Northland Holiday

Kawakawa

Kawakawa, in the Bay of Islands, used to be a coal mining town, being at its most productive in the late 1870's early 1880's. It was Freidrich Hundertwasser however, who put this little town on the map by making it a very popular tourist attraction when he was commissioned in 1997 to design and build the public toilets in the town's main street. An Austrian born architect, who believed that straight lines are evil, came to New Zealand in the early 1970's. Kawakawa was his home for 25 years when he died in February 2000 at the age of 71. The Kawakawa toilet block, with its grass roof and crooked beauty, was his final creation.

Kawakawa Toilet block with its ceramic columns, garden roof and curving

During construction, local labour and talent was used. Bricks came from

local buildings .....

...... windows were constructed using old bottles from the district,

and tiles used were made by students from schools in Kawakawa.

Also note the interesting gate, leading into the toilets

Another feature wall inside the toilet block

A view from the gate towards the glass bottle window.

Note the crooked lines ...

Kerikeri

Kerikeri, known as "The Cradle of the Nation", is in the Bay of Islands. Here you will find wineries, sub-tropical nurseries, Citrus Orchards, Olive Groves and Avocado Orchards. When an anonymous backpacker entered the following words ... "It's so nice they named it twice", in a Visitors Book in the early 1980's, it was quickly adopted by the locals as the town slogan. The meaning of the name Kerikeri has many conflicting definitions. One of them is that it derives from Kerikeri te ana wai - "the churning or boiling over of the waters". Some Maori say it derives from hukerikeri which means "bubbling up".