New Plymouth artist Michael Montgomerie shows off the mural that won him second place in the National Sign and Display awards.
The mural covers the interior of the Rainbow Pearls shop at the New Plymouth paua farm. It was designed by Mr Montgomerie with the shop’s staff. Mr Montgomerie said he had the Taranaki coastline and ocean in mind when he designed the mural. One of the main features of the airbrush painted mural were humpback whales.
First place in the illustrations and murals category was the Te Papa mural by Signing On, one of the biggest design companies in New Zealand. Mr Montgomerie has also designed murals for the Taranaki Racing Club, the International Rugby Hall of Fame and New Plymouth Underwater Club.
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The fascinating world of the paua opens up to visitors of Rotorua’s unique marine attraction. Almost every Kiwi has seen the colourful paua shell but knows little else about this native shellfish.
Ocean Pearl Farm provides the opportunity, not only to see paua at different stages of maturity, but to earn everything about these intriguing marine mollusks. “We have a room which tells the visitor the history of the paua, its natural habitat. what it eats and even myths and legends about them,” manager Joyce Bell said.
A video explains the different development stages of the paua plus information on how they spawn. Of great interest to visitors will be the implant process which enables them to produce half round pearls. On average a paua pearl takes two years to develop. The pearl farm and other marine features are served by a seawater re circulation system. A popular feature of the system is expected to be the bio filter stand.
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Five years of planning and preparation has come to fruition with the opening of Rainbow Abalone Limited’s shop, Rainbow Pearls. Situated next to Chaddy’s Charters on Ocean View Parade, New Plymouth, the shop sells pearls cultivated at the Rainbow Abalone farm. Along with guided tours of the abalone (paua) farm, Rainbow Pearls will provide a further attraction for locals and visitors to Taranaki.
