Photos

I’ve just caught up on some developing/scanning/editing recently, and here are some of my labours.

A couple of night shots from NZ – the light tripod did come in handy and I’m happy with the results.

Finally had some colour rolls processed, this is from September last year! Shot on very average Kodak Gold, but I love the light.

Another few shots from NZ.

This one was shot on a roll of Tmax. The cannister was shut so tightly that I had to come back to it three times with different tools to open it – a combination of bottle opener and can opener finally got it in the end.

And finally, my first upload from the panorama toy camera. It was shot on a roll of XP2 Super 400, which I accidentally processed as black and white. The contrast is lacking, and it didn’t help that the majority of the shots were over-exposed, but fixing up scans and some nifty editing saved it.

Biffy Clyro

When I saw a listing for Biffy Clyro in some street press a couple of months ago, I was ecstatic. Although I had quite a few opportunities to see them while I was over in England, I never really got around to it. I first heard of them in early 2003 when they playing as a support to newly discovered InMe, a rock/grunge band from Essex. When I found out who the support was, I thought it was best to look them and up and see if they were any good – and found that they most definitely were. It was a good show and they had such an effect on the audience that you couldn’t help but like them.

Since then I had bought only their first two albums, having not got around to purchasing the others as they were released. Even now that I’ve heard their newer stuff, I still prefer the early albums with the rough edges and lack of extra effects. Thankfully at their show this week, they had a great mixed set list of old and new. The support band was the Skybombers who were nothing special – upbeat rock, that so many Melbourne-ites seem to play now. The venue, Hi-Fi Bar, was relatively empty (last time I was seeing Tiger Army and it was packed out), and even though I was standing toward the back during Biffy, I could see clearly. The sound was spot on (of course, through my ear plugs) and other than Simon’s guitar failing at one point, the show went off without a hitch. Between the support and Biffy, I went out to get some fresh cool air and ran into a friend, who had been invited by an English friend who knew about them. It was unexpected, but when I spoke to him afterward, he sounded like he enjoyed every minute of it despite not knowing much of their stuff. They seem to have that effect on people.

Although the show probably doesn’t go into my top five concerts (not that I could decide on a list), it was a very good one and the atmosphere was special – a smaller crowd who you could tell all quite wanted to be there. Even if a significant proportion of the audience were British rather than local!

Comfest

With the Melbourne International Comedy Festival just around the corner, my diary had quickly filled up. Several shows planned and booked, several semi-planned and others will no doubt be spur of the moment. My highlights this year are Danny Bhoy and Dylan Moran, both for the first time.

Reviews of the shows as they happen!

A Story

Today’s been an unusual day. I’ve been excessively tired since Friday, for no particular reason as I have been getting more than enough sleep. So when I was on the tram going out to Camberwell for the photographers market, I thought it’d be a chance to just day dream and relax. This was not to be. When I was on the tram, I took out my hair from it’s usual bun and put it in a plait so it wouldn’t pull on my scalp as much. I did this as discreetly as possible, trying not to get in peoples’ way.

After I had finished and went back to my daydreaming, the old gentleman sitting next to me looked at me said that I had beautiful long hair. Not to be ungracious, I thanked him for his compliment and went back to daydreaming. He then proceeded to tell me that my hair was too beautiful and I should never cut it, and that he had often seen women with hair that made them look like boys, and that I should stick with my ‘princess’ hair.

I’m not used to strangers talking to me like this. At all. It was most unusual, but he was pleasant and didn’t come across as dangerous, so we had a chat. It turns out his name is Mohammed and he is from Egypt, near the Suez Canal. He had lived in Australia for 10 years, but went overseas every year, usually back to Egypt as well as other places. We discussed Germany, where he had spent some time in Berlin, and how in Egypt you can buy very good, very cheap food!

Sounds endearing, right? Well I’m not sure what to think of what happened at the beginning of our conversation. While he was still complimenting my hair, he gave me a small rose bud. In most cases this sounds downright creepy – why is a middle-to-old aged man carrying around rose buds to hand out to young women on public transport on a Sunday morning?

