Impressive Image

Black Betty was our breakfast choice this morning, the first time we’ve been there for several years. The food is still excellent and I did appreciate my Earl Grey tea made weakly with tea leaves. The cafe wasn’t as busy as it used to be, perhaps because there are now so many new options available. No sign of the Harley Davidson riders who were Saturday morning regulars. They must have gone somewhere else.

We parked in Allen Street, and as we drove out we spied a mural I hadn’t seen before, as we rarely go that way.

Mural in Allen Street

It’s a portrait of Harlem-Cruz Atarangi Ihaia, and was painted by Erika Pearce in 2017, for the YMCA’s Street Prints Otautahi Festival. The mural raises issues of environmentalism, cultural identity, and female empowerment, and is illuminated by sustainable solar lighting.

Adjacent is a 2021 mural which I found less attractive. The letters appear to read NESS, but I’m not sure what it means.

NESS mural

Black Betty led us to a wall
with a new mural proud and tall

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The Power of Books

I found another mural by Ruby Jones, in Cathedral Square outside Turanga.  This one definitely appeals.  It reads Never underestimate the power of getting lost in someone else’s words.

A book can change your perspective
and show another way to live.

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Barbadoes Bananas

This bunch of bananas graces the wall at 323 Barbadoes Street, which was a takeaways shop prior to the earthquakes.  Some one must have used a stencil as each banana is the same.

I’ve never liked bananas.  My childhood memories include being served banana custard for dessert, and that might be enough to put anyone off.  For many years I’ve had an aversion to the colour yellow, possibly because it’s the colour of bananas (I do make an exception for sunflowers).  Occasionally I’ve been offered banana cake, and felt it would be rude to refuse, but I’ve never enjoyed it.  I’m aware that bananas are sometimes the base of the smoothies I enjoy, but always well disguised with other fruit.

Stephen does like bananas, which are a source of fibre, potassium, and vitamin C, and he will often have one for breakfast.  When doing this week’s online shopping I inadvertently managed to order 100 grams instead of one kilo, so our delivery included just one lone banana.

In India bananas are called the Fruit of the Wise Men, because legend said that wise men meditated under the shady green leaves of the banana plant.  No mention of there being any opportunity for women to meditate in the shade!  The phrase to go bananas means to become crazy or angry – could be another reason to avoid the fruit.  Apparently this saying originated in the late 1960s when rumors spread across U.S. university campuses that roasted banana peels had psychedelic properties, and that ingesting them could lead to hallucinations similar to ones brought on by LSD or magic mushrooms.

Do you like bananas?  Have you ever seen a straight one?

This is one fruit I’d never choose
and I eschew its yellow hues

 

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Woman in Water

This mural is on a wall at 116 Buchan Street, Sydenham.  There didn’t seem to be any acknowledgement of the artist on the wall, but I’ve discovered it’s by Deow of Southland, and was created for the 2016 Spectrum Festival.   It shows a woman striving and reaching up from the water, symbolising the will to rise up and push through hard times similar to how Christchurch city has done and will continue to do.

We all continue to push through
although it’s sometimes hard to do

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Sauntering around SALT

SALT is the area around St Asaph, Lichfield, and Tuam Streets, also known as South Alternative.  On a sunny morning we parked on Manchester Street and walked down Southwark Street towards Black Betty’s which was our breakfast destination.  We haven’t explored this southern area for some time and discovered many new murals.

I liked these clouds

I liked the flying ducks even more

After breakfast we investigated the Boxed Quarter which is chock-full of murals and interesting eating places:

Face in Boxed Quarter

Person emerging in Boxed Quarter

In High Street it’s good to see that the Duncan’s Building has been preserved and shops are now open there.

Duncan’s Building in High Street

This clever mural by George Shaw is beside Little High:

Over in St Asaph Street there are more murals.  The lower one with native birds especially appealed to me.

A mysterious old brick building at 220 St Asaph Street has some humorous touches, including a sign that says it’s a chocolate bomb factory.  I opened the door and discovered it’s the home of NOTT architects.

Murals at 220 St Asaph Street

In Welles Street we found the GoodFor Wholefoods Refillery.  This has an amazing range of goods available, all package-free.  You fill your own containers, weighing them first on a machine which prints out a sticker with the weight.

Goodfer Refillery

I hope they do good business, but we’ll stay loyal to PIKO which offers similar package-free goods.

Over the road there’s a caricature of the Christ Church Cathedral:

So many murals, buildings too
this area has much that’s new

 

 

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Plump Pukeko

Bird murals always attract me and today I saw a new one.

This is on an alleyway by the Sweet Soul Patisserie in the Guthrey Centre near Ballantynes.  I wondered whether this pukeko might be plump because it’s pregnant, or because it’s been sampling the patisserie’s goods?

Mr Explorer Douglas claimed this bird can fly, walk, dive, and swim, but can do none of these even tolerably well.

Pukeko usually live in groups with three to seven breeding cocks and two breeding hens who lay their eggs in one communal nest.  Their small communities are rife with incest, but they thrive despite inbreeding.

This pukeko upon the wall
has no community at all.

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Golden Grove

Grove of Intention

A Grove of Intention has been painted in Westpac Lane, where my office was before the earthquakes.  It shows seven trees, each with a specific inquiry to create contemplation, conversation, and connection, adorned by a native bird.  Fifty white thumbprints are included on the Connection Tree in memory of those we lost in the mosque shootings on the Ides of March.  The mural is the second and the largest in the world of a series of Intention Trees, interactive experiential public murals created by the Intentional Creativity Guild, whose members are found in seventeen countries globally.

These golden trees hold an appeal
to help our city start to heal.

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Florisugent Flyers

Florisugent is a new word I’ve learned.  It means nectar-sucking (of birds).  I wonder if I’ll ever be able to fit it into a Scrabble game?

There’s a florisugent mural on Lichfield Street behind the new Emergency Services Precinct.

I had to take the photo in two ‘bites’ to get it all in.  The mural’s by The Chimp, and certainly brightens up the street.

‘This new-found word describes them well
these charming birds au naturel.’

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Mural Monsters

This rather fearsome mural is on the west wall of the Isaac Theatre royal, behind the Dance-O-Mat.  It’s signed Berst.  I think this must be Bobby ‘Berst’ Hung, who is a tutor at Unitec.  It’s colourful, but perhaps a little scary.

‘These purple monsters on the wall
could possibly make your skin crawl.’

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Trees and Stars

Someone with a poetic bent has painted a couple of murals on the building on the north west corner of Gloucester Street and Fitzgerald Avenue.

“The Trees” by Philip Larkin

 

Starry Starry Night

I enjoy seeing new adornments when I’m out walking.  I like to think about what may have inspired these artistic creations.

“Trees and stars are signs of hope
which comfort those inclined to mope.”

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