Wellington - seals, lighthouses and sinking ships!

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It's been a little while since I've updated my journal!! I'm currently sitting in a cybercafe (they don't call them internet cafe's here) in Hong Kong.... but more on that later. Here's the quick round up of my last few months in Wellington!!


I've been doing quite well on the cultural front lately. Helen and I went to see the Buena Vista Social Club, a group of 80 plus Cuban musicians and singers that played in Havana in the 1940's and 50's. I'd seen them 8 years ago when I was living in Cambridge, and whilst there were a few less of them this time (the singer Ibrahim Ferrer and the amazing Ruben Gonzalez and Compay Segundo have all died since I saw them last), the show was excellent. This time the show was based around the bar where they all used to play, complete with the original bar man that worked there back int the 50's!! The best performance of the night for me was the 87 year old singer Reynaldo Creagh - the 'younger' guys (80 and 81 years old) were good but this guys voice was amazing.

Liz and I went to see the opera, La Traviata. It's only the second opera I've been to and it was excellent. It opened with an S&M scene complete with whips and dog collars which wasn't quite what we were expecting.... but one particular solo by the lead Violetta had the
audience stunned into silence at the end of it. It's just a shame it's so blimmin expensive back in London otherwise I could become a regular!! We also went to see the Nutcracker... which was 'interesting'. This really wasn't a 'traditional' production of the Nutcraker - it was set in a hospital in the 1930's, there was no Uncle Drosselmeyer, no Sugar Plum Fairy, no tutu's and the snowflakes looked like puff balls. It was good and there were some real comedy moments - particularly three guys on crutches who danced/acted to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy score and the (female) Matron that was played by a guy. But should ballet be funny?? Not sure on that one. Continuing the show theme we also went to WOW - aka the World of Wearable Art awards. Artists from around the country (and some from abroad to) enter outfits made from, well, really pretty much anything. There are different categories of outfits, the best being the bra category. These weren't your normal bra's though, for a start half of them were modelled by men, including the category winner and our favourite the kiwi fruit, which were folded concertina style and which the guy kept unfolding to dramatic effect!!!

We've also kept up with the day trips and weekends away from Welly. Liz and I did another day trip with the tramping club out towards the Rimutaka range where we saw some of the biggest red trees. The day was topped of by stopping for a well deserved coffee and cake in Greymouth, a lovely little town full of coffee and gift shops, on the way home. These stops seem to be a bit of a regular occurance on the tramping club trips that I go on.... not really sure its a common occurance on other trips though ;0)

Liz's housemate went on holiday for a week and left us her car so we had a weekend road trip to the Waiarapa. When we left Wellington on the Saturday morning we didn't have tooo much of a plan other than which way to head.... we'd tried booking things through the tourist info places in Welly but they really were rather underwhelming with their help. We had 3 guide books between us though so after a quick read we started by heading up over the Rimutaka Range and then down towards the coast and Cape Palliser - the most southerly point of the North Island. Here we tested our vertigo by climbing the steepest set of steps to the lighthouse from where we spent a sunny half hour watching seals playing out at sea. Having almost been overtaken by some old folk whilst coming down the steps we then went down to the beach in search of the seals. We found that the few seals that we'd seen playing out at sea were in fact part of the largest seal colony that I've seen!! Needless to say it was also the smelliest so we moved along the coast before stopping for lunch! In the afternoon we stopped at the Putangirua Pinnacles. Some 8 million odd years ago this area was an island and screes poured gravels down to the coast. The stream here has since exposed these gravels to erosion and the resistance of the different componenets to erosion has resulted in the wierd inland pinnacles or 'hoodoos'. The drive along the coast was beautiful - it was a clear sunny day and we were able to see accross to the snow capped peaks of mountains on the south island. We stayed the night we in Martinborough which is famous for its wine (and where the lady at the tourist place was far more helpful!). Originally we'd planned to spend Sunday going further north along the coast on Sunday but the B&B owner persuaded us that we didn't really have time. Instead he recommended some local vineyards to try..... Unfortunately with Liz driving we couldn't do many, but still managed to try some great wine and made a note to come back! We picked up stuff for a picnic at the local store (Brie, fresh french bread, olives.... yum) and headed off, stopping briefly to go daffodil picking at a local festival in Carterton where Liz wowed the locals with her parallel parking by squeezing into a space that they'd all written off as too small (parking spaces are usually so big and wide over here that you normally just drive into them... no reversing required!).

We've had a few birthdays in the last months, I turned 25 again (21 might be a bit unbelievable ;0)) and Helen turned 30! Helen likes her themed parties and this one was no exception - the theme was wigs and glamour. Should I be concerned that I suited a bright purple wig?? At least Helen knows she'll suit a blue rinse in her old age ;0)

On one of my last days before leaving for Blighty we went to a party at Peta's in Island Bay to watch the sinking of the former New Zealand Navy frigate Wellington, which it is hoped will become a diving attraction. The frigate had been moored in Wellington Harbour over the winter where it had been turned into a bar, but over the last few weeks it had been stripped of masts etc to make it safe for divers and holes put in the side. Originally the sinking had been planned for the Saturday but bad weather and choppy seas meant it was postponed till the Sunday. Fortunately Sunday was a beautiful day and whilst the sinking was delayed by half an hour as a flotila of tug boats manouvered and remanouvered the frigate into exactly the right position it eventually went down with a bang and some fireworks!

Anyway as I said I've written this in Hong Kong..... I've been back in Blighty for the last few weeks celebrating my mums 60th birthday and stopped off in Hong Kong on the way back to NZ. I didn't stop off on the way from NZ to home... although had a rather interesting time when I changed planes in Kuala Lumpur. We'd taken off from KL and the seatbelt sign was still on.... when the air crew started fussing around a passenger a few rows in front and getting the oxygen cylinder out. The next thing we know they put an announcement out asking if there's a doctor on board!! And I thought that only happened in the movies! Fortunately all was OK and we didn't have to do an emergency landing! Anyway that's all for now - I'll add a separate update with the details of my adventures in HK soon!

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Photos

25 again.....
Liz, Shiobhan, Izzy, Helen and me

In the Malthouse...
Liz, Izzy and Paul