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Pukekura Park - A Place That Steals Hearts
Pukekura is a magical park. It draws people to its pathways like a giant green magnet. They run, stroll or wheel and stay for a while. And most come back another day.
It's a clever place this Pukekura Park. It looks as if it was there before the town. It looks as if someone once peeked in and said, "This looks good. We'll build our town around it." But this park is a garden. People made it and when they started it was all a bit of a mess.
Rewind to the 1870s
New Plymouth grew rapidly in this decade and one young man decided his town needed a sports ground. That's how Pukekura Park began. Read the list below and decide if these things were also happening.
True or false?
1. Dairy cows are being milked around New Plymouth.
2. It is often easier to go from Auckland to Sydney than from Auckland to Wellington.
3. For the first time really large numbers of immigrant families are arriving in New Zealand.
4. Farmers have not yet started to clear Taranaki's forest land.
5. In Taranaki there are people farming on land given to them by the Government as a thankyou for taking part in the New Zealand Land Wars.
Heroes or villains?
Let's look at the people that have had something to do with Pukekura Park over the years. Judge whether they are heroes or villains before you read the story and return to the story later and decide whether you've changed your mind.
Heroes or villains?
1. The sportsman who wanted a recreation ground.
2. The people who first cleared all the native trees.
3. Volunteer workers.
4. The tree culler who replaced pines with native trees.
5. The curators or park directors.
6. The parks director who cut down some kauri trees.
7. Councillors from City and now District Councils.
8. The people who want to build aerial walkways and a gondola in the park.
It's good but...
Do this by yourself or with a classmate. Draw up an empty t-chart like the one in the cartoon. On one side list all the good things a place like Pukekura Park brings to a city and its people. On the other side list the things that you think the park needs to make it even more appealing to you.
Word wise
All these words are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and then check your answers when you later read the story.
1. inhospitable (a) Unwelcoming and rugged or (b) unhealthy.
2. trailblazers (a) Innovators prepared to try something new or (b) farmers who developed their farms by burning the bush.
3. segregation (a) Bringing together or (b) keeping apart.
4. compromise (a) Risk or (b) meet halfway.
5. terra firma (a) Firm ground or (b) pond-like.
6. honorary life member (a) A person who has life membership of a group bestowed on him or her as a tribute or (b) a person who is honoured after they have died because of the service they have given to a group.
7. regimental lines (a)Scattered to cover the most ground or (b) straight soldier like lines.
8. ornithologist (a) A person that studies natural bush habitats or (b) a person who studies birds.
9. isolation (a) Protection or (b) apart, alone.
10. comprehensive (a) Thorough (b) arts based.
Read on
Read the story through to the end of, "Imagining what could be" and as you read take special note of:
The introduction and how the author uses word pictures to introduce the reader to the park.
The number of years that some people have spent as curators or park directors. (Those who manage the park.)
The first trees that were planted in the park.
The years when the park was neglected.
What the park was like before it was planned and planted.
Hitting the headlines
If changes are made to Pukekura Park today they hit the headlines of The Daily News almost straight away. Imagine the headlines in 1876. Here was a rough old piece of gorse covered land and a few people wanted to turn it into a sports ground and park. It was close to the centre of town and houses could have been built there one day.
Write four headlines. Two to go with stories supporting the idea and two to go with stories against the idea.
Shutterbug
Imagine how many hours of work it took before this park began to look like a park. Look at this photo:
It's from about 1880.
How long is that since Robert Clinton Hughes first decided New Plymouth needed a park?
If you "know" Pukekura Park today, work out where this photo was taken from and decide what you would see behind the bridge today. Check with a classmate and see if they agree with you.
List the jobs that must have been done in the short time since the park idea was put forward.
Draw a Venn diagram comparing the tools and equipment that must have been used to create the park in the 1800s and the tools and equipment workers would use for maintenance and any park changes today.
Where am I?
Try this activity if you "know" Pukekura Park. Check out each photo and decide where it is.
