Author & Photographer: Ellen Yule

D8. 2/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - Time to harvest
 
This is the third season of harvest.
 
This little pepper plant on our balcony also struggled and eventually got through the Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita in March 2018.
 
Life is unpredictable.
 
Life is fruitful if enough time, water, sunshine and care is given.
 
​
#stayhomenz   #bepatient   #homegrownvegetables  #plantlover  #DreamNowExperienceLater  #novazelanda  #viatgenovazelanda   #guianovazelanda   #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain  

D9. 3/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - Face mask crisis and solution
 
Global coronavirus pandemic
Global lockdowns
Global supply crisis of masks
Global desperation to protect front-line medical workers
 
Why shall we all compete with the limited orders of imported masks from China?
 
Why not make your own no-sew mask while waiting for the locally made masks?
 
Following “How to make a No-Sew Pleated Face Mask with Handkerchief and Hair Tie”
https://youtu.be/EAj12GKuAEk
 
I made my first face mask with a scarf and 2 hair ties. (Cotton handkerchief is too small). The hair ties can be adjusted easily to fit my ears.
 
It’s washable and reusable.
 
Give it a try.
 
#stayhomenz #facemask #resilience #buylocal #madeinnewzealand  #DreamNowExperienceLater  #novazelanda  #viatgenovazelanda #guianovazelanda  #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain  

​D10. 4/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - Draw inside out
 
Time to clean up file folders in the office, in the garage, in the laptop and in the neck-top.
 
I found this DIY commemorative envelope I drew up to celebrate 800th anniversary of my hometown Chongqing when I was studying International Trade at university.
 
When I was 15, summer temperate was normally over 40°C in Chongqing, China.
 
I got a nasty skin problem on my head, itchy and painful.
 
My grandma boiled some fresh bitter melons to prepare a salad dish.
 
After washing my head with the liquid of bitter melons several times, I got cured.
 
So I drew two bitter melons with a blue fountain ink pen, added my “teen wisdom”: sometimes the more bitter the better.
 
And I submitted it to the newspaper that served for 200,000 people in the factory my parents worked.
 
That’s my first paid drawing (RMB5.00, equivalent to pocket money my parents gave me for a whole month back then).
 
Time fast forwarded.
 
I started to take sketching lessons and co-led a Travel Sketching group to Spain in April 2019.
 
Sketching is a journey for me to reflect, discover, connect with nature, other sketchers and myself...
 
What’s your draw-inside-out story?
 
​
#stayhomenz  #drawing   #diyenvelopes   #travelsketching    #sketching   #urbansketchers #DreamNowExperienceLater #novazelanda #viatgenovazelanda #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain     ​#2waystoursketchnz

D11. 5/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - Drawing makes you smile
 
Why do you believe you cannot draw?
Graham Shaw shows how to prove you can.
 
https://youtu.be/7TXEZ4tP06c
 
Try it yourself like I did. Have fun!
 
​
#stayhomenz #drawing #travelsketching #sketching #urbansketchers  #DreamNowExperienceLater #novazelanda #viatgenovazelanda #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain     #2waystoursketchnz

​D12. 6/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - Birthday antipodes
 
Imagine...
your birthday 10 hours earlier
in a place opposite Catalonia, Spain
in lockdown without family and friends
 
No problem.
 
We prepare a birthday card, a birthday cake, and a birthday party via WhatsUp with our Catalan guest who is the birthday star today.
 
This is the way we care our guests and celebrate their special day in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
 
Happy birthday! Per molts anys! 生日快樂！
 
#stayhomenz  #permoltsanys   #visitauckland   #DreamNowExperienceLater  #novazelanda   #viatgenovazelanda   #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain     #2waystoursketchnz

D13. 7/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - Health
 
Sense salut física i mental
No hi ha salut social i financera. (I’m learning Catalan.)

Without physical and mental health
there's no social and financial health.
 
Today I took my second walk on the beach close to home since the confinement started.
 
