Feathers and Sails

Wellington, July 19th 2015

Wellington Harbour (The Wharf) where I met new friends that could do both, swim and fly.

Before I arrived in New Zealand, I made a list of "first time" things such as first time granted a one-year-multiple-entry visa without making special requirement, first time flying Southwards, etc. It was a long enough list and ended with "First time to NZ". That's it, I thought. No.

The "First Time List" kept on going.

Red-billed gull

On first sight I thought this was a pigeon. I didn't pay attention to the feet... until I saw them floating like a duck on the sea. What? Pigeons can swim?

New Zealand certainly provides more than one's brain can hold. What do you want to know more about? Sea life? Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium. Plants? Zealandia Karori Sanctuary. Life on the Antarctica? International Antarctica Centre. Transportation? MOTAT. Even visitor information centres are sometimes more a visitor education centre.

So what bird is this that can soar high into the sky and yet float swiftly like a duck? To my amazement there's what's called "New Zealand Bird Online: The digital encyclopedia of New Zealand Birds". Red-billed gull, Larus novaehollandiae. Got it identified! Yeehaa!

Black-billed gull

Reading through the online encyclopedia, I learned that there's also a black-billed gull. Yippee! I did take a picture of it, unknowingly. A more reason to be proud of myself was that:

The black-billed gull has the undesirable status of being the most threatened gull species in the world. Though still relatively abundant, numbers of birds in Southland, the national stronghold, are rapidly declining. Nevertheless, colonies can still number in the thousands. The black-billed gull is found only in New Zealand, unlike our two other common gull species. They are less likely to be found in towns and cities than the other gulls, and are not commonly observed scavenging for food. Interestingly, though declining overall, the black-billed gull has recently expanded its breeding range in the North Island, and now breeds as far north as the Kaipara Harbour.

according to the online encyclopedia. Therefore, I should consider myself privileged. Well, for me it is.

Southern black-backed gull

And this? What is this? I couldn't identify it through the online encyclopedia, so I sent an email. Wow. Dr. Colin Miskelly a curator from Te Papa Tongerewa Museum answered. It's a Southern black-backed gull that

starts life with mottled brown plumage and black beaks and do not develop black-and-white plumage with yellow beaks until about 4 years old.

Swans and ducks on sea water.

 This was another lesson for me. I had always thought that swans and ducks live on freshwater only.

A city of sails, second only to Auckland.

Wellington's Finest Marina

That was my open-air school for the day.

Happy Sunday from Wellignton Harbour

Wellington, July 19th 2015

Tranquil and clear sea at Wellington Harbour on July 19th 2015.

On the right there is Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, museum of New Zealand. It was unbelievable that this sea was predicted to be wild on this day. And, Wellington Harbour that Sunday wasn't just about food.

Seriously, I thought that was a bronze statue installed with a music player.

No. The singing statue is moving.

After my food truck expedition, I returned and realized. The kids were very excited. Music played from the music player on the ground.

Somewhat like a pantomime show.

One of the kids' grandma (maybe) dropped a tip.

This kid appeared the most enthusiastic.

"Can you do this? Can you do that?" he required endlessly ignoring his mom's call.

Vibrant Sunday along the wharf.

Along the wharf, some people were seen jogging, another common sight in New Zealand. Oh yeah, inside that building on the background, were lots of food stalls, seemingly just in occasion of the Sunday Market.

Happy Sunday, Everyone!

Hey! Why not play with me?

If you know Japanese, you'll know why I took a picture of this restaurant. Wagamama. Ahahaha. No offense. Just felt it funny.

A close up on the hills.

Wellington is said to be San Fransisco's twin.

Shall we fly?

 Coming up next: Sails and Feathers :)

One Sunday Market in Wellington

Wellington, July 19th 2015

It was a Sunday being just as its name: Sun Day. It was the day when weather forecasters predicted terrible bad storm, when just the night before I thought my room window was going to fall off. It was the day when food was on everyone's mine.

Sunday Market at Wellington Harbour

Shame thing to confess, this was my first Sunday Market experience overseas. Everytime my itinerary just didn't match. This time it would hadn't been either had not my ferry to Picton been canceled due to bad weather forecast.

To be noted, this was not the only truck unloading vegetables and fruits.

To be noted also, there were many food trucks on a variety of international cuisine. To name a few, Korean, Thai, Indian, but most proud of: A Bite of Indonesia.
This one was interesting. You see that Caucasian guy? He spoke Indonesian. I heard him talking with another Chinese looking guy who was the one taking orders, delivering, and receiving payment. At first I thought that Chinese looking guy couldn't speak English. But then I heard him promoting and calling his guests in perfect English. Wow. Smart. Being heard talking in Indonesian would be an extra selling point. Imagine walking in a let's say, Japanese restaurant, outside Japan. You hear the waiters speak Japanese, then your food automatically taste more Japanese. Right? Then there was another guy facing back, busy with the stove only. When he turned his head, a native Indonesian, confirmed. The authenticity of this Komodo must be one hundred percent. Of that Garuda above also.

