Exhibition Catalogue
Come wander the wonder garden with us. Explore the museum’s magical indoor park where together we remember how generations of South Taranaki pleasure-seekers have enjoyed the public spaces that form a background to our lives.
Exhibition Experience Team Cameron S. Curd - Project Management Bettina Anderson - Lead Researcher Rob Groat - Education & Outreach Programmes Luana Paamu - Editor & Exhibition Development Leeanne Sewell - Publicity Strategy Kahurangi McLeay - Social Media Campaigns
Research Consultants Greg Rine, Shannon Boden, Sandy Powell, Allen Jellyman, David Bruce, John Sargeant, Friends of Naumai Park.
Thanks Kelsen’s Glass & Glazing Hawera
TGM Creative Team - Andrea Leadbetter
Resene Hawera
and Elle Brennan
Kelvin Day - Puke Ariki
Shannon Boden - Hollard Gardens
Lucy Macfarlane - Puke Ariki
Sandy Powell - Hollard Gardens
Chanelle Carrick - Puke Ariki
David Bruce - STDC
Jane Paul - Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
John Sargeant - STDC
Red Rock Café Pātea
Research partners Bettina Anderson, PĹŤkekoblue Science Communication Ltd, ManawatĹŤ
Design partners
Loan partners Puke Ariki, Te Manawa, Hollard Gardens, Ross Baker, South Taranaki District Council, Susan Worthington.
Media Partners Auckland Council Libraries, Puke Ariki, Christchurch City Libraries, South Taranaki District Council, Alexander Turnbull Library, Library of Congress, Fairfax Media, NgÄ Taonga Sound & Vision, Dawn Chambers Collection.
Funding Partner This exhibition experience has been funded by the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC)
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T TAR A 2518m NAKI
Stratford
Ngaere Gardens
Hollard Gardens
Eltham
Kaponga Opunake
Opunake Beach
Normanby
Manaia
Take a self-directed journey around South Taranaki to visit the wonderful gardens, parks and beaches. Hollard Gardens - Hidden paths, old gardens, expansive open lawns, new plantings... Hollard Gardens has it all. Located at 1686 Upper Manaia Rd, Kaponga. Ngaere Gardens - Between 1910 and the 1930s, Ngaere Gardens was the showcase of central Taranaki and attracted huge numbers of visitors and picnickers. This garden is now a private garden and closed to the public. Opunake Beach - Opunake is known as 'The home of the big wave' and features an artificial surf reef. The famous Surf Highway 45 runs straight through this quirky coastal town where there are great surfing and fishing opportunities all year round!
King Edward Park
Hawera
Naumai Park
King Edward Park - Welcome to a large spacious park currently under redesign but featuring well established trees, lake, camellia and rose gardens. Children’s playground and clean public toilets available. Located on High Street, Waihi Road and the corner of Camberwell and High Streets Hāwera. Naumai Park - Some call it the goblin park, others a native plant park. Situated at the southern end of Hāwera’s High Street, Naumai Park, offers an overwhelming sense of being in a “natural” native bush environment, and is lauded by visitors as a hidden gem.
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let's go to the park and...
For generations this familiar invitation has sparked a mad scurrying to grab hats, boots, coats, dogs, balls and snacks. What comes after the ‘and’ is largely unimportant, it’s the destination that matters – the public park, green space or botanic gardens just down your street. A wonderous and wonderful place of possibility, curiosity and imagination. That colourful, childhood memory factory that as adults we still get the fun of visiting and reconnecting with. Come along! Come play, stroll, remember, relax, and seek out the magic of our locallyloved parks and gardens with us. 2A
Think and wonder, wonder and think. You can find magic wherever you look. - Dr Seuss [Dr Seuss lived in Springfield, Massachusetts where his father was the Commissioner of City Parks and oversaw the nearby Forest Park Zoo.]
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“My childhood may be over, but that doesn’t mean playtime is.” - Ron Olson
Public parks and gardens: hand-crafted landscapes that inspire us from an early age to wonder about the world. Special places where we have licence to collect ‘treasures’, make-believe, skip down paths, find hideyholes, climb, splash and slide to our heart’s delight…
wendy and peter at play across the world
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Wendy Darling lives in Hāwera? The well-loved childhood storybook characters of Peter Pan (the boy who wouldn’t grow up) and Wendy Darling have become symbols of a never-ending, magical childhood. Whether you’ve read the novel (first published in 1911), watched the original Disney animated film (1953) or seen Robin Williams as Peter Pan in the 1991 movie Hook or sung along with Jake and the Never Land Pirates on Disney Junior TV, the Neverland crew have been re-imagined as a soundtrack to growing up for over a century. Many a family photo has been taken alongside the Wendy statue in King Edward Park since it was installed in 1951. A companion piece to one of Peter that resides in Kensington Gardens in London, it was gifted to the children of the district by Marion Campbell as a memorial to her late husband and former Hāwera mayor, James Campbell.
