Love is love

 

I spotted this little mural on the front of a Chorus utility box in the suburbs of Christchurch last time we were there just before Christmas. Unfortunately this one has had a bit of graffiti added to it but it shows a Kererū, a native New Zealand Wood Pigeon sitting on a branch.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Biggie Bagels

The week before Christmas we were in Whangarei so after getting B to drop me off I wandered around taking photos of various murals. This one is on the wall outside "Biggie Bagels" and was painted by Rodrigo Rozas who also painted this one in Hikurangi. The number 7 refers to their street address which is at 7 Bank Street.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Mica Still and the bear

 This photo came up in my memorites on Facebook, I'd forgotten I had it so herewith this bear on the side of a building in Mount Maunganui was painted by artist Mica Still who seems to have an afinity with bears from what I can see on the Facebook page. It's bright, it's colourful but I'm not sure what it's all about.

Well as of this morning we have a Labour led majority government and we couldn't be happier. With roughly full election results it looks like Labour is on 49.5% which means they can govern alone without teaming up with any other parties. I think Jacinda really has done well leading us through Covid so hopefully the next 3 years we can bounce back even stronger.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Through my lens.

Totara North Murals

At Totara North, last time I visited I drove past the local museum and stopped to admire these murals painted on various buildings.

 Painted by artist Chris Wilkie who joined up with local Bruce Sanderson, they illustrate the area's history such as the Lane and Brown timber mill.

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The local Kauri milling industry which employed many settlers to cut down trees - apparently the man in this man is Bruce's dad, an Augustus Earle lithograph of early Maori in their Kainga (home) near the beach. 

Bruce's great great grandmother Te Waka Heremaia from Rawhiti is also featured. 

A bit more information about this little town: Totara North is a small settlement on the northern side of Whangaroa Harbour. It is home to around two hundred close-knit residents and has a primary school with 38 pupils, a community hall and gardens, The Gum Store bar and cafe, a now derelict timber mill, a wharf, a shed for crayfish processing and a boat ramp. 

The steep bush-clad hills of this northern side of the harbour tumble almost all the way into the sea and offer little flat land on which a town could grow, but prior to the 1990's when the last privately-owned kauri trees were milled, Totara North's proximity to the sea, the kauri trees and kauri gum fields, allowed it to exploit its nearby kauri forests and to become a thriving and prosperous community and a hub of commercial activity and enterprise in Northland. (information taken from from Whangaroa.co.nz)

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Where does your Whakapapa lead?

Last time we were in Whangarei I took these photos of a very long mural/artwork near the Hospice Shop. Created by Maree Aldridge the words "hononga" and "whakapapa" mean "connection/lineage/relationship/starting place" - for instance where does your genealogy lead to?

"Aroaro" meaning "Presence" or "the face you put on, your front, your countenance. How do you see yourself? How do others see you?

"Aroha" - love. Do you only love yourself or do you love others as you would like to be loved? Also meaning sympathy, charity, compassion and empathy.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Life with less plastic

 This week's mural is one I found on our last visit to MOTAT. According to information found from the Auckland City Council, this particular one was painted by Australian/New York based artist "Vexta".  It is based on a mediation of ideas, dreams, plastic particles and the interconnectness of life. 

In 2016 MOTAT commissioned a number of murals to make the site more vibrant and appealing for their visitors. This mural named "A world without plastic" is part of a partnership with Pangeaseed's "Seawalls: murals for oceans" which was an international event that took place of that year. 

Here in NZ, plastic bags of a certain width and weight with handles have been banned. So in supermarkets you can only use the thin plastic bags for vegetables, meat is obviously enclosed in plastic - if you go through the checkout they only supply paper bags or reusable bags that you have to buy or you can bring your own bags.  But we still have a long way to go, companies need to get in on the act by not wrapping every single product in plastic.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Our World Tuesday.

Slightly Askew

This mural in Tauranga is one of my favourites. Painted by Askew One aka Elliot O'Donnell who is from Auckland this is typical of his style which is either flamboyant graffiti or large abstract portraits.  He describes his genre as post-graffiti Pacific and he also does a huge amount of studio work in Brooklyn, New York.

Tauranga is one of those places like Mount Maunganui where there are massive amounts of murals on the sides of buildings and personally I think it's great - our world needs more colour.

Covid news - as of tonight Auckland City goes down to level 2 out of level 3 and people are being urged to wear face masks, these are mandatory on public transport. Personally I think with up to 11 cases each day on average it's too soon and it's hard to know whether people will still be aware or whether they will just live every day as normal. I hope you're staying safe - kia kaha.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Ginger Cafe Mural

A few years back when I use to travel to Warkworth quite a bit I took this shot of a mural on the side of the Ginger Cafe, so far my efforts to find out who the artist was has proven fruitless but to me it looks like dancing coffee cups on the left in amongst clouds. I am a coffee drinker myself and I can rate their mochas very very good. I don't think they are business anymore as I can't find any trace of them online which is a pity.

I hope you're staying safe wherever you are. With today being the 1st day of Winter much of Northland has had heavy rain warnings, over the last few days we've had heavy pelting rain and last night was blowing a gale. We have had my parents up over the long weekend staying in their camper in our driveway, they are due to go back today but this morning we were up at "The Rusty Tractor Cafe", one of our favourite spots enjoying "eggs benedict". Time to hibernate I think.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Our World Tuesday.

