The wind in Wellington is relentless. Our windows rattled all night as the sea air blew through the city. When I awoke it was still howling. As we left for our first attraction we drove by the sea line where all of the artwork is designed to interact with the local breeze.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at a cafe down the street. I got the breakfast burger. They sure do know their breakfast sandwiches around here.
Our first stop was the Weta Cave. This is the workshop for the special effects company co owned by Peter Jackson that is known for its work in films like Lord of the Rings, District 9, and the Narnia series. They had a small museum in the front lined with movie props.
It looks like the engineers frequent the same cafe that we stopped at for breakfast.
Photos were not allowed in the actual workshop so here are some shots of us with trolls.
Movie magic at it finest. With the tour out of the way we headed back onto the other side of the mountain through a tunnel that is carved through the base.
Having yet to see a Kiwi we decided to go hunting for one at the local zoo.
It featured questionable advice on animals and their various dietary needs.
This diet must have contributed to the odd behavior we noticed in the animals.
We were able to finally spot a Kiwi but the photographic evidence is marginal. Kiwis are nocturnal so the enclosure was pitch black other than some strategically placed red lights. This was the best photo I was able to snap. What I can say is they are pretty neat little birds.
The zoo also featured an operating room with a viewing area where you could watch the veterinarians perform live surgeries. They wore a microphone on their collar so you could hear what they were saying as they operated. There was also a button to ask questions. We watched a head surgery on a bird of some sort. Its outlook did not look very good.
Having checked the Kiwi off of the bucket list we ventured onto the New Zealand Cricket museum.
As we entered the curator confidently asked 'You know who this is don't you?'
Bashfully admitting our limited cricket knowledge she took us under her wing and gave us a personal tour of the museum.
We learned quite a bit about the game and its players. One of my favorite items in the museum was an aluminium cricket bat that was used in a single game. Apparently there were no rules on the material of the bat at the time so a guy just showed up with an aluminum bat and destroyed people. It was banned shortly after.
Continuing on the museum tour we hit up the Museum of New Zealand. This was a huge building that contained everything you could ever think of. It was quite overwhelming but kept us busy for the rest of the afternoon.
Unfortunately the rock exhibit was out of order.
We shall try again later. Outside the museum was the most amazing thing ever; the taranaki wharf jump platform.
It was just a big staircase to nowhere that you would jump off into a small hole in the wharf. It was closed due to pollution in the water but that did not deter everyone from using it.
It now being dinner time we searched for a suitable restaurant. I think this fits the criteria...
Tomorrow we head to the south island to see the other side of New Zealand. Everyone keeps saying how different it is down there so I guess we will see tomorrow.
