Paintvine

Paintvine is an activity company that provides people with an outlet for their creativity. And wine. Wine is an important part of it. They organise events where you drink wine , then paint a picture. Our evening was organised through the Friends of Te Papa, and took place inside the museum, after hours.

We started off with a glass of wine and some nibbles, and then learned about the picture that we were going to paint, from curator Rebecca Rice. This is one of many colour paintings done by John Gerrard Keulemans for Buller’s Birds of New Zealand – the first definitive book of New Zealand’s birds, published in the early 1870s. The first edition of the original books were produced to order – you had to pay in advance, as they were all hand-painted over lithograph prints. The bird selected for us is the kākāpō, New Zealand’s rare, flightless parrot.

Before beginning, Debbie Anderson (the artist in charge) gave us some helpful tips about how to draw, what colours to use, how to mix colours (we were using watercolours, but other events use different media), and generally make sure we knew what we were doing. No experience is necessary, and all the materials are provided for you. Importantly, they also clear up after you! We donned aprons and set about recreating Keulemans’ masterpiece.

 First, outline of the bird. We used a grid system to make sure we were getting the proportions right. 

Second, complete the details: 

Finally, apply paint.

 

This is my effort...

...and Nicola's interpretation

I know, I know. Indistinguishable from the original!

We took the paintings home and are now considering framing options.

 

 

Quiz World Cup

For the past few weeks, I’ve been competing in the Quiz World Cup run by Quizzing.tv. This is a competition run from the UK but involving, initially, 80 teams from 24 countries. Our team, Kiwiz, is run by our quizmaster at The Old Bailey, where we go quizzing weekly. This year, he invited me to join his team. It’s the only team from New Zealand, so I am, in a totally informal way, representing the country.

The quiz is run via Zoom, on the weekend, at a time agreed between the teams. The time differences make it a bit of a challenge for little ol’ New Zillund, especially when we compete against USA teams. The format includes individual rounds as well as team rounds. We’re sent the round subjects 20 minutes in advance, but they’re usually pretty vague (“Science” or “Lakes”, for example) so it’s not possible to try and Google answers before you begin…memorise all of Science in 20 minutes! Obviously, Googling or getting any other assistance during the quiz is a no-no – it was widely suspected that one competitor was using his phone, so we now have a rule that hands must be visible at all times!

The first round was a group stage – 16 groups of five teams each. The top two teams in each then graduated to the next group stage, so last 32. These were 8 groups with four teams. We came second in our first round group, so qualified for the next stage (losers go into a series of “rosette” competitions so final rankings can be determined). Some of these teams contain the best quizzers from their countries: in round 2 we found ourselves up against Scotland B, which includes Anne Hegerty (The Governess from The Chase). We lost by one point against them so picked up a bonus point there. We won the rest of our matches, including against Quiz Van Der Rohe, a German team which includes one of the German Chasers known as The Quiz Volcano from their version of The Chase,  Gefragt – Gejagt. So one-all on Chasers faced! Not bad, eh?

We’re now in the final 16, which is quite an achievement in itself. We’ll be playing another American team, The Zoomtown Rats, who apparently include America’s best quizzer (he’s won over $1m on Jeopardy!, and also is ranked #2 in the world), this weekend. Wish us luck!

Rice Salad

 OK, so I had a go at the rice salad, and instead of just chucking things in to see if that's about right, I actually measured out the ingredients first. This tasted OK, so follow it, but feel free to add more or less ingredients as you see fit. The 120g measurement for mung bean sprouts is because I bought a 120g packet. I actually made half these quantities but have doubled up for convenience. 

Feeds 4 (ish)

300g rice (I used basmati, but try brown if you prefer)
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp cider vinegar
120g mung bean sprouts
1 green pepper, diced
150g raisins
150g peanuts

1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper

Cook the rice with the curry powder and vinegar. Drain and cool the rice, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix together. 

For the hippies amongst my readership (are there any?), this is vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free.

Enjoy!

 

Nick’s Head Station

Our final excursion was to Nick’s Head Station, a mixed sheep and horticulture farm formed from the amalgamation of three properties, one of which incorporates Young Nick’s Head, named for the seaman who first sighted land from HMS Endeavour. The Māori name is Te Kuri o Pāoa (the dog of Pāoa), which it is said to resemble. It was the site of the landing place of two waka – one commanded by Pāoa – which carried Māori settlers to Poverty Bay around 1350CE.

