We had exceptionally fine weather this year which seemed to lift everyone's mood. Not being a booked performer this year it was nice to relax and not have to worry about having too much fun, which i didn't and did.
A group of ten of us spent a week traveling via five canoes through Whanganui National Park. Jenine did a fantastic job of planning the whole thing, including meal plans, purchasing the food, sorting out who was going to do what, when and where, as well as acting as general tour guide. Thank you!!!
We blasted out of Wellington in the early morning and headed up the west coast with good views of Kapati Island. We had breakfast in Levin at the nice cafe that i can never remember the name of. Then it was on to Koitiata and Turakina Beach to visit our dear friend Pizy and stretch our legs with a long beach walk.
Wooden bones (driftwood) were scattered for kilometers along the beach, making photography irresistible. We had a nice catch up with Pizy and got to explore her new "Red Bach Gallery" where she sells her amazing copper creations.
We packed up the tent, said our goodbyes and sadly left Tui Farm. We had lunch in Nelson and stopped by for a cup of tea at our friend Tony Stephens' place. Tony and his family had also been at Tui Farm and we had a sort of catch up and debriefing. We had to get ourselves on the Picton to Wellington ferry by 6PM so we said goodbye to Tony and his family and took the less scenic route to Picton.
We departed Wellington at 2AM on the car ferry and arrived in Picton to a misty dawn. The drive to Nelson was another twisty, up and down, road but with beautiful views of The Sounds. After having breakfast in the sleepy fishing village of Havelock, we continued on to Nelson were we stocked up on provisions. From Nelson it was just under an hour to the Tui Farm Music Festival site. We had camp established by 1PM and were seeking shade to get out of the blistering sun. We didn't know that would be last we would see of the sun for the entire five days of the festival.
