It only took seven years for an 10-metre-long sculpture to become key to Queenstown’s latest anti-social sport — hiffing road cones.
‘Wakatipu Vessel’, a stainless steel waka by renowned Kiwi artist Virginia King, sits on 3m-high laser-cut columns on St Omer Park.
Of late, participants in the cone-hiffing have been putting enough oomph behind the 4.5-kilogram bright orange road cones to get them inside the vessel.
Queenstown’s council media man Sam White says it’s been frustrating for council ‘‘and the cones, [which] suffer from separation anxiety when they’re parted from their mates’’.
While town custodians have been removing the cones from the sculpture — Mountain Scene understands that’s happening on a weekly basis — and putting them back in their rightful place, the council’s also discussing ‘‘other options’’ with Southern Safety.
Scene understands one option is to erect a fence around the sculpture.
