Spring Has Sprung

                             A time for lambs daffodils and a spot of painting 

Driving to Tuatapere a rural town on the western coast of Southland it was so obvious to see that spring was well and truly the season.
This is a late post for early spring.
I took all of the photo's on the 9th September and had good intentions of continuing the post but that writers block has certainly hung around.

On the way to Western Southland I passed through the seaside town of Riverton, The town is has great views of  the Takitimu Mountains  and is situated on the south eastern shores of the Jacobs River Estuary.
It is fondly referred to as The Riviera of the south. No visit is complete without a coffee .

The next place that always pulls at my heart is a sleepy little seaside hollow called Cosy Nook
The tiny houses are so exquisite and sheltered from the buffering winds by giant rocks .The sound of thousands of stones being washed back and forward and the cry of gulls made it very hard not to snuggle up in a warm sheltered spot on the shore and stay just to soak it all in.

Just out of the hollow lives a NZ painter named Nigel Brown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Brown)
His protest caught my eye.There on a windy hill surrounded by the sea, the baaing of newly born lambs the roar of wind stands a silent yet so audible protest.

I went to Southland to paint and have lessons from a very inspirational painter. A truly gifted artist and wonderful father husband and teacher. He teaches at workshops and usually there are many others he has to help but this time it was one on one.

Driving home the sky was stunning I couldn't resist taking lots of photos of clouds.I have a fascination with clouds at the moment.

Did you know New Zealand is known as Aotearoa

The original derivation of Aotearoa is not known for certain. The common translation is "the land of the long white cloud".The word can be broken up as: ao = cloud, dawn, daytime or world, tea = white, clear or bright and roa = long. 

Country Roads take me home to the place I belong.......John Denver