“You just think lovely wonderful thoughts,” Peter explained, “and they lift you up in the air.” - Peter Pan explaining to Wendy how to fly
JM Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, sought inspiration for his stories in his local park (Kensington Gardens) in London. He commissioned the very first statue of Peter Pan there in 1912, which then sparked a bit of a Neverland statue craze around the world.
Q. How many other Neverland-inspired statues do you know of in New Zealand public parks? A. 2 x Peter statues in Queens Park, Invercargill; 1 x Peter and 1 x Wendy and her brothers in Dunedin Botanic Gardens; 1 x Peter at Virginia Lake, Wanganui; and the “Wonderland” statue in the Oamaru Public Gardens (many believe it to be Peter Pan and Wendy, but it is just of two children).
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a 'fwendywendy' house Ever wondered where the term Wendy House came from? The original Wendy House was a little prop-house built by author JM Barrie in 1904 for the first stage production of his play about Peter Pan. It was constructed like a tent so it could be erected quickly during a song that Wendy sings: “I wish I had a darling house The littlest ever seen, With funny little red walls And roof of mossy green.” Clever toy makers and handy Dads soon copied the look of the little house and Wendy Houses became popular backyard features. Barrie is also credited with having ‘invented’ (or re-invented some claim) the name Wendy. It was a term of endearment the young daughter of a friend used, referring to Barrie as her ‘fwendywendy’ instead of her friend.
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Messing about with itty bitty model boats has been a popular past-time at the model boating lake in Hāwera’s King Edward Park for over a hundred years. The ancient hobby of model building is as old as the art of boat building itself and it is still popular today with an annual ‘Scale Ship’ regatta held on the lake at Labour weekend. Only knee-deep, the lake was built in 1914 after a group of enthusiastic locals lobbied for it. It is one of just a handful in New Zealand designed specifically for sailing model boats. 5B
“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,” he went on dreamily: “messing – about – in – boats...” - Ratty extolling the virtues of boating to Mole in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows
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from racquets to rides RACQUETS The very English game of lawn tennis took off in New Zealand in the 1870s. Courts quickly sprang up in large gardens/parks in cities, on large estates in rural areas and at some marae. Despite the restrictive dress codes, women were quick to excel at the game. Clubs were formed and tennis became a very social past-time, with stiff competition between the townships of the district.
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After a tough day battling it out on the ‘emerald carpet’ of the King Edward Park courts, the 1920s sports pages of the Hawera & Normanby Star noted players often retired to the nearby Tea Kiosk - where a certain Mrs Hutchinson was on hand to whip them up a ‘jolly nice tea’.
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“There was a capital muster of players at the Park courts on Wednesday afternoon...” - A report on tennis played at King Edward Park from the Hawera & Normanby Star, 18 October 1917. Paperspast
RIDES Nowadays one of the Park courts, with the help of a recycled pallet divider wall, has undergone a transformation into a hardcourt bike polo arena. In this very modern sport, teams of three players ride bicycles (instead of horses) and use mallets to strike a small ball into a goal. Said to have been developed by bike couriers in their downtime in Seattle in the early 2000s, bike polo arrived in Auckland in 2008 and is now played around the country.
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a splendid day out The train was the transport of choice when venturing out to the popular Ngaere Gardens from neighbouring towns. In the 1920s the Railways Department introduced Sunday and weekend excursions that popularised travel by rail all over the country. Once on board, passengers were cleverly subjected to a succession of billboards advertising what their next rail adventure could be. This aggressive marketing campaign was so successful that churches protested against the government’s role in making the enjoyment of nature a respectable alternative to worship!
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NGAIRE OR NGAERE?
a whirl of wonders'
Situated between Stratford and Eltham, the township known as Ngaire to Taranaki early settlers was renamed to reflect its correct Māori spelling, Ngaere, in 1909.
The Lost Pleasure Gardens of Ngaere At the height of their fame in the 1920s, the Ngaere Gardens were a landmark attraction in the province, a popular day-tripping destination for picnic excursions by horse and gig, train, or motorcar. The mix of natural beauty, technology and fairground fun captivated garden visitors with a whirl of wonders – all at a time when the wizard of modern amusement parks, Walt Disney, was still just a teenager. The carnival atmosphere of the gardens was set against a backdrop of boating lakes (in the shape of the North and South Islands), fountains, paddling pools, bridges and bush walks. Attractions included a water chute amusement ride that splashed into the lake, distorting mirrors, a zoo, an ‘ocean wave’ roundabout and miniature seaside, along with a magnificent magnivox orchestrala - a large, mechanical, fairground organ that could be heard kilometres away.
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distorted delights Digital technology today provides us with unlimited ways to change and play with images of how we look, but back in the 1920s, distorting yourself in a curved funhouse mirror at Ngaere Gardens was as good as it got!
