PlaidSong has been a little quiet online these past couple of months as we have been on a pretty major two-month trip to New Zealand. It seems ages since we left on November 30th and yet it has been a whirlwind trip with so many adventures, wonderful destinations, epic road trips and of course, we have met some lovely people along the way.
Primarily the trip was an extended holiday, one we had put off due to Covid and lockdowns. We had long had a dream to travel and explore the North and South Islands of NZ but it was also a chance for us to focus on our music, think about new songs and stories and we hoped we could share our music with audiences in NZ in an informal, casual kind of way.
In the planning stages, we reached out to a variety of contacts. We mailed friends of friends, Scottish or Caledonian societies, folk clubs, community groups and hoped we might organise our trip around meeting up with like-minded folk, Kiwis who shared a love of traditional music and the history that goes with the songs.
We were not disappointed. Our introductions were met with the most tremendous enthusiasm and we were able to plan a route taking us from Auckland north to Whangarei and all around the NI then over to the SI and to eventually reach Dunedin as our most southerly point.
We also managed a visit to Methven, encouraged by the enthusiasm of Angela and meeting local piper James - how could we not visit when Methven Scotland is Nicky's childhood home!
Along the way, we played music in some fantastic locations - Waipu, Whakatane, Central Otago, and even in New Zealand's only castle! The next few blogs will outline the places we visited, the people we met, and of course, the music we shared with these fantastic people and wonderful audiences.
