Chapter 5: In Which Moose Learns About Native Wildlife

Zealandia

Moose thought this name evoked a certain sense of awe and inspiration towards the country of New Zealand, though he also though it sounded just a little silly and overly pretentious. He visited this magical place with Aunt KC and Renee on a nice day where they were able to take full advantage of the area. Zealandia is the fancy (and marketable) name for what is essentially a wildlife reserve near Wellington (in Karori). When people came and settled in New Zealand there was (of course) a change in the ecosystem of the island(s). In standard human fashion little to no thought was given to the effects until things started dying off with no hopes of returning. Moose knew that if HE were in charge and moose ruled the world this would not be such a problem since they are only caring and loving creatures. Many of the animals (primarily birds) that existed in New Zealand before settlers had such a lack of land predators that many of them ended up being kinda lazy in the "defenses against being killed and eaten" department. So when settlers brought themselves and some more aggressive animals a lot of the native wildlife became extinct. At least, this is the vision that has evolved from the information that is still around for the world to extrapolate from. In the 1990s there was a guy who decided that this was too sad and so he wanted to create a place where the native wildlife (and eventually plants too) could be "safe" from the foreign predators thus ZELANDIA was born!

As much as Moose found this a bit cheesy and silly the park itself was quite interesting, full of information and new bird friends. The first place they visited was a somewhat small museum discussing the history of New Zealand; small but FILED with information it was almost overwhelming. There were several taxidermy animals and some artistic representations of animals that are no longer living (Moose found this a little morbid and animalist - no one stuffs humans!). Moose did learn some things about many of the animals though, so it was not a lost experience. After getting a little information overload they all headed out to the park itself.
The park is one square mile and the whole thing has a perimeter of a fence that is both mice and rabbit proof. Learning about the fence (and seeing it) was one of the most interesting things for Moose in the museum, he was sure he could have just plowed through it with a few of his buddies but there are not other moose here for him to try. Although all birds (and other flying things) can enter at will most of them "play nice" or at least don't completely ruin everyone's day. The vast quantity of bird life that could be heard (and sometimes seen but leaves got in the way much of the time) was incredible. Moose actually wished that this antlers were ears so he could hear more!

Moose also encountered a Weta which he thought looked delicious though Renee was freaked out (she says bugs are gross and creepy when they move).

Moose also met a Tuatara which are pretty cool creatures, they can live to be pretty old and are excellent at hide and seek as long as they are not they aren't the seekers since they are mostly slow. Luckily someone else had spotted this one and pointed (him? her?) out.

Moose also had a close encounter with a new bird friend whom has been named Huey.

Stalking Makes Friends!

Shunned.

The Face Off

The ultimate goal is for the sanctuary to become a view of what New Zealand looked like when settlers first arrived about 1,000 years ago. Moose hopes he is around to be able to see that happen :P
XP: Size of park in hectares plus length of walking trails in kilometers: 225 + 32 = 257

Is Moose wildlife?!? 

Extra Chapter: In Which Renee Earns Herself Some XP

Did you know that the roads in Wellington are very steep and they wind like mountain roads and they are small? Also they drive on the "wrong" side of the road on the "wrong" side of the car.

The past few weeks, in being a useful, helpful niece I have been driving a lot and so now I drive on crazy roads on the right side of the car, on the left side of the road. It has been quite the experience trying to wrap my head around it all. I consider myself a pretty confident and competent driver but all that was almost too much for me. Luckily my aunt is very patient and the traffic isn't too crazy on most of the roads. I figured that I could probably have pretty easily have dealt with EITHER the roads OR the different side but both at the same time was a little overwhelming. The biggest things I've noticed are that the right hand side mirror is my new best friend because it's the closest mirror to where I expect the rear-view mirror to be. I'm also pretty good at using the turn signal and not the windshield wipers which live where I expect the turn signal to be... Surprisingly I've been able to refrain from hitting the door when reaching for the gear shift, but I do find that I frequently get my arms in weird crosses when turning and shifting at the same time. The other thing that I've noticed is a marked failure of spatial awareness to the passenger side of the car, I've been doing a good job not hitting the cars parked on the sides of the road but when a car is coming on one side and there are cars parked and I'm going around a turn I get a little worried. I'm getting more used to it since I keep driving so that's good. I've definitely been trying to remember learning to drive in the first place so I can figure out how I learned the spatial awareness and movements of arms so as to not get tangled. AND THEN there are roundabouts everywhere and my signaling skills around those are sadly lacking. So many things to learn but I feel improvement and I'm enjoying it more so who knows, maybe I'll soon become an ambidextrous driver!

