Saturday Culture Experience

Last Saturday was quite cold. We were ending the 3rd day of our first storm that began near Antarctica. Being at sea level it didn't get below freezing, but with high winds and rain, it was quite miserable. So we decided to have an indoor experience. There are several museums in Wellington, so we went to the Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum.  But first we had to go to our local farmers market and stock up on fresh food.

After lunch we headed into downtown Wellington to the museum, located next to the harbor. Te Papa Tongrewa is Maori (most places and things often use both names), and literally means 'container of treasures'. 

The museum is 6 floors. We barely managed to see one level. The first exhibit was built to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of New Zealand sending troops to support Great Britain in WWI. They sent about 100,000 men, and New Zealand only had a population of 1.1 million. The battle in the exhibit was the Battle of Gallipoli. It is as famous here as Battle of the Bulge is in the USA.  It was near Turkey, and they suffered terrible loss.

The exhibit was helped by the WETA labs, which is part of the New Zealand movie studios headquartered in Wellington (they did Lord of the Rings, etc.)  The characters are very lifelike and are 2.4 times real size.  Here are a few:

The hairs on his leg even moved in the breeze.

It was very moving to see.




Thursday was one of the most beautiful days we have had since arriving. Blue sky, only a light breeze and about 14 degrees (almost 60 degrees). We took a long lunch and strolled down to the harbor, and had lunch.  Here is a view looking north. The docks are just to the left. Cargo ships awaiting a berth.

There are sail boats in the harbor, and lots of shops along the way. The lunch crowd was huge. Runners, walkers, sitters, people picnicking.

So, we look out into the harbor, and there a half dozen hardy souls doing laps across the harbor. The air temperature is 59 degrees and the water temperature is 53 degrees. One gal was just in a swim suit, no wet suit. I doubt that I could have gotten warm by the end of the day after that. We were impressed.

So, after that beautiful day, today was foggy, rainy, windy at varying times of the day. We have north winds today, and will have south winds tomorrow. Good thing we are from Page, where the weather changes all the time too. What a fun place to be.