Weta cave

Take a short bus ride from central Wellington, travel through a tunnel,

travel past the airport

 listen to people talking about the earthquake a few days ago,  and arrive in Miramar on a wet blustery morning. Walk down an ordinary suburban street and  you are at Weta Cave. 

What is Weta Cave?

 Well if you are familiar with movies such as Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Tin Tin and the Chronicles of Narnia,  you have probably heard of Sir Richard Taylor and Sir Peter Jackson. but even if you haven't its probably worth you checking out Weta Cave. 

As one visitor was heard to say "I wish the Weta Cave were...well, as big as the Weta Workshop. It would be amazing to wander through and see all the extraordinary artisans at work on the various costumes, weapons, props and effects that this talent team create for the films they work on. The Weta Cave is as close as most people can get."

There's a superb, exclusive behind-the-scenes film shown there every half-hour or so that gives you a terrific insight into the depth and variety of work they do, including interviews with Sir Richard Taylor and Sir Peter Jackson who talk about how Weta came to be and how it has developed over the years. The Cave itself has props, weapons, posters and a myriad of different items from various films, both the originals and a selection of replicas and collectables for sale.
 Travel back to the city noting that the unusual sculpture you saw on your journey out was designed and built at Weta. 

Note some unusual houses once more and arrive back for afternoon tea with grandma and a well earned rest!

A cablecar view

No trip to Wellington would be complete without a trip to the botanic Gardens via the cable car.

Some of my earliest memories of Wellington revolve around these "institutions".

 My grandmother, always a lady of resouces(!) would come equpipped with gloves. Not for her the short type that finished at the wrist, but those that buttoned up to the elbow. 















And although I never saw her doing it I know that family history has it written that these gloves worked well to carry small cuttings from the gardens home in.

To be fair everything my grandmother put in the ground grew and because she was such an avid gardener(President of the Wellington Horticultural Society) I don't see her ever doing anything to harm a plant, except perhaps prune it just the littlest bit!! 

And surely the gloves were the forerunner to the cloth bags we all use in an environmentally friendly way now.

But I digress. 












This particular trip involved another grandmother and my grandmother's daughter in law. 

Ds enjoyed walking through the gardens, spotting all the succulents

and spending time with his grandmother. And so out of another trip to these beautiful gardens another piece of family history was made.

Wellington: a city of art and space

 I know this post has quite  a lot of images but we found these structures and windows to then too fascinating not to want to share!

 What a cool window. Each time you look through it you see something you hadn't noticed before!

 just the right sort of shelf for a rest!

 More great spaces...

 and more city scapes!

 Somewhere in the sky see something round...

 Not sure what this was, but it was great to climb on!!

 Somewhere else to look.

 Looking back to the waterfront

 see something round again..

 In the picture is a boy, above his head  see something round!

 art is great when it also provides interaction for you!

 stepping out to catch some air

 Just contemplating the day!