XP: Number of kilometers on my aunt's car: 210210

Chapter 4: In Which Moose Takes a Jammin' Boat Ride to Celebrate Some Fawkesy Guy

Remember Remember the 5th of November....Guy Fawkes Day/Night is the main fireworks holiday here in New Zealand with fireworks going on short sale around the holiday. For some reason Wellington decided to postpone their fireworks from the 5th of November to the 9th, probably to hit the weekend instead of midweek. The actual day passed without much pomp and circumstance for Moose and the crew, they were going to watch V for Vendetta in true American fashion but someone else beat them to it because it was not available at the video store. The real excitement came on the 9th since Uncle Tim has cool friends who own boats and like music.
First, Tim drove to the boat dock where everyone helped move amps and instruments onto the rather large boat. Moose and Renee were surprised at how many instruments and amps kept coming onto the boat, then with not much warning the boat left the dock and the jamming began!

It was just a touch chilly though they couldn't have picked a much better day given the sun, lack of massive wind and next to clear skies. Turns out the views off the back of the boat were also pretty incredible...

This view is towards the Hutt Valley, Moose is still surprised with all the water all over the place. The shape of the harbor and mountains in an arc keeps getting him confused as to which is the harbor vs the straights. Renee was really scared that Ingrid (the bass trombone) would jump out of her hands into the water so she didn't play while the boat was moving; opting instead to chat with fellow boaters and meeting many new people who's names she doesn't remember. Once the boat was anchored Ingrid was retrieved from the cabin and Renee joined the jam.

There were so many instrumentalists it was incredible. Moose quite enjoyed being in the thick of the music (though it was a little loud) though he couldn't sonically contribute. Renee really enjoyed the atmosphere of communal music and emptying her spit valve over the side of the boat. There was music until fireworks and then on the way back. The fireworks were nice, very similar to 4th of July shows Moose and Renee have seen. Highlights were the smiley face ones and the super sparkly ones. Renee thought the sound was overall quieter but that could have been due to the distance...who knows.

Overall rating: AWESOME
XP: Years since Guy Fawkes died: 407

Chapter 3: In Which Moose and Petunia Train Renee to get High and Naked

Finding themselves with lots of time and not enough to keep busy Moose and Petunia decided that an excursion was in order. In talks with people from Wellington they had heard many places to go but the one that stuck out the most was Auckland - though Wellingtonians tend to speak less highly of it (it seems there is a strange feud between the two major cities on the north island, each thinking they are better than the other) the crew decided they should go experience it and form their own opinions. A brief search revealed three major ways of getting from point "W" to point "A" being: Plane, KiwiRail, or Bus. Wanting to see the countryside and having plenty of time the crew decided to take The Northern Explorer on the way there and a bus back, so that they could be compared and because they took slightly different routes. Although initially they were going to just stay one night they were convinced to stay two so that one day could be spent wandering out Auckland to see the sights and form opinions. Quick plans were made, a hostel booked and a day later they embarked on their first major excursion!

------------------------------------------------ Train ------------------------------------------------

The crew set off very early in the morning to catch a bus to get to the train station and board KiwiRail's Scenic Journey of the Northern Explorer, the red line on the map above shows the path that was taken from Wellington (at the bottom) to Auckland (near the top) with a few quick stops along the way for people to disembark or board. They all stayed on the train the whole of the 11 hour journey, seated in a trio of seats with a table with no one else. There were several passengers but none who were interesting enough to want to talk to; except one little kid and his grandma who kept walking the length of the train and wanted to be introduced to Elgamore, Moose and Petunia :P
The train provided some interesting landscape/historical information during the journey via headset which Renee found mildly interesting most of the time. There was also a "viewing car" which was open air and that would have been super fantastic except that the weather did NOT agree and so most of the journey was rainy and didn't provide the views that were expected or desired. Some good pictures were had though not as many as would have been hoped given the price and pretty factor described in the brochure and along the way.

