Got up to go to church at St. Mary's of the Angel's (because I can go earlier, and because St Gerard's is a much longer walk uphill - and it's on a cliff and might fall off). Google tells me it is a 4-minute walk, and I am out the door at about 8:35 a.m. Should have enough time to get there before 9. But because I made the relatively stupid decision to keep my phone number so work could text me, that means I have no data. And, with the church being so close, and the streets being so winding, it means that I am wandering hither and yon, up and down hills, and go 17 blocks out of my way to finally find the church precisely at 9 a.m. It's a miracle!
Not sure how old the church is, but it is listed as a heritage site, and is the traditional gothic construction, which I kind of love. Lovely stained glass, and a pipe organ in the back (not as big as the one at Sydney Town Hall, but few are). By the way, I believe earthquake proofing means putting these "rockers" under the foundation. At Te Papa, the museum had a spot where you could go downstairs and view their foundations.
After church, I take a roundabout way back to the hotel, going over the City to Sea bridge (which is not a traditional bridge, but more like a giant sprawling plaza that stretches over multiple roads) to the harbour, which is again thronging with people. It is a sunshiney day already, and there are dragon boat races happening in the harbour.
Back at the West Plaza Hotel, they have posted a notice that, due to city work, their water is turned off from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sounds like a perfect time to be elsewhere in Wellington, doesn't it?
JQ doesn't want to see anything more at the museum, so will find a coffee shop somewhere (or, who knows? nap in the hotel room). We agree to meet back here at 3:30, as we have an event starting 4:15.
Walking down the street to Te Papa, I stop at the Jump Platform, as a boy is contemplating jumping off the high dive board. He did the lower one, but now he's hesitating at the top, and his friends are yelling encouragement. "Do it for your mother, Hunter. Do it for your country!" Everyone laughs. "You'll be a hero." No, no, he can't do it. He starts to head back down, then changes his mind and runs to the top. "I'm gonna do it--!" He stops at the very edge of the platform. "No, I'm not. I can't do it!" And he retreats down the stairs. I cannot blame him - I certainly wouldn't do it, but I can't swim, so that's my excuse.
Anyway, I went back to Te Papa to explore the other areas of the museum. On the upper floors, there was a really spectacular exhibit on the Maori, with an ornately carved and decorated meeting house that you could go inside, several types of boats, many items of clothing, and carvings, and other works of art. I'd love to share, but no photos were allowed for reasons of copyright and cultural beliefs. You are just going to have to come to Wellington to see it for yourself! 🙂
The Passports exhibit talked about immigration to New Zealand throughout the decades. It showed the many waves of people who have come, and the ebbs and flows of immigration, and how the settlers lived.
There was a computerized interactive exhibit on sailing to New Zealand, where you are posed with a bunch of questions (such as "choose which port you leave from, choose your sailing route, what do you do when a family comes down with the measles, a storm approaches - choose one of the following actions," etc.). Twice I successfully landed in New Zealand, although on the second voyage, choosing the route around Cape Horn was a mistake. I knew it would be - I just wanted to see what would happen. What happened was that I lost 80 days, in trying and failing to round the horn. Oops.
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This is a stage, not the Maori meeting hall.
I am allowed to take a picture! |
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| Wall of stained glass upstairs |
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As I learned later (at dinner tonight), there was also an interactive exhibit where you could find out whether you would qualify to emigrate to New Zealand today. Restrictions have tightened in recent decades, and a couple from Auckland found out they would not apply - but since they already live here, it works out okay for them. 🙂
On the museum grounds outside, there were winding pathways through gardens, a swing bridge, and a small man-made "cave" to explore. It was nice and cool in there!
Off along the harbour quays, and there is music and festivities everywhere. Now that some of the boat races are done, the big college kids are showing off by jumping off the high diving platform. Lots of people standing around and watching (including me).
It's getting on to lunchtime, so I buy some popcorn and a Coke from Janeen's Feel Good Food (thanks, Janeen! It does make me feel good!), and I find a shady spot under some trees to eat it. A lone seagull is stalking me. Looks at me, walks a step closer. Looks at me, takes another step. They are always hoping for some scraps!
Then I go for a walk through the park and up into some streets I have not yet explored. There's always something interesting to see around here.
