Art and Abart

Hobbits are flavour of the month in New Zealand and Air New Zealand's safety video is watched with interest by passengers because it is ...

Glimpses through gaps, arches and other apertures make gardens special and in the Hamilton Gardens on the Waikato River there are many su...

On the night I arrived back in Sydney a fox got into the hen-house and killed the black speckled hen Pepper. Henrietta, was wounded and hang...

I can show you the lavender growing in the garden (in Taihape, where lavender grows so well), I can show you the painting of the vase of l...

Top of the charts: Sol3 Mio I had arranged to stay at my recently-deceased Mother's house for a month, sort out her things and get ...

Taihape Sunset Aerial cables are a feature of New Zealand. Cables are buried for aesthetic reasons but I have become fond of aerial cabl...

Tip of the South Island, New Zealand They say it is the most spectacular ferry trip in the world and they might be right. The ferry l...

Queen Charlotte Sound, NZ Queen Charlotte Drive winds from Picton (where the ferry from Wellington lands) to Havelock (on the way to Ne...

Lambretta at Lambretta's The sketches and paintings I did at the Nelson Jazz Festival are now online here. The motor scooter (le...

Mike's Ward's Bear Jacket  Nelson, well known for its arts scene, is the home of the wearable arts festival which eventually go...

La Petite Manouche (Burke Goffe and Robbie Averille) Jazz Guitar duo La Petite Manouche * in action at the Berlin Bar in Nelson. As ...

' Painting Miho Wada (Image: Martin de Ruyter, Nelson Mail) The Jazz Festival has taken over Nelson with jazz in bars and cafes al...

Sunshine at Wellington ferry wharf Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton is notoriously fickle-weathered but on 30th December it was...

Watching Harry Kupfer's Ring Cycle: what could be a better way to spend the days between Christmas and New Year. I have a Wagner-loving ...

Figures at a gate : Sculpture s at the Wintergarden I had a Christmas picnic in the Virginia Lake Wintergarden, a magical spot you could...

Black sands at Wanganui beach On a cold and very windy Christmas Day a picnic on the beach in Wanganui (after delivering visitors to th...

Mooo!  Seasons greetings from the hills of Taihape! Hills behind Taihape at dusk

The small town of Hunterville in New Zealand's north island was my mother's home town. On a hill behind the township hidden among la...

Back among the roses in my Mother's garden, my days are spent sorting. Today I found a wonderful surprise right at the bottom of her c...