It’s like a beacon in the night. And it stops me in my tracks on the intersecton of 7th Ave and Cameron Rd as I traipse into the factory at dawn each day.  I marvel. It’s a great look. 

And I thank the Tauranga City Council staffer who got that little project across the line especially considering all the harrumphing at the time over unnecessary embellishments and expenditure. For six months now, this installation, a fountain based on a pataka, a storehouse on stilts I understand. And featuring a complex kowhaiwhai, Maori art of geometric swirls, all backlit and mesmerising. The fountain on top of the structure is designed to catch and spray rainwater. It symbolises the life cycle of growth. And inscribed on the seat next to the work is the word ‘Hauruia’ – place of gathering. 

I have flicked images of the installation around the country: “You have lampposts, look at what we have got!” Back came this endorsement:  “It is a magnificent work. I love these touchstones in our lives. Reminds us of our humanity”.

This understanding will only add to my pleasure when I stop and gaze upon it again tomorrow morning. Good things have happened on Cameron Rd, even though they have come at a cost for some. 

I Goldsmith, Otūmoetai.