Tinakori Hill

Te Ahumairangi

Our autumn weather has been mild and the ground dry underfoot so running on trails rather than foot paths is still a very pleasant option.
Instead of running my normal circuit I chose to return home via the Tinakori Hill or Te Ahu Mairangi, best known as a backdrop to parliament and providing some of the steepest streets in Wellington, which is saying something.
It used to be covered in exotic pines but a storm about fifteen years ago ripped through them and left a twisted rubble. It has taken a while, but finally native forest is growing up through the remnants of the pines, and it is becoming a very pleasant place to walk or jog through. As you climb you are rewarded with beautiful views of the city and the harbour. Today the sky was sparkling blue and the views spectacular. I stopped often to catch my breath and gaze over the city.

View over the City with Stadium in foreground

The ferry departing for the South Island

In places trees that have survived the storm have grown together over the path making a tunnel like effect with subdued, dappled light filtering through. There were many twists and turns plus side tracks but I chose to just keep heading on up following the Northern Walkway signs.

A cool tree-tunnel to run through

I popped out on Weld Road, an extremely steep street and headed down into Wadestown and home deciding this will be  a more pleasant route to take as it keeps me away from traffic for a longer period and offers such spectacular views.

                    

Aussie Rulz!

The Sydney Swans (I think)

Wellington had the opportunity to watch a sport as yet not often played in New Zealand even though it has

been played in Australia for 150 years or more. Aussie Rules, or more officially Australian Rules Football was played at our stadium for the first time. It was the Sydney Swans against the St Kilda Saints, both Australian teams. The Sydney Swans are hoping to make Wellington its second home and to play one or more games a year here to lift the sports profile in New Zealand.
As a result Wellington was filled with Australians over ANZAC Weekend and I spent an interesting evening in the stadium as a bar manager in a voluntary capacity, raising money for my dragon boat team.
Thank goodness the weather was mild as the players run about in sleeveless shirts called guernseys and short shorts. It is a very athletic game rather like rugby and basketball mixed up.

The game in full throttle.

As I minded my bar I tried to fathom out what was going on, alas without a lot of success. The goal posts have extra bits and I think you get more points if you kick the ball over the middle bit. The scoring board had three rows of figures for each side, the last one being the total score. The gentlemen playing the game in their little skimpy outfits were always worth a watch however.
They play four quarters which made my job harder as every half hour there was a break and everyone came out to fill up again. Therefore more alcohol was consumed, and also the game ended up going on for over two hours.
At one point a very intoxicated Australian lady was found in the toilets having fallen over. I deserted my post at the bar and escorted her to the first aid room. She wasn't drunk she told me, but just a bit dizzy and depressed. She had fallen out with her man but had decided to come over to New Zealand anyway for the holiday they had booked. She had obviously tried to drown her sorrows without success. I suggested she forget her Aussie bloke and look around for a Kiwi instead while she was here. This did not go down well and she flung herself on me for a big cry and cuddle and nearly knocked me flat as I was having trouble keeping her on her feet as it was. Fortunately I spied the information booth and we weaved over to the lady in charge there who fortunately had a wheelchair with her. We sat our sad lady down and called for the medics to come to us. I extricated myself from her and headed back to my bar not worse for wear but certainly damper.

Things were going well at the bar and people were generally in good spirits which were not totally of the alcoholic nature. The Australians were very curious about my role  and once I explained, they wanted me to check their IDs, see if they could still walk in a straight line and have me check that they had no more than four bottle of alcohol about their person. They found me and my job most amusing, but frankly I was 'over it' and was glad when we could finally shut down and I could clear off.
I checked in with the medics to check on my lady. They had dropped her off at her camper van. I privately hoped she did not wander out of her van and fall off the wharf during the night, but wandered down  town and found the perfect man instead.
I returned my gear and slipped into the stadium to watch for a bit. There seemed an awful lot of people on the pitch and not all of them players - water boys, coaching types and advisors also seemed to be trotting about as well as medics doing running repairs.

I had had a long day as I had been up at five am. to help organise and serve tea and coffee to officials and people who had attended the Dawn Service. I was on the coffee and rum stand and was most amused when a very high ranking police officer in the queue accepted his cup then as he left grabbed another cup and deftly added the tot of run in that cup into his own.
It was time to call it quits I thought and departed before the game ended to avoid the crowds. Will the game catch on here? I have no idea but it was certainly different, and in New Zealand's cooler climate those young men playing in their wee outfits could suffer purple knee and red nose syndrome, not to mention other pieces of anatomy also getting rather cold!

Surrounded by Saddlebacks

A tieke posing on a display nest box                         Photo: Carol Smith

I set off to do my first solo tunnel tracking audit. The weather was dicey, but not raining so it was decided to go ahead.  My route was to head to along the Fault line Track, then up the eastern side of the fence. To complete the loop I was to go down the Eastern Firebreak to met up with the main track again. I was pleased as it is a long time since I had walked to the end of the valley and I had never been down the EasternFirebreak.

