Driving Creek

Everyday Activities

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Experiences for Everyone

Discover a variety of Coromandel activities at Driving Creek, a top North Island attraction. We offer three unforgettable experiences in Coromandel, New Zealand:

  • Mountain Railway Tour - Explore New Zealand’s only mountain railway, featuring bridges, tunnels, and spectacular ocean views, making it one of the top attractions and things to do in The Coromandel.
  • Zipline Canopy Tour - Experience the thrill of our eight-zipline canopy tour, gliding above the treetops through native forest—a must-do Coromandel activity.
  • Pottery Classes and Workshops - Join our creative wheel-throwing pottery classes and workshops. Whether you're a beginner or looking to fine-tune your skills, our pottery courses cover it all.

Visit our handcrafted pottery store and explore our unique wheel-thrown pottery. Each piece reflects the rich artistic heritage of Driving Creek, spanning over 50 years.

Pottery Workshops

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Hand-built Sculpture 8-Week Course with Iona Matheson
Come and explore different techniques of hand building during this 8-week course with Iona Matheson. You will be creating unique sculptures with Iona who has extensive experience in teaching and has a solid background in sculpture.
$360
Beginner/ Intermediate 8-Week Pottery Course
This pottery course gives you the opportunity to become confident at wheel throwing and explore how to glaze and fire your works. The pottery course involves eight 2.5 hour lessons with a professional pottery tutor spread over 8 weeks.
$360
2-Week Driving Creek Pottery Experience
The intensive and immersive two-week pottery workshop at Driving Creek is designed for intermediate to advanced potters seeking to enhance their skills under the guidance of Callum Trudgeon, our lead production potter.
$3500
Advanced Wheel Throwing Pottery Course
This advanced 5-day wheel throwing pottery course is designed for experienced potters who are ready to take on more challenging techniques and explore larger forms.
$1100
Production Throwing Course
This intensive production throwing course is designed for potters who want to enhance their speed and accuracy, with special focus on the simple mug—an essential product for any production potter.
$1100
Intensive 5-Day Wheel Throwing Course
Join us at Driving Creek Pottery for a comprehensive 5-day wheel throwing pottery course, designed for beginners to intermediate.
$1100
5-Day Intensive Clay Hand Building with Iona Matheson
A 5-day long course where you will explore different hand building techniques to create sculptures. Over the week become more confident using coil, pinch and slab techniques. Suitable for beginners through to more experienced students.
$1100
Unrounding - Discovering and Befriending Asymmetry From Thrown Forms with Jack Troy and Hamish Jackson
This 2-day advanced workshop on 12 and 13 October with American and English potters Jack Troy and Hamish Jackson explores the possibilities of clay manipulation while producing enclosed forms of varying shapes and sizes.
$550
Fundamentals of Practical Glaze Chemistry (cone 6-10)
Join us for this 5-day glaze course on 21 to 25 October 2024, and explore the fundamentals of glaze chemistry with a combination of both theory and practical glaze testing.
$500
Rock Glazing and Wild Clay Processing with Janeen Page and Sam Ireland - 4-Day Workshop
Join Janeen Page and Sam Ireland on 18 November 2024 for a four-day workshop on wild clay processing and rock glazing including an informative field-trip in Coromandel.
$570

Artists in residence

Driving Creek holds true to Barry Brickell’s vision of being a place thriving with inspiration, innovation and rampant creativity. We share this with our community by offering free artist residencies.

The Residency Programme is a unique opportunity for artists to escape and explore through artistic freedom, collaboration and shared learning.

By cultivating connections and bringing artists together to work alongside each other, challenging people to grow within their own craft and as individuals, we encourage and celebrate active contribution from those within our community.

Driving Creek Shop

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Driving Creek Commemorative Mug

Celebrate 50 years of Driving Creek with this limited edition, handcrafted mug! Each mug is a unique creation by our talented production team. With a variety of beautiful glazes, no two mugs are exactly alike. Choose the “lucky dip” option for a surprise, or request your preferred glaze in the notes at checkout.

$50
Tenmoku Espresso Mug

Our espresso mug, finished with an earthy tenmoku glaze, is the perfect companion for your morning espresso or afternoon pick-me-up. Its compact design and gently curved handle provide a comfortable grip, while its tenmoku tones adds a natural touch to your coffee ritual.

$40
Dolomite Espresso Mug

Our espresso mug, finished with a light dolomite white glaze, is the perfect companion for your morning espresso or afternoon pick-me-up. Its compact design and gently curved handle provide a comfortable grip, while its dolomite tones add a coastal touch to your coffee ritual.

