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Saved: September 15th 2021
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I've had a fantastic few days here in Paraparaumu and around. I've gotten used to the weather, and it's not so shocking anymore.
Tuesday Janine and I took Anya into Porirua to the shopping centre. There was an end of season sale at Canterbury, so I picked up a few things to keep me warm here, and to fill a box to send back to Canada full of things I won't need when I get to Fiji next week.
Wednesday I took the train into Wellington. I love travelling by train, and the section between Paekakariki (pie-cok-a-ree-kee) and Pukerua Bay (poke-er-ua bay) is especially stunning. One one side are the steep green hills, and on the other side, the rugged coast and Kapiti Island looming over it all. It's about 50 minutes by train to Wellington from Paraparaumu. Towards the end, there's a couple of tunnels, and at the end of the last one, the harbour opens up.
I walked from the train station along the waterfront to Te Papa, the National Museum. I spent nearly a week at this museum three years ago, so I just visited two exhibits this time--one called Blood, Fire and Water (or
something), about the settlement of New Zealand. At the entrance to the exhibit was a display with pieces of four rocks from four parts of New Zealand. The other halves were at museums in the regions they were from. From the South Island was a huge piece of greenstone, and touching it, I could almost feel the pulse of this land that I love so much. The other exhibit I saw was the Lord of the Rings exhibit. I'd seen the exhibit three years ago, when it opened at Te Papa before touring the world, but since then the third film has been released, so the exhibit is expanded. It's a tribute to the work that New Zealanders poured into making this film--the costumes and weapons on display were incredible, as well as the models of some of the sets. I resisted the temptation to get a hobbit-size photo done, because I still have the one from last time.
It was such a beatiful day that after the museum, I lingered along the waterfront and in Civic Square, revelling in the warm sun.
Wednesday was a day of Kiwi food for me--I had a pie, an L&P, and
The Beehive and the largest wooden building in the Southern Hermisphere
The Beehive is where Parliament meets, and the wooden building is the location of the Law School for Victoria University of Wellington. a moro bar for lunch. For tea, we got fish and chips, and I also had one of my favorites--a deep-fried pineapple fritter.
Thursday we went up to Lindale farm, just north of Paraparaumu, to check out the artisan shops there. I fell in love with everything in the honey shop (including all the liquers and wines). I cursed the terrorists who have made it impossible to carry liquids on flights, and decided not to risk packing any glass bottles in my checked bag. But I've got some honey in sealed plastic containers to take home. I would have loved to take home something from the olive shop too, but again there's the problem of transporting liquids in glass jars. After the farm, we went to the shopping centre in Paraparaumu. It's not nearly as good as the one in Porirua, but there is one good kitchen store. I found a little butter board, and as I was paying for it, I experienced one of a travellers worst nightmares--my credit card was declined. I knew I was nowhere near my limit, and I had let the Visa people know I would be here. Still, I was pretty uneasy until
I rang Visa and they said it must have been the shop, because there were no restrictions on my card.
Thursday night I visited my host Rotary Club. Only a couple of them knew I was coming, so it was nice to surprise some old friends. I even found the banner from my sponser club that I presented twelve years ago when I was an exchange student. After the meeting, one of my host father's, who hadn't known I was coming, insisted on taking me home to see my host mum. My host sister was there visiting too, and it was so nice to catch up with them.
Today I'm hoping to visit a couple of other people, and this evening I'm catching the train up to Palmerston North to stay with another school friend, Annabel, for a few days.
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