Graffiato - Taupo Street Art Festival

Each Labour weekend the town of Taupo, in the central North Island of New Zealand, holds a street art festival where invited artists are provided with a blank wall to use as a massive canvas.  Taupo's was the first festival of this kind in New Zealand, there are now others, and attracts artists from around New Zealand and overseas keen to showcase their skills. 

Street art has many purposes; it can work as a commentary on modern life, be useful as a form of protest, draw attention to social issues, be an outlet for the quirky and/or vivid imagination of the artist or simply just as a pleasing way to beautify an ugly wall. Towns with numerous examples of street art have also noticed a considerable reduction in the amount of mindless graffiti they need to clean up.  It seems even  vandals respect good street art.

I enjoy street art so on my recent trip to Taupo exploring these murals was high on my list of things to do.  Armed with a map from the Taupo isite (information centre)  I set out to see as many as possible.   Many are up alley ways and behind commercial buildings like hidden, secret treasures, it was fun finding them. Unfortunately for me there was persistent rain that day but I did my best and managed to see at least half of the murals before getting soaked and very cold. The upside, though, is that next time I go to Taupo I will have the other half to look forward to. 

by Jacob Chrisohoou

Hunting for the murals would be a great family activity too.  Get children involved searching for them, like a treasure hunt, and then both children and adults can enjoy the art together. Note: the art remains, it is not removed after the festival

The photos are of some of the street art I did manage to see.  

by Numa MacKenzie

Part of a mural by Jeremy Shirley

Part of a mural by Erin Forsyth

by Beck Wheeler

by Charles and Janine Williams

by Dside

Orakei Korako, New Zealand - A thermal wonderland

With a virulent virus sweeping the world, and New Zealanders unable to travel overseas for the foreseeable future, it is time to explore some of the amazing things our own country has to offer.  Despite having traveled extensively through New Zealand  over my lifetime there are still plenty of places I haven't been and Orakei Korako was one of them.  I had driven past the turn off on countless occasions but never taken the time to go down the road.  What a treasure I had been missing!

A misty morning in the countryside near Orakei Korako

Orakei Korako, translates as The Place of Adorning and is one of many natural thermal areas in New Zealand. Nestled on the edge of the man made Lake Ohakuri it boasts bubbling hot geysers, boiling mud pools, silica terraces of many different colours and a peaceful, unspoilt bush walk - everything you could wish for in a thermal park.

Looking across  Lake Ohakuri to the thermal area 

Located down a quiet, picturesque country road, 21 kms from the main highway, it is worth the drive alone. What a wonderful sight greets you as you  round a corner and suddenly there  before you are steaming cliffs beside a serene lake.  I was so taken by the sight I shouted "Wow!".   A boatman ferries guests from the visitor centre across the lake to the thermal valley, on demand. It is a very short trip, taking just a few minutes.

Cascade Terrace  Photo taken through the steam

The walk around the park can take between 1 and 2 hours.  I took my time, drinking it all in, relishing the marvels of nature, mesmerised by the geysers, boiling mud and hot gushing streams. The silica Emerald Terrace, the first sight you see, is the largest in New Zealand, 20 million litres of hot water flow across it each day depositing silica before gushing into the lake. This terrace will continue to grow with time as more and more silica is deposited.

As with all geysers timing is everything.  They can be temperamental and only put on a show when it suits them.  Fortunately for me the Diamond Geyser, with its steaming plumes of sparkling water, was doing it's thing.  Lucky me!

Left and right:
The colourful algae which thrives in the hot water










On Rainbow and Cascade Terrace hot water algae, which thrive in temperatures up to 60C, cover the terrace in an amazing range of colours of green, yellow, pink and orange.  The terrace is fed by hot water from Hotchstetter's Pool, named after an Austrian geologist who visited in 1859.

Passing through The Golden Fleece Terrace, named for the golden algae covering it, you climb up some steps for a spectacular view of The Artist's Palette. There is so much to see here you need to spend some time to take it all in. It is an almost flat silica terrace measuring 10,000 square metres boasting everything from geysers, silica terraces, multi coloured algae, boiling cauldrons of water and gas, and crystal clear  blue pools. Stunning!