Wings...

I've been going through some of my old photo folders and found quite a few  from 2017 of murals when we lived in Tauranga.

This one named "Wings" on The Strand has been painted on a modern toilet block and was created by 2 artists Tara Fowler and Millie Newitt. It was meant to be a "love note" to the people of Tauranga in 2018 and the 2 girls worked throughout horrendous weather (I took that to mean rain or storms) taking 24 hours to complete it.

Many people stop and take selfies in front of it so it looks like they have wings too.

Linking up with Monday Murals and Our World Tuesday.

Opening up by Gina Kiel

This mural in Whangarei is located on the side of one such building in James street and is titled "Opening up, Sharing the Colours, Communication is is connection" and was part of the Manaia Street Prints Festival of 2019.

Painted by Wellington local Gina Kiel who has said it fits well with the "Tuia te muka Tangata" or "Weaving the threads of humanity" theme. It encourages the idea of peaceful communication being a connection with people everywhere.

Gina is an award winning illustrator who exhibits at group shows around the world, creating work in her home studio for clients nationally and internationally, tattooing and painting murals.  Judging by the work on her website I'd say she is one clever cookie.



Linking up with Mural Monday.

Fantail by Thijs de Koning

Our town has an activity zone which is very very popular with families and teenagers. Not only is there a skatepark but there is also a play area and will also in the near future include a cricket patch, a barbecue area, walking tracks, bicycle tracks,  soccer field, flying fox and cafe. I've researched the artist of this mural which is on the public toilet and it looks like it was painted by local artist Thijs de Koning and celebrates one of our iconic birds - the Fantail.

The Fantail or Piwakawaka as it's known in Maori is quite a friendly bird. They don't often hang about in public places but much prefer quiet native bush areas and tend to curiously flit around people. They are not endangered but in the Maori world they are known to bring news of a death from the gods to the people.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Our World Tuesday.

Rodrigo Rozas in Hikurangi

We are finally here back home, the house is a mess with unpacked boxes but we are getting there slowly. We have my 3 teenagers and my oldest son's girlfriend - we are no longer on town supply water, we have a large water tank behind the house that we rely on from the rain so we have had to implement a 5 minute shower timing system and each cycle someone does of the washing machine has to be limited to 30 minute eco wash. 3 of us are working full-time but myself and the other 2 will be job searching this week. I have an interview on Tuesday so fingers crossed.

On the 2 hour drive yesterday we stopped in Hikurangi, my 3 children now know that anytime they get in the car with me it turns into the "Camera Express" because I frequently stop to take photos. This one on the side of the one of the retro buildings is by Northland local artist Rodrigo Rozas. Now back to the unpacking...

Linking up with Monday Murals and Our World Tuesday.

Keep Tokoroa Beautiful

In the shopping area of Tokoroa is this mural on the side of a bakery shop. In 2010 the outline was painted by urban artist Lady Diva and the colour was added by the hand prints of many South Waikato residents.

This mural was part of 5 others that were painted around the country in an effort to stamp out untidy graffiti - looks like it worked because it was still there when we visited in 2018.

The Dog Tax War Mural

On the side wall of the Rawene 4 square (kind of like a corner shop or small store) is this mural painted in memory of the historic Dog Tax War of 1898. Apparently the annual tax was introduced because many people, especially Maori around the area owned dogs for hunting and they thought it was a type of discrimination against them.

In the 1890s a dog tax was introduced of 2 shillings and sixpence. The Maori people from Kaikohe West through to the harbour were opposed to it including Waima's Hone Toia not only because many used their animals for hunting but because the tax represented the erosion of their chieftainship. Toia said "first they're going to tax dogs, then they're going to tax people". The stand off occurred when an armed Toia with fewer than 20 men marched to Rawene. Although no blood was shed, the government sent a 120 strong force to the town where he was arrested and served time in old Mount Eden prison.

Unfortunately I've been unable to find the artist of this work but it is located near the Rawene Ferry wharf at the bottom of the main street in the Hokianga.

Linking up with Monday Murals and Our World Tuesday.

Flame trees and shed murals

Every now and again when we are driving if I see something interesting I ask the other half to pull over so I can take photos then research it when we get home.

This one was very bright and colourful. According to the sign that was on the fence a small group of local owners consulted other people in the community and asked artist Chris Wilkie to paint a mural on the outside.

This is his version of the history and landscapes of the Purerua Peninsula through the achievement of the winning Ngati Rehia Waka Ama team in the 2013 national regatta.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Walks around Wellsford - sights I've seen this week

This week it's been freezing cold in the mornings, too nippy for me to get out and walk my dog like I usually do so instead I've been walking around Wellsford during my lunchtime - here's a few of the things I've seen:

This lovely art deco stucco home along the main road of Rodney Street - the owners have looked after it well by the look of it.

Kiwiana artwork along the fence of Wellsford Kindergarton - very colourful for where children play inside.

Wellsford Rsa with a pot of red vibrant pansies next to the entrance way - makes a colourful scene in the middle of winter.

Another lovely well restored house - this one in Batten Street is so pretty! It's been lovingly looked after and well preserved - looks like a large house too!