Observiews

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

North Island- Sunday- Wellington!

Sorry it has been so long since my last update- in Austin now! Started my new internship. I am going to try and bang out the rest of the posts (the rest of my week on the north island, final days in new Zealand, reflections, welcome to america, and Austin, in the following days.)

Sunday I got up early to see the city. The first thing I did was to walk the writers walk, a cool little path on the that wraps around the harbor with sculpture, cool bridges and every now and then a quote from a famous New Zealand authors. After that I visited a cool little farmers market and then made my was to a panoramic view of the city.

To see the city from above I climber Mount Victoria, it took some time but fortunately, I was young, fit, and foolhardy. The views of the city, however, were breath-taking, or maybe that was me just gasping for air from the long hike up. I think I went a little crazy with the camera there.

After I had thoroughly soaked in the sites I headed down the other side of the mountain for the WETA workshop, it turned out to be over an hour and halfs walk away, but I did it! And was very happy to arrive. The workshop does a lot of the special effects for movies- most prominently The Lord of the Rings, The Narnia Movies, and Tintin.

I was so exhausted from the trip that I took a but back to downtown- much easier. And then I treated myself to some cheap Indian food- nothing like naan and tikka masala for the hungry traveler.

After that I visited the national museum of New Zealand- FREE. It has everything, culture, science, history, art--it was all there. It also has the only specimen of an intact giant squid- huge- to say the least. I also saw an ammonite fossil that had at leas a 4-5 foot diameter.

To take a break from Te Papa I also visited the Museum of City and Sea- a more local museum of Wellington's history. And then I stopped by a gallery and then the Modern art Museum, finally- to burn another hour I headed back to finish what I started- the behemoth of Te Papa.

The day finished with a free pasta meal from my hostel- all a very productive day.

I went a little crazy with photoshops new applications- ENJOY!

Writers walk

The wind-spinner

The Dark Lord is watching

District 12

This ones for you- Steven

The sky was so weird!

Giant Ammonite!

Giant Squid!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Leaving

I leave in a few short hours for America. Its crazy to think that this semester has drawn to an end. I would like to say a few reflectances. But in the interests of time--(I might want to sleep)-- I will refrain. See you on the other side!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

North Island- Saturday- Wellington!- My adventure begins

The propeller- fortunately it is still there amd so am I.

I have recently completed my trip to the north Island. I began in the capital city Wellington- and worked my way up through Art Deco, volcanoes, and adventure activities to the largest city in New Zealand- Auckland. I hope you enjoy the photos!

I left Dunedin early in the Morning, my friends dropped me off at the airport. I was able to take some photos from the plane. Which had the propeller parallel to my head. The whole time I was praying that one of the blades didn't come off and skewer me! It was cool to get some pictures of Dunedin and the Otago peninsula from above.

When I arrived in Wellington I decided to save a little money, get my bearing, and walk to my hostel- it was only 7 kilometers! I made it to town in time to make the last tour of the Beehive- the capital building of New Zealand.

The peninsula

After touring the bee-hive I decided to tour the botanical gardens, I had some fun there taking pictures of the sculptures and plants. I also enjoyed the cable car!

By that time it was dark so I headed back to town and had dinner at a Malaysion place. I then took a nap and walked along the waterfront- its gorgeous (photos on Sunday!).

BTW- kiwifruit and groceries are much cheaper than the South Island on the North island.