There’s a plaque on part of the Te Araroa walk between Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay which says: "we do not remember days, we remember moments", Cesare Pavese.
As director of Oamaru’s Forrester Gallery I know best moments can be lived in a gallery or museum in conversation with a great piece of art or an inspiring object or human story.
I have had some amazing moments when engaged in viewing art: funny, overwhelming, sad, life-changing and I believe in the power of art to transform.
But all the same, my random top best moments are things like this: Sucking in the cold fresh air of the alpine view, having just cramponed up beside Lake Mabel in Arthurs Pass.
Laughing with my daughter as I recover myself and my bike from a misjudged corner on single track up at Broken River.
Climbing gratefully into my sleeping bag under the shoulder of Mt Aspiring, after a long cold day up and over Cascade Saddle.
Running down the sand dunes to dive straight into Lake Wabby on Fraser Island in Queensland.
Running by myself in the early morning through the bush near the pipeline in Hobart when visiting my father.
Walking in the pitch dark by myself (no headlight and definitely no phone) down near Cape Wanbrow, checking out the amazing stars and being surprised by an aurora.
Laughing as I crash down the surf on my boogie board into a setting sun at Campbells Bay, Kakanui.
The list could go on but my point is this: some of these things lasted 10 seconds in recorded linear time, but they have the capacity to sustain and succour me across a lifetime.
- Jane Macknight is director of the Forrester Gallery, North Otago Museum and Waitaki District Archive.
Your best day
• Tell us about your best day. Send submissions to odt.features@odt.co.nz. We ask that you don’t nominate the day you were married or when a child arrived. But any other day is fine.
