woy people did not know what we were talking about when we asked about the national park so I guess you can not always trust maps or maybe it shows you how little people know about the area they live? Woy Woy was a nice little town and we found a small hotel to stay of the night. We spent our day resting and later took a nice long walk along the waterfront.

Ibis, dusk in Woy Woy.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

That was a great time to walk because all the birds were very active. There was an island what was chock-full of pelicans and ibis. There were rainbow parrots, pink parrots, white parrots and cockatoos all over the place. It was so amazing to see these birds out of a cage and living in the wild. Their calls were also unique from a sound like a goose honking, to the high pitch “wheeat, wheat”. Woy Woy was well worth the visit it we also found a great pizza haunt and a funky café, what more could you ask for.

The Rainbow Parrot what a colorful chap.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The wild parrots in Woy Woy.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We made it to Sydney at noon on Tuesday. We found a backpackers in Newtown to stay and the best part was we got one night free! It was not the best place to stay if you really like to sleep but we did all right. Newtown was a great area there were heaps of restaurants and shops on the main street (King St.). There was great diversity in Newtown with everyone from cross dressers to Goths to a bird whistling genius whom also happened to be a street person. We saw this character on numerous occasions and though we tried to compete with him he easily put us to shame with numerous sound effects including imitations of dogs, cats, horses and every bird in Australia. Newtown is southwest of Sydney city central; we were able to take the train in to town. We even walked down to Chinatown Tuesday.

First view from trainstation downtown Sydney--street performer.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We definitely got our walking in on this trip. Our first day in Sydney we went to Darling Harbour but we were there late and most places were closing up. So we continued to Chinatown where we found a great market eatery place. We had a delicious meal for $10 that included drink. Chinatown was hoping lots of people on the street and loads of restaurants. We took the train back to Newtown because we wanted to make an Irish music Session that night at a bar called Kelly’s.

This session turned out to be quite good. All the musicians were pretty much Irish there was a German squeezebox player and an Aussie bodhran player but they all were quite good musicians. Glenn thought the tunes were played a bit fast but I guess Dan Maher would say Glenn just likes slow tunes. The thing that we liked about Sydney was the strong cultural diversities.

Taking a breather.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The next day we headed out to downtown Sydney to see the Opera House and Botanical Garden. It was a nice sunny day. The Opera House was quite stunning. We enjoyed meandering through the Royal Botanical Gardens where we were amazed at the huge number of Grey-headed Flying-fox bats hanging from the trees. This species of bats is endangered but the Gardens have to be careful because the large population can destroy the trees because they feed on pollen and fruit. This bat is quite large in size 230 -280mm head to tail and wingspan of around 40 cm that is about 9 in length with close to 16 in wingspan.

Grey-headed Flying-Fox
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

After our meander through the park we went through the Sydney Gallery. What a great gallery. There was a very diverse display of artwork from Renaissance paintings and sculptures, Japanese brush paintings and ceramics to Australian Aboriginal Art we spent hours soaking in all there was to see.

A painting I really liked.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We had a city train pass so we decided we should check out Kings Cross area, when we got there nothing really caught our fancy so we took the next train to the Rock. Most of the shops were closed down when we got there but we manage to find a few postcards and I got this nice shot of the Opera House at dusk.

Parting shot
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

The next day we needed a bit of a rest so we just hung around King St. and checked out the shops. We probably should have gone on a ferry ride that day but the shopping was fun and we got to cool ourselves down with some to die for Gelato. That night we went to see a great reggae band called Bomba http://www.bomba.com.au/, the lead singer was quite the entertainer and we had fun dancing the night away. The place they performed in was a classy restaurant/pub the best part it was NO SMOKING.

Sydney street life.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

We slept in a bit on Friday. Then spent the day down in Paddington area. I was told there were some great galleries to see there particularly for ceramic sculptures/pottery. We found one really cool ceramic and Japanese art gallery. After a serious browse, Glenn and I fell in love with a kimono (for Kjelsty) and an original fire jacket from Japan. We thought it absurd that we would be buying something Japanese in Australia, but they were both irresistible. Glenn felt that the jacket was magical and felt a rushing stream running down his back. The kimono was just beautiful and colorful, just the way I like it. After doing the gallery scene we made our way to Darling Harbour. We had seen an advertisement about a live didgeridoo performance at one of the shops. Even though we were getting tired we decided we had to see the show. The show was quite impressive and well work the effort. At the end of the show, Glenn got talking to the didgeridoo player and found out he also played the Native American flute. The man was happy to take out the flute that he had to show and play for Glenn--who was quite impressed with his playing and the flute.

Didgaredoo performance
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Before we headed home we walked a little further along the harbour. It was a beautiful evening and there was a stage being set up for a Salsa Band that was performing that night. I could not twist Glenn’s arm hard enough to stay for the showL but he was overjoyed when he found a shop that sold cannoli. We had a rest on by the waters edge and savored the delicious cannoli, an Italian Pastry that Glenn has been talking about since I met him but that we had yet to find. It actually brought tears to Glenn’s eyes, much to our enjoyment. After that Glenn was ready to head back to Newtown so we caught the train. That night we went out for Thai food with one of the girls we dormed with. The restaurant was huge and bustling and the food was delicious and to drink I had juice from a young coconut. They actually brought out a whole coconut with a straw coming out of it, very dramatic.

In the middle
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Our last day was Saturday after checking out we had the day to explore since our flight did not leave till 6 pm. We decided we should try and find the fish market that people had told us about. It was not too far from Newtown so we decide to walk. We did make it to the fish market. What a busy place it had a similar fill to the Pike Place Market in Seattle. Fish and chips are a popular meal so the smell of hot oil was emanate. We decided on sushi I still have not been converted to battered and fried fish trend. After getting a good dose of wasabi we made our way back to the backpackers to pick up our bags and catch a taxi to the airport.

The Sydney Bridge from the train station.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

Soccer to Stomp

2006-06-29T19:06:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday we headed down to Palmerston North because Glenn’s soccer girl’s team had a game. It rained off and on as we drove down but when we got to the field the sun came out and we had a perfect day for soccer game. Glenn’s team had improved each game but they still had not won a game. So when one of his girls made a goal in the first minute of the game we were on the edge of our seats for the rest of the game. The girls played great and did not let the team score a goal. In the last few minutes of the game Glenn’s girls scored another goal on a penalty kick. They won yahoo! It was the first win of the season and the team they beat was one of the best teams in the league.

After the game we continued to head south. We were making it a long weekend because we had tickets for “Stomp” in Wellington on Tuesday. The sun was getting pretty low in the sky by the time we left Palmerston North so we decided instead of trying to make it down to Wellington that night we would find a place to stay in Levin. Levin turned out to be a pretty cool little city. We stayed in a motor camp and had nice dinner. The next day for breakfast we went to a little café that specialized in crepes for and pancakes, a split a banana and bacon crepe with maple syrup. Sounds kind of weird I know but oh it was so good. We then did a little shopping at the Saint Vincent shop in town Glenn found a nice New Zealand made wool jacket and I found a cool necklace. We then headed out of Levin and made our way toward Paraparaumu were we would be staying the night with some music friends. They had to work that day so we took our time and traveled kiwi style (stopping every few minutes).

First, we stopped to take a walk on the beach we even had a friend walk with us; one of the dogs in the house close by where we had parked decided to join us for our walk. We spent about an hour exploring and beach there were some colorful and different shells on this east coast beach. Back on the road we spotted a café that looked as like an old gothic church, we had to stop and take a look. It was a fun little café full of different knick-knacks and arts for sale. We had a cup of hot chocolate and some pumpkin kumara (NZ sweet potato) soup. Our next stop was a bush walk through some forest edging a little town, Waikanae. It was a nice trail and we could hear heaps of Tui making their guttural calls. At one point of the hike we heard a noise from behind us we stopped and turned to look just at that moment a giant wood pigeon flew passed just missing our heads. Wood pigeons are probably twice the size of normal pigeons; they spend most of their day eating fermented berries. They are then not only large but also drunk on the fermented juice so they can be hazardous when in flight. But don’t worry we survived our walk and made it to Paraparaumu safe and sound.

After a nice evening of music, good food and gab we slept well. On Tuesday we went into Wellington early to wander around the city. Since it was raining we decided to go to Te Papa instead and explore what the museum had to offer. We found out that it was Maori New Year and there was going to be a demonstration on the haka, the traditional war dance (you might have seen it performed in the movie Whale Rider or if you are rugby fans the All Blacks do a haka before each game). The demonstration was great and we learned that the haka is actually like a conversation between one main person and the rest of the group. The man that spoke about the haka describing it as a flock of birds one bird says something and the flock responds. After the demonstration we decided to go for lunch. We went to my favorite spot Cha and had a yummy noodle dish and of course some taro bubble tea for dessert. We then went back to the Te Papa Museum to see the Lord of the Rings Exhibition. It took us almost three hours to make our way through the exhibition. It was a great display of the costumes and models that were made for the movie. I was feeling a little funny at one point so we decided to take a breather I think the hobbit display had a funny affect on me—see picture below. What do you think?

We finished off our day with Stomp. It was a pretty good production but not as spellbinding as the one I saw in the Spokane Opera House. We did ended up running into two other couples that we knew from Hawke’s Bay pretty funny New Zealand can feel pretty small sometimes. It felt even smaller when Glenn spotted a guy that we had seen on TV in a program called Dancing with the Stars.

