Taihape Gumboot Capital

In 1985 Taihape held a gumboot-throwing contest as a promotional stunt, borrowing the idea from a John Clarke comedy song in which the Fred Dagg character sang about gumboots as the essential rural footwear. It stuck. The town now calls itself the Gumboot Capital of New Zealand, has a large corrugated-iron gumboot sculpture beside the highway, and holds a Gumboot Day festival with throwing competitions that draw a genuine crowd. It is a farming service town on State Highway 1 roughly midway between Wellington and Auckland, so most of its traffic is people breaking a long drive, and the gumboot exists to make them stop. Around Taihape are the Rangitikei River gorges, used for rafting and bungy, and the Gravity Canyon complex. The town centre is small with a few cafes, and the Mokai Gravity Canyon bridge swing is the other thing people come for.

What you actually see

• The gumboot sculpture - corrugated iron, beside the highway.
• Gumboot Day - throwing competitions, in autumn.
• The origin - a 1985 stunt borrowed from a comedy song.
• The Rangitikei gorges - rafting and bungy country nearby.

When to go

Any time for the sculpture, which is a five-minute stop. The Gumboot Festival falls in March or April - dates are announced locally.

Honest expectations

It is one sculpture and a joke, and the joke depends on knowing the song. The town is a highway service centre. The festival is the only day it is more than a photo stop.

Nearby

The Rangitikei gorges and Gravity Canyon are close; Waiouru and the Desert Road are north.