Now I’m usually the most cynical one when it comes to this, but quite honestly, he seemed an interesting and kind, if a little quirky, man, who made my tram journey go much quicker, and my morning much more interesting.

Home safe

As was stated in the last post, I came home safely and thankfully had the Friday (13th!) off work too, to recover from my holiday. Most of my day was spent unpacking, organising photos and doing some washing.

In the evening however, I managed to get out the house and went along to Rankins Lane in the city, to see the exhibition of a vague acquaintance from Flickr – Velco. The Absinthe Dream/Conversations” exhibition was simply beautiful and I highly recommend going along (yes in the next two days) if possible! The opening was a nice evening, although I was getting a cold so I stayed away from the absinthe on offer!

The weekend following was quite uneventful. I saw The Watchmen, which I thoroughly enjoyed despite not having read the graphic novels. The soundtrack was especially good, the highlight for me being Bob Dylan at the start!

After that it was struggling back into work after a week and a day off. Of course there was catching up to be done, as well as taking on my full load again, but thankfully I got through it all! I had Wednesday off, which involved seeing the ENT about my dizziness, the physio about my knee and visiting Ted’s in the city to drop off a couple of colour films to be processed.

The ENT is still at odds as to what is causing my dizziness. He suspects that mals de debarquement is not the cause, but having ruled out the other main suspects, he is unsure as to what is the cause. I’m being booked in for a CT scan and a balance test before I go back to see him, so perhaps they will reveal something. I can only hope, as it does seem to be getting worse.

The physio was all fine thankfully. Even if it is not ITBS, the deep tissue massage on the ITB and the knee-cap tape is definitely working, and that’s all that matters! The deep tissue massages aren’t the most pleasant, but it seems to help. The taping I can now do myself, and did so throughout New Zealand and since. I notice it helping particularly when standing or walking – for example I went to a concert on Friday (see below) and I could stand without issue for most of the night. At least something is going well for me!

On the Friday night, I had a few friends over for drinks and nibbles (I whipped up a couple of potato pizzas, delicious) before we went down to the Corner Hotel. Although I didn’t know the bands particularly well – Nancy Vandal and Frenzal Rhomb, – I did enjoy the show, and have had Nancy Vandal in my head since then! I’ll be copying their CDs from a friend so that I can continue to enjoy them. It was a great night, if a little intoxicating, but I was home safe and sound and tucked up by 2am.

Saturday was mainly in recovery mode. I went to the Vegie Bar in Brunswick St for lunch with a friend, which was delicious, and picked up the films from Ted’s. Later in the afternoon I went to see a friend who is in the Royal Melbourne Hospital after a bad fall on her knee which required an operation. Three of four tendons had gone, but she seems to be getting on with things and we all have our fingers crossed for her.

Sunday morning dawned unusually early and brought with it the Camberwell Photographer’s Market – a highlight of the film-shooting-community. This was my first year in attendance, and also the first year the Melbourne Silver Mine had a stall there – for members to sell their gear. I hadn’t planned on making any big purchases, and had set myself a nice low limit of $50 if I did see anything. Thankfully I stayed well underneath that and bought only two things. The first was a film squeegee, to help with water marks when I process my own film. The second was a plastic camera – Cheungyun Minitech 3D-05. It shoots four half-frames at once (35mm) and I can’t wait to see the first roll out of it!

While I was there there was much discussion about medium format gear, as a lot of people were after certain items. It’s started to tempt me into buying one too (peer pressure is hard), although I will have to do some research first obviously. I have several friends who shoot with various makes and models, so I will have to investigate, but it’s something new which does appeal to me, especially now that I can process my own black and white film.

Not that I need any new cameras at the moment though, as last weekend I was also given a plastic panorama camera. Instead of having a high-tech method, it’s a matter of flipping a lever on the back and some plastic shutters lower over the top and bottom of the frame so that the negative isn’t fully exposed. I went out with it on Wednesday and found it far too easy to shoot with, the roll was almost done after a couple of hours. I will hopefully process that this afternoon and get scanning!

