As predicted, the weather was a bit damp today.
But that hasn't stopped us yet, and it won't stop us when we're in the capital city with many indoor things to do!
Except we only did about 2.
We started first by getting up and getting dressed. I dressed well for this day because today we were going to the Weta Workshop!
it's the workshop that did all the props, prosthetics, etc for Lord of the Rings! They've done hundreds of movies since then, and they've got some amazing technology, but I can't show you how cool everything was because they were strict on their no photos/videos/etc policy! Can't blame them honestly. They let us hold one of the original hobbit swords from the attack at Weathertop, and a sword from the World of Warcraft movie. We got to handle silicon prosthetics, dwarf noses, hobbit feet, a giant replica gun from a museum exhibit, touch a 2.4 scale human face (freaky!) a fake gorilla, watch a rhino be made from a giant 3-D printer, (only a small part, the tour was only 90 minutes.)
It was so cool to see everything. This tour is the original building iirc, but apparently the one in Auckland is really cool. I don't think we'll get to see it, but I loved this one. I took some pics of the Trolls, (outside the no photo zone)
and we also did a little workshop with aluminum foil, we met one of the makers (current one, she wasn't old enough...or possibly even alive during the filming of LOTR.) and we did see the apprentice to Peter Lyons (the guy who made the swords, so his apprentice made a ton too!) actually working! And frankly I loved how encouraging they all were about following your passion while also acknowledging that it can be scary.
I thought they were so positive.
After the tour was over, I struggled to not buy all the things in the gift shop (like, they had stuff from their currently working artists for sale, like the girl we met earlier on the tour.)
Luckily my luggage is already pretty full so. I couldn't buy the scale model of Minas Tirith. Which my wallet thanks me for. (Though my nerdy heart is a little bummed.)
It kinda rained a bit during the tour - we could hear it from inside- and it drizzled a bit more as we made our way back to Wellington proper (the workshop is a bit outside of the city center) and then we went to the Te Papa museum.
It's this AMAZING museum. I spent so much time in the natural exhibit, and they had a lot of exhibits you could touch or interact with. They had a house that mimicked an earthquake, they had this thing called "The Nest" that had every bird call of native New Zealand birds (if they weren't extinct) they had a Moa bone you could TOUCH
you could smell wood chips made by the carving of a Maori boat (from the modern era, but still!)
and the smell of a kakapo (do not recommend if you can help it-see them but don't smell)
I saw a Colossal Squid!
And I saw the statues the Weta Workshop made for the musuem! All of them in their full glory. It was for their WWI Gallipoli exhibit, which was so depressing (WWI) but it was breathtaking.
And as much as I loved the museum there was one more thing that I loved about it.
IT WAS FREE.
Seriously though, it was an awesome museum.
We left around 5 because we wanted to get dinner before it got too late, and we walked around wellington for a bit - no rain, but it was cold and windy. Found a pasta place that had an interesting vibe (in a cool way) 1154 Pastaria, and then after that, we found a bar that only serves New Zealand liquor - mostly gin which I was a big fan of. KuiKui Lane!
Then it was time to return to our airbnb.
We're driving up to Okahune tomorrow, which is a long drive day.
Hopefully we'll get there early enough I can finally post some pics from the last few days.