The Glass House Restaurant at the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail is cantilevered over a lily pad-strewn pond.
Already visited the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail? It may be time to return to enjoy brand new, conversation-starting works, writes Helen Van Berkel.
An hour of mild debate later, we still could not decide: which of the artworks on the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail was our favourite?
We were in the Glass House Restaurant, overlooking a smooth pond occasionally ruffled by ripples as a fish surfaced or a breeze tickled through the lily pads. The cheeky breeze snuck in through the window to where we sat, arguing and enjoying the apricity of a quiet Saturday morning.
We had just completed the Sculpture Trail, an outdoor exhibition of more than 60 large-scale works by Kiwi artists laid out with such great thought that everything looked like no great thought had gone into it at all.
The trail begins at the Glass House and the first installation we came across was Anton Forde’s Nga Manaaki. The 44 carved pou of variable sizes were lined up overlooking the pond. The wood grain gave each faceless pou an individuality and the angled heads suggested conversation and consideration. Like many of the works, it looked completely different when viewed from the other side of the pond. Where at first I saw straight lines of individuals focused on each other, I now saw a heart-shaped group looking outward. Thus began a conversation as we both interpreted what we saw in the piece.
We continued our way around the lake and turned “right at the silver dinosaur” (aka Gregor Kregar’s Triceratops) to enter the stand of bush that hosts the trail’s sculptures. Side paths beckoned us into the shadows to discover Stephen Woodward and Chris van Doren’s Apoplexis, and we were startled – then amused – when our presence stirred Sam Hamilton’s Sex Choir sound sculpture into action.
While we’d both visited the sculpture trail before, we were delighted to discover new works on display, even as we described the bygone pieces we previously liked.
A boardwalk leads us through the stands of kahikatea, kauri, nikau and other native trees – all handily named and marked and some looking sculptural in their own right.
Nicholas Duval-Smith’s bronze bell hung temptingly from a tripod, practical asking to be whacked. Yet, I was surprised to discover that was exactly what the Wake-Up Call installation wanted and even provided the mallet to do so. Even with express written permission, it felt naughty, so I gave the bell a gentle tap. The result was a single baritone that rolled out long and pure; its deep mellifluousness harmonising with the colours of the shaded bush. It was such a satisfying sound I swung the mallet again, harder this time. And we both stood, silent, our very souls receiving that perfect note in that perfect setting.
Onwards, Jeff Thomson’s corrugated iron flock of chickens was a colourful whimsy, and the artist continues his commitment to the medium with Mesh House, which is exactly as described: right down to the letterbox.
The 2km track loops back on itself and magically the sculptures transform into something completely different as you view them from different angles and perspectives.
As I neared Virginia King’s Aetherium Ancestral Vale I saw the beautiful pale perfection of a soaring kahikatea in her suspended aluminium sculptures. Closer, the works showed the might of an ancient and vigorous kauri. On the other side, it is clear the work is about the fragility of New Zealand’s native bush.
We lost track of time as we explored and examined the works along the trail and were shocked to discover that our leisurely meander back to the Glass House had taken two hours. And, a bonus for you dog lovers out there – your four-legged pal is welcome to come along too, as long as they stay on a leash.
We shared a charcuterie board; a selection of smoked and spiced meats including a rich duck liver pate and dark sourdough rye bread.
My friend matched it with a pinot gris made with grapes grown on site. The wine list featured a selection of wine varieties grown at the Brick Bay Vineyard or melded with grapes from Marlborough.
After that starter we felt capable only of a small main and she ordered the smoked kahawai croquettes with pickled cabbage, fennel and celeriac salad, enlivened with a tartare sauce. I shared my lamb kibbeh with her: she got a mouthful of spiced ground meatball, tabbouleh and tahini yoghurt, which I swapped with a square of her kahawai.
Although advertised as “small” plates, our meals were more than enough to leave us too full for dessert.
The Brick Bay Sculpture Trail opens at 10am and the restaurant at 11.30am. The cafe at the start of the trail is open to order a coffee to carry around with you (just be careful with juggling your camera and your cup if you are wearing a white shirt ...).
The Brick Bay Sculpture Trail is open 10am until 4pm on weekdays, 9pm on Saturday and 5pm on Sunday.
Tickets are $18 for adults, with discounts for seniors, students, children and free for under 5s.