Day 122 - How Everything's Better with Good Weather

This morning we got up at 8, so that we were able to skype with the two at home which was rather difficult due to the 12-hour time difference. We did this at Courtenay Place, a place of which my mother has some memories too, so she was happy to see us sitting there. Afterwards we had breakfast in a nice café where the pigeons came and went. I begin to love cappuccino.

 

 



The ugly baby that I kept in mind
Its head only is about half a meter long

We then spent about three hours in the Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. Most of the things I remembered from when we visited Wellington in 2002 are related to Te Papa. For example a big black stone ball in the entrance lobby which can be turned. Or the earthquake house in which one is simulated, the big whale skeleton, the Maori meeting house which is now prohibited to enter, and a big ugly rubber baby that can be animated by pulling levers. After having had some sentimental and emotional moments we had a Chai Latte in the café, where my NZ friend and I used to run around the tables, next to a long Maori war canoe.

 

 

We bought sushi in the “New World” supermarket, where we used to buy our groceries when we lived nearby in 2002. Then we took a walk to Oriental Bay, where we had rented a house back then. It was great to see all this again, the beach, the round beach house, or the red-nosed ice cream selling truck (that still exists after such a long time!). I also liked to hear things my father told me that I forgot already.

 

 

 

From Oriental Bay we directly “hiked” over the hill back to the motel, where we caught the last few sunbeams for our pictures. Because we had plenty of time left until we would meet our dear friends for dinner, we waited in the cold for some time. The one couple, our former landlords and neighbors, came way too early, too. But the other family, our other neighbors who had girls in my age, didn’t show up. We began to worry about them, but found out that they completely lost track of time. So we had an enjoyable dinner for four and planned a breakfast with the other family the next morning.