‘Sylvia Park’. Welcome to the archetypal Auckland megamall where to-the-door valet parking makes shopping more complete. There is no better function than conspicuous consumption. Spot my Tiffany bag? Did you remark upon my Raybans?

You cannot sell a Te Kaha pohutukawa forest. So what’s the value in that. But you can plant them in artificial rows alternating with black tarmac and painted lines to eventually shade the cars (no bikes; this is designed for the motorway shopper).

“I’m off to Sylvia Park”, we’ll say. A nice Greek name to evoke forest glades.

Does anyone see the irony in paving paradise, putting up a parking lot, then having the gall to suggest it’s a forest glade? Joni Mitchell, where are you?

Who knows: in a post-oil post-motorway future flowers may grow in the tarmac cracks as free-form pohutukawa race for liberty and life.

But more likely some bastard will cut them down as a ‘problem’ and replace them with agapanthus or something similarly vile. Desperately needing to get back ….. on the road.

Chris Perley

Road Trip

2012