Gerry & June's Travels and Much Else: Putangirua Pinnacles, Lake Ferry, to Wellington; Wellington City Tour

[to be fleshed out - sadly, Blooger has draft bulletted lists with levels, but posts all levels the same]
February 16, 2010
Putangirua Pinnacles

partially backtracked towards Martinborough, then cut cross-country to pick up main highway
an easy drive into WEllington
checked into Duxton Hotel
discovered they had a guest laundry, not just free washer and dryer, but free soap
finshed washing about 9 p.m.; headed out to find supper; discovered sidewalks mostly rolled up
tried a couple of pubs that were jumping, but no food to be had
eventually found Uncle Chan, a Chinese place, food was good, but it was obvious that they too wanted to close, so hurried up
this was a Tuesday night, but this is also a national capital!

February 17, 2010
Wellington City Tour

picked up by a pre-booked tour van; again we were the only ones booked, so had the van and driver/guide to ourselves
he offered to give us the basic city tour, and then tailor the rest of the day to our interests
he turned out to be an interesting guy; owner of a software company that had done well, and that he'd sold

after a few months of retirement he was bored out of his skull, when a friend approached him about investing in an up-scale tour company he was starting
our guy invested on the condition that he could drive one of the vehicles
he really knoew the city, and also was very knowledgable about NZ economis, political life, and the world
what a find!

past ahotel that had actually been put on rails, moved off the museum site to its present location across the road

up to Mt. Victoria, the high hill in the centre with views of Wellington in all directions, also with the very striking Byrd monument

every town and city in New Zealand seems to have a Mt. Victoria
good view of the airport, a single runway, with both ends on a body of water, apparently difficult to fly into and out of, because of surrounding hills

then through some upscale neighbourhoods; Wellington is typical - the higher up you live the higher the price of your property
then a drive along the coast of Wellington Harbour, out to the Cook Strait

in some places the road is very narrow, with only the roadway and some small off-road parking; the houses are up above, and served by funicular type "elevators"
on the Cook Strait the landscape is very rugged, weathered rocks, and obviously a dangerous coast for ships
back into Wellington through the Mt. Victoria Tunnel, which makes for a considerable shortcut

lunch (included in tour cost) was at a very upscale harbour-side restaurant, on stilts on the water, with what would have been a beatiful view, if there hadn't been a mild fog
after lunch a tour of Stansborough Fibres

weavers using traditional weaving methods, with wool sourced from STansborough sheep which are naturally white, greay and black, with some alpaca mixed in for softness
suppliers of the cloth for the Elven cloacks in Lord of the Rings; also suppliers of cloth for the Narnia movies
a thorough explanation of the weaving process, using Victorian age looms, and the methods of a 100 years ago
ironically, when Peter Jackson was looking for a supplier of cloth for the movies he hade agents searchthe world, found cloth that he liked in a boutique in New York, and discovered it was made not far down the road from his studios
a good sales room, selling everything up to full-sized elven cloaks - we settled for a scarf each (not cheap, but a souvenir that we are unlikely to see at our corner clothiers), and we don't have to caryy them; they will be mailed just before we arrive back home

their principle was very simple; make reaal weapons and real armour, and you wont have to worry about making thme "look" real

they also made all the pottery and glassware for the "Prancing Pony" pub in Bree, to ensure they were unlike anything one could buy
but their greatest work on the films was their digital horses and digital doubles of the characters

eg. in the Battle of Pellinor Field scenes, most of the horses and riders are digital, and in one scene where Legolas climbs a digital elephant, Legolas is digital also
also Gollum is a digital charater, although his movements are acted out by an actor wearing a body suit with registration dots on it, onto which the digital character is then "projected"
magical stuff!

then into downtown Wellington, and a ride on the Wellington Cable Car, which takes you up to a hill top with great views, and botanical gardens, which we did not have time to explore, although our van, which picked us up at the top, did a quick drive through

then back down the hill, on a road that was the narrowest we have seen; so narrow that houses built into the hillside below the road have "parking platforms" cantilevered out from the hillside

interesting to speculate why, as there is no lack of land around Wellington; presumably there is prestige attached to living in these areas

on to the parliamentry district, for a view of the "Beehive" office building, which regularly turns up on 10 ugliest buildings lists, next to the Edwardian parliamentary buildings, with the very modern "New" St. Paul's Cathedral of to one side
to "Old" St. Paul's Cathedral, a late Victorian building, dark, with lots of stained glass

no longer used as a church, now is available for weddings and other signifiant occasions (funerals?)
obviously our driver/guide was an Anglican, and one he found out what I did, showed us this, his favourite church

it was now late afternoon, and after a quick survey tour our driver/guide left us, as we were just across the road fromour hotel
this is one of the great museums, and most impressively, it is free
New Zealand policy seems to be that the national patrimony should not be made unavailable to people because of cost
exploring on our own, we got a quick introduction to New Zealand history
also, an introduction to how New Zealand deals with the ever present earthquackes

thousands daily, most only noticable on instruments, but one or two that can be felt
there is an "earth quake house" in which one can experience what a severe earthquake feels like

because "for profit" insurance companies are reluctant o underwrite earthquake insurance in risky zones, it is handled by a government agency
there is a tax on all home insurance, not very high, which is used to build a fund out of which earthquake damages are compensated

then to our hotel, supper, and get to bed in preparation for our crossing to South Isand in the morning

Gerry & June's Travels and Much Else