Across from Picton’s cemetery is backpackers hotel Tombstone’s, driven by Gary and Nikki. It’s a cool place, no bullshit and tightly run so don’t make a mess. The common room has 80s music on Iggy Pop, Madness, and more. We relax while outside the tail of Cyclone Gabrielle races by.
The harbor of Wellington.
A friend recommended I check out Ans Westra when I told him we were going to New Zealand. Ans Westra is Dutch who moved to New Zealand in 1957. She is a documentary photographer.
In Wellington there is a gallery, called {Suite}, that exhibits and sells her work. The owner manages her archive.
Yesterday I visited the gallery, a small space on Wellington’s famous Cuba Street. I spoke briefly with the owner, who miraculously identified me as Dutch before I had spoken a word. Very nice guy.
I the gallery also hung work in color by Ans Westra that I did not know. Very good too. I bought the book Our Future by Ans Westra, with only work in color.
A café somewhere between Taupo and Napier.
We are in New Zealand. In Whitianga is the nicest and most endearing museum I know. You will find almost everything about local history, very compactly exhibited.