When you can tear yourself away from this view you continue on to stroll past liquid clay pools.  Looking for all the world like great pots of  porridge you can become quite hypnotised watching them boil and plop satisfyingly.

Before making your way back to the ferry via a cool native bushwalk stop to admire the Soda Fountain Pool and Ruatapu, the Sacred Cave. 



At the ferry landing you push a button to alert the boatman who will come and collect you for the short trip back across the lake.

I have outlined just a few of the highlights of Orakei Korako, there are others. I was thrilled with my visit.  I had it all to myself until just before I left when a group arrived.  It was such a joy to wander and marvel in one of nature's wild but beautiful places. I intend to return another time instead of speeding past to get somewhere else.

I was very impressed with the care that has been taken to keep the reserve in its natural state. I have visited other thermal reserves in New Zealand and have found them more crowded and more commercialised.  Orakei Korako is in pristine condition with unobtrusive walkways and well maintained paths and tracks. It is a real credit to the guardians and managers of the reserve. I also found the staff friendly and welcoming.  I encourage you to visit if you haven't already done so, it really is a gem.

NOTE:

•  It is absolutely essential that you stick to the well marked walkways.  The water is boiling and lethal and the earth's crust is very thin in places. 
• There are a lot of stairs which are no trouble to most people but make the reserve unsuitable for wheelchairs or baby strollers.  Baby backpacks are available for hire.

       www.orakeikorako.co.nz

        All photos and videos on this page are my own

Watching Elephants in Africa

One good thing about the Covid-19 lockdown has been the time it gave me to reflect on past trips.  I have been enjoying my travel memories and this weekend reread my diary of the memorable month long safari I took through Namibia, Botswana and Zambia a few years ago. Highlights were seeing the  "Big 5", apparently not everyone does, and watching the animals in their own environment.  I don't have a favourite animal, they were all fascinating, although I must say the ones I liked the least were the African wild dogs, they were bone chillingly scary.

The African Wild Dog - they hunt in packs and can tear a lion apart.  A very scary, intimidating animal.

One animal I found entertaining and enthralling was the elephant. Elephants are very family orientated living in matriarchal herds which consist of a senior female, her daughters and their off spring.  Bull elephants leave the family unit when they are about 12 years old and either live a solitary life or form a group with other bull elephants, joining family groups occasionally for mating purposes only.

My favourite place to watch elephants was at the water holes when large family units would come to drink, wash and play. One evening in Namibia as we sat in our truck watching some giraffes we spotted a herd of elephants, 21 in total, coming through some trees in the distance towards the nearby waterhole.  They started to run  the closer they got to the water and then proceeded to wallow happily, spraying themselves, drinking the water and generally having a great time.  The tiny baby elephants, not quite sure how to use their trunks, buried their faces in the water to drink.  The older females were very protective of the babies, bathing them and keeping them away from the adolescent males who were yahooing, frolicking and generally making nuisances of themselves.  Sound familiar? Eventually the adults headed off into the bush with their babies in tow while the adolescents continued sky larking and fooling around until they suddenly realised the adults had gone.  They leapt out of the pool, trumpeting and flapping their ears, running at full pelt to catch the herd.  It was thoroughly entertaining.  You could just imagine them calling "Hey, wait for me"

On another occasion, in Botswana, we come across a herd of 25 elephants of all ages at a waterhole.  There was one tiny baby which kept slipping and sliding in the mud, frantically slapping the water with its trunk.  The older females grouped together and worked as a team to get the baby out.  It was a true collaboration. Meanwhile 3 huge bull elephants got into a competitive tussle nearby.  They were all keen to mate with the herd and the winner would be the lucky one. It was intimidating stuff seeing them challenge and threaten each other, attempting to wound with their tusks.  You could feel the ground shake as they charged. Eventually two realised it was a fight they couldn't win so slunk away leaving a very proud dominant male with the herd.

Male elephants test and build up their strength for fighting by attacking and uprooting  trees.  It is not uncommon to see areas of bush badly damaged by elephants. 