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dash-andsplash thrills
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From 1908, a sixpence (or threepence for children) bought visitors a thrilling ride on the new-fangled water chute that plunged into the lake at Ngaere Gardens. A wooden punt shot down rails mounted on a ramp, leapt into the air, splashed into the lake and then coasted across to gently bump into a jetty on the other side. The gardens’ proprietors were keeping up with the latest in Edwardian amusement ride trends. A grand water chute had been part of the ‘Wonderland’ attraction at the 1906 Christchurch Exhibition and was later shipped to Wellington where it featured at the seaside resort of Days Bay. Billed as the longest water chute ride in Australasia, it had a ramp that was 67m long.
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flip side Light-fingered gardeners, children and dogs were not particularly welcome in the parks of old. We wonder where those under 10’s, who did not have ‘competent persons’ controlling them, were removed to?
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“No person shall pluck the flowers, cones, pods or foliage, or collect seed, or take cuttings etc... No person shall – shoot, snare or destroy any wild fowl – or bathe in – such gardens...Children under the age of ten years not being under the control of some competent person, shall be removed from the gardens...All dogs and goats and all poultry found within the gardens shall be destroyed...” - A vintage warning to Dunedin Botanic Garden visitors (recorded in ‘A History of Gardening in New Zealand’ by Bee Dawson)
The public spaces that we stroll about in our towns and cities are typically as old as the towns themselves. They’re not just empty bits of land that haven’t been built upon, but carefully conceived spaces that reflect the region and the times they were cultivated in. What makes them so special in a country brim-full of wide-open wilderness spaces? Perhaps Katherine Mansfield captured it when she wrote of a young woman’s walk in the Wellington Gardens:
“They are such a subtle combination of the artificial and the natural – that is partly the secret of their charm...” - Katherine Mansfield, The Botanical Gardens, 1907.
“Gardens are poems Where you stroll with your hands in your pockets.” - Pierre Albert-Birot in The Cubist Poets in Paris: An Anthology 1C
“Large spaces or parks are required, not usually for athletic or simple amusements, but that the people may have the opportunity to shew themselves and to be seen.” - A. Loiterer, a correspondent in the Lyttelton Times, 16 January 1861.
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seeing and being seen Promenading in a park From the outset, the planners of our early settlements set aside public land to be manicured and cultivated for family outings, playing games, strolling and people-watching. Promenading was a fashionable social activity in times gone by. Taking a leisurely (and at times gossipy) stroll in the park was not only about going out to see things, but also about being seen. The original layout of King Edward Park in Hāwera included two intersecting grass avenues designed for promenading. Hemmed with precise hedging and beginning at the main entrance of the park they lead off to various garden alcoves that were pleasing to the eye. Even the grass that one stepped daintily upon was much admired by out-of-towners:
“One feature that is unique is that, in both parks, and in many home gardens, the roadway and paths are of velvet turf. One treads with a feeling of uncanny softness on these emerald carpets in place of gravel or paved paths.” From “A Cluster of Jewels: The Towns of South Taranaki” by ON Gillespie in The New Zealand Railways Magazine 1937. Although the gentle art of taking a stroll is still popular today, park users are more likely to be going for a jog, huffing their way through a group fitness boot camp, practising their Tai Chi or mucking about with a ball, the dog and some kids. If you want to ‘be seen’ you’re more likely to head to a local café or shopping mall and then post the details of your outing on social media.
We’re proud of our air here! Back in 2005 the South Taranaki District Council lead the way in marketing fresh air. Their bold move to make all our parks smokefree soon had other Councils around the country following suit and adopting the nowfamiliar ‘positive not punitive’ wording: “This Park contains fresh [insert region name] Air...”.
take a dose of park When parks were being planned in early settlements around New Zealand, the thinking at the time was that they were the ‘green lungs of a city’, offering a much-needed and pleasant place to take a dose of fresh air and exercise. Scientists have since proven what most of us know from personal experience - that using your local park is good for you! Research based on the health records of people living in the Netherlands has found that those living near parks had lower rates of many diseases and rated themselves as having much better mental health. So feel in need of a pick-me-up? Skip the coffee and just head to your local park for a walk.
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Parks in provincial New Zealand towns show the evidence of clever up-cycling of facilities through time, and this is a unique example. The unusual raised design of the original rotunda was never popular with local bandsfolk – it was exposed (your sheet music tended to blow away), it was tough to get up there if you played one of the larger instruments, and your audience was too far away to impress. So when interest in the tea kiosk waned, the building was cleverly converted into an observatory (still in operation today), and the Hāwera Astronomical Society formed.
