Carlucci Land

After a lovely two weeks spent exploring Wellington and the surrounding area together, Dad and Lucinda have gone back to Kansas, and J and I are enjoying a peaceful weekend at home. I have lots of wonderful pictures and stories to share from their time here, and will do so in a series of posts over the next few weeks.

Early on in their time here, we took them to Carlucci Land. We had seen it from the road ages ago, and thought that Dad would really like it, as it consists of many repurposed and recycled things used it creative and beautiful ways. We've since learned that these are also things Lucinda values, so it was perfect to all go together.

The experience of Carlucci Land is described on its brochure as follows:

"Admire the sculptures as you weave through this unique Wellington landmark, get up close and interact with the remarkable metal sculptures that make this a truly exceptional mini golf course. These intricately place art installations complete with strategically placed rocks, allowing you the golfer to get up close, revealing how the behemoths were formed by nature. Discover small ferrous kiwis only inches high to giant metallic spiders, snakes and other metal creations inspired by nature.

Sit amongst the old recycled furniture and feast your eyes on a collection of curios from the past. It is a truly spectacular mini golf experience."

(I find their grammar dubious, but I still enjoyed the description.)

Here is the view from on high, looking down on part of the course. 

The mini golfing itself was fun, as mini golfing always is, and it was interesting to see the use of recycled parts to add challenge.

We loved this hole, with many different tubes and tracks the ball might end up rolling down.

None of us profess to be mini golf experts, but I think we did quite well.

We enjoyed the different levels and creative nooks and crannies.

I was so fascinated by this looping track (and the adorable people on top) that I forgot that J's ball was going to come out, and stood right in its path. Oops!

The enormous rocks all throughout the course were lots of fun, and we scrambled all over them as we found vantage points to watch the others' turns.

I was deeply entertained by the fact that our balls ended up in prison at the end of the course. They also made a delightful 'ping' as they landed. We freed them, of course, and returned them to their home.

Once we'd finished the mini golf course, we had a great time looking around at all the other sculptures and creations. They are made by Carl Gifford, who created Carlucci Land, and is passionate about "rocks, recycling, making steel sculptures, art and also eduction."

I may have taken a somewhat exorbitant number of pictures, but I couldn't resist. Everything was very cool, and if you knew how many awesome things I didn't take pictures of, you'd see that I actually showed admirable restraint. I feel that the pictures speak for themselves, and will therefore refrain from commenting unless there is a detail I'd like to highlight.

Notice the beautiful butterfly that kept us company. It's one of my favourites of the kinds I see here.

I was completely delighted by this whimsical depiction of climbing up to the moon. I don't know what it is about it, exactly, but I just adore it.

I checked, and it seems that this contraption would actually move forward, if you were strong enough to push it.

We love dragons (exciting news on that front later), and I thought this one was particularly charming.

The four of us had a delightful time at Carlucci Land, and I anticipate that J and I will return there many times, perhaps by ourselves, or perhaps with future guests.