The Paint Express

So I have decided to do this exhibition and haven't the foggiest where to start. I guess getting the paintings painted may be a good start. But there are some obstacles. I have limited funds for buying supplies. I will have to buy many a canvas and many a thing of paint, so this may be difficult.

With each canvas costing in excess of $20, and although that doesn't sound so bad, it is going to take me ages to get all the artworks I need. And then there is the question of space to hang and space to store. At the moment, to save money, we are staying in a 2 bedroom unit where the second room is the storage space and although it looks messy, it is cheaper than renting a bigger place.

I am progressing to going out to get a sketch book to draw out some of the ideas in my mind's eye. I will do that this weekend. I have lots of things floating around in my head and I think that I should ground them to the earth that I call paper. "That's it! Your grounded, stay put on that paper and stay still while I look for the money for the canvases you'll be painted on! " Maybe you all think I am an insane loon who talks to the mental images in my head and before I know it I will have all these fans who will be wanting to see what nut ball ideas I pan out on canvas!

Now another thing I should do is start to make a database. If I can get all the details of all the people I have ever met, then I can send out an invitation to my exhibition once I know when it will be.

I also need to think about finding a space to hang my works which won't cost me an arm and a leg but maybe just a toe...when I sell my paintings, the money will go to a good cause...my own art studio garden flat!

It is freezing cold and I am starting to gather icicles on my fingers...and now is the best time to paint because I will be studying for a large portion of the year. Maybe a trip to Australia will be the sunny inspiration I need...good thing I am going...

So I have decided to do this exhibition and haven't the foggiest where to start. I guess getting the paintings painted may be a good start. But there are some obstacles. I have limited funds for buying supplies. I will have to buy many a canvas and many a thing of paint, so this may be difficult.

With each canvas costing in excess of $20, and although that doesn't sound so bad, it is going to take me ages to get all the artworks I need. And then there is the question of space to hang and space to store. At the moment, to save money, we are staying in a 2 bedroom unit where the second room is the storage space and although it looks messy, it is cheaper than renting a bigger place.

I am progressing to going out to get a sketch book to draw out some of the ideas in my mind's eye. I will do that this weekend. I have lots of things floating around in my head and I think that I should ground them to the earth that I call paper. "That's it! Your grounded, stay put on that paper and stay still while I look for the money for the canvases you'll be painted on! " Maybe you all think I am an insane loon who talks to the mental images in my head and before I know it I will have all these fans who will be wanting to see what nut ball ideas I pan out on canvas!

Now another thing I should do is start to make a database. If I can get all the details of all the people I have ever met, then I can send out an invitation to my exhibition once I know when it will be.

I also need to think about finding a space to hang my works which won't cost me an arm and a leg but maybe just a toe...when I sell my paintings, the money will go to a good cause...my own art studio garden flat!

It is freezing cold and I am starting to gather icicles on my fingers...and now is the best time to paint because I will be studying for a large portion of the year. Maybe a trip to Australia will be the sunny inspiration I need...good thing I am going...

Where to begin?

I am studying early childhood education, and the papers are wicked, I mean evil, not awesome...I am thinking about an art exhibition, but not sure where to start. Well, I read online that the general place to start is to have a topic or a bunch of paintings hoarded somewhere in a cellar to be able to put on a show. I have got little space to store them and am not sure where to go from here. I hope to sell my art and have it hanging in houses on peoples walls and eventually get to the point where people want my work. I have run out of space on my walls. No more walls to hang paintings on but I love to paint and it really makes me human so I have to do more. And I have to get on with it and go with it and work out the bits and bobs and just make it happen.

So I have started to play with some ideas. Obviously, I wouldn't want to give it away but all I can say is that I have weirdly been attracted to illustrated books since I was little. Saying this there cannot be a literal translation and suddenly you all know what I am going to do and go out and do it, but you get the idea.

There are lots of logistics to consider like finances, buying supplies, canvases and paint, finding and renting the showing space and marketing and advertising to get the people who have the money to pitch up to the exhibit and to immediately snap up a bunch for millions of dollars. Right, back to reality, Niki, you have to paint, so get off your ass and do some planning and some working while chomping down some ice-cream.

Remember to make notes on how much time is spent on each painting, the value of the art work and the cost of the supplies per canvas.

Mmm...maybe I am going to be busy, better get the bucket of ice-cream for a nice cold, wintery, creamy session of brain storming.

It is so incredibly great to wake up on a Monday morning and not have to go to work. You can sleep late, do a bit of shopping and go to the beach. I must admit that this weekend has been busy, what with being the Maid of Honour at a wedding and having a South African braai on Sunday and now a day at the beach.