$40
Chun Espresso Mug

Our espresso mug, finished with a light chun blue glaze, is the perfect companion for your morning espresso or afternoon pick-me-up. Its compact design and gently curved handle provide a comfortable grip, while its chun tones add a coastal touch to your coffee ritual.

$40
Small Chun-Blue Bowl

Our small pottery bowl, finished with a light chun blue glaze, is perfect for serving dips, sauces and small individual sides. Its distinctive lipped design allows for easy handling and stacking, while the crisp white glaze adds a touch of minimalist elegance to your table.

6cm x 15cm - 300 grams - 225ml

All of our pottery is handmade on a pottery wheel and although we take pride in our quality and consistency, the uniqueness of handmade pottery does mean that the dimensions and colour may vary slightly between items.

$49
Small Dolomite Bowl

Our small pottery bowl, finished with a dolomite white glaze, is perfect for serving dips, sauces and small individual sides. Its distinctive lipped design allows for easy handling and stacking, while the crisp white glaze adds a touch of minimalist elegance to your table.

6cm x 15cm - 300 grams - 225ml

All of our pottery is handmade on a pottery wheel and although we take pride in our quality and consistency, the uniqueness of handmade pottery does mean that the dimensions and colour may vary slightly between items.

$49
Small Tenmoku Pottery Bowl

Our small pottery bowl, finished with a deep tenmoku glaze, is perfect for serving dips, sauces and small individual sides. Its distinctive lipped design allows for easy handling and stacking, while the crisp white glaze adds a touch of minimalist elegance to your table.

6cm x 15cm - 300 grams - 225ml

All of our pottery is handmade on a pottery wheel and although we take pride in our quality and consistency, the uniqueness of handmade pottery does mean that the dimensions and colour may vary slightly between items.

$49
Medium Tenmoku Bowl

Our medium handmade pottery bowl, featuring a deep tenmoku glaze, is your go-to for serving home cooked pastas, salads and other main dishes, with them lip allowing easy handling of hot food and stacking, while the earthy tenmoku glaze brings a nice aesthetic to your table.

7.5cm x 19cm - 600 grams 600ml

All of our pottery is handmade on a pottery wheel and although we take pride in our quality and consistency, the uniqueness of handmade pottery does mean that the dimensions and colour may vary slightly between items.

$59
Medium Dolomite Bowl

Our medium handmade pottery bowl, featuring a dolomite white glaze, is your go-to for serving home cooked pastas, salads and other main dishes, with the lip allowing easy handling of hot food and stacking, while the subtle dolomite glaze brings a nice aesthetic to your table.

 

7.5cm x 19cm - 600 grams 600ml

 

All of our pottery is handmade on a pottery wheel and although we take pride in our quality and consistency, the uniqueness of handmade pottery does mean that the dimensions and colour may vary slightly between items.

$59
Medium Chun Bowl

Our medium handmade pottery bowl, featuring a light chun blue glaze, is your go-to for serving home cooked pastas, salads and other main dishes, with the lip allowing easy handling of hot food and stacking, while the subtle chun glaze brings a nice aesthetic to your table.

7.5cm x 19cm - 600 grams 600ml

All of our pottery is handmade on a pottery wheel and although we take pride in our quality and consistency, the uniqueness of handmade pottery does mean that the dimensions and colour may vary slightly between items.

$59

Our Purpose

Nestled in the heart of The Coromandel, Driving Creek is more than just a tourism operation. It’s a testament to the late Barry Brickell's pioneering spirit and unwavering dedication to art and conservation. Barry paved the way by creating a unique artisan pottery and planting over 27,000 native trees, transforming the land into a lush native forest.

Following Barry’s wishes after his passing in 2016, Driving Creek is now a not-for-profit organisation that delivers on his vision to protect and enhance the environment through pest animal and weed control, and enrich the artistic community with our unique artist residency.
Join us in exploring New Zealand's natural qualities while supporting our conservation and pottery efforts.

Conservation

We continue Barry’s conservation legacy of protecting and enhancing our native biodiversity by operating intensive pest animal and plant control programmes, performing environmental research, running free conservation events, and connecting people with New Zealand’s natural qualities through enriching, educative and unique experiences. 

“To inspire others to heal and respect the land by showing what is being done and why. Appropriate utilisation rather than exploitation is demonstrated. Showing and telling is aimed at making the viewer and listener think and hopefully act.”- Barry Brickell

Adventures at Driving Creek

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