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BELOW: What’s inside the dome? Check out www.haweraobservatory.org.nz to find out more. Kevin Bone Photography.
when the band did not play on
Brass and pipe bands were the popular soundtrack to Sundays in the park in Edwardian times. If you took a stroll down the central grassy avenue of King Edward Park in 1912 you would have passed an elegant band rotunda atop a tea kiosk and heard the tunes (and sometimes the sheet music) wafting down. A stroll down that same avenue in 1953 would have revealed the smooth dome of a newly-installed observatory in place of the curved roof of the rotunda. 6C
romance, rendezvous and roguery
Nature lovers are not the only type of lovers to spend time in public parks and gardens. Countless thousands of South Taranaki couples must have walked hand-in-hand along the paths of the district’s parks and if the trees could talk how many declarations of love must they have overheard? Sometimes even the trees themselves bear the etched mementoes of lovers-past on their trunks. The same secluded spots that lovers favour also appeal to those indulging in less savoury activities that any local constable would be keen to put a stop to. Park management in recent times has focussed on opening up park nooks to the light, removing spots for loitering and lurking, and discouraging anti-social behaviour. Back in its heyday, Ngaere Gardens was a popular destination to take a date. In the 1920s, Hāwera farmer and author Frank S. Anthony penned the ‘Me & Gus’ stories in which a hapless Mark Henricks, a Taranaki farmer, yarns about his bachelor experiences with a neighbouring farmer, Gus Tomlins. Serialised for radio in the 1950s, one episode features the lads taking a couple of sisters, Rosie and Violet, to Ngaere Gardens for a Sunday jaunt. However, thanks to the fickle Taranaki weather, their romantic rendezvous does not go quite to plan...
ME AND GUS. EPISODE 23, THE NGAERE GARDENS AFFAIR [00:10:54] Mark tells of their disastrous date with Rosie and Violet at Ngaere Gardens... 7C
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Public parks and gardens propagate and nurture community memories and help define our sense of place. They are where our collective memories are made and our community tributes fade with the passing of time. What do you remember of the parks and public gardens from your childhood?
“Memories are forget-me-nots gathered along life’s way, pressed close to the human heart into a perennial bouquet.� - Clara Smith Reber
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what's in a name?
European settlers to the district named features in the landscape, their new towns, streets and public spaces. Names often came from the places they came from: New Plymouth, for Plymouth in England or the names of royalty – such as King Edward Park (for King Edward VII). European names often replaced the original Māori names on maps, but many Māori names were retained. Some Māori names were replaced but then returned, for example Pātea was called Carlyle for a while. In 1902 an oak tree was planted to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII in the park of the same name created in Hāwera to mark the occasion. Hollard Gardens at Kaponga is named for its original owners and creators Bernie and Rose Hollard, the once-famous Ngaere Gardens for its locality, and Naumai Park was variously known as ‘the horse paddock’, Yarrow Park, Miro Park or more commonly East End Park before locals settled on calling it Naumai Park (meaning welcome) in 1926. 3D
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nostalgia for home 5D
Ornamental trees and flowers of European origin were quickly established in the public and private gardens of the early settlers. Not only did they bring colour into the lush green tints of the rapidly transforming native landscape but they were (and still are) part of our country’s emotional landscape – connecting new immigrants to their old worlds and reminding them of a home far away.
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lest we forget
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Memorials and monuments to significant people and events are an integral part of the fabric of our public spaces. None are more poignant and invoke deep emotion than those that commemorate acts of war or sacrifice. A wander in King Edward Park today will reveal its collection of tributes and reminders of conflicts-past:
Monuments & Memorials
A ‘peace’ oak tree planted at the park’s dedication ceremony in 1902, by a New Zealand Wars veteran Horace Baker. A section of the black wrought-iron gates that grace the entrance to the park (at the corner of Camberwell Road and High Street) that bear the inscription: “These side gates have been erected in memory of those troopers from the Hawera District who died in South Africa”, and An old naval cannon from 1843 that was used by Taranaki Volunteers for drill purposes (but was supposedly never fired in anger). The park also has some living reminders of a WW1 battleground that is entrenched in our national memory. In the 1920s, a local, who had no doubt lost a relative in the war, collected acorns from the small prickly oak trees (known as Holly, Evergreen or Gallipoli oaks) that grow in the ridges and valleys of the Gallipoli peninsula. Brought back to Hāwera, numerous trees and hedges in the park were then grown from them. 9D
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“Meet me there, where the sea meets the sky...” - Oksana Rus In a country fringed on all sides by beaches, sandy Sunday outings are the stuff of many treasured family memories. When amenities such as changing sheds and tea kiosks began to be installed at beach destinations early last century, their popularity as a picnic and relaxation spot grew, and the ‘competition’ with parks and gardens for people’s leisure time began...
a breather at the beach 2E
One of the few accessible beaches along the South Taranaki coastline, Ōpunake Beach is sheltered by headlands and a wrap-around escarpment. By the 1910s its flat, sandy beach was a popular summer picnic spot for family and community outings, and today several thousand people flock to the annual Ōpunake Beach Carnival to cool off and chill out. For those that feel the urge to stay longer, a campground tucked into the lee of the cliffs has offered generations of campers a pocket-sized patch of paradise and ample time to beachcomb or sample the surf breaks that the beach is now famous for.
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“...there will be numerous competitions, including tug-owar, stepping-the-chain, potato race, skipping and the old buffers’ race, together with several events for the children. Surf and sunbathing will be an interesting feature of the day, whilst lovers of music will enjoy the strains of the Kaponga Band...” -Write-up promoting the Kaponga Annual Picnic held at Ōpunake Beach. In the Hawera & Normanby Star, 11 February 1914. Paperspast.