But first a paragraph about the weather. We hear that in South Africa it has been raining none stop for weeks and hasn't stopped to give anything time to dry. Well in good ol NZ, we have had a bout of perfect weather for at least 2 weeks. This weekend, the skies are clear and blue and the temperature has been at a warm 24 degrees. We had no rain on Anne's wedding day and we a truly happy about that.

Anne's wedding went off without any hitch, aside from the fact that some of the flowers were missing from time of collection and that the bride was in the wrong car on the way to the wedding, thus making her 30 min late because we wanted to wait for the nice car for the nice pictures. Everyone was waiting patiently and we eventually got in there, Anabel looke beautiful and Kevin, much more handsome than his usual Domino's Pizza uniform, and then we got Anne and Kevin married.

After the ceremony and 2 quick snapshots, I really would have liked to stick around and chat with everyone but I had to run off with Amy and Leon to set up the venue, which relied on the flowers we were previously missing. We managed to sort that out really quickly. I then could not for the life of me remember where I had put the name places for everyone! That was very stressful, until I realised that I left them in the bag with all the table decorations so the I deliberately wouldn't forget them, and then I go and forget where I put them. Poor old Sarah was standing ready with the camera to get a couple of shots, and then we were gone in the blink of an eye.

Got the the venue but then the bride and groom were missing. We tried to get everyone settled in and eventually they arrived. Kevin only to get a cigarette and jet outside to relieve his aweful addiction to death sticks. Later I set him straight about them, telling him that if they were going to have a long happy marriage, the death sticks have to go. It was a really fun wedding with a Bollywood twist at the end. All the Indian boys got up and did a Bollywood Spectacle. It was superbly fun and we all left in high spirits.

Then on Sunday, we did a traditional South African Braai, with our mates, Hannes and Eylene. We spoke Afrikaans all night long, discussed South Africa's problems and whether people should stay. This is the usual immigrant's commentary. I think often it is an internal dialogue, that is on-going as a justification for moving away from what you know. It seems that there is a constant need to be reminded on why you have left and you just need to take inventory on what there is here, that there isn't there. Leon is more concerned about these topics and I just generally feel quite at home here, and I know that I am happy here. I do miss my friends and family but that is all I miss. I love the outdoors here, and the safety, and oh, look, I am rationalizing once again!  I just wish that Gerard would come so we can have adventures like old times with people that don't drive me crazy, believe it, Gerard, does not drive me crazy, although he has been known to drive other's crazy! He is crazy! We took Hannes and Eylene home and watched a spectacular fireworks display from the harbour. It was amazing!

Moving on, today we are just chilling, Leon is still in bed, and since I was talking about marmite and lettuce sandwiches the other day with Sarah, who was making a marmite (kiwi marmite) and walnut sandwich in the kitchen, it just reminded me of one of my favourite food discoveries, Marmite (South African) and Lettuce sandwich. My mom used to make it for me for school lunch and so for breakfast I had an old favourite and a cuppa tea. I left a txt for our newly weds, one of which is also still sleeping due to a late poker night at their mates place (3am). I get a very sleepy Anne calling me about it and we will be seeing them in a couple of hours at a beach in Takapuna, called Cheltingham Beach. We heard from the boat ride on our bosses beach about how nice this beach is. So we'll be smothering ourselves in sunscreen and hats and cover up all our exposed bits from the harsh kiwi sun, peeking through that massive hole in the ozone over us, and go out for a good time with some really great company!

I hope all of you have a public holiday coming up soon, because it really is a joy!

Hi Guys

First things first, we wish you a happy new year! We have now been in Auckland for about 10 months and things are getting easier. We have had our first Christmas in NZ, and we had my sister and Rob over for Lunch. We had a nice roast meal with a traditional NZ pav (pavlova) for dessert! 

Both Leon and I are employed and we are making money to live, so that is good. I work in the city and Leon works in the next suburb from where we live. We have been walking to the train station together, until recently and then I managed to find a bike I liked on Auction for a grand total of $21.  I have been biking around Ellerslie (where we live) and it proves to be a bit faster than walking which means we can wake up later and sleep in a bit before work. 

We have been busy, almost every week, so if we have been scarce, it's because we alway have something to do, whether its cleaning, drinking, climbing, shopping, adventuring, scubadiving or snorkelling at Goat Island. 

