Vintage Head-Turning Beauties…

As Himself and I leave the Hotel ’t Speulderbos  Bilderberg hotel in the Veluwe, we pass by the group of classic car enthusiasts who have been staying at the hotel and are now preparing to leave. I notice that they have set their cars out on display on the lawn in front of the hotel and some of the group are inspecting the other cars. Some owners are polishing their vehicles before they hit the road, the cars are already gleaming, immaculate, head-turning beauties. I take photographs as we take the driveway past them.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Hotel ’t Speulderbos / Garderen – Veluwe / Hotel Bilderberg Group

Vintage Convoys, And A Room With A View…

In this blog post about our European travels of 2012 with visiting friend “Velvetine” from Singapore, we have left the town of Vianden in Luxembourg and are heading northwards. Mostly the landscape is agricultural, so Little Mr. is delighted to be treated to passing tractors and farm machinery, but today he is even more exited then usual because a little distance out of Vianden, we come across a convoy of vintage trucks that appeared to be travelling together to some sort of convention. The other oddity we saw was a little “hut” in the middle of a field. I managed to get a close up of it but it turned out to be a bit blurry, and we laughed because it really looked like a little toilet in the middle of the field. Talk about a room with a view!!!

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Hundertwasser is Everywhere, But to Catch Gabriel and Frederick We Need a Return Visit…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When I mentioned a few posts back that Austrian architect  Friedensreich Hundertwasser left his mark on Kawakawa, I wasn’t joking.

The quirkiness of his style is literally plastered all over the place.

There are even isolated tiles in the pavements and in walls…

Even a quick look around this small town will give you the idea that this guy’s influence has crept in almost everywhere!

The Café across the street,  gift shops and a raft of other local businesses have all been given what I might loosely term the  ‘ Hundertwasser ‘ treatment, giving this small town a really special vibe.

I  can clearly see that the residents fell as much in love with  Hundertwasser ‘s style as he did with their town… a fitting  memorial to a man who’s work brings tourists from afar and puts some needed tourist dollars into the small businesses of this little community.

Hundertwasser lived close to the town of Kawakawa  for 25 years, at first for short stays, commuting back to Vienna regularly but as time progressed he started to spend more and more of his time at his New Zealand property preferring the small town community’s easy-going  and relaxed attitude and privacy afforded to him and as a place where he could enjoy an anonymity that he didn’t receive as famous architect in Europe.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I’d love to come back here again one day… not just to get more photographs of  Hundertwasser’s work around the town but also because we missed another very special item unique to this little town… the trains!

Kawakawa is the only town in New Zealand to have a train track running right down the main street!

Apparently this originated back in the days when Kawakawa was called “Irishtown” and was the centre of a booming coal mining industry and coal was transported to Opua on the coast.

After  coal production ceased the line was used for other transport purposes until it was overtaken by other larger links to bigger deeper water ports.

For a while here was a vintage railway group using the line until 2000 when circumstances closed them down, but in 2006 a new Trust was formed and  The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway now runs weekend steam train excursions though the town at weekends.

We looked for “Gabriel” the famed steam engine  or “Frederick” the diesel engine but with no success. Yet another reason to try and come back here again:  I’d love a train ride!

The Trust has a website and once you take a look at the video on the first page, I’m certain you’ll probably want one too!   www.bayofislandsvintagerailway.org.nz

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)