Springtime in Wellington

The sunshine has come out for my brief stay in Wellington - today has been absolutely gorgeous. (Don't worry, Mum, am wearing suncream).

I spent yesterday being a proper tourist. Mooched around the City Gallery for a bit; for once the modern art was actually worth seeing (well, most of it). Then I caught the ferry to Matiu/Somes Island which is a nature reserve. Once upon a time it was a quarantine station for people, then a WW2 internment camp, and then a quarantine station for animals. Eventually they closed the quarantine station down, after a little longer the Crown returned the land to the local iwi, and now it's managed by DOC. It's completely predator-free and full of birds and geckos and lizards. I saw loads of kakariki (parakeets, awfully cute but in the habit of flying away rather than posing for photos) and various other birds, plus lots of skink and geckos. There are tuatara on the island but I didn't see any of them despite keeping an eye out. Had a good walk around, explored the old quarantine station and the WW2 gun encampments, and then caught the ferry back to the city.

In the evening I met some rowing friends for dinner. That was nice.

Today I woke to glorious sunshine so after a yummy breakfast grabbed my camera and walked up Mt Victoria. Lovely views across the harbour today. Next stop was my former workplace, for coffee and a chat with my ex-colleagues, and then lunch with my old editor who is thriving in his new job (hurrah). Yummy lunch too, at a Hare Krishna restaurant. Bit of shopping, coffee and postcard writing, wander back to the B&B via the liquor store for wine to encourage me to self-cater a bit over the next week (this may be false economy as I spent $40/£19 on a Martinborough pinot noir, but you can't get a decent Martinborough pinot at home and I wanted some).

After that I read on the sun-soaked deck for a bit, backed up photos, and am generally chilling. Meeting friends for a run in an hour or so. Off up to Cambridge tomorrow.

Summer's here!

Well, it probably isn't quite yet, but this weekend's been very summery. Warm - up to 18C today - and sunny. I've spent most of it on the water, rowing, driving a launch and coxing some novices just now. Way to kick off the summer freckles. :) It was a good weekend for penguin-spotting, too; I saw one little blue penguin swimming around on Friday morning, and two today. One was really close to the boat. They're incredibly cute little birds.

But we could have done without the hordes of recreational water users not paying any attention to what else is out there ...

Rainbow Warrior

The Rainbow Warrior (mark II, obviously) is touring NZ at present to highlight climate change. Because NZ emissions are skyrocketing, the country hasn't committed to an emissions target under Kyoto, and nobody seems to care. Given the almost complete lack of basics like double glazing, decent insulation, and central heating in this country, coupled with a major agriculture industry, second-hand cars and far too much reliance on planes (I'm guilty there) it's not surprising Kiwis are among the worst per capita emitters of carbon in the world.

Anyway, Greenpeace wants the politicians to act now, and want Kiwis to get behind the campaign, so they're taking the ship around. I went on one of their tours today (I confess I was more interested in the ship as a ship, but then I'm a ship geek).

Rainbow Warrior II is a three-masted schooner, converted from a fishing trawler for campaigning purposes. She carries 15 crew, 12 of whom are allowed to get off the ship and go and be activists when that's the task at hand (leaving three on board to operate her at all times). There's a whole mix of nationalities apparently. We got a history of ship and organisation, a talk on climate change, a chat from the South African captain, a video and an invitation to join Greenpeace, and a story about Dave the Dolphin:



the figurehead.

I didn't join, though I sympathise with the aims; I'm doing my bit by not having a car, recycling, turning things off, wearing jumpers before I turn heating on, and reusing bags (obsessively). And I'm still not 100 per cent convinced about the rather crazy-dangerous ways of protesting, which while peaceful do put people's lives at risk.

Anyway it was an interesting tour.

Owch

It was a) too windy for cycling and b) too nice to go to the gym today, so I decided to go for a run. Not sure why ... then I decided to run up Mt Victoria, which was even dafter! But I made it (walked a couple of steep bits) and then ran all the way down to Balaena Bay and back. Whew. Actually I enjoyed it and it wasn't too bad. Really hot though!

Pictures!

I went out and took some pohutukawa shots this afternoon - they came out okay despite the wind that kept blowing around branches and me and my camera! It really was incredibly windy, and incredibly warm.

There's still quite a few pohutukawas to come out yet - three gigantic trees on the waterfront side of Te Papa, and a big one across the street from my flat for starters. But as I'm going away I'm not sure I'll get to see them, so I thought it worthwhile making the most of a sunny day.














I also got some shots of the wire trees outside Te Papa, which are brilliant (the trees, not the photos, though I am quite pleased with them too).







More pics on Flickr.

In other news: one week of work to go and then I'm off sailing on the Soren Larsen in the Hauraki Gulf for Christmas. And am seeing friends for New Year's Eve, and then going kayaking in Abel Tasman with a friend from home. So it might not be the most relaxing Christmas break, but it should be fun.

All good things come in threes ...

11) Wellington's people are nice. Everyone's very friendly and easy-going in a Kiwi way. Makes the city a good place to live.

12) The railway station has awesome acoustics. We sang carols to commuters yesterday evening, and it was very nice.

13) The pohutukawas are all coming out across town. I'd heard about them - the NZ Christmas tree, all red blooms - but hadn't seen any until now. But all of a sudden they're everywhere, and they're stunning. I will get my camera out for them at the weekend.

