My Happy Place ...

One of Meg`s paintings, she is a clever artist and sells her work through-out NZ, Raglan is full of arty folks !!

During the last week I took afew days off work, badly needed I might add, spending a night and 2 days out at my `happy place` Raglan-by-the-sea or Whaingaroa as it is rightly named. My eldest daughter, Meg and her daughter Lia live out there, on the side of a hill over-looking the harbour and out to the heads - a fairly dangerous bar. Meg had taken students to Wellington to see the Wearable Arts show, which I might add, is an amazing night, Lia was at her Dad`s and I had the house to me !! oh, and the crazy cat and noisy finch ..

The view from the window I sat by in a very nice cafe/bar and ate my dinner. It was raining but I didn`t mind, it is just so peaceful there, no rush, people smile and say kia ora (hello) - I hope the place never changes and becomes a `Bondi beach (Oz) or even Mt Maunganui which is a resort on the eastern coast of NZ. Raglan is on the west coast and very different geographically and every other way - wild and windy with crashing seas, rocks, some nice beaches and black sand that really does stick to every part of your body !! It only takes me 40 mins to drive out from home, I never tire of the views, it is a good road now, used to be a `goat track` as my dear old Dad would have said - can you get my drift at how much I love this place ??

The view from Meg`s balcony looking out over the little town and up the harbour - the sparkling water is always a deep blue/green and sometimes there are pods of orca to be seen, chasing the stingray they love to munch on.. Don`t you love the old building which is the pub ? The Palms were planted down the main street over 90 yrs ago now, could even be 100yrs - they are protected trees, as much as I don`t like them, they are part of what makes Raglan special and the neat thing is, Pohutukawa are planted at the sea end of the street and they are beautiful, especially with their aireal roots and other small native plants growing in the branch unions.

Mt Karioi, shrouded in mist, a view from Wainui Rd taken after I had visited my bee keeping friend. This dormant volcano is often called the `Sleeping Lady` as the mountain resembles a womans form when seen without the cloud. She dominates the scenery for miles, people climb to the top, the locals are beginning to care for her, getting rid of pests like possums that eat all the new growth of the native trees, with the new generation of children becoming involved with looking after the ocean and land around them - yah !!

A me trying to be `arty`, photo of the coast line, it was very wet and windy, everything blowing like mad, and cold ! I get these crazy ideas sometimes, they usually bomb out, but I quite like this one ..

I caught up with one of my favourite photographers, Gillian Lankshear, who lives at Raglan and takes the most beautiful photos using film, no digital for this lady, and showed her my photos, I am hoping to start something with my pics later in the year - whats left of it !! if you google Gillian`s name with Raglan, NZ beside it, you can see some of her work - she is an inspiration to me ..

I came home late in the afternoon, feeling restored and rested - just what I had in mind .. back to work next week and will be full on as the students are back for the last term of the year. I am teaching 2 night classes on beekeeping again this term if we get the interest and have just been approached by a very cool mag called `Good` for an interview re bees - all wonderful stuff ..

Oh, and I managed to buy the incense I was after, there is a seriously good Herbal shop on the main street - I tell you, Raggers is the place for me !!