On Newcastle Beach (Australia) Gwen Bush 2019

This is what I am basing my painting on.

Ready to start, thanks to a sale in Warehouse stationery.

Putting the base coats on

Sand and Sky

Adding the surf

Work on sky and sea

Total disaster!! Thought some copper might look nice on the sand. Oh No

Really pleased with the sand makeover. It has good texture and an odd bit of glimmer

Detail in the waves

More definition to the waves

This is a copy of the photo that I am loosely basing my painting on. Today I put on the base coat of the rocks

Trying to add a lot of texture in the rocks. Last photo of the left wave that is good.

More structure on the rocks

Today I corrected some of the sky where I had ended my brush stroke to abruptly. I feel the sky is pretty well done now. I added some colour to the rocks, and totally ruined some of my wave action.

Close-up of spray effect

And finally, the work is finished, varnished and trying out for a spot on the wall.

Final Days.

We had one more day to go, and with the promise that I could look at the Black Pearl Shops on the way back, we hired a car again and Duncan had his second round at Green Pearl - unfortunately not as good as his first round. here are some shots that emphasis things I have already written about.

The golf course is so close to the shore - a new water feature could be included in the next few years.

I'm in control! The water is the lagoon, not a lake or water hazard.

Looking the other way - the volcanic cone rises sharply. (Obviously I'm still in cart-control)

The final shot!

I went to several Black Pearl shops but I couldn't see anything that appealed - and the prices were ridiculous!! That night we headed out to the Mayflower. A much more sedate driver with a lovely family from the US. On the way back I complimented the children on their behaviour at the restaurant and said I would like to be their Grandma. They said they had a granny already, so I offered to put in a good word with Santa about who had been "Naughty or nice" this year. Fortunately the parents looked rich enough to cope with this fiction.

Very unusual wine glasses, good for smelling the bouquet.

Duncan had duck stuffed with foie gras and I had beef cheeks on a lentil dish. Very rich, very french.

Next day it was back on the catamaran, over to Papeete, out to the airport and home. We had to stop a night in Auckland, and then of course, because we drive up, we had to drive home. Apart from the travel hiccups it was a very pleasant and interesting holiday.

Saturday Nite Live (but only just) and Sun-burn-day

After another lavish breakfast we went to the Turtle rescue enclosure at the resort where they allow sick and damaged turtles to recuperate.

 I noticed that the first Turtle we saw was swimming along with one flipper on the side of the enclosure. I was imagining writing a children's book entitled "The turtle who couldn't swim" as it reminded me of a toddler who can't swim clinging to the side of the pool. However when I read the information board I found out that he was blind - I affectionately named him Mr Tappy as he now reminded me of a blind man with a cane. Sadly, but fortunately, Mr Tappy will never be released back into the wild.

Centrally, you can see quite a large turtle, an in the front a group of rocks which have misleadingly been formed into a large turtle shape.

Baby Turtles who lost their Mums

Over the walkway to the dolphin enclosure

There was only one dolphin who was on the "unwell" side  of the dolphin enclosure.

Two small dolphins were also there, having failed to keep up with the migration pod. One family was posing with them, giving the dolphins a kiss and a cuddle - a unique experience, obviously at a price.

Less interesting (but very necessary) from a dynamic point of view was the coral regeneration pond where they try and pick corals which are less prone to bleaching and more resistant to disease. They use these to seed and regenerate coral reefs.
All three of these areas had natural tidal flows. There are bungalows  all around the edge of the shore, but as we look out to sea we can see dark clouds gathering, and just make it back before the tropical downpour starts

Our mini-infinity pool gets refreshed!

A quiet afternoon - my book is exciting, and Duncan does a bit of snorkeling before we head off to dinner at Les Timpaniers for dinner.

The lady from the restaurant who picked us up kept saying "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" which surprised us as she was on time. When we were in the van she said "I'm so sorry, I am so drunk. It was my sister's wedding today, and I didn't think I had to work." However she manged to serve a tray of drinks and four plates of food at a time, so we hoped she would be OK to drive us back. The meals were lovely, and apart from several "no hands on the steering wheel" moments we survived the trip!

Next morning we had a traditional band serenade us at breakfast. The traditional handmade ukelele is quite triangular  - a bit like a balailika.

 It was a glorious day so we got some flippers and goggles for me and headed down to the lagoon to snorkel. I splashed forward and got clear vision just in time to see a fish - about 9 inches long come and bite my hand! Duncan was a bit sceptical about this, but then it bit me on the ankle!

 I got out and went to sit on a deck chair and google it (tigerbarb fish, aggressive in the mating season) when Duncan came out - he was bitten on the arm - and because he takes warfarin was bleeding for a while. Fortunately we were able to move down the shoreline of the lagoon, and do a bit more snorkelling - we have seen more abundant displays. We also sat in the sun - it was such a pleasant temperature that we both got a little bit pink.

Not us, but another couple kayaking on the lagoon - I didn't trust myself not to fall out so didn't take my camera with me.

In the afternoon we got a kayak and went for a paddle, for the length of the lagoon. I was wearing my Ezibuy Swim shorts - and while they looked really weird, they made sitting in the kayak more comfortable - in fact we thought this was  about the most comfortable kayak we had ever used.

In the evening we went across the road to the Holy Steak House. Not sure how it got that name, but it was excellent! We shared tapas, and then while I had an extravagant chocolate dessert, Duncan had the fish cakes. Everybody was happy.

Off the tee, on Friday 2nd August.

They have certain rules about which vans can pick you up from the hotel, so it made more sense to hire a car for the day. We headed off for the Jack Nicholas designed Green Pearl Golf Course. Duncan had brought his golf clubs, and I drove the cart since the course had lots of water and bunkers and I am a bit rusty. There were (I am informed) 9 holes with penalty areas.

 The front nine was quite flat because it is on the strip of land by the sea, then we passed through a tunnel onto the part built on the side of the volcanic cone.

 This was the highest point with 8 hairpin bends for me to negotiate with the cart going down.

The views out to sea were quite spectacular.

A very steep downhill!
We had lunch at the Golf Club (which meant that we just had a light meal in our room for tea.) and then set off for a drive around Moorea. Its about 60km all the way around. The idea was to stop and have a swim, however the Tahitians are not up with the play on Global warming, and all their houses are absolute waterfront, with no little reserve for us to stop at and go swimming. To be fair, on the other side of the road the land rises quite steeply up the old volcanic cone, but their houses would all be less than a metre above sealevel.
Once we had done that we turned around and drove back the other way - unfortunately hitting "rush hour" as the ferry from Papeete arrived with supplies and people who work on the larger island of Tahiti. There were 4 policemen on duty as pointsmen.