In less good things: I don't know if they've changed the stuff they put in the swimming pools, but the past two times I've been swimming I've ended up with a really bad stuffed-up nose. After yesterday evening I spent half the night awake blowing it. Very unpleasant, and it's given me a headache. Boo.

More good things

I'm feeling a bit tired tonight after too many mornings in a row getting up early - as we have to unload boats tomorrow morning this won't improve. But anyway, thinking of nice things will help.

7) There's a wonderful little sushi place in the Left Bank Mall off Cuba Street. California Sushi - they do lots of different sorts, but I like the salmon, teriyaki salmon and tuna best. Run by a small, terribly efficient, friendly Japanese lady.

8) The Embassy. Fantastic cinema. Big screen and even the cheap seats are comfortable.

9) Rowing on a calm day on the harbour. When it's windy it's nasty, but when it's not - like today - it's superb.

10) On similar lines, seeing mountains and sea every day. Makes a lovely change from London.

#5 in things I like ...

5) There are some really great new sculptures outside Te Papa - made of wire, and each like a plant or a tree. They are extraordinary. I will try and take pictures at some point.

In other news: this story is just extraordinary!

More things I like ...

4) The Deluxe Café next to the Embassy. Quirky atmosphere, awesome iced coffee.
5) Penguins!! There was a cute little blue penguin paddling about in the harbour this morning as we were rowing. Don't get penguins on the Tideway.

Long-expected update

I do keep meaning to update this thing. But keep forgetting, or not getting around to it.

So, in reverse order, stuff what I have been doing recently:

- Went to a pole fitness class tonight with some of the girls from rowing. Not quite pole dancing, and quite tough on the upper arms. I'm going to be bruised tomorrow. We had a lot of fun, though; it's a tricky thing to master, flinging yourself around a pole. Suitably the class was on Vivian Street, which is Wellington's red light district (insofar as there are a couple of "gentlemen's clubs" up there). We're thinking of going again.

- Spent the weekend in wonderful Wanganui at a regatta. It was good racing generally, but we didn't do brilliantly. Lots of work to be done. I felt very at home though racing on a tidal river. We were all set for a big night on Saturday but we were all knackered (and a bit sunburned) so had fish and chips and crashed at our coach's parents, who were very welcoming. Long outing on Sunday morning, including a break at a nice little sandy beach with a swing!! (Still a long way downriver from Pipiriki where the kayaks stop though).

- I was meaning to post something I liked about Wellington every day. But I didn't get round to it. So I mean to start now, for December.

Three things I like about Wellington:
1) The lampposts along the bit of seafront running along the south side of Te Papa have holes in them, so when the wind is either northerly or southerly (ie, most of the time) they whistle. It's extremely cool. Makes them more than just functional.

2) Someone chalked poetry on that same bit of path, round Te Papa, last week. I didn't stop to read it, but I saw others stopping. Great idea.

3) It's said a lot, but it's true: Wellington on a nice day is a truly glorious city. Even if it's windy.

First impressions

We're now in Auckland having had a fun time caving in Waitomo. But I really need to go back in time and start from the beginning of the trip or this blog will just get hopelessly confused!

The flight over was as nice as a 29-hour journey can be. I liked Air NZ a lot - friendly but not obsequious staff, comfortable seats, good food (and wine), and a modern entertainment system. Perfect. Transit in LA was a bore because we all had to go through immigration before sitting in the transit lounge. I queued for an hour. At least Air NZ provided drinks and food for everyone.

At Auckland immigration was brilliant and I sailed through with my electronic visa. I also got through biodiversity with no problems - thanks Dad for cleaning my walking boots so efficiently! It's great that NZ takes so much care over what comes into the country.

Then I hit my first hurdle. We were a little late leaving LA and a little late landing in Auckland and by the time I got to the domestic transfer desk it was too late to check in my bags for the flight to Wellington. However the lady told me that if I took them across to the domestic terminal myself I'd be able to make it. I had ten minutes. I piled bags on to a trolley and, still wearing my jumper, ran with the trolley along the walkway to the terminal. I was boiling, sweating and red-faced by the time I arrived but I made it! Thankful that I didn't have to try and call Richard and Emma to arrange a different pickup time I went to board, and from the plane watched them load my rucksack. My suitcase was nowhere to be seen, but as it turned up in Wellington all right there was apparently no problem.

R&E were waiting for me in Wellington, R looking taller and blonder than I remembered. It was good to see them after six months not seeing them. We piled me and my bags into their van, Chuck Norris (a 1982 Toyota Hiace), and we took the scenic route back to their flat in the Mount Cook area of Wellington.

Over the next few days we explored the city, or rather R&E showed me the bits they thought were sorth seeing. We climbed Mount Victoria to have a look at the city; visited the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary to see rare birds and wander in the bush.


A takahe at the sanctuary

We rode the cable car down from the Botanic Gardens; and made a trip out to Scorching Bay for coffee and cake at the Chocolate Fish Cafe. All very interesting! I also got my bearings around the city, which will help when I get back there for finding a flat. Having now seen Auckland I think I'm making the right decision in living in Wellington. Auckland may have the sailing, but Wellington is certainly a nicer city.






Scorching Bay

Next time: New Plymouth!