So on Saturday the first order of business was to grab breakfast at McDonald's. McDonald's are pretty much just like back in the states except everything cost more. Anyway, the first thing we did was a lord of the rings half day tour, which was awesome. The guide Chris was hilarious and a nerd which I appreciate. He liked to play lord of the rings soundtracks driving place to place and while walking lol. Anyway, the tour started by us meeting him downtown and getting picked up. Then everybody went to Mount Victoria which is a major tourist lookout spot and...... there's a good reason for that. Basically you can go to the top of one of the big hills in the area. And you can see everything. All the different factions of Wellington as well as the ocean and the harbor. It was gorgeous. And windy. Did I mention Windy? In fact apparently Wellington is known as "Windy Wellington" because the currents are so strong outside. The temperature outside was pleasant and the wind was cold. This makes it basically chilly. Hence why all the photos we look old. Even Cecil was a little cold which is unusual. I know that I run about 10° colder than the normal human but still it was cold.
Anyway, after mountain trail we actually went to a park that was very close by. And I mean like a normal everyday run-of-the-mill Park. It's on a hill and there's lots of beautiful trees. And you know what was there? Two separate areas where scenes from the Lord the rings were filmed and then we walked to another location where another scene from the Lord of the rings was filmed. Literally you can see houses from the treetops. You'll notice in the films they had to use a lot of fog in dry ice to kind of mask the city. It was very interesting. Apparently they had actually had to bring in all the leaves used in the scenes as well. Then they had to remove every single leaf. Part of the contract that the Lord of the rings had with the city was that anything that they use had to be back to how it was in its natural state. So things like giant tree root props and leaves all had to be brought in and then brought right back out. Could you imagine that job?! Apparently they also had to have security while filming to keep locals out (no surprise, huh?) . And during filming they would yell and all the security guards we have to hide behind trees. Then after the scene was cut they come back out. For some reason I found that hilarious. Also apparently many of the scenes where the orcs were chanting like going to war, that was actually created by going to one of the rugby games and Peter Jackson asking fans of the rugby games to chance the orc language so that they would have a real sounding soundtrack. Works pretty well if you ask me! All of this knowledge came out of her guide Chris, who again it was amazing.
(this is where they hid from the wraith, see below)
(they built the oversized tree trunk its gone now)
After our outdoor outing we went to weta workshop and stone street studios, which is in an unassuming building location downtown. Basically the buildings look like old beat up factories because they were. Apparently Peter Jackson bought an old paint factory and then after he made more money expanded out to buy many of the surrounding buildings. Only reason you be able to tell it was something special is there's a giant green screen. The weta workshop we did a special behind-the-scenes tour! The tour was done by people who actually worked it went up because apparently they get double duty. The guy who did ours was actually in the painting department so he does things like Paint props and works with 3-D printing. We weren't allowed to actually take pictures during the behind-the-scenes tour, but they had all kinds of props replicas and all kinds of 3-D models and other really cool stuff that he talked about. It was kind of a short tour but still pretty cool. We then went to the public face of the weta workshop and went in saw they were having a book signing and all kinds of other sculptures that they had on display. Cecil even got a map of New Zealand done in the style of the Lord of the rings. It's pretty cool I can't wait to frame it when we get home! Yeah, I know that's any year but we're not gonna bother taking it off the protective casing until then. So cool! We only did the half-day tour, which was kind of a bummer because I'm sure the rest of it one of the good but the rest of the day was even more cool if you can believe that! We went to brunch at Cuba street a hip street running through downtown. In fact we ate at Fidel's and I had the best muesli I've ever had!! Seriously, every street on the "cuba street" area looked amazing. You could spend days eating through there!
(beautiful huh?)
(Soooo cold)
Anyway, after mountain trail we actually went to a park that was very close by. And I mean like a normal everyday run-of-the-mill Park. It's on a hill and there's lots of beautiful trees. And you know what was there? Two separate areas where scenes from the Lord the rings were filmed and then we walked to another location where another scene from the Lord of the rings was filmed. Literally you can see houses from the treetops. You'll notice in the films they had to use a lot of fog in dry ice to kind of mask the city. It was very interesting. Apparently they had actually had to bring in all the leaves used in the scenes as well. Then they had to remove every single leaf. Part of the contract that the Lord of the rings had with the city was that anything that they use had to be back to how it was in its natural state. So things like giant tree root props and leaves all had to be brought in and then brought right back out. Could you imagine that job?! Apparently they also had to have security while filming to keep locals out (no surprise, huh?) . And during filming they would yell and all the security guards we have to hide behind trees. Then after the scene was cut they come back out. For some reason I found that hilarious. Also apparently many of the scenes where the orcs were chanting like going to war, that was actually created by going to one of the rugby games and Peter Jackson asking fans of the rugby games to chance the orc language so that they would have a real sounding soundtrack. Works pretty well if you ask me! All of this knowledge came out of her guide Chris, who again it was amazing.