This week coming also holds some excitement for me in the form of a Scottish band. I’ll be seeing Biffy Clyro, who I haven’t seen since their first support slot with InMe after their first album all the way back in 2003! They’ve changed quite significantly since then, but still have a distinct sound which I love. I can’t wait! I also plan on trying to get out and shoot with various cameras at lunchtime and after work.

In the mean time, here are some more shots from NZ, both film and digital.

Christchurch

So, Christchurch was slightly colder than Wellington and gave the impression of being smaller (although actually has around 300 more people according to the last census.) The next morning was fresh and clear though, so I decided that it would be a good day for, suprisingly enough, walking around and taking photos!

My first stop was the tourist information centre though, to see if I needed to book anything. I ended up buying a ticket for the International Antarctic Centre, one of the few sights that interested me. I would have liked to do the wildlife centre and traditional Maori cultural experience, but I couldn’t justify the cost or the time. Perhaps next time.

After that, I headed to the Southern Encounter, which is in Cathedral Square and is essentially an aquarium but with the added novelty of having a pair of Kiwi birds. The place itself was relatively small – as could only be expected in its location – but was quite sad to see the small tanks. They have a fair amount of native Kiwi sea and river life, including seahorse, frogs, yabbies and eels. Obviously, the novelty of the place is being able to see the Kiwi so easily. When I went in I was told that they wouldn’t be up until 10.30am and although I tried, I couldn’t waste that much time in there, so I went out to the market in Cathedral Square instead.

It was mostly tourist oriented, with a lot of Maori jewellery and sheepskin slippers. The highlight for me was the knit-wear stall though. I had been trying to find some Kiwi yarn to buy for my housemate, and she seemed like the best person to ask! She marked a place on my map called Knitworld and I decided to go down after I had seen the Kiwi!

I headed back in and one of the birds had just woken up, so it was wondering around at the front of the enclosure (which was a decent size) looking for food. They’re beautiful birds, and much bigger than I had thought. As much as it was made for tourists, it was certainly a beautiful experience.

After that I headed out toward Knitworld – mostly through residential areas. Someone even asked me for directions to a hotel on the way – as if a camera and day pack isn’t enough to put people off! Knitworld was a great shop – full of, surprisingly enough, yarn, from floor to ceiling. It was another beautiful sight!

To take full advantage of the weather, I decided to loop back past the Hagley Park (where the Ellerslie Flower Show was taking over) and stop in the Botanic Gardens for a while before finding some lunch. On the way over though, I went past two fantastic places. The Cupcake Parlour, which was a delightful pink building selling some stunningly decorated cupcakes, and a few doors up, The Cheese Monger, with some of the best smelling cheese I’ve smelt! I left both of these but after a few steps, went back into the Cheese Monger and bought some bread and two cheeses – Paki-paki and a smelly blue one whose name escapes me – before I went on to the Botanic Gardens for a mini picnic.

Given that my legs were struggling at this point, I decided to take it easy and not walk through the Botanic Gardens all afternoon. Instead, after a long break, I headed into the Canterbury Museum, which was interesting enough but I didn’t spend too long there as some of the exhibitions were either too busy, or disinteresting for me!

Instead I continued on and went to the Christchurch Art Gallery which another purpose built modern building, absolutely stunning. I wondered around but found little of interest – some modern art, some architecture and a large collection of traditional work. Most of the contents are by New Zealand artists, not that I want to link the two! One that stood out for me was Gottfried Lindauer, who had several Maori portraits hanging. They were quite striking.

After this I decided I needed a break, so I went back to the hostel for a break. One of the girls had left the room (and thankfully the other two were nowhere to be seen), and a man had been moved in – he seemed bewildered that he was in a female room, but he was only there for one night. I read, relaxed and recharged (no, really, my batteries were lacking), and headed out for dinner as the weather deteriorated. It took me a while to decide where to go, but rain eventually pushed me toward a quiet Japanese grill/bar, rather than overpriced fish and chips from an American-style diner.

Just after I had had my first course however, a big group of raucous ladies came in for their dinner. The waiter moved me to table further away (I had been directly next to them), and the rest of my meal was quite enjoyable. I had a selection of skewers with meat and seafood cooked in various sauces – quite delicious!

