Winding Down in Wairarapa

While you all in America were chowing down on hot dogs on Memorial Day weekend, we went on a day trip to the Wairarapa, New Zealand's wine region, with two of our friends.  Being a really nice region, naturally directors James Cameron and Peter Jackson both have huge estates out there. It was a really fun day, and our friends Kat and Rachel became experts at driving on the left side of the road!

The Wairarapa region includes Greytown, Featherston, Carterton, Masterton, Castlepoint, Riversdale Beach, 
Martinborough, and Lake Ferry which can be seen on this map.

We picked up the rental car around 9:15 and headed out towards Masterton.  As we headed out of Wellington we had to drive along the side of the mountains, and the two of us felt like we were at Machu Picchu again as we rode around the hairpin turns and stared straight down the side of the cliff. All of the crazy turns actually started making Caitlyn feel car sick (deja vu from our whale watching trip to Kaikoura), and Kat's knuckles were white as snow as she gripped the wheel for dear life.  Once we finally got through the mountains, we passed through some very pretty countryside with lots of rolling pastures, sheep and cattle.  We didn't see as many vineyards as we thought we would, though.

The rolling green pastures of New Zealand.  Is the "Green Acres" theme song coming into anyone else's head?

A flock of sheep grazing near some beautiful green mountains.

After over two hours of driving, we finally reached our first destination, Castlepoint.  A tiny little seaside town resting outside of Masterton, Castlepoint is home to some amazing rock formations and a beautiful white lighthouse.  The sea breeze was fresh and crisp after the long car ride, and the ocean was a pretty shade of pale blue.  We met a couple of very friendly Dobermans who were wandering around the parking lot, greeting every person who came their way.  After taking some pictures on the beach, we made our way up to the lighthouse and climbed around the jetty that it sits on.  

The Castlepoint Lighthouse.

Castle Rock.  This awesome formation was formed underwater!

Us at the top of the look-out.

Paul, Caitlyn, Rachel, and Kat on the look-out.  [Photo credit to Kat's camera's timer]

Love these rock formations.

Lighthouse and gorgeous rocks.

The beach and misty mountains.

We would have loved to spend more time wandering around the area, but since it's winter and the sun sets around 5, we had to be on our way pretty quickly.  We drove back inland to Masterton, which is the Wairarapa's biggest town.  Due to our packed schedule, we only stayed for half an hour to eat lunch in Queen Elizabeth Park.  The park was really nice with a playground, rose garden and beautiful old trees with golden autumn leaves.  Even though we're all ready for summertime, the smell of the leaves and the crunch of them under our feet was quite welcome.

The rose garden in Queen Victoria Park.

Fall leaves.

Yellow roses, yellow leaves.

From Masterton we had an hour and a half long car ride down to Cape Palliser, located on the southern coast of the North Island.  We were trying to hurry and get to the cape so that we would have time to hike up to the lighthouse there before dark. We probably would have been able to if it weren't for the crazy New Zealand roads that we encountered once we were just a few minutes from the lighthouse.  First, the road changed from paved to gravel, which really doesn't sound so bad, but we're pretty convinced that this particular gravel was coated in bacon grease.  Kat was having a hard time controlling the car while driving on it, so we had to go really slow.  As we started approaching the cape, we came to a part of the road with water rushing across it into the ocean below.  This part of the road was literally the top of a dam, and there were several inches of water flowing across it.  With all the trouble we had on the gravel road, we didn't feel comfortable driving across, so we parked on the side and ended up walking down the cape. 

This is the ridiculous dam/road we were expected to cross. We saw a fearless older couple drive across in an RV, though. Crazy!

Kat gracefully trying to get across without getting her shoes soaked.

 I say all of this to explain that we unfortunately didn't have time to climb up to the lighthouse, or get very close to it in fact, before it got dark.  Cape Palliser, however, is home to the largest seal colony in New Zealand, and we were definitely not disappointed in that regard.  As we walked along the road towards the cape, there were seals lying all along the grassy area between the road and the rocky ocean, plus plenty more lounging on the rocks below.  Our up close and personal encounters with the seals definitely made up for not making it to the lighthouse.

Lazy fur seals.

Just starin' at us from the rock.

This one started grunting after we stood there for too long.

The coast.

White waves on black sand.

The lighthouse guiding ships home.

Once we made the trek back to the car, we were all hungry and tired and ready to go have dinner in Martinborough, which was about an hour or so away from Cape Palliser.  Once we arrived in the tiny little town of Martinborough, we drove around the main square to find somewhere to eat.  We were driving pretty slowly, and Kat kind of stopped in the middle of the road for a second so that we could look at a restaurant.  Once we started moving again, we noticed a cop car behind us which then proceeded to turn on its lights.  We were all very relieved when the cop came to the window and said that they were just doing alcohol checks (none of us had been drinking of course).  The funny part was when the cop stuck out the breathalyzer and told Kat to state her address, but she was a little confused and just blew onto it.  The cop said,"No, state your address, please."  Kat started cracking up (she probably seemed like she was drunk) and apologized, saying she'd never done a breathalyzer before.  She got off without a hitch, and all was fine.  Now we have an ongoing joke about Martinborough cops and breathalyzers.  "Looking for a place to eat in Martinborough? BREATHALYZER." or "Stop for a split second in the middle of the road in Martinborough? BREATHALYZER."  You can come up with your own variation.

Us in the restaurant.  You can tell that Paul is a little worn out.  [Photo credit to Rachel C.]

On Tuesday, we had our study abroad program Farewell Dinner.  It was held at this really nice restaurant called the Foxglove which is located on the waterfront.  We all got spiffed up and had a really good time enjoying the bounty of delicious food that was placed before us.  The two of us also tried creme brulee for the first time (Caitlyn really liked it, Paul thought it was good except for the bruleed part on top).  Everyone also received a little prize package with a personal award -- ours was "Best Traveled Pair."  Overall we had a really good time at the dinner, and it made us realize that we only have a week and a half left here in New Zealand!  We're just trying to enjoy it while we can.

Paul (very poorly lit) outside of the Foxglove.

Our very fancy dinner menu,

Rachel C, Rachel G and Kat: our three best friends here!

Us :)

The yummy creme brulee.

Be sure to tune in for our next blog post, which will potentially be out last (sad face) and will be detailing our upcoming trip around the northern part of the North Island!

Enjoying Every Moment

As the end of our time here in New Zealand approaches, we're enjoying everything the city has to offer. We've been slowly and surely finishing work for each course, and have taken advantage of the past week filled with almost perfect weather. This post is relatively short, but has some fun information and experiences.


On May 5th we traveled downtown to enjoy the sun, walking past some civil demonstrations and relaxing on the beach. The weather is chilly, but it's still nice to be on the beach with the sun shining.

People relaxing on a designer park by the waterfront.

A kayaker and some paddlers just off of the coast of the beach.

A peaceful demonstration in the Civic Centre, to prevent the selling of New Zealand to foreign countries.

On May 20th we went downtown for our weekly purchases at the local farmers market. The market is primarily good for its very low prices, but also nice because everything is organic. They also have booths selling food with farmers ingredients, so we got ourselves some venison (deer meat) in pitas, which was very good.

The farmers market, always very crowded.

Caitlyn trying venison for the first time.

Following the farmers market, we stopped by the usual shop to get Paul's favorite lemon & bitters popsicle, then spent the next few hours on the beach.

Paul with his lemon & bitters popsicle on the beach.

Some of the wealthier people in their boats, sitting in the water.

We love watching the planes disappearing behind the hill as they come to land at the airport.

On May 24th we had class in the morning and went downtown afterwards. This time we stopped by several places, all of which we've been to before but never were able to get pictures of previously. We stopped by the New Zealand Reserve Bank, which serves as the national bank and has a small museum inside. There were some pretty interesting things inside.

The very first bill printed in New Zealand.

$500,000 in shredded New Zealand dollars.

After the Reserve, we went to the Parliament grounds again. The first time we went it had been cloudy outside, so we wanted to see it while the sun was out. When we were there we noticed several security guards setting up gates as well as a news crew. They were planning to do something, but we weren't sure what.

The Sculpture Garden behind the Parliament.

The Parliament grounds, looking much better in the sun than in the clouds.

Paul in front of the original Parliament building, now remodeled and still in use.

This is what a media frenzy looks like in New Zealand: three cars and one camera.

We also stopped by the New Zealand Supreme Court building, which looks more like an art museum from the outside. After that we stopped by the Pipitea Campus, a part of the university we're attending here which contains the law school. Part of the campus is in the Railway Station, the city's hub for all train travel (which is much more popular here than in America).

The main building of the Pipitea Campus. The building in the reflection is the law school.

A statue of Gandhi outside the Railway Station.

A shop right inside the Railway Station. Platform 9 3/4.

The New Zealand Supreme Court building.

After passing through that area, we walked along the waterfront through the city and over towards the beach where we usually go. We got plenty of pictures of buildings and things we've seen before, but also found two new areas that we hadn't known about before.

Some buildings downtown.

A somewhat hidden statue that we've walked by several times but never noticed before.

Another statue which we've seen once before, but usually has water running through it.

The National Monument to Rugby. That's how you know you're in New Zealand.

Our next blog post will be our very last one, because after that we'll be finishing our study abroad experience! We can hardly believe it. This weekend we'll be going on a day trip, next week is our last event with our program group, and the following weekend we'll be traveling through the North Island, so we'll update you on all of that when the time comes. Until then, we hope you've enjoyed reading, and make sure you look out for our last post!

Major Update Time

Hello hello! It has been entirely too long since we've written, over a month ago! We're sorry. We didn't have too much to write about for the week or two after the last post, then became so busy that we never got to it. But now we're here, and a lot of stuff has happened since March. So we're going to provide a basic overview of what we did in the last two weeks of March as well as all of April, since we missed that month entirely.


March


In the last two weeks of March we did some great things around Wellington. Through a program we're involved in at Victoria University, we met two ambassadors: Ambassador Rueda who is the Mexican Ambassador to New Zealand and Ambassador Huebner who is the American Ambassador to New Zealand. Both gave great lectures and Paul has kept in touch with the American Ambassador, who also went to Yale. Keeping in touch with the political theme, we also visited the New Zealand Parliament building (nicknamed The Beehive for its distinctive shape) which is just down the road from our campus. We took a tour there which was very interesting!

Caitlyn outside of the Parliament building.

We also visited two historical museums in town. The first was the Cable Car Museum, documenting the development of Wellington's Cable Car and displaying older versions of the trolley. That same day we visited the Museum of Wellington City & Sea, which is basically a large walk-through timeline of the history of the city. There is an emphasis on the port and water-culture here in the city, dating from the first settlers all the way to modern times.

The classic city shot from the Cable Car Museum. Ignore Paul's crazy hair.

Two of our favorite things we've done here have been going to the Wellington Zoo and the Zealandia Sanctuary. The Zoo is smaller than any we've been too, but much more intimate and involving than any other zoo as well. We spent the entire day at various events: feeding chimps, giraffes, owls, otters, penguins, and more. We also saw a show with birds doing tricks (like flying right over our heads) and a one-legged kiwi. It was a great day.

Chimps during their lunchtime. The one with the burlap sack is the alpha.
They would stick their hands out or clap when they wanted food.

Caitlyn feeding the giraffe.

During the bird show. No words are required, just hand signals, and they know dozens of tricks!

The Malaysian Sun Bear. Look at that beautiful mug.

Feeding time for the 42-year-old pelican. The keeper talked with us about Ohio while he fed it.

Zealandia is another great natural attraction in the city. It's a sanctuary named after the landmass that New Zealand used to be before it became the two islands it is today. The sanctuary has no pests and a large fence enclosing all of the animals inside to protect them. There are all sorts of birds, including kiwis and kakas and tuis. There are also many tuataras and weta, which breed there. There are trails for walking, an abandoned gold mine shaft to walk through, viewing towers and feeding areas. We loved it there.

Tiny baby tuataras in a sun case.

Zealandia from the air, with Wellington in the distance.

Two nice old men watching a takahe, one of the most endangered birds on Earth. Less than 250 are alive!

A kaka (parrot) feeding. It has to use its feet to open the box but is able to figure it out without help.

The final main event in March was a gathering with our study abroad group for a day in the city. We met at Monsoon Poon, an Indian restaurant, where we sampled just about every dish they have and had some delicious naan bread. If you've never tried naan, you're seriously missing out -- it smells like pancakes, tastes like fluffy dough and is just all-around scrumptious. After the restaurant we went to watch a rugby game at the stadium in town, featuring the Wellington Hurricanes versus the South African Cheetahs. It was a great game, very exciting, though Wellington ended up losing in the end after leading in the first half.

Us inside Monsoon Poon. Caitlyn was very happy to be eating all the naan and samples.

April
During the first week of April we rode a ferry to an island in the middle of the Wellington Harbor. It's called Somes Island (Matui Island in Maori) and is a sanctuary like Zealandia, except with a history of its own. The island was used during WWII to house large artillery as anti-air defense for the city, though they were never used. It was also used as a Japanese internment camp, just like the ones America had during the War. It has a great history and is now working to preserve the natural habitat. Our group went there to do volunteer work, where we cleared paths and basically did upkeep work for the island. Afterwards we had free time to roam the island with the sheep and enjoy the views, followed by a nice lunch back in the city.

Paul and our friend Rachel looking at a walking stick found by someone.

Caitlyn working hard at raking the leaves away.

The giant weta Paul found (after almost chopping it in half with clippers!).

The leftover bunkers from WWII on the top of the island.