OH MY GOODNESS SHEEP!!!
This got much less exciting every subsequent time which was almost all the time....

Sometimes we pass over rivers

Other times there's just more sheep

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Some Other Day

Misty Mountains indeed

Overall they had a good time (because it's a TRAIN!!!) and would say that it was a worthwhile experience and adventure. Upon arriving in Auckland the crew found their hostel with ease and set some stuff down before going out to find a small nibble to supplement the sandwich dinner Renee packed and ate on the train. This short evening stroll was uneventful and a bit short, though it did result in a pomegranate and breakfast makings :) The hostel was filled with annoying girls who were all about getting ready to go out (seriously, it took the 4-5 of them like 3 hours to get ready, madness) and so Renee sequestered herself in her dorm room with the other two (quite and nice) ladies who were staying there and read Frankenstein.

----------------------------------------------- High -----------------------------------------------

Upon waking - fairly early because that's what happens when you go to sleep too early despite loud ladies - the crew ate their breakfast and headed out to watch Auckland wake up! It's pretty fun to watch a city wake up and they discovered that during the weekend they were they it was the "Tall Ship Festival"! So once the city did awake they were able to see very tall ships, there was opportunity to go on the ships as well but the wait was long and there was further wandering to be had so they declined and instead just took some tall pictures and Petunia decided she would like to be a figurehead someday.

That white is a building called "The Cloud" and look at those tall ships!

Petunia wants to be at the top where she could see for miles!

Moose can barely see the top!

The perspective makes these ships look taller than they actually are, but rest assured, they are quite tall. Many of them have sailed (or will sail) around the world, many had advertisements about joining them and while Petunia was keen Moose MUCH prefers dry land.
In the background you can barely see a tall spindily lookin tower, kind of up from Petunia's ear, this is the Sky Tower and it is where they visited next!

It is a VERY tall tower

In the brief research of "The 10 things you MUST do in Auckland" Renee did the Sky Tower ranked on almost every list. Since it is a tourist attraction (pretty much exclusively, I see no real purpose for having a really tall tower with incredible views) it's not free, well except for seeing it from the outside. There are many options for people including taking an elevator up and seeing the views (28NZD), jumping off near the top (attached to a wire so you don't die, 225NZD), walking around the outside (strapped in so you don't fall and die, 125NZD) and eating in a rotating restaurant (which feels very fancy, 30-50NZD). Rotating restaurants make Renee giggle and feel very fancy AND, as it so happens, on the weekends they serve high tea for 40NZD which includes going up the elevator and seeing the pretty sights, so that's what they did.

Elgamore was feeling sick so he stayed at the Hostel

Renee felt very much like a fancy lady, until she had Moose and Petunia join her at the table and then about 5 minutes after sitting down someone jumped off the building (they paid to do it so they were having fun). She very much enjoyed her high tea experience (and got a rose vanilla tea which was quite good, although still not as good as the strawberry vanilla rose tea which has been discontinued <bitter much?>) and in the hour it took her to leisurely drink her tea and eat her goodies the tower rotated all the way around so she got to see the whole city.

All finished!

After eating they went up a level to the first viewing platform where they watched another person jump off and took a few pictures and then went up to the top where they took some more pictures. Overall there was a lot of time spent looking out the windows and taking pictures. All told they spent almost 3 hours looking at the city and the surrounding landscape and quite enjoying themselves.

Some of the floor is glass, don't fall!

This is Scotty the Skytower :D

Stunning views! Really!!

And look, Renee really WAS there ;)

 

The floor of the elevator has a glass insert so you can watch going up and down, on the way up it made stomachs turn in fear but after looking down for so long it was just cool to watch, the little kid on the elevator was TOTALLY digging it too, which helped the enjoyment for once :P 

Grrrr Bus.....

The rest of the day was uneventful, they met some nice German ladies who checked into the hostel and Renee learned the German word for "Five of a Kind": fünfling! It was exciting.

--------------------------------------------- Naked ---------------------------------------------

And you thought this blog post would be full of sketchy behavior, shame on you!