It continued to rain, and as the wind was picking up I thought it best to call it a night and not risk my stick-like tripod and an umbrella trying to take long exposures. I was grateful for an early night – considering I spent so much time in my sleep trying not to fall of the best (it was a raised one), or knock my alarm off it, I needed all the sleep I could get. The other two girls weren’t exactly the most considerate when they came in at 4am either!

As I couldn’t sleep the next morning, I headed out early before I caught a shuttle bus to the Antarctic Centre. It was an interesting place, with lots of informative displays and hands-on things. One of the highlights of the trip is meant to be an Antarctic storm – they have a section where it’s -8C, and you can put on a big jacket (and rubber over-shoes to keep the snow clean!) and they turn on the windchill and turn down the lights. It was interesting to say the least, but not quite like Rovaniemi in winter!

The other main highlight is the penguins – which are actually native to NZ and not Antarctica. It’s more of a rescue centre for them – most of them are missing flippers or feet or eyes, and there are very few breeding pairs as most of them are older than any wild ones would live.

Next it was a chance to see the HD movie which turned out to be a pretentious piece of rubbish, panning across different landscapes. Sure it was beautiful, but I’d rather watch Planet Earth any day!

I missed the Hägglunds ride though because my back and legs were already sore – I thought it best I not push myself because I still had most of that day and the next morning to go! I really regretted choosing a YHA over a hotel at that point!

Back in the city it was cold (around 12 degrees) and raining on and off – my lucky stint with the weather could only last so long and I think I did pretty well!

I went on the tourist tram that runs on the one track around the main centre, which was interesting with a commentary from the driver. I got off around New Regent Street because I thought I would stop at the Copenhagen Cafe for lunch, but unfortunately it was packed, so I headed down to Esquires, which was a crap chain – I paid for the pleasure of eating a soggy sandwich and sugary hot milk (apparently hot chocolate). Eventually I headed back to the hostel to pick up the Rough Guide then went out again to the Provincial buildings. There were no maps or information brochures, so I just wondered around until I found things to photography – there were some beautiful rooms with wooden beams and high windows. After that, it had stopped raining again, I headed back to the Arts Centre for a closer look. The arts market was in full swing, and it reminded me of a smaller version of Covent Garden in London.

I bought a beautifully decorated cupcake (similar to those at the Cupcake Parlour) and it started to rain quite heavily, so I thought it best to stay and look at more pretentious art work throughout the Arts Centre. There were some nice pieces, but the prices put me off even thinking about buying anything! After I ran out of that, I headed across to Annie’s Winebar and Restaurant for a rest (as my knees were struggling, despite still being taped) and a couple glasses of NZ’s finest! Of course I forgot to note down what I had, but there was a Marlborough sav blanc and a chardonnay I believe.

After heading back to the hostel for my free drink and more clothes – the temperature was dropping – I went out for dinner. I ended up at a place I had noticed the night before, the Mexican Cafe. The food was reasonable, but jalapeños were disappointingly mild. I had a ‘fire and ice’ margarita though, with chilli infused tequila, which was quite delicious! Definitely something I need to investigate.

With all the walking catching up with me, I decided to have a lazy night and headed to the communal area and watched some TV for the first time there. Chuck and Lost seemed to be the choice, neither of which appealed to me, but kept me awake for long enough until I could head to bed and not think of myself as pathetic!

My last day in Christchurch was slightly warmer and brighter, which was nice. I checked out early, put my bag in the lockers which were now working, and went for my last look at Christchurch. I took the tram run again, this time in an open part of it to take photos, and took it all the way around. After that I walked a little more, taking my last photos, getting the last souvenirs, and had a snack before getting my bag and heading off for the shuttle bus.

At this point I was excited to be going home and wondered what could possibly go wrong. Unfortunately, it was then that three ditzy English girls/backpackers arrived at the bus. They all spoke as though they were slightly stoned and a little brain damaged. Little did I know…they followed me through check in, through security, sat next to me at the cafe and were then diagonally opposite and behind me on the flight. Oh, and they waited for their luggage next to me. Thankfully they were on the other end of the Skybus and I could finally get home in peace!