One evening, in a mad dash to see a group of African wild dogs we had heard about, we come across a herd of literally hundreds of elephants.  It was an incredible sight.  The red dust they kicked up swirling against the late afternoon sun as they passed by is a scene I will never forget. We hear about elephants being endangered but this particular herd was massive by any standard. I couldn't get decent photos due to facing the sun and the thick dust they kicked up.

Dominant male takes over the pool. 
He looks two toned but it is just the waterline

Dominant male elephants like things there own way and they get it. One afternoon  when we were cruising on the Chobe River in Botswana we saw some elephants washing on the water's edge. They were quite happy until a huge male came along. He bellowed and the other elephants took off leaving him to bathe and slosh around contentedly in the pool all by himself.

This photo below is one of my favourite travel photos. We were all resting in camp after a busy morning on safari when an elephant wandered into our camp. Shivers of fear and delight ran up our spines in equal measure but the elephant just casually sauntered through our camp uprooting grass and stuffing it in his mouth. Our guide told us that elephants have very poor eyesight and because we were downwind of him he couldn't smell us. Eventually he continued on his merry way.

My trip to Africa was hard, challenging and physical. We were camping in game parks with hyenas wandering around our tents at night and lions roaring not too far away, we were hot, dirty, and tired but it was absolutely unforgettable.  I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It has been a pleasure reliving the experience.

The Jazz, Blues and Rock and Roll of the 30s to 60s all celebrated at this great little museum

 For a taste of the golden heyday of British trad jazz, blues and rock and roll you must visit the tiny but fascinating Eel Pie Island Museum in Twickenham, London. The museum celebrates the history of this small island in the Thames and especially the legendary Eelpiland Club which was located in The Island Hotel. The Club was at the forefront of the music explosion  between the 1950s and 70s when musicians, known and unknown, performed there at their weekly gigs.

 This was a fantastic time for British music and the list of performers at Eelpiland is comprehensive and spectacular, the roll call taking up almost a whole wall of the museum. The club provided a springboard  for such groups as the Rolling Stones, who performed there 24 times, earning just 50 pounds to share for their 9th gig.  Ironically, on the 55th anniversary of that gig the Rolling Stones performed to a sold out Twickenham Stadium.  You can only imagine what that would have earned them. Others to get a start at the club include Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Paul Jones, The Who and David Bowie (then known by his real name, Davie Jones). There were many others.

Sadly heydays are heydays and eventually the club was forced to shut in 1969 due to expensive safety requirements.  Hippies moved in to squat in the hotel and started to tear the building down to use as firewood.  Eventually this led to the whole place burning down in 1971 so the famous hotel and club are no more.

Luckily all is not lost. It is fortunate that the museum is crammed full of memorabilia from the island's glory days, painstakingly collected by curator Michele Whitby,  - photos, receipts, contracts, instruments, even Aker Bilk's trade mark bowler hat and clarinet. The volunteer staff are welcoming and knowledgeable and will offer a free tea or coffee and invite you to choose some music from their vinyl record collection to play while you wander around.

The instruments that make up a skiffle band

But the museum is not only about the music scene on the island.  It also acknowledges its history as a centre of boat building. There were originally several boat builders on the island. Horace Walpole described Twickenham as a "seaport in miniature".  Sadly a major fire in 1996 wiped out many of the boatyards and today only two remain. 

 The island now has 50 homes and approximately 120 residents. It has also always been a haven for artists and craft workers and still is.  It is a lovely, quirky, bucolic place only accessible by boat or the footbridge from Twickenham. I suggest you go there for a stroll after, of course, spending plenty of time at the Eel Pie Island Museum.


Left: Quirkiness on Eel Pie Island

Celebrating the island's boatyard history

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.  There were a few other people there also and it was such a pleasure to hear them reminiscing and exclaiming over familiar names on the roll call. I particularly like small museums with enthusiastic staff and this music was the music of my youth, nostalgia plus, so what's not to like?

Eel Pie Island Museum
1-3 Richmond Rd, Twickenham, London
Open: Thursday to Sunday 12pm TO 6pm ( push the bell for admission)
Admission: 3 Pounds Adult - under 16 free if with adult
NB: DUE TO COVID-19 THE MUSEUM IS CURRENTLY CLOSED BUT WILL, HOPEFULLY, OPEN AGAIN BEFORE LONG.

