wellington #5 (a week ago)

This is our last day in Wellington. Just wanted to mention that we concluded our coastal excursion yesterday in Porirua by which time it had gotten hot. Or at least it had gotten seemslike hot. 

We walked to the gallery and it was seemed hot. Here are the gallery reviews:

Above is the only thing in the gallery (which is also the Porirua museum) that acknowledges Porirua's status as a 'new town', or whatever it is (there seems to be great reluctance to label it as such generally). 

In the evening we went to Thorndon for our dinner which was special. These buildings are just incredible. Just incredible.  

This morning I went out to get coffee and it was bright. I am not sure if I will have more to tell you about Wellington, I may, we still have a few more hours here, but if our plane crashes into the ocean I won't get to discuss it with you, sorry if so. 

So much to my surprise no plane crash into the ocean but the plane was very late to take off, not for the usual Qantasishopeless reason but because of a 'security breach' which meant that once on the plane (and already running late) we had to all file off, and go through security a second time. Pretty ridiculous. But we got back obviously and everything was fine obviously. 

Love NZ! Would go back there anytime. Amazing country. 

wellington #4 or whatever I'm up to - a week ago

 Today we took the train. To Waikanae, which is the northernmost town on the Wellington Metlink line. 

In the gallery. Children's art. 

A closed restaurant. I mean, it was closed at that moment. I just liked the plastic over the tablecloths. 

Oh, it's the gallery again. A mid-19th century Noah's ark set. 

Prick on a plate. 

Also in the local Salvos. This book appears to be political satire, or maybe just general satire, its relevance long, long, lost. Good title though. 

I don't know why I thought it was worth taking this picture. Well yeah I do I just thought you couldn't do this now because NZ has a real king. Probably why the owner of this picture gave it to the Salvos. Which by the way is at Paraparaumu.

Nice dog interested in having a stick thrown. Plimmerton.

This crazy shit also at Plimmerton where some talented person has relayed some snappy quotes in bits of brick up and down the beach property walls. S/he couldn't have owned all the properties but it doesn't act like some kind of public art, so who really knows what was going on there. 

Then we went to Porirua...

wellington # 3 - last week

 

Yesterday was conference, conference then we went to of all things the theatre - the Gryphon theatre - this was Laura's idea and I can't say I didn't love it as an idea 

Soon I will remember what the play was called.* It wasn't a very old play though it was set in a very old place. It was a farce I suppose and it had a lot of loose ends which I kind of liked. What we have noted in our time in Wellington is that no-one will shut up, which I am not per se against although over time it might get wearing. There are just a lot of people talking a lot of the time. Even in one of the conference sessions yesterday the people behind me talked all the way through two of the (5) papers, and I was flummoxed as I often am by the unexpected, I was thinking - I wouldn't tolerate this from students in a lecture, how do I tolerate such appalling rudeness from two men who don't have to be in this session, in this kind of environment? Ultimately I did nothing and ultimately - about 20 minutes in - they shut up. I should have said something or done something, I know that now, but I am a slow responder when it comes to outrageous behaviour. Anyway, in the play, there was an odd dynamic of a young girl I guess and an older American man (I didn't look at them) and she was there with her family but what her relationship was to him was completely strange, and she kept saying that one of the lead women in the play was like Charlie Chaplin, which... yeah, maybe, start of, referencing silent film comedy perhaps but probably more in the way that silent film comedy references vaudeville. 

Earlier than that we went to the Wellington Museum which had its moments but probably a lot of lost opportunities too. One of those situations where there are few museum itches scratched by the national museum and then there's also a city museum and it has to cover that stuff. I mean Wellington is not Canberra - it was not created to be the national capital and it has/had commercial functions besides - but it's still not a place where tourists come to learn about Wellington the city, you know. This anti-freeway demonstration was not uninteresting. 

Today will be fun though, we are going out of town on the train. 

*Lady Demands Satisfaction. 

wellington 2.5 - what they call a photo dump (6 december)

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