All in all it was an uneventful trip home, minor delays with luggage, some good duty-free shopping and a thankfully empty tram so that I could travel with my backpack without struggling too much. Knowing that I didn’t have work the next day just added to the tranquility of my house.

Wellington Pt. 2 to Christchurch

After planning to get another early start, I didn’t leave the hostel until around 10am, which probably appropriate as it was a Sunday (8th March) and things wouldn’t be open yet.

First up was a ride on the cable car from the other end of town up the hill to the Botanic Gardens. As most people had suggested, I planned to walk back down through the gardens, but unfortunately my knees were disagreeing with the plan so I wandered around a little bit, saw the museum and came back down via the cable car. After that I walked through the ‘built up’ end of town, the CBD and ‘high street’ shopping area.

My aim was to reach the Beehive and Parliament, which I did the long way around. The area was very quiet, being a Sunday, but there were a few tourists and I did my best to keep them out of my photos as I went around to get different angles. I then headed into the Beehive (executive parliament) as I noticed it was open, and there were tours being run, but with no photos allowed, I had little interest in it.

I planned to have a look at old St Paul’s Cathedral up the same end of town, but before I reached it I found the new St Paul’s Cathedral. The pastel pink/coral colour first caught my eye, then the grotesque angles and lack of external decoration (hoping it might detract from the colour). I honestly felt it was more ugly than Guildford Catherdral in England – which, constructed with red brick, is hard to beat. I didn’t go in because there was a Sunday morning service in progress. Thankfully when I came to Old St Paul’s Cathedral, it was a beautiful old wooden building which apparently had strong links with the American Marine Corps which was stationed there during WWII – there are several flags and mentions of it.

I had heard a little about a pub called The Backbencher up this end of town – apparently full of satirical political jokes and puppets. I came across it as I headed back into the town centre and stopped to have a drink of the NZ brew Tui. Granted I didn’t many of the political references – knowing very little about NZ politics – but the puppets were impressive and it was a great place with brilliant staff.

I meandered my way back into town, seeing various buildings which I would have been interested in but which weren’t open, and finally headed down to the water where I found the Museum of Wellington. Smaller than Te Papa, and more specific to Wellington, they had some very interesting displays – including 100 years of Wellington, with a notable event for each year, complete with memorabilia. The display on the Wahine disaster was by far the most interesting – although, as could be expected, depressing.

As I went back into the sunshine, I was feeling peckish so made for a small cafe near my hostel called Felix. Service wasn’t the best, but the scrambled eggs and sourdough toast was plentiful, well-priced and delicious. After stuffing myself there, I headed back to the hostel for an afternoon nap (again!) Unfortunately this turned into just a rest.

A few months ago, I had spoken to a friend from Melbourne and found out he would be in Christchurch while I was there, and we had discussed meeting up. I SMS’d him on my last day in Wellington, planning to arrange something for the next evening in Christchurch, but he replied that he was on the boat to Wellington then. We eventually arranged to meet for dinner that night once he had come into town, and left it at that.

When we finally agreed on a meeting place, I came to the corner and they (him and his partner) were both incredibly shocked to see me. They had thought I was another friend of theirs called Jake, and the last person they had expected was me! After getting over the shock, we walked down Courtenay Place for a late dinner and finally ended up in Coyote (a second time for me) – which I was definitely not opposed to. We discovered they had a short wait for a table, but it gave us a chance to have a drink and catch up. It was good to see a friendly face while away from home.

After a delicious dinner and some good beer, they headed out of the city to their accommodation and I went off to take some more night photos. Again, I did not feel unsafe, but knowing that I had an early start the next morning (6am!) I decided to head back relatively early. Back at the hostel, one of the guys from my first night had moved out to his own place, and another German bloke had come in – another tourist though.

The next morning I had to rise bright and early – I was catching the ferry down to Picton on the south island and the bus to Christchurch. The Interislander ferry check-in was around 7.30am, but the shuttle bus from the hostel left between 6.45am and 7.15am – meaning I needed to be up, ready and checked out by around that time. The guy who had moved into the room the night before was also catching the ferry, so getting up wasn’t too much of a problem.

