Yesterday I had the privilege of leading a Take it Easy tour group on a day trip to visit some of Whanganui’s fascinating engineering and industrial heritage locations. We had such a good time! Complete with a perfect lunch and feet-up break at Coopers in Wilson Street at midday, and a home baking and tea/coffee picnic at Virginia Lake to finish.
Feedback was very positive. Many people told me they already knew of places like the old woollen mills, Wairere House and our bridges and towers, but really enjoyed finding out the fascinating stories behind the features and how they worked and seeing places they thought they knew with fresh eyes.
We also talked about how many old technologies could very easily be adapted as modern ‘green’ initiatives – including Konka Board, which used pumice and flax fibre to achieve a thermal, acoustic, bug-resistant, cost-effective and sustainable building solution, and vault lights, which make basement spaces useable in a safe and visually interesting way.
A huge thanks to Jason from Take it Easy Tours for giving my tour idea the green light, and to Jim, our driver, for helping to make the day such a success.
Fingers crossed we can run another tour like this one sometime soon – especially to Otago once my next book comes out. Can’t wait!
