Far Far Away

A sampling of works from the exhibition:

1. Stephen Brookbanks
2. Josephine Cachemaille
3. Josephine Cachemaille
4. Emma Smith
5. Emma Smith
6. Emma Smith
7. Alexis Hunter

It was such a lovely weekend. The exhibition looked fantastic and there was a very moving opening ceremony with beautiful waiata sung by the Omanaia Waiata Wananga Group, speeches by local Kaumatua, the curator Karl Chitham, and Project director Sue Daly, and the whole occasion was seamlessly coordinated by the wonderfully talented Dallas Williams.

We were put up in a beautiful house in Omapere - here's the view from the deck:

Karl and Emma in the garden

In between less healthy activities, Emma and I went for a healthy walk to admire the view.

By the way, I got severely trounced at Monopoly and although the Snakes and Ladders board looked so pretty, it's actually a fairly dull game when you're in your 40s and vices seem to have more appeal than virtues. Never mind - the food and plonk was great and the company even better.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I love it when people declare their togetherness by scoring their names on park benches like this example at the look-out over Omapere. I know that I've left my mark in plenty of places around Napier where I grew up - maybe I'll track them down one day. Anyway, I hope Jeremy and Lou are still going strong!

PS: If anyone would like a copy of the Far Far Away catalogue, just let me know. I'd be happy to post one out to you.