www.paitangiartandink.co.nz will be coming to a town near you soon. If you or your friends are in Scotland/ England and wish to have Ta Moko please message/ email me with details asp as we intend to be in the UK around 20 July. Details required: size and location of ta moko on your body and where you live. If we have enough interest then we will come to you. Watch this space for further details. email: colinharrison200@gmail.com.

Planning is now in full swing for Scotland Tour. Arrive late in Glasgow on the 19th July and on the on 20th the fun begins.

1st cab off the rank is a visit to Rob Allan of Amber Peyote Woodcraft and Design in Kilburnie. Check out their Facebook page. From Kilburnie we are travelling a clockwise direction through the Scottish Highlands, Pai is desperate to see a heelan coo in the heelans and to swim with Nessie in the Great Glen. A family stop in Inverness to see cuzzies and then to Rothes to see niece and fam. A wee drive through to Cupar will complete the Highland leg of the tour.

This blog will of course be updated and dates confirmed as we go.

Cmon Scotland!!!

13 July

Well people, it's a week till we arrive in Bonnie Scotland. Paitangi is all booked up for our Scottish leg so if you were thinking of having a walk in....too late! To all those whom have supported Pai, I thank you and look forward to seeing you all very soon.

18 July

Our penultimate night in Munich. We are kinda excited as tomorrow night we touch down in Glasgow ready for a whirlwind tour of Bonnie Scotland. Last night we had our cultural fling with Beethoven and his 9th symphony. What an outstanding night; Bavarian Symphony Orchestra playing to an outdoor audience in the Odeonplatz on a balmy Bavarian evening, as the sun goes down and the moon comes up. A fine farewell to Munich.

22 July

Well folks, been in North Ayrshire for the last two days. The flights over were interesting, having flown long hall flights and then intercity hopping between European cities. Te sandwich in a cardboard box was amusing. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful on KLM airlines. Touchdown in Glasgow, 25C at 10pm was pretty good. The Ramada hotel is less than average while undergoing renovations but it was a haven for the night.

A short drive to Kilburnie the following morning and into our first client. Rob Allen of Amber Peyote Woodcraft and Design (check out his work). Rob had contacted Pai two years ago and had kept in touch over that time. He had also offered Pai accomodation and a place to practise her art if she was ever in Scotland. Was this a stalker? Was this man a mass murderer? Nothing was heard from Rob for a while and when Pai announced the 'tours' this man appeared again and repeated these kind offers. Then Rob dropped the bait; Rob is a woodworker, artist, ex Royal Engineer and all round good bloke. This resonated with both Pai and Colin who decided to visit his company and check him out.

Well, Rob is the real deal. Both Pai and Colin were taken aback by Robs enthusiasm, generosity and kindness. His ambition and drive is evident in his work and the people that popped into the workshop to see him. Two days of smiles, laughs and riveting story telling.

Robs Ta moko tells his life story, a beautiful piece by Pai and a well deserving recipient. Rob was supported by his lovely partner Sally, who, during his 8.5 hrs journey, managed to clear out all the rubbish from his office.

Today sees the next part of the odyssey travelling north through the Highlands. Who knows what will turn up next? But I can tell you this, we have made lifelong friends with Rob and Sally and we all know we will meet again, whether it's here in Scotland or in NZ. Bless you both.

28 July

We've had a few glitches with the site and now hopefully have them ironed out.

We are now in Stirling on a bit of site seeing tiki tour between mahi; working our way south to catch up with whanau.

After we left Kilburnie we drove north through the Great Glen (Nessie country) and into Inverness to catch up with cuz James and Robert. James was keen to have Ta moko and became another member of ngati Pai. James was a strong clansman and gave no hint of the pain Pai inflicted. We said goodbye to the cuz after he guided us through Rait Castle and Clava Cairns. Thanks James, you're the bomb.

A short trip east to niece Kirsty and hubbie Andy in Rothes. How handy.....both work in a distillery each. Nice!

Anyhoo Andy was first up with a leg piece; another tough highlander who casually read, played on iPad while inked. Kirsty also showed true grit being totally relaxed reading throughout. We had a lovely stay with Andy and Kirsty and a tour of Glen Grant distillery and the gardens were a bonus. Pai was very happy rummaging through the hoko hoko shops in Rothes.

Andys completed ink with Maori curling stone.

The trip south began with a few stops within 5 miles of Rothes, Colin and the GPS never agreed; gps says go right, Colin goes left, GPS says do a u turn, Colin turns left. And so the ever decreasing circle carried on till we had travelled 100miles but had only actually traveled 16 miles from Kirsties house.

Anyhoo we eventually found a beautiful spot for the night, just south of Aviemore and settled for the night in luxury.

Tonight we find ourselves at the foot of the Wallace Monument in readiness for more history and stone crowds in the morning. Love it. Night all.

ps....Pai loves castles..."love all that shit!"

pps...hope to be well south by tomorrow night, maybe even in Twynholm?

4th August

Well and truly south now, Stranraer to be exact. Wallace Monument and Stirling Castle in the bag, games night in Star Hotel, Twynholm and a few domino wins in the bag and now in Stranraer with first victim in the bag.

Pai found time to ponder at the Cairn Holy Chambered Cairn, Gatehouse of Fleet.

14 Aug

Hi all. For those of you following Paitangi Art and Ink on Facebook, you will realise that Mahi was a mix of visiting family residing in Scotland, paying respects to Paitangis' ancesters in Yorkshire and some Ta moko. It's been a very busy month covering some 2000 miles and visiting family and friends in Kilbirnie, Inverness, Rothes, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Twynholm, Stranraer, Hartlepool, Yeadon and Aysgarth. For those of you who missed out because we couldn't make it happen, my apologies but we are already making plans for a return trip.

Dave in Stranraer receives Ta moko in memory of his mum.

16 August

Today is the last full day in Scotland. Tomorrow sees our return to our German whanau to complete some mahi already started. We took in a couple of sites on the way to our hotel; Forth bridges, The Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel. It seemed fitting to end our month in the UK visiting one of Scotland's very own Taniwha, the Kelpies. At 30m in height Pai can still hongi with Duke.

Ta Moko - Scotland/ England

He Ao Kotahi - 10 days in The Holy Lands.

Ta Moko - Deutschland