("sign" showing the way)
(Note the name :-)
(thematic feeling, no?)
After our outdoor outing we went to weta workshop and stone street studios, which is in an unassuming building location downtown. Basically the buildings look like old beat up factories because they were. Apparently Peter Jackson bought an old paint factory and then after he made more money expanded out to buy many of the surrounding buildings. Only reason you be able to tell it was something special is there's a giant green screen. The weta workshop we did a special behind-the-scenes tour! The tour was done by people who actually worked it went up because apparently they get double duty. The guy who did ours was actually in the painting department so he does things like Paint props and works with 3-D printing. We weren't allowed to actually take pictures during the behind-the-scenes tour, but they had all kinds of props replicas and all kinds of 3-D models and other really cool stuff that he talked about. It was kind of a short tour but still pretty cool. We then went to the public face of the weta workshop and went in saw they were having a book signing and all kinds of other sculptures that they had on display. Cecil even got a map of New Zealand done in the style of the Lord of the rings. It's pretty cool I can't wait to frame it when we get home! Yeah, I know that's any year but we're not gonna bother taking it off the protective casing until then. So cool! We only did the half-day tour, which was kind of a bummer because I'm sure the rest of it one of the good but the rest of the day was even more cool if you can believe that! We went to brunch at Cuba street a hip street running through downtown. In fact we ate at Fidel's and I had the best muesli I've ever had!! Seriously, every street on the "cuba street" area looked amazing. You could spend days eating through there!
(they let us play with props too!)
(great models)
(the lot in the paint building where they film green screen shots)
The next stop was to Zelandia, which is basically a giant national sanctuary in the middle of the city. I don't know how they did it because it really is in the city. It's a few miles of the fenced in area where they help to create a natural habitat for a specially the birds of New Zealand. New Zealand is an island nation and it had never had mammal predators until people brought them. So things like rats, cats, and dogs found that the wildlife here was easy prey. Before then the only natural hunters were birds which you sight to find prey. Mammals can find you even if you're standing still in hiding, so that
made a lot of animal life go extinct. They have special fencing that
prevents things from jumping crawling or burrowing underneath the fences
which is awesome. They managed to keep out everything but a few mice
which they have trap set up for and say that are basically being
managed. Nothing large enough to actually do harm to most of the birds
like kiwis. In fact they have a population of about 200 spot little
spotty kiwis on premises, which are adorable! So you go in and they have
a map that allows you to walk around and have an idea what you can see
at certain sites. During the day it's about a 2 1/2 to 3 mile walk and
we got to see their super rare to populations of birds.We actually had a tour guide for some of it that was for you which was cool. She was very knowledgeable and explained a lot about some of the plants that I wouldn't of known much about. Especially like the ferns which hold a lot of important with the Maori people.
Specifically we saw Takahe, They are retired from breeding. They are about 20 years old. Literally there's only a few thousand left in the wild so there are critically endangered species. And beautiful! The male apparently was known as "T2" after the terminator because he apparently but someones fingers off. They have signs not to feed them. More exhibits that would NEVER happen in the USA lol.
Then we also got to see these reptiles which haven't change since the dinosaurs and also pretty rare ! You could actually find them along this Fence line like everywhere! And they were pretty big.
They also had this parrot species, Kaka, that would go and drink sugar water and was very loud and fun to watch. And loud, they chattered a LOT! We also saw their version of songbirds like Orioles and finches when we walked up to those feeders but they were really hard to photograph. There are also extremely beautiful views from the basins and just really a nice day with a nice walk.
They also had ducks and ocean waterfowl. They actually don't have the oils in the feathers that prevent the water from getting in their wings because they like to dive into the ocean to get their food. So they actually sit in some their wings to dry them off. Which is usual for a bird.
My favorite however is the Tui. It's on the cans of beer you might've seen and it's also a very recognizable bird in New Zealand. They're noisy and beautiful they look kind a black would have a blue sheet on them and a little weight to tuft underneath the neck. I think they're beautiful and they are by far my favorite bird here. Even with all the other pretty animals.
