Rainy Day, Art Gallery & tea with Banjo Friends

Monday 6 July

After a very wet night we woke to find ourselves parked in a puddle! The weather front was battering several areas with red warnings for Hanmer & Kaikōura and snow in the passes, so howling gales and gusting rain was a fairly mild symptom by all accounts.

We packed a sandwich and headed into town - Louis had been researching Ute canopies online so we decided to check out some in person before ordering one for the Cannon. Fully Equipped in central Christchurch had several versions in stock and supplies CMG - we had a look around, chatted with Zack and went away with a few cost options. We'll likely go with the fibreglass top with lifting windows rather than the aluminium one we thought we wanted.

Louis wanted to swim so we parked up at Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre and while he swam I walked down to the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū to get some more culture after our sculpture day! My gorgeous pink Blunt umbrella, a leaving gift from EPD at the University of Auckland, and my pink pashmina were the only splash of colour on such a grey day. The pavements were wet, the bridge railings were wet, the whole city was soggy as. The fabulous art gallery looks brand new with its modern glass & metal lines, but it’s actually over twenty years old.

After a wet walk, I soon dried out wandering through the galleries - my favourites were upstairs in the “Made in the Pacific: A Collection of Tāoga” and “He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil” collections.

One ground floor gallery had an exhibition dedicated to Edith Collier, NZ’s foremost modernist painter. The colour palette was interesting in its largely muted tones - as displayed on her actual palette in a case and centre of the montage. Another downstairs gallery featured photography of Mark Adams - I was fascinated by his pieces exploring Samoan tattooing in Auckland in the 1980s.

Upstairs the “Made in the Pacific: A Collection of Tāoga” exhibit celebrated “tapa” or barkcloth artwork. I found it fascinating - from the traditional styles to more modern interpretations. There was a rather different take on the traditional pasifika barkcloth artwork - instead of patterns, one single hanging had panels telling stories of early colonisation. I loved the works by Serena Hodgman involving ribbon stitching on pasifika woven mats which were so vibrant.

In the other upstairs gallery was "He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil" - a wonderful collection of sculptures and paintings celebrating the land of Aotearoa. So many of the landscapes represented are now familiar to us after our travels - I was very excited to see Cass station painted by Rita Angus in 1936... instantly recognisable from our visit in 2025. “Fighting for sovereignty” by Cora-Allan was interesting - the long panel representing Bay of Islands, birthplace of the Treaty of Waitangi, symbolising what has been lost through colonisation and what is being fought for by generations of Māori land-rights activists. Another interesting piece was Bev Moon’s celebration of her great-grandfathers’ early farming heritage when they came to NZ from China - the tools of his trade recreated in assorted media.

I can't say I agreed with Billy Apple - follow the red line if you wish, but I prefer the long & winding road.

Louis scooted by to pick me up - avoiding another wet walk - and we popped over to Pak’n’Save, ate our picnic lunch in the Pajero in the carpark watching the England v Mexico match on the iPhone, and taking Class 2 licence practice tests, before grabbing a few groceries

From here we headed to Wigram for a lovely afternoon catch up with our fellow Snowy owners, Jenny & Warren. Lots of travel chat, caravan chat and general chat - good to see them again, we last camped with them at Wānaka for Warbirds at Easter so it’s been a while! As usual with caravaners, we discussed solar panels, towing vehicles, toilet issues and our general failing health!

Splashed our way back to Westoby Farm and because my Fitbit was hungry I made the bad decision to take a walk round Tai Tapu… my Graham Norton podcast kept me happy while the wind whipped the rain at me and I arrived back at Banjo literally soaked & dripping! My Kathmandu jacket was fabulously waterproof, but I need matching trousers as my jeans were so drenched I had water dripping off my knees inside the fabric!!!

Settled in with the heaters on, had pork steaks for dinner and binge watched more Downton Abbey as the wind buffeted Banjo and the rain bounced noisily off the roof 💦💨💦💨💦💨💦