Well,
I now have the itierary for my (music focussed) tour of New Zealand.
We hit Dunedin on Friday afternoon (4th) for weekend #1 of the national music festival. Play at Otago Boys high sunday morning and head north in the afternoon
Wellington Tuesday, Rotorua Wednesday and thursday. Auckland Friday to Monday and then Home.
So, in the middle of all that I plan on seeing as much decent woodwork as I can cram into the spaces between being the tour leader for 51 Kids between 10 and 19. At least I’m not the conductor, and not taking my trombone so can’t be coerced (conductor won’t let the pipes on the plane).
Any suggestions chaps? – the only stuff I know about is the carving school at Rotorua (and a large relief carving at the macdonalds there), Te papa in Wellington, and a timber cathedral in Auckland that has at least one piece from Thompson and a nice library chair.
Would like a chance to lookup Malcolm(perhaps in his mayoral hat?) and Phillip to look at those planes eh?
Dave
Replies
Will you not be stopping in Edoras, Gondor, Isengard, or The Shire?
Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.
Frank Lloyd Wright
I think you just failed the geek check...
And damned proud of it, too! ;o)
Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
Edited 7/31/2006 4:51 pm by Rennie
Not sure if you have the time with your hectic schedule but a visit to John Shaw (http://www.johnshawfurnituremaker.co.nz) in Nelson would be worth your while. John studied under Krenov and is setting up a great school to encourage fine woodworking in NZ - great bloke too, with a passion for his craft.
Cheers
SAw the outside of his place when I was there a couple of years ago. Nelson is an interesting place but we wont get there this trip - nothing is easy to get to in NZ
David
Don't have a hat Dave!
Hope you enjoy New Zealand (here in the south, we don't use Aotearoa much - it's a sort of political statement, like flying a republican flag in the US south)
I'm all packed up for the winter (and the rebuild), and I'm 200ks from Dunedin. How much time you got in the south? Oh, I just looked - is that a free Saturday?
There's not a lot I can point you to - woodwork-wise - in Dunedin. Lovely little city, plenty of other stuff to see and do, but not wood ... any other Kiwis with suggestions?
Malcolm
Malcolm,
Applogies, should have been more sensitive given my feelings about the tent embassy in my home town.
I was on the Heaphy track a few years ago - sold me on NZ holidays - and was talking to a kiwi walker about carving. There is a place in Nelson that offers 1-day bone caving schools I was curoius about. Her comment was that she would never be invited to learn to carve. Bit of a pity.
I hope the carving is still at the McDonalds at Rotorua, my youngest son will get a real kick out of it. Most of the large scale NZ carving does not particularly appeal to me - I have looked at it pretty hard and like the various surface treatments, But the traditional figures etc leaves me a bit flat except in their proper context.
Dave
> should have been more sensitive <
Don't get me wrong Dave, I wasn't making an anti comment, we are a polynesian nation, here in New Zealand, and will one day all be polynesian by bloodline as well as geography, and that'll be a good thing ... but we're not there yet, there are some touchy topics, and the idea of a seperate Maori nation can be one of them. Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand) is an idea as much as a label.
For our northern readers, NZ is a bicultural nation, of indigenous Maori and settler 'others', with the relationship enshrined in a 19th century treaty (The Treaty of Waitangi) between the 'Crown' and Maori. The relationship is complex, interlayered, and sometimes a bit tense. There has been a lot of intermarriage, and who is or is not 'Maori' is not a simple question.
Back to Dave - there is some very interesting contemporary carving and other visual (and performance) art that comes from Maori and other polynesian roots ... ask around when you get the chance. Te Papa (the so-called national museum) in Wellington has some on show.
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
Malcolm
We have lots of the same tensions as I know you are aware. If there is a plus to that tension, as long as there is a little tension, neither culture has been drowned in the global western morass.
I saw Te papa about 6 years ago and walked myself into the ground having a look.
I have seen discussion rating it as one of the great museums of the world and would put it well above our national musem or most others I have seen in various places.
We are sccheduled for a visit on the way past, which will be great.
dave
> I saw Te papa about 6 years <
May be too late, but Dunedin's museum is at least as good as Te Papa (speaking as a one-time board member) and while more 'traditional' is also a richer experience.
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
Don't have any advice about woodwork destinations for you, but I was just in NZ earlier this year. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigfrank/sets/72057594060297594/ Fantastic country.
Have a great time!
Edited 8/1/2006 12:30 pm ET by BigFrank
You went to all the right places too, mate!
Great photos - even Auckland!
Anyone thinking about visiting NZ, take a look at the slideshow at BigFrank's link ... very good photography.
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
Thanks Malcolm!Its not hard to take great pictures in New Zealand - just take off the lens cap, point the camera and click! :-)Frank
> just take off the lens cap, point the camera and click! <
If only!
You've managed to capture some of the essential essense of each place you visited.
I recognised almost every shot, but had never seen those insights before - like all real art, your collection made me think, and I'll return to look at it again. You're a skilled observer, and the show you've put on the web is much better than many professional, calendar-quality, shows I've seen.
Malcolm
http://www.macpherson.co.nz
Aw sucks! *blushes*thanks!
I also visited Te Papa but I was there only a year ago. I went on a people to people trip. For any Kiwis out there If get rich enough ,lol, I'm going to retire there because it is absolutely beautiful!! Except maybe the smell in Rotarua(spelling?). Anyway I personally loved Te Papa.
Ryan
Edited 8/3/2006 2:08 pm ET by RyanC
I agree about the smell in Rotorua. Gorgeous town, but it smells like sulphur everywhere! (The town is known for the geothermal springs there).
Yes sir! Bad thing to remember such a beautiful town by but every time I smell sulpher I think of that town.
-Ryan
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled