WOW FACTOR: Close up of new artwork under the Waikanae River rail bridge.
WOW FACTOR: Close up of new artwork under the Waikanae River rail bridge.
A colourful, intricate and appealing aerosol artwork of a kingfisher in flight has appeared on the southern end of the Waikanae River rail bridge base, north of Wellington.
The large scale artwork was created by brothers Theo and Leroi Arraj in conjunction with Destination Waikanae as well as KiwiRail.
SueLusk, chairwoman of Destination Waikanae, said the work, which also included removing various tagging, was "all down to Norma McCallum's determination never to give up and to find the right people in authority to help battle the tagging that has proliferated round Waikanae".
"We struck gold with Isaac from KiwiRail who smoothed the way for us to get down to the rail bridge on New Year's Day to get at the tagging on the pillars on the river bed.
"Unfortunately the first day was a washout but the following day was fine enough to paint."
Ms Lusk, Cath Chittenden and volunteers from Destination Waikanae and the Waikanae Community Patrol battled gale force winds to paint out tagging around one of the pillars while the Arraj brothers perched in the one sheltered spot on the site and spent a day creating the kingfisher which can now be seen from the road as you head south across the Waikanae River road bridge.
CREATIVE: New artwork under the Waikanae River rail bridge.
"Theo and Leroi's artwork is a beautiful backdrop for this popular swimming spot and an attraction for all the visitors walking along our lovely Waikanae River tracks," Ms Lusk said.
"It is the result of real community effort, with more to come.
