On the road again! Here goes my 2.5 week South Island adventure!... The first leg was done with a few friends I met in Gisborne who were headed down to the South Island for a ski trip - what great timing! They were absolutely lovely to travel with, and I had a great time riding with them from Gisborne, down to Christchurch via the East coast most of the way. They were very knowledgeable about the areas we drove through, and talking about the landscapes, flora and fauna along the way was great - my own personal tour guides! Our first stop was at a bird sanctuary where we saw several native bird species, including quite a few Kaka birds feeding! Other highlights included HUGE eels relaxing in the stream - after finally seeing some of the giants, I now understand why people eat them! Our first night was in Wellington, where I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with a 'friend of a friend' and get some local information on the area. We went out for sushi and I retired early in anticipation of a busy next day. Busy day indeed! I started my morning off with a visit to New Zealand's main national museum - Te Papa. It was first rate! The displays were super interesting and covered everything from NZ culture to the volcanic/seismic habits of the island, to its wildlife and more. Highlights included an Earthquake house (so I guess I kind of experienced one of those Wellington earthquakes), a giant squid, really neat art, the Marae house and the Maori weaving. Next was a walk along the harbour to the parliament buildings where I went on a free tour - it was great! The parliament buildings were remarkably similar to Canada's and I suppose that makes sense, given our shared British heritage. The Beehive is where all the politicians' offices are located and it was interesting architecture to be sure; ornate hallways, committee rooms, chambers and the library were an added bonus. Another rather unique feature of the building was that it was all designed to be 'base-isolated' to resist earthquakes - some cool engineering there!
Keeping busy at the Beehive
Next, I checked out old St. Paul's church which looked normal enough from the outside but the inside revealed its magnificent wooden construction. The whole inside of the church was beautifully sculpted wooden architecture that looked amazing with the stained glass windows.
Next was a bus to Weta Caves!!! Weta is a movie production group that has done the special costuming, set designing, etc. for lots of famous movies - Lord of the Rings, Avatar, King Kong and lots and lots more! The props they had on hand and their stories of how they design and make them were amazing! For example, a sword used in a movie would be made in metal, plastic, wood, etc. Also, watching one of the graphic designers at work brought a whole new meaning to Photoshop!
My buddy at Weta Caves
Finally, I knew my trip to Wellington wouldn't be complete without a view over the city, so up Mt. Victoria I climbed for a stunning view of the metropolis sprawling between the ocean and nearby hills. Dinner and relaxing by the waterfront was followed by watching 'the rugby' and meeting lots of new people at a friend's flat.
Doing well in Wellington
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