Soccer to Stomp

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

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

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.