All Fresco – K’ Rd Street Art festival

Sunday 05 May 2013 – Auckland

I had been casually looking around for street art in Auckland and hand not really had a lot of success so I resorted to good old Google to see what I could find. I was so glad I did as there was a street art festival on and around Karangahape Rd from 3-5 May, which was now…

I arranged to meet a friend and photographer Katharina in a cafe so we could walk around together, look at the work and take some pictures. As it was a Sunday I managed to get a park on Cross St, right near one of the walls being painted. It rained – heavily, almost as soon as I got out of my car !

Mica Still – painting in the rain.

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I ran up through the rain to St Kevins Arcade for lunch with Kats until the rain had stopped and then we went for a walk. First stop was down the stairwell at the back of the arcade. There is a fair amount of painting here, some is old and some is new, and most of it is great ! I cannot tell you who the artists are though there is a Gasp! and I think a Component or two. If anyone stumbles upon this post and can help out that would be great.

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Out of the side door of the arcade we found a couple of pieces on the there, again I am not sure who they are by, but the tiger is beautiful – and very well hidden. Th K’ Rd Masive have been painting here, but I could not get a decent shot of the wall as a truck was parked there.

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While we were looking at this lovely shadow play we met some people who gave us a map of all the All Fresco paintings which was just great – well done to the organisers for doing a  map – as well as organising the festival!

We took a walk down one side of K’ Rd and back up the other, most of the work was in side streets. Starting with Haha in Pitt St. All done by stencil.

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Gasp ! had a piece on Bereford Sq.

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Next was Wert 159 still working in Samoa House Lane, you can see where the rain had been washing some of the colour down the wall 😦

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And TrustMe

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Walking to the next site we passed this alley which had quite a bit of interesting stuff to look at, including another Trustme. There was not enough space to fit it all in, but it says “We drink to forget our nights to remember”, I liked that.

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On Hereford St there was this amazing piece, the scales were a cityscape, but did not translate well under my camera.

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There was also this piece hidden behind a wall.

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There was a large wall with a cherry picker on it on the corner of Gundry St but the artist must have given up in the rain as there was no one home and not much paint on the wall. I felt sorry for the artists, it was not a good weekend to be painting on the streets.

Edinburgh St and West Terrace had Jonny 4Higher pieces

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And then back to where I started on Cross St and thankfully the rain had stopped so Mica Still could finish her work before jumping on a plane back to Wellington.

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Mica was sharing a wall with Xoe Hall and Erin Forsyth who were doing a joint piece that was just fabulous. I loved the skull moths.

Xoe Hall.

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Erin Forsyth

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And finally I found this up an alley – love it !

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It was a great day out, thanks Kats for keeping me company and a massive thanks to all those involved in setting it up, to those fabulous property owners who allowed out city to be a bit brighter and happier and to the artists who contributed their work !

Auckland Street Art – Part 1

Street art is sort of hard to find in Auckland, I looked in some of the obvious places first and visited a couple of spots where there used to be some – all to no avail. My mum told me about some at the Corbans Estate Art Centre near where she lives in Henderson and then I used Google to find some more. It would be great to see more in the inner city.

There was a street art festival on in Auckland’s K’ Rd last weekend and I managed to get along to that as well and will show those images in another blog.

It is good to see there is a scene here and even though it is small there is some great talent.

Corbans Centre, stupidly I did not record the artists names!

I really like the Maori influence in some of the work, keeping it uniquely New Zealand.

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Though I recognised this artists style – Wert 159

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Ponsonby

There is massive hole where a failed tower was supposed to be built in Ponsonby, the hoardings have been painted and there was some really good pieces. I didn’t get to see it all as it hammered down with rain while I was there.

Jonny 4higher – I think!

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Wert 159

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Component.

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I spotted this wall on the way!

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It was great to see some art and not just the usual tagging that plagues the streets of Auckland.

Two weeks (or so) In New Zealand

Monday 6 May 2013 – Auckland.

I have been in New Zealand for just over two weeks now and have five days left before I leave for Sydney and onwards to London. It has been great to spend some time with my family and friends and I have had some very special moments with them. I have not been able to see one of my sisters as time and cost have made it impractical which is a shame. Tonight I pick up my oldest son from the airport and I am really looking forward to that.

I have been pretty busy the past couple of weeks, loads of dinners and lunches – with far too many wines and lovely micro-brewery beer to go with them. Luckily I have managed to squeeze in a bit of exercise or I would be forced to buy clothes a size or two larger!

I started off with a nice, but windy, walk to Muriwai Beach with my mum, I love the west coast beaches of Auckland and Muriwai is very special to my family as dad’s ashes were scattered here on this cliff top in 2007, it is one of my beloved spots.

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The cliff here is famous for its gannet colony, but it was not the right season for them this time round, I have visited and photographed the gannets and the area on numerous occasions in the past and have some great images.

