WHY, with the BEST OF INTENTIONS I didn't paint much in Australia and New Zealand (but took 55 rolls of film instead)

10 am--morning tea break during a regular bus trip from Auckland, New Zealand, down to Waitomo. I could have used the time to paint/sketch but it takes no time at all to get used to the (delightful) habits of a country, so I had tea. I was showing son Shawn, my favorite places in New Zealand and Australia during summer vacation, 1995 (winter-down under). Earlier my husband and older sons had done the trip during seven memorable weeks; this trip I'd planned all myself for nine months (like pregnancy but no birth pains, unless you count the cost). Auckland was more beautiful than I'd remembered; even during their winter, flowers abound; the architecture is interesting; Auckland itself is on a great harbor; and the Kelly Tarlton Aquarium, a walk-through cylinder of fish-filled sea, was astounding.

In New Zealand we concentrated on North Island (nearer the Equator), as the South Island was having some record snows. There was plenty to see and do in Auckland, Waitomo, Rotorua, and Russell, the Bay of Islands. In Australia we skipped Melbourne and Tasmania (true winter there!), and had a terrific time in Sydney, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, lovely Perth on the west coast (blue-green Indian Ocean), and my favorite--Alice Springs in the Outback and Ayers Rock. Both in size and in the temperanent of the people you can almost equate NZ with England, and Australia with the U.S.A. The very big difference is that in both NZ and Australia you are infinitely safer with not much of any crime (especially compared with us), both countries are so uncrowded, and you feel so relaxed, and free to see and do so much more (at a cheaper cost, too, so far). Yes, Sydney and Auckland are large cities, but so green and plant-filled and on sparkling harbors, that you don't mind.

Surprisingly, when we bussed around NZ, the drivers described the scenery and history often, were most friendly, and they (and we) took tea and lunch breaks. The North Island is a series of sheep-filled meadows, tiny towns, and Waitomo--home of the twinkling glow worm caves. I wish I could paint these fantasy caves--perhaps an abstract or semi-abstraction is the way to do it. Shawn and I and several others glided quietly through huge underground caverns, the sound of water dripping down their sides and a most gentle lapping of waves, pitchdark except for thousands of fairy lights--the twinkling glow worms! Waitomo is also the home of Aranui Cave where Sherry Lyn, our guide, escorted Shawn and I and one other family through a complex mecca of caves--their alabaster-like walls glistening damp, and the formations with names like "the Cathedral" or "the Butcher's Shop". I was reminded of Michelangelo's "Bound Slave" series, where the figures struggle to free themselves of the marble.

If I were to go on, I'd use up too much space and your time, so let me abbreviate. There are art museums and galleries aplenty and we did visit some. You want to learn something about Maori life, art, and architecuture and in Rotorua you live it--the geysers and creamy mud pools (very similar to Yellowstone) are part of the village--heating the quaint town! In the Australian Outback, Ayers Rock is also called Uluru, and is sacred to the aborigines (not unlike St. Peters in Rome, spiritually); I bought an aborigine painting at the Mt. Ebenezer outpost. Shawn and I attended a Hangi, or Maori banquet, at a "working" marae, or community hall, with a music and dance concert (and yes, we got up to try some of the steps). In the Outback of Australia we were quite taken with the aboriginal didgeridoo, bought two, and Shawn has learned the special circular breathing to produce haunting tones (I'm totally hopeless with it). I meant to study the art in museums more there, but perhaps it's more fun to almost live it there.

In both countries you become totally fascinated with the different scenery and the animal life. At the Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, do pigeons beg at your lunch table for scraps? No, huge Ibises do! Of course there are the famed koalas and kangaroos (and kangaroo crossing signs are as familiar on country roads as our deer signs), but we were not prepared for all the pretty birds, the pink and white galahs, or the black swans with red beaks (in Perth). We took a windjammer day tour off Cairns, to the Great Barrier Reef, and with trepidation, I let Shawn take a scuba diving lesson--he speaks of being within patting distance of humungous groupers. Me--I had enough trouble trying to manage a snorkle on the rolling waves, but the myriad colorful fish way down were such a reward ("Sharks? Oh, sure, Mate, but not to worry, they're mainly nurse sharks or sand sharks and they won't bother you"). Outside Alice Springs Shawn and I went to a camel ranch and experienced the up-down lope of the beasts and the lopsided way they sit down to let you off at the end of your short ride.

I'd planned ahead for months (much of the fun is in the anticipation for me) and since I knew it would be winter, and might be inclement, I managed to get us hotels or B and Bs with good views--so I actually did do water- color sketches looking outside our rooms in Waitomo, and the Rotorua Geyserland Hotel (waking several times a night just to stare outside at the thermal action), the Duke of Marlborough in the Bay of Islands, and from our little patio at Ayers Rock. Since I'm not much of a rock climber (hard to be when you're scared of heights), I sat on the really red earth and painted the Olgas (near Ayers Rock) while others climbed a little. Afterwards, our fantastic bus driver put steaks and sausage on the barbie near the Olgas, champagne and beer (and soda) were passed about, and Shawn and I laughed the evening away with an amusing group of Tasmanians, followed by a star walk unlike any other! I can paint the red of the earth (cadmium red light), but the bulk of Ayers, the vast night sky, the humor of the people, the bubbling mud pools of Rotorua, not yet--perhaps abstraction is the way to go.

In Alice a really huge thrill for me was visiting the Hank Guth Gallery and the 360 degree second floor diorama he'd painted. Then, since I'd only admired his work in 1977, this time I treated myself to a small oil of his. How amazing--he was in the back room of the gallery, the shop assistant called him out, and he personally wrote on the back of my new purchase! I also brought home nine watercolor sketches I did, of which I like two, but the pleasant memory of where and when I did them will stick with me more than any postcard. Shawn and I would go back in a minute, to both countries, and who knows, maybe some day I'll get to lead a watercolor group there!