We started off in the office, where farm manager Kim Dodgshun told us about the history of the station, the background to the 2002 purchase, and the subsequent conservation, reforestation and predator control. The farm employs 22 staff (compared to just three at the neighbouring farm) to ensure that not only is the farm well-managed, but all aspects of conservation and care are undertaken.

The owner has cleared the area of predators, added a predator-proof fence, and introduced endemic species such as tuatara and wētā. Using solar-powered speakers to imitate bird calls, tākapu, tītī and other sea birds have been tempted to recolonise the cliffs and establish new colonies there.

We ate lunch alfresco in the substantial wetland, an area created by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. Afterwards we walked to the beach, seeing many New Zealand species on the way: pūtangitangi, poaka, weweia, and kakīānau in the wetland, and tūturiwhatu on the beach. These are only possible because of the protection given to this habitat. My photography in this area was not an unbridled success, as I didn’t have my 500mm lens with me, but we were able to identify many species.

Afterwards we boarded the bus which took us back to the hotel. We picked up our car and drove down to Napier on a Sunday afternoon road thankfully clear of logging trucks, to arrive in time for dinner.

On The Marae

Our first trip out this morning was to Te Ohako marae. We arrived and formed up into two groups – women enter the marae first, followed by the men. We took our seats in the designated areas and were welcomed onto the marae with formal speeches, and then singing, and finally a hongi. Then we listened to Stan Pardoe, a prominent figure and historian in the Turanganui-a-Kiwa community, as he told us about the history of the area and what it was like growing up in the mid-century for Māori in and around Tairāwhiti. We also heard from some of the others, including a bunch of young people who had recently completed a course being run by the marae to train them for farm work, and were going on to work on nearby agriculture in various roles. Afterwards we finished the visit with the obligatory morning tea.

The next part of the morning was a visit to the Toko Toru Tapu church in Manutuke. This is one of the oldest churches in New Zealand, originally established by William Williams (original names weren’t a big thing in the 19^th century) and is in fact the fourth church to be built near this site – the others having been lost to storm, fire and disrepair. The fourth time, in 1913, they decided to build in something other than wood – they used bricks and mortar instead. The latest church was again in disrepair when the local community decided something must be done, and it has since been repaired, restored, and earthquake-strengthened (using fibreglass rods from Pultron, natch, for an invisible finish). The church is unusual as it contains Māori carvings throughout. Williams originally objected to using Māori symbolism in the church because, well, they can sometimes be a bit rude for churchy folk, so the carver, Rahuruhi Rukupō, changed the style but subtly worked in cryptic meanings to the carvings which went way over the head of the local missionaries. All this was explained by the architect who had overseen the restoration, James Blackburne, who had also been on the marae with us.

At midday we boarded the bus again for a visit to Eastwoodhill Arboretum, a project started in the 1950s by William Douglas Cook. In the 1950s he was mightily concerned about global nuclear war, and envisioned Eastwoodhill as a place to preserve Northern hemisphere species which could be destroyed by a nuclear holocaust. Since then the focus of the arboretum has changed, and moved away from the rather haphazard plantings to establish a 150 year plan to ensure the survival of both native and exotic species.

We had lunch at the café, and were very much taken with the rice salad, so I asked for the recipe. I haven’t worked out quantities yet, but it contains:

Brown rice
Curry powder
Cider vinegar
Brown sugar
Poppy seeds
Peanuts
Currants
Bean shoots
Green pepper

So I’m going to work on that and see if I can replicate it.

After lunch we took a guided tour with Dan Taylor, one of the curators, who explained about the vision of the arboretum and some of the species that were in it. We took in the existing Tree Cathedral as well as viewing the site of the new one, planted five years ago, which has the same dimensions as Westminster cathedral.

The existing tree cathedral...

...and the new one

But we’re not done yet! The final visit of the day was to the house of Dame Bronwen and Peter Holdsworth, founders of Pultron amongst other things, for afternoon tea (pink bubbles) and cake, in their garden.