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I had a couple of mountain bike rides. One of my best friends and my riding buddy has been storing my old DMR single speed, I love this bike but it is hard work now after so little riding. Our first ride was at Woodhill, the local pine forest and bike park. I have been riding here for many years and the forest is now being logged with some of my favourite old trails long gone. It was great to see ‘no brakes’ a trail I built over a week in both 2004 and 2005 is still there and still riding well. Sadly my fitness level meant I actually had to get off and walk a small section – embarrassing to say the least. Luckily no-one was around to see.

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The following week we took a trip down to Rotorua for some superb riding in the forest there. Again this is a working pine forest and a number of trails have had the trees logged from around them, but in the case of ‘Be rude not to’ the trail was still rideable – and still wickedly fast. Not for me though, I had no confidence at all and nana’d the whole trail.

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I also managed to get a few trail runs in which was fantastic. I had a great little run up through the hills from Huia dam, short and sweet and at an hour long, enough for my first run for ages. It was great to catch up with my Vicki, a great friend and my best running buddy, to hit some trails and get fifteen months worth of nattering caught up on.

My next run was to take some photos with the Neary family out on the trails around Piha, it was a lot of fun running with Steve and his two young daughters and I have never heard so much giggling on a trail run before. Sadly the weather was not playing ball so we did not get to go out to the beach side blow hole for some photos. I love the trails around Piha especially Kite Kite Falls.

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A few days later I ran the Okura walkway on Auckland’s north east coast. The trail has changed significantly since I left and is now gravelled the whole way. It was an easier run, but much less fun without all the mud. The view from the hill down the coast was great and worth puffing and panting up the climb.

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And of course it rained !

Luckily just at the end and we didn’t get too wet.

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My final run last weekend was again at Piha – up and over Piha Valley Track and down the ridge to Garden Rd. I just love the tracks here. Vicki and I were joined my Mal, who I supported on his epic Coast Path Run in England in June last year. It was great to hit some trails with Mal again and I look forward to hearing about his next big adventure….

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Yep, you guessed it, it rained…

As well as the more active things I have been a wee bit cultural, after a great lunch with friends on Anzac day I visited the Auckland Museum and for the first time in ages had a good walk around the newly renovated Maori section which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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As it was a day ending in the letter Y it rained again on ANZAC day, just as I was out of my car in the middle of the road taking a photo of the poppy installation on Titirangi roundabout that was commemorating ANZAC day.

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I also took a trip to the Auckland Art Gallery, but the section I wanted to see was closed while preparations were made for an up coming exhibition. However, I did see one my favourite NZ paintings – Robin White’s ‘fish and chips, Maketu’. I love this picture and ended up buying a cheap print for my wall back in London.

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For a change it was sunny all day so I parked down on Auckland’s waterfront and walked back into the city.

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I was surprised to found a small spirit house in a park leading up to Symonds Street which was really nice, something new and something showing the real diversity of Auckland city.

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After the gallery visit and lunch with Donelle I walked back down to my car and drove along Tamaki Drive, it has to be one of the most stunning inner city roads in the world. I then sat and had a wine in a bar and enjoyed the sun and warmth and the view over Rangitoto Island.

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Last Sunday I visited the All Fresco Street Art Festival on K’ Rd with a really old friend Katharina. There was some great stuff happening and it was really cool to see some art in action especially in what has appeared to become a bit of soulless city. I will blog it separately, but for a time as usual – it rained…

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We did find this cool box of what looks to be rubbish outside a shop on K’Rd. Katharina had recently done a photographic exhibition based around a mannequin factory so we stopped for a few shots.

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I have also had a good session going through the stuff I have stored in NZ, surprisingly I only tossed a small amount out, but I did get to move it from a storage unit into my brother in laws spare room, which is great. I still have more stuff than I thought ! Though most of those boxes seem to say books or photos, so it is not all bad.

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The most important thing to be done was to pay a visit to my record collection that my nephew looked after until he went away to university at the start of this year. It was a special reunion and I also got to see the records I have bought on-line while I was away that were sent directly to my sisters house, and even play one on my turntable.

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And that was pretty much the first few days of my time in New Zealand.

Good times, good times 🙂

Fare thee well New Zealand

After starting to think about this trip five months ago, D-Day has finally arrived and my plan is no further ahead than it was then, in fact the options have gotten far more complicated as time has gone and i really have no idea what the future holds  beyond my flight to Kuching (Sarawak, Borneo) in 3 days time !

I was planning on a final New Zealand post from the airport before I left, however with no free wi-fi at Auckland airport I had a glass of wine and browsed Facebook on my phone instead. So I am writing this as we bump our way over Indonesia at 40,000 feet.  Jetstar business class is comfortable, the food and drink is OK but the movie selection is dire. I have watched Contagion and Cowboys and Aliens, both were average movies and filled four hours of the ten hour flight, leaving two more hours to go now.

