MOTAT, more than You Can Imagine

Auckland, July 14th 2015

MOTAT = Museum of Technology and Transportation
Technology, transportation, that's quite a lot. Those two words didn't ring the bell in my mind until I saw the enormousness of MOTAT. If you are keen on learning technology, transportation, plus (!) history, all and all, MOTAT has it all. However, you'll need at least half a day. Me, I was just for the other "T": Tram.

And then I laughed at myself. "As if you haven't ridden on enough real trams that you get excited on this toy tram." Ah, I'm always excited on anything that move on rails.

While in the morning I entered Kelly Tarlton's Sea Museum and sighed, "Is this all??", in MOTAT I was, "Is this yet not all??" Nevertheless, both are the stories of men's inventions.

McLaren?? All the time my mind had been associating McLaren with racing (cars). Okay. So in the beginning McLaren wasn't anything about racing. Maybe my Honda fellows should know this :P

Also in MOTAT:

... more than your mind can imagine.

P.S.

My best flat white in New Zealand, was served at MOTAT Cafe.

Inner Beauty in Kelly Tarlton's

Auckland, July 14th 2015

Emperor Penguin, the tallest penguin in the Penguin Kingdom

Certainly an emperor but not a Chinese or Japanese emperor :D

The Emperor flips his wings.

That means, the penguin is feeling warm, not cold!

The Emperor checks on the ground... oops!

Ooops. This is not real snow. Everyday in Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium, a number of -- don't remember how many -- tons of snow is produced.

The Emperor must have offspring, although not yet alike.

Penguins, an Emperor or not, are born entirely different from their parents, on the outside.

Since I started preparing my itinerary till the day I set foot on Auckland, I kept seeing Kelly Tarlton's being mentioned here and there. Of course I didn't decide to visit because of that. You know, I'm not that kind. However, when I entered Kelly Tarlton's, to be honest, I was disappointed. "Is this all for being mentioned everywhere?" Or should I blame myself for have been going to too many (maybe) aquariums? What I'm seeing now is just half fascinating as Tokyo's Sumida Aquarium... ah.

Oh yes, I have seen Emperor Penguins before, under open air, with no glass wall in between, in Ueno, Japan.

Protect Sea Turtles! They are either endangered or highly endangered!

My eyes moved around finding something I had never seen before.

Plastic Bag = Jelly Fish

Ahahahaha!!! What a kid's mind! was my first reaction reading this. Plastic bag floating in the water do look like jelly fish, indeed! But no, that's no joke at all. That's scientists' discovery, I read further.

Besides this one, there's another piece mentioning "jelly fish" which apparently my camera had missed out.

Good picture, bad photo. Blurry :P Picturing a turtle thinking of jelly fish.

Do you make mistakes in spelling? Don't be embarrassed. NZ kids do, too!

My favorite of all!

Turtles can't eat chocolate, you know! Even a 5-year knows that!

I stared at the small tables and chairs, color pencils, coloring book, at the stack of sticky notes... and I knew. This place is more into educating, whilst I had come expecting to be amused, to be fascinated, to be entertained. See? What a highly appreciated way to educate a child in sea turtle protection! For this one reason, I'm labeling this post with "inner beauty" besides "moving beauty" a.k.a. animals.

Wow. Maybe you can leave your stomach at the doctor's and go back to work.

Being a shark dentist must be a promising business!

The complete opposite to shark!! No teeth, no stomach.

But, wait! Seadragon??

Spiny Seadragon. Solegnathus spinosissimus.

Is the dragon Chinese?

Aye! Maybe there are more seahorses than humans in NZ...

In the end, I had to admit, I had seen many things, but I didn't know many things.

The other reason of labeling this post with "inner beauty" is the understanding of Kelly Tarlton. I always admire people who live their passion, and succeed. However, for Kelly Tarlton, there is more to that. It's like that his whole life had been meant for this aquarium. I couldn't get myself to capture the articles displayed on the wall. Tragic success. Maybe... for that reason Kelly Tarlton's Sea Aquarium is mentioned everywhere.

Inside Winter Garden

Auckland, July 13th 2015

Auckland Domain continued to amuse me till Winter Garden. "Winter Garden! What grows in winter?" was my first reaction when I read those two words during itinerary preparation. So I pictured a closed glasshouse which is air-conditioned to a certain temperature. I looked for a door to push aside. No door. No entrance fee, as well.

I gasped. So colorful and so dense, that getting a clear bokeh appeared to be a mission called impossible.

Fruit or flower or flower fruit or fruit flower??

So many Lady Slipper Orchids. Obviously a lady's thing. :P

I think I have seen this in Dalat, Vietnam.

I don't know why, this kind reminds me of biscuits with jam fillings in the middle. Yummy...

 ... and lots more.

Silver Dust

I am jealous. The further I traveled New Zealand, the more often I found Silver Dust flourishing just like that without seaming to get special care like these ones outside the Winter Garden. I have always been unsuccessful growing Silver Dust for more than just a few months. Maybe I should put mine under the aircon so it will think it's New Zealand. Ah.

Ooops.

Ooops. Someone is trying to reveal her existence. Obviously wild flower. I think... flowers don't have seasons in New Zealand, gardened or wild.

Amused in Auckland Domain

Auckland, July 13th 2015

Even I had already seen how green the landscape was despite the season called winter, still was I amused in Auckland Domain. Wow. This is certainty not the winter I have always known.

Understanding that Auckland Domain contains all of the explosion crater and most of the surrounding tuff ring of the Pukekawa Volcano, amused me even more. It's hard for me to imagine a volcano mountain exists, or did exist, in the middle of a metropolitan city. Of course, at that time Auckland might still be nothing at all. It feels odd that without going anyway far, no trekking, no hiking, I'm actually walking in a crater. Not to mention that the seashore is just a few hundred meters away.

Today, consisting of 75 hectares, Auckland Domain is the largest park in Auckland, but also the oldest.

Next amusement, twisted tree.

Next next amusement, bent tree.

A little close up.

 

This, I have noticed since my first day in Auckland. The edges on top of the bare trees are glowing particularly reddish under the sun. Is it merely because of the sunshine or are the stem skins reddish brown?

Ducks that seemed to enjoy the grass more than their pond.

Duck Pond is the remain of the lava lake. But I totally forgot to take a picture of the lake. I got too absorbed by the ducks as they seemed to walk closer and closer to me. Do I smell fish or what?

Facing towards winter garden, that one with glass roof and walls.