Kaiteriteri

Having just had a remarkable and perfect day I can see exactly why Connie devoted so much of her diary to this area. On one hand it is quite like the west coast of Scotland at Arisaig which she so loved but you have to add sun, azure sea, subtropical bush, and sandy beaches and coves that seem to go on for ever. This day more than any other made me contemplate the differences between then and now. Then, I think that destination was what mattered, now, it is the journey. Then, they took time to savour the experience to enquire about and remember the details , now we see the spectacle, experience the thrill of a short engagement with the place and the achievement of having been there. I wonder if as a humanitarian, and as an arts crafts follower she would be able to see how in sacrificing the depth that was enjoyed by a few privileged individuals then, we now can offer this experience to the much wider and international community now.

One great excitement today was when our catamaran tourist boat was joined by a dolphin riding in front of one of our twin bows. He - or maybe she- had so much fun swimming at speed on its side, upside down and rolling over and we passengers were allowed on to the bow of our boat to take turns to watch. When we eventually speeded up the dolphin went under the boat and re surfaced at the stern leaping in the wake of the boat before finally giving up. For us it seemed very special but in reality I think it happens almost every day. We also saw some baby seals but at Arisaig they are so much closer and more numerous.

Our boat visited all the bays and island that Connie mentioned but I didn't get ashore. I did however decide to get off the boat and walk one section of the long Nelson walkway. I chose the section described as the most beautiful but what it didn't say was that it was also the steepest. taking so much time in photography I decided I would have to really push on if I was to get to the boat pick-up in time, only to discover that I had actually done it in far loess than the allocated time. Surely i will have a lost a few pounds there! But striding through the bush, even if I didn't have time to sit and stare and sketch and contemplate, I was accompanied all the way by the songs of the cicadas and the occasional burst of song from the bell-birds and the frequent interruptions of the cascading streams bursting their way through mossy rocks and fallen logs.

Now I have been asked to give a talk to students at Dunedin art School in 3 days time . I am in the far north of the south island and that is is in the south so now it means a couple of days hard driving. Connie travelled this part by boat so it is also a blank in her diary.

I will be back in touch soon

Nelson

Fairfield house

Me on the balcony at Fairfield

Catherine and Cindy

Between Cable Bay and Bishop rock

Cindy was a delightful host in Nelson and I really like her abstract photographic images printed directly on to brushed aluminium. Like me she studied art later in life and is also interested in finding new ways to think about and present her work.
In Nelson Connie stayed with the Atkinsons at a house called Fairfield. This house has been conserved by a group of community supporters and is now a Community house being further restored entirely by its supporters. It hosts all manner of events. Because I was with Cindy who the custodian Catherine knows, I was invited to 'take tea' in exactly the place where Connie had done on the balcony. We re-created the old photographs
We sat and read from Connie's diaries about the sweet peaches and plums that came from the orchard on the bank behind the house and Catherine told us how this is right now in the process of being restored into an Open Orchard one of a series being funded by Health and Welfare as a community asset, a place which the community can care for and then walk to and pick the fruit for their own use. I feel that would have been so much in line with the arts and crafts movement of Connie and her friends. And while Catherine has done an amazing job with organising the re-planting of the garden as another co-incidence it was Cindy's late husband Ron, a landscape gardner, who marked the notable trees in the garden as part of his project to recognise and mark beautiful large 'notable' trees.
I was also entertained by Maggie Atkinson who took me from her house which is completely enclosed by a beautiful tree rimmed garden, to see the Bishops rock and Cable bay area that Connie had painted. We sped there in 15 minute or so but we felt that in Connie's day this would have been a popular days outing by horse and trap and her hosts -the unrelated Atkinsons- would have taken her there as a special treat. It was a beautiful day for our visit and I was regalled by all of Maggie's deep knowledge of the science and history of the area. I realise that it isn't what you see that matters most it is who you see it with. Cindy and Maggie a deep thank you.
With the weather forecast looking really good I decided to set of for Kaiteriteri to make a boat trip up the Nelson coast to try and revisit the bays and island Connie recorded with such obvious love.

Wellington

I am afraid I am falling behind with my blogs. That's partly because the long distances to be travelled leave me with little time, but also it does take such a long time to do. Writing involves the awful decisions about what has to be left out, then all the images have to be uploaded from the cameras, then selected , re-sized etc, then I have to find an internet cafe with facility for using a memory stick to transfer the information then of course I am subject to the usual slow speed and sticky software of these places. It can take an hour to upload one blog. Anyway tonight I have set aside an evening to catch up so here goes.

I arrived in Wellington in torrential rain and it didn't improve. However my main purpose was to visit the Turnbull archive where I found interesting letters written by Margaret Shaen, Connie's companion, to the Richmond family in New Zealand . Margaret just features in the diaries as M with only glimpses of her personality, so it was good to get a feel of her character and interests . The staff there were most friendly and helpful unlike some national libraries I have been in.
I also visited Te Papa the National Museum of New Zealand . On a previous visit I went there after it was first opened and wasn't too impressed, however now I take that back. It is a great place. they have a different t way of presenting material and artifacts from the usual, and use a lot of interactive and media presentation ,which was all working - again unlike some places I have been to.There were two cruise ships in town , it was tipping with rain and the information bureau was sending everyone to the museum because all the tour busses were full , but the spacious museum coped brilliantly, I didn't feel crowded at all. Again the staff went out of their way to be pleasant and helpful.`this si something I am really picking up on as I travel - tourists matter here and I am feeling welcome.
I was really indebted to Maureen for setting up a meeting with Awhina Tamarapa the curator of Maori artifacts at Te Papa - although she told me that hey don't like that word since all the `Maori objects still have living importance within Maori culture. Indeed after we visited the store room of all these precious treasures I was taken to the water fountain to wash my hands and sprinkle myself with water as a purifications process. They don't just house and record the Maori culture but they keep it alive through respect. I had brought photographs of the Maori artifacts we still have which Connie collected in 1988. Her diaries make this clear. And as a woodcarver she was choosy when it came to quality. I had always assuemed these were standard tourist fare but Arwhenea thinks not so I am to send her more detailed images and sizes to see what more can be fount out. We certainly didn't d]see anything that matched them in the store. Awhina has been to Perth to ostudy the Maori items in their collection some of which have alreday been re-patriated.

My departure from Wellington on the car ferry to Picton in many ways mirrored Connies. It was grey and wet with a crisp wind. It was also totally overcrowded. While for her night time journey she requested another cabin, this journey was capacity with all seating full and young people sleeping on the floors wherever they could find a suitable space.
The entry through the sounds to Picton is specatcular whatever the weather and the torqouise colour of the water just magical. On land I headed for Nelson where I was to be hosted by artist Cindy Flook.