After walking around there for a few miles we went to a local board game store because I can't help myself and to dinner at a delicious Chinese and Malaysian place. Then, we went back to zealandia for a night tour. It was started it twilight and basically they just take you out to give you red flashlights to help see night wildlife (obviously its at night so no pictures :/ ). It was very cool a lot more expensive but very cool. Our guide actually fed the takahe (super endangered rare birds) which was cool. They followed her like dogs which was funny. They also showed us where the local eels are, and fed them too. It was creepy as they can basically crawl up on land to get the meat. Which I didn't really know they did until that point because those are not my favorite. We also got to see glowworm's which are actually a flies larvae that emit a fluorescent light. It's actually really pretty although knowing what it is very gross. We also got to see the insect species it's really interesting in New Zealand called the wetta yes like the wetta workshop. They are giant crickets basically. There's three different types and we saw two of them we saw the tree species in the cave species the really really big one we did not see.Since it was pitch black in the forest. You also can not hear any of the city sounds there which is crazy because you're literally in the middle of the city but the valley so cut off and the trees muffle everything. You feel like you're out in the bush. The highlight of the trip was at the very end we saw a kiwi! Like a real live one. Usually you can only see them in museums and stuff. We also got to hear the calls and it was magical. That created a long day to wish Cecil and I were very happy to go back and get some sleep after that.
(this is an important fern to the natives. The curling frond symbolizes life)
(yes, this is the middle of the city)
Specifically we saw Takahe, They are retired from breeding. They are about 20 years old. Literally there's only a few thousand left in the wild so there are critically endangered species. And beautiful! The male apparently was known as "T2" after the terminator because he apparently but someones fingers off. They have signs not to feed them. More exhibits that would NEVER happen in the USA lol.
(Takahe!!)
(T2 Stare!!)
Then we also got to see these reptiles which haven't change since the dinosaurs and also pretty rare ! You could actually find them along this Fence line like everywhere! And they were pretty big.
(see him/her? He's brown)
They also had this parrot species, Kaka, that would go and drink sugar water and was very loud and fun to watch. And loud, they chattered a LOT! We also saw their version of songbirds like Orioles and finches when we walked up to those feeders but they were really hard to photograph. There are also extremely beautiful views from the basins and just really a nice day with a nice walk.
(Kaka parrot in flight)
(remember we are in the city....???)
They also had ducks and ocean waterfowl. They actually don't have the oils in the feathers that prevent the water from getting in their wings because they like to dive into the ocean to get their food. So they actually sit in some their wings to dry them off. Which is usual for a bird.
(Just drying the feathers.....)
My favorite however is the Tui. It's on the cans of beer you might've seen and it's also a very recognizable bird in New Zealand. They're noisy and beautiful they look kind a black would have a blue sheet on them and a little weight to tuft underneath the neck. I think they're beautiful and they are by far my favorite bird here. Even with all the other pretty animals.
(tui in flight)
After walking around there for a few miles we went to a local board game store because I can't help myself and to dinner at a delicious Chinese and Malaysian place. Then, we went back to zealandia for a night tour. It was started it twilight and basically they just take you out to give you red flashlights to help see night wildlife (obviously its at night so no pictures :/ ). It was very cool a lot more expensive but very cool. Our guide actually fed the takahe (super endangered rare birds) which was cool. They followed her like dogs which was funny. They also showed us where the local eels are, and fed them too. It was creepy as they can basically crawl up on land to get the meat. Which I didn't really know they did until that point because those are not my favorite. We also got to see glowworm's which are actually a flies larvae that emit a fluorescent light. It's actually really pretty although knowing what it is very gross. We also got to see the insect species it's really interesting in New Zealand called the wetta yes like the wetta workshop. They are giant crickets basically. There's three different types and we saw two of them we saw the tree species in the cave species the really really big one we did not see.Since it was pitch black in the forest. You also can not hear any of the city sounds there which is crazy because you're literally in the middle of the city but the valley so cut off and the trees muffle everything. You feel like you're out in the bush. The highlight of the trip was at the very end we saw a kiwi! Like a real live one. Usually you can only see them in museums and stuff. We also got to hear the calls and it was magical. That created a long day to wish Cecil and I were very happy to go back and get some sleep after that.
The next day we pretty much just went to breakfast at a café which was delicious. We also went to a Tourist trap and got a couple T-shirts. Then we went to the te pappa museum.
The first thing we did was a exhibition called the Gallipoli the scale of war, which was also done by the wetta workshop if you can see a trend here. People here love Peter Jackson lol! However it was amazing. It took a couple hours to walk through and basically it started with four separate areas. Each area started with A giant sculpture that commemorated a important figure from New Zealand in that battle Gallipoli. And when I say giant I mean giant. And all done immaculately. It was impressive. In the next room was information about that person and also other artifacts made or real things from the war. things like demonstration showing how shrapnel effect of the body, different weaponry, packs, foods, and even things like a tunnel showing what was like to be in the trenches (ps people got blown up). All Of the four areas started off with a giant figure or figures names and sculptures and then moved into attaching meaning to those figures. It was impressive moving and very depressing. Apparently 93% of all New Zealander sent to Gallipoli died and it was a pretty big tactical error they ended up retreating and accomplishing nothing. It was very sad.
