17 Feb 2022

Car Rally

 Proud owner, George with his 1928 Studebaker President.  He got married in it.


Below, Neville's beautifully restored Rolls Royce Phantom - only warranted the week before.

As part of its pedigree, a prior owner Grandma Brown came 5th in the 1957 10,000km Ampol Trial around Australia




The car competed three years running.

In the 1958 Ampol Trial, it experienced a rare mechanical failure - a piston burned out. The beautiful old engine ran very roughly on only five cylinders, and Granny's son didn’t like the vibrations running through the whole car. So, stopping in a small village in South Australia, he dropped the sump and removed the offending piston and connecting rod. Knowing the engine would then be seriously out of balance and would probably shake itself to pieces, he cut a piece from a farmer’s discarded ploughshare and taking a good look at the crankshaft, welded the piece onto the shaft to act as a balance weight. He then replaced the sump and pressed the starter. The old Rolls was back to its smooth self again - down on power but no vibrations!

I had a fraction of a second's fame on Seven Sharp just after the rally - me sketching, and a picture of my best side (my back).



29 Dec 2021

Oakura Christmas

Another year without a white Christmas. What a bummer... it was horrible!

13 Dec 2021

Jury Garden

This is a sketch from one of the gardens that was in the Garden Festival. It still seems intact after the crowds returned home.

20 Sept 2021

View from my window

 

Here's a view from my window. A little bit of sun made it more appealling to sketch.  I've never drawn this view before since it always just seemed like too much at once. So many leaves! And tree ferns! So overwhelming. Well, I think I managed to find a way to draw it all without drawing EVRY leaf.

14 Sept 2021

Prince's Gate Hotel in Rotorua

Before Lockdown, we stayed at a classy old-timey hotel in Rotorua. It had hotpools, creaky floors, stained glass and many chandeliers. The restaurant also had a painting of Duke, the man that the restaurant was named after. Clearly though, that was a nickname and is real name was George.