Postcards from the Road: Tauranga to Pukekohe

Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Pukekohe, North Island — New Zealand

We began our day with a climb to the summit of Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty.  After all, we were told, you can’t come to Tauranga and not do this climb.  The views — even though it was overcast most of the morning — were worth the effort.

Our reward for climbing Mount Maungani …

… a picnic lunch on the beach we viewed from the summit.

Leaving Tauranga, our plan was to walk one of the paths at Karangahake Gorge … but then we came upon the colorful murals and the hidden haiku pathway in Katikati.  So, we switched our plans to walk around this lovely little town instead.

Left: A mural appropriately named “The Great New Zealand Road trip.”
Right: A portion of a mural entitled “Sunday in Bush Camp.”

On the haiku pathway:
One at each end … of the park bench … a man     a woman.

Love these surprise finds … they’re the best part of a road trip.

Postcards from the Road: Wellington to Wanganui

Friday, 13 March 2015
Wanganui, North Island — New Zealand

From Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, we headed north along the west coast of the island.  Our destination: Wanganui … also spelled as Whanganui.  The city, we were told by the proprietor of our motel, was once considered as an alternative site for the country’s capital.

Before leaving Wellington, we searched out and found a memorial to Atatürk, the founder of modern day Turkey.  Why would there be a memorial to him here in New Zealand?  Let’s just say that it all goes back to the World War I Battle of Gallipoli.  More on that when I write the story of our day.

The words inscribed here are translated from a speech Atatürk gave in
honor of the ANZAC soldiers who fell during the Battle of Gallipoli.

Once on the road to Wanganui, we made a couple of stops ... nothing really planned; just wherever the mood struck or where something interesting caught our eye.

Lunch on Otaki Beach.

Foxton is filled with colorful murals that enchant me.

Photolog: Some Say Graffiti ... I Say Mural Art

Saturday, 20 December 2014 (Part II)
At Sea — Pacific Ocean

During our walking tour of Valparaíso with Nestor (post here) I was struck by the number of murals we saw around the city.

So many; so colorful; so beautiful — almost like a vibrant artist’s palette.  Sure, there were some that were more reminiscent of graffiti than art, but most of them clearly fell into the mural art category.  Considering how I seek out murals on our travels, to find them around almost every corner in Valpo was an unexpected boon.

“They are part of the urban culture,” Nestor said when I asked him how come there were so many murals in every neighborhood we visited.  They began showing up on the walls around the city in the early '70s, when a local school of art launched a program to transform the hills of the city into a quirky open-air art museum.

Nowadays, residents commission artists to paint murals on the exterior walls of their homes and businesses.  These new works continue to bring color to the city, with the added advantage of discouraging — for the most part — graffiti artists from defacing buildings.  And the really nice thing … these works of art are not left to fade away with time.  Rather, they are repainted in brilliant colors as warranted.

Having noted my interest in murals — hard not to as I was stopping every two steps to photograph them — Nestor took us to see one we would have otherwise missed.  At first we wondered why we were walking down what was an otherwise unimpressive alley.  Then he asked us to turn around to look at what has to be the biggest mural I’ve ever seen.  Completed in two months, the mural adorns the back of a high-rise building, one block decorated with a figure from the Aymara culture; the other with a figure representing the Mapuche culture.  Beautiful.

Such treasures to be enjoyed by those living in Valparaíso; and those visiting the city!

Mural Monday: Delicious & Refreshing

Bay St Louis, Mississippi (April 2013)

the words:
This restored ghost sign is on the side of 220 Main Street, an art deco style building
constructed in 1929.  The slogan, “Delicious and Refreshing” was used by Coca-Cola in 1904;
not sure if there is a significance associated with the date.  Considering the year the building
was constructed, perhaps the 1929 slogan of “the pause that refreshes” would have
been more appropriate.  There was no signature of the artist on this mural.

(linked to Monday Mural)

Mural Monday: Mirror Image

Kütahya Çİnİ (Glazed Tile) Museum — Kütahya, Turkey (October 2012)

the words:
I’m afraid there are none.  Even in person, I couldn’t make out the signature on this tile mural on display
at the museum.  The only person there was the guard and he wasn’t exactly a fount of information.

(linked to Monday Mural)

Mural Monday: “The Promenade” Survives Katrina

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi (April 2013)

the words:  (description taken from nearby signage)

The Promenade: “This mural is a living history of Bay St Louis.
Beginning on the left, Native Americans move along the shore and fish from dugout canoes.
Next, Bienville arrives by ship in 1699 and comes to shore with our French ancestors.
The marriage ceremony represents the joining of the past and the future.
The 20th century is represented by the train and boat.
The past advances into modern times as contemporary people view our
historical roots from the upper level.”

The mural is the vision and work of artist John McDonald;
completed in 1997 and survived Hurricane Katrina.

(More info, including the project proposal can be found here.
According to a note by the artist, the paint film was compromised when the
mural was partially submerged by Katrina’s storm surge.)

(linked to Monday Mural)

Mural Monday: Eyesore into Art

New Orleans, Louisiana (March 2013)

the words:

This utility box mural is at the end of the Canal Streetcar Line that goes to City Park.  It is the
newest addition to the "New Orleans Street Gallery” project undertaken by Community Visions Unlimited.  The CVU website describes the project as being “aimed at creating beauty and economic development through works of art.”  The boxes are painted by local artists as well as members of the community.

I like how Joseph Pierson incorporated scenes from the immediate area into his mural —
the streetcar, which has its final stop at this point; a live oak tree and geese from City Park,
which is across the street; and the equestrian statue of Confederate General Beauregard,
which is in the center of the traffic circle.

(I did not photograph the fourth side of the utility box; people were seated on the
benches on that side, and I opted not to bother them.)

(linked to Monday Mural)

Mural Monday: El Gallito de la Catedral

La Catedral — Quito, Ecuador (July 2012)

[the words: “El Gallito de la Catedral (the Cock of the Cathedral) is a mural that tells the story of Don Ramon, who would get drunk every night and stroll around town, eventually ending up at the cathedral.  The church's rooster was insulted, because Don Ramon considered himself ‘the great rooster.’  But one night ..."

The above words are from the small placard near the mural, which is based on a contemporary urban legend that has to do with a joke played on drunken Don Ramon by his friends.  The mural is on the second floor of the museum adjacent to the Quito Cathedral.  The reference to the Cock of the Cathedral is in reference to the weathervane that sits atop the dome.  If there was a signature on the mural, I didn’t see it.]

(linked to Monday Mural)

Mural Monday: Transformer Art

Kütahya, Turkey (October 2012)

(many of the transformer boxes on Cumhuriyet Caddesi [Republic Street], a pedestrian-only road
that is also known as “Sevgi Yolu” [Path of Love], have been decorated with scenes from around the city;
this beautification program may or may not have been part of the 2010 Kütahya Culture and Art Festival;
some of the murals were signed; I have been unable to unearth additional information)

(linked to Monday Mural)