Day 57 - Another Noteworthy Toilet!

Friday, November 29th, 2013

Following breakfast this morning Tamijo packed us into her van to show us Parihaka - a war memorial within an old 'pa' (Maori fortified area) on top of a hill overlooking Whangarei. Just as we got to the top of the hill, the sky opened and there was a huge downpour. No view for us. By the time we climbed back into the vehicle and started down the hill, the rain had stopped, clouds lifted and the view was back!

                                   

After saying our good-byes, Tina and I left Whangarei and headed north towards the Bay of Islands - our last scheduled family visit of this holiday. 

It was a short drive to the entrance to the Bay of Islands and Kawakawa where we stopped for lunch and to view the famous Hundertwasser toilets. Native Austrian Friedensreich Hundertwasser moved to NZ in 1975, became a citizen in 1986 and was commissioned to design and build the Kawakawa public toilets in 1997. "He was a passionate environmentalist, architect and ecologist and these toilets reflect his personal history and visions with their ceramic columns, garden roof and curving colorful exuberance." 

                           

I took a lot of photos here as the tiling, both inside and out, is so unique and interesting. Many of the tiles were created by students at the local school.

Hundertwasser's style is now being used in a variety of other community facilities here.

Our next leg took us to Opua to catch the car ferry to Russell - a quick 15 minute ride before another 10 minute drive to Florence Avenue where my sisters-in-law Novi Browning and Hiwi Kamlade are neighbours. We moved into Hiwi's place and spent the rest of the day and evening catching up.

It's been 10 years since I was last here and it's great to be back!