well, it was highly unlikely that my Dad would be "retired" in New Zealand. he's not the sort to just sit around, really. to that end, then, he and Mum are opening up what has been looking like and certainly sounding very much like an excellent store in the Mount Maunganui region.
i am not certain that it will be a "Mega store" as such, but it should have plenty of interest inside. more on that later, but for now, if you know my Dad at all (even passing by him would do in this instance) you will agree that the store has the perfect name!
i am not certain that he is all that old in the grand scheme of things to be honest, but the grumpy part is particularly spot on. i suppose what we, his family, consider "grumpy" might go down as "charismatic" or perhaps even "forthright personality" with the fine people of Mount Maunganui.
right, i had best get on with promoting this venture, otherwise i shall get one of "those" emails from him. the ones in which he offers some pointers on how i should be doing this blog, what i should be writing and so on.
as you can see from this picture (presumably from the doorway), Old Grumpy's Gallery is easily accessible by one of the fine, excellent and outstanding bus services on offer to the people of New Zealand.
which bus? don't have a clue. to be honest the closest i have been to Mount Maunganui is Sydner Harbour Bridge about 30 years ago. i am sure, however, that if you are in or around the Mount Maunganui area the you will be well versed in which buses run where. i forsee a scanned bus schedule being emailed to me, or perhaps even a comment about how i should have looked it up on the internet. let me do the latter as i write.
moving on, and the front of the store gives you some idea of what's available at Old Grumpy's.
Dad's photography is outstanding, as has been shown off on this blog many times, so i do not need to comment further there. the studio part is related to that, of course, and he will be offering the finest quality portraits of whatever or whomever you wish to have portrait images taken of.
the "collectables" bit is most interesting - the conversation we had just before he left, "don't you have any rare books that you want to give me, son?", makes sense all of a sudden. the answer was yes and no.
as for the coffee part, please, i encourage you to go in to Old Grumpy's and order a coffee off my Dad. i would be most interested to hear how that goes, in particular as there was famously only 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers. i would consider covering the costs of this via PayPal just for the images! i would imagine my Mum, being very much a people person, will be in charge of this part. that will probably mean that Rooibos Tea shall be, as best they can, available to the fine people of Mount Maunganui.
ah, bus details. well, it seems you can get there via something called the Naked Bus, the Inter City or something called the Bay Hopper. all sound good. as for which stop to get off at, i would imagine you ask for the Bay City Cinema, looking at the below picture.
i can really only hope that Paul Rutherford is a frequent visitor to this particular cinema, and that he pops in on one of his visits! i suppose i should drop him a note to ask if he wouldn't mind popping in to see my Mum and Dad, but there's no fun in that, rather let them have a chance meeting.
nice one Mum and Dad! we all hope the gallery is a great success, and we're looking forward to news and pictures of the grand opening!
on the note of success and news, to finish off i am delighted to hear and indeed see that Marmite has cleared quarantine and is now in her new home too!
more news as and when i get it on both Marmite and Old Grumpy's Gallery!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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