To the HEALTH of each of us
 
​
#stayhomenz #WorldHealthDay #salut #covid19nz #visitauckland   #DreamNowExperienceLater #novazelanda #viatgenovazelanda #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain     #2waystoursketchnz

D14. 8/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - Keep distance, save kauri trees
 
Why the New Zealand native Kauri trees are dying?
 
Because a disease called Kauri Dieback is killing them.
 
Because people’s movement spreads the killing disease.
 
I did a quick sketching of this 800-year-old Kauri a week before the lockdown.
 
Giving enough distance and time, hope these living giant trees heal and recovery well...
 
...we may visit them, hug them again one day.
 
​
#stayhomenz #travelsketching #kauri  #sustainabletravel #visitauckland   #DreamNowExperienceLater  #novazelanda  #viatgenovazelanda  #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain     #2waystoursketchnz

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Author & Photographer: Ellen Yule

D1. 26/03/2020  Life in Lockdown - Salut

To respond to the immediate needs during the Aotearoa/New Zealand nationwide lockdown due to covid19 pandemic, we’ve been speeding up work from home today.
 
We felt relieved to be able to help our existing Catalan clients secure their chosen Safe Staycation with sea view for the next 4 weeks in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, New Zealand.
 
I was delighted to write with paua shells in our garden, SALUT❤️ to you and us.
 
​
#stayhomenz  #visitauckland   #salut   #covid19nz   #bekind   #DreamNowExperienceLater
#novazelanda  #viatgenovazelanda  #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain   #2waystoursketchnz
​

D2. 27/03/2020   Life in Lockdown - Slowdown
 
Hurry up, gear up, speed up
From China to New Zealand
From New Zealand to Catalonia
Go, go, go, workaholic...
 
Lockdown, low-down, slow down
From China to Catalonia
From Catalonia to New Zealand
Do, do, do, workless...
 
😷What can we do, see, listen. learn and be in slow motion?
  
​
#stayhomenz   #slowdown   #salut   #covid19nz   #bekind   #DreamNowExperienceLater
#novazelanda  #viatgenovazelanda  #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain   #2waystoursketchnz

D3. 28/03/2020 Life in Lockdown – Video calls
 
3 video calls to family and friends every day make their day and mine too (no face masks and social distancing required)😄
 
​
#stayhomenz  #connections    #videocalls  #covid19nz   #bekind   #DreamNowExperienceLater
#novazelanda  #viatgenovazelanda  #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain   #2waystoursketchnz

D4. 29/03/2020 Life in Lockdown - Problem
 
Sunday, sunshine is crispy. Sky is blue. Birds are singing.
 
My iPhone is ringing.
 
“Ellen we’ve got a big problem!” The apartments manager sounds worried.
 
Me: “What? Are your apartments closed down? Did our guests get sick?”
 
It turns out they cannot provide to our guests' room cleaning service anymore.
 
Why not?
 
Because the cleaning company was told by the government that they’re not essential service and must close during the lockdown.
 
The apartment manager: “If you’re not happy with it, we can refund you and you find other place.”
 
Where to keep our Catalan guests in a safe comfortable place without further disruption and stress?
 
Most of hotels in New Zealand are closed from day one of the lockdown. The few operating hotels are open only to the essential service staff.
 
After negotiating, I make sure our guests will get some extra clean towels and bed sheets today. And they’ll also get a refund for reduced service.
 
In this stressful uncertain time, be kind, be helpful.
 
Everything is ka pai.
 
​
#stayhomenz #kapai #covid19nz #bekind #behelpful #visitauckland    #DreamNowExperienceLater #novazelanda #viatgenovazelanda #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain    #2waystoursketchnz

D5. 30/03/2020  Life in Lockdown - Volunteering from home
 
18 years of volunteering at Citizen Advice Bureau, today is my first duty on roster to serve the public from home on phone and via email.
 
