The River That Is A Person

So, our last night on the South Island was fairly uneventful, a couple of beers, some decent wine and a wood fired pizza then back to our Motel. We had time to kill the next day before the 2.15 ferry so we got the car fixed (just pulled off some trim en route, don’t tell the hire company) and then went for breakfast, which is never easy when Wendy decides to choose the venue:

But the breakfast was fine, though I think the fun of the evening before might have even been better given the choice of reggae played at breakfast.

Then up the road. We were back on the North Island now where the Maori influence is a bit more pervasive and heading ultimately to where the whole story of New Zealand begins whether you are discussing its Maori or European heritage – all roads lead to Waitangi. We first stopped at the town of Whanganui for lunch. The town was a trading terminal on one of the most revered rivers in New Zealand. The river is so important to the Maori people and their legends that it was awarded its own legal status as a person with the rights and responsibilities that involves. The town itself was fascinating, once a railhead and a port still a thriving community. In many ways it was more charming and more beautiful in its deco glory than Napier but I’ll probably be taken out and shot for that!

We stopped for a lovely lunch and then as we pressed on to the west and our destination Mt Taranaki soon came into view.

Those of you with a more earth science background will have immediately spotted that Mt Taranaki is a volcano and not classified as extinct either. Our real destination was the town of New Plymouth sitting just to the right of the mountain in the photo. I chose New Plymouth kind of randomly but then we discovered that it was the birthplace of one of the most respected modern New Zealand artists – Len Lye – a film maker, a kinetic sculptor, writer and painter who worked in the USA and London in the 1950s and 1960s becoming one of the most influential artists of his generation. His most famous piece was just outside the gallery in New Plymouth, the Wind Wand, all 45m of it:

The gallery, the Govett-Brewster Gallery, was one of the most exciting art galleries I have ever visited. Lye’s heritage has enabled them to remain at the cutting edge and the exhibitions were really abstract, contemporary and, well, challenging. Some of Len Lye’s own ground-breaking sculptures and video art were donated to the gallery after his death and remain a major draw. Having not really heard of the man it was a privilege to meet his genius and have our minds expanded. Monica’s Eatery, attached to the gallery also provided us with one of the best lunches so far.

How on earth could we improve upon that. New Plymouth has many fine parks and gardens but Wendy and I were drawn to a tiny advert for the Te Kainga Marire, a private garden at 15 Spencer Street out in the suburbs. I think after the art fest of the morning we were just seeking something a little more peaceful. Well, what a find. Mind you, Monty Don had discovered it several years ago and it was featured in his series “Around the world in 80 Gardens” as we discovered from our new bestie Zelda, who built, owns and maintains this idyllic place – “a gem of middle earth” as their publicity states.