my first rhino safari – first published 11 July 2013

It seems fitting that the first of the resurrected posts from my old blog in 2016 should be about the rhinos that decorated my city back in 2013. When I spotted the first ones in early July I wondered what on earth they were but when I found out there were a trail of them to be discovered I was quite excited. There’s nothing quite like a treasure hunt to whet the appetite for walking. The rhino posts are topical right now because there is a whole new trail coming this year. This time it will be painted zebras gracing our streets, there’s already a Facebook page all about them and I can’t wait to start searching.

11 July 2013

Today started badly, with a dream. I was making hotel arrangements for a group of travel agents and everything was going wrong. Somehow I had caused the four minute warning to go off. You remember the four minute warning we were all so terrified of back in the seventies and eighties when the cold war was still on? Quite how little old me could have done this is beyond me and, in my dream, I knew that it could have been a test warning but it could also have been the real thing. So there I was, crouched in a corner terrified. I pulled a sheet over my head and sat waiting for the bang wondering if it would hurt or not. Then the alarm went off, not the four minute warning alarm, my bedside one. I sprang up in a panic, half expecting a blinding flash and a mushroom cloud. Sometimes I worry about my sanity, what on earth was that all about? Talk about delusions of grandeur!

Not the best of starts to the day.  I got washed and dressed in a dream fogged haze and spent far too long staring into space. Barely had I finished chewing the last of my granola when Gigi called to say she was on her way down the hill. How come the one day I’m not ready she is early? Gigi is never early! So it was time to grab all my stuff and dash out into the sun. Gigi was just coming round the corner at the top of the hill so I had a quick look at the first of the giant daisies making a jolly display along the front wall while I waited for her.

At work my desk looked like an explosion in a paper factory. A billion things to do and every ‘quick’ thing I thought I’d get out of the way turned out to be overly complicated. Why is nothing ever as simple as it looks? The highlight of my day was lunch time. Actually there was a high degree of excitement as it got closer and not just because I was hungry and in need of coffee. I was going on my first proper rhino safari. Yes, I accidentally stumbled across a trio of rhinos yesterday but that didn’t count because it was chance, not planning. Now there is a proper plan. It turns out there are thirty six rhinos. They all have names too and they’re all different. The only way to find this out was to download a map of them and, although I didn’t study it carefully, I don’t think I’d find them all by random chance as they are spread far and wide over the whole city, including Marwell Zoo which is actually in Winchester. That’s a bit of a stretch for a lunch break even for me!

My new quest is to find all thirty six rhinos and shoot them (with my phone obviously). The map, I have discovered, is not cheating because it only gives a vague idea where each rhino is. The plan was to discount the three I’d already seen and go back to them later. Today I would start with rhino number one and move on from there. Rhino number one was in Town Quay somewhere.

From the map it appeared it was near the Hythe ferry terminal. That’ll give Alice a surprise when she steps off the ferry to come back to work on Monday! Not being particularly familiar with the Hythe Ferry I started wandering rather aimlessly in the right general direction looking around for a rhino. When I got to the car park, right at the end of the jetty I’d still not seen one so I stood, scanning the car park wondering if I should walk right to the end or not. I did but there was no rhino! I began to doubt the map, maybe it was wrong. Google said the rhinos would all be in place by Saturday, maybe number one hadn’t actually been put out yet. Hmmm.

Then I turned round to make my way back, feeling a little cheated, and I spotted a flash of blue hiding round the corner behind the terminal building. The plaque told me this was Rika, sponsored by Peer 1 Hosting which is a clever company doing something I don’t really understand called Internet hosting, dedicated servers and cloud computing. Apparently they work for companies like YouTube, Plenty of Fish and WordPress.com so, in a weird kind of way, they host my blog or at least all my things float around somewhere on their cloud and their servers.

Rikia was sky blue with pink ears and nostrils. She had fluffy white clouds and a snakes and ladders board on her tummy on both sides. The ‘ladders’ were actually giraffes (a nod to Marwell perhaps?) and the snakes were slides. She was designed by the staff of Peer 1 who decided to make it a real company project. They had a big team meeting and came up with a design then, in May, everyone helped out in their lunch times with the actual painting. The idea behind it was family fun and they wanted to use mood enhancing, bright colours and blue skies. It worked in my opinion.

So that was one down and thirty five to go. My plan was to find each rhino in order and Rhino number two was supposed to be close by near Porters Lane, a medieval lane running behind the old town wall from the High Street to French Street. It was also once called La Chayne or Wool Street and many of the towns wool stores could be found there. The wool and wine trade were the building blocks for this city and wool was a major source of income for medieval residents. Looking for signs of a rhino I walked along the front of the walls then, seeing nothing, turned back past the drum tower and ruins of intriguing rooms that once made up the Watergate.

There was nothing along Porters Lane. On I went past Canute’s Palace, peering into the courtyard and through the windows. Canute’s Palace is nothing to do with King Canute, although he did try to hold back the tide close to this spot. It’s actually a twelfth century merchants house. From the size and grandeur this was a pretty rich merchant. It has two stories with a large hall on the top floor, possibly a counting house. Even today, in ruins, it’s pretty impressive. There was no rhino anywhere though.