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sand in your sandwiches? Filling the Picnic Basket
We know that what you wore for a dip at the beach back in the day differs considerably from today, but what about the contents of our picnic baskets and hampers? 8E
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“It was a great day for the ‘kiddies’ who were having (in many instances) their annual paddle in the sea. What matter if there was an occasional mishap in the shape of a wet dress or wet suit. All including mater and pater were happy.” - description of the Ōpunake Beach Annual Fete in the Taranaki Daily News, 20 January 1916. Paperspast
surf saviours
From 1922 onwards, if mater and pater (mum and dad) took their eyes off the kiddies when they were paddling, there would have been a lifeguard in a black, woolly, one-piece from the Ōpunake Surf Lifesaving Club on-hand to save the day. Venture to the beach now, and you’ll swim between the flags under the watchful eye of a distinctive red and yellow clad lifeguard, wielding a rescue tube and with an outboard-powered IRB (inflatable rescue boat) parked nearby. Sea bathing, rather than just paddling at beaches, became more popular in the 1920s as attitudes towards dress code and behaviour in public relaxed. In the late 1800s it was considered scandalous to reveal too much skin, so people usually tried to swim in secluded spots or took a dip when beaches were deserted. There was definitely no appearing in your togs in mixed company! 10E
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neck to knee The shrinking bathing suit
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Beach wear has changed dramatically through time. Togs started out as heavy, voluminous costumes that covered women from neck to knee. Men wore tops and long johns that covered them from calf to elbow. Gradually these ‘cossies’ got shorter, lighter and tighter in material until the 1990s - when a greater awareness of the dangers of sun exposure prompted people to start covering up more again whilst at the beach.
Taranaki. The garden of New Zealand. A region blessed with a rich volcanic loam, mild maritime climate and plentiful rain all year round. Optimum conditions for plants, plantspeople, gardeners and their gardens to flourish...
“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas - working with nature provides the technique.� - Elizabeth Murray 1F
naumai
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‘The Ark Park’
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“Naumai is an example of intelligent beauty worship, the salient points of this terrain have been utilised with skill, and the pavilions of native whare design on the high slopes about the little lake, harmonise exactly with the landscape.” From “A Cluster of Jewels: The Towns of South Taranaki” by ON Gillespie in The New Zealand Railways Magazine 1937.
Taranaki gardens are known for embracing the bush, with some appearing carved out of it or even part of it. In 1924 a keen bunch of locals (Messrs J Garnett, CM Haggett, LA Taylor and GS Watts) commenced planting a swampy area around Hāwera, known as East End Park, as a native plant reserve. Seeking to emulate the semi-natural lakes and pathways of the now famous Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, gorse was cleared, lakes were dammed, ducks were gifted and native plants harvested from the surrounding bush by keen volunteers:
“The graceful pongas, of which there are quite a number, add greatly to the beauty of the park. These were procured by members of the committee, assisted by citizens who loaned motor vehicles for their transport from the hinterland.” - Friends of Naumai family records
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Renamed Naumai Park in 1926, the beautiful vistas that visitors see today (and assume have always been there) are testament to the vision and hard work of a small group of people passionate about plants and parks. As a native plant ark, it is a treasured living collection of plants available to all who seek wisdom or pleasure from them.
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the plant people
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Duncan & Davies
Naumai Park in Hāwera was established in an era when native plants, once stripped wholesale from the landscape to be replaced by grazing turf, had become fashionable again.
the southern hemisphere, exporting plants across the globe.
For a long time native plants were seen by many New Zealanders as drab, boring, or hard to grow, despite the fact that common plants like cabbage trees were prized by overseas gardeners for their exotic look.
He took an active interest in supporting local parks and gardens, donating plants (as is often done under the gardener’s code) to a park in return for a cutting of interest from that garden or plantsperson’s collection. In this way, plants that felt at home, or called Taranaki home, quickly spread amongst the kindred spirits tending the gardens of the time.
Gardeners and parks people sourced their native plants either from the wild or by mail order. The Duncan & Davies nursery in New Plymouth was the country’s main supplier of native plants up until the 1980s. Sir Victor Davies, a founding director, was a skilled plantsman and salesman. His firm went on to become the largest nursery in
Each year at Bernie Hollard’s famous garden at Kaponga, Bernie would select the latest interesting plants from the Duncan & Davies catalogue and plant them in his garden as soon as they became available. He also grew and supplied plants back to Duncan & Davies to stock their catalogues.
