Pictures: Drive to Wellington, the Zoo, and Downtown

After a pleasant week in Wellington, J and I are glad to be home. And now that I have my camera cord, I can show you pictures of what the week was like.

On the way to Wellington, Lionel and I stopped in Foxton for some chai and something sweet - I picked apple shortcake. A local bird was thrilled with my choice. Right before my incredulous eyes, it hopped up and took a huge bite out of my apple shortcake - right off my plate! I was thrilled, although the future patrons may not appreciate me encouraging this behaviour. But it was very exciting!

This was my first view of the harbour, as we drove down out of the large hills.

This is J and I at dinner the first night - we ate with Lionel and another colleague, and had a nice time.

My first full day in Wellington (Monday) was beautiful and sunny, although the wind was ferocious and cold. I took the bus to the zoo, and enjoyed walking around. The Wellington Zoo is not particularly big, but it is well put together, with lots of shows and feedings to watch.

I know ducks aren't that exciting as zoo animals go, but how adorable is this little family?

This is one of the stars of the Wellington Zoo, Sean the Sun Bear. He was rescued from the wild when he ended up too near a town, and is now a huge local attraction. In addition, Wellington Zoo is a world leader in Sun Bear breeding, and Sean brought much-needed genetic variation to their program.

This is a Nyala - a kind of antelope. This particular Nyala came from South Africa. I think that they are very beautiful. The males, of whom I was not able to get a picture, have beautiful spiral horns.

I love the way this zoo has approached insects, spiders, snakes, and reptiles. The whole exhibit is like a comic book, with the descriptions of the creatures phrased as super powers. I think that it is an ingenious way to get children (and adults) to appreciate these creatures, rather than dismiss them all as "creepy" and just be scared of them.

When I sat down at a picnic table to eat my sandwich, this little duck decided to join me. He hopped up on the bench opposite me and calmly watched me eat my entire lunch. It was nice to have some company.

The following pictures are from Tuesday, when I did a bit of exploring right in the middle of downtown. It was another beautiful day, and I had planned to take the ferry out to Matiu/Sommes Island in the middle of the harbour. I had also planned to be early for said ferry, but due to slight miscalculations, I only got there 5 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. Unfortunately, my worst miscalculation was not having known that about 500 other vehicles of various kinds also leave from that warf, and I found the right ferry just in time to watch it drift away. Yuck.

Fortunately, I had a lovely time downtown. This is only the beginning of my pictures from that day, but the rest are of a different part of town, and will be saved for my next post.

This is a stunning ball made out of silver ferns, and is one of my favourite Kiwi things I've seen so far. The cables holding it up are surprisingly noticeable in the picture - in real life, with movement all around (above and below), you don't notice them, and it really looks like it's floating.

Right by the waterfront is a beautiful bridge made out of weathered wood that is very reminiscent of a shipwrecked boat. I don't know if that's what they're going for, but that's what it made me think of.

This beautiful lady caught my eye because I couldn't tell if it was letters or just holes that decorated her.

Upon closer inspection, not only are there words, there is quite interesting poetry. I had fun reading her skirt. I am especially fond of the bit at the top of this picture, because it's about tea.

I was drawn to the lovely colours of this sculpture, and I have always loved seashells - little did I know that in just a few hours, I would find my very own paua shell on the beach!