How to Enjoy Travel in the time of the Great Covid19 Lock down

Hello, fellow travel fanatics.  How's it going?  Are you bored yet? Frustrated yet? Or are you enjoying the peace, quiet  and tranquility of this enforced lock down?

Den Gamle By, Aarhus, Denmark

Personally I am quite enjoying it although the thing I miss most is interaction with friends.  Having said that, with two weeks of glorious weather, long solitary walks have been a delight and my family have been marvelous face timing me each day. What would we do without the phone and the internet?

Havana, Cuba

As an addicted traveler, as I suspect many of my readers are, it is clear that there won't be any international travel for quite some time. As far as I am concerned I am very grateful for the amount of travel I have done and appreciate the fact that I have been more fortunate than many who never get the same opportunities. Too often no sooner do we enthusiastic travelers get back from a trip than we are planning the next one. 

China 1993

So Here's my question. How often and for how long do we reflect on

past trips?  Usually there is a period after a trip when we ponder it, talk about it, rejoice in it, browse our photos and relive our experiences but how often do we think back to trips prior to the last one?  Yes, I realise that travel broadens the mind and that we gain knowledge and understanding from every country we visit but I am talking about reliving the pleasures, the sights, the sounds, the food etc that browsing our photo albums awaken.

I've got mine out

While we are locked in how about getting out our albums and having a really good browse, let's become  armchair travelers, maybe cook recipes from whatever country we are browsing, put on some of their music, relive the rich experiences we have been fortunate enough to have. Become virtual travelers in the comfort of our own homes.  Of course if you want to arm chair travel you can scroll through my previous posts on this blog where you will find a myriad of destinations and recipes from many different countries. And then when this terrible virus has run its course lets all start traveling again, be it just to the next city or overseas, to help  rebuild the decimated tourism industry and get people back into their jobs.  Stay strong and keep well everyone.

Croatian Cuisine and a delicious recipe to try

In my home country of New Zealand I have never come across a restaurant specialising in Croatian food.  I have to say there may well be some it's just that I have never seen them.  That's a pity because Croatian food is a delicious mix of flavours, both satisfying and nutritious. The cuisine of Croatia has been strongly influenced by its surrounding neighbours.  As a result mainland Croatia has adapted its recipes and flavours from Turkish, Hungarian and Austrian cuisine while coastal Croatia has adopted the Mediterranean style of cooking.  If you like eating, and let's face it, who doesn't?, Croatia is a great country to visit for a culinary adventure where you can work your way through the different regions enjoying the variety of recipes and flavours.

Mainland  dishes contain ingredients such as lard, spices, black pepper, paprika and garlic while Goulash, a Hungarian dish, is popular all over Croatia. Coastal Croatian cooking, on the other hand,  places a strong emphasis on olive oil, rosemary, sage, oregano, olives and lemon. Pastas and risottos are also popular everywhere in the country. A black risotto made from the ink of cuttlefish is a unique dish worth trying.

These light and fluffy pastries were a gift from our land
 lady in Supetar. 
Just the thing to have with coffee

Main meats are pork, lamb and chicken and, as a country with a long coastline and a large fishing industry, seafood is always on the menu. Croatia is also a country of coffee drinkers so coffee houses are everywhere and the rich brew is usually accompanied by light, crisp pastries. I thoroughly enjoyed the food in Croatia.  I love seafood, coffee and the Mediterranean style of eating but I also enjoy the tasty, satisfying and comforting Turkish, Hungarian style of eating too. What's not to like?

Here is a recipe you can try.   I made this last week and absolutely loved it.  It is delicious!  Give it a go.

PAPRIKAS CHICKEN

Ingredients:

My Paprikas Chicken

1kg chicken pieces

2 large onions finely chopped

10 grams lard

3 teaspoons ground smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

200 mls white wine

200 mls water

50grams sour cream

Directions:

Melt the lard in a pot

Add the chopped onions and fry until just soft and transparent

Chop the chicken into mouth sized pieces and saute until white

Add wine and simmer for 5 minutes

Add paprika and chilli, salt, pepper and caraway seeds

Add water and simmer very gently for approx 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the water evaporates too much, add more but be careful, you don't want it too runny.