Us climbing a hill by a great tree.

For two weeks in April we had Easter Break, essentially the same as Spring Break in America except that it's fall here. We stayed in town for the break and explored just about every nook and cranny of the city. On one day we traveled back to Miramar (where we visited during our Lord of the Rings tour) and visited Scorching Bay, which is basically a little haven with a beach secluded from the city. From there we bought tickets at the famous Roxy Cinema, a movie theater that was built in the 1920s but fell apart, only to rebuilt later. Today is still maintains the 1920s theme, with jazz and swing music, and a fancy foyer and dining area in the entrance. We went there to watch the re-release of Titanic, and we were astounded at how nice it is; easily the nicest theater we've ever been to. Large, leather seats with leather couches available for couples and 3-D glasses so nice that they're actually not disposable. We also stopped by the Weta Cave once more, as well as Stone Street Studio to see the Hobbit film set again.

Beautiful Scorching Bay.

Outside the Roxy at night, after watching Titanic 3-D.

Speaking of movie theaters, the most famous theater in all of New Zealand is in Wellington: the Embassy. The Embassy is where the world premiere for the Lord of the Rings was held and is a historical theater in its own right. We went there earlier in the month to watch the Hunger Games (which we thought was great) and were amazed at how nice it is. Like the Roxy, it has very wide leather seats, but also has polished wood cupholders and amazing snacks deals. $15 for two medium sodas, two chocolate-covered ice cream cones and a huge popcorn is a good price anywhere, bus especially at a movie theater. We watched the Hunger Games in a small side theater, but later in the month we saw The Avengers on the day it premiered in the large main theater where they have the premieres. The Avengers premiered here about two weeks before it did in the US, which was nice, and our seats were F26 and F27. That may not seem important, until you realize that Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Sam) from the Lord of the Rings movies sat in seats F28 and F29 during the premiere. Their names are displayed in plaques on the seats. We also assume that because we were right next to those seats, that we were sitting in the same seats that had held some other important butts in the past. After the movie we sat in both F28 and F29, just to bask in the glory.

Outside the Embassy Theater.

Avengers. Both of us loved it. One of the most critically and commercially successful films of the year. Go see it!

Throughout the month we visited other places when we could find the time: the National War Memorial, the City Art Gallery, the National Archives, the Adam Art Gallery, as well as the New Zealand Fine Arts Gallery. The city is filled with so many museums for art and history that it provides a near-endless list of places to visit. Some of the galleries were filled with contemporary art that we both think is quite pointless. Paul especially finds it annoying that people call it art. One example of the "artwork" is a black blanket with a rock on it. Nothing else. Just a black blanket (probably bought in a store on sale) with a rock (probably found on the side of the street) on top. Paul can't bring himself to call that, or anything like it, art. Caitlyn is more lenient.

The New Zealand National War Memorial. Currently being refurbished.

Inside the War Memorial.

The National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum.

During the break we took a day trip to Porirua, a small town about 30 minutes outside of Wellington. It's known for it's beaches and art gallery, both of which we visited. The gallery had a very interesting display of world currencies which we enjoyed and the beaches were filled with birds and plants. We also went to another Indian restaurant for lunch and got some more of that naan bread. We've decided we're going to become master bakers just so we can bake naan.

From the beach at Porirua.

Porirua Skate Park, with teens and children alike.

The final event we had in April with our group as a white-water rafting day trip. Everyone really enjoyed it and it was Paul's favorite trip yet with the program. We rode a bus about two hours outside of the city to a large river and rode for about two hours down the river in groups. We got to wear wetsuits, which we had never done and thoroughly enjoyed. The water was cold but was so clear that we could stand in it up to our necks and still see every pebble on the bottom without any trouble. The group also stopped by a waterfall during the trip. Sadly, as the trip was directly involved with water, we couldn't bring our own camera. So we only have the (very low quality) pictures taken by the program camera.

Drifting along during a smooth patch.

Our raft! We took up the front positions.

All of us under the waterfall. Standing right underneath it was hard!

May


So finally we come to May, right now. During this first week of the month we haven't done too much. We've been getting back into the groove of school after our break, busy with tests and essays and more essays. We've been going to the waterfront downtown, walking along the beach, enjoying lemonade popsicles and the sand. We've been downtown the past few days enjoying the last moments of warmth as fall begins turning into winter here. Our brains are telling us summer is coming, since we're used to summer coming in May and June, but instead it's actually getting colder down here. So we'll keep enjoying our winter here and look forward to our summer back home.


We also want to shout out to Paul's mom, whose birthday is today, May 9th! Happy Birthday!!