It's rare that public toilets are a town's claim to fame but Kawakawa's were designed by Austrian-born artist and eco-architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who lived near Kawakawa in an isolated house without electricity from 1973 until his death in 2000. The most photographed toilets in NZ are typical Hundertwasser – lots of organic, wavy lines decorated with ceramic mosaics and brightly coloured bottles, and with grass and plants on the roof.
Other examples of his work can be seen in Vienna and Osaka.