Add sour cream and cook for 3 to 5 minutes

The sauce is very tasty and very runny. Serve with either mashed potatoes or noodles. Good eating! or, as they say in Croatia, Dobar tek!

Bol and Zlatni Rat - Croatia's Most Popular Beach

Fourteen times a day, during the high season, the car ferry arrives at Supetar from Split. Cars and foot passengers pour off and disperse all over the island of Brac with a great many heading up over the hills and across the island to the popular coastal village of Bol and its famous beach, Zlatni Rat (Golden Horn).  We decided that we just had to go and see what was drawing the crowds, especially as we had been told that Zlatni Rat was the most beautiful beach on the Adriatic. Fortunately for us we arrived at the bus station early securing seats on the bus.  Within minutes of a ferry arriving the queue for the bus grew and grew so that at departure a number of people were left behind.  HINT: If you are busing to Bol get to the bus station well ahead of your departure.

It is 39 Kilometres from the north coast town of Supetar to the south coast town of Bol, a very scenic trip through some small villages, with occasional orchards and vineyards scattered among the rocky,  but surprisingly green, countryside.  Don't expect to see much in the way of farm animals, you will be disappointed, there weren't many. Before meandering its way down to the village the road comes out high above Bol with spectacular views out over the ocean and down to the coast.

Dating back to Roman times Bol is the oldest coastal village on Brac. It is charming with narrow stone streets and wide, shady piazzas. A wander through the town takes you to the 11th century church of Saints Ivan and Tudor and to the 12th century Bishops Residence.  You can also see the remains of Roman Baths and Graves, the 15th century Summer palace and the 15th century chapel of Our Lady of Grace where you can view Tintoretto's Madonna and Child with Saints, behind the altar. It is a busy town, crammed with tourists in summer, the shore humming with cafes, bars and numerous small cruise boats coming and going.

We sat on the waters edge, soaking up the atmosphere, before moving to a cafe for cool drinks and then taking a leisurely wander through town.

Above and below: Bol

 Zlatni Rat is located 2 kilometres from the village along a promenade lined with pine trees, sculptures and gardens.  With two children in tow, and because it was a very hot day, we chose to get there aboard one of the the small boats, enjoying an attractive and relaxing trip along the coast.

Zlatni Rat is an unusual beach. Shaped like an arrow head it changes shape from time to time depending on the winds and the currents.  It is pebbly, as are all the beaches on Brac. Popular with yachties and wind and kite surfers the water is crystal clear and although cooler than the beaches on the north coast still very pleasant for swimming. Mountains sweep down to the coast here and the beach is backed by groves of pines fragranced with the scent of rosemary and thyme and,  ahem, hot chips. Unfortunately there are a number of fast food outlets scattered among the pines rather spoiling the ambiance but, I guess, a necessary evil when you have large crowds spending a day at the beach. I paddled in the sea and went for a wander through the pines while my family enjoyed a swim and a snack before we took the return boat to Bol.

Above and below: Zlatni Rat

So, what did I think of Zlatni Rat? Well I did not  particularly enjoy sitting cheek by jowl with hundreds of other people and to be honest I was a bit underwhelmed, but, hey, I come from New Zealand where we have hundreds of kilometres of golden sand beaches, often almost deserted, so I am pretty hard to impress when it comes to beaches. Maybe I'm not the best person to ask. And who am I to knock the many thousands of people who flock to Zlatni Rat? I'm glad I went there but had enjoyed the small beach we swam at  in Supetar more.  

Right: Stina wine cellar, Bol

Above and below: two of the pretty villages we passed through on the bus trip

Back at Bol we visited the wine cellar of Stina Wines and enjoyed a glass of Croatian wine beside the harbour's edge. Very pleasant, as was the bus trip home taking a different route and passing through some lovely villages along the way. To sum up, Bol is well worth a visit.  It is a lovely, historic village and while you are there you should also visit Zlatni Rat, because, why not? and you may just love it.