During the Christmas holidays we spent a lot of time at home and we would go on day trips outside Auckland. We went Climbing for 3 days with our friends, Johnmen and Birdy and by the 3rd day, my body said no. We went snorkelling at Goat Island Marine Reserve and we swam to the island, and then snorkelled around it, collecting sea-urchins from the bottom, opening them up and watching schools of snapper attacking the meat. There were so many fish, it was really great. Leon, Shane and Hannes all saw a stingray, but I was already on my way back to shore. We stopped in Puhoi for Scones in NZ's oldest tea house and came back exhausted. 

We have been back at work for a week now, things are not too bad, but waking up in the morning has been very difficult and has needed some serious pushing and prodding and some strong coffee to get us up. Since we have been back at work for a week, we ended the week off with a beer at The Occidental Bar with the rest of the crew from New Kiwis ( a group of people who are new to Auckland and looking for stuff to do and people to meet). After a couple of beers, we were off to Hannes' place for dinner and we ended up only getting the train at midnight.  After the train, we went to Leon's office, picked up our bikes and biked the rest of the way and arrived home at 1 am. Next morning bright and early, we got up to make sandwiches and catch the bus to the ferry terminal to go to Rangitoto (Auckland's biggest Volcano)  for the day. We climbed and struggle to get to the summit and eventually arrived there and the view was worth it. You could see the whole of Auckland and the North Shore from the top. We then weny to the Lava caves and crawled through there, and then came down and took a swim in the sea before the ferry arrived to pick us up.

My friend, Collette came over for dinner and finally saw our new place, which we moved into in October. We no longer live in a Shoebox! Our new place has 2 bedrooms, a big lounge, bathroom with a shower and an open plan kitchem. It also has a bit of a garden which we really enjoy on the weekends. We usually lie in the shade on a blanket and read books which is just what the weekend asks for. 

This year is a full year, it is our 2 year anniversary (can you believe it) so we are going to South Island for 4 days to celebrate. We'll be seeing Christchurch, Hanmer Spings ( Hot spas and treatements) and going to Hokitika for a bit of greenstone (NZ jade) carving. It is going to be special. We managed to get really cheap plane tickets there and back and so we are really going to have a fun time.

Then, my sister and Robert are finally going to get married ( after 10 years of dating) in March, so my parents will be over here and we are off to the Bay of Islands for a couple of days over Easter. That will be an adventure since we haven't been up that way before. Apparently the scuba diving is excellent up there as there are sub-tropical fish there. 

After that we'll be coming round the mountain to SA.

Now for the other information you have all been waiting for. We will be in Sunny Sa from the 28 May - 16 June, to mostly visit family (Leon's oupa is turning 100) and to see all of our friends. It is a very tight schedule and so we are not able to spend very much time with you all but we are going to have a single day where we will meet up with everyone to see you all again. I really can't wait to see everyone, especially the littlies that have probably grown quite a bit since we left. 

We look forward to seeing everyone. We will be going scuba diving in Sodwana on one of the weekends, so if you are keen to scuba with us then book accomodation once we give you the dates. I will also give you information closer to the time on when and where we'll meet up with everyone.

If ever you are wondering what we are upto or how we are doing, please feel free to drop us an email and give us an update. There are plenty of people in our lives that mean the world to us (all of you) but we cannot possibly write to you all and keep you all updated on a weekly basis. So please send us an email. 

Ok, gotta go now, we love you all to pieces and hope that you'll be writing to us more often, have a fab new year and let us know what you are keeping yourselves busy with and any exciting news that may come your way. And send pictures! 

Love
Niki and Leon

The Vodafone Warriors vs The Paramata Eels - Friday Night

Well it all started when I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to go watch a movie. But instead of a movie we ended up watching a rather sad match between the Warriors and the Paramata Eels. We got grassy seats, beer and good company and settled in to watch the game. You could hear the beating of the drums of a clan of warriors in preparation to crush the opposing team with pure braun. Clearly, the support base for the Eels was lacking and the entire stand was black. As they say in the NZ Mastercard advert that all kiwi's blood is black, that relates more to the All Blacks, and not the Warriors, but their official colours are black too. There were 39 000 people packed into the stands and it was looking good for most of the match. Fortunately, we has some comic relief in the form of Claire, Kim's friend, and the staunch Maori supporter behind us that kept yelling "Come on Warriors, bring 'em down." The Warriors gave the Eels a good run for their money and for a good long time we believed that they were on a roll. We were, so to speak, having Eel on the menu. Except that comment about the roll. After being in the lead for a good 40 mins, the Warriors started to get slower, and make more mistakes and well..the eels had roast kiwi-bird on a roll with a delicious win of 12 / 10.