How rude!
Read "Dam the dam" and "Red flag up-keep out" and then write the reply to this letter to the editor. A letter like this might have appeared in Taranaki Herald in the 1880s. You never know!
Dear Sir,
I wish to complain about park workmen planting trees near the lake on Wednesday while ladies bathed and the red flag was clearly in view. From the springboard it became obvious that these young ruffians, none of whom could be described as gentlemen, were spending more time glancing in our direction than digging holes.
My mother, a woman of delicate demeanour, feels sure she heard a whistle as she emerged from the bathing shed. Upon leaving the water and after a short wait, another whistle was clearly audible, although I did not hesitate to reassure her that it was a tui for she was becoming visibly upset.
Bathing rules clearly state ladies and girls should bathe between 8am and 1pm and I most strongly suggest that the local constabulary enforce this rule forthwith. Employment of a lady constable will of course be necessary.
I remain, respectfully yours,
Miss Emma Prudle
Read on
Find out how the Poets Bridge was named and why the peace of Pukekura Park was shattered for many years. Find out about the "Babe in the bushes," and the Bellringer who has lived in the park for over 60 years. Read through to "Culling for control."
Save our trees
The next two parts in this story tell about times when the giant trees are made to fall.
There is a big fuss each time it happens. Find out why it has been necessary to cull the trees and then decide what you, as parks director, will say to the newspaper reporter when she asks, "But why have you chopped down those beautiful trees?" Practice your answers in pairs.
Fact or opinion?
In the story, retired parks director Alan Jellyman says that New Plymouth folk are extremely protective of their park. They still are. Letters to the editor flowed into The Daily News when the Council recently unveiled some plans for the future.
Read through to the end of the story and then decide if the statements below are fact or opinion. Do this by yourself but compare your decisions afterwards, with a classmate.
1. Plans for a fountain were unpopular.
2. The kiwi island sanctuary was more important than a fountain.
3. The fernery always was and still is today the best in New Zealand.
4. It was best that the park was handed over to the New Plymouth Borough Council.
5. It was lucky for New Plymouth that the Newton King bank account held so little cash.
6. People-made additions to the park like the waterfall, the children's playground and Brookland's Zoo will always be needed to keep people coming to the park.
7. Festivals like WOMAD are a must.
Read all about it
Three more stories make up this package about Pukekura Park. Read the headlines below and if you want to know more just click on the story.
Curator George saves swan first then drives pregnant wife to hospital
Naked party animal throws park barrier in lake
Park's director hides lake swimmers' clothes
Famous park becomes a scary place
Director Jack brings the people back
Climbing weeds pull kauri trees to the ground
New Zealand's oldest bandstand still stands
New Zealand's oldest surviving hospital stands in park grounds
Fast forward to 2004
Park issues continue to hit the news. The latest concerns the Festival of the Lights. The photo below shows how the annual festival turns Pukekura Park into a nocturnal wonderland. It has become a major tourist attraction but some locals are complaining that this year's display didn't "out display" last year's one. One letter to the editor writer was bitterly disappointed that the farting giant was missing this year. Another letter writer said farting giants should stay in Disneyland because this festival should be all about lighting up the park's natural beauty.
Illuminating Moment: The annual Festival of Lights turns Pukekura Park into a nocturnal wonderland. Image: George Fuller
What do you think? Focus on things natural or light up the big stuffed dummies? Think pair and then share your ideas with someone else.
Make it a sanctuary?
The story tells of a little island in the middle of one of the Pukekura Park lakes that used to be a kiwi sanctuary. Wellington has a sanctuary very close to town. A fancy predator fence runs right around a big patch of bush. It is so successful it could be the first mainland place in years to have tuatara making their homes.
What if a predator fence was built around a part of Pukekura Park. Would this be practical? What species could we bring to the park? What else would have to happen besides just building the fence? Get in a small group and discuss these questions then one stay while three stray to three other groups to share ideas.
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