Bits and bobs.

So this is kind of going out of order, but I realized I never did talk about another of our side trips as part of our international student orientation. The first week we were here, Jayne planned an afternoon outing for any of us who wanted to go to the Weta Cave and Te Papa Museum. It seems she’ll be planning lots of little day trips like this for us, including a wine tour and trip to the South Island within the coming months.

The trip to Weta Cave was something I had been looking forward to, even if very few others knew what exactly we were going to see. Luckily there are two or three other Ringers in the international group, so I at least wasn’t totally alone in my excitement.

It was small. That’s for sure. But it had some interesting things both for show and for sale. We watched a 20-minute video about Weta and all the work they do, and then we had time to wander around the place. We played with a Peter Lyon-made sword (I’m fairly certain it was one of Aragorn’s), and we took pictures of armor, orcs and even Gollum.

Next came Te Papa, which I visited last time I was here, but I didn’t remember all that much about it. I remembered the “From Land to Sea” floor simply because there were lots of bright colors and interactive things to play with. Along with fossils, bones, and various stuffed things lying about. It was just as neat to wander through the second time around.

This time we (we meaning me, Andrea and Denise, another of the girls from the States) actually had a more thorough look through the museum, although we certainly didn’t see everything – the place is too huge!

The floor of New Zealand history was interesting, both for the Maori artifacts and for the information on different immigrant groups. I had no idea the Scots had such a presence in NZ!

Te Papa really is one of the nicest museums I’ve ever been to. It’s not only got a nice variety (including an art gallery), but it’s architecturally gorgeous, too.

After experiencing slight sensory overload and agreeing it would be best to save the rest for another time, the three of us wandered outside to where Te Papa has a few nature trails out by the harbor along with a replica of a cave. We stayed out there until sundown, and then eventually made the trek back into town.

I’ll say this – I’ll sure be in shape after this trip and have feet of steel from all this walking!
Also, simply because this photo really amuses me, there's a really good burger place down here called Burger Fuel. They have the most massive burgers EVER! (As you can clearly see.)