The Weta Cave

The highlight of our day out on Sunday was a visit to the Weta Cave in Miramar, Wellington. Not just any old dank, dark cave with those horrible creepy crawly wetas just waiting to pounce on unsuspecting visitors. No, this was the showcase of those very talented pair of Kiwis, Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor. Peter Jackson is known world-wide as the director of the epic Lord of he Rings trilogy, and King Kong. Richard Taylor is the head of the team who brought the film characters to life with make-up and prosthesis. The creative genius of the staff at Weta Workshops also produce film miniatures and digital film effects.

The Weta Cave

The Weta Cave has a tiny movie theatre. Fires glowed and the walls were adorned with masks and skulls. The film related how the co-founders met up, and the start of the company up to the present day. We saw “behind the scenes” footage of the artists breathing life into the many interesting characters.

Gollum – from Lord of the Rings

As we wandered around the museum we came face to face with Gollum, that horrible skulking hairless creature whose one aim in life was to own “My Precious”, the gold ring whose power can change the world. And there by the door was one of those monsters ready to smote us in two. Everywhere we looked there were characters and artefacts fromPeter Jackson's movies.

Weta, the multi Academy Award winning company can be justifiably proud of this new attraction in Wellington, and attendance is free. We found it extremely interesting and very well done. Congratulations, Weta!!

From Feathers to Tentacles

On Sunday we went out and about with our SLG friends visiting some of the attractions that Wellington City offers.  First up was a paper craft lesson for our group.  We cut  and measured, stamped and embossed, and got covered in glue.  The end result was a nifty little book for photos.  Robin spotted this fine looking bird in residence and was delighted when the owner let him hold it.

Who’s a pretty boy?

Next stop was Te Papa Museum to check out the “Colossal Squid Exhibition”.  This 495 kg specimen was caught by the long line vessel San Aspiring fishing for Argentinean tooth fish in Antarctic waters, and was pulled up intact on the long line, alive and still holding on to a tooth fish.  The squid was immediately frozen for safe keeping, and gifted to the museum.

 

Te Papa Museum

Once the colossal squid was thawed and examined, it had to be stored in preservative.  For safety reasons, formalin cannot be used in public spaces, and the scientists decided to use glycol.  As glycol has not previously been used before for such a large specimen, samples of the fluid must be monitored regularly.

The squid is 4.2 metres long and we joined the crowds of people walking slowly around the specially built tank.   The large squid eye seemed to be watching us all as we filed past.   The tentacles are covered in lethal looking hooks, spikes and suckers, just right for catching prey.  We certainly wouldn’t want to meet up with him in his natural environment!!

Beautiful Babies

We  have said many times that we really enjoyed listening and watching all the wonderful bird life while we stayed at Paekakariki Motor Camp over the Christmas holidays.  We discovered this bird nest in a tree just by our caravan site.  Have a look at these two beautiful little babies.  They were keeping very still and we were careful not to upset them.

Can you see these two baby birds?

Happy Campers

Whatever takes your fancy is the rule when camping.  Our preference is a caravan, and there are certainly plenty of these at camp.  Vintage models, nice shiny new ones, and all sorts in-between.  Most have an awning attached to give extra living space over the summer holidays.  A free standing gazebo is also another option.  We noticed this tiny little aluminium model – not many windows in this one.

Bright and shiny but few windows

Then there are the “tent cities” in camp.  Often friends and families come camping together and put their tents up close together so they all share the common areas.  Some of the modern tents are huge and are a good buy for families with young children.

Tent City

After a day spent at the beach, kids covered with sand are showered and beach towels, swim suits and wet suits hang out to dry on rope clothes lines strung between tents and a handy tree.  The washing machines in the laundry block are kept busy when Mums do the family laundry – at only $2.00 a load it is good value.  Each evening  the barbecues are fired up and the delicious smell of sausages and steak waft around.  Kiwis love a Summer camping holiday and each camp site is a home away from home.

