Category: Travel
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Fish Quay – Shetland
The Scottish Isles are well-known for fishing, having survived on and built their industry on the richness of the North Sea grounds for millennia. In the past, herring were a mainstay of the industry with women following the fish as they moved up and down the coast of Britain. These days the fishing industry is…
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Travels in the South
Over the festive season we travelled through the central part of Te Waipounamu/ the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. The journey of more than 1,500 kms, once all the side trips were taken into account, took ten days and covered some of the most spectacular scenery and sights of the island. One of the…
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Ohinetahi – gardens of enchantment
A recent trip to Christchurch/ Otautahi offered a surprising and lovely treat. Lyttelton is a port town across the hills from Otautahi Christchurch. It is at the entrance to Banks Peninsula – a definite must if you are visiting Aotearoa New Zealand – and there are many treats in store for those who venture there.…
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Suffrage in Stitches
Ashburton Art Gallery is currently hosting a Rather Wonderful exhibition about the emancipation of women in New Zealand. This show is made up of textile panels, each one dedicated to a particular woman who signed a 274 metre long petition to parliament, presented in 1893, demanding women’s suffrage in the country. The final works together…
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A January concert
To begin the year’s programme of music there is to be a short concert in the town of Hokitika, south of Greymouth, at the end of January. The concert is a duo of works, Songs of Travel by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sings Harry by Douglas Lilburn. The latter, a New Zealander, studied…
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Christmas 2023
It is time for the blog to take its annual rest for the Christmas celebrations, and this will be the last one for a few weeks. Thank you all for taking time to read, write and comment over the last year. Your support has been tremendous and I have loved discovering a different rhythm to…
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Workshops for summer 2024
Over the next few months – after the Christmas and New Year break – the Southern Hemisphere summer really gets into its swing with workshops. Over the next few months there are lots of events and activities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here are a few that are happening up and down the West Coast. Down…
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This week’s Spotify playlist
Each week a curated list of songs and sounds from Spotify is made for the blog. The pieces are chosen because they relate to something from the blog or because of current world events. This week’s list is largely about the festive season. To listen to the playlist click on the the play icon on…
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This week’s Spotify playlist
Each week a Spotify playlist is curated that references items on the blog and/ or current events. To listen to this week’s playlist you can click the play button below. If you have a paid subscription you will hear the whole playlist, uninterrupted. Those with a free subscription will have advertising every so often and…
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An interview with Caroline McQuarrie
This week saw the first interview of the Conversation and Cloth series of textile events. Caroline McQuarrie joined Andy Ross on the couch for a chat about textiles, art practices, weaving and memory. You can watch the video of the interview below. Links to works and websites mentioned in the interview: https://www.hastingscityartgallery.co.nz/home/article/433/caroline-mcquarrie-and-shaun-matthews-prospects-fearful?t=featured&s=1 https://teara.govt.nz/en/search/teara?keys=pakeha https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=pakeha https://www.annagratton.co.nz…