 It was surprising to see how quickly the bush is recovering from the drought. The ferns are looking fresh and the trees are greening up. The birds were enjoying it too, talking noisily and feasting on the autumn seeds and berries on the trees. Beyond the top dam I came across a couple of saddlebacks, or tieke, feeding on pate berries, or insects that were also feeding on the fruit.



I was reminded of the time a friend and I were visiting Zealandia and a tieke decided to to sit on a display nest box and show off its brilliant colouring at close range.

                                                                                                                                 Tieke photos by Carol Smith.

They are from the family of wattlebirds which also include the huia (extinct), the kokako and the stitch bird.
The tieke has bright orange wattles on each side of its bill and a lovely russet coloured band across its back. They were busily running about on the branches on their long legs. They are not great flyers and prefer to run and bound about in the trees rather than fly. They are very personable birds who can amuse with their antics and their very distinctive calls.
The pate they were frolicking around in were looking a rich dark  green and not affected by the dry weather and had plenty of fruit. The leaves are spread out like a hand with seven fingers. It is not a big tree and is very common in the Sanctuary.
                           

                              

                             

Pate fruit

I worked my way around the perimeter checking tracking tunnels as I went. Lots of mouse prints, some invertebrates, a tuatara tummy smear and a few claw prints from a nosey robin or two was all that turned up.
I was pleased to be finished before rain started in earnest.

 

Little Wellington

I thought this little video of Wellington City by Michael Joost pretty cool.
It was taken during late winter in 2012
Follow this link:

http://vimeo.com/63500144

Wandering the Wellington Waterfront

There is always something happening on the Wellington Waterfront. Now I am not heading down there twice a week for dragon boat practice I decided to go for a leisurely walk instead.

There are pieces of art everywhere, hidden and obvious.I took photos of the ones that attracted my attention.
The bronze man 'Solace in the Wind,' standing on the edge of the waterfront, leaning into the prevailing wind is a favourite of many people. He receives many a friendly pat from admirers giving his bottom a rosy hue. Next to him workers were in the process of  removing and replacing rotten piles from under the wharf.

Writings by Wellington authors are scattered haphazardly about - verses pertaining to Wellington mostly.

Pieces of machinery showing the wharf's past are left as reminders and are attractive in their own way.






The newest sculpture is a set of kina or sea-eggs placed half in and out of the water and are yet to settle in and look part of the place.


A seagull perched on the top of Len Lye's 'Water Whirler.' It was going to get a surprise when it started up on the hour and began gyrating.

                        The Water Whirler looks at its best by night.

Looking up and back to the city I could see "Fruits of the Garden'  cradling the logo of the Datacom Building.


The large bronze statue of Kupe the great explorer, his wife and his tohunga  is important to me as I remember seeing it as a child before it was bronzed, standing in the foyer of the Wellington Railway Station and being intrigued by it during a school trip to the Capital.


By the museum Te Papa are tempory art displays on plinths. At the moment there are rotting plasticky things in glass cases.





The bubble man was out by The Lagoon using the damp warm atmosphere to create huge iridescent bubbles for his own pleasure and that of passers-by. People cannot help themselves and even busy suited types are encaptured and forced to slow down and watch for a while. Behind him I could see 'The Albatross,' a water sculpture that has at time proved a handy place for me to rinse off after dragon boating in lieu of a shower.

The Albatross - a  handy place for a shower after dragon boating!

The only thing I can't relate to is the lobster toilets. They are in a funny out of the way place and despite their usefulness they just don't fit somehow. They are just weird!

Taken Personally - Marianne Muggeridge's Exhibition at Shed 11

The weather has finally broken. After an unusually dry, warm and windless summer rain has finally arrived to break the drought. Time to choose an indoor activity, I thought as over  summer I had neglected the wonderful indoor opportunities Wellington has to offer.
I chose to visit 'Taken Personally', an exhibition by Marianne Muggeridge being held in The Portrait Gallery, Shed 11, which is in an old converted warehouse on the waterfront, making it easily accessible from the Central Train Station. I came in on the Johnsonville line, always a lovely if short trip as you travel through the Ngaio Gorge then emerge from tunnels to a vista of the Harbour.

I had a very pleasant hour in the gallery. Marianne Muggeridge grew up as I did, in Taranaki and her paintings resonate with me. The surroundings of her subjects are things I know and her subjects look familiar. When I looked out of windows I saw the dominating presence of Mt Egmont and so did she as a child. Later on when she returned to Taranaki Mt Egmont is often a part of her paintings, and at times is the subject.
Marianne Muggeridge also spent a part of her life in Wellington and her paintings of that time reflect the city I know.
The people she paints, their dress and their surroundings look all very familiar. She captures an essence of ordinary New Zealanders and their developing culture. Her eye for fabrics and incidental objects surrounding the sitter fascinates me. They never look staged but they are always somehow relevant.
I asked for permission to take photographs which of course do no justice to her work - you need to see it in person and I recommend that you do. The exhibition is running till mid June.

Self portrait 1975

What was on the table caught my attention

The decorations, home made by children are perfect!

Self portrait 2011

 Links:http://mariannemuggeridge.co.nz/index.php?/ongoing/biography/

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2548638/playing-favourites-with-marianne-muggeridge