Reviews

Visit to Jack Richards’ House & Garden

Fortunately the rain had gone by the time our group arrived at Jack Richard’s house and garden on the hill above Wainui Beach – we could hear the sound of the sea very clearly

Read more |January 11, 2021

Toko Toru Tapu, Manutuke

For our visit to this beautiful, historic church, we were very fortunate to be accompanied by two individuals closely associated with it: Stan Pardoe, a local historian who has had four generations of his whanau use the church and James Blackburne, the architect who lead its restoration.

Read more |January 11, 2021

Eastwoodhill Arboretum

Can’t see the wood for the trees? Go to Eastwoodhill Arboretum, 35kms north of Gisborne, it’s all there. Over 135 hectares of trees and shrubs, native and exotic

Read more |January 11, 2021

Review: Ngā Wai e Rua: Stories of Us

Who was behind the lens? What motivates the filmmaker? How/Why are New Zealanders portrayed in this footage? How do we perceive this footage today? What stories and people were less likely to be filmed?

Read more |December 15, 2020

Review: Paintvine Painting Experience

It was a night “to feel the fear and do it anyway”. Conversation stopped as we concentrated intensely, trying to achieve perfection.

Read more |December 2, 2020

Review: Lyall Bay Art Walk

This walk was planned for a lovely sunny day but Wellington delivered a more than fresh wind and a chilly temperature to accompany a visit by 20 Friends of Te Papa to two special spaces in Lyall Bay.

Read more |November 24, 2020

Review: Edward Burne-Jones’ Italian Sketchbook

There was a good turnout for this lecture by Dr Mark Stocker, retired art historian and former curator at Te Papa. The British artist Edward Burne-Jones is closely associated

Read more |November 24, 2020

Solving seabird mysteries in remote Fiordland

Captain Cook, his officers and accompanying naturalists aboard the Resolution explored Dusky Sound for six weeks during March-May 1773. Their observations became New Zealand’s first BioBlitz, with the broad-billed prion and little penguin among the birds they described

Read more |November 10, 2020

Review: Mana Island Tour

30 years ago, Mana Island was a grass-covered, bleak, windswept landscape, only a few native trees still surviving in sheltered gullies. 500,000 trees later, Mana is an island paradise, home to a wealth of forest and sea birds, lizards and geckos, and thriving native trees and shrubs.

Read more |November 4, 2020

Back of House Tour: Carving and Weaving

There is a long history in all the Maori arts of carvers, weavers and carriers of the culture learning as apprentices and developing their skills until they can produce objects worthy of the tradition they have been taught.

Read more |October 22, 2020