Testing Out the City Life: Living in Wellington 10/7-10/21

Warning: I’m writing about all of Wellington, so be prepared for a long post. You may want to read it in pieces or buckle down for a long read. 

At the beginning of our second week in the Windy City, we watched the Broncos play the Chargers at our apartment. I couldn’t believe that we finally won a game, even if it was kind of ugly. I took a dance class at a studio down the street (En Pointe) and then we hung out the rest of the day, watching the Colts play the Chiefs, doing schoolwork, and blogging. We had broccoli-cheddar soup for dinner and then played some Hearts before bed. 

On the eighth, we went to the Te Papa museum (the national museum). First, we went through the art section. The first thing we really saw was Finale Bouquet, a mind-blowing pattern of colored plastic hanging from the ceiling by fishing line. It was supposed to be a frozen moment of when confetti had been launched into the air and that’s exactly what it looked like. Indra’s Bow stuck out to me as well: a group of glass orbs in the shape of a bow hanging from rainbow string with different smelling herbs, spices, flowers, and other things in them. There were so many different types of arts in a non-art museum: Maori, modern, video, etc. There was Maori history, the founding of New Zealand, and even a small exhibit on women’s suffrage. New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, 125 years ago. We went through the theatrical Gallipoli exhibit (look it up), which was designed by Peter Jackson and Weta Studios (who did the Lord of the Rings). Jackson really enjoyed it and I thought it was cool, though all the stats about how many people died and the awful conditions made me feel a little sick. We got to dinner at Mac’s Brewbar (spaghetti for me) and then went to Unity Books, where a really cool atlas was being signed (We Are Here). It had so many cool stats on population and other things that I would never thought have including. 

Te Papa Museum, Wellington, New Zealand


We chilled at the place until Jackson and Dad went to play golf. Mom and I went shopping downtown towards Cuba Street. Cuba Street is probably my favorite place that we found in Wellington; it’s artsy, small, has so many different shops, and other really cool vendors. We had sausages for dinner, watched the Voice, and went to bed. Mom signed Jackson and I up for Sporting Skills camp, where we learned how to play rugby, cricket, and floorball. We started with ultimate tag and some dodgeball, before we played TurboTouch rugby. Cricket was actually very interesting; bowling especially was fun. Floorball was last (basically ice hockey on a gym floor with a whiffleball). Dinner was nachos after schoolwork. 

I did schoolwork, journalling, flute, and then we walked to the Wellington Zoo. We debated going there or to Zealandia (with all native animals), but the zoo had a lot of native animals and others. We got to see: river otters, gibbons, capuchins, lemurs, a tiger, keas, a red panda, cheetahs, chimpanzees, meerkats, wallabys, an emu, a capybara, caracals, servals, giraffes, ostriches, lions, and a kiwi. The chimps were probably the coolest thing. At first, there was nothing visible in the enclosure, but they walked around a corner and all came lumbering towards us in a line. They all got in different positions like they were posing for us. They went inside to their play and eating area and we looked through the windows. It was hilarious to watch. They play-fought and swung around, so confident in the air, in themselves, that they wouldn’t fall. We got to watch them eat too; coconuts, fruit, corn, and other vegetables. The giraffes were almost as cool as them: they were down lower than us, so we were at their face level. Twice, one of their heads came right up, only a few feet away from me through the bars. The kiwi was really weird; we could only find it in the dark enclosure by its loud sniffing. It was much bigger than I had previously thought, like the size of a basketball. We stopped at a Mediterranean place for dinner and got two pizzas, one with white sauce, rocket (like spinach), and sausage and one with red sauce and buffalo mozzerella. Back at the apartment, Jackson and I finally watched Spiderman: Far From Home while Mom and Dad went to a Chris Christopherson concert. 


On the twelfth, Jackson and Dad went to the War Memorial, while Mom and I went to a flute lesson. We went out to dinner at the Flying Burrito Brother’s, where Mom and I split a chipotle chicken burrito, which was simple, but had one particular thing I couldn’t put my finger on that made it great. We watched the Wellington Lions beat the Waikato Bulls in rugby. It was really cool to finally watch a game in person, at least for the first half. It got a lot colder after halftime, so we left after an hour. Dad and I went on a run the next day out to the point and then came back and showered before the Wake game at 12:30. We were a complete mess, losing 28-7 to Louisville at the end of the first quarter. We played a little better in the second half, especially the fourth quarter. Kendall Hinton and Christian Beal-Smith carried us and Sam Hartman finally got to play because Jamie Newman hurt his shoulder. The refs made some really bad calls, but as my dad said, we can’t really complain about them when we put ourselves in such a tight situation by playing so awfully. Dinner was pasta with bolognese sauce from the Mediterranean place from two nights ago and then we continued our game of Hearts. 

