Clockwise from top left: Weta Cave sign, Kat & Lurtz, Gollum, sign in the museum shop, Kyle and Gandalf
Starting Point: Wellington
Finishing Point: Wellington
Kilometers traveled: 49
Today we a typical Wellington day….blustery with a bit of rain and cloudy gloominess as well. The perfect day to spend inside, which worked out well as we had a day of museums planned.
First up, we made the drive out to the Miramar neighborhood of Wellington to visit Weta Studios. You can’t actually tour the studios, as most of what they due is confidential until whatever movie they are working on is released, but you can visit the Weta Cave. Weta Cave is a small museum, shop, and behind the scenes film that gives you a glimpse into what they do at Weta Studios. They’ve done special effects for 140 films, and are currently working on The Hobbit, Man of Steel (the latest Superman film), & Elysium.
We wandered around in the museum and shop for a bit, and then watched a behind the scenes film that tells you a bit about how Weta started and what they do. We had fun playing with all the sculptures, and Kat discovered what is under an Uruk-hai’s loincloth. As you can tell in the picture above, Lurtz was not as amused as Kat.
It was still rainy and blowy when we left, so we headed back over to Te Papa to visit a few more exhibits. We learned all about the treaty of Waitangi and how much trouble it has caused over the years, mostly because the English translation and the Maori translation don’t exactly match. We also learned what sort of tribunals exist today to help make amends for the abuses the British government has used the treaty for. We also spent a good bit of time reading stories in the Passport exhibit, about all the different types of individuals that have immigrated to New Zealand and made it their home. The last exhibit before we called it a day was all about the people of the Pacific and what skilled boatbuilders and ocean voyagers they were. In a time when most other countries were sailing subpar boats and staying close to the shores, the Pacific islanders were building amazing boats that could skim over the water, and then expertly sailing them at speeds triple what a typical European boat could do. They were utilizing celestial navigation and bird migratory patterns, along with the phases of the moon and other environmental patterns to navigate the vast waters of the Pacific. Really fascinating stuff.
And then it was time to hole up in our Spaceship and watch a movie while it rained. We are rewatching the last 2 Bond movies, in preparation for Skyfall, which comes out here on Thursday. The rest of this evening we’ll be getting things ready in our Spaceship. We have to be at the ferry bright and early for our 3 hour trip over to the South island. Can’t wait to see what it has in store for us! Especially since we have no plans past taking the ferry over. But that’s what the 3 hour trip is for, right?
Leave a Reply