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“Native sections are becoming a prominent feature in all public gardens.” ~In a chapter on Native Plants by noted horticulturalist David Tannock in ‘Manual of Gardening in New Zealand’, 1914.
nature's medicine cabinet
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The plants in our parks and gardens hold an amazing wealth of medicinal properties – if you only know how to open nature’s medicine cabinet. Rongoā is the Māori term for medicines that are produced from native plants in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Traditionally, Māori had a holistic approach to healing. It included the mind, body and spirit – mauri (spark or life force), tapu (natural law) and wairua (spirit). Whakapapa (genealogy) was also a factor to consider in the healing process. Tohunga, the healers of the Māori world, passed their knowledge down orally through the generations, and modern Māori healers still use many of the concepts and practices. Some of the plants found in te ngahere (the bush) can be toxic and should only be prepared by people who have been trained in rongoā Māori.
portrait of a garden
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A garden is not just a garden. It’s a deliberate blending of human creativity and nature – a work of art. Part museum, part library and part habitat for the endangered and protector of the precious, it’s a place for making connections and inspiring learning.
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One such South Taranaki garden that lives up to this claim is the Hollard Gardens at Kaponga. Established in 1920s by dairy farmer Bernie Hollard, his life-long passion for collecting and growing plants created an important heritage collection that today is a ‘Garden of National Significance’ managed by the Taranaki Regional Council.
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“In 1927 I found time to shut the cattle out of a bit of native bush which is still standing and from there the gardening just grew...” - Bernie Hollard in 1996, quoted in The Gardenmakers of Taranaki by Susette Goldsmith & Verne Barrell
A whizz at plant propagation and exchange, Bernie filled notebooks about his garden: where he sourced his plants, how much he paid for them and how they performed, as well as his ongoing war against pests, especially rabbits. Bernie also wrote gardening articles and these, along with his notes, add up to an invaluable portrait of a garden that today forms the basis of the garden’s interpretive walk. Bernie, like many plantsmen of his vintage, was an avid botanical hunter - always on the lookout for something new. No doubt he never went anywhere without a shovel and a sack in the boot of his car.
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garden portraits
Pioneering women in Taranaki not only toiled to nurture native and exotic plants and establish gardens around their homes, but some also aspired to use their talents and skills to capture plants for posterity using paints and canvas:
Fanny Bertha Good (1860-1950) began painting at the age of 17 after losing her hearing. She was tutored by her father, Captain Thomas Good, who immigrated to Taranaki in 1845 and was regarded as a skilled landscape painter. During her career she specialised in botanical works, collecting specimens from the bush in the ĹŒeo district where she lived most of her life. Friends and relatives also sent plants from around New Zealand. She was a prolific painter, with 260 of her works now held in the Puke Ariki museum collection in New Plymouth. All of Fanny’s paintings shown here are of plants that can be found in Hollard Gardens.
Susan Worthington MNZM (1944 - ) Born in Stratford, this internationally-recognised contemporary botanical artist studied in the United Kingdom later in life - first at West Dean College in 2001 and then at Kew Gardens in 2002. She now lives and paints on the Kapiti Coast. In 2003 she was selected to exhibit at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society art show where she won a silver medal for her paintings of New Zealand native plants. In 2004 New Zealand Post released five stamps of her artworks depicting garden flowers two with Taranaki connections. She was the only New Zealander selected to paint for HRH The Prince Of Wales’ Highgrove Florilegium - which illustrates plants and trees growing in his garden at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.
tommy the turtle For some years a turtle has been spotted lurking in the lakes at Naumai Park and affectionately nick-named Tommy. Thought to be a common red-eared slider (ex-pet) turtle, Tommy would make appearances now and again, but has not been seen recently (if you have seen it, do let us know!). Parents of Ninja Turtle fans beware. If contemplating buying your child one to emulate its favourite cartoon turtle, be prepared to look after it for anything up to 50 years!
Re-home not release! Committing to having a turtle as a pet for their lengthy life-time is a big ask, but responsible pet ownership means re-homing them not releasing them into the ‘wild’ (i.e. a nearby park) when you tire of them. Despite their popular pet status, red-eared sliders are regarded by Regional Councils as one of the world’s 100 most invasive species with potential to harm native plant and animal life. Both the Auckland and Waikato regions have problems with released turtles in waterways. In the Waikato setting these long-lived animals free could land you a fine of up to $5000.
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rocking taranaki parks 15F
The recent family-friendly craze of hiding painted rock ‘treasure’ in parks for others to find and re-hide has taken parts of New Zealand by storm and undoubtedly prompted more people to engage with their local public spaces. How will we use our much-loved play spaces into the future? Just keep going to your favourite park to find out!
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.� ~Audrey Hepburn
Photo References Intro 1A
Cover of The Wonder Book of Taranaki 19261927 - the garden province of New Zealand. Thomas Avery & Sons, 1927.
2A
Hand-coloured souvenir postcard of Ngaere Gardens c. 1910s. Cameron S. Curd Collection.
1B
The Ngaere Gardens water chute amusement ride c.1910s . Auckland Libraries (35-R2176).
2B
The companion statues of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, London. Kete New Plymouth & Petr Brož, Wikimedia.
3B
The companion statues of Wendy in King Edward Park, Hāwera. Kete New Plymouth & Petr Brož, Wikimedia.