After that we explored a little bit of the rest the museum, it's six floors. Basically there is everything about New Zealand past or present. It was very well done especially for free. Which is always nice, very nice. Notably they had a café in the museum on the fourth floor which was awesome. Mid day we were both feeling a little tired and needed a little sit and you have these comfy chairs and really good coffee. American museums should take notice. They also had a colossal squid on display, the only one in the world. Which I find incredibly impressive. You should've seen the size of the eyeballs and the beak! we are talking soccer ball size and something out of a horror movie beak.
After we got done we decided we wanted to go for a walk outside along the ocean front because well it's gorgeous. And we walked for about a half mile we even found an area where we could go down and get right on the ocean. We picked up a couple seashells and basically just had a good time. The wind was salty and the ocean was right there. Luckily there was no sand, which suited me just fine it was rocky. You still saw people fishing off the sidewalk, which is crazy. Because in New Zealand you don't need a fishing license to fish on freshwater fish. And people were. The walk was gorgeous and we even saw a sign for little blue penguin Crossing. Apparently some of them do still roost in Wellington and cross the road which I find to be adorable. Penguins are cute no matter the kind. After that we basically headed home.
We stopped at a very disappointing fishmarket on the side of the water about an hour into the drive. It was extremely popular and we've seen a lot of cars outside it and thought it would be a good break driving out. It was some of the worst food we've had since getting here. I can cook fish better than that, and for way cheaper. So disappointing. My first ever one star review on trip advisor. Anyway, after that we meandered home and that's about it. The only good part was the view, thats it!!
The first thing we did was a exhibition called the Gallipoli the scale of war, which was also done by the wetta workshop if you can see a trend here. People here love Peter Jackson lol! However it was amazing. It took a couple hours to walk through and basically it started with four separate areas. Each area started with A giant sculpture that commemorated a important figure from New Zealand in that battle Gallipoli. And when I say giant I mean giant. And all done immaculately. It was impressive. In the next room was information about that person and also other artifacts made or real things from the war. things like demonstration showing how shrapnel effect of the body, different weaponry, packs, foods, and even things like a tunnel showing what was like to be in the trenches (ps people got blown up). All Of the four areas started off with a giant figure or figures names and sculptures and then moved into attaching meaning to those figures. It was impressive moving and very depressing. Apparently 93% of all New Zealander sent to Gallipoli died and it was a pretty big tactical error they ended up retreating and accomplishing nothing. It was very sad.
(Yes, we were queing in line)
(notice how large this is, there are people standing behind the arm)
After that we explored a little bit of the rest the museum, it's six floors. Basically there is everything about New Zealand past or present. It was very well done especially for free. Which is always nice, very nice. Notably they had a café in the museum on the fourth floor which was awesome. Mid day we were both feeling a little tired and needed a little sit and you have these comfy chairs and really good coffee. American museums should take notice. They also had a colossal squid on display, the only one in the world. Which I find incredibly impressive. You should've seen the size of the eyeballs and the beak! we are talking soccer ball size and something out of a horror movie beak.
(Colossal squid!!!)
After we got done we decided we wanted to go for a walk outside along the ocean front because well it's gorgeous. And we walked for about a half mile we even found an area where we could go down and get right on the ocean. We picked up a couple seashells and basically just had a good time. The wind was salty and the ocean was right there. Luckily there was no sand, which suited me just fine it was rocky. You still saw people fishing off the sidewalk, which is crazy. Because in New Zealand you don't need a fishing license to fish on freshwater fish. And people were. The walk was gorgeous and we even saw a sign for little blue penguin Crossing. Apparently some of them do still roost in Wellington and cross the road which I find to be adorable. Penguins are cute no matter the kind. After that we basically headed home.
(pretty harbor.....)
(all smiles!!)
(I'm all smiles to)
(Yes, that is a real sign on a real road)
(Looks like photoshop, but its NOT)
(have I mentioned its pretty?)
(This is how close the sidewalk is to the harbor)
We stopped at a very disappointing fishmarket on the side of the water about an hour into the drive. It was extremely popular and we've seen a lot of cars outside it and thought it would be a good break driving out. It was some of the worst food we've had since getting here. I can cook fish better than that, and for way cheaper. So disappointing. My first ever one star review on trip advisor. Anyway, after that we meandered home and that's about it. The only good part was the view, thats it!!
As far as things in Wellington it's going OK. Cecil's really just working a lot this week he works six of the next seven days. We found out he also works the 23rd 24th 25th and 26. Kind of a bummer. But honestly it doesn't really feel like Christmas here. There's a Christmas tree up in the Square and there's advertisements on TV but it's nothing like in the states. It just doesn't feel like Christmas. I suppose our Christmas present is that somebody rented our house. Which still has me excited. I also have Internet so I'm able to call but it is troublesome to get a hold of people at a time that works for everybody because our time zones are so off.
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