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A rare sighting of the elusive JQ,
outside of her natural environment |
While wandering, I happen to run into JQ crossing the street in downtown Wellington. Apparently, she has arisen at last and ventured out into daylight. Her tiny batlike eyes are blinking, and she is thinking she needs to lie down again because she is not feeling well. I am so mean to her, I should not be pointing out her tiny batlike eyes when she is not feeling well. 🦇
I asked JQ if she wanted to see the Plimmer Steps, which are nearby, but she would rather go home and vomit than wander around with me. Fine. Be that way.
On my own, pretending she was beside me, all alone, I walked along to the Plimmer Steps. 😆 I discovered that John Plimmer was a busy entrepreneur and benefactor of Wellington in the 1850s. He got his business started by reclamation of a wrecked sailing ship, the Inconstant, which became known as Plimmer's Ark, and now it seems like this whole area is named after him. You can see the remains of the wreck beneath the floor of the building, because as they reclaimed the shoreline, the city grew around the remains of the boat. Kind of cool!
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| Shipwreck remains |
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| Plimmer & Fritz |
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| Plimmer's Tree, at the top of the steps |
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Heading back to the waterfront, I find that the Frank Kitt Park has what has to be the best kid's climbing structure I have seen. I do consider shoving a kid out of the way to try it, but yeah, that'd be tacky tourist behaviour. There are people tightrope walking, and kids climbing trees. You'd never know it's autumn here. I think their seasons are very subtle.
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This fountain is called Albatross.
It stops whenever I get near it. Literally. |
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I head back to the hotel around 3 p.m., because I don't want to get lost or too far away from our hotel. We have a bus coming to pick us up at 4:15 to take us to the "Weta and Coco" event, which is a visit to Weta Workshops (of Lord of the Rings special-effects fame), and a dinner at Coco at the Roxy, which is an art deco-style restaurant and movie theatre. Conveniently, the pickup spot is right across the street from our hotel (which is one of the reasons I picked this hotel when I realized we needed a second one to finish out the weekend in Wellington).
Our bus driver arrives at 4:15. He checks his list, and yes, my name is on it. Hello, Catherine! Hello. I point at JQ. "This is +1." He proceeds to call her Plus One when she chats with him on the bus. 😆
His name is Chewy. And no, he can't do a Chewbacca impersonation, and no, he really isn't kidding, that really is his name. I don't know why his parents named him that. There are about 12 of us on this tour, so it's a mini-bus he's driving, but it is a big vehicle when it comes to Wellington. Nevertheless, he squeezes that vehicle through these skinny-mini streets with fearless ease. I did hear an "eep!" escape from JQ at one point.
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Wellington sign in the hills,
with the letters blowing away in the wind |
He drives us through rush hour traffic, pointing out the Wellington sign in the hills. Originally, they had considered "Wellywood" (as a play on Hollywood), but decided to go with the windy Wellington instead. Then we head into the Miramar neighbourhood, which is where the studios are located. Unusual for Wellington, the land around here is mostly flat.
We stop at the Weta Cave, which is essentially a gift shop (albeit with big LOTR trolls situated on the grass in front of the building). We have about 10 minutes to peruse the shop and we can take pictures in this area.
Then, we are taken aside and shown a video about the studios and its history. JQ and I are interested to hear about the giant Gollum model that is hanging from the ceiling in the airport, but sadly it was removed after the last earthquake. Boo.
After the video, we leave the Weta Cave, and a tour guide takes us into the Weta Workshop. This is where they manufacture all the props. The two rules are (1) "don't touch" because a lot of the props are fragile, and (2) "no photographs" because although they make the items, they are not the copyright holders, so they can't allow us to take pictures.
A few tidbits that we learned:
- In the first LOTR, Orlando Bloom (Legolas) didn't know how to shoot a bow, and kept aiming wrong. Weta people had to digitally readjust his arm and move it down into the proper position for their footage in the first film. Wow, that's a lot of work! In the second film, they taught him how to hold and shoot the bow.
- They will often do a lot of costume work, so to fit the costumes, they do a body scan of the actor (in LA, or wherever they are), transfer the digital scan down to Weta Workshops in New Zealand, and they build a body double with their 3D printer foam magic thingy. So you can fit the costume to the actor and never meet them in person.
- They also had the Green Goblin costume for the Amazing Spider-Man 2 (the reboot), and I have to say that the actor, Dane DeHaan is shorter than I would have expected. They said a lot of actors are actually really small. I asked if they had a Tom Cruise body double and how tall was it, but no luck. 😄
- People often think that Weta is an acronym, but a "weta" is actually an ugly bug in New Zealand. And the name weta means something like "god of ugly things". Since they started out making schlocky horror films, it seemed to fit. She did joke that it stands for "We Employ Total Amateurs", because they often find brilliant people in unofficial ways, and just hire them. Like the guy who built swords as a hobby, or the other guy who was creating and building new types of engines in his spare time.
