This past weekend I took my first trip to the capital city of New Zealand, Wellington!

It was nice to go visit the city and to meet up with some of the other students in TEAN.

The weekend ended up being very Lord of the Rings filled as a group of us are a little obsessed. Hey, I mean we are in Middle Earth after all!! We just have to take advantage of the sights and attractions while we can!

Friday night was just a simple catch up night.  A group of us met up and hung out at some of the student houses on the top of a hill (about a 45 minute walk from downtown).  Eventually we decided to take the long hike down the hill into the city and check out some of the night life.  During this time I managed to get a mini-city tour from some of my friends.

It was already dark when I had arrived in the city, so it was really nice on Saturday to get to see the city in the day light.  On Saturday some friends and I traveled a suburb of Wellington, Miramar.  In Miramar we went to visit Weta Cave.  

The Weta Cave is a mini-museum, theatre, and shop that is in front of the Oscar-winning Weta Workshop.  The Weta Workshop is a special effects and props company that has played a huge role in creating the special effects and props in huge movies, such as, all The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, Avatar, and many more.  I originally went to check out all the LOTR stuff; but while I was there I watched a short film about Weta itself, and the company is amazing! If you are ever in the area I highly suggest you check it out!

 

After visiting Weta, we made our way back to the city to grab some lunch and then check out the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Te Papa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand.  The museum was huge and contains collections in 5 main areas: Art, History, Pacific, Māori, and Natural Environment.  Of course, my favorite part of the museum was the trolls (from The Hobbit) on display and the sign for “Middle of Middle Earth”.  

One exhibition that I found interesting to see at the museum was the colossal squid exhibition.  The colossal squid was found in the waters of Antarctica in February 2007 and after being caught it was brought to Te Papa.  This attraction drew worldwide attention and brought scientists from around the globe to Te Papa to examine it.  To learn more about it, check out The Squid Files.

 

After touring through the museum we went outside and strolled around the gorgeous Wellington harbor!  Such an amazing place!

On Sunday we went down town to check out the local farmers market.  The market was huge!  There were so many fruits and vegetables stands along with an abundance of other vendors.

The market was really nice because it was also down by the harbor.  I’m a little sad that there isn’t a market like this back in Palmy.  If I was studying in Wellington I could easily see myself coming to the market every Sunday to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies.  I walked away from the market with 4 fresh apples and a bag of plums for a total of $3.36 NZD — that’s a steal!

 

After visiting the market my friends and I made our way to Mount Victoria, which would be our greatest achievement of the weekend as we hiked to the very top to get a spectacular view overlooking the harbor and the city!

Also, while on Mt. Vic we stumbled upon a rope swing on a hill that had another glorious view of the city.  There we each had a turn on the rope swing and captured some neat pictures with the city in the background.

Continuing on Mount Victoria, my fellow LOTR obsessors and myself were on a mission to discover the beloved ‘Hobbits Hideaway’.  It is here on Mt. Vic that the famous scenes  ‘Get off the Road’ and ‘Escape from the Nazgul’,  from The Fellowship of the Ring where filmed.

 

We had a blast re-enacting the scenes! We actually ended up stumbling upon a few tour groups and we were able to be the demonstrators of the scenes to the groups!  One of my favorite scenes from LOTR is when Frodo and the other hobbits have to hide under a tree to escape a Nazgul.  I was beyond excided to actually sit in the same spot that Elijah Wood (aka Frodo) sat when filming the scene.  Sadly, it wasn’t the exact same as the digitally added tree was not present, nor was I fleeing from a Nazgul; however, I did have a great time and through the power of imagination – my role was fulfilled!

 

It was such a great eventful weekend in Wellington!  I even got to see the Embassy Theater!

 

Cheers to a great weekend.  For now I’m back in Palmy.                    Next Stop, Rotorua!

-Brad