Drawing in Pencil

 A million years ago, or maybe about 1965, I attended Auckland University, with the vague aim of gaining a Bachelor of Science, and my subject were Maths, Applied Maths, and Physics.

Out of my depth, I struggled with all this and failed.  In my childhood I quite liked drawing and so for some crazy reason decided that  a Diploma of Fine Arts would be the ticket.

About the only paths available after you get that are being a high school art teacher or a professional artist.

Sometimes I think thank heavens I failed!  It was not for the want of trying at the time however.  

Not all my time was wasted, as I really enjoyed learning sculpture, photography and the basics of graphic design. 

My next career choice was misguided as well, training to be a primary school teacher.  After one and half years teaching I realized nobody was going to be a winner in that race.

Training was fun, as they let you do an "elective".  Some studied English, or Maori or whatever.

I chose art, not sure why.  The lecturer was a Mr Ritchie.  He will be long since gone from this planet by now, but at the time a good example of a human being.

He was into painting abstracts, so I just followed along using his techniques, namely heaps of rubber roller to cover heaps of canvas in a short time.  I was fairly happy with my productions, but never made it into the big league, ie Art galleries.

We are in Level 4 lockdown here in NZ, so I thought a drawing or two might stop me from looking at Youtube Videos.  I live in an area in Auckland called Devonport, which is one of the oldest areas, with many older buildings for me to draw.  This one is the Manuka Cafe on Victoria Street.

Coincidences in August 2021

 Well here we are,  the date is August 20th 2021, and here in New Zealand we have had a lockdown since last Tuesday. Hopefully this will only  last until another 2 or 3 days but I'm not holding my breath.   I'm actually making bread because we have run out, and do not feel like doing grocery shopping.  

This coincidence came about because I have been rereading Bill Bryson’s very good book

called A Short History of Nearly Everything.

In it I came across the following:

“Karlsruhe Congress was an international meeting of chemists held in Karlsruhe, 

Germany from 3 to 5 September 1860. It was the first international 

conference of chemistry worldwide.”

Because my drafting work has dried up, I have been entering architectural competitions.

One of these was from Germany, and I presume it was for Karlsuhe, due to the file name:

WP03.2a_GR_OG_B_Streetbox_Karlsruhe_Ausschnitt M100.pdf

The prize was a bit pitiful, at NZ$50, but it was quite quick to do in Revit Cad software.

Apparently the contest holder did not make a decision, so the web site decided to split the prize between myself and the only other contestant, so I got $25.00  

They keep on coming!......Coincidences!

 Recently my wife and I walked on one of our normal walks along a street called Wicklow St, in Auckland's North Shore.

It has an old bus stop, presumably not used.  Someone has decided it would make a good free library, and you can go there and take books you like the look of.  Eventually the ones we have taken, will be taken back.

My wife got out a book by Cathy Kelly called "Once in a Lifetime".

Upon reading it , she noticed the word Wicklow.  See the pics.

The other coincidence is that our dentist has a first name of Ella, as does the lawyer we just visited.

Yet More Coincidences and a Trip to the Chateau

 First the coincidences:

1. We traveled with 3 other couples, one of whom had a book, written by Fiona ______

Now would it not be strange that our conductresses name was Fiona? No? Oh well.

2. We were about to leave, and were waiting in the lounge and got talking to some people on a bus tour.

Of course they were from Pukekohe, where we had recently spent 4 years.  Then one of their party mentioned he was from Onewhero.  Hmmm.....my wifes father had the general store there years ago.

Yup, just another coincidence.

For us the trip was unusual in that nothing went wrong.  We got on the train at Auckland nice and early.

This is a view of Mount Ngarahoe:

It was a diesel train, but very nicely done out, plenty of legroom and a cafe car and a carriage with no windows so you could feel the air and see the scenery.

The Chateau is an old hotel for New Zealand and has a plush 1930's air about it.  Getting there took most of the day, so just time for a rest and then down to have drinks in the lounge.  They make a top notch Mai Tai.  Then off to the dinner, which was in the price of the ticket.  It all felt 5 Star, what with Venison and a nice desert. The service was excellent.

The next day we just had time enough to catch a bus up to the "Top of the Bruce", which is the start of the ski fields.  There is a beautiful new closed in gondola ride, which we went on.  Just an old fogies note: Normal price is $39.00 per person, with your seniors gold card, it was $18.50, which is a massive and welcome discount.

The terminal at the top is beautifully designed, with wide expanses of glass to catch the views.  Truly a wonderful place for a restaurant and at the time we were there the prices seemed quite reasonable.

No time for lunch unfortunately.

Then on the bus back to the railway station at National Park, the train trip going back spent with playing cards.

Hotel Lounge:

Restaurant at the top terminal:

Hotel Entrance:

Coincidences?

 One of my friends is a skeptic.

All I can say is these coincidences keep on coming!

I am going to try to record them as they happen.

The latest is where I was lent a book by Kathy next door, called the "The Second Sleep".

Which is a novel about a possible future world where we have gone back to medieval ways.

I also started reading "The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan.

The coincidence is that the name of the dead priest in the first book is Father Lacy, and that on 

page 162 of The Longest Day, there is a Lieutenant Joseph Lacy, a chaplain.

Auckland needs a new bridge?

So Auckland needs a new bridge? 

Really? 

Where would you put such a bridge and what would it cost? The common answer seems to be a tunnel under the harbour. That is the where, so what about the cost? The Waterview tunnel cost around $1.5 Billion, so the new tunnel would be around that, and take about 10 years to make. 

Such a scheme would produce enormous disruption. At this point, anyone sensible is asking themselves the question: Are there any alternatives?

As it happens, there is. If you think of the shape of Auckland, it is a blob, with 3 connections, The Bridge, New Lynn/Western Motorway, and the Southern Motorway. Each of these is a pinch point. It is the sea that is the cause of all our problems. 

It might be the answer as well. 

The current crisis could be reduced by tucking away the rule book that says you have to be a qualified person to run a ferry. Immediately, any unemployed person with a launch now becomes a transport provider. 

In the future, it may be a lot cheaper to run way more ferries than there are currently. If these were battery powered it would be a clean, green way to go.

We already have a company in New Zealand, Wellington Electric Boat Builders Ltd,

see their site here:

https://www.electricboatbuilders.co.nz/projects

There is the added advantage that these ferries could be built in New Zealand.

Years ago, around the 1960's they had a fast ferry, using hydrofoils.  Maybe this idea needs revisiting, as it would be a way of making trips at such a speed that only silly people would take a car.

Covid-19