😂😂 it’s a farming town, and apparently a committee of locals decided it was a good marketing gimmick to get people driving through to stop. It references a Kiwi comedian of the 1970s-80s who had a gumboot-wearing alter ego.
Yeah, it still sounds a bit lame, but it seems to work.
It’s what happens when you let a committee decide how to market a town. It does sort of make sense as Taihape is a farming town, and the gumboot reference comes from the late John Clarke in his (pre defection to Australia) incarnation as ‘Fred Dagg.’
I used to have a maidenhair fern in a gumboot many years ago, and I remember that recently someone in the neighbourhood was looking for old boots to use as planters.
I think gumboot is very Antipodean, if not just Kiwi. It is odd the things town choose to promote. A friend of mine once wrote a book about it, which got turned into a TV series.
Isn’t it! I found out that it was a marketing stunt to make people travelling through the town stop. It was riffing off a Kiwi comedian of the 1970s who had a hit song about gumboots. It wouldn’t have been my choice, but there you go!
Our loss was definitely your gain! To be honest, I think he would never have been able to achieve as much in NZ. I didn’t know about the land gift; that is wonderful.
Absolutely! There is a very cool coffee-cart which is a “must-stop” place. And Taihape is on the main highway from Auckland to Wellington, so we couldn’t avoid it.
Zimmerbitch 
Erm? Why? Gumboot capital sounds like clutching at straws!
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😂😂 it’s a farming town, and apparently a committee of locals decided it was a good marketing gimmick to get people driving through to stop. It references a Kiwi comedian of the 1970s-80s who had a gumboot-wearing alter ego.
Yeah, it still sounds a bit lame, but it seems to work.
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OK .. where IS it ? 😀
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About half way to wellington from here.
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I see where it is, and the gumboot reference.
What I don’t get is WHY the gumboot ?
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It’s what happens when you let a committee decide how to market a town. It does sort of make sense as Taihape is a farming town, and the gumboot reference comes from the late John Clarke in his (pre defection to Australia) incarnation as ‘Fred Dagg.’
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Good GRIEF !
[falls back]
I am without words ..
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🤣🤣
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I love wearing my gumboots 🙂 🙂
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I need a new pair!
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When the water gets in they have to go. I have resisted using old boots as planters 😀
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Yeah, wet feet are no fun.
I used to have a maidenhair fern in a gumboot many years ago, and I remember that recently someone in the neighbourhood was looking for old boots to use as planters.
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Ah, Wellies. I had to Google ‘gumboot.’ Every town needs to have bragging rights–and on red, too! I love it.
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I think gumboot is very Antipodean, if not just Kiwi. It is odd the things town choose to promote. A friend of mine once wrote a book about it, which got turned into a TV series.
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We call them rubber boots – an essential for the garden.
Leslie xoxo
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And farming, which is why they’re so iconic here.
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Really? Isn’t that stretching it a bit?
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Doubt there would be all that much competition for the title 😉🤨
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Heehee…
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There’s something special about everywhere, isn’t there? 🙂
janet
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Absolutely. In fact a University friend wrote a (best-selling in NZ) book about the various ways small towns here have tried to create an identity.
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A strange claim to fame. Does it rain a lot there? 🙂 🙂
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Isn’t it! I found out that it was a marketing stunt to make people travelling through the town stop. It was riffing off a Kiwi comedian of the 1970s who had a hit song about gumboots. It wouldn’t have been my choice, but there you go!
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I miss John Clarke. I’m so glad he defected to here, because we so needed his humour, his love of birds and nature, and his generosity.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-30/john-clarke-family-gives-phillip-island-property-to-conservation/12506334
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Our loss was definitely your gain! To be honest, I think he would never have been able to achieve as much in NZ. I didn’t know about the land gift; that is wonderful.
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The Gumboot capital needs to be added to our roadtrip list of course. 😉
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Absolutely! There is a very cool coffee-cart which is a “must-stop” place. And Taihape is on the main highway from Auckland to Wellington, so we couldn’t avoid it.
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Great! 😀 Coffee, gumboots – can it get any better than that?! 😀 😉
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