Clay and Ireland

2006-04-30T23:54:00.000-04:00

Play in mud was my mission while Glenn was in Ireland.

I did lots of it the first week with the sculpture workshop by Brent Sumner. Brent is from Kaitaia, which is in the far North of the North Island here in New Zealand. Darjit was the medium that we used it was a great sculpture medium I enjoyed getting dirty and working in a larger scale again. The medium had a similar feel to clay and was pretty easily shaped and textured. The other wonderful thing about Darjit is that it is made of recycled material old newspapers and magazines you can read more about Darjit at http://www.alchymia.co.nz/darjit.htm I was just so impressed. Of course I told Brent I would be moving up to Kaitaia to work with him and make more sculptures—te he!

Me with my finished sculpture. Around the base I painted "A seed of hope can grow a garden of dreams."--Kjelsty Hanson

During the week my friend Marija brought over some plants that we was trying to get rid of from lavender to aloe Vera. She helped me get them planted and do some weeding our yard looks so much happier. I still have trouble believing that Aloe plants can be planted outside and you should see how big they can get!

The following weekend my friend Fay and I went up to Taupo for the Crater Clay Convention. This was a weekend full of clay demos and slide shows from a variety of clay artists from all over the New Zealand, one from Australia and another from Taiwan. It was a great weekend. Fay and I enjoyed the workshops I was fascinated and so inspired by Ah Leon the Taiwanese potter that I spent most of the two days watching him work. He demonstrated much about making teapots that was his craft but he was also a sculptor and he now makes trompe l’oeil teapot sculptures that look like they are made out of wood.

Ah Leon's T-Pot

For his sculptures he did not use glazes or stains the color comes from the Taiwan’s clays that he uses. Some of his work has been shown in the US and one of his largest works called The Bridge was shown at the Smithsonian. This piece is about 60 feet long and is completely made out of clay. You will have to look at the following to link to see it for yourself amazing! http://www.plasm.com/ceramics/Friends/AhLeon/AhLeon03.html

Glenn got back on the 27th he was so happy and full of stories from his trip. It sounds like he had a wonderful time traveling around and playing music with Kathryn. Here are a few pictures of their travels. Glenn of course played tunes in all the towns they visited. He said, “The music and the crack was great.”

Glenn playing tunes with some of the locals.

Ireland was a hoot. The bar above was in a little town in county Offaly and it was an indescribable night of music. The man singing was the owner of the bar and the pianist was as unique as they come. What was also intriguing was that the bar was full of beautiful paintings of people in an impressionist style on really big canvases. As I played I realized that all the paintings were of the people in the bar. Very cool. Kathryn and I began at her school in Maynooth, which was as pretty a campus as you will ever see. Very old stone buildings and a chapel that could compare with anything in the world. The ceiling was beautifully painted and the stained glass was out of this world. We then went to Dingle and had three days and two great nights there. I played Wsome incredible kerry musicians while Kathryn got to know the locals. She met two postmen from Cork who offered to show us the dingle penninsula and that turned into quite the day. We even helped a family put their curragh (old style irish boat) into the water and sail for the blasket islands. Part of the family was the grandpa who was a master craftsman and made the boat they were putting to sea. Quite the adventure. Then we headed for County Clare where the music is rich. We stayed with Mike and Kathleen Obrien for two nights and had a couple great sessions. The first night was in a pub that you could shake hands across and it was pure magic. Concertina, fiddle, box, whistle and flute and there were two great singers who shared songs in the sean nos style. Very beautiful stuff. The evening ended up with a story teller spinning yarns and hilarious stories.
We reluctantly left Clare through a great traditional area called Doolin and we toured the Burren and headed for the small town of Loughrea where I learned the music. I was shocked at how fast and busy the town had gotten. Last time I was there the most you would see was a donkey cart on the road but now it was a bubbling metropolis. I did find out that most the musicians I used to play with are now playing in another world somewhere. Kind of sad,but the place will always be a sleepy town in my mind. We then decided to head up to Westport in Mayo, a place where Kathryn and I heard about but never have been too. It turned out to be a great move. Matt Malloy's pub is world renowned for its traditional music. We weren't to be disappointed. We stayed at a wonderful B and B with a really funny woman running the place. She was quite the spunky gal and had Kathryn and I in stitches. When we went to Malloy's, we saw that Charlie Lennon, a virtual legend on the fiddle was playing that night. We went and were not disappointed. The next day we walked around the town which was really beautiful. Then we headed for Connemara, which is about as pretty as it gets. There we hiked up a mountain that St. Patrick climbed in bare feet, and it was a very spiritual place. We also came across numerous castles and an Abbey that was striking. We ended up staying at a hostel in Clifden, and were excited because several of the bars said there was traditional music that night. it was the only bad night for music as the musicians were playing irish tourist music rather than the real thing. We then stopped in Galway the next day, and had a good time, but boy, how that town has grown. It is a major city now with suburbs all around it. I must say that Ireland joining the European union is a mixed blessing. It certainly has helped its economy, but there has been a lot lost because of its economic growth, which is pretty sad. After an afternoon there we headed back through the mainland of Ireland and I was very impressed with its beauty. Kathryn and I especially loved Offaly for its green farmland and neat towns. Upon our return to Maynooth, Kathryn and I enjoyed each other's company and played a few tunes together. She will some day become a great tin whistler. It was super spending some time with her in beautiful Ireland.

Glenn and Kathryn on a scenic hike in Connemara.

Mission Concert

2006-02-27T01:45:00.000-05:00

Our neighbor gave us tickets to go see Olivia Newton-John and Chris De Burgh at the Mission Estate Concert. The Mission holds a concert every year at this time and seems to sell out every year with a crowd of 25,000 people. Now for those that might be saying who are these people? I will fill you in. Olivia Newton-John is the woman that was the lead in Grease. She put on a great show. Of course she sang some of the famous Grease songs but she also sang a few songs off her new album, which she wrote when she was fighting Breast Cancer. She looked great and sounded great.

Chris De Burgh is known for his song "The Lady in Red". I love this song. Chris put on a very diverse performance. He started the show singing solo just him and his twelve-string guitar. His voice has quite a range and he had full command of the stage. He then finished off the show singing with his back up band and the Victor Wellington Orchestra. Most of the songs he sang were his own but there were a few covers. He told a few bad jokes as well but for the most part he we enjoyed his songs.

We went to this concert with our friends Roger and Helen, from England. They knew Chris De Burgh's music well and they were quite surprised that he sang cover songs. We all figured it was so he could please the audience. The Kiwi's seem to love Cover bands/songs. We see posters all the time reading for example Roy Rogers playing at the Municipal Theatre (of course this is just a look a like singing to piped in music). Very Strange?!

This weekend we also decided it was time to give our old car a new look. So Sunday we started sanding and spraying on primer. The car is looking better but that was not too hard.:) I have a blister on my trigger finger. We still have more painting to go so we will keep you posted.

P.S. Glenn has kept his beard (somewhat out of peer pressure) that he
grew on the trip down South. He will be getting it shaved this Friday
on EIT campus as a fundraiser for cancer.

Fun filled weekend

2006-02-20T16:04:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had a great time. Saturday we went to our friend
John's house and he took us out sea kayaking. We paddled for about
two hours. At one point both Glenn and I felt a little queasy but we
managed to paddle through and make it to leveler waters. Just as we were getting close to your pull out point we saw some planes flying over head. There were four and they started doing the loop deloops. With smoke trailing behind them they made amazing patterns in the ski. It was the big Art Deco weekend in Napier. Our plan was to go down to Napier and do some street performing but after kayaking
we were pretty tired. So we decided to just walk around town and see the
sights. The town was buzzing with people. It was a great day for people watching.

This is a family all dolled up for the Art Deco Weekend. Everyone was wearing their fancy Art Deco outfits and driving their classic cars. This event happens every year in Febuary, as sort of commemoration of the big earthquake that hit this area in 1931. The city was rebuilt after this earthquake in the art deco style. Really it is just a good reason to dress up and have fun. There were even steam engine tractors on display.

Sunday we went on a hike with couple in a place called Boundary
Streams. This is a bird sanctuary, known as a land island, because
there are fences around the area and traps keeping the predators out.
Thus the bird numbers are much higher. One of the native birds called
a Tui has very unusual call, part of its call is like a coughing
sound. We saw and heard quite a few Tui that day.

Trip to the South Island Dunedin to Nelson

2006-02-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

Dunedin was wonderful. We had a tough first night because the room we stayed in at the backpackers in town smelt of mildew and the mattress on the bed had spronged its springs. The next morning Glenn and I got up early, no reason to stay in bed, and went out for a walk through the city. The feel of the city was European with cool old buildings. Like the one in the picture. This is the train station located in the center of town. A pretty fancy place much nicer then most airports.