To help people in need, you’ve got to know:
1) the relevant upaged true information or
2) the official trustworthy sources to find those information.
 
Everything about Covid-19 in New Zealand
https://covid19.govt.nz/
 
Citizens Advice Bureau
http://cab.org.nz
 
Report a non-emergency or breaches of lockdown
105.police.govt.nz
 
New Zealand Visa duration extension
www.immigration.govt.nz
 
Tip: email and online form work faster than phone call.
 
No doubt, my voluntary work experiences at CAB have helped me serve better our travellers and students from Catalonia, Spain, Argentina and China.
 
 
#stayhomenz   #volunteering   #citizensadvicebureau   #bekind   #behelpful   #visitauckland    #DreamNowExperienceLater #novazelanda #viatgenovazelanda #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain   #2waystoursketchnz

​
D6. 31/03/2020 Life in Lockdown - Reddy Teddy Bear
 
In “Teddy Bear Hunt”, here’s the story of Reddy Teddy Bear.
 
In 2002 Reddy arrived in Aotearoa/New Zealand with Ellen from China. Nobody greeted them at Auckland airport. No accommodation was reserved though all fees were prepaid.
 
BEAR ill will to the irresponsible agent and the school staff?
 
No. Ellen set up 2WAYS company to serve people in the way she’d love to be treated with respect and care.
 
In 2011 Reddy fell on the floor among messy papers and broken glasses... in the 6.7 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch.
 
BEAR up under enormous amount of stress and anxiety, and gradually regain trust after natural disasters.
 
In 2020, Reddy has been confined at home to fight against the global Covid-19 pandemic.
 
BEAR with 5-week self-isolation to save lives, to reflect the healthy relationships with nature and human.
 
At the end, efforts BEAR fruit.
 
​ 
#stayhomenz   #bekind   #behelpful   #teddybear   #teddybearhunt   #teddybearhuntnz  #visitauckland  #DreamNowExperienceLater  #novazelanda   #viatgenovazelanda   #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain   #2waystoursketchnz

D7. 1/04/2020 Life in Lockdown - No Fool Yes Fly
 
Can you still fly in the global lockdown?
 
On 1 April, we finally could help Toni and Montse, our Catalan guests departed Auckland for home Barcelona, after their 30-day holiday trip in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
 
Not a joke!
 
Not an easy task.
 
We suggested them drive 600km in one day from Wellington to Auckland the day before the NZ nationwide lockdown began.
 
Secured for them a safe comfortable apartment with sea view for 7 days.
 
Called them everyday with the latest relevant updates and personal support.
 
Spanish Embassy travel alert checked.
 
Australia Transit Visa approved.
 
Auckland airport international departure flights followed.
 
Airport taxi booked.
 
International flights cancelled 20 hours before the departure time.
 
anxiously calling waiting
...
Be calm. Be patient.
 
Impossible can be possible with positive attitude.
 
Bon viatge!
 
​
#stayhomenz #bekind #behelpful #airnz #positiveattitude #visitauckland    #DreamNowExperienceLater #novazelanda #viatgenovazelanda #guianovazelanda  #2waysnz   #2ways_tours_nz_spain   #2waystoursketchnz

Let's connect on Facebook   Instagram   Linkedin     
​

by Ellen Yule
​

Every friend, every client, every business contact was a stranger, once.

I only connect with people by accepting or requesting friend on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or by email

📌who have resources/services that may help me with personal and business journey (tourism & education providers, web developers, copy writers, social media markers, business mentors, etc.)

🗝️who may trust and value my resources/services to help them with their life journey by commenting or sharing my contents

🌟 who are inspiring (writers, artists, community leaders, etc.)

We meet online for the first time. 
👉 
we nurture the relationship from there. 👉 

We build up a social network that allows us support, refer, grow, and move towards where we want to be.

Every stranger now could be a future friend, colleague or client.

