Brick Bay Sculpture Trail

Brick Bay is a working vineyard north of Auckland that runs a sculpture trail through its grounds - about two kilometres on a loop through vines, regenerating native bush, a wetland and around a lake, with roughly forty to fifty works sited along it. What distinguishes it from a permanent sculpture park is that the exhibition changes: most works are on loan for around a year and are for sale, so the trail is different each season and returning visitors see a new show. The pieces are almost all by New Zealand artists and range from monumental steel to small interventions you could walk past. At the start is a glass-and-timber pavilion housing the cellar door and a restaurant looking over the lake, which is where most people finish. The walk is flat but unsealed and muddy in places after rain. Booking is advisable for the restaurant rather than the trail.

Highlights

• The rotating exhibition - most works on loan and changing yearly.
• The two-kilometre loop - vines, bush, wetland and lake.
• New Zealand artists - almost the whole trail.
• The glass pavilion - cellar door and restaurant at the start and finish.

When to go

October to April; the trail is open year round but muddy in winter. Book the restaurant if you want to eat, particularly at weekends.

Things to know

Ticketed for the trail. Because works rotate, anything you saw in photographs may be gone. The path is unsealed and gets muddy. It is an hour from Auckland by car with no public transport.

Nearby

Matakana village and its Saturday market are close; Tawharanui and Goat Island are north.