Whew! Quite a busy day! We got back to the hotel with little time for a turn-around to get back out for dinner at one of Gisborne’s eateries…but none of us were particularly hungry, so settled for a mix of starters and one main course (me!) – snapper, which was overcooked and disappointing. Ah well, can’t win them all. And so to bed.

More Gisborne

The next day we took ourselves off to Toihoukura, School of Māori Art and Design, which is just up the road. We arrived by 10:00 and had a look at the art in the gallery – the second year students’ end-of-year exhibition – before taking a seat and having a talk given by the principal lecturer, Derek Lardelli. He explained the principles of the school, why it is important, and how It is attracting people from all around New Zealand to study and practice modern Māori art. Some of it is using traditional methods and materials, but there is also a lot pieces using more modern techniques and ideas, including digital technology. Some of the students were also present so were able to talk to us about their particular artworks and inspiration. We bought a piece that was a combination of traditional and modern.

Afterwards, we had lunch in a café in Gisborne before walking to our next point of interest, the Tairāwhiti Museum. There we explored the exhibitions and were led on a guided tour, which included the next-door ‘C’Company Memorial House. This is a memorial to the members of ‘C’ Company of the ANZAC, the Māori Battalion, in two world wars, as well as continued service in Malaya, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. This section of the tour was delivered by a former officer who was able to bring to life the stories of the Māori in Gallipoli and also in WW2, particularly the exploits of Haane Manahi. We then switched guides and went with one of the curators of the museum, who gave us some insights into the current collection and efforts to repatriate taonga Māori currently held by overseas museums, particularly in the UK and Germany; she also took us underground to the archives to show us some artworks and other objects not currently on display.

Our next port of call was a visit to a Jack Richards’ house, gallery and garden in Okitu. The gardens are extensive and we explored them for about an hour before returning to the house and admiring the artwork on display. We’d already seen some of it at Tairāwhiti Museum where it is on loan at the moment.

Our return journey included a visit to the lookout up the top of Titirangi Hill, where Captain Cook first came ashore in New Zealand. We took pictures of Young Nick’s Head, the headland opposite named after the Endeavour’s surgeon’s loblolly boy, Nick Young…who was young (12) at the time. He was in the crow’s nest and first to sight land which turned out to be New Zealand.

In the evening we went for dinner at the Marina Restaurant, on the banks of the Waimatā river. After starting with shared platters of Gisborne produce (meats, avocados, asparagus etc.) there were two options for main - beef fillet or snapper, not dissimilar to last night’s. As we were a large group of 40+, they’d come up with a novel arrangement to serve it: alternating meat and fish, and you had to negotiate with your partner or neighbour about who got what! The same applied to the dessert – a kiwifruit & coconut concoction or chocolate panna cotta. A bit odd. Nevertheless, it was all quite well-cooked and tasty.

Gisborne

The Friends of Te Papa is an organisation devoted to providing artworks and other support to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (usually shortened to Te Papa). Among their many activities are organised trips to the provinces to talk to their regional museums and cultural groups, as it is a museum for all of New Zealand, not just Wellington. They organised a trip to Gisborne, which we signed up for.

Gisborne is quite a way from Wellington, and many of the group were flying there. We decided, however, to drive, and stayed the first night in Napier.  After a dinner at Napier’s premier Indian restaurant, Indigo, we headed up to Gisborne the following day. We’d booked the night at the Emerald Hotel, in order to be there ready and early for the first item on the agenda at 10:00 on Thursday.

This was a visit to Pultron, a manufacturer of FGRP (that’s fibre glass reinforced plastic to you), an unlikely candidate for us, but an important employer in the area and also with an international presence. They make the rods that are the key component of all-enclosed trampolines, amongst other things. We learned more than we could ever possibly want to about the process and uses of FGRP. No pictures, as we had to sign non-disclosure and secrecy agreements about it to ensure we weren’t spying for their competitors.

In the evening we went to dinner at the Bushmere Arms, a country garden, restaurant and function venue, run by Robin Pierson who singlehandedly maintains the gardens and chefs the kitchen. We toured the gardens which included a lot of produce, which would end up on our plates. Hors d’oeuvres were provided, then dinner was a choice of beef fillet or hāpuku (I had the beef, Nicola had the fish), both very good.

After dinner we were bussed back to our hotel. Tomorrow morning: Art and museums.