Day out at Pataka Museum

Yesterday we gathered with our SLG friends, organised by Ashley this month, and met them all at Pataka Museum, Porirua.  As we drove down from Levin, the closer we got to our destination, the worse the weather got. 

Wet weather today

We had a table booked at the very popular Kaizen Café, just as well there was a table waiting for us, as the café was crowded with happy punters.  Our group all arrived promptly, and we sat and perused the menu to see what took our fancy for lunch.  You can’t go past soup on a cold day, I always think, so that was my choice, Robin had beef snitzel and mash, others ordered pancakes and bacon, toasted sandwiches, and an omelet.

 

Kaizen Café for lunch

Then we went into the museum (in the same building) which had several interesting exhibitions.  Such as a selection of “wake huia”.  Waka huia are carved wooden treasure boxes shaped like a waka. Highly prized by Māori, they were used to store huia feathers and other adornments worn by high-born people. During the late 19th and early 20th Centuries many of these boxes were taken from New Zealand and traded or sold on the European ‘Curios and Collectables’ market. This exhibition showed waka huia purchased and traded in England and tell the story of their eventual return to New Zealand.

Owen Mapp has been carving bone objects for 50 years and had an interesting selection on show.  I particularly loved this taniwha, (legendary water monster).  His work is held in the collections of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Museum, Canterbury Museum, The Dowse, and The Suter, as well as in a number of collections internationally.

Bone carving

The museum is full of little galleries which run into each other, and I was delighted to walk into the gallery featuring colourful Tivaivai (bed covers).  “Taku Mama” exhibits the work of Pacific women in the community, keeping their island culture alive and passing on their skills to younger women.

A selection of tivaivai on display

I left the museum to find some of group resting outside on a seat, waiting for a bus, they said.  I commented that they looked rather like the group from Last of the Summer Wine!

Les, Anne, Calvin, Helen and Robin

We thanked Ashley for organising our day out and all headed for home.  We had one more local stop to make, to Pete’s Emporium.  That’s where Robin buys his flags, and our current New Zealand flag is getting rather tattered and worn and needed replacing – so he purchased two! Pete’s Emporium is a real treasure trove, with plenty of goodies for everyone.

Kapiti Island was clear on our way home, after being shrouded in mist during our morning trip down to Porirua.  So of course I needed to take another photo or two, just because I could.  Don't know why, but I'm always rather drawn to islands.

Kapiti Island