In late January we took ourselves off to visit Wellington (and stayed with my dear ol' school mate, Pixie). What a refreshing 3 days it was. We got off the plane and went straight to visit the Weta Cave - home of Peter Jackson special effects etc. I have to confess to being probably the only person in New Zealand who has not ever seen a Lord of the Rings anything! Guilty as charged, spank me!! I can't even explain why - other than I am pretty lazy about movies and prefer books. I have read the books - does that excuse me a little bit?
The next day was full on WELLINGTON! We started off with the main purpose of our visit - a trip to Te Papa so the girls could view the Wedding Dress ehibition - 200 years of Wedding Dresses, which included the gorgeous gown worn by Dita Von Teese. This old building is on the waterfront near the Museum, it is used as a drama theatre. I have to say that it was a bittersweet site for these quake-ravaged Christchurch eyes, such a lovely old building and still intact. I hope that those who can are taking care of this building for the 'what if..." events.
Then we went out for dinner to a Turkish restaurant which treated us and our freinds as if we were long lost family - divine, and the red wine and conversation flowed until it was time to head home....these two looked pretty fancy for that part of town after dark...
while we pondered what hair do we could possibly wake up with or wear for the next day.....
And to finish it off, here's a treat some one the bands I used to go and see when I lived in Welly....
9 comments:
What a great post after having been so recently to Wellington. Isn't it surreal being around the old buildings - I have a kind of yearning for them but also a distrust up close, like sitting under the facade of the Bristol Hotel in Cuba St during our dancing, admiring colour and form but also making escape plans !
And the Unveiled exhibition from the V and A... wasn't it gorgeous. My favourite was the unpholstery fabric wartime dress: the photo of the bombed house, that backed it had a certain resonance.
Nice sound the Waratahs eh :-)
Lady-Oh exactly right - distrust! The Stud and I were walking in Island Bay and came across a blue painted sign on the road of all places but it said "Tsunami Safe Zone"...that hit home to me, but the old buildings really made me a bit teary.
OK. I'm convinced. I'm coming to visit.
Steve - it would totally cool if you did and we have even stopped violently shaking (well, for the past few days at least) so you could bring the whole famdamly! :-)
Thank you for this journey very much. And yes, once one read books it is difficult to see them as a movie.
Read them as well, yet not seen; same with the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', finished in a week, and I think that a movie can never to justice to a book. Please have you all a good new week ahead.
Nice to see that the guillotione is still in use in the colonies.
Sheep stealing's still a capital crime?
Robert - I keep meaning to read those books you mentioned, not sure where my spare time goes these days!
Marginalia - Isn't it weird, one minute something is compulsory and the next thing its outlawed. Go figure! :-)
The thing with the Lord of the Rings movies is that you can't skip all the parts with the endless battles like you can when flipping the pages of a book. Pierre has hours and hours and hours of the Rings DVDs and I have to say that the "making of" discs are a whole lot more entertaining than the actual movies.
Looks like a good time in Wellington was had by all. Glad to see that hair-do alternatives are kept on hand in case of flipping one's wig (with mirth) in an earthquake simulator.
Ah, you slipped this in and I missed it until now, guess I'll have to be more vigilant in the future, but haven't been spending as much time on the internet for whatever reasons, funny how real life sometimes keeps us away from these virtual screens...
Well, given that you've read the books, I guess we can continue to associate with you. But the movies are worth the effort; maybe someday. Must be nice to get off that shaky South Island for a while and go somewhere a bit more stable. But wait, something's amiss, you didn't stop for drinks somewhere ??? What's wrong ???
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