Just a quiet start to the day today. It didn’t stay that way though. At 9am we were out on the street with our bags and painting gear ready for Sharron to take us all to breakfast. Sharron was full of apologies that she couldn’t take us to the original restaurant for breakfast as again they had been affected by staff off with COVID. I felt a little disappointed until we drove to the waterfront at Whangarei and the imposing structure of the newly opened Hundertwasser Gallery was before us! We walked towards the building and the magnificent dome of the gold cupola in the distance.

The restaurant for breakfast was on the first floor of this magnificent building. WOW! It is amazing. The fountain in the entrance courtyard is to remind us that Hundertwasser loved the rain. Misty cloudy days especially as it made all the other colours brighter.

Before having breakfast I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and view the typical Hundertwasser toilets. Straight lines were boring, he believed. Even the floors are undulating .

Pam Toothill was our guide. What a wealth of knowledge she has about the life of Hundertwasser. Not just out of books but as a personal friend who she often visited with her husband.

We headed north again after lunch and visited the Kawakawa public toilets which Hundertwasser had designed and built in the 1970’s. These are an iconic landmark and I know that the gallery and museum in Whangarei will soon be known around the world as well.

We left Hundertwasser and headed for Paihia in the beautiful Bay of Islands, where we spend the next 3 days.

It’s already day 5. So I will publish this and prepare for todays post.

Ka kite ano.

Pamela