The bus arrived, with another large and overly enthusiastic Maori driver, who thanked us for travelling with him and encouraged us to join in praising the lord. A few smiles were exchanged between passengers, but overall it was nice to have someone so friendly first thing in the morning!

As I checked in for the ferry, they asked if I had already checked in because apparently that’s how the computer had me listed. Obviously I hadn’t, but they found a boarding pass that had been printed an hour earlier and said to go on through. As I boarded the boat, they scanned the pass but it said my ticket had been cancelled. A second scan, and the same thing. The guy just shrugged and let me go through – I was utterly confused but thankful I was allowed on the boat.

As I came off the boat, I had an hour or so kill before my bus left (from the ferry terminal), so I caught some sunshine, – it had only rained while I was on the ferry – had a snack and checked my email. The bus was on time but the driver less excitable than the earlier one. I decided to catch up with some napping between admiring the countryside as we travelled down to Christchurch. There was one stop in Kaikoura, which was small but apparently a gateway for nature.

The journey was uneventful – the area is beautiful, wild seals all along the coast and black volcanic sand. It rained on and off, but not while we stopped, or once we had arrived in Christchurch. My luck with the weather continued!

I had picked up a map in the ferry terminal and managed to find my hostel, just a block away from where the bus dropped us off. This time I was staying in a YHA hostel in Manchester Street (nearly all of the streets in Christchurch have English-themed names). After settling into my room (this time all females, none particularly friendly), I checked out the lockers so I could drop one of my cameras for the evening again. After being told where they were and how to work them, I lost $6 to find out they weren’t working – then I was told that someone is coming to fix them tomorrow. They couldn’t give me a refund, so I headed out for dinner.

Having read several guides on Christchurch, one place had stood out as being particularly good for seafood – a restaurant called Dux De Lux. I found it on the corner of the Arts Centre (a block of art-y shops, boutiques and cafes) and headed in. On entering I found that, rather oddly, I had to read a menu on the wall and queue up to order. Taking a tray with my drink (a dark Hereford Bitter, award winning apparently) to find a table and just sit to await my meal. Only five to ten minutes later, my seafood jambalaya (actually seafood risotto) came out – which meant it was either undercooked, or had been sitting there. The latter turned out to be true. Unfortunately the entire meal was disappointing – the seafood was mushy and overcooked, the risotto was cooked in what tasted like tinned tomato soup with a little chilli and the salad was soggy.

To add to this, the older couple next to me, who were also tourists, were also bemused by the unconventional serving methods. They sat down to their main courses, wondering where the vegetables that the husband had ordered were. After he lay down his cutlery from his main course, they were bought out and laid down – as they took away his main plate. All in all, it was an odd dining experience, and I was left wondering how they had such a good reputation – although the awards for beers were well warranted.

Again, I took some night photos on the way back across town to the hostel. I found the fourth occupant of the room just heading to bed as I was, a Canadian girl who was heading off the next morning in a hire car with some other backpackers. Add her to the Northern Irish girls and I think I preferred the company of the male-dominated dorm room.

Travelling makes me SICK

No, really. I have a cold and am feeling sorry for myself in bed instead of going to the airshow, which I’m quite sad about. On the other hand, I can rest and get some things done that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. So here we go, the first installment of my trip to New Zealand!

Not liking to leave anything to the last minute, I was borrowing a backpack from Kat at 10pm on Thursday (5th March) – a back-up plan in case I couldn’t find my own one on Friday (6th March) morning. I went out nice and early and did manage to find my own one, so came home by 11am and got packing. I changed my mind about cameras a few times, but eventually settled on just two – my Olympus OM-1N and Canon EOS 10D (with zoom and wide lenses – just in case). I took a mixture of black and white and colour film for the Olympus, but concluded I would probably only shoot black and white on the film because I can process it myself, and colour on the digital.

Eventually got on my way, no major problems (I’d left in time to account for the train delays – a passenger was sick on the platform at Flinders Street Station) and got to Tullamarine in plenty of time. Checked in, found something to eat, had a look at the duty-free (planning to purchase on the way back in) and through security.

