Wellington

Wellington is our most recent trip and we mixed a little business with pleasure.  Laura found the New Zealand ALSO website (Advanced Life Support for Obstetrics) a year or so ago and began making arrangements to teach the course sometime during our stay.  She got that chance this past weekend and met a dedicated group of instructors and made some new friends.  The students were a mix of midwives and obstetric residents.  Midwives deliver most of the babies in New Zealand and she met a few with several decades of experience.  Money is tight in the New Zealand ALSO program and we got word at the end of the course that this might be the last time it is taught here, which would be a shame.  Friday night, we had the traditional pre-course dinner with the other instructors at Floriditas Cafe.  Jack sat by Ian, the course director, and we all had a good time swapping stories.

Jack getting a hand from Ian

While Laura taught during the day, the boys and I explored the city.  Wellington is very compact and we walked most of the time.  On Saturday, we hit Te Papa (natural history museum) and rode the cable car from Lambton Quay up to Kelburn village for a look at the city.  The hike down from Kelburn to the hotel took a little longer than expected, to the boys' chagrin, but we made it. 

Cuba Street

Outside Te Papa

Jack suggested a selfie in the museum

Scotty the T-Rex

Jack watching kayakers

View from Kelburn

A cable car

Another Kelburn shot

Sunday had us eating a cafe breakfast at Soho Brown's on Cuba street, then up to the Zealandia wildlife refuge where we joined an interesting tour.  The boys were great on the tour, but weren't happy to learn that we would have to retrace our steps to get back to the car.  There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but again, we made it out alive. 

Wellington has a great cafe scene

Attentive and polite

Before humans landed on New Zealand, there were no mammals.  Many of the native birds lost their ability to fly and the big ones, like the Moa, were hunted to extinction.  One species thought to be extinct was the Takahe, but an isolated population was found on the south island in the Fiordland region and a breeding program has brought the numbers of the bird to near 300.  There are two old birds at Zealandia.

Takahe

The boys have learned to like Indian food on this trip, which is a pleasant side-effect.  Here they are monkeying around at Zaika.

Jack with his new dew

Sign for the cable car on Lambton Quay

Laura finished teaching on Sunday and joined us on Monday for a highlight of the trip.  We took a  tour of the Weta Workshop in the Miramar section of the city,  just east of the airport.  Weta is the special effects company that built the props for the Lord of the Rings.  We had fun posing with the trolls and seeing a bunch of movie artifacts. 

Up close and personal

Fighting Uruk-hai

Helmet to my left is Sauron's messenger

We continued the LOTR theme with a stop at the airport terminal.  Weta has installed some large sculptures in the terminal including Gollum and Smaug to greet arrivals. 

Smaug in the Wellington airport terminal

Gollum fishing

Gandalf rides an eagle

Next we went to the top of Mt Victoria for a view of the city and then down the slopes to find a filming location from the first movie in the LOTR trilogy.  That was fun, but the area isn't as green and lush as it was 15 years ago during the filming.  Too many tourists tramping over the area, I suppose.

Yet Another Dog

Pan of Wellington

On the trail of Hobbits

GET OFF THE ROAD!

Strolling on Lambton Quay

Another low tide

Here are some shots from a run down to Waihi beach at low tide.

Jack marks off another in his quest to pet every dog in NZ.

Bub and Steven

Laura and Jack

Cone collapse debris

We learned at Puke Ariki in New Plymouth, that Mt Taranaki has grown and collapsed a number of times in its history.  The gray band of rocks that starts at the beach level and rises maybe 20 meters above the beach is the record of one of those collapses.

As always, there are many interesting rocks.

 The fossils embedded in orbs of volcanic debris are cool to look at as well.

 

New Plymouth

Two weekends ago we took a day trip to New Plymouth.  It is about an hour north of where we live in Hawera and is the largest city in the Taranaki region.  It was a pleasant little trip.  One sight we had been interested to see was the Glockenspiel in Stratford.  The characters emerge from the clock four times a day and we'd always missed it by an hour either way.  We finally made it in time on this trip and took some photos.  It was something to see, once.

After the show was over, we finished the drive to New Plymouth and visited their nice museum, Puke Ariki.  It's a mixture of local history, science and art.  There is a small section in the museum detailing the Taranaki wars between the European settlers and the Maori in the 1860s.

A carpenter's view of NZ wood species

 The basement had a display of local art including some works from local carvers.

A detailed toolbox holding a single chisel

 

Jack and I went for some ice cream while Laura and Steven took a dip in the local hot springs.

Soaking it up

Sucking it down

Jack is forever on the lookout for nice flowers for his mommy and he found a pretty purple one for her.  He even helped me find one to give to my lovely Laura.

 On our way home, we snapped some photos of classic lenticular clouds above Mt Taranaki.

Daily Life

My morning routine typically involves a cup of P&G Tips tea and a bowl of Weet-Bix.  Weet-Bix claims to be NZ's favorite cereal for 80 years.  Maybe.  Actually, it's not too bad.  I put a little sugar and raisins on it and it tastes like Raisin Bran.  You've got to eat it quick.  It goes soggy as soon as the milk hits it.

Another product we've been introduced to is Tip Top Ice cream.  One gal told us that NZ was famous for Tip Top.  It is good ice cream, but it's really hard to beat Blue Bell.