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Story: Beach culture

The end of the golden weather

Audio file

Bruce Mason began his famous solo play, The end of the golden weather (first performed in 1959), with the words: ‘Let me take you on a voyage into that territory of the heart that we call childhood.’ The play, which Mason performed over 1,000 times, was set on Auckland’s Takapuna Beach. It also became a major success as a film in 1991. The sound clip is a short extract from the play.

Using this item

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Reference: 24851

Image: Alexander Turnbull Library, Eph-D-CORPORATE-1981-01

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How to cite this page

Jock Phillips, Beach culture – The Kiwi dream, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/speech/9131/the-end-of-the-golden-weather (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Jock Phillips, published 2 March 2009.