Bluegrass at 45° Below The Equator–Mark Miracle Reports from New Zealand!

Arizona’s X-Train, now on their first International Tour in Australia and New Zealand are thrilling audiences everywhere they go.   The band’s Mark Miracle has been keeping the “Back-Home” fans up-to-date with his “Guest Blog” Reports here on the Prescription Bluegrass Blog.  In his fourth installment,  Mark writes;

Last gig in NZ….bummer. Spent the last 3 days at the home of our drivers, Val & Lorna. We spent our time walking, driving and rowing through the city of Christchurch. The inner city was devastated by this year's earthquake with several business and landmarks gone forever. Several old churches and University buildings that dated back to the 1800's are typically not salvageable and we got some pics as they were being torn down. Interestingly, they now have temporary business in place using shipping containers as offices, "Take-away" food outlets and even banks.

We played a house concert in Cass Bay, just overlooking the bay itself…amazing sight. Folks enjoyed the intimate setting and the 2 sets we played, followed by a jam with everyone playing and singing (and dancing!). We setup in the living room where we played in front of windows that went from the floor to the ceiling. Outside, 4 pet llama's stood within 1 foot from the glass and 2 feet from us…very cool. Peter would turn and play to them, but they didn't seem interested except for the small bowl of llama treats that sat by the sliding door. But they were good for a laugh throughout the evening and we even changed the words to a song to include them.

We area now driving to Dunedin, NZ - our most southern gig on the south island. We are already more than 45º south of the equator and I'm sure it will be cold down there. We are going to try to enjoy it while we can as we leave in 2 days for Brisbane, Australia where it will be (hopefully) sunny and warm. Great way to wrap up our month-long tour!

Oh, and the night sky is amazing down here and I finally got to see the Southern Cross! I just might try "grassing" that Crosby, Stills and Nash tune…hmmm.