SCULPTUREUM 2

Back to the Tour to the Sculptureum here are some more photos from the first part of the tour through the gardens.  The yellow "flower" below is made from the buckets that have two handles.  Your should be able to see them if you magnify the photos.

As you can see there is a wide range of exhibits.

Saturday Morning Market

Ever since I moved down to Whangarei I have been attending the Saturday morning Growers Market. I bought fruit, vegetables and meat.  It is only recently that we have started going in earlier to purchase  fish or seafood.  Even going in early the filleted fish is often sold out.  Last week there was only school shark available in the filleted fish but we were able to buy a couple of Sole.  We also buy pottles of shelled mussels and either Doug makes fritters or I make a chowder.

Yesterday morning we got to the market at about 6.40 a.m.  although it cleared it had been raining heavily during the night and early morning and we thought the number of people attending might be down.  All that was left of the filleted fish was 1 1/2 packs of Tarakihi one of my favourite fish.  We usually buy two packs and that gives us three meals for the two of us.  This week I managed to freeze enough for two meals for the two of us which left one meal with slightly less fish than usual.  We had also bought a pottle of mussels and one of oysters.

We had some oysters for lunch but decided to keep some to have with the fish for our evening meal.  I made a mash of agria potatoes, kumara (sweet potatoe) and carrots., creamed leek and sweetcorn and coated the fish and oysters in fine cornmeal before dipping in egg and frying in coconut oil.  The remainder of the egg was fried as well.  Everything came from the market (the sweetcorn was bought over the summer and then blanched, taken off the cobs and frozen in small packs for use over winter).

I think the meal looks a bit bland as everything is quite pale but Doug thought it so delicious that he insisted I take a photo.

From the bottom going clockwise - oysters, egg, tarakihi corn and leeks and the potatoe, kumara and carrot mash.

SCULPTUREUM

Sculptureum is a word made up of sculpture and museum and is a collection of works put together in Matakana.  We went down on a bus trip and had a wonderful time.The owner has been a collector for a lifetime and finally bought a vineyard and has set this up on part of it.  First of all one wanders through an outdoor area.  Here is a sample.

RANGITOTO

Way back on the 22nd April we went on a day trip down to Auckland.  We drove down to Devonport and caught the ferry across to Rangitoto. Neither of us had been to Rangitoto before

Rangitoto Island sits majestically just off the Auckland coast, a short 25 minute cruise from downtown Auckland. Visible from Mission Bay to Cheltenham Beach, this 600 year old volcano boasts a unique landscape of rugged lava crops, lush native bush and sandy coves. Walk to the top for spectacular 360 degree views of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf islands, or hop on board our Volcanic Explorer road train tour for a guided island experience.

We went on the 4wd road train and then walked 300 steps to the summit.  It was a most enjoyable day.

It ended up being a long day as on the return ferry trip two ladies "forgot" to disembark at Devonport and went on to Auckland City.  We had to wait for them before we set off back home.

The lava

The road train

There are some baches (holiday homes) still on the island.

Views from the summit

the lava

Views across to the city

MITIMITI

Three weeks after our wedding we went up to Mitimiti where we had an enjoyable holiday last year.  Sophie, the Labrador, was able to come as well.  We had a week this time.  There is no cell phone coverage although we did have wi-fi so were able to read our local paper.  It is about two hours to the nearest shops so we had to take all the food we would need for the week.  Once again, we were lucky with the weather - there was nothing to do but walk, read and relax.  As they say, just what the Doctot ordered.  

Doug collected some mussels on the rocks.  There are horses and cattle roaming freely on the beach.  Doug took his bow and had some target practice up against the sand dunes.

                                                           Quite contented in the rocks!!

                                         but came out when we approached

                                        A sculpture by Chris Booth on Ralph Hotere's grave