🧲 I’m working on attracting and connecting with the right people.😀

Who do you accept and connect with?

by Ellen Yule

I’ve been working our what ingredients to make the perfect ‘cake’ / safe joyful memorable Travel Sketch Spain Holiday!

Here are 8 ‘ingredients’ I’ve thought of:

🧁 Love / Fear identified 
🧁 Skilled Sketch Tutor
🧁 Local Experienced Tour Guide
🧁 Comfortable Accommodation
🧁 Convenient Transport 
🧁 Inspiring Visits (to places & people)
🧁 Healthy delicious food
🧁 Like-minded sketchers 

What would you add?

✍🎨✍🎨✍🎨
 
P.S. The next 2WAYS Travel Sketch Spain Tours will take place in April 2020 with lots of personal interaction with your skilled sketching tutor and knowledgeable local tour director.
 
From now until then, we'll be sharing some free tips and interesting stories of travel sketching in Spain to help you get ready for the creative adventure. If you are interested, please click here join our FREE facebook group Travel Sketch Spain Holiday or sign up the dedicated e-news.​👇

🔒 Your information is 100% safe with us. We will never sell or share your info with anyone. Privacy Policy

​
​

by Ellen Yule
 
 
Do you think hiring a local experienced tour guide is worthwhile when you're on an overseas holiday?
 
Let me tell you how I learnt of it.
 
🏆 20 years ago, I was one of Top 10 Backpackers in China. With that Do-It-Yourself mentality, I travelled to New Zealand alone in 2002.
 
After half year English study in Auckland, I organised myself a 3-week self-drive road trip around the country.
 
🚘 My car broken down just on the second day, and I ended up with a serious car accident. Thank God, I wasn’t hurt physically (but scared to death!😱)
 
Nothing could stop me. After a short rest, I joined a guided group tour, did bungy jumping, gold panning, Milford Sound cruising, meeting interesting travellers from other countries...
 
🏖 I had an unforgettable experience in my first holiday tour in New Zealand. It’s safe, informative, worry-free and tons of fun. That’s a real holiday!!
 
I’d like to forget but I want to share with you that the price, time and stress I paid to get my car repaired, accommodation cancelled and rebooked, the court case sorted were tremendous. 😰
 
🎯 Being always passionate about travelling, I’d learnt the lesson from my trip, and then I studied Travel & Tourism Management in New Zealand.
 
If I can share just one travel tip for your once-in-lifetime overseas holiday, consider using a local travel expert. 👈

​by Ellen Y.
 
 
Another ochre yellow building? Of course not.
 
While ancient architecture is a significant part of a visit to Spain, you might also enjoy the smaller features and moments in public places for sketching, such as a colourful balcony, a beautiful tile, a horse-driven tour carriage, or a passionate flamenco dancer.
 
We understand it. Your local tour directors work closely with your sketch tutor to make sure that we find the places and you sketch the moments, with countless sketching opportunities.
 
Vivienne Lingard, an experienced sketcher, illustrator, art teacher and curator, shows in her travel sketch blog how she absorbed the richness of Sevilla's cityscapes and flamenco experience  in her sketchbook, with a group of kiwi sketchers in the Travel Sketch Spain Holiday Tour in April 2019, organised by 2WAYS Tours in partnership with ErinHill Sketching New Zealand.

Author: Vivienne Lingard   Photo: Ellen Yule
 
 
The contrasting landscape heading to Seville was amazing: cypress trees dark against earthen buildings, scruffy pine-nut trees, tiny old huts, and fields; where grapes replaced orange trees, then olives, as the train sped past. Undulating hills, the soil darkening to a burnt sienna and white houses with orange tiled roofs. A change back to orange groves as we neared Seville, sun-touched and golden. What a warm welcome.
 
We sketched, just a short time after our arrival at the Guadalquivir River, looking over to La Torre del Oro (the gold tower).
 
El Alcázar, the Moorish Caliphas palaces and gardens, is a stunning place, quite glorious; from the art adorning its walls, to the tiles on its floors. It is the perfect environment for a romantic art-loving person like me!
 
