Back to Wellington

Upon returning to our Wellington home in April, the girls started their second term.

Our dining room

our backyard

Claire moved up into the oldest of three classes at Clifton Terrace Model School. It’s called Kahikatea (a tree, growing to 150 feet, that is the tallest in the forests – appropriate for the oldest class) and is a class of 16 students ages 9-13. A pretty magical environment...most of the time.

The school was recently featured in a Wellington glossy magazine, Fishhead http://www.fishhead.co.nz/ as the best school in Wellington. The article won't be online until this issue goes off the newsstands, so check out the link after November.  Nevertheless, it’s a great article, featuring the many creative talents that have emerged from the school. The most famous of which, to Americans anyway, is Brett McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame. While not exactly hard-hitting investigative journalism, it was fun to see this wonderful school featured in Fishhead, and… the article includes a lovely half-page picture of Eleanor!

Claire takes dance classes at Footnote http://www.footnote.org.nz/, which is run by Brett’s mother, Deirdre Tarrent, who is also a Clifton Terrace graduate. Footnote is also a professional dance company. Claire and I attended one of their performances and saw Brett there! While Wellington is one of New Zealand's biggest cities, it has been incredibly easy to feel very connected in Wellington!

Both girls have gotten involved in Scouts.

Eleanor being inducted into Keas

Claire’s joined Girl Guides (Kiwi version of Girl Scouts). One of the NZ troops is trying to build the world’s longest chain of used bras as a part of a breast cancer awareness campaign. They’re hoping to collect 200,000 bras. After the chain is made, the bras that are still reasonably intact will be sent to low-income communities in the Pacific Islands. It’s been an interesting project. I put up a few posters about the campaign around my office and have been touched by the number of people bringing me bags of their (or their partners’) old bras, some handed over sheepishly and others proudly, often with stories about battles with breast cancer.

Hopefully the following pictures show why we love just hanging out around Wellington.

Eleanor used some of her birthday money from her grandparents to ride the zorb.

Notice the handsome sculpted wooded bridge in the background.

Here's what's atop the funky wooden bridge...



which is right by the underground market at Frank Kitt Park, where you can make all kinds of friends

                                                Or get the best gelato from Kaffee Eis.

All this is a 5 minute walk to Te Papa, which is NZ’s national museum containing amazing and diverse exhibits.  It also hosts concerts like by the Musical Island Boys. Note John singing in the second photo. The setting is Te Papa’s modernistic Marae or a traditional Māori tribal meeting place.

                                            A little further afield, but still in Wellington...
                                                 role playing at the Wellington Zoo.


and role playing atop Battle Hill, just outside Wellington, where a battle took place between Māori and the British in 1846.

                                                     Here's the walk down from Battle Hill.

                                              
         
We also enjoy walking along