We then returned to the backpackers to check out. As we were checking out our friend Louise called. Louise was down visiting Dunedin for the holidays and she wanted to see if she could show us arround Dunedin. She met up with us at the Backpackers and took us to the Botanical Gardens a very nice spot to have lunch. We also got to meet her brother, a painter, who lived above a music shop in town. She even took us out to one of the beaches it was a very nice day and we enjoyed taking a walk. Louise had to get back to visit her mom so she left us at a Holiday park were we would stay the night in a little cabin that smelled great and had a good mattress on the bed. There was even a nice trail into the woods that surrounded the park. We took a walk that afternoon. Then for dinner we were invited to a potluck out at Mike's place. Mike is one of the main guys that organizes the Festival and he told us this potluck was a traditional pre-festival festivity. We ended up walking to Mike's place which took about two hours but was a good walk none the less. We even got to meet some of the local fisherman as we had to stop for directions at a local bar. After getting a criptic map that looked somewhat like a treasure map we continued on our way. Luckly we passed another couple on the road we asked for more clarification. Once we made it to Mike's the feast was on the table. We were pretty worn out by this time and hungary but we enjoyed the company and meeting new people. There we met Geoff and Lois who told us to come and stay with them. We told them we had a place for that night so they gave us a number to call the next day so they could come and pick us up when ever we wanted. Once we got back to the holiday park that night we remembered the guy at the desk had told us earlier there were glow worms along a path into the woods just five minutes walk. We decided to go take a look. It was amazing the cliff was just lit up with glow worms. What a great way to finish off our first full day in the South Island.

Dunedin

2006-02-09T22:35:00.000-05:00

The next morning Geoff and Lois came out to the Holiday park and picked us up. People are so amazingly friendly and helpful here. They took us out to Geoff's fathers house where we would be able to stay for the next couple nights. Geoff even offered to take us to the Whare Flats Festival.

Les, Geoff's father greeted us at the door and preceded to tell us we would be eating lunch shortly. Geoff smiled and said, "After lunch we will give you a tour of the Peninsula."

Geoff was so happy to show us around and point out the wildlife that inhabited the Peninsula. One of our first stops was on a beach full of seals. We could not believe how well the seals blended in with the surroundings. You really could not see them until you were almost stepping on them.

We then went out to the end of the peninsula. This location is famous for its bird inhabitants. There we saw penguins and albatrosse.

A view from the end of the peninsula.

The bird in this picture is a Royal Albatrosse. There is a large colony that nests at the end of the Peninsula. They were absolutely amazing. If you see pictures of them you might think oh they are just like sea gulls but when you actually see them they are like Pterodactyl. The Royal Albatross weighs almost twenty pounds and its wing span is close to four feet. Incredible!

This is the beach were we got to see the Hoiho, yellow-eyed penguin. Geoff was quite excited that just as we got down the trail there was a couple peeking over the grass. The motioned for us to come and have a look. We crept slowly over to join them and peering through the grass we saw a mother Hoiho feeding her chic. There was really nothing that could describe this powerful image. After waiting for a bit more time there we saw more hoiho returning to their nests hidden in the grass. Geoff just could not stop beaming as he explained this is a rare most people do not get to see this. We felt honored.

Our tour of the Peninsula was amazing but we had to get back for dinner we were sure Les would be waiting. Of course Christmas was only a few days prior so Les had heaps of food in his fridge and he did not like wasting things. Luck of us dinner was not as big as lunch (we were still digesting). The meal time was so fun for Glenn and I because during the meals there was quite a bit of bantering between Les and Geoff or whomever would put up a fight. So by the end of the meal we left the table buzzing from all the good food and laughter.

Les's house was on a hill side. He had built most of the area around his house himself, putting in rock walls to support the earth and a laying bricks for the driveway. It was a beautiful place with an awesome view of the harbor. Les was a keen gardener, his yard was mostly garden and he also had a greenhouse. When he found out we did not have a garden he was disappointed. Time to start my garden. Below is a picture of the greenhouse guard.

The next day Glenn and I decided to take a walk up the hill Les's house was on. At the top Geoff told us you could see the whole town and the water surrounding. Geoff and Les came outside to see us off telling us to just follow the line of trees and we should be right. We had to cross quite a few paddock with sheep and cow and watch out...No sudden movements...There is a big bull! Thank goodness we were not wearing red. We made it pass the bull and we can see the war memorial which had a nice viewing stage from which we could see all directions. A view of Dunedin from above, it was a little windy up there.

We noticed by direction the trees grew that the Dunedin must experiences a fair amount of wind.

Whare Flats Folk Festival

2006-02-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

This is Geoff and Lois the great couple that made our experience in Dunedin so memorable and fun. They also made the folk festival most memorable. They had to be out to the festival site a day early because they were part of the organizing crew. Since, we got a ride out to the festival from them we also became part of the set up crew. It was nice to be helpful and we felt more a part of the festival because we met people early and were able to contribute. Glenn loved helping Geoff out in the kitchen and I liked being a part of the tent assembly crew. We also got to tour around the Whare Flat Boy Scout Camp. We found some nice swimming holes and a ropes course. Here is Glenn trying to do the ropes course.

We met some amazing musicians at the festival. Ronan Martin was the first we met. He was a fiddle player from the Isle of Skye. We had a bit of a jam session in his cabin later in the day. He told us that his younger brother was going to be showing up as well sometime and he would be wearing a kilt. Hanna from Sweden was the second great musician we met. We were playing tunes for the folks in the kitchen and she popped her head around the corner to say hello and see what was happening. She played traditional Swedish tunes on the soprano sax.

Good music good friends. Ronan and Hanna with the giant guitar--does not look so big next to Ronan.

We danced in the New Year listening to a local Dunedin band called The George Street Patsys. What a fun night, as were all the nights at this festival. We were up to the wee hours every night of the festival I think we spent about eight hours in our tent the four nights we were at the festival. After all the workshops and concerts throughout the day there would be a session in the evening.

Jaque is playing the squeeze box, he is a pig farmer living in Dunedin. Ronan is the fiddle player on the right and the one that is a blur is his younger brother. He finally show up and he was wearing a kilt. It was fun to listen to the brothers play together because they both had their own style. Incredible.

After Festival

2006-02-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

After festival we were luck because we had at least five offers from people that said we could stay with them. We ended up staying with a couple named, Jill and Brian. We stayed with them for two nights after the festival. They were great people and we had a nice space to our own so we could rest up. Jill was a retired nurse that now works in her garden and makes pottery. Her yard was beautiful. She took me around to see one of the local galleries it was great fun and had some really nice work. Jill was working on a series of teapots made in a mosaic style. Brian is a teacher and loves to drive his motorcyle. I got to take a ride.

Even though it was hard we had to say good-bye to Dunedin and continue our journey. We really fell in love with this town and the people. What a great experience.

Catlins

2006-02-09T21:53:00.000-05:00

Luck for us Hanna and Ben were traveling in a similar direction to us. So we asked if they would mind having us as passengers. They thought it would be great to have us as they went through the Catlins.

Our first stop in the Catlins was a walk to a waterfall. Here is Ben, a painter and the reason Hanna is in New Zealand and Hanna, a Swedish folk musician that plays the soprano sax and Glenn ofcourse.

We had some trouble finding our campsite for the evening but we were glad we made the effort.

This was a stunning beach and we enjoyed watching all the surfers catching waves. This beach seemed to be a very popular place to surf. We built a little fire when it got dark--around 10pm days got longer the further North we went. The lady in the campsite next to us even joined us for a glass of wine. She also brought us two bottles of her homemade ginger/elderflower and red currant wine. It was quite good but oh so potent.

The next day we made our way further down the Catlins. We heard from someone that we should stop at a place called the Lost gypsy. So we did and we spent at least an hour there. Inside this parked gypsy caravan (mobile home)was all sorts of kinetic and interactive sculptures. Before entering you are tempted with a sign reading "I know that you want to push me," and a button below. When you push the button a stream of water comes shooting out of the mouth of a mask stuck on the side of the caravan and you get wet.

Inside the lost gypsy the workshop.

The experiments and funny gadgets inside the Lost Gypsy.

After our curiosity had been fully satisfied in the Lost Gypsy. We continued down the road. Our next stop was a walk to a cave.

The cave was a huge and you could easily walk through it, actually four or five people could walk side by side and there would still be room. There were also some colorful rock growth...

It was a windy day. Here is a shot of Ben as made our way back to the car along the beach wind swept beach after seeing the cave.

We wanted to find a campsite before it got to dark so we settled on a fancier campground, with showers, kitchen area and laundry. After setting up our tent Glenn and I took a walk and explore the beach area. There we saw a Spoonbill, this has to be one of the coolest birds I have ever seen. Its feathers are all white and kind of wispy especially those on its crown, making it look like Mozart. Its long legs and spoon shaped beak are solid black. Wow.

That night after dinner and Ben taught us how to play a card game called Anarchy. It was an evening of laughter.

The next day it was raining and it the temperature was getting colder. So we decided we would make our way to Invercargil were we could stay with a guy we had met at the whare folk festival. We did make a few more stops on the way. One being the Southern most tip of the South Island. There we saw some huge waves and a young seal that seemed to be lost or maybe just mad, because he was waddling after cars and barking at them.

Invercargill

2006-02-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

We made it to Invercargill that evening and of course played tunes. Chris was nice to let us stay with him. The next day we headed into town to tour around. It was a cute little town it seemed that every building had a mural of some sort. After checking e-mails we met back up with Ben and Hanna. Together we decided we should go down and see Bluff. We had read in a guide book that this town was known for it oysters.

Before looking for a place for dinner we took a walk along the coast it was a nice day. At the start of the trail we found this sign that let us know all the various distances to places.

Sadly, we were not able to find a place that was serving oysters. We found a place to eat and filled up on chowder and fish. Our waitress told us that it was not oyster season. We had a great meal and enjoyed our last meal with Hanna and Ben. They were fun travel partners.

The next day we said good-bye to Ben and Hanna as we loaded up our econo-rental car. Glenn and Hanna had fun sharing tunes. Here they play one last tune.