Behind Canutes Palace is the pretty little French garden. The irony of the walls being built to protect against the French and this particular part of the city being so very French with French Street and the French church, St Julien’s, is not lost. We seemed to be keeping them inside rather than keeping them out! Then I spotted a flash of vivid green, the rump of a rhino hiding behind the palace in the little garden.

 

The scent of French lavender assailed my nostrils and the deep purple flowers against Rita the Rhino’s rear was quite a striking combination. She was stunning, a green skyline with shilouettes of musicians, jugglers, sports people and acrobats representing Southampton’s vibrant nightlife, festivals and events. The lovely Rita is sponsored by Wild In Art, who work in partnership with cities to create, promote and manage events like Go Rhino’s, bringing art onto the streets for everyone to enjoy. She was painted by Nathan Smith, an artist for over twenty years working in things such as theatre design, community projects and arts consultancy.

My third rhino came right after my second. Leaving Rita in the little French garden, I intended to turn up French Street and make my way back to work but the sight of something large and blue on the hill by the Woolhouse changed my mind. As I came along the front of the wall towards the Woolhouse there he was peering over the top at me. This building has undergone several incarnations since it was built in the fourteenth century to store the wool transported along Porters Lane. Mostly the wool would then be loaded onto ships to Venice and Genoa. Later the Woolhouse was used to contain French prisoners of war, apparently you can see some of their names carved on the beams of the roof. Over the years it has been used to build motor boats, propellers and even aircraft until, in the 1960’s the council took it over and it became a maritime museum.

Some time ago the maritime museum moved and the Woolhouse has been closed ever since. Today I was surprised to see it open, with people sitting at a table outside drinking coffee. Apparently, until the end of July, Element Arts are holding free exhibitions and workshops there. Pity I didn’t have time to stop but I must make a point of visiting before it closes again. It seems a shame something so worthwhile can’t be a permanent fixture. Also a shame it hasn’t been more widely advertised, I found it by pure chance. Still the rhino at the top of the hill might make a few people stand up and take notice.

From the bottom of the hill, young Reggie looked quite imperious, looking down at me over a lavender planted anchor. I climbed the steps to get a better look. Reggie, like Rita was sponsored by Wild In Art, and painted by Nathan Smith. His body is a nod towards Southampton’s rich maritime history with the waves of a dark blue sea and a row of sailing boats sporting brightly coloured sails billowing in the wind. There are even a couple of seagulls wheeling in the blue sky. He’s a handsome beast for sure.

After I’d bumped into Reggie rhino I planned to walk up towards the High Street where I’d have a choice of coffee shops. Crossing Bugle Street I spotted something under one of the big old trees, close to the Mayflower Memorial. The memorial, a tall obelisk like structure topped with a beacon enclosed by pillars and covered with a copper dome, stands in front of the old walls facing Mayflower Park. It commemorates the departure of the Pilgrim Fathers on 15 August 1620 from almost this very spot. There were in fact two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. Not long after they set sail the Speedwell began to leak and they had to put into Plymouth Harbour where the passengers from Speedwell transferred all their belongings to the Mayflower before setting off again.

The blue and orange something under the tree, turned out to be rhino four. Will was designed and painted by Miroslav Lucan of LucanArt, a Bournemouth based designer and photographer specialising in illiustration, marine and automotive art, architecture and coastline photography. He has worked for clients as varied as Sunseeker, Porsche and Starbucks and is known for his minimalist style. Well, I’m never going to be able to afford a Sunseeker yacht or a Porsche, but I do like a Starbucks from time to time and I had been going in search of a take away coffee. I wonder what he painted for Starbucks?

Will is sponsored by Williams Shipping and his orange, blue and yellow paint depicts one of their little ships. Based in the docks, Williams is a family business, trading since 1894, specialising in logistics, transport, port services and the warehousing we use to store things for Athena,

Having found my first four rhinos I set off on a rather roundabout route back to work. It turned out I wasn’t alone on my safari. There were people with maps everywhere taking photos of the rhinos they found. There was quite a camaraderie about it all. One man asked me if I’d found the Porters Lane Rhino yet as he’d had a problem with that one. I gave him a hint and in return he pointed me in the right direction for one he’d just found. What a lovely way to get people out in the fresh air and talking to each other.

Back in the office Grace wanted to see my photos. She’s been looking for rhinos herself but hasn’t found as many as me. Then Howard heard us talking and joined in, trumping us all. “Are you talking about those painted rhino statues?” he asked. “Only I’ve seen more of them than both of you, in fact, I’ve seen all of them.”
“How?” I said. “You’ve been down at the warehouse for two weeks.”
“Where do you think they’ve all been stored for the last few months?” he chuckled.
He could have told us about it before! In fact I could have gone down to the warehouse and seen them all there. Still it’s much more fun walking around looking for them.