To kick off our third week, we went across Wellington Harbor to Day’s Bay. After the ferry ride, we got breakfast at the Sea Salt Café. We took the bus to the bike rental place to get set-up. We went down the Pencarrow Coast Road. It took us a while to get used to riding on the gravel. It was a great view off the coast and the hills were covered in gorse and purple daisies. It was so picturesque and there was almost no one else on the trail. It was great; I don’t know how Mom finds all this stuff. We got out to the lighthouses: the one in use now and the historical one up on the hill. We rode past it and inland a ways, by some lakes. We ditched the bikes and hiked up the rest of the path to the historic lighthouse. The gnats were pretty bad in the valley, with the wet and stillness, but once the wind picked up, it was fine. There were some sheep up around the lighthouse and in the distance on the hills around us, but we accidentally scared away the ones near us. The lighthouse was really pretty on the hill with the ocean, hills, and Wellington across the Harbour. The architecture of the lighthouse was really pleasing; it had lots of sharp angles with the white paint. We hiked back down the hill to our bikes and got back out to the main road. We kept riding down the coast, stopping at a shipwreck on the coast before we had to turn around and head back. We got a late lunch at Chocolate Dayz Café and I got basil pesto linguine. We took the ferry back to Wellington and went to Bonobo, a kid’s gym with climbing walls, ropes, and other things just to stay active in a fun way. We caught the bus back to the apartment afterwards, where I had a salad and yogurt before playing Hearts. Mom was at 99 points and then she Shot the Moon. She almost did it two rounds in a row, but then Dad took two points and I ended up winning. 

I was so excited for our Weta Workshop tour the next morning. We got there early and looked through their gallery and shop. They had Theoden’s armor, orc weapons and armor, and all of Legolas’ weapons (bow and knives). They had actual weapons for sale; Legolas’ knives and the ring-wraiths sword were copies of the props, except made of actual metal and actually sharp. They also had a copy of the One Ring in gold with the elven runes enscribed in it for $1500. The tour was one of the coolest things ever. The guide walked us through how basically everything is made, from the original design, 3-D design, prototyping (making it out of cardboard), the master prototype (basically made out of cement), making a mold from the master, making copies with the mold out of whatever material is needed, painting them, and putting on the final touches. One of the coolest things was the swordsmith, who literally makes swords for fantasy movies. I asked where you can train to do that and the guide said that their current smith was self-taught, but that he has an apprentice. The last place was a guy who sculpted things out of aluminum foil and covered it in a moldable play-doughish concrete. He was kind of wacky, but was really cool to watch. He showed us how he made models and other things with the concrete. We went back to the house, where we had potato gnocchi with sage and broccoli, which was surprisingly amazing. 

We took the bus downtown before our Parliament tour so we could go shopping. The Parliament tour was actually really cool, but it wasn’t the facilities or buildings or history that I was interested in, but the politics of it. I wish it was easy to decide what you want to be/do; I have so many things on my mind. It’s so frustrating!! We went to the grocery store and then back to the apartment for dinner, delicious barbecue chicken tostadas. My next dance lesson was the next day and other than that, we just kind of sat around until dinner at a crab shack. We got gelato on the way back to the place. 

The next couple of days were spent mostly in the apartment. I practiced flute and did schoolwork before dinner (cheesy rice cakes) and watching the Return of the King. More of the same happened the next day, though I ventured out for a flute lesson and dinner at Leroy’s. Jackson beat me at pool when I hit in the eight ball (I know, shocking!) and we got three Lucy Has Dragon Breath burgers (one for Mom and I, one for Jackson, and one for Dad). It had some heat, which we probably should have expected from the name, but was really good and came with barbecue chips and creamy onion dip. 

We walked to the market on Sunday morning and looked through all the food trucks and stalls. Everything was so tantalizing: bakeries, Asian, Greek, crepes, waffles, and so much else. I think I could literally eat every meal there every Sunday. We ended up getting donuts to split: one chocolate and one regular. The chocolate one was surprisingly good, especially with the not-to-sweet chocolate cream/custard, but the vanilla/regular was better. I also got a spanakopita with it, which had a little less cheese and more spinach than I would have liked, but was still a good choice. We walked back and lounged around until Wake played Florida State. It was a stressful game, coming off our first loss against Louisville, of all teams. But we ended up coming through with Kendall Hinton having a GAME, with a one-handed catch and some much needed conversions, and Sam Hartman handling the pressure like a pro and pulling us through. Cade Carney pulled what Jackson told me is called a ‘Wildcat’, where he took the snap like a QB (he’s a running back), faked the handoff, and ran it, for a touchdown and a much-needed third-down conversion near the end. Dinner was sausage, potatos, and salad before we continued our game of Hearts. 

Jackson and I had a Yahtzee! Marathon on the twenty-first, playing eight rounds. My luck was awful, but I still had a really great time. I had my last dance lesson at En Pointe, which was great. Thanks so much to Katherine for taking me at such short notice!! Dinner was tomato soup and grilled cheese. 

Thanks to everyone who made it this far!! I know this has been an agonizingly long post, but I had to catch up and I couldn’t bear to cut any of this amazing stuff short. I miss everyone at home and hope you’re all doing well. XOXO from New Zealand, Ada.