On our way

2006-02-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

We took our time driving up the coast from Invercargil and stopped at a few of the beaches along the way to swim and do some beach combing. This picture is a house that I thought was nicely camouflaged into the side of the cliff.

We spent the night at DOC campsite on Monowai Lake. This was a pretty secluded camp site and the only people we met were hunters. The lake was beautiful and we had good shelter under trees. We also spotted an Australasian Crested Grebe floating and swimming around a marshy part of the lake. The next day we woke and made our way towards Mildford Sound. It was a rainy day but we thought we would see how far we could get maybe we would stop.

We had to bunker down for the day and play cards. The rain only got harder and there was no way we would see much of anything if we did go into Mildford Sound. So we remembered talking with someone at the folk festival that had mentioned some cabins just off the road near Hollyford track. We spotted a sign and decide to spend the rest of the day and night there. We got a cabin to ourselves and it was equip with a bunkbed, a nice little table and chairs, a checkers game, a sink and coal burning stove on which you could cook up your dinner. Glenn beat me a few times at checkers and I beat him a few times at cards. The next day we woke to sunshine yippee!

Mildford Sound

2006-02-09T21:17:00.000-05:00

There was one rather long one-way tunnel on the road into the Mildford Sound.

The drive into the Sound was spectacular and we made a few stops along the way to soak in the views.

Breath taking.

The pictures really never can capture the beauty of this place. We were glad we decided to take this the drive into the Sound. It just seemed to be endless and really took your breath way.

Once we got into the Mildford sound we decided to take a cruise. The day was clear as can be.

We look bundled up but we have learned to be prepared for any weather when you live on an island. On the cruise we saw a school of dolphins leaping their way into the sound and seal colonies soaking in the sun on the rocks. There were more waterfalls then you could count although our captain repeatedly told us that we should have seen it the day before--"The waterfalls were in the thousands and they were going up as well as down the cliff side." As it was pissing down rain the day before we decide we were happy to have a few less waterfalls to see.

View of the Mildford Sound.

After the cruise we hiked up the start of Routeburn Track. The day was so clear we were told that you could see all the mountain ranges from the top of Key Point. It was such a nice hike and the view was phenomenal. We felt like we were looking at the Tetons, Sawtooths and Rockies all at the same time.

Us at the top of Key Point.

We slept well that night and were entertained that evening by what we think was a New Zealand Robin. He seemed to be quite curious and would fly right up to us to have a look.

Wanaka

2006-02-09T20:57:00.000-05:00

We were absolutely shot by the time we made it to Wanaka and all we could think of was getting something to eat. We thought food would give us more energy but it only made us more sleepy. Unfortunately, we did not have a plan or even a clue where we were going to sleep that night. It was late so we were worried it would be hard to find something and it was. Most places here in New Zealand are not open 24 hrs. Your luck if they are open 9 hrs but that is good because people can be home with their families and life does not revolve around work. But when you are trying to find a place to sleep for the night this is bad. We did find a hotel eventually but it was the most expensive place we stayed our whole trip and not the nicest but it had a warm bed and a shower. Glenn had to move buildings to find it as well so what can you do...

Westcoast here we come

2006-02-09T20:48:00.000-05:00

Haast Pass was amazing. There were quite a few little hikes off the road and we stopped at quite a few. One of them was the Blue Lagoon which was very nice but part of the fun was crossing the long suspension bridges. Here is Glenn making his way cautiously across the suspension bridge.

Outside of Haast we found a DOC campsite on the side of a nice lake. It reminded us of Priest Lake. We both had a nice swim. It took Glenn a little longer to get in the water but he made it. I nice view at sunset.

Fox Glacier

2006-02-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

We had woke early to get up to Fox Glacier. We found that getting to places earlier allowed you to bet the crowds. It was a short walk up to Fox Glacier but beautiful. The mountains that were in this area actually reminded me of Japenese landscape paintings.

We were the only ones up at the glacier that morning. It was nice as well because the sun was still behind the mountain so the lighting was good for pictures.

I am always amazed by the blueness of glaciers to me the are like kryptonite, Superman beware. A view as we hiked out and the sun peered over the mountain.

We got back to the car park just as the crowds were arriving. We then went to Franz Joseph for lunch. Instead of going to the Franz Joseph glacier we decided to take a walk around one of the lakes near by. It was a nice lake and the day was pretty warm. So when we came to the waters edge I said "Nice day for a swim," but then I looked in the water and saw this....

...well maybe not.

Okarito

2006-02-09T20:33:00.000-05:00

Okarito was where we spent the night. There we stayed in a little old school house. It was a quiet night. There were a few other people staying there but that night after everyone ate people sat around and did not speak a word. I figured it must have been because it was a school at one time and people felt like they needed to be quiet.

The next morning we woke up pretty early and took a walk along the beach. It was a pretty amazing beach. Here I am posing on a huge piece of petrified wood we found. Too bad it did not fit in our bag.:)

A misty morning view of the beach.

Hokitika

2006-02-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

Hokitika was a great little town on the coast. We found a delicious European style bread shop and where we had lunch. We walked around the town and stopped into a few cool artisan shops. One was owned by a Maori carver named Ben. He and Glenn talked for quite sometime about the different types of Maori instruments. Ben was very interested in making instruments and was just starting to explore a variety of native flutes. We then found out that there had been a drift wood sculpture contest on the beach a few days prior most of the sculptures were still up.

One of the kinetic drift wood sculptures.

Ack I am being swallowed by a giant drift wood fish skeleton....

After spending a few hours in Hokitika we made our way to Blackball (tehe). Blackball is known because it was the first place to have electricity in the South Island. There is also a famous motel known as, Formally The Blackball Hilton. Rumor has it that some big shot that worked for the Hilton asked them to change the name so they added--formally. That is where we stayed and wow what a place. Each of the rooms were painted a different color, we had the orange room of course:) And there was art and memorabilia all over the place. Below is a shot of Glenn playing at the bar/cafe. Blackball is also known for great sausages and salami, go figure. We of course had to get some and man I am now a blackball salami fan. We even stopped back through the next day to pick up more.

Punakaiki

2006-02-09T20:09:00.000-05:00

The next day we drove up to Punakaiki. There we went to the Pancake rocks. These rocks are a pretty big tourist attraction on the West Coast. It was busy but not busy as in New York busy, busy as in maybe twenty people New Zealand busy. I think I have a rock fetish and for this I blame my mom. These rocks were pretty amazing and reminded me of sandcastles I made as a kid, you know the ones that you make with wet sand and look like melted candle wax. There was a nice path that you could take that gave you some nice views of the Pancake rocks and even featured highlights like blow holes ya-hoo!

After Punakaiki we made our way up the road. One of your friends, Peter Berry, from the Wednesday night session group in Hastings told us about a hike that followed along the Fox River to a spot called the Ballroom overhang. It was a beautiful day and we thought it would be great to camp out for the evening. From what Peter had told us it sounded like an amazing hike and the camp site sounded great as well because the overhang kept you dry if it did start to rain.

We started off from the parking lot and found that we would be crossing the Fox River a few times along the hike. It was absolutely beautiful and we managed the river crossings.

The Ballroom overhang was about as long as a football field and at night you could see glow worms sparkling on the sides of the cliff.

We even heard a kiwi that night. They have a fun screeching call. The next morning we saw what we thought was a kiwi but turned out to be a weka. A bird with a body much like a kiwi but has a bigger beak. They also are not as cautious as the kiwi and will come into populated areas.

It was raining that morning and we were warned by one of the hikers we passed on the way into the ballroom overhang that if it started to rain crossing the rivers would be almost impossible so we could get stuck out there. It was around 6 am and we decided to pack quickly and hit the trail. It had not been raining too bad so we figured we would be ok and could make it out before the rivers got too high. We were very careful when crossing the rivers and made sure to use each other for support. Our adrenline was pumping by the time we made it to the car and we were soaked to the bone.

Once we got in the car we decided we needed to find a place to stay that was dry. We decided on a bed and breakfast in Reefton because it had a washer and a dryer. The lady that ran the B&B showed me the dryer which was in the garage and told me she had never used it before but thought I would be able to figure it out. Funny:) Most people in New Zealand use their clothes lines.

Nelson

2006-02-09T19:11:00.000-05:00

Nelson was a great little, big town. We were at the end of our trip and Glenn was tired of driving. In Nelson we called Diane, a student at the University of Idaho I had spoken to via e-mail. She and a friend of hers, Jack were living in New Zealand for a year and working. We met up with them and they said we could stay with them. This was great because we did have four days left before we flew back to Napier. Instead of driving more we returned or rental car and did a walking tour of Nelson. Glenn found a pick up game one day and I toured the down town museum. We also found a Tia Chi Club down the road from where we were staying so we went and joined a session. It was a different style then the one we do here in Napier but cool to learn a new way. We also toured around to some of the local galleries there are close to three hundred studio artists in the Nelson area. Sheesh!

One of my favorite stops was at the Saturday Market. This was a farmers market as well as a craft market. I went on a buying frenzy at least for me this is pretty unusual. There was just some really cool things so I got a pair of fun pants and some cool shoes.

We also found a small wonderful session at the Maen Fiddler and no I did not spell this wrong. The story is that there is another bar somewhere called the Mean Fiddler. So the owner of this Nelson bar had to come up with a different name thus Maen Fiddler. Bob seemed the one running the session he was there with his wife and daughter both musicians. His wife was from Ireland and a friends of hers were there visiting he was a dancer. So the session included dance as well as music. To top off the evening there was a backpacker in the pub that spoke flemish and had a conversation with Bob's wife. Bob smiled and said to us, "We are putting on quite an event for you two this evening, it is not always like this."