In the morning they packed up the small amount of things they brought and headed to catch their bus run by the naked bus company, mostly because of their name....In order to not get bored pictures were taken every half hour and while most of them are unexciting there are a few that prove worth of being posted.  Overall the bus experience was good and Renee enjoyed short wanderings at the few stops that were made along the way. In terms of comparison the train was nice because there was a bit more space and standing breaks weren't limited to a scheduled stop, but the bus seats were more comfortable and it was WAY cheaper...so bus wins for next time!

Why do you need a corrugated steel sheep dog?

For the corrugated steel sheep of course!

The bus ALSO went over rivers

Cute little tiny towns with adorable town halls

Thus ends Excursion 1, grand excitement and adventure was had, some people were met, tea was drunk, AN AMAZING CAKE BOUTIQUE was eaten at (though no picture survives so mark this delicious endeavor) overall a success.

Congratulations Moose and Petunia! You have points! Including bonus points for reaching the end of quite a long blog!
XP: Number of hours spent on trip in total plus the height of the Sky Tower (in meters): 388

Some Thoughts

So I've had an immense amount of time to just think without any other input, partly because it's free! and I have beautiful scenery to look at, and I'm not being a super social butterfly since there aren't very many people I know here. This has accumulated lots of thoughts, some of which I'd like to share.

• All Subways smell the same, no matter where you are, it's always the same and it doesn't give me any feelings of "home" just feelings of "Subway" maybe it's a marketing scheme, anyone know?
• I still don't know what I want to do with my life and that's ok; I am thinking a lot about it though and I expect to have some sort of idea by the time I leave if I continue to have such thinking time...and nothing crazy happens :P
• There are two types of places where I will always feel comfortable - Grocery Stores and Book Stores
• I instantly feel more "at home" in a place after buying something from a grocery store
• I have no idea what qualifies a "chain restaurant" and as much as I want to support local businesses all the time, sometimes I just can't tell
• Hot chocolate foam tastes better here, something about the TEXTURE? I don't even know but it's delicious!
• Humidity is a bitch. We are not friends.
• However, leaving bread out is damned convenient, and things are much less likely to go stale
• However However; crackers go soft, which is weird
• My hair is crazy. And it doesn't dry in a normal amount of time, also curls, so many curls
• I love writing letters, the money I spend on sending them is barely a second thought to me because I like it so much (if you want me to write you a letter, make sure I have your address cuz I TOTALLY WILL)
• My ear for varieties of accents is completely gone. It's become very polar: Accent, no accent. Whoever is speaking might be Australian, Kiwi, British, Irish, etc. I can't really hear a difference anymore, I'm hoping it comes back with more distinct variation :P
• I've been watching enough TV and listening to people that I'm picking up some phrases/words; my favorite is "being keen" about something and words for food (peppers are called capsicum here)
• I'm listening to a lot less music than I thought I would be listening to in favor of being aware of the noises around me
• I'm quite a competent traveler - especially compared to other people my age (Thanks Muz and Daz)
• I still don't like smartphones, even if mine does help me to not be lost
• Making lists helps me feel accomplished, even if I'm doing next to nothing all day
• Books are expensive here, it makes me sad
• I am also reading more on my tablet
• "Classics" are free, so I am reading more of them
• I still have trouble with some of the language involved with them
• As much as I find them a LOT more interesting, I still have a low time tolerance for museums
• I have no idea what time it is anywhere anymore because Daylight Savings is dumb (or brilliant, depending)

Just a quick update of things which maybe haven't been made so clear in the quest updates:

• I'm playing twice a week with a brass band which is both very fun and quite difficult because I'm still figuring out where the bass trombone fits in the group, EVERYTHING is new though which is quite exciting!
• My plan is to stay in Wellington until January at which point I think I'm going to go somewhere and pick fruits of some variety, this may not happen, we shall see
• I am going to try my hardest to give a quest update every...Tuesday here which (in general) is Wednesday for the rest of you and I'll try and give a more "standard" update from me maybe every two weeks or so

I'd love to hear from you! leave a comment! send me an e-mail! request a letter! (write one back...)

Happily,

Renee

THIS IS WHERE I AM!!! It's so PRETTY!!!!!