Our time in camp is coming to an end.  We have taken down the Christmas lights that were strung around the outside of the caravan, packed up the rope light Christmas tree, and put away the fibre optic snow scene that sat on the kitchen bench.  “Where have the lights gone?”, we heard a boy ask his Mum last night.  The Christmas decorations certainly did look pretty twinkling away in the evenings.  Next Christmas we will do it all again!!

Paekakariki Town

Paekakariki is a small coastal town of approximately 2000 residents.  The town’s Maori name means “Perching place of the Kakariki (green parrot).  The parrots and the dense tree cover is sadly long gone.   Campers staying at the Paekakariki Motor Camp swell the numbers over the summer period and day trippers enjoy visiting the adjacent Queen Elizabeth Park and the beach.  This is ably patrolled by volunteers of the local Surf Club.

Surf Rescue ready and waiting

The tiny shopping  area boasts a small assortment of shops housed in vintage buildings.  The local hotel has been rebuilt and now offers apartment living as well as bars, a cafe and restaurant.  The railway line and State Highway One mark the eastern edge of the town. 

Paekakariki township with a train going through

Paekakariki’s history and the railway are well linked.  There is an interesting Rail Museum to visit and the privately owned “Steam Incorporated” restore engines and carriage stock and run frequent steam rail trips.  In 1886 the Wellington to Manawatu railway was completed, and Paekakariki became an important stop on the journey.  From 1917 until the 1960s, Paekakariki Station became  a very popular refreshment stop on the journey north, before on board refreshment was available.

Down at the Beach

Prior to European settlement, the area had a violent history.  The Maori warrior leader Te Rauparaha led raids from nearby Kapiti Island, an impregnable stronghold.  These days, Kapiti Island is a bird sanctuary and is home to many endangered species.

Kapiti Island

Four Minute Showers.

As a way of conserving water, the management here at Paekakariki Motor Camp (where we are staying over the holiday period) has installed timers in the shower blocks to limit the hot water to four minutes. Then there is a four minute delay before the hot water will run again. The button to activate the flow of hot water has been placed on the outside of each shower. As imagined, this has brought about all sorts of reactions from different folks. Four minutes is ample time for us to attend to our ablutions but not necessarily for others.

Two children were in adjoining showers recently with their Mum hovering nearby. They were most concerned as they went about the business of hair washing and showering. “Mum”, they repeatly said, “you just don’t know when the water goes freezing, do you?”

The teenage girls are not worried by the four minute time limit. They usually arrive en masse and take over the shower stalls, with three ensconced in the showers and one outside on button duty. After their four minutes of hot water, they merely stand there inside the showers while their friend outside counts down the time and activates the hot water again.

Leaving the ablution blocks can sometimes be a dangerous procedure. You have to peer carefully around the door to make sure all is safe. Kids on bikes like to ride around and around the nice flat concrete paths at high speeds and are not worried about middle aged campers like us getting in their way!!

On our own again

We have gone from a happy bunch of  five club caravans in our own little part of the camp down to just ourselves.  All the others packed up and left on Sunday morning.  We watched as they dismantled awnings, packed up all their belongings, hooked the car up to the caravan and drove off home.  The mass exodus was not without some drama though.  Crack……it sounded just like a rifle shot and brought everyone outside to see what had happened.  Graeme’s stabiliser had snapped in two.  He unhooked the offending object and vowed to deal with it in his workshop at home.

Ooh – it’s broken

We decided to stay an extra week and commute to work from the camp, which means we have to be up especially early and ready to leave at 6.00am each morning.  But then we have the late afternoons and evenings to enjoy ourselves in camp.  There is plenty of wildlife here in this area.  The mature trees attract a large number of birds, which delight us with their song from dawn to dusk.  We have noticed  a few rabbits hopping around.  The nearby stream is home to eels and trout.  One of our group was concerned about the very steep banks of the stream and told a youngster to keep away “as there were alligators lurking there”.  She wasn’t the least bit impressed with this statement, looked  him in the eye and loudly declared, “There are no alligators in New Zealand”.  Quite right too.