Degas to Dali

Our friends Larry and Karon from Waimati North came down to visit for the weekend and we all spent Sunday afternoon at the Auckland Art Gallery to see the visiting exhibition "Degas to Dali". It was my first time to see original works by Degas, Monet, Matisse, and Dali amongst many others. It is an exhibition well worth seeing if you get the chance. I was especially smitten by a simple line drawing from Matisse (shown at right).

In the evening we had dinner at Corelli's while enjoying the music of "Sandpaper Tango", then headed up to The Bunker for an evening of blues from the Tauranga band "Kokomo".

Lunch in Whangaparoa

Trude and i had lunch with Liane and Jane at Jane's lovely place in Whangaparoa.
Driving up there brought back a lot of memories for us as this area was our first impression of New Zealand when we moved aboard Vela Dare at Gulf Harbor Marina back in 1994.
It was a lovely afternoon of friends, food, wine, sunshine, music and the great view across the Hauraki Gulf.

Easter Hamilton Music Festival 2012

Trude and i were heading south at dawn in order to avoid the infamous Easter weekend traffic out of Auckland. The plan paid off. Even though the traffic was heavy it was moving at least to the speed limit. After a leisurely breakfast in Morrinsville we were setting up the tent by 10AM at the Matamata Race Course. Despite a forecast of severe storms we ended up with a beautiful early autumn weekend.
Trude spent one night in Tauranga with her friend Liane where they attended a concert featuring Keb Mo and Earth Wind & Fire.
I was in a weird mood all weekend, feeling like an alien on the planet, and so didn't take many photos.
Link Mail, our mate fresh in from the Cook Islands (ooo what a tan!) and whom we always camp near at this festival, provided good company and lots of laughs.
Naisha and her mates provided a youthful perspective on it all.
The costumes on display for the Sunday Brunch were a hoot and i'm sorry i didn't take lots of photos of that.

Louise and Josca Get Married

It was nice to be traveling again with Emily and BB as we headed up to The Hokianga for Louise and Josca's wedding. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful and heartwarming event. They put on a great wedding and a great party at the reception in Kohu Kohu. It was nice to be on stage again and performing with Emily and BB.

Next morning, after sleeping in a couple of hours beyond what we planned, we just made it onto the ferry in time to take the west coast road south through the kauri forest and back to Auckland.

Photos: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/108481211284683809830/albums/5737140636737974433

Larry's Trial

I took advantage of a fine weather day to ride The Beast south for a couple of hours to watch Larry compete in a vintage trials bike competition. Larry has been doing this for years on his Triumph Tiger Cub but this was my first time see it in action. I was impressed by how physical this is for the riders, even though it is more of a skills test than a speed one. If you look at the photos, Larry is the one with the red helmet.

It was a lovely day for a ride through some of beautiful rural New Zealand.

Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/120303LarrySTrial

Northland

I rode The Beast up to Northland and stayed with Larry and Karon for a couple of days. We had lunch with Harmen and Julie one day and with Kim and Sally the next. Karon cooked some fab dinners and i gave Larry some pointers with his bass playing and computer.

Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/120227Northland

Avocadotious 2012

Trude and i were fortunate to participate in a weekend gathering at the Holme's residence, near Tauranga. There were plenty of good friends, good food, good music, good weather and an over abundance of avocados from their orchard. If you've ever wondered what an avocado tree looks like then check out the photos.

Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/Avocadotious