Nelson also has a wonderful beach. We went out and swam one day with Jack and Diane. It has been amazing how different all the beaches are around New Zealand. This beach was a popular spot for Kite Surfing. Nelson was great and we are going to be going back over Queen's Birthday weekend for a folk gathering.

The final shots from the South Island...

Koru (Fern Frond)

The unfolding spiral of the fern is a symbol of growth to Kiwis and can be found in much of the Maori art work.

Rotorua

2006-02-08T19:47:00.000-05:00

After a wonderful trip to the South Island we continued our adventures in New Zealand and headed off to Rotorua. Rotorua is a town that is known for its hot pools and thermo activity. It was quite I nice place and after awhile we got comfortable with the ever present sulfur smell.

We went to Rotorua because Glenn and I were presenting at an International Conference for Adventure Therapy. It was a great conference and people really enjoyed the mask and music work we presented. We also got to play a bit the first night as entertainment. The great part of this was we followed a hip hop dance troupe, Crucial Movement. When we started into Irish Tunes I could see the dancers tapping their feet and really getting into the music. A told them to go ahead and dance. They each took turns doing a dance. What a great fusion of traditions.

The best part of the conference was meeting people from all over the world and hearing about the type of work they did in their country. It was a wonderful reminder of how closely connected we are. We left feeling really excited and renewed. We unfortunately had to leave early because we were playing music for the weekend at a winery for Hawkes Bay's Harvest Festival. This was good fun as well and we even got approached to play for another event. The event just happens to be in Auckland so I are not going to be able to do the gig. Oh well it was a confidence builder to be asked.

A Wonderful Performance

2005-12-07T23:23:00.000-05:00

We found relief and awe in our little performance for Polyventure. Polyventure is a course offered at EIT for those with developmental delays. This group had to be our best audience yet. When Glenn started playing a jig, a large Maori girl in the class jumped up and said, “Hey this is a jig, I know how to jig.” She then jigs into the middle of the circle with her hands on her hips and her feet tapping. Soon more students got up to dance. I then came out with my Red Bird mask. They were all enchanted yelling out, “What is it?” and moving around so they could get a better look. After this mask I went to change into another mask. While I was getting my new mask on I heard the whole group singing, “With a cluck, cluck here and a baa, baa there…” My next mask was a half mask and when I came into the classroom one of the guys hopped out of his chair, grabbed me in a waltz hold and we waltzed around the room. I then started doing a chicken dance and he mimicked my every move.

The last mask I put on was the one I call Turtle and again everyone yelled out, “What is it?” This time though there was another student that responded to this mask. He got up and started circling around me in the mask. The other students yelled out to him, “Be nice.” Gradually he moved to the center of the room and sat down. I moved next to him and knelt down. He then gave the Turtle a big hug.

There was something about this performance that made us almost feel like different people afterwards. It was quite an emotionally charged and moving experience for all. Glenn and I have felt very close to the Polyventure students, and the experience we shared just solidified our admiration for their caring and unique spirits.

Our next big performance, Imagine, we were planning for the 26th of November and we were feeling a bit nervous but this small performance for Polyventure gave us more confidence. Saturday the 26th, we started the day making sure we had everything we needed read for the night. Glenn practiced his tunes and I made sure all my Rattles and Puppets were priced and ready to be displayed. I also had a few last minute mask and costume adjustments to make.

We got to the Arena at 6pm to get set up for the show, which would start at 7:30pm. It was a raining buckets outside. Friends started arriving around 6:30pm to help out with things. Everything looked good. The art and cd sales table was set up as well as the beverage and snack table. I had to get changed and we would be off. We started the show right on time. Our first few pieces we were feeling a little nervous but things went smoothly--some minor alterations from what we had practiced but not a problem. As we were nearing the end of our first half the rain was getting louder. The theatre we were in was on the second floor of a building with a metal roof. So the rain sounded extremely loud. This was not put into our sound check and one of our last pieces in the first half involved video and sound. We were back stage and had no way of turning up the volume. So we just pushed on and hoped that people could hear ok. When we asked people during intermission they said it was a little quite but not bad.

We turned up the sound for the second half. Our nervousness was much less and we knew that we could knock people’s socks off and put on a great final half. Things went very smoothly. The night ended with smiles and good spirits. People were delighted and surprised because they had not known what to expect when they arrived that night. Glenn and I were very pleased and after cleaning up and packing up we headed home to celebrate with a bottle of champagne our friends brought us. Glenn and I finished the whole bottle, “Whoa Baby!”. That is a lot of champagne for us but we slept well and were happy that our show was so successful.

We are still getting compliments. Friend that were there tell us, “I still have images in my head from that night.” And just yesterday we were taking a walk and a woman passing us stopped and said, “Hey you are the couple that put on the show. I loved it. Have you thought of doing it in the schools? I think it should be a part of the curriculum….” This made us feel good about what we had down. It can be hard sometimes to know if your work has touched people. Comments like these just make you say to yourself, Yes!

A Fun Story from a Few Months Back

2005-12-04T20:51:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday we were invited to the Polyventure End of the Year Party. Polyventure is a course offered at EIT to people with disabilities. As a part of the party the polyventure students modeled the fleece vests that they had made that term. Each of the students walked down the imaginary catwalk in their own way—some swung their arms around in delight, others hid their faces in embarrassment and one grinned widely as he struck a John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever, disco pose. It is oh so sobering to see these folks and admire their energy and originality.

Friday we had a full day I spent the day teaching some little first graders how to make pinch pots. That evening we went to a nice exhibition of wood fire ceramic by Bruce and Elsa Martin. He and his wife visited Japan on many occasions. Through these visits the befriended a Japanese potter with knowledge in building wood kilns. Eventually the Martin’s invited this potter over to help them build an anagama kiln on their property. The Martins fired the kiln together for many years. The kiln is no longer being fired because Elsa passed away so Bruce could not do the firings alone. I enjoyed seeing wood fired pieces again some were especially nice with the beautiful ranges of blues, greens, oranges, grays and reds that you can get from a successful firing.

After seeing the exhibition Glenn and I went down to Otani to a little old ladies house. Her name was Colleen and she was selling some ceramic beads that she had made in the 70’s. When we arrived at your house she was all a glow buzzing around and pulling out boxes of this and that. I think she was working on cleaning out her studio. As I looked through all the boxes she had pulled out to show me she told me, “I am working now on painting.” I inquired what type of painting. This question of course got her buzzing once again digging through boxes trying to find some of her recent paintings. All the while she keeps telling me that I while have to keep in touch with her because she may have another weak moment and get rid of some of her other art supplies. To make here paintings she melted colored wax (similar to color crayon wax) onto a small iron and moved the iron over the paper. She tells me she calls these paintings, Trick the Eye Paintings, because you can look at them in all different directions and they look different. She grins.
Glenn and I left her house with our hands full of boxes. As we walked to the car she asked, “Do you like to cook?” Before even answering Colleen was runing back in the house. She returned with a basket full of old cookbooks saying, “Here you go take these as well, they are all healthy cooking. We like organic foods here.” With a smile we were off we both figured our car would have been full if we stayed much longer.

We then stopped for dinner at the Paper Mulberry a funky little café in the middle of nowhere. The exterior is painted gumball blue with yellow trim. Inside there is an eclectic display of artwork hanging on the walls and filling the shelves. That night they were starting an open jam session. This turned out to be an interesting musical experience; a group of little kids pounded away on conga drums and keyboards and guests hooping and howlering as they celebrate a friend’s birthday all the while three guitarists strum away singing top ten songs. An evening to remember…

Guy Fawkes Day

2005-11-11T23:02:00.000-05:00

There is a tradition here in New Zealand much like Forth of July but it is called Guy Fawkes day and takes place on the 5^th of November. The story goes that Guy Fawkes was a guy that was caught in the cellar of the House of Lords with 36 barrels of gunpowder on November 5^th, 1605. Guy was only one of the many conspirators that tried to blow up the English House of Parliament and just happened to be the first caught. This day is celebrated or commemorated by bonfires and setting off fireworks. We went into Napier to watch the fireworks display and were able to avoid the heavy traffic by taking back roads. Mind you there is not really heavy traffic around even on special days like these the line of cars might go a city block. So we found a parking place off Marine Parade and walked down to the beach. The beach was filled with groups of people and beach wood fires spotted the landscape. We made our way through along the beach and toward a stage. From the stage we heard a DJ announce, "Lets hear it for Tina Turner." Here in New Zealand star impersonating is very popular. Queen and Abba have both performed at the local Municipal Theatre in downtown Napier. When we saw a lady (or was it a man?) strut onto stage in a Tina hair wig and a tight thigh length fringed black dress we had to get a closer look. So we made our way closer to stage to watch the show. I thought of my cousin Ken Bailey—he loves Tina. It was a good show. After her last song we shifted our eyes to the sky over the ocean. There was a nice display of fireworks that were even choreographed to music and lasted probably 5min. But the show really did not end because all along the beach people set off fireworks—and they were not bottle rockets. It seemed everyone had bought his or her own firework show worth. We found a friend sitting on her porch watching the fireworks and drinking wine so we asked to join her. Once the crowd had died down we decided it was time to head home.