- JQ asked how many resumes they get. They receive thousands and thousands of resumes, and currently employ 80. Follow your dreams, kids, but maybe look for other opportunities elsewhere.
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| That bug on the sign is a weta |
In the prop section, my eye is caught by a model of the Argonath, which is maybe a bit slightly taller than my knee. "That's the one you see in the film," she tells me. Noooo! I refuse to believe it! Don't tell me there isn't really a monolithic version of these statues somewhere on the South Island! Damn it. How can they be so small?
Oh, and speaking of small, we also saw a miniature Boromir doll, which is what they used to film the scene of Boromir going over the falls in his funeral boat. No, they didn't load Sean Bean into a boat and send him over the falls - they loaded little doll-faced Boromir into a small boat, and probably floated him down a bathtub or something.
In another "dash your illusions" moment, the tour guide tells us how for The Lord of the Rings, they did actually employ many extras for crowd and battle scenes (for the Rohirrim and Orcs and Elves). Yes, there were software complements, but they really did have large groups acting. But by the time they filmed The Hobbit, digital imaging had improved, and she said for those group battle scenes, "that's literally eight guys running on treadmills."
Near the end, we were allowed to touch some of the items at the workstations (sadly, no photos, though). Jacqueline picks up an oversized revolver that must have been made for the Gallipoli exhibit. It is as big as her torso. She also tries on an ugly rubber face. I wish I had a photo. I'm busy playing with a puppet eyeball that I use pulleys to navigate. I make it look at JQ. Blink blink!
The last stop, we can chat with one of the effects artists, who is currently applying fake blood to a fake wound. You know JQ is all over that.
Back onto the bus, and Chewy drove around and showed us the soundstages. Because it was Sunday, he could actually park there - any other day of the week, security would be coming out to hustle him along.
With the tour completed, we drive to the Roxy Theatre, and Coco is the restaurant. We can choose our options for a three course meal. (Delicious!) Because JQ dilly-dallied, we ended up being last and had to be split between tables. I sat with a couple from Auckland and a couple from England, and I have no idea who JQ sat with. The leftover people, I guess.
You know what people say about two couples and an extra. Five makes it fun? No, I think it's something like a fifth wheel, or something like that.
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| Coco at the Roxy |
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| I am going to use the wrong fork. |
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| Painted ceiling |
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The couple from England are boyfriend/girlfriend, and it was her 22nd birthday yesterday. They are travelling through New Zealand on a work visa for the next year. The older couple from Auckland are celebrating their 24th anniversary tomorrow. And I don't have any life milestones, so I guess I'm just celebrating missing the 7-min meeting. 😄
The British girl asks the Kiwi couple, "why do they call us (Brits) poms?" Apparently, it is spelled p-o-m-e, but pronounced pom, but it stands for "Prisoner of Mother England." That's a nod to Australia (and probably NZ's) convict past. But it's pretty sweet living in Aus & NZ these days, so I guess it sucks to be a POME, especially considering all the Brexit drama.
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| Please don't kiss our Gollum, ma'am. |
Anyway, I ended up having a good conversation with the Auckland couple, and the food was amazing. Only just had time to take a quick run around to see the upstairs, which was quite decorated - murals on the ceiling, a Gollum statue, and also a real Academy Award Oscar safely behind glass (yes, it's one of the LOTR Oscars) - and then it was back to the bus, and it's time for Chewy to drive us back to our hotels.
JQ asked how the locals felt about the Middle Earth stuff, and Chewy said that they are proud of the films, and also grateful to the increased business its brought, both through film and studio work, but also tourism. They had a huge tourism boom after the LOTR films, and in fact Hobbiton is now the second-largest tourist attraction in all of New Zealand. The first is Milford Sound on the South Island (which features some truly spectacular scenery. Someday, South Island. Someday!).
That was the last of our big-ticket tourist events, but it was definitely a fun evening out.
The Passports exhibit talked about immigration to New Zealand throughout the decades. It showed the many waves of people who have come, and the ebbs and flows of immigration, and how the settlers lived.
Off along the harbour quays, and there is music and festivities everywhere. Now that some of the boat races are done, the big college kids are showing off by jumping off the high diving platform. Lots of people standing around and watching (including me).
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