Come evening, it was time for our visit to the Flamenco concert. I was content to watch the two terrific female dancers, swirl, seduce, scowl, and dance around the sole male dancer, their feet stamping urgently on the wooden floor. The deep husky tones of the singer’s voice, as she clapped, urged the dancers on. It was mesmerising.
 
The following day, more gardens, horses and carriages, at Parque de Maria Luisa.
 
A great big thanks here to our fabulous guides Amelia and Ellen, who along with Tony made this Sketch Spain trip such a memorable experience. XXX
 
 
Visit Vivienne Lingard's ARTISTRY blog for the full story and sketches of Travel Sketch Sevilla, Spain.
 
 
✍🎨✍🎨✍🎨
 
P.S. The next 2WAYS Travel Sketch Spain Tours will take place in October 2019 and April 2020 with lots of personal interaction with your skilled sketching tutor and knowledgeable local tour director.
 
From now until then, we'll be sharing some free tips and interesting stories of travel sketching in Spain to help you get ready for the creative adventure. If you are interested, please click here join our FREE facebook group Travel Sketch Spain Holiday or sign up the dedicated e-news.👇 

🔒 Your information is 100% safe with us. We will never sell or share your info with anyone. Privacy Policy
​
✍🎨✍🎨✍🎨
​

​by Ellen Y.
 
Is travel sketch a good marriage between sketching and enjoying holiday trip in Spain?
 
You travel to Spain to sketch. You just want to sketch and go sightseeing, sketch and enjoy eating, sketch and experience cultures.

That's why we carefully choose Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla - the three most interesting cities in Spain for you to travel sketch because of their unique cityscapes, colour intensity and cultural diversity.
 
Then you might think the tension that there would not be enough time for sketching because of too much time in travelling from point A to point B.
 
On the other hand, you might feel overwhelmed or tired after one-and-half-hour concentration on sketching. You need to do something pleasantly different from sketching itself or sketching the same subject.
 
So it's not about the time, it's about the right balance of learning sketch lessons, completing your sketching and colouring on location, and various travelling experiences that inspire you sketch better with more confidence and joy.
 
Vivienne Lingard, an experienced sketcher, illustrator, art teacher and curator, shows in her travel sketch blog how she confronted the most common travel sketching challenges and captured them in her sketchbook, with a group of kiwi sketchers in the Travel Sketch Spain Holiday Tour in April 2019, organised by 2WAYS Tours in partnership with ErinHill Sketching New Zealand.

Author: Vivienne Lingard   Photo: Ellen Yule
 
 
It was a peaceful 3hr train ride from Barcelona to Valencia, which gave me time to sketch the orange tree (above), abundant with Valencia oranges – naturally. I looked about the carriage, and saw most of the group head-down sketching, or colouring their work, assiduously.
 
Torres de Serranos – our first sketching destination. Except, when I faced the large stone edifice, as wonderful as it was, I felt the familiar ‘I don’t feel like drawing you’ feeling overcome me, and sketched a street corner behind it, as the scene appealed more.
 
The next day we climbed aboard the taxi-bus for the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Science complex). Boy oh boy! This was the most amazing set of buildings. Curves overlapping more curves; arcs, arches and connecting bridges, mirrored in vast pools of still water. I secured a nice spot in the sun, took out my sketchbook, took hold of my pen and started. I did a couple of ‘thumbnail’ sketches first, looking and looking, measuring with my eyes before tackling a larger view.
 
And, as if we hadn’t enjoyed enough fantastic food in Valencia, the next day Amelia and Ellen took us to a stupendous paella lunch at La Albufera, a large wetlands and lake area. A couple of hours later, we were beside the lake climbing into a Vela Latina, a traditional boat. What a pleasant excursion. The group are opening books and sketching but I continue to dream my own story.

Visit Vivienne Lingard's ARTISTRY blog for the full story and sketches of Travel Sketch Valencia, Spain.