4B
The Lost Boys, Wendy, a Wendy House and Peter Pan. Illustration by Alice B. Woodward in The Story of Peter Pan retold from the fairy play by Sir JM Barrie by Daniel O’Connor, 1914. Wikipedia.
5B
Child with model sailing ship, 1931. Alexander Turnbull Library. Ref: 1/2-191212-F.
6B
2015 Eventfinder ‘Scale Ships Regatta’ advertising image – King Edward Park Model Boating lake. www.southtaranaki.com.
7B
Alice Bowen (Gibbs) seated holding a tennis racquet. Printed in the Hāwera-based photographic studio of Elizabeth Neilson. Date unknown. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki (M1E 30).
8B
Hardcourt Bike Polo in action at the King Edward Park tennis courts, 2016. Hāwera Bike Polo Club.
9B
The Hawera and Normanby Star, Saturday October 23, 1920. Paperspast.
10B
Pātea Tennis Club, 1951. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki Collection
11B
Newspaper advertisement for a special picnic train to Ngaere Gardens. Hawera & Normanby Star, 8 November 1906. Paperspast.
12B
Holmwood, J. & New Zealand Railways. Publicity Branch. (1930) Visit Mt. Egmont, New Zealand Scenic trip by train. Egmont Mount New Zealand, 1930. [New Zealand: N.Z. Railway’s Studio’s] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www. loc.gov/item/2015647603/.
13B
The lost art of 1920’s garden marketing! Hawera & Normanby Star advertisements for the various attractions at Ngaere Gardens. 12 October 1922. Paperspast
14B
The lost art of 1920’s garden marketing! Hawera & Normanby Star advertisements for the various attractions at Ngaere Gardens. 31 December 1920. Paperspast
15B
The lost art of 1920’s garden marketing! Hawera & Normanby Star advertisements for the various attractions at Ngaere Gardens. 9 January 1919. Paperspast
16B
Advertisement from the Hawera & Normanby Star, 23 October 1920. Paperspast
17B
Ngaere Gardens advertisement from the Hawera & Normanby Star, 10 March 1923. Paperspast
18B
The thrilling water chute ride in use at Ngaere Gardens. Puke Ariki (PHO2002-922).
19B
The ex-1906 Christchurch Exhibition water chute attraction in action at Days Bay, Wellington, 1907. Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref: Eph-POSTCARDS-Wellington-05.
20B
The boat/carriage of a water chute ride – 1906 Christchurch Exhibition. Christchurch City Libraries.
21B
Cartoon “The Lungs of our City” from the Observer (Auckland), 9 February 1907. Paperspast.
Play
Stroll 1C
The band rotunda at King Edward Park, Hawera (c1924), photographer Eileen Moss. Collection of Puke Ariki (PHO2017-0045)
2C
A family promenading along the grassed avenues of King Edward Park, Hāwera. c.1910s. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries (35-R550).
3C
The proprietors of Ngaere Gardens were convinced of its health-giving properties during the 1918 post-war influenza epidemic that tore through the country. Taranaki Daily News, 10 December 1918. Paperspast.
4C
The King Edward Park Band Rotunda and Tea Kiosk in 1912. Te Papa (O.001873).
5C
And as it is today, as the Hāwera Observatory. Kete New Plymouth.
6C
The picture is of Robin Sutherland, taken in 2012 at the observatory in the Hawera gardens, holding his grandfather’s watch. Image courtesy of Kevin Bone Photography Ltd www.kevinbonephoto.co.nz
7C
A slightly saucy ‘Rendevous’ postcard for New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park, c.1910s. Puke Ariki (ARC2008-322).
8C
Cover of the 1951 edition of ‘Me and Gus’ by Frank S. Anthony and Francis Jackson, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, 1951. Kete New Plymouth.
Remember 1D
Children playing on the cannon in King Edward Park, Hāwera, c.1910s. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki (2002.101).
2D
Child’s commemorative certificate marking the coronation of King Edward VII, 1902. Puke Ariki (ARC2007-174).
3D
James Graham patriotic window display to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII, 1902. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki Collection
4D
Border plantings in King Edward Park today. Photography by John Sargeant, STDC Collection.
5D
Hand-coloured souvenir photo of King Edward Park c.1910s showing formal plantings of introduced species and the ever-present New Zealand cabbage tree. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki (00.1024).
6D
King Edward Park entrance gates, Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki Collection (2000.1022)
7D
Gallipoli Oak. Wikipedia
8D
English Oak. Wikipedia
9D
The old naval cannon pointing down the grassed avenue towards the statue of pioneer farmer Albert Arthur Fantham in King Edward Park, c.1910s. Puke Ariki (pho2004_237)
Relax 1E
View of crowds outside a tent and pavilion on Ōpunake Beach, 1914. Puke Ariki (pho2012_0459).
