Trees and Art

Yesterday I visited the Waitakaruru Arboretum near Hamilton to see their current exhibition of sculpture among the trees. The arboretum was made by plantings in a disused quarry, and covers over 17 hectares (42 acres), with lovely walking tracks around the lakes, outcrops and gullies, and the plantings of many tree varieties.

The walk alone is worth going for, but it's really enjoyable and fun to come across 

all of the various sculptures around the park.

In the current exhibition, Sky above Earth below, there are 37 pieces, but there are another 35 or so 'permanent' pieces throughout.

There were lots of family groups around, and there are certainly many exhibits to appeal to kids, such as this old taniwha* in a pond:

or these birds of prey dealing with a kill:

The piece I liked best was this chimney among the pines, with its connotations of the past; in this country the chimney is often the only thing left standing when a house has been abandoned to crumble and disintegrate...

 

I also really liked this strange thing, caught amongst the  trees:

Because of the trees, the park has been declared a Permanent Carbon Sink under our government's carbon sink initiative - trees play a significant role in absorbing carbon and slowing the rate of climate change. So, there you go: intriguing, attractive - AND politically correct!

All in all it was a lovely thing to do on a holiday morning.

*taniwha - monster