Gibbs Farm

We went to Gibbs Farm today. It is about 30 minutes drive from Orewa, in the Kaipara harbour area. This is on the West coast of New Zealand.

We left just after 09:30. Alida did not go with, because one has to do a lot of walking. In fact, we later estimated that we had walked about 6 km, based on Dedré and Steve’s fitness apps on their phones.

It was a nice day, some cloud, but not cold. It later turned out to be very nice.

We arrived, and started walking. There were quite a lot of people there, I would estimate a few hundred. We saw some Alpacas running, and walked toward them. They were on the edge of a big dam, and in the dam there were also white and black swans, ducks, and other water fowl. There is a small island, on which they have placed some balancing stones.

We then went to look at some animals, saw a big bull, with long hair. We then went to the Giraffe enclosure, where the kids actually fed the giraffe by holding branches with leaves on.

We then went on, saw some zebra. Then a long walk up the hill, and on the other side, saw a very nice scene from the top! There was an enclosure with some Reindeer, and in the distance some buildings. There was also an area where the seaside was laid out with pathways, and dams, with walkways, resting places, etc. However, this is private, and the public is not allowed to go there.

Looking down, there were five mounds of earth, with a mower working on one. This is a piece of art by one of the artists.

On the top of the hill, is the biggest sculpture. It is eight arcs, standing on edge, all together, reaching up to a staggering height! These arcs, when joined together, will form a circle. However, as they are now, they just soar up into the sky.

The next sculpture, is a huge pipe-like structure, passing through the top of a hill. It is very impressive!

Then there are glass and stainless steel structures, a long pole with a transparent ball on top, something that resembles a huge snake-like thing, huge boxes with different colours, and a peculiar sculpture which changes shape and looks different from different angles.

There are some frame-like boxes, red from one side, black from the other side. There is a weird looking bridge, a blue pipe structure, over a dam. The public are not allowed on the bridge. There is a spouting fountain in one of the dams. It spouts the water in different patterns, and is quite cool! The wind was blowing a bit, and we went to the edge of the dam, and were drenched by the spray from the fountain!

We then went to another sculpture, four high, upright rectangular pole-like structures, called the Sentinels. There is also an artwork, two rectangles, which revolve as the wind blows over them. The seem to be made from lightweight material, like aluminium. This one is called Two Rectangles, Vertical Gyratory Up (V).

The last one we visited, is called Te Tuhirangi Contour. This is a 252 metre long, contoured wall, made from 6 metre high, 50 mm thick, Corten steel plates. The wall leans over at an angle of 11 degrees from the vertical.

There is also a sculpture in one of the ponds, called Floating Island of the Immortals. It is made from stainless steel, looks very nice, but what is it?

I am not an artist, so all these sculptures look very nice, but I don’t understand any of them.

Gibbs Farm – Floating Island of the Immortals
Gibbs Farm – 88.5º ARCx8
Gibbs Farm – Bloem Family Picnic
Gibbs Farm – Horizons
Gibbs Farm – The Mermaid
Gibbs Farm – Black Square
Gibbs Farm – Te Tuhirangi Contour