New Zealand bloggers visit Austin
Lynsey, Marica, Zophia, Pam, and MSS anticipating fish tacos at Hula Hut
An international bloggers meet-up of sorts has sprung from the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling last April. Lynsey Gedye, a Wellington, New Zealand, blogger at Tea Garden (and 3 or 4 other blogs) posted about the upcoming Spring Fling last January. He’d recently visited Austin to help make a movie and was wishing he could return for the Fling. Considering the distance, I was surprised when he emailed me recently to say that he and his family were returning to Austin in June, and would I be interested in saying hello in person over coffee?
I had really wanted a foreign garden blogger to attend the Spring Fling, and I’d urged our Canadian blogger friends, YE/Bliss in the Netherlands, and even Stuart in Australia to come, to no avail. Well, having Lynsey, his wife, Marica, and her daughter Zophia visit just two months later makes up for not having an international contingent at the Fling. 😉
Dressed all in black—with gray piping to indicate casualwear, they told me with a laugh—Lynsey and Marica were soaking up the rays and the triple-digit heat, having flown into summer from New Zealand’s mild winter just a few days before. Zophia, based in London, had met up with them in Denver and then Austin. MSS of Zanthan Gardens joined us (wearing a tee that read, “Nobody reads my blog”) for lunch at Hula Hut on Lake Austin. I had a great time visiting with them and am glad they made time for our get-together.
Lynsey organized Blog Hui 2006, New Zealand’s first international bloggers conference, which, unlike the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling 2008, did attract international bloggers. With the Garden Bloggers Fling 2009 occurring in Chicago, perhaps we’ll see a few Canadians next time. For that matter, maybe Lynsey will join us for it too.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
So nice to see them in person. Love MSS’s t-shirt.~~Dee
The Kiwis were great folks. And yes, the t-shirt is funny, even if untrue for MSS, who enjoys lots of readers. —Pam
What fun! I have always wanted to go to New Zealand. This type of meeting is about as close as I will probably ever get to NZ.
Oh, never say never, Lisa! Who knows what the future holds. —Pam
Where can I get that T Shirt! So great to meet an international blogger in person. Let’s all go to New Zealand. They have great gardens there don’t they! Hope you are handling that heat!
I’m pretty sure Lynsey mentioned that New Zealand’s Blog Hui conference will be held again soon, and I’m sure he’d welcome a bunch of American garden bloggers. 😉 —Pam
I’m with Layanee, let’s all save our money and go to New Zealand to see their wonderful gardens. Very fun to meet some international garden bloggers, and if MSS is selling those t-shirts, put me down for one, too.
Will this be before or after the English garden tour? Either way, it sounds great. —Pam
Ha, Pam, the t shirt is a great hit, how funny. So cool to have met the Kiwi bloggers. We have friends who live there and apparently the gardening is out of this world great. Let’s go!
It does sound like a gardener’s paradise. Have you been fortunate enough to visit your New Zealand friends, Frances? —Pam
My husband bought me the “Nobody reads my blog” T-shirt from Jinx online. He got it for me in 2003 or 2004 when there were very few other garden bloggers. If you look at the number of comments I used get on my early posts compared with now–well, it was pretty lonely in the early days.
Jinx also carries The sun is trying to kill me–which I’ve been wanting for awhile.
Pam, thanks again for inviting me along. Marica and I had an engrossing conversation even though I don’t think we spent even one minute talking about gardens or garden blogs. Strange, eh?
Lynsey and I made up for that, MSS. We talked plants and blogging, but also about organizing a bloggers conference.
Your t-shirt is a hit. Jinx should give you a commission for such good advertising. —Pam
NZ is the dream destination of my husband. How delightful that you had this visit. I am imagining that the Fling in Chicago will be very well attended, we will all return and even more will join in on the fun. That is a cool Tee-shirt.
I am imagining that about the Chicago Fling too, Gail, and can hardly wait for it. A whole year away! I wish it could be sooner. —Pam
How wonderful that your wish for an international garden bloggers’ meeting came true, Pam! It sounds like you had a fun time with the New Zealanders. Hula Hut is reputed to be a ‘real’ Austin place, and I can’t imagine better representatives for our town than you and MSS.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thanks, Annie. Hula Hut is laid-back and fun, the food is good, and the location is great. Have you been there? —Pam
So you got your wish for an international garden bloggers fling after all, Pam. Glad it was such a big hit. Love the t-shirt! And sorry I couldn’t make it to the Austin spring fling but I had already booked my garden tour in Scotland where I had my own spring fling recently. You can read all about that on my blog. And in answer to Carol’s question: the NZ tour will be held after the English garden tour but before the Dutch one because you always save the best for last. 😀
Ah, your self-confidence is unbeatable, YE! If your own enchanting garden is representative of your countrymen’s gardens, I’m certain a Dutch tour would be a grand thing. Maybe one of these days I’ll get over there again and have time to see the gardens. —Pam
That Chicago Spring Fling may be a lot sooner than you think. I’ve just been informed by reliable sources (via Plurk) that a fall 2009/end of September Fling might conflict with the Garden Writers of America conference. Major bummer. So I’m going to find out the dates of that & see what will work. If it won’t, then we’ll have to try to do it earlier in the year. BTW Google Reader has not been giving me updates of your posts. I’m tres annoyed.
Well, whenever you schedule it, I’m looking forward to it, MMD. Chicago is a great gardening town. I know it will be wonderful. As for Google Reader, I don’t know what’s going on there. Is anyone else having problems, I wonder? —Pam
What fun to meet some NZ garden bloggers! Did you enjoy their accent? It sounds almost the same as an Australian accent, except for a few words – ‘water’, for instance. That’s how I could tell they were Kiwis 🙂
I lived so close to NZ for so many years, and always wanted to visit, but never got there, unfortunately.
I love the T-shirt too 🙂
I’m glad you got to participate in a mini International Spring Fling after all!
Hi, Kerri. I did enjoy their accent, and I hope they enjoyed the Texas twangs, though neither MSS nor I have much of a drawl. I hope to see New Zealand one of these days, but, boy, is it a long plane ride over there. —Pam