Adrienne Spratt with the harakeke (flax) she uses for her weaving. Photo / David Haxton
Adrienne Spratt with the harakeke (flax) she uses for her weaving. Photo / David Haxton
The beauty and serenity of Kāpiti Island have made it one of the most inspiring places in the world. That’s certainly what Adrienne Spratt thinks, anyway.
Adrienne and husband Wayne are two of the few people lucky enough to own property on Kāpiti Island – a gift that has been passed down through Wayne’s family for many generations.
When Adrienne started learning the art of weaving about 30 years ago, she discovered that their home in Waiorua Bay, at the northern end of the island, was the perfect place to do it.
She was able to plant harakeke (flax), which she had been given from countrywide master weavers, and many of the dyes she uses come from the bark of trees on the island.
Kāpiti Island also offers many of the materials Adrienne uses in her other creations, including seawater for her homemade soaps and mānuka, kānuka and kawakawa for her balms.
Now she’s ready to share her creations with the public and has joined the Kāpiti Coast Art Trail, along with more than 300 local artists. The event will take place over the first two weekends of November.
It’s something she’s wanted to do for a while, but she always thought it would be too difficult to pull off, since visitors would have to come via boat and the weather would have to be decent.
Getting to Adrienne Spratt's gallery involves a boat trip to the northern end of Kāpiti Island. Photo / David Haxton
Visitors to the gallery can expect to be shown around the gallery by Adrienne, see a couple of different people in the process of weaving, traditional Māori tattooing done by Tamihana Katene, and perhaps some carving.
Visitors can also wander around outside the gallery and see native bird species that are not on the mainland.
Adrienne started weaving several decades ago, after being motivated by her children, Hona and Kahu, and wanting to pass the skill down to them.
She started weaving on the island, where she created her first kete.
She says it turned out “really ugly” so, in keeping with Māori tradition, she buried it on the island and kept practising.
“[The island] is where my journey started.”
As she developed her skills, she found how much she loves creating, and now always has at least one project on the go.
A kete (basket) woven by Adrienne Spratt. Photo / David Haxton
“Sometimes I can sit and weave without knowing what it will turn out like.”
So, for the past 16 years, she has been teaching a degree course in Māori vision art one night a week in Palmerston North and is studying towards a PhD in weaving.
As part of her PhD, she’s been looking at patterns of cultural identity and has been looking at the weaving patterns of her Czech, Hungarian, Scottish and Irish ancestors and creating them with Māori materials.
Growing up, she always liked to explore her creativity and was lucky to be able to try different art forms through her grandfather.
“I got to try lots of different things. My grandfather [Frank Brown] made jewellery and did marquetry.”
One of the perks of visiting the Kāpiti Island-based gallery, as well as viewing Adrienne’s art, is you will be educated on the island’s history.
Wayne is very knowledgeable about his family’s history, which he delves into during his opening kōrero.
Since Waiorua Bay is such a “significant place for us whānau”, their history is something he likes to share with all the bay’s visitors.
So, as you sit on the deck of the couple’s home, with a view of the sea and the mainland, he’ll tell you all about the bay’s history, starting about 800 years ago when Māori first arrived on the island.
Kete and other good on display at Waiorua Gallery. Photo / David Haxton
Several different tribes wanted to settle but the one that ended up staying was Ngāti Toa, who came from Kāwhia in Waikato.
Ngāti Toa’s chief was Te Pehi Kupe and his brother was Te Rangihiroa – a relative of Wayne who is buried near their home.
The tribe first invaded Kāpiti Island in 1820 and forced the other tribes out, but they came back just four years later.
Wayne says it was the biggest battle in the lower North Island’s history. “They say you could hardly see the water with all the waka coming.”
But because of Kāpiti Island’s incredible defences, and bad weather at the time, the invaders had a hard time getting onto the island and were quickly defeated.
Adrienne Spratt's handmade soaps. Photo / David Haxton
Ngāti Toa held the island until whalers were invited to live there and the population rose from about 300 to 2500.
Seven whaling stations were set up by small groups of American, Irish, Scottish and English settlers. Whaling also provided jobs for Māori.
“I try to imagine what that would have been like here, with whales being towed in and cut up ... it would have been a pretty difficult time.”
Eventually, the whales stopped swimming past the island and whaling was replaced with farming, with 70-80 per cent of the island’s trees being burned or chopped down to make room for farms. Several different animals were introduced, including dogs, pigs, goats, cattle, sheep, possums and rats.
“The flora and fauna were under huge amounts of pressure,” Wayne says.
It wasn’t until about the 1890s that people became more aware of the extinction of native birds, and a nature protection organisation bought the land from the Europeans to help rejuvenate the island.
“In that era … we lost 57 species of birds, extinct, gone forever.”
An inquisitive kākā on Kāpiti Island. Photo / David Haxton
Māori didn’t want to sell their land, though, and Wayne’s great-grandmother, Utauta Parata, was adamant that she wouldn’t sell to the Crown.
She was one of the only Māori residents to keep her land.
Today, the island is thriving and is completely predator-free.
It is home to many species of native birds, including kōkako, kākā, takahē (two of which live in Adrienne and Wayne’s backyard) and the country’s biggest population of little spotted kiwi.
Kāpiti Island bookings can be made directly online here, by email at bookings@kapitiisland.com, or via phone on 0800 527 484.
