Painting Pictures With Words

Untamed Natural Wilderness

Andy Wright — Sat, 22 Jul 2017 10:28:00 GMT

Untamed Natural Wilderness

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend a fabulous Celebration of Tourism at the outstanding Monteiths Brewery in my hometown of Greymouth.

It was an exciting day for all those who are involved in tourism on the WestCoast of New Zealand, a time to celebrate what we have achieved and to demonstrate how much further we can go.

One of the highlights was the authenticity of the new tourism catchphrase for our region: "Untamed Natural Wilderness".

Anyone who has heard me telling my New Zealand stories around the world, will realise how passionately I love my country and how particularly I love the WestCoast. When we say it is an "Untamed Natural Wilderness" we are only making a statement of fact. From the beautiful sunny clear crisp winter days, to the frigid katabatic wind affectionately known as the "barber" because it cuts to the bone. From the towering majesty of glacial walls of ice, to summer swimming in pristine lakes and rivers. What is there not to love about the west coast?

If you need any reminder of the spectacular nature of where I live and love here is a recent photo of my family and I visiting the glaciers.

Super Cool Colombia

Andy Wright — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 06:15:00 GMT

I have spent the last 4 weeks having a fabulous time in Colombia. The Colombian audiences have been so much fun. I hope that I have been more successful at explaining Haka than I have been at learning Salsa. As a fellow New Zealander explained to me; "we think we can dance in New Zealand until we come to Colombia, and then we learn that we have not really been able to dance at all" The first thing the Colombianś will tell us, "is listen to the music". When we explain that we are listening to the music, they will simply reply "well you are listening to it wrong".

Hopefully these photos capture some of the fun I have had in Colombia.(special thanks to Pablo and Dream On Productions for the photos)

Running Barefoot in Korea

Andy Wright — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 06:15:00 GMT

Some of you will remember Zola Budd a great barefoot runner. As I recently spent a day working with the Nike Design team in Busan Korea, I was reminded of Zola and the wonderful joy of running barefoot as a child growing up in New Zealand. Watching the miles being eaten up as your feet flew across the green green grass, the feel of the steady rhythm where the percussion of your feet meet the beat of your heart. Such a wonderful feeling running barefoot, and so many wonderful stories shared by the Nike Design Team. Now I am on Jeju Island working with the International Schools, such a great group of staff and students. Here are some photos of us all having a great time. There is something infectious about really laughing out loud.

Tranby School Perth

Andy Wright — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:51:39 GMT

I recently had the pleasure of running a series of workshops at Tranby school in Perth. It was a delightful time and some wonderful stories grew out of the experience. I especially loved the story of building a castle out of bricks on the neighbours trampoline, you dont need much imagination to work out what happened next.

Here is a photo from the workshops

Maruia Springs

Andy Wright — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 06:15:00 GMT

Hope springs eternal and so do the hot waters of New Zealand.

Dare to Explore

Andy Wright — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 20:25:48 GMT

I have spent the last week largely performing for the Auckland Public Library Summer Reading Programme – Dare to Explore. The Auckland libraries have been fabulous hosts and there have been many highlights.

It is always a pleasure to visit Auckland, and to see their summer reading programme going from strength to strength. Many of my performances were to large crowds of parents and children, it was so fabulous to see families enjoying reading and enjoying their libraries.

rattle and roll

Andy Wright — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:52:30 GMT

Woke up this morning to the house rattling and rolling. At first I wondered what Liz was doing downstairs, as the shaking continued I realised we were in the middle of an earthquake. Another of the joys of living in New Zealand. Apparently there were a few tremors around the centre of the South Island, I have marked them approximately with pink dots on the map. As you can see they were close enough to be felt here in Greymouth.

Clouds and Ice

Andy Wright — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 02:36:04 GMT

Of course you can watch “Game of Thrones” if you want to see a wall of ice, but no TV screen nor photo quite catches the majesty of the real thing.

Clouds are a real feature of life on the West Coast of NZ. Moody and beautiful clouds float through your life obscuring mountains and forests but creating their own mystical landscape and then occasionally they lift to reveal just how spectacular the obscured scenery really is.

If you ever get a chance don’t miss the Glaciers of NZ.

First Haircut

Andy Wright — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 22:51:39 GMT

Our first haircuts are always a little bit traumatic no less so if you are a puppy. Here is our puppy Josephine after her first haircut.

Of course I have my own unique take on childhood haircuts, if you want to hear more about my own childhood haircuts then try listening to this short extract from one of my true childhood stories. http://www.storyteller.net.au/sound/wheniwas5.mp3

Words on the West Coast

Andy Wright — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 21:51:39 GMT

After a recent move to the west coast of New Zealand, I find myself out and about helping the Grey District Library to promote their summer reading challenge. It has been a wonderful opportunity to see more of this fabulous place. It may be wet but well worth a visit.

The beaches don’t have a lot of golden sand, but you can get up close and personal with the local inhabitants.

Even our dog is enjoying the fresh air and open spaces, not to mention cooking over an open fire.

Of course it wouldn’t be the west coast without a waterfall, this is on my way to the foot of the Franz Josef glacier.