Friday 16 November 2012

a completely different day in Te Aroha

Today started damp, but quickly lifted...and now at 5pm it is hot.

The new shower is in use!! So I'm now 100% clean!

The walk into town dried off my hair and I went drawing..and it has been FAR too long...I need a lot more practice before I attempt drawing architecture.

On the other hand drawing details has turned out a little more successful, and I'm carrying on with that.  To paraphrase the saying,  Don't try and run before you re-learn to walk!!




You can see why I can't wait to hone my drawing skills!!

Most shops have a permanent awning to shelter people from rain or sun.
Then there is Espresso Banco, the best cafe in town!!   It is an old bank, beautifully restored and revived as a coffee house and retro clothes and bits shop
It is welcoming, in or out, with good coffee and homemade food.

I'm learning that a "short black" is the NZ espresso, and a "long black" is the NZ americano coffee.
A walk home to a late lunch, past some beautiful houses.....and this one is still for sale....but too much in the middle of all the others for us!!

The Pirate didn't go to the zoo in Sydney today, as it is pouring down with rain....just like it was here yesterday!!

The forecast is for rain tomorrow, so who knows what we will get up to...but it could involve a museum....

11 comments:

red dirt girl said...

xxx!

Andrea Ingram said...

Looks like you are having fun!

kjsutcliffe said...

I loved the architecture when we toured NZ, so quirky. I can fully understand the need to draw.

soubriquet said...

The little house, if set in a quarter-acre and with a decent sized shed-garage-barn, woulsd suit me and RDG just fine!
It's interesting to note just how very similar the buildings are to some of the old Texas towns she and I have visited.
And how similar to Australian towns too, yet at the same time, so unlike any british ones I can think of.

Do go on showing us NZ views, they're really interesting. Good to hear you're enjoying it.

soubriquet said...

Hey, I've just been driving around Te Aroha, courtesy of Google Street-View. I like the little brick-red house by the war-memorial, on Kenrick st/Church st corner.
Like the houses, but the in-town ones seem to be on tiny plots, I'd want a garden, and a veggie patch, maybe some chooks... And a place to make pots, and a place to mess with old cars.

gz said...

Soub, if you have a closer look you'll see that there are older houses set back off the road....they started with bigger plots and have subdivided and built front and rear and sometimes at the side too.
Most still have a shed or garage that gets turned into a Sleepout.

I reckon it could suit you here- the Kiwi attitude to life is good. However English Poms don't always do well as they whinge and don't want to do things the Kiwi way. It is a bit too laid back, lend a hand and all muck in for them! Anyone gives you the time of day here, even in the city.

Susan Heather said...

When I arrived in Auckland in 1965 the main thing that I noticed was the awnings on all (or most of) the shops. I think it is a great idea.

We loved Te Aroha when we visited. Unfortunately Banco was closed.

yeractual said...

Looks lovely. As I'd expect of NZ, really. That cute little house looks tempting, I'd say....

Zhoen said...

Looks like the older parts of western US towns.

Oh, and as for coffee...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2225229/Debenhams-bans-confusing-drinks-menus-introduce-frothy-milky-coffee.html

soubriquet said...

I'm very laid back, lend a hand, and unwhingeing sort of bloke. I've always thought NZ would be a good place to be. But my lady's in Texas, so I'll be laid back, lending a hand and not whingeing in Tx.

The first blogger I got to know, was in NZ, about 200 or so miles south-west of Te Aroha.

Simon Lindsay, aka 'Dodderyoldfart', was, well, I called him the philosopher of the backhoe. He was a roadworker in the Taranaki/Awakino vicinity. At the end of may, 2007, his blog didn't get a new post. Comments were unanswered. I emailed him, no reply.
So I emailed the landlord of his local pub, as I just had a bad feeling.
And I learned that Doddery was no more.
A light had winked out on the far side of the world. I wrote this.
http://gritinthegears.blogspot.co.uk/2007/05/dodderyoldfart-goodbye-friend.html
His blog's still up, but the comments from around the world have gone.
http://restarea300.blogspot.co.uk/

He was full of words of wisdom, like
"I’m a big softy really.

-I lashed out on a wheelbarrow, last winter after watching the girls struggling with the firewood.
I even oil the axle now and then.
An extra piece of fish, and TWO tomato sauce sachets with the wedding anniversary fish and chips.
I’ve taped up the split on the handle of the axe.
I take a safe working environment seriously.
But for some obscure reason, my domestic arrangements are a little dangerous at the moment."

"It is not a good idea to read the instruction sheet to your new chainsaw sharpening gadget in the bath."

"Chickens can climb trees and like plums."

"Putting too high a wattage halogen bulb in a bedside lamp creates an art object that smells."


gz said...

A blogger to be truly missed, Soub