Back to a couple of weekends ago. I'm with my friends, on the way back from Tauranga, and we passed through Katikati. These shots were the result of a very, very quick stop at the Katikati Heritage Museum, just to look around the outside, not to visit the museum itself (which is a tour which does take time because virtually every inch of the walls inside has something of interest to look at. Trust me. I glanced through an entrance door, and knew my friends were indeed wise to make this just a five-minute snap-and-run.)
If you're not into the museum, or the souvenirs, there's always the Miniputt ...
According to the sign beside it, this is a steam-driven butterfat testing device, "used in dairy factories to determine the amount of butterfat the Farmer produced so as to pay him."
At the moment, the museum is owned and run by Ken and Nancy Merriman, but earlier this year, they announced plans which would have meant the museum's closure.
The debate about the museum's future began earlier this year when the Merrimans, after trying to sell it as a going concern, announced plans to auction the collection, land and buildings to begin "the second stage of their retirement".
Bay of Plenty Times, 28 April 2011
At this point, it seems that a community committee has been formed to look at ways at either buying the land, to maintain the museum, or at least buying part of the collection, keep it in storage, and then work on a means to display it in the future.
Not sure whether this character was part of the Miniputt course or not ...
Nicely done, with the horse hitched to the cart. But -- why the horse-blanket?
Some pukekos who look like they won't take much nonsense.
I remember when almost all schools in the 1960s-1970s had play equipment like this. Today, this sort of stuff is probably frowned on by the Powers That Be as far too dangerous for little boys and girls. There certainly were a lot of scrapes and war wounds from the jungle gyms.
It would be a shame if this character's vigil over the highway had to come to an end.
The good old days weren't always so good. I broke my wrist when I fell from play equipment at about the age of ten.
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh, but Andrew, are you now a border-line sociopath becoz of a few schoolboy war wounds? No - it was all part of growing and learning.
ReplyDeleteThese days, anything remotely resembling climbing equipment is made from plastic, probably sanitised daily, and must have spongy impact matting beneath it. Puh-leez! It's no wonder we have so many problems in society today: the new generation is just too soft and mamby-pampied!!!
Eeeee, by gooom, when I were a lard...
In many areas we have gone too far Writer, but some soft material to break falls under play equipment is a good thing in my opinion.
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