Berichten en notities van Niek de Greef tijdens zijn reizen. Reflecties en observaties van wandeltochten, fotowalks, hikes in de stad en op het platteland en trip in het buitenland.
Our cottage in Carters Beach is a kind of mobile home with attached covered porch. Looking toward the beach you see Donaldos, a restaurant, cafe, snack bar, store where the locals and the tourists who don’t feel like driving to Westport get drinks, food and breakfast.
In the foreground are two large ferns, which grow like trees here. You can’t see it but a seagull squawks, a dog barks. In the distance the sea murmurs.
It should close behind us as we leave. The knobs on the poles are the Bakelite insulators for electricity poles. The fence is made of railroad sleepers stacked on top of each other.
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.
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.
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.