I have had a good last week in Auckland, stayed with a number of people and have really appreciated those nights. Last night I stayed at mums, which was very nice and she took me to the airport this morning where my sister met us for coffee and final farewells. I am not good at the whole farewell thing so just having mum and Sarah was perfect. I said good bye to Aiden yesterday and to Meliesha on Christmas day when I took her to the airport for her return to England, so there was no tearfull leaving 2 of my babies behind.

Thanks to all of you who let me do the goodbyes my way, it made it all so much easier. Thanks also to those who have fed and watered me and let me stay in your house over my three homeless weeks, you all mean a lot to me.

So, it is farewell to New Zealand, to Aiden and mum, the Hunters and  to all my buddies – I will miss you and wish you well until I see you again, whether it is back home or in some foreign location.

I also meant to get mum to take a photo of me at the airport, all loaded up with my backpack, but totally forgot so no photo this post.

At least I have free wi-fi in my hotel ! Singapore post tomorrow !

A Christmas Eve jog – final Waitakeres run

On  the morning of Christmas Eve I went for my last trail run in the Waitakeres for who knows how long. Vicki’s favourite trail is Omanawainui , which I am going to say is not one of mine. Last time I ran Omana, we ran up it in a howling wind and horizontal rain, as the trail is largely exposed it was not a huge bundle of laughs ! However, Christmas Eve was virtually cloudless and still, so I suggested we run down Omana and back up Kura, giving us a run under two hours, which was all I was capable of after an average ride yesterday.

With a wee bit of trepidation we took off , jogged up the start of Omana. After the mudfest  that was Home track last week I was a bit concerned about the conditions on the trail, Omana is steep in parts and I really wanted to avoid twisting an ankle with only three days to go before I leave ! Concerns were completely unwarranted, it was like we were running in a different season to last week, the track was very dry and verging on dusty in parts.  My one complaint !! the amount of gorse and cutty grass was appalling, almost made the track unusable in parts.

Omana has some stunning views over the Manukau harbour and Whatipu Beach. I have never seen  (I say this regularly)  the harbour so still, stunning !

Looking back up the harbour towards Cornwallis

I am looking vaguely atheletic 🙂Looking over Whatipu BeachWhatipu ! I have never seen it so still, it looked like you could have snorkelled there !

After Omana we ran up Kura track back to the car. While Omana is either steeply up or steeply down, Kura completely lulls you into a false sense of security by being flat for the first couple of KM’s, running through some nice second generation native forest with  four little stream crossings. It then ends with a brutal climb to the Puriri Ridge track and a wee flat jog back to the start.

It was a great last run (stagger up the hills), great weather, stunning views and good company !

Come on Auckland Council, this gorse and cutty grass is ridiculous !

Last mountain bike ride at Woodhill (for a while)

I have been riding mountain bikes for thirteen years now and for most of that time I have ridden at Woodhill forest, just north of Auckland. When we first started riding there the tracks were managed by the Auckland MTB Club and there was a limited number of trails. Many  years ago the park changed to a commercial enterprise and has expanded immensely with many many kilometres of managed single track riding.

As the park is now commercial you have to pay a fee to ride,  this was/is still a source of contention amongst the longer term mountain bikers, but hey the tracks are good and they do sell coffee at the park !

A few years back I spent a couple of weeks building tracks (and got to ride for free for a few years) I worked with a group on a number of tracks but built the “No Brakes” track myself over a couple of work holidays. I have a soft spot for Woodhill !

Miles and I went up there on Friday afternoon, the hottest day of the summer so far, for a last ride for a while. For some reason I was dead flat and had limited power, so we didn’t have the longest or fastest ride, however it was, as always, a good ride, and we did ride out the back and do No Brakes…

Miles heard a rumour that the Spaghetti trail block of forest is going to cut down soon 😦 Spag must have opened in 2000 and was one of my favourite trails, I have ridden it hundreds of times as it is a good link out to the back trails. I hope it doesnt get the chop, but if it does at least I rode it before I left.

Hopefully I will get some riding in in SE Asia, but will definitely do some in Europe and if I settle there for a while I will buy myself a new bike, one with gears and lots of suspension !

Gallery – Pohutakawa Tree

I love pohutakawa trees – otherwise known as the NZ Christmas tree, due to them blossoming this time of year.

I have tried to photograph them for a while but the wind has just been strong enough to not allow close ups, so this is as good as it gets . I will still be hunting for the definitive pohutakawa shot before I go in 6 more sleeps time.

This one was taken at Mission Bay.

Gallery – Barbers Shop

Derelict Barber Shop on Great North Rd, just outside of Avondale.

I have driven past this place thousands of times and have always said that one day I would stop and photograph it. I have been waiting for the right light, but with “summer” what it is I am not sure I am going to get it.

When we first came back from Europe in 1988 we lived in Avondale and the shop was a going concern and I had a couple of cuts here.