Honeymoon in Turangi

2005-10-27T16:57:00.000-04:00

“We are going to Turangi for our honeymoon,” we said excitedly to our friends here in New Zealand. Their response was, “You are going to Turangi for you Honeymoon?” All the while looking at us with a scrunched up and baffled face. We gathered from these responses that Turangi would not be at the top of most Kiwis’ lists for places to go.

But we had a blast. Not only did we get to stay in one of the nicest little vacation homes we enjoyed our week of relaxation and adventure. We took a load of books with us to give us plenty of excuses to sit still but of course it only worked a few days. The rest of our time we spent exploring.

There were a number of hiking trails near by so we hiked through some amazing terrain. Our first day out we went for a hike around a lake. There were twisty turny trees along the trail that just made you smile. One tree Glenn got to know the ins and outs.

After taking a short hike around a lake we decided to go to the hot spring pools. There were private rooms with hot pools that did not have chlorinated water. You paid for a fifteen-minute time slot to soak. We enjoyed the naturally heated water and let our muscles relax. When we it was time to get out of the pool I felt like I was going to pass out. I had to lay down on the floor for a bit to try and get my head to stop spinning. Glenn eventually went back to the front desk to return the key to the room and came back with a bottle of juice. What a relief this cold juice was just the medicine I needed to subside the vertigo. The moral to this story---Do the hot pools on cold days or be sure to drink a lot of fluids on hot days.

The two longest hikes we did started at either side of the Tongariro Crossing. On Wednesday we set out to hike and we started from the parking lot that most of the pamphlets recommended as the place to finish your hike of Tongariro Crossing. It was a misty day so we decided to hike to the hut that was said to be two-three hours walk. It was a misty and cloudy day. At the start of the hike we walked through a lovely green forest the trail soon became stairs so we climbed and climbed and climbed. Emerging from the lush greens of the forest we found ourselves in a landscape that we could hardly describe. Maybe something like a misty desert—I know that is an oxymoron but that is the best I can do. From here we continued our up and up climb as we got wetter and wetter (one would think we would have dressed better for this weather oh well). We crossed little creeks that steamed a bit and smelled of sulfur. The vegetation and rocks around this section ranged in color from rusty reds, brilliant yellows to deep plum purples. I was quite fascinated with these variations so took many pictures. We eventually made it to the hut (Ketetahi Hut) and took a little rest and ate some food. Our downward climb went much quicker and of course the shower we had when we got home was well appreciated.

The next day was sunny and warm. We started out the hike stunned by the amazing view. It was a much more gradual hike to begin and we took our time admiring the streams that gurgled along the trail. We also noticed the black trails of hardened lava rock that seemed to flow from the mountainsides.

The trail did get steep as we reached mountainside and we huffed and puffed our way over rocky terrain till we made it to leveler ground. Once the ground had leveled we found ourselves in a snowy valley, called the South Crater, between two volcanic Mountains, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. On the side of Mt Ngauruhoe there was steam billow. Glenn smiled at me and said with light hearted but slightly tense voice, “You know these are still active volcanoes.” We climbed a bit more past the South Crater and enjoyed the view. Then we decided it was time to make our way back to the car, round trip we hiked for six hours. That evening we slept well.

Can you find me in the picture below:)

Free Range Chocks

2005-09-18T18:38:00.000-04:00

The other day I got a phone call from a lady named Louise. I could hear her grinning as she asked me, “Would you like to be a chicken on Saturday? A few of our chickens are sick so we are short.” I hesitated for a minute but ended up saying, “Sure sounds fun!”

So, yesterday I met my fellow chocks and we prepared ourselves for the annual Blossom Day Parade in Hastings. First, we decorated our float, which started as a man driving a tractor that was pulling a cart ended up as a rooster driving a tractor pulling a nest of chicks. There were a variety of groups preparing themselves for the parade. Near us there was the Thai Restaurant Float – the women were all dressed in their beautiful brilliant colored silk dresses and they danced to the rhythmic sounds of beating drums, tambourines and wok lids. There were many floats decorated with flowers and were bright and colorful. Before we started marching in the parade we made sure our feathers were fluffed and practiced our chicken postures and cackles. Our float was for the Green party, which is a party in New Zealand that is for healthy rivers and communities. The lady that had the idea for this particular float, Liz Earth, I found out is a candidate for the Green party and comes up with float ideas each year—Save the Dolphins, Free Range Chickens, etc. This year she also was commissioned by the city council to make some larger then life puppets. She made a prince and princess to bring in the Blossom parade check out my web page for some photos of them. So we had fun marching along in the parade I passed out stickers and interacted with the kids. We luckily had really nice weather it was a bit windy but sunny and warm. Today it is pouring down rain and I do mean pouring.

The Blossom Prince and the little chics.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

While I was doing the parade Glenn was playing soccer, he and his team are getting ready for the big Masters Games that are coming up in October. He loves playing soccer but I think he is not having as much fun playing with this team because it is so physical. He says it is much more English soccer – maybe they just think it should be like rugby.

That night we went to Hooly and Zotie’s place for dinner. Hooly is a potter and he and I are teaching the pottery class through Taradale Pottery. He is originally from Scotland. Their house was pretty amazing lots of ceramic characters around the outside of the house and on the rooftop. The house was painted blue with green spots on the outside. Inside there were red, yellow and green designs covering the walls. The bathroom was a bright orange. We had a fun night visiting and getting to see all the fun stuff around their house. For desert we had baked bananas with chocolate melted over top to drink we had Samoan Hot Cocoa, made from a cocoa bean pulp that was put in boiling water for a few minutes then milk and honey was added. Yummy!!

2005-09-18T18:37:00.000-04:00

Me in the chicken costume--I know green chicken kinda strange:)
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

2005-09-18T18:34:00.000-04:00

The Blossom Princess.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

2005-09-18T18:33:00.000-04:00

The Rooster driving the tractor with a little stuffed chic.
copyright Kjelsty Hanson

September 1st the 1st Day of Spring?

2005-09-12T04:24:00.000-04:00

It always seems to surprise me when I encounter things that remind me that yes I am in the Southern Hemisphere. Such as the first day of spring being the 1st of September here in New Zealand. We are at a quandary to why the 1st rather then the 21st the equinox?

I am still amazed to find that I do not always understand what people are talking about. There are many words that are used differently or are just plain different all together such as the pedestals that you use in a gallery are called plinths or the money you start out with in a till is called a float.

Glenn and I celebrated our one-year mark, August 12th, when we first arrived here in New Zealand. So I just finished reading my blog entries over the past year. Pretty amazing the amount of things we packed in to those first months in this new place. For this year I will work on making less typos and spelling errors and hope to get back into a routine of posting tales of our adventures, now that we a have a new computer and my brain is shaking off those gray cloudy thoughts.

As some of you know I have also been working at a café here. What a strange and emotional experience this has been for me. Lets just say I have realized that this sort of work is not where I want to focus my energy so I am fazing out of this job and focusing in on my art. This seems to sound rather selfish with all the suffering that is happening in our world but I have decided that I need some time and what better time then the present. I suppose I could tell you all about the busy year and what I have been through over the last few months but most of you now this and feel it as well. It took this café job for me to realize that my heart and mind was somewhere else, I needed to do something that was more fulfilling. I have found this at Taradale Pottery not only because this is a place I can work on art but also because the people that I have met through this group have been so supportive and caring.

Enough of that on we go from here. These past two weekends Glenn and I spent out at a place called Pukeora Estates. We were there for an art show I worked at the gallery space showing work from the Taradale Pottery Group and Glenn made some money playing music and selling his CD’s. The building in which this art show took place was once a hospital for the developmentally delayed but the property is now owned by a couple that has made it a winery. There are so very many wineries here in Hawkes Bay. The building is situated on top of a hill over looking the river and the town of Waipukarau. It was a pleasant weekend but Glenn and I missed having our time walk along the beach. I must say we are very spoiled.

2005-08-23T04:19:00.000-04:00

An article in the Taradale Observer, August 23rd, on my art show and work here in New Zealand. Oh and potty in kiwi means enthusiastic, excited or gitty. Not what you might have been thinking. :)

2005-08-21T03:55:00.000-04:00

Glenn playing to his captive audience out on the farm.

2005-08-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

These are my Whistling Teapots--Class Clown and Teachers Pet. Had a great time at my exhibition here in New Zealand. We had an opening last night August 19th. It went great lots of people came and sold a few pieces. Glenn played music most of the night and people stayed around till about 10:30pm. Pretty amazing.

A Weekend of Dance

2005-08-09T22:37:00.000-04:00

As you know we have been involved in playing a lot of Irish music around Hawkes Bay, but you may not have known that we are also learning how to do Irish step dance. A friend, Helen Stonehouse, teaches this fun dance technique every Thursday night. We have been taking the class for about two months now. Helen and her husband, Roger, came over from England and arrived here in Hawkes Bay about a week or so before we did. We met Roger when we found the session at Cat and the Fiddle. He is a musician and she a dancer. Helen heard that Pat Murphy, a well known Irish Set Dance instructor, was coming to Australia and she managed to convince him to stop by New Zealand on the way for a weekend workshop. Saturday was a full day of classes starting at 9am and running till 4:30pm then we had a break before the Ceili starting at 7pm till late. We played and danced the day away. There was another two and a half hour workshop on Sunday followed by a session at the pub till late. Let me tell you we slept well that night and slept walk through most of Monday. Pat was not only a great teacher of dance he also was a musician. So we had to take advantage of Pat’s last night in Hawkes Bay so we went to Helen and Roger’s Monday night for dinner and music. We ended up playing tunes till about 2 am. Pat was a warm man full of stories and joy. I think Glenn felt like he was in heaven.

