August 10th to 15th - Stranded!

It was the dawn of our first full day in Wellington and, trying ever so hard to be good, we went for a run and ate a decently healthy breakfast and enjoyed a late start to a full day. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect; each day we had a short activity or two to keep us busy during the day and every evening some form of entertainment was already booked and paid for, creating a stress-free, planned and precise sequence of events that went off without a hitch. I showed Jaclyn the giant squid at Te Papa, we had flat whites and chai lattes at countless trendy cafes on Cuba Street and Courtenay Place and we went souvenir shopping for friends and family. We hit all the Wellington hotspots like the botanical gardens, the cable car and the Mount Victoria lookout. All these things we enjoyable but all paled in comparison to our car journey around the outer bays that led us to the Weta Cave. If you know anything about Jaclyn and I at all then you’ll know we are huge Lord of the Rings nerds, capable of holding our own in any quotation battle or marathon viewing session. With Wellington being the site of much of the filming of the trilogy and the home of Peter Jackson’s props and post-production studio, we were naturally inclined to poke our heads into as much of these areas as we could. Weta is the company that made all the props and costumes for the trilogy as well as did all the special effects so we went down to their mini-museum for an insider’s peek. While browsing their collectables we overheard an employee telling some friends about his work on the upcoming Hobbit films; it wasn’t anything particularly juicy but it was interesting to hear him divulge that he’d been ‘designing orcs for almost 3 years already’ for the films. Such vast amounts of time and detail will surely result in a quality film I should think; the task is in good hands. We each purchased a book signed by famous members of the LOTR film project and left more than satisfied. Our evenings were an eclectic mix of theatre, sport and film. We saw a Canadian man perform Shakespeare’s Macbeth in Simpson’s voices; his Homer was a little weak but the fact that he did about 50 others, rapidly switching between them at a whim made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The rugby we watched at WestPac stadium was excellent simply because the home team demolished the opposition (that and because we got mini donuts). One afternoon we went to a chocolate festival where we did so many tastings I was sure I would enter a diabetic coma. I bought so much chocolate that I had to bring some to my flatmate at work just so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat it later. Though all these things I’ve mentioned were great, I think I enjoyed myself most at the International Film Festival. We saw two comedies, The Trip and The Guard, and one drama called ‘Drive’. We were lucky because all three screened at the Embassy theatre. I guess Mr. Jackson pumped a whole whack of money into a grand refurbishment of the place and now it stands as this super-classy one screen gem at the end of Courtney Place where you can get anything from popcorn to wine before settling into a wide seat in the most beautiful seating area in a movie theatre that I’ve ever seen. I must say, it’s an experience. All three movies were special; the first two were able to make me laugh in that particular way that is both painful and enjoyable at the same time whereas the final one had me as tense as humanly possible with its mix of beauty and graphic violence. I highly recommend them all and will be seeing them again at the first opportunity. As a final farewell to my mates we went out for a solid night of drinking at a bar that featured $4 pints all night (about $3 Canadian aka dangerously cheap). Normally I’m a lightweight but I put back a whole lot of beer while maintaining my composure all night. We switched to the only Welsh pub in the Southern Hemisphere around 1am to watch the rugby test match between Wales and England. There was a hearty uproar when Wales won and we stayed out celebrating until 4am. I learned two life lessons that night; that there are worse things in life than being the only guy in a crew of 7 and that Subway is even more delicious when enjoyed at 3 in the morning. We awoke this morning with the intention of getting on the ferry to the South Island, we even had bookings for a boat transfer onto the Queen Charlotte Track but as luck would have it we are in the middle of ‘the worst weather to hit Wellington in 40 years’. In Canadian terms, this is a mild snowfall, but over here its pandemonium. The ships won’t sail across the Cook Strait and we were forced to get refunds on our crossing as well as our walk accommodations. I guess there are worse places in the world to be stranded than in Wellington but I can’t say I was looking forward to being caught in a blizzard anywhere in this country, I get enough of that at home. We’re going to wait out the snow here which has been forecasted to last 2-3 more days and make cuts to our itinerary accordingly. There is lightning flashing outside the window now so I better end this and post it soon before we lose power!