Taking only photographs – leaving only footprints
Last week I was in Rarotonga for four days and nights. I stayed at the Rarotonga Backpackers on the west coast of the island. This was great as it was right on the beach but also just a short drive to the airport and main town of Avarua. Inside the main communal area was this large mural. It was about three metres high and 8 metres wide. According to a small sign in the corner this was painted by Tutai Ataera.
Just opposite Civic Square is the Hasting Police Station on the corner of Eastbourne Street East and Railway Road. On the walls of the building are a number of interesting paintings, murals and posters. One of which, pictured above features the Kiwi. This flightless bird, endemic to New Zealand is a national symbol. Friends have asked me a few times, if I have a photograph of Kiwi yet? Due to not only being nocturnal but also critically endangered, this is probably the best I am going to get!
Before the days of Wikipedia I remember struggling with a school art project on the art deco style. Having heard Napier was the Art Deco capital of New Zealand I knew I had to visit. This large city sits of the east coast of the North Island in Hawke’s Bay. In the 1930’s after a large earthquake many of the buildings were constructed in Art Deco architectural style. The mural in the above photograph represents the style very well. If you look closely you can see this is a public toilet!
The Rotorua Museum is in the Government Gardens in the centre of the city. In my opinion this public park had an English look and feel but with a Kiwi twist. For example there is a bowling green, croquet lawn and bandstand. But there is also a Polynesian Spa and this Maori themed white fence. This photograph just shows a very small section of the hand painted artwork. There must have been hundreds of these faces on the fence posts, each one slightly different.