Blog Archives

Simply..holidays....

6/3/2019

Travel shows us other worlds.

As a child growing up in dirty old Glasgow our annual holiday in Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae in the Clyde Estuary was a taste of heaven. Clean beaches, farms, wild flowers, fresh air, bicycles and freedom and the realisation that some people lived like that all the time!

Holidays for me are about seeing different things, new places and how other people live. I always come back re-invigorated. They are not an esccape for me because I love my home and where I live and don't need to escape from it, but I do need to look around and refresh my eyes and my ideas.

What do you look for in a holiday? And do you have happy memories of childhood holidays?

From the train trip to Arthur's Pass in the Southern Alps

6 Comments

Simply..Christchurch and a glass half full...

5/3/2019

2 Comments

New opportunities.

Lots of photographs but there was lots to like....

Fun ways to Get around

(always read the small print.)

Dwarfed in the Botanic Gardens

Spotted at the brilliant Saturday morning farmer's market

So elegant!

Meadow in Hagley Park

Making the most of the river

Exhibitions, shop and restaurant were all worth visiting

Office landscaping with native species

People's resilience is amazing

2 Comments

Simply..Christchurch....

4/3/2019

10 Comments

Visitor friendly, clean, with beautiful parks and river landscaping, stylish shops and cafes, and great art galleries, but you can't talk about Christchurch without mentioning the devastating earthquake of 2011.

The sounds of the city are cicadas in wonderful old trees, the old fashioned bell of the trams which do city tours and construction site noises from the extensive work going on to rebuild after the violent destruction of so much of the city eight years ago on 22nd of February.

I am not sure if this building is going up or coming down.

Many are shored up.

the larger ones with shipping containers.

Some are wrapped, like a Christo installation

The Anglican cathedral.

The Catholic cathedral.

And the most heartbreaking memorial I have ever seen.

A chair to represent each of the 185 people who died in the earthquake. Dining chairs, a rocking chair, armchairs, a wheelchair, a stool, a high chair, an exercise chair, a beanbag, a baby car seat....on a piece of waste ground with a small notice board and a few poems about grief pinned up. The installation is by artist Peter Majendie.

I walked there early one morning and was quite overwhelmed. It was close to the anniversary of my husband Barry's death and as I read the poems tears streamed down my face. You were invited to sit on any of the chairs but no-one did. They seemed sacrosanct and the few people around were very respectful, quietly taking a photgraph, as I did, and walking away silently.

I crossed the road to visit the Cardboard Cathedral which was what I had really come to see. I wanted to just sit and compose myself, but found it busy and noisy and felt people were less respectful here than at the memorial across the road - even taking photographs inside the chapel set aside for private prayer.

It is a lovely simple building (see here) but you enter through the shop (of course they have to raise money to restore the old cathedral) and in the quite small space there are 3 large paintings, 8 sculptures and other objects, 2 banners, 25 large phtographs and 2 flower arrangements, and a guided tour was going on.

I found the Art Gallery much more conducive to quiet contemplation, which seeems odd.

Here is one of the poems from the chairs memorial.

10 Comments

Simply..coffee anyone?

3/3/2019

10 Comments

Good coffee seems to be served everywhere in NZ

in characterful cafes

with lots of healthy food on offer and peace to sit and write.

Fresh juices were quite easy to find.

The Art Centre became a favourite

with its colourful tables and yummy ice cream.

Or perhaps you'd prefer tea?

Or a Hibiscus Kiss kombucha at the chocolate shop with the spectacular view, or a Blushing Dragon juice at the Malaysian restaurant. And then there are the vineyards...a glass of chilled wine and a platter of local food to share....

Interestingly tipping is not part of the culture in New Zealand, hopefully because people are paid a living wage.

10 Comments

Simply..we went on a road trip....

2/3/2019

20 Comments

to Abel Tasman National Park where we heard this.

Many of New Zealand's native birds are ground nesting (and some are flightless), and in this National Park they are increasing the numbers by getting rid of introduced predators like possums, rats and weasels.

There are no roads and you can only reach the eco lodge we stayed in by boat -a gorgeous trip dropping people off at several idyllic beaches, a somewhat rougher trip coming back! The boat drops you on the sand and you walk along the beach to a board walkway and some steps and as soon as we were among the trees we heard the bell bird and the tui. And the loudest cicadas I have ever heard. There were also eels and glow worms in the wetland below our balcony. We took ourselves out at night using the torches on our phones along little paths, listening to many strange noises in the bush (intrepid adventurers that we are!) to spot the glow worms. - I loved this place.

See more about the conservation projects here.