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The All Black Debut Match - Rugby World Cup - Saturday Night - pretty late.

The following night, we all convened at the Rika's house, to watch the first All Black game against Italy. We were all reved up and ready to go, with the anticipation of an exciting game ahead of us. Italy, having a good idea of the All Black power and strength should have been awake. Clearly they had only heard about the Roman Greats. Julius Caesar, Achilles and all the other Roman Soldiers and even possibly gladiators. No they seemed to have been living entirely in the great empire of Rome and to an extent, became very much like Americans who generally don't leave their state and have no idea about other places. Alright, so now we have established that although the Romans are known for their greatness, they didn't quite know where New Zealand was, and what kind of team they were facing.

Right, so we had our beer, some chips and dip, good company, a big screen tv (with struggling reception) and the game began. The All Black traditionally (Haka) asked for assistance from their predecessors and ancestors and watched as the very sleepy, pizza eaters appeared in front of them. The Italian Team brought all their equipment, pillows, duvets and settle in on the green grass into a dreamy sleep while the All Black took this to their best advantage and scored about 3 tris in a matter of 6 minutes. Somehow,

when the sleeping ITs were thinking about defence, there alway happened to be a hole! All Blacks pummelled the crap out of the Italians and only later after the second half started did Italy, try to stop the All Blacks. It was a

s if they had finally woken from their state of relaxation and thought about winning for the first time. By this time,

 the All Blacks were so far ahead it didn't really matter how many tris they scored because there was just not enought time. The game was pretty boring and I was just wondering who let those blerrie smurfs onto the field. It looked more like a light practice for the All Black team. At least my bosses will be in a good mood on Monday.

We went snorkelling this weekend. Very freezing. Have you ever had an ice-cream headache without the ice-cream? Well the minute I put my face in the water my forehead went numb. You could have given me brain surgery and I wouldn't feel it. Fortunately we had wetsuits, thank goodness! Then we stopped off at this historical town and had devonshire scone tea! Yum, the scone was the size of my head.

Then we went to the SA shop, bought biltong, koeksisters and boerewors and then I realised that I left my bag in Puhoi! Hence another drive back there. When the guy said come back again soon, we never thought it would be that soon. Anyways the place is 100 years old next week. Today is shit weather and so I stayed in bed on my nice matress and then I got brekkie in bed and now I am going to relax and read book, since I can't afford anything else today!

Ok so, we have been in Auckland for four months and it is finally starting to feel homey. We have moved into a little flat on the main street and we have been living out of boxes for the past 2 months. Over the week I have been making frequent visits to The Warehouse, to buy storage goodies. So last week, I went out and got a little trolly with racks for the bathroom, which now has all my goodies neatly packed in one space. Then yesterday we went to go and get shelves, this is the miracle cure to minimal space! We finally have somewhere to pack our towels and our books and all our clothes since the cupboards only have hanging space!

So we have also put up paintings on the wall and also added a few trinkets to make the house feel homey. I have all my sheep parafernalia and things like table clothes and things.

On the side of jobs. Leon and I are relatively happy. I have a fabulous job in a Publisher, where on the odd occassion things get totally out of hand, but at least there is a heap of chocolate and biscuits to give energy where due. We work on Kiddies books and I have gotten a few projects which make me really happy and I am well on my way to where I want to be.

Leon is finding it to be a bit frustrating at work due to the simple things that IT professionals just simply don't see a need for until it's too late. This is a world wide phenomonon. They forget to write a functional spec for the current project, so now they have run into a heap of problems. But Leon just carries on in his smurfly way, taking joy out of Fooseball, which he is almost always the champion in.

We have been rock climbing every week basically since we got here and have made plenty of friends through there. We also have added Jin to our climbing adventures and he is a very smiley Korean guy with a heart of gold.

On our way back from the Warehouse, we stopped to have a drink with my dear frend Collette, and we happened to be there during the SA - NZ tri-nations rugby cup. We had a few drinks and some good laughs and then she kindly gave us a lift home, with four shelves weighing 8 kg each, thank goodness for that since we would have had to lug them all the way up Queen Street.

We were supposed to have a picnic today but unfortunately most people cancelled, so we are meeting the last person for coffee later on. Leon is out getting sweaty, dirty and exercised in the Woodhill Forrests. I wonder what colour he is going to come home in.

We live in a really amazing place.

Look at this. It is only a short drive away from our apartment. Great for picnics or a coffee with a view. We love this place. It is one of our favourite places to go for the weekend. One day we'll get it right to rent a tandem bicycle and cycle along the beach for an hour.