Day 75-77: Wellington 0 Days — Heading Outbound

Sunday, February 12

The hotel we were staying at had a hot tub and pool, so I woke up early to use it and shower before meeting Julia and Puff Puff at the YHA. I got back to the room around 8:30 and Creya and Sara were waking up. They wanted to use the pool too, so I told them to message me when they wanted to hang out and I'd tell them where we were.

After one last shower with the nice hotel shampoo and body wash I packed up and headed to the YHA to put my bag in the luggage room until check-in time. After that, Julia, Puff Puff and I headed to the museum, Te Papa. We decided we'd meet at 12:30, so I went to the 6th floor and decided I'd work my way down. I had a whole week to see all the exhibits so I didn't need to hurry.

The sixth floor only had a few ceramic pots and a balcony, so I finished that floor quickly. The fifth floor was all an art gallery and I finished looking at the artwork a little before noon. Then it was time to start the fourth floor. I checked out an exhibit on immigrants that have come to New Zealand. It was so interesting and they had stories of people from all over the world that had moved to New Zealand for various reasons. There were lots of other exhibits on the fourth floor, but it was almost 12:30 so I went downstairs to meet Julia and Puff Puff.

Puff Puff had quickly walked the entire museum and Julia had taken in a few exhibits in detail. We went to the grocery store to buy food and went to the hostel to eat lunch. The hostel is conveniently located across from a New World.

Julia's shoes are falling apart, so we all went on a shoe hunt. I picked up my nalgene lids from bivouac when we stopped there. After Julia got shoes we ate some food and Julia and Puff Puff and I went to see Jackie. The movie must have been based on her tapes that were turned into a book, because I took the cds of them from my grandma a few years ago to listen to on a road trip and the movie really reminded me of them.

Julia, Puff Puff, Sara, Creya and I had all been thinking about watching a movie in the movie room at the hostel when Jackie was over, but someone else was using it. We ended up watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine on my phone in a sitting area and then moved to our triple when it got to be 10 pm. It was a hilarious show and a good one to watch as a group.

Monday, February 13

Sara got her package she had been waiting for this morning. It was delivered to the hostel. After Julia and Puff Puff got their resupply for their food boxes, we went to the post office. I got my bounce box and a package my mom had sent me with my new South Island clothes. Yay!

I went back to the hostel to drop my stuff off and eat lunch and met Julia and Puff Puff at the library to walk to the museum again. We checked out the Gallipoli exhibit on the third floor. Gallipoli was a battleground for New Zealanders (and others) during World War I. The exhibit was the best I've ever seen in my life. The museum worked with Weta Cave, a company that helped with the special effects for Lord of the Rings, and many other companies for this special 100th anniversary exhibit.

They chose 6 people's stories that had something to do with the war to really focus on and tell the broader story of the war. For those six people they had huge models of them built. They had actors that resembled them scanned and photographed so they could make the statues life like. I thought they were going to come alive like everything does in the night at the museum movies. They kindly asked people not touch the statues, so I lightly blew on the arm hair of one instead. It moved. I can't believe how realistic they were. Another neat part of the exhibit was dioramas they made of a hospital ship and one of the trench camps at Gallipoli. They also had a video taking stereograph images from the war and turning them into a slideshow people could watch with 3D glasses. It was such a good idea!

Puff Puff finished going through the exhibit way before Julia and I, so she got food and went back to the hostel. Julia and I were a little bummed after the exhibit, because war is a sad topic, so we got some coffee to cheer ourselves up. Sara, Creya and I said goodbye to Julia and Puff Puff and they left to get their ferry to the South Island.

Creya, Sara and I had dinner together and talked until we were all ready for bed.

Tuesday, February 14

Kristen made it to Wellington last night, so I went to the library to do some work and met her at a thrift store. The first thing I had to do was give her a hug from Julia. After we were looking around for a few minutes I met Ross, one of the people she was hiking with in the Tararuas. He's Canadian but has been living in England. Before starting the TA he was working in Wellington, but when he's finished with his New Zealand adventure he's heading back to England.

The three of us wandered around town for a bit and we got frozen yogurt and some delicious coffee. Kristen wanted to find some jeans, so we went to a store she had liked when she was in New Zealand before. I had been contemplating getting a swim suit since I've been going to so many aquatic centers and they had a new one on sale for $7. She got jeans and I got a swimsuit! What a success.

The two of us went to the museum. I went through Gallipoli again and did nearly all the rest of the 4th floor. There was a lot of interesting immigrant exhibits. And they had Maori historical information and items. One of the most interesting parts of the fourth floor was an amazing Marae. It often gets rented out for important meetings or bill signings. The carvings on the outside and front of it represent Maori stores and people and on the back wall there are representations of all kinds of people that have come and contributed to New Zealand, like doctors, artists, scientists, Australians, and so many more. It was beautiful. But I had to explore it quickly before the museum closed at 6.

Kristen and I went to New World to find something to eat for dinner. They had $3 pizza loafs that were big enough to split so we got one of those and ate dinner with Creya and Sara. We got a $10 pitcher and talked for a bit and then went to bed.