2005-07-23T03:40:00.000-04:00

Here is the two page article that was in the paper about the session that Glenn and I go and play at every Wednesday night.

2005-07-23T03:38:00.000-04:00

Close up of our picture.

My mom's trip to the beach.

2005-07-19T23:32:00.000-04:00

We had loads of fun walking on the beach collecting shells and cool looking rocks. There are a lot of unusual rocks here and our packs seemed to get heavier and heavier. We now have a small beach in our back yard. But my mom could not carry home all the rocks she wanted all though she did try...

Ready to lift boulders much bigger then her she is mighty mom.

Wedding Pictures April 23rd

2005-07-19T23:20:00.000-04:00

Jenny gave me a beautiful hair-do and Julia provided entertainment and tasty treats.

2005-07-19T23:19:00.000-04:00

The decorations and flowers were ofcourse my mom's creation.

2005-07-19T23:18:00.000-04:00

Cheri V. did all the girls make-up ya-hoo!

2005-07-19T23:16:00.000-04:00

We had to get ourselves dolled up.

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Lots of dancing.

2005-07-19T23:15:00.000-04:00

Music....

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A lively audience.

2005-07-19T23:13:00.001-04:00

Doo op doo ahhh...

2005-07-19T23:13:00.000-04:00

Ballet...

2005-07-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

There was all types of performance.

2005-07-19T23:09:00.000-04:00

Glenn was worn out after all the fun.

2005-07-19T23:08:00.000-04:00

Our Huge Wedding Party

2005-07-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

We needed a lot of support after putting that party together.

2005-07-19T23:06:00.000-04:00

Me and My Mom a dynamic duo.

Busy Few Months

2005-07-19T23:02:00.000-04:00

Well I have not had a chance to post to my blog for a while. First it was because I was helping at home with my dad. Then I was planning my wedding and then once back in New Zealand our computer decided to stop working. So I feel like I have a lot to catch up. I will hopefully post some photos from our wedding in Idaho. It was such a fabulous time. Glenn and I were so happy to have so many of our friends there to share this fun few days. When we returned to New Zealand many of our friends encouraged us to have another wedding jubilee so we invited everyone we could think of and asked them to “bring a plate” meaning it would be a potluck. It was a great turn out and we even had a friend call a few irish set dances. My mom was even here to celebrate with us of course we both got all dressed up for the event. Any excuss to wear my bright orange wedding dress again. So we did get a new computer and I am hoping this alows for more regular updates again. I know that I have missed writing the updates.

We had a great time with my mom while she was here I think we gave her a pretty good taste of where we are living. We packed everyday full of adventure for sure from a the fire festival in Napier, to music festival in Otaki Gorge, Waimarama beach, the estuary, Ta Mata Peak, Wellington, Op shopping, wine tasting, gypsy music concert in the old church, to music at the Cat and the Fiddle I sometimes wonder how we got it all in.

My mom left on Monday and is now back home having a nice visit with her brother that arrived the day that she did. What a busy girl. As for Glenn and I, we went to a music concert last night and Glenn is back to school the kids started back this Monday and Glenn taught his first class yesterday. I got a job working at a place called the Missionview Garden Center in the café Wild Rose. It is a fun spot to work and I love my boss. I am working part-time to start out but will probable get more hours as summer approaches. This gives me time to work on my creative projects that seem to multiply as I type.

Our winter weather is keeping us huddled around our little heaters and wearing layers. But we can’t complain too much considering I look outside and see flowers blooming and oranges dropping from branches.

As ever we miss you all and hope you are all enjoying your summer.

2005-02-06T20:20:00.000-05:00

We had a great time dancing the night away. And Poncho was amazing on the conga drums quite the sound. It was great hearing all the variations in insturmentation.

2005-02-06T20:19:00.000-05:00

This Saturday we spent the day at a winery for a big Jazz festival. The band started playing around 5pm and the whole show ended around 11pm. There were about seven local jazz bands that played and the final band was Poncho Sanchez.

Maori Study and Tai Chi

2005-01-31T15:32:00.000-05:00

This last week was intense. Glenn and I were able to take another weeklong Maori language course. The classes ran all day from 8:30am to 5pm. We both felt exhausted at the end of the day. Though we did go away from the course feeling we had at least a beginners understanding of Maori. Our days were not spent entirely in class learning pronounciation, punctuation, grammer and spelling; we actually spent a good portion of our time singing or learning Maori songs (waiatas). Each day after lunch (kia) all the classes gathered in the marae, the traditional Maori gathering space. There we sang songs some with actions some without. This was such a powerful experience with the maori carvings all over the walls and the energy of everyone in the room singing the room just buzzed with energy. Everyone sang, no one hesitated or said “but I am not a singer”. Some of the women’s voices were extremely powerful.

This morning the sky was cloudy and there is a cool breeze. We rode our bikes to the park for your Saturday Tai Chi lesson. The park was a soft green in the blue overcast light, the finches sang their morning song, the ducks waddled by the pond edge and we centered ourselves gaining energy from the earth. As we followed our instructor through the movements, I inhaled the fresh morning air, focusing inward and outward. Before me stood a wise tree and from it flew a Gray Heron. He came and went but always brought back with him a strand of grass or a thin twig. The soaring vastness of the heron was mesmerizing. I felt an awareness and connection each stroke of the herons wings. This moment felt like a long and deep breath. When we ended the lesson the heron was no longer making his journey back and forth from the tree. But we did see a small pile of grasses and twigs where the trees branches forked, we expected the heron was out catching breakfast.

2005-01-31T15:20:00.000-05:00

A bowl piece "Seeing the trees in a Forest"

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Here is Glenn infront of a huge cannon ball like rock holding a small cannon ball like rock and his first paua find.

2005-01-31T04:59:00.000-05:00

This is the cove that we went to. Along the way we had fun looking at all the amazing rock formations and Glenn hunted for Paua.

2005-01-31T04:58:00.000-05:00

This is Waimarama Beach one of our favorite beaches. There we went on a long walk along the beach to a smaller cove.

2005-01-31T04:51:00.000-05:00

The museum was amazing so big and so much to see. We only made it to the Maori exhibit then we had to get some food in our tummies.

2005-01-31T04:50:00.000-05:00

There is Glenn peering over a large sculptural bridge connecting the city gallery with the city museum.

2005-01-31T04:49:00.000-05:00

Throughout Wellington you found old architecture mixing with new architecture.

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Wellington was a cool city. I had fun with all the reflections you could find off the building windows.

2005-01-31T04:40:00.000-05:00

This is "Torso II".

2005-01-31T04:39:00.000-05:00

This is another piece that I was pretty happy with titled "Torso I"

2005-01-31T04:29:00.000-05:00

It was a good night. Glenn and I played a fair amount of tunes and their were quite a few people there to see the show and the art work.

2005-01-31T04:28:00.000-05:00

A final shot.

2005-01-31T04:27:00.000-05:00

The title of our performance was Two Blokes Meet on the Street. This shot was taken in the middle of the performance as the mask character dug through his bag looking for his insturment.

2005-01-31T04:24:00.000-05:00

Opening night performance at Hastings Community Art Center.

A couple more art pieces...

2005-01-19T02:05:00.000-05:00

"Holding Pattern"

2005-01-19T02:04:00.000-05:00

This is a double bowl I was just trying out making bowl forms.

Les and Marcia's tasty tour of Hawk's Bay

2005-01-19T01:45:00.000-05:00

Les and Marcia also treated us to a feast for dinner what a spread; Hawke's Bay wine, fresh spinach salad, delicious squash, green lip muscles that looked like they could eat you for dinner and scallops that melted in your mouth. Thanks for spoiling us Les and Marcia.

2005-01-19T01:38:00.000-05:00

It was a cold wet day when Les and Marcia came through to visit but we treated their taste buds with some of our favorite stops. Here they are tastings some of the local varieties of Hard Cider.

Some of my Art Works....

2005-01-19T01:25:00.000-05:00

The following pictures are some of the ceramic pieces I have been working on. It has been a challenge for me to learn more about glazing. The following pieces are all earthenware clay fired at a low temperature so you can get bright colors. A very different process from wood firing at high temps. I have another set of pieces being fired that are stoneware so I am excited to see how these turn out. The last few pieces I will have shown in the Hastings Community Center Gallery the end of this month.

These are some bowls I made and was trying out underglaze. A very different way of working for me.

2005-01-19T01:23:00.000-05:00

"Inner Flutter"

2005-01-19T01:22:00.000-05:00

"In a Wink"

2005-01-19T01:20:00.000-05:00

This is one of the first pieces I made here in New Zealand I called it "Monarch Form".

