B.

Along the Heaphy Highway

Behind the scenes

An invitation to stay with friends at Mapua recently was an offer too good to turn down, and provided a thankful respite from the beaten and bruised town of Christchurch.

I hadn't been up that way for quite some time and we made straight for Nelson on the first day. Walking through the city centre shops was an experience that I suddenly realised I missed – malls just don't cut it for me here in Christchurch. Visiting the Suter Gallery was also a highlight, especially their collection display which included a great pairing of Bill Hammond's Along the Heaphy Highway with a John Gully landscape. Other highlights included a fantastic early painting by Julian Dashper and a large quatrefoil by Max Gimblett. But of course the most enjoyable time was spent with friends at their house which overlooks Ruby Bay at Mapua. This area was a favourite of Toss Woollaston and his contemporaries, Colin McCahon, Anne Hamblett, Doris Lusk, Rodney Kennedy and Patrick Hayman in the early 1940s.

Toss Woollaston Sketch of Ruby Bay 1942. ink. Collection Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, presented by J. Livingstone 1978

Toss Woollaston Sketch of Ruby Bay 1942. ink. Collection Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, presented by J. Livingstone 1978