Wellington Pt.9: Cuba St.

Apart from Te Papa , Zealandia, Weta and other places of interests in Wellington, I, along with fellow designers went to Cuba St. Prior to our trip, I've been hearing stories from other designers how great Cuba St. is. So before I depart NZ,I made sure to pay Cuba a visit .

On our way to Cuba St and in case you're wondering where I am, well I took the photo.


Fellow designer Norelle Kendrick leading our pack.


Views en route to Cuba.





What I call as "Wooden Brancusi".


The famous Bucket Fountain by Burren and Keen, a kinetic sculpture built in 1969.


A clip which demonstrates how the fountain works.



What Norelle and I had for lunch at Satay Kingdom. Boy did I missed rice during my stay there? Well a lot.LOL


Met one of the performers from the show at Satay Kingdom. So nice of him to allow his photo to be taken.


Art is present even inside the "dunny".



Bah-bye Cuba.

Wellington Pt.8: Weta Cave

A Filipina I met at the party hosted by the Philippine Embassy in New Zealand offered to accompany me to Weta Cave. If you're familiar with the Lord of the Rings franchise, Weta Cave just happens to be Peter Jackson's "workshop".

Found myself a pet outside Weta.


An Uruk-hai or orc from The Two Towers which "guards" the entrance.


Me with the fella from that "famous film".


A selection of character studies and props from various films created by Weta.





A selection of armoury used in Prince Caspian.



Study for Sean Bean's character from that "famous film".


Study for Cate Blanchett's Galadriel, again from that famous film.


No further introductions needed for this guy. :)


Also found in Weta is a shop that sells merchandise (bought a few TinTin postcards) and a small theater which features the Weta story. I would have taken a photo of the theater had they allowed me to LOL. Nevertheless, a trip to Weta is a must. Even if you're a LOTR fan or not.

Time to Get Crafty Pt. 2

Someone had given me these set of fish coutouts a couple of years ago. They've been kept for a while until I found them recently and decided to make something out of it. (Had used a few of those as my bag tag during my trip.)

For this project I thought of making a mobile, something which I called "Underwater Calder".


All lined up. Pinned, ready to be stitched and "stuffed". :)


Two covered wooden hoops a few strands of beads and voila!

Time to Get Crafty

One of the things that I love to do is repurposing stuff. I just like that the idea of giving a second lease on things apart their usual purpose.

Found this bike basket (bike not included) at my aunt's house and I knew that I HAVE to have it. :)



Now serving its purpose as a magazine rack. Nifty eh?

Wellington Pt. 7: Random Photos

Its such a treat going around Wellington as the city bursts with things that stimulates the senses. Apart from the usual galleries ART seems to be visible everywhere you look. :)

A Magritte Inspired display.


Took this photo in one "abandoned" shop.


This is probably one of the most genius way of recycling old boards. I so want one for my own place (in the future).


When I first saw that "bee", I thought it was a mascot. I later realized that its actually a display.


Saw a couple of tykes with face paint. Aren't they cute? :)


Something at Civic Square. A "floating" ball with silver fern motif. :)

Wellington 6: Zealandia

Just a few minutes away from downtown Wellington is Zealandia, a protected reserve which displays New Zealand's flora and fauna.




Free range Takahes.



About to have lunch.


The boat that will take us around the dam.









Now, who says progress and the environment can't be at the same place?