Most times I’ve gone through airports in the last few years, I’ve had camera/cameras and film on me, and most times I get asked to take them all out. This time though, they didn’t bat an eyelid and I went on my merry way with no questions asked.

The flight itself was uneventful. The headphone jack didn’t work, and I didn’t want to move seats, so I read most of the flight (1984 by George Orwell – for a third or fourth time now) and tried to keep sane when I started getting dizzy during the descent into Wellington! It was a horrible feeling, but I didn’t vomit and I’m here to tell the tale, so it can’t be too bad.

As I collected my luggage and came out, I was under the impression that I would have to take a taxi into the city because the shuttle buses stopped at 11pm (I flew in after midnight). I came out and a member of airport staff was pointing out where a shuttle bus was waiting for people. I headed over and a larger-than-life Maori guy greeted me enthusiastically, asked where I needed to go and stood around smiling at everyone until we were ready to go. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome to NZ! It was still raining though…

He dropped me at the door of my hostel, Nomads Capital in Wakefield St. Now, I booked this a month or two ago, and specifically booked a female only dorm – thinking it would be quieter without snoring. I didn’t think to ask when I checked in, so headed up to my room and as I opened the door was hit by the smell of sweat and aftershave – this was obviously not a female dorm! About 20 minutes later, the two other occupants came in and as suspected, both were male. Both were ‘living’ there. They were friendly enough, and after the introductions, they went straight to sleep, and thankfully didn’t snore. Unfortunately I still didn’t sleep too well with the stuffiness, the uncomfortable bed and not being used to other people around me. As far as I could tell though, the room was quite clean and bathroom small and functional.

In the morning (Saturday 7th March), I double-checked what I had booked and it turns out they had received no such instruction – probably because I’d booked through an external website. They offered to move me, but I was content there and the smell wasn’t too bad when the door was propped open to let a breeze through!

So I headed out on my first fresh morning in Wellington, and thankfully it had stopped raining. A beautiful blue sky awaited me, so I headed out with my cameras and went down to the tourist information centre, then through Civic Square and down by the water to get to Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. It was free entry, but with a half an hour queue and small fee to see the Monet exhibition. I had arrived just before it opened, and decided to walk around before tackling the line for the Monet exhibition because it seemed that people were going just to see that.

The museum is a beautiful, modern building with quite a lot of natural light in the halls. The exhibitions were interesting, if a little small at times. The Maori history in particular was quite interesting, and I noted that there was a lot for the kids – hands-on displays etc. There was also, intriguingly, a Scottish display! Apparently NZ has a large population of Scots, and many of the belongings from the first immigrants are housed there.

After I walked around I decided to get in line to see the Monet exhibition. It didn’t take as long as I thought, and gave me a chance to read the brochures I had picked up that morning! On entering I was asked whether I wanted to have my cameras put in the cloakroom (photography is not allowed in this exhibition) but I pointed out I’d put the lens caps on and wouldn’t be taking any photos and they accepted that and let me in.

Generally in the museum they had no problems with taking photos – so long as it wasn’t of the displays and was only for personal use. This was fine for me, and after being told that on entry, I had no other problems. It was nice change to, for example, the State Library of Victoria, where I was watched and reminded all the way through not to use flash.

The Monet exhibition was beautiful, with a few other Impressionist pieces thrown in to show the history of how the art developed. Well worth the wait and cost, I was glad to have been able to see it.

After this I was feeling peckish, so headed along to Courtenay Place hoping I could grab something to eat. I found a place recommended to me by a colleague, Coyote, and decided to give it a try. The breakfast quesadilla was my choice, and it was delicious! Shame the orange juice wasn’t fresh, but you can’t have everything.

After my late breakfast, I decided I had best take advantage of the good weather and decided to walk down along Oriental Parade, where there’s a beach and a lovely wide footpath (even wider than the rest of the city – which was wide enough).

The sun kept shining and a lot of families were out enjoying the weather, there were even a few kids swimming in the 50 metres between the the life-savers’ flags. I began to notice a trend – that a fair number of people use skateboards or longboards as modes of transport – the wide and flat footpaths are ideal for it.

I walked out a way before I turned to come back the same way and went into the city around Kent Terrace and Vivian Street – so I could see Cuba Street/Mall as I looped back. It was interesting to see a different city, although at times it did feel like just another urban area. The people just spoke a little differently.

Cuba Street/Mall was different to how I had pictured it, but was still interesting with the huge blending of people – tourists and locals – who seemed to engulf it on a Saturday afternoon. The fountain in the mall was interesting – I can’t say that I liked it, but it is mildly amusing for children to get too close and get splashed.

I went down to the tourist information centre again so that I could see how I could get to Mount Victoria – apparently some of the best views of Wellington – and after being given a bus number and timetable, I realised that it didn’t actually run on weekends. Sadly, given that I was only there for Saturday and Sunday, it meant I didn’t get to see Wellington from there.

As the afternoon kept going, I was lacking in energy, so I headed back to the hostel for a rest. This turned into an afternoon nap, which was quite good as no one else was in the room! I had a couple hours rest, and sorted out all my camera gear again. I decided to leave my SLR in the locker as I took out my tripod for the evening, shooting only digital as I’m not yet used to longer exposures and don’t want to waste a lot of frames.

As I was loosely planning my trip around a Rough Guide from 2006, I tried to double check on activities and places before I headed out my way to see them. Unfortunately I didn’t check that for the restaurant I chose for my first night, a traditional Maori one, and so headed out only to find it had closed. As I headed back into the city, I remembered my colleague also recommended a kebab joint, so I went in and had my first ever kebab – and certainly won’t be my last.

I walked down by the waterfront as the sun was setting and took some longer exposures, including some which I planned to merge together to create HDR images. At no point did I feel unsafe in Wellington, even at night on my own, and decided to shoot again the next night too.

This was my first HDR attempt, which I’m relatively happy. It’s only two exposures – the sky and the building.

I headed back to the hostel, and as it was a Saturday night, the boys from my room and I went down to the hostel bar (Blend) for a few drinks (I was given a 2-4-1 voucher when I checked in) – but I began to realise that some types of backpackers were quite annoying and was glad to get to my bed that night.

Our room was now full too, as a young German guy was moved in – although he was actually looking for place to stay as he had just moved to Wellington to study. Being the only tourist in the room was a little strange, but they didn’t hold it against me and I was enjoying my stay. And as uncomfortable as the bed was, I was glad to be off my feet!

I have returned

I’m back! I survived the flights, the rain and the hostels and am back home safe in Melbourne.

I have notes and drafts from my trip but finding the time to type them will be hard. The place and the people are amazing – although I wish I had left the cities more.

I’ll try and get to this a little later on over the weekend but with a gallery opening tonight, friends to catch up with and the Melbourne Avalon Air Show on Sunday, I’ll struggle to find time to get it all written up!

Journal

As my NZ trip fast approaches, I’ve thought about how I kept diaries on all my previous holidays. When I was eight and, as a family, we backpacked around Europe, I was forced to keep a journal of what saw and did each day. At the time it was, obviously, quite monotonous, but over the years I’ve come across it in boxes and on bookcases and flipped through some pages and it’s surprising how much I can actually remember just from a few lines of it.

I’ll definitely keep a diary while I’m away this time, which will probably be a basis for here when I update, but also a written reminder in its own right (I’m old fashioned like that).

This has got me thinking though – I’m considering typing up that journal from the ‘big trip’ when I was eight. If I can work out how, I’ll add a separate blog to this account (I believe I can?) or I’ll just add it in to my regular posts. I plan on typing up the exact entry from the journal and then adding my own notes of what I can remember to it.

I believe I have thrown out my diaries from trips to America, Canada and assorted trips in Europe (France, Germany, Finland etc.) but if I come across anything, I might add them too. Otherwise I’ll just type an account of what I can remember.

All of this thinking about travelling has been playing with my mind and I keep mentally planning mega-holidays for myself in years to come. Of course, in the words of Homer Simpson, “40 seconds? But I want it now!”