Tag: New Zealand

  • My last workshop in New Zealand

    My last workshop in New Zealand

    What a pleasure it was to teach my final workshop in Whangarei, where I taught my last workshop in New Zealand 2 1/2 years ago, after NZ Quilt Symposium. There was an arts festival happening in the park outside, on the morning of class, and we got to enjoy some live music from a guy…

  • Sailing, takes me away…

    Sailing, takes me away…

    Our breathtaking view from our bedroom at Kerry’s house in One Tree Point. We arrived at Kerry Glen’s house in time for a glass of wine and a nibble, then headed to the local marina where we hopped on a boat with Kerrie’s husband Bob, and 2 of his sailing buddies. Believe it or not,…

  • Another gorgeous stretch of coastline in the Northland

    Another gorgeous stretch of coastline in the Northland

    After our lunch in Kaiwaka, at Eutopia Cafe, we drove out to the coast to take a more scenic drive to our destination of One Tree Point, and stopped at Mangawhai Heads beach. As soon as we parked the car, I could not wait to take off my sandals and sink my feet into that…

  • Finding Eutopia in kiwi paradise

    Finding Eutopia in kiwi paradise

    On our drive north from Matakana towards Whangarei, Phil and I stopped in the small town of Kaiwaka for lunch at Eutopia Cafe on recommendation by Alysn. Wow, wow, wow, my mind was blown away by the creativity and artistry that went into this structure, and the food was excellent too, so it was kind…

  • A day of art, hiking and a late night trek to see glow worms

    A day of art, hiking and a late night trek to see glow worms

    While in Matakana, Alysn brought us for a studio visit with her friend Helen Carpenter who is a painter, printmaker and collage artist and runs the Takatu studio space where she hosts classes and rents workspace to other artists. I love seeing artists workspaces and learning about their process. Helen creates beautiful, etherial landscapes using…

  • Remembering a day at the beach with friends before the world shut down.

    Remembering a day at the beach with friends before the world shut down.

    I’m running a bit behind schedule, this week. I’m occasionally, surprised how busy I’ve been. I think somedays I’m not all that productive, spending too much time on social media, or zoom chats as a way to fill the social deficit while staying home. It still feels strange to go to the store and see…

  • A 5 day break with friends in the Northland

    A 5 day break with friends in the Northland

    After my workshop finished in Ngaruawahia, Phil and I packed up the car and drove a little over an hour north to Auckland where we met up with our friends Barney and Pat who just arrived from San Francisco that morning and were waiting for us at the BNB we rented in the Ponsonby neighborhood…

  • Ngaruawahia, say that three times fast

    Ngaruawahia, say that three times fast

    When you look at the word Ngaruawahia it looks very intimidating. The ‘Ng’ is pronounced like ‘ng’ in song, and the ‘r’ has a bit of a trill like the r’s are pronounced in Spanish, and each vowel is pronounced separately like you do when you say Hawaii [huh-WAH-ee]. So after you break the word…

  • Teaching at the foot of Mount Taranaki

    Teaching at the foot of Mount Taranaki

    After our two restful days at Lake Rotoiti, we hit the road on a drizzling Wednesday morning to drive 5 hours to the Taranaki peninsula on the west coast of New Zealand. We drove on narrow twisty turning roads over steeply rolling hills and farmland, best suited for grazing animals that can climb steep hills.…

  • Recharging my batteries at Lake Rotoiti

    Recharging my batteries at Lake Rotoiti

    After my class finished in Whakatane we drove an hour west to Lake Rotoiti, where Caroline Stewart lent us her lakefront bach (cabin) that nestled up to steep hills shrouded in low clouds. Just down the road from the cabin was a fabulous hiking trail through the bush between Lake Rotoiti and neighboring Lake Rotoma.…

  • Painting in Whakatane

    Painting in Whakatane

    On the evening of my last workshop in Tauranga, Phil and I drove an hour east to Whakatane, to the location of my next two day workshop. We arrived at the home of our wonderful hosts, Katrina and Bob, and got to unwind with a glass of wine, and this gorgeous view from high up…

  • Beautiful Tauranga

    Beautiful Tauranga

    On Tuesday, Phil and I drove three hours southeast from Auckland to the city of Tauranga. Because this was Phil’s first day driving on the other side of the road after a 2 year gap, we made sure to take plenty of breaks. We pulled over at the Karangahake gorge and thought it looked like…

  • Meeting up with Phil in Auckland

    Meeting up with Phil in Auckland

    At the crack of dawn on a Monday morning, I jumped on a plane in Palmerston North and flew an hour and a half north to Auckland where I met up with Phil, who had just arrived from the states an hour earlier. We took a city bus from the airport to my friend Kerry’s…

  • Teaching while visiting my furry, and feathery friends in Palmerston North

    Teaching while visiting my furry, and feathery friends in Palmerston North

    To get to my next teaching location, I booked a ride on a bus from Napier to Palmerston North. The busses in New Zealand are reasonably priced, comfortable, convenient, and they give you lots of opportunities to appreciate the beautiful views. Also, at this point on the trip I was still traveling by myself and…

  • Next stop Napier

    Next stop Napier

    On the 4th of February, I flew north from Christchurch to Napier, where I had a wonderful stay with a newer guild member named Maggie, who has an airbnb in the lovely town of Havelock North about a 20 minute drive south of Napier. It was much warmer there than it had been in Christchurch,…

  • New Zealand 2020!

    New Zealand 2020!

    Kia ora! No place speaks to my heart so clearly, and fills me with as much inspiration as New Zealand, and with the help of Kerry Glen of Tulis Textiles, I’m planning a teaching there for February 2020. New Zealand’s pristine rocky beaches and rolling green hills remind me of Sonoma county, Northern California where…

  • Rotorua the most colorful spot in New Zealand

    Rotorua the most colorful spot in New Zealand

    I am really enjoying revisiting my photos from our trip to New Zealand, even though it is now almost 5 months after. How has so much time passed? While life in the US persists in a heightened level of tension with constant political chaos, today I get to temporarily fall back to a peaceful and…

  • Back to my New Zealand adventure, Napier

    Back to my New Zealand adventure, Napier

    Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been catching up on some deadlines, but before too much time has passed I wanted to post another installment of my trip down under last October. After Phil and I left Palmerston North, we drove a couple hours north east to the coastal city of Napier, another wine-producing region…