Ralph Hōtere painted ‘The flight of the godwit’, an 18-metre long mural, for Auckland airport in 1977. This work joined murals by Pat Hanly and Robert Ellis at the airport. After the airport was redesigned in 1996, Hōtere’s work was given to the Chartwell Collection, along with Hanly’s ‘Prelude to a journey’. It was later gifted to the Auckland Art Gallery and renamed ‘Godwit/kuaka’ by the artist.