As for me, I opted for something I wouldn't find back home and neither would I possibly have in the long future: Hungarian Chimney Cake.

The base tool.

Smear with butter (or oil?)

Tie the dough.

Put it in the oven.

Take it out.

Apply the paste (sort of jam?) and roll it to make even.

Push the "chimeny" off.

Leave the "chimney" to cool down.

Roll on the topping.

Wrap with plastic.

Mine was walnut.

The other varieties.

Indian cuisine.

One of the Indian food trucks caught my attention. The name. If added with an "H" written as "masalah dosa", in Indonesian that would mean "sin problem". But it says "gluten free". So it should be no problem. Hahaha.

Out of curiosity I googled. Oh, so "dosa" is "pancake". Quoting from the website of Masala Dosa

Masala Dosa Restaurant is a unique Indian eatery named after a popular south Indian breakfast dish. The dish consists of a crispy rice and lentil pancake (dosa) served traditionally with a potato curry, coconut sauce (chutney) and a spicy vegetable and lentil broth called sambar.

The Wellington I Saw

Wellington, July 18-19th 2015

Although on July 18th I took a  Hop-On-Hop-Off Guided Tour, I'd like to warn you that this is not going to be the touristic point of view.

It was raining that day. But my driver's wit and cheerfulness brighten up Wellington for me.

Bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in front of Wellington Railway Station

If I remember correctly, my driver said that this statue was to commemorate the immigration of Indians to Wellington. But according the references I found on the net, such as this one,

it acknowledged "the commitment of the people of New Zealand for setting an example to the world of a tolerant, open and inclusive society"

From Te Papa Tongarewa Museum.

Call me silly, I don't care. What impressed me of all that glory in Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, was this doll. When I was a kid, Dad's friend in America gave this doll to me. I couldn't believe how everything was exactly the same.

Batik making!! Batik.

And then a book about batik making... wow. I'm thinking, maybe I should make a collage of photos related to batik from the countries I have traveled to. Whose national heritage is batik actually? Aye.

A memorial to Paddy (He is a dog.)

About Paddy the Wanderer, I learned from Museum of Wellington City and Sea. Paddy is somewhat like Shibuya's Hachiko. Copying from the information board at the museum:

Paddy the Wanderer was an airedale terrier who became a popular waterfront identity in the 1930s. It is believed he was originally called Dash and was owned by a little girl whose father was a seaman. When the little girl died of pneumonia in 1928, Paddy began wandering the wharves, perhaps looking for his lost playmate. He was soon known and loved by watersiders, seafarers, taxi drivers and carriers, all of whom took turns at paying his annual dog license.
.......
When Paddy was about 13 years old his health deteriorated and he took to a sickbed in a shed on the wharves. He died on 17 July 1939. Obituary notices were placed in local newspapers and a fleet of black taxis formed a funeral cortege to carry his coffin for cremation.

A commemorative drinking fountain (which has a likeness of Paddy, a fountain for humans and two drinking bowls for dogs) was paid for by Paddy's friends and admirers in 1945.

The book of Paddy's biography can be purchased at Museum of Wellington City and Sea.

I recommend this book for all dog lovers. You just need to prepare a tissue box next to you. There are two editions at the museum's souvenir shop. In this one, the extended edition, there are stories about the city itself, a little politics and sports. Maybe in the non-extended edition it's just Paddy. However, the non-extended edition has no photos.

The Hope Gibbons building, an old valued landmark.

 There's more than just a building here. It's about Hopeful Gibbons, the founder of one of New Zealand's largest family businesses. Interestingly to me, "Hopeful" was a christened name after the character in "Pilgrim's Progress". Uhm, that's a book. Not a movie :D

St James Theatre, another prominent landmark in Wellington.

 Too bad, there were no opera or ballet shows during my stay. The Russian tour is coming in September, I read. I wish...

Cabbage Flower by the side of Wakefield Street.

Later on I discovered that cabbage flowers are common 'street flower' in New Zealand.

These ones were just in front of my hostel, YHA Wellington.

Mount Victoria Lookout on July 18th 2015.

Weather wasn't good. My ferry to Picton scheduled the next day was said to be in high possibility of being suspended. And that night the wind worsen. I thought my window was going to fall off. Of all my winter storm experiences, that was the worst. No snow but worst. Maybe because my room was on the 6th floor and facing towards the sea? I spent the night with "Paddy the Wanderer." Forget about the ferry. Who can sail?

I read until 2 past midnight, woke up at 8, thinking I'd be spending the day reading and sewing. I drew my curtain opened.

I gasped. Am I still in Wellington? Unbelievable. In a hurry I grabbed my towel....

See you at the Sunday Market!!