Perhaps the recent burst of summery weather has made Tauranga seem a better place in the past week, but I think it's the Arts Festival.

Like most people, I didn't get as many tickets for events as I would have liked, and the continual stream of happy punters telling me how much they enjoyed this or that show reminds me, yet again, that next time I should go and see more.
But it does bring a buzz to the town, and lovers of the arts get an instant topic of conversation for at least a couple of weeks.
The theatre shows have – by all accounts – been fantastic and the music mostly sold out, which speaks well to the ability of organisers to judge the peculiar tastes of Tauranga's ever-changing demographic.
I went to one of the shows that wasn't quite sold out, Tim O'Brien and the Two Oceans Trio down at the Crystal Palace. It was, and I think every single person in the audience would agree, astoundingly good.
I suspect that, despite my cheerleading in advance, many people were put off by the idea of bluegrass as a musical form. That seems odd, particularly after the recent popularity of many 'new traditionalist” artists in the wake of films like Oh Brother Where Art Thou and Down From The Mountain. Tim's concert ranged across all the styles you hear in those movies and he dazzled on mandolin, banjo and fiddle, despite describing himself as 'mainly a singer”.
Tauranga audiences were doubly lucky as the following day Tim received sad news that his father had passed away in the States. The rest of his New Zealand tour was cancelled and he headed straight back to be with his family.
Last word from the band before departing was: 'The Trio have had so much fun with the tour that they wish to reschedule for some time in the New Year.” If that means they return to Tauranga, don't miss them next time. In the meantime we offer sincere condolences and wish Tim and his lovely wife - who was manning the CD table and very much enjoying her time in new Zealand - a safe trip home.
I also caught local boys The Mellow Drops in the tent. Their show really was sold out and it's a testament to the band's hard work that they are now attracting such a strong following. The addition of two female backing singers added a new dimension to their sound while video projections on either side of the stage were a nascent experiment pointing towards future directions.
And, although most (possibly all) of the remaining shows are pretty much sold out, there are still things to enjoy about the festival if you haven't yet had the time.
Up at Baycourt until Sunday is the World Press Photo exhibition from 2009. This collects exactly what the title says – the best photographs from media around the world. It is an exhibition that is both impressive and distressing.
The photographs themselves are magnificent and often leave you wondering just how they could have actually been taken. There are several categories: Sport, Daily Life, Portraits, Art and Entertainment, and Nature, but by far the biggest section is just called News. And its that section that I assume the entrance warning of 'disturbing images” is aimed.
For while the other sections take in shots of the Olympics, the eyes of animals, Dennis Hopper and much else besides, the News pictures are almost exclusively centred around war, poverty, natural disasters, and sometimes all three at once. It's a sobering experience. But even as I looked in amazement at some of the images – victims being carried from the rubble of the Sichuan earthquake or streetkids dying in the gutter in Brazil – I couldn't help but think Is This All There Is?
Are there not newsworthy events that don't involve suffering? Is this the world or just how we've come to view the world through the modern media where only pain and misery make the news?
See it – it's only a gold coin donation - and see what you think. And, until next time, hats off to Philip Tremewan, Greg Latham, Jo Bond, Jon Mayson and all the other hundreds of people who have made this Arts Festival such a pleasure. We appreciate it!