  
✍🎨✍🎨✍🎨
 
P.S. The next 2WAYS Travel Sketch Spain Tours will take place in October 2019 and April 2020 with lots of personal interaction with your skilled sketching tutor and knowledgeable local tour director.
 
From now until then, we'll be sharing some free tips and interesting stories of travel sketching in Spain to help you get ready for the creative adventure. If you are interested, please click here join our FREE facebook group Travel Sketch Spain Holiday or sign up the dedicated e-news. 👇

​by Ellen Yule


​We can tell you 99 reasons why you should join the Travel Sketch Holiday Tour in Spain with 2WAYS.
 
The most important reason is:
our appreciative clients, dear guests, fellow sketchers, travel companions, like us do things like this.
 
A group of kiwi sketchers loved how it feeld when they enjoyed sketching while travelling, sightseeing, eating, cultural experiencing and having fun along their creative art journey around Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla in April 2019. The Travel Sketch trip to Spain was organised by 2WAYS in partnership of ErinHill Sketching New Zealand.
 
Here are some success stories… 

" I felt that there had been such effort made in selecting places to stay, sites to visit, travel et al, faultless.
 
It was relaxing, to travel, and not have to plot and plan all the aspects myself. The stress was removed, by 2WAYS, meaning I could just sketch and have fun.

​The friendliness, helpfulness and knowledge, from both Amelia and Ellen was fantastic. They were always attentive to the groups’ needs and went out of their way to accommodate us all." Vivienne Lingard 

​ 
"The iconic monuments and places of interest to visit were well chosen for the time we had in each place.

While ancient architecture is a significant part of a visit to Spain, what I particularly enjoyed were the smaller features and moments in public places for sketching.
 
I really enjoyed the opportunities at the end of the day to have the sketch tutor’s input finishing our day’s sketches over a drink.

I loved the flamenco concert – that was simply fabulous. 2WAYS arranged for us to see the best of the best." Jo Conaglen

 
​"Wonderful hotel room and the breakfast and central location, a winning combination.

My highlights were the prize winning paella, Albufera boat trip and of course the Flamenco evening…Ole.
 
I had a wonderful time, very satisfied, met some lovely peeps, laughed a lot, ate a bit more and felt well taken care of.

Big plus for me included the architecture with the wonderful layering of various cultures past and present…still evident...in my sketchbook." Shirley Bluett

 
"Everything was extremely well organised. We had many wonderful experiences. We learned a lot, both about sketching and Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia.
 
Amelia and Ellen did a wonderful job of showing us places and tastes that we would have never found on our own. They went far beyond what I would expect most travel agents or guides would do to make it memorable for us.
 
My sketching improved markedly, from a pretty modest base. It was great fun and we had a wonderful crew. So I would give this trip my heartiest recommendation." ​Peter Wilson

​"Having all the details very well organised, thoughtfully selected places to visit, cultural experiences and information, always good food places advised.
​
Thank you for the excellent and efficient organisation which made everything flow well and enhanced the trip hugely." Kerry Chamberlain

 
" I appreciate the way you are able and willing to adapt to individuals where possible and reasonable. I felt there was a genuine concern for the wellbeing of each person in the group.
 
I particularly recommend Amelia for your expertise in Spain and your skill in sharing them.
 
I enjoyed the excitement passion and varied experience of Spain. You have in depth knowledge of the areas of your expertise. I enjoyed very much the local and specific knowledge e.g. food. " Inie Kroef​

​✍🎨✍🎨✍🎨
 
P.S. The next 2WAYS Travel Sketch Spain Tours will take place in October 2019 and April 2020 with lots of personal interaction with your skilled sketching tutor and knowledgeable local tour director.
 
From now until then, we'll be sharing some free tips and interesting stories of travel sketching in Spain to help you get ready for the creative adventure. If you are interested, please click here join our FREE facebook group Travel Sketch Spain Holiday or sign up the dedicated e-news. 👇
​