2E
Ōpunake Beach Carnival, c.1970’s. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki (PH2011.0006)
3E
Opunake Beach 1960. Robin Chambers Collection
4E
A brass band entertaining picnickers at Ōpunake Beach c. 1907-8. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki
5E
Lunch on New Year’s Day, 1935. The Batten family resting on the roadside with the buggy takes place on New Year’s Day, 1935. From the Voyage into the Heartland: Photographic Works from the Batten Collection exhibition. Ross Dunlop Private Collection.
6E
When Summer Comes, from The Hawera Star and South Taranaki Gazette, Saturday, December 27, 1924. From Paperspast.
7E
Picnickers at Ōpunake Beach c.1908-09. In the foreground a man in a dark suit tends to billies (of tea) heating over a fire. In the rear the first changing shed erected at the beach is visible. Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki.
8E
Lunch near Waitara, 1935. The Batten family enjoying a picnic lunch off the road near Waitara on their journey north. From the Voyage into the Heartland: Photographic Works from the Batten Collection exhibition. Ross Dunlop Private Collection.
9E
10E
Watchful lifeguard at the Ōpunake Beach Carnival, January 2014. This is the only beach patrolled by surf lifesavers in South Taranaki. Ōpunake Surf Lifesaving Facebook page.
11E
Striped linen bathing suit, 1915. Observer, 2 January 1915.
12E
13E
1897 Auckland Star newspaper ad for a ‘new bathing suit’. Auckland Star, 11 December 1897. Paperspast.
Seek
Four men of the Ōpunake Surf Club poised to leap into action in 1929. Puke Ariki (PHO2010-0382).
Cover of a 1920s tourism brochure for New Plymouth beaches. Alexander Turnbull Library (Eph-BTOURISM-New-Plymouth-1920s-01cover).
1F
(Left) Fanny Bertha Good, Fuschia procumbens (1901). Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A65.729) (Right) Fanny Bertha Good, Tawa (1898). Collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth (A65.762)
2F
Naumai Park in Hāwera c1900, Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki Collection.
3F
Pukekura Park. Auckland Libraries (996-280).
4F
Naumai Park in Hāwera, taken by Luana Paamu 2017, Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki Collection.
5F
Examples of Duncan and Davies nursery catalogue covers featuring native plants. Courtesy of www.rnzih.org.nz/pages/ nurserycatalogues.html
6F
Examples of Duncan and Davies nursery catalogue covers featuring native plants. Courtesy of www.rnzih. org.nz/pages/nurserycatalogues.html
7F
Examples of Duncan and Davies nursery catalogue covers featuring native plants. Courtesy of www.rnzih.org.nz/pages/ nurserycatalogues.html
8F
Examples of Duncan and Davies nursery catalogue covers featuring native plants. Courtesy of www.rnzih.org.nz/pages/ nurserycatalogues.html
9F
Kawakawa Plant, from the website Maori Plant Use www.maoriplantuse.landcareresearch. co.nz
10F
Hollard Gardens Kaponga, taken by Bettina Anderson, research collection Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki.
11F
Hollard Gardens Kaponga, taken by Bettina Anderson, research collection Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki.
12F
Hollard Gardens Kaponga, taken by Bettina Anderson, research collection Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki.
13F
Hollard Gardens Kaponga, taken by Bettina Anderson, research collection Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki.
14F
The beginnings of a settler’s garden. The Curtis raupō/rush cottage at Ōmata (just south-west of New Plymouth) with an interlaced supplejack fence. The four figures in the foreground include (left to right) the artist (Joseph Merrett), Ida, Helen (shaking dog’s paw), and Charles Curtis. Puke Ariki (A92.157).
15F
Red Eared Slider Turtle www.waikatoregion.govt.nz
16F
Painted Rocks. Hawera Rocks Facebook Page. www.facebook.com/ groups/239143386531483/?fref=nf
Research References Alsop, P., Stewart, G., Bamford, D. Selling the Dream – the Art of Early New Zealand Tourism. Craig Potton Publishing, 2012. Bruce, David. A Brief History of King Edward Park. Informal Park Tour publication, South Taranaki District Council, 2016. Dalley, Bronwyn & Labrum, Bronwyn. Fragments : New Zealand social & cultural history. Auckland University Press, 2000. Dawson, Bee. A History of Gardening in New Zealand. Random House, 2010. Goldsmith, Susette and Barrell, Verne. The Gardenmakers of Taranaki. Ratanui Press, 1997. Kete New Plymouth: ketenewplymouth.peoplesnetworknz.info Ngā Tipu Whakaoranga - Māori Plant Use Database: http://maoriplantuse. landcareresearch.co.nz Te Ara Online Encyclopedia: www.teara.govt.nz The Wonder Book of Taranaki 1926-1927, the garden province of New Zealand. Thomas Avery & Sons, 1927.
CONTACT INFORMATION Aotea Utanganui Museum of South Taranaki 127 Egmont Street, PÄ tea, 4520 Aotearoa, New Zealand 0800 111 323 museum@stdc.govt.nz