Writers Festival

 Another week of largely crisp, clear days has enabled me to spend some time in the garden. The flaxes next to the rotary drier and on the path to it have been trimmed and look tidier. With the aid of my new pruning saw, I cut down the dogwood which had died. It was located in the fernery and had some lichen which Nicky liked, but some of the branches were drooping and becoming a bit of a nuisance. We gave the wood to some neighbours who have a wood burner for their heating. The fernery now looks a little different:

Nicky did her usual church cleaning on Monday. She vacuumed and mopped the floors before going to Home Group on Tuesday. Decibelles Book Club and hospital visiting occupied Nicky’s Wednesday before we quizzed, coming 4th with 91 points.

I was also out and about on Wednesday, meeting Jackson for morning coffee at the Virginia Lake café. This used to be called The Funky Duck and neither of us had been since the new management had taken over. The coffee and muffins were good. I had gone by bus to enjoy the free travel on our new bus services. The free use finishes today, but because we have our Gold Cards attached to our Bee cards most of our bus travel will still be free between 9a.m. - 3p.m. After coffee, Jackson and I walked down the hill to Peat Park to enjoy the view down the path:

On Thursday morning we packed our overnight bags, closed up the house and headed north to Auckland to attend the Writers Festival. The weather was lovely, the autumnal colours gorgeous, and Ruapehu had a dusting of snow:

James and Wendy had offered to accommodate us for the four nights we were in Auckland. They live about 20 minutes walk from the Aotea Centre where the Auckland Writers Festival is held. The last time we had been to the Festival was 2019, before we moved to Whanganui. We had planned on buying some tickets in advance at early bird prices. However with the possibility of the government implementing restrictions on petrol use due to the situation in Iran, we didn’t buy any tickets until Tuesday evening which severely limited our options. However, there were also a number of interesting free events.

We began our enjoyment of the Festival on Friday morning. I attended an event with a panel of investigative journalists, and then both of us saw a panel of Canadian authors. Steve and Ros took us out for lunch at Tony’s where Nicky waitressed many, many years ago. We both chose the special for the day, rump steak. In the afternoon we saw an Honoured Writer event, celebrating the poetry of Bill Manhire. We had late afternoon cuppa with Stella and a good catch-up. We did a little supermarket shopping on the way back to James’ and Wendy’s apartment.

Our first event on Saturday was with the wonderful Witi Ihimeara, a Maori writer and performer who was supported by an excellent percussionist. Tea, coffee and an almond croissant fortified us before going to the Pukapuka area for children. Just as we arrived we bumped into one of my old MacOnSite customers who was one of the publishers running one of tables in the children’s area encouraging illustration. It was good to catch up with him and his colleagues. We had arranged to meet up with Stella for lunch, brought some Vietnamese Banh Mi and ate it at the very long picnic table which had been provided by the event organisers. The afternoon consisted of a lively discussion about the New Zealand economy, its problems and some possible solutions. We then went to separate events which were spoilt by background noise and hearing difficulties. 

Maria had invited us round for afternoon wine and nibbles. Maria and Michael took us up to Uncle Man’s on Karangahape Road where James and Wendy joined us for dinner. Initially the restaurant was very noisy and there were some issues with service, but things improved and quietened as the evening progressed. Maria and Michael ordered a fascinating dessert to share, which was like a vertical pancake:

Today was the last day of the Auckland Writers Festival. On our arrival this morning we bumped into folks from Whanganui - a lady from our favourite bookshop, her husband and the local Labour Party campaign manager. We had a good chat and catch up. Nicky went off to her first event, an interview with American author Lily King, which was very good. While waiting for the event to start Nicky struck up a conversation with a writer, Dr Lucy Hone whose book “How will I ever get through this”, Wendy had recommended. Later, we both met her with her husband, who graduated from Loughborough University just a few years before Nicky and I. It’s a small world. After a wander and a coffee Nicky and I joined up again for an event discussing writing about Climate Change. This was good and Whanganui got a mention because of the legal status of the river, from an Indian author, Amitav Gosh.

Our next event was a very good panel of foriegn correspondents and their work. We had a bite of lunch on The Terrace where we shared a table with a very interesting couple from South Africa. An accountant who had written a novel since retiring and a Massey University Dept. Head. I went to my last session on the forks in the roads that all our lives encounter. Stella was at the same event and we sat together. Nicky was engaged in animated conversation with a school teacher, about the Mushroom Murders case, when Stella and I met up with up with her. We were able to say our good-byes before we returned to James and Wendy for a light meal.

It has been a very busy, interesting and enjoyable weekend. The late afternoon sunlight painted the buildings round the Aotea Centre for our last departure:

Take care, Rick and Nicky.