One Wild Ruckus of a Time

2005-01-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

What a way to bring in the New Year 2005. This last extended weekend starting Thursday and ending Monday we spent camping, dancing and playing music. We were invited to an annual Folk Festival/New Years Party at a farm about an hour north of Napier. The farm was just off the Mohaka River, which lent to steep, dramatic terrain. The first night we stayed up into the wee hours playing music and listening to people share songs that they knew. The next night was the Ceili dance, a very high-energy large group dance, which also went on into the late hours of the night. While the dance went on Glenn joined in a search and rescue for a camper who went off by himself and hadn’t returned. It was in scary terrain with goat’s paths and steep cliffs to explore in the late evening. Glenn with all his bravery was the one to encourage them to call it off because of the real possibility of someone else getting hurt. The next day the camper was OK, found in the middle of a waterfall by the search and rescue helicopter.
Needless to say we were pretty lazy through out the day but always saved up our energy for the night’s events. The third night was a night of sharing. All that attended this gathering had an opportunity to share whether it were a song, a poem, a story or a dance. What a marvelous evening and such a large wave of emotions from hilarity to seriousness leaving you with pure joy once the evening was through. Glenn shared a couple of his favorites, and Kjelsty got the kids to do a great percussion routine that entertained the crowd. Tony did an incredible Barnacle the Bill imitation, which was just hilarious.
We were told that these sorts of gatherings happen all over New Zealand. Our gathering place was the wool shed. The farm no longer raises sheep but the wool shed is still standing and is the largest building on the land. The shed is where we gathered to share music and fill ourselves on a freshly BBQ pork, chicken and delicious salads every night. One night there was a ceremonial slicing of the haggis, a strange graining pâté like substance that is boiled for many hours inside a sheep stomach. Glenn’s unpleasant scrunched up nose was not at all encouraging so I chose not to taste this strange concoction. Besides it looked like a hairy butt to me.
On the fourth day there was a battle. Dinah and Tony, both TV actors and real characters, had attended this gathering for the least 18 and established a tradition of organizing a reenactment of a battle between the Scottish and the English. Glenn joined in the mayhem whole heartedly leading the Scottish Army into battle as Brian the Brave, and of course the Scottish won by flinging cow pies and surprising the English in the complete chaos. After the battle we had a great final feast more salads and a giant BBQ and I had my first taste of goat. It was soooo good. Our final evening we were treated to another true character. Also an actor, Robin, called himself an interactive comedian and in pure form that night he sang and played the tambourine. With such inflection he gave old rock songs from the 50’s and 70’s new breath. I was full of giggles. Glenn thought Robin looked familiar, and we found out late he was in the main court in the Lord of the Rings. What a way to bring in the New Year with new friends and the joy for life these folk musicians seemed to have.

2005-01-05T23:07:00.000-05:00

The English captain, Tony, makes his retreat as his troops fall to the mercy of the Scots.

2005-01-05T23:06:00.000-05:00

Glenn aka Brian the Brave leads his troops into battle.

2005-01-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

The Haggis not too appetizing.

2005-01-05T22:48:00.000-05:00

The wool shed is full. When the band plays the floor is textured with the feet of dancers.

2005-01-05T22:44:00.000-05:00

Here we are on stage playing a solo the night of the Ceili Dance. A few of the musicians rest up front.

Picking berries.

2004-12-29T16:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Hawke's Bay, so Glenn and I woke up early and rode our bikes out to the Berry Farm. There they grow all types of berries; gooseberries, currants, raspberries, boysenberries and tayberries (kind of like a raspberry/boysenberry mix) and boy are they good. The berries are cheap if you pick your own so we picked about three icecream containers full. I think we have about half that amount left. They are so good on your cereal in the morning. Glenn likes them on his peanut butter sandwiches--now thats what I call Real Fruit Jam.

Glenn loves those boysenberries!

2004-12-29T16:00:00.000-05:00

Here I am picking raspberries, pick a few, eat a few...

Our Hike around Te Mata Peak

2004-12-13T00:52:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a blustery day but we decided we needed to get out and go for a hike. We had heard a lot of people talk about Te Mata Peak which is just outside of Havelock North about a thirty minute drive from out house. So we decided that would be our destination. What a lovely place it was. We found lovely areas of little daisys and saw some fantail birds playing.

2004-12-13T00:48:00.000-05:00

This was another unusual flower we saw. We could not figure out what type of bush this was it had these pretty purple flowers, three pronged leaves and a green round shaped fruit that dangled from the branches.

We were wondering if it was a type of pepper plant.

2004-12-13T00:47:00.000-05:00

As we came off the mountain side we entered a small grove of redwood trees. This gave us a nice break from the sun.

2004-12-13T00:46:00.001-05:00

As we continued our hike around the mountain side we stumble on some New Zealand wildlife.

The land that makes up this park is privately owned and still used for grazing.

2004-12-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

Some beautiful views from our hike around Te Mata Park.

2004-12-13T00:44:00.000-05:00

At the top of Te Mata Peak, there was a great view of Hawk's Bay. If you look closely at the picture I made a red dot close to where we live. If you click on the picture with your curser it should get big enough for you to see the dot.

Napier is the area that jutts out into the ocean.

Trip North part 5

2004-12-12T19:49:00.000-05:00

As per usually we were not in a big rush to get over to Coromandel Peninsula, so we took our time and even took a little detour for a soak in hot mineral water in Miranda. After our soak we made our way to Thames where we figured we would spend our first night on the Peninsula since it was getting late. The first hostel that we stop at was not very appealing and we thought maybe we should try to get further up the Peninsula to another place mentioned in Lonely Planet. Unfortunately this was not to happen. We were about fifteen or so minutes outside of Thames when Glenn said I think there is something wrong with the car. Coromandel is known for its windy and narrow roads. But we found a place to pull over and pop the hood to see if the oil was low or something. We had a little trouble earlier in the trip with our oil getting low. This did not seem to be the problem but the wire connecting to the battery was pretty loose and I forgot to pack my tools. Glenn was getting pretty worried about this and his worry increased when we got back in the car and tried to start it up. Nothing! Well I decided it was time to flag down some help. So I got out of the car and waved down the first car to pass by. They had some tools and tried to help by tightening the wire to the battery but this still did not seem to get the car going. We thought Glenn could get a ride into town with them but they were driving a van full of kids and pets. I figured we could just flag down someone else. Megan had also gotten out of the car at this point and we both were flagging cars down. The next guy to stop was driving a truck. He pulled out his jumper cables to see if a jump would get the car going. The car did start this time and we waved goodbye to the guy. But as soon as we all got in the car it died again. Again we piled out of the car and tried flagging down people. Our next helpers were a French couple on vacation driving a van with fish painted all over the sides. They were more helpful then anyone. The husband tried everything--filling the battery's water up and fiddling with the jumper cables but nothing seemed to work. We decided Glenn needed to go back into Thames and call AA (also known as Triple A) and get someone out to help. The French couple only had room for him to ride in. We told him we would wait or get another ride in. At this point I thought it would be better if we tried to get a ride into Thames so we flagged down some more cars till we found one that was going into Thames. We piled in with our backpacks and hoped that we would be able to find Glenn in Thames. Luckily the nice folks that picked us up took us to the first service station in Thames. There we caught up with Glenn, who was getting in the AA tow truck heading out to get our car. I am sure the people that gave Megan and I a ride in thought we were a little nuts, as I jumped out of the car and ran to catch Glenn before he left to get the car because I had to give him the KEYS to the car. Phew! We told him to meet us back at that first hostel we had gone. We thought it was our best option as we had no car and it was raining. The car was towed to Thames and would be taken to a mechanic on Monday. It was Saturday. We were able to get a rental car though because we had AA Plus so the next morning after checking out of the hostel and having breakfast we were on the road again in our rental car. That day in our rental car we made it to Whitianga. There we checked into a hostel known as the Cats Pajamas. This hostel had a nice warm homey feel a very pleasant change from the cold creepy place we spent the night before. When we arrived the owner was recruiting guests to help here decorate the living space with Christmas decorations. By the evening there was a sparkling Christmas tree and tinsels filling the room. That night we tried to go to a cafe called Eggscentric, in Cook Beach just a five-minute ferry ride away. But the cafe was closed for the evening because there was a band playing that night and tickets were sold out. Though we were not able to eat at the cafe we did enjoy their sculpture garden in their front yard.

Megan as Aphrodite.

2004-12-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

Glenn's portrait what amazing likeness!

Trip North part 6

2004-12-12T19:40:00.000-05:00

In Whitianga we went to bone carving place were we were able to carve our own necklaces. This filled up our morning as it took about three hours to finish one necklace pendant. Each necklace started out with a flat slice of bone on which we copied a Maori design of our choice. Then with a tool like a dentist drill we shaved off the excess. The next step was sanding to give the edges a smoother look and feel. There were three stages of sanding from coarser to smoother. After sanding we polished the bone with a piece of cloth. We were all quite happy with how our necklaces turned out. We then hit the road again. We hoped to stop at Cathedral Cove and make our way the down the rest of the Peninsula and back to Thames to pick up our car—with a newly built alternator. Outside of Hahei the town closest to Cathedral Cove Glenn said I think there maybe something wrong with the car, as it started to make a fun sound. We pulled over to the side of the road and popped the hood. The oil was low and it seemed the coolant was low as well. Instead of flagging down cars this time we thought we could make it to the nearest town Hahei. The car coasted into the first petrol station we saw. The guys there were not mechanics but thought it could have blown a head gasket. Again we called AA our car was ready and running so the AA guy, Frank said he would come get the rental car and bring us our car. It would take about an hour and a half. As we waited we went down and explored Hahei beach, and this was beautiful. The sand was pink from shells that had been tumbled by the ocean waves and the water was a turquoise blue that I had only seen in pictures. After playing on a rope swing and soaking our toes in the water we headed back to the car for lunch. Just as we arrived back to the car Frank drove up with our car on the back of his tow truck. We paid him for the work and said our goodbyes to the old rental car.

Beach at Hahei pink and blue.