There and Back Again

Saturday was our visiting day. We spent the morning and afternoon with Peter and his family. Dale and I really enjoyed meeting the family that we’ve heard about over the years, they were super nice and welcoming (it seems like everyone in NZ is!) Then it was over to dad’s cousin’s house to spend the rest of the evening. Sunday was spent in a similar fashion. First we went to church with Peter’s family. It’s the first time we’d been to church during our trip, and I really enjoyed it. It’s actually the thing that made me start missing certain things about home. The service itself was different from what we’re used to at home. It was communion Sunday, but instead of having the little “communion wafers” there was real bread, and the cups were made of glass instead of plastic. The size of the church was also much smaller, one service of about 200 people, instead of our church which has around 4 services on Sunday. Dale and I did a little shopping with Peter & Heather’s kids, proving ourselves to be the most boring Americans. Not only did we only buy a couple postcards, but we managed to finish “shopping” in about 10 minutes and were forced to occupy ourselves for a couple hours since we had all been dropped off. Oh well, we amused ourselves anyway. From there it was off to dinner with Auntie and Uncle at Dennys. I had a tasty hamburger – possibly my first taste of American food since we left the States – yum! We had a very nice time, and discovered that Uncle Louie is learning bone carving. He gave dad his first carving, a beautiful carving of a fishhook with a paua shell eye, and for me a mother of pearl shell necklace. They are gorgeous!

  

On Monday we were supposed to leave, but then we realized we’d booked the motel through Monday night. So we went off to Te Papa museum in downtown Wellington. Its design is more modern than Auckland, and with 6 levels it’s also much larger. The displays were created with a more youthful audience in mind. Exhibits were full of bright colors, funky lights, and plenty of buttons and other gadgets that create an interactive learning environment. My favorite part was the Lord of the Rings exhibit with props, costumes, and concept sketches. I already knew a lot about how much work went into creating LOTR, but seeing everything in person makes it doubly impressive. All the costumes are beautifully designed with layers of different fabrics and meticulous attention to the smallest of beads and stitches. The props and accessories look like artifacts you could find in any other part of the museum. The concept designs and sketches were equally impressive. All these artists had to go on was a book’s descriptions, and they were able to create detailed images from pictures concocted within their own minds. I walked out of that exhibit inspired, and wishing I’d brought my sketchbook and pencils with me.

  

After a nice walk through the museum, we walked around the shopping street of Lambton Quay. It wasn’t too busy, and some of the shops were closed because it was the Queen’s Birthday, which is a public holiday. Downtown Wellington is an interesting mix of architecture. It has a few old buildings in classic designs, there are the standard towers and industrial buildings that can only be described as boring, and then there are several public buildings that are very modern and spacey. The streets remind me of downtown San Diego – narrow lanes, and mostly one-way roads. I’m glad I didn’t have to do the driving.

  

Tuesday was mostly spent driving toward Waitomo. We did stop in Waiouru to visit the Army Museum that dad helped build when he was in the first division, very cool! For some reason, the museum had a moat around it. Wednesday we went through Waitomo caves to see the limestone formations and the glowworms. We’d seen a few worms on a bush walk the night before, but in the caves there are thousands! Their tiny blue lights illuminate the cavern ceiling until it looks like a sky full of stars. It was truly amazing to see. After the caves we made a beeline back to Auckland, where we are now.

  

One other thing I have to apologize for is the scarcity of pictures in this update. We bought Panasonic batteries for the digital camera while we were in Wellington. It turns out that Panasonic batteries are terrible, and

wouldn’t allow the camera to function at all. I’ve also had the hardest time finding a CR2 battery for my Minolta film camera. I mistakenly bought only one battery when I needed two. I have been searching everywhere for a second, and didn’t find one until we tried a camera store in Auckland. The last place I bought one of these batteries was Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. Go figure.