Kiwi!

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. 

The Road To Wellington

Our bad asses were ready to hit the road. Rotorua was so yesterday and we were ready to skip town. Like proper gentlemen we decided to partake in a modest breakfast before saying our goodbyes to the township that had treated us so well. We found a modest coffee shop that offered a quick bite. I ordered an eggs Benedict muffin and it was probably the best breakfast style sandwich I have ever had. Mc Ds, you better take note.

All gassed up we were ready to go.

Not long after departing town a series light showers greeted us. Nothing too substantial but I suppose it was worth noting. After a while beautiful blue skies beamed down upon us and lifted our spirits.  

Driving through the majority of the north island presented us with a diverse package of landscapes. We started with the mountains

Followed by the parries

Followed by Kansas

Followed by New Mexico

Followed by small town after small town  

We stopped at the first substantial town and decided to grab some lunch. The deal of the day seemed to be the butter chicken on rice. We both ordered a portion.

Not the best meal I have ever had but the loose tea made up for it. It is important to note that the town did have one of the more interesting claw machines I have ever seen. It featured a rather large claw that was designed to grab a rugby ball.

If I had more dollery doos I think I could have scored a try on this machine, but it was not to be. After some down time we adventured on. On our way out of town we realized we missed our big chance at some comfort food. Would have been neat to see how they messed up a hot dog.  

With the sun beaming over us we continued onto Wellington.

We totally understood all of the posted road signs.

As we pulled into town a strong America west coast feel swept over us. This city was familiar yet strangely foreign.  

This became especially clear when we discovered a business named after a euphemisms for genitals. Go get em ladies.

Our hostel was right in the middle of the city. And when I say hostel I mean hotel. This hotel apparently also advertises as a hostel. Regardless it was super nice and the shower was amazing. The photo you see is in the dark because I forgot to take one when we arrived. Just try to maintain the magic of the blog if you can.  

We checked in and set out on the city. Let me tell you that Wellington is pretty awesome. It is the San Francisco of the Kiwis. There were some very pretty sights.

After some wondering we set off to find some dinner. We hit the hip street and found a small satay place that seemed interesting. It did not possess the best decor in the area but the food looked damn tasty. 

After filling our faces we hit a local pub on the way home. Rugby of some sort was playing and we set our sights on picking teams so that we could yell obnoxiously at each other for no reason. It was a good evening and a decent way to wind down from our day of car travel. Go Swans.  

Rotorua Review

Our first day in Rotorua started at the local museum. It was housed in this neat old building that use to be a thermal bath house.

They had a small cafe near the entrance where we grabbed a light breakfast.

The museum featured a lot of Maori artifacts and history. There was also a large section on the Maori's contributions during both of the World Wars. Being that it was Anzac day in New Zealand the exhibit was especially appropriate. Unfortunately most of the exhibits were off limits to photography so what we are left with is some pretty lame stuff.

Most of the Maori stuff was pretty good but they had this horrible exhibit on the top floor that featured 'artwork' constructed from that stuff that use to be on Slurpee cups where you could see two images that changed based on the viewing angle. We both agreed it was super lame. After some turrable art we headed to the car. On the way we saw directions to the local all night party but decided to pass this time. 

We drove out of town a bit to a local redwood forest that was featured in Lord of the Rings. 

Peter loved it.

The 5k loop was pretty neat and featured some nice thermal pools of death. 

After our hike Peter decided he wanted to try driving on the left side of the road. He thought a spaceman costume would be appropriate for this momentous occasion. 

We drove around some lakes that were in the area. Lacking swim suits we just admired them from the shore. 

Lunch time crawled around and we went back into town for some nourishment. It was a bit late so a lot of the places were closing but we found a modern Italian place that would serve us. I got the cumin and blue cheese soup. I had never had anything like it but it was quite good. 

Having exhausted enough funds for the day we decided to take a stroll in the local park that featured a number of thermal pools. Our favorites tended to be the rather muddy holes. Watching them engulf leaves and sticks appealed to our younger side.

The pictures look kind of lame but there were some pretty cool sights. Pools of all sizes and varying temperatures were present. At the edge of the park we found a pretty awesome playground that we took advantage of. New Zealand has amazing playground equipment all over the place, I want to play on it all. Maybe that's why their kids are not fat. 

We walked back through downtown to get back to our hostel. In the time we were at the park a street market had popped up. These Kiwis move fast. It was complete with street food, home made goods, crappy art, fresh produce, and kitschy home things. 

We also ran across this. Not sure why a shop is needed for this industry...

After some downtime we headed out to a local pub called the pig and whistle for some dinner and drinks. I ordered the steak sandwich which turned out to be quite ridiculous. Steak fillet with onion relish, tomato jam, lettuce, tomato, cheese, aioli, and a fried egg between two pieces of focaccia bread. 

We were lucky enough to score a table right in front of the rugby games going on which provided our entertainment. Somehow the local team managed to snap a long loosing streak while also remaining undefeated. crazy foreign sports.