Cable Cars

The Cable Cars were not as bad as what I had imagined them to be. It was neat going through the tunnels and seeing the museum at the top. The views of the city were beautiful and it was a lovely clear day as well.

The Wellington Zoo

The zoo was a neat place and all of the children were amazed at the animals. The chimpanzees were a particular favourite - they were really funny and were putting on a bit of a show for all of us - dancing and making noises, swinging and playing. There was a baby chimp called Beni. We saw him playing and swinging around. It was really cute. We also got up close to the giraffes. The baboons were funny too and they loved to eat raw onions! Have a look at some of the photos from our day.

The Wahine disaster

Koka Ritihia told us a story of the storm that happened that caused the Wahine disaster. She was growing up in Wellington at the time that it happened. We went to see the place where it ran aground. The kids had a photo sitting on the actual anchor that belonged to the Wahine. There is a playground there too, which is fitting because there were children that died there too. After a play on the playground, we headed off for the Zoo.

Capital E On TV

This place was cool. All the children had their part in creating a news type programme. They worked the cameras, the wardrobe and makeup, the control room. They learned how to present the weather and conducted interviews. It was a lot of fun and we laughed .... a lot! They learned that everyone needed to work together as a team in order for the show to be a success - a lesson that could be applied to a lot of things in life as well. The costumes were hilarious and everyone enjoyed themselves.

We are looking at making copies of their news programme available for sale.

Capital E Soundhouse

After waking up, having breakfast and doing jobs we headed off for Capital E. We had a fair idea of what we were going to be doing but did not realise it would be so cool. In the morning, we went to Capital E Soundhouse. The children got into pairs and created their own sounds using Sony AcidPro, a music editing programme. You can listen to the awesome sounds they have created at this website. http://soundhouse.capitale.org.nz/schools/albums/2008/December/Waikirikiri%20School%20(011208)/

Arrival at Wellington

We arrived in Wellington at approximately 7.00pm and was welcomed by Matua-Kore Manuel, the caretaker of the marae. We stayed nice and close to the city centre - not close enough to walk but it did not take long to get to most of the places we were going to. Everyone was tired and hungry too so after making our beds and diary time some of us went out to get dinner. A long day of travelling and excitement about the next day's events resulted in a late night for some.

Day 1 - Palmy

In Palmy, we went to the Square and then went to have a look around. My group was Jason, Fin and Te Wairua. We went into an arcade and the boys discovered escalators. After about their 7th ride going up and down, the security guard came out and was watching us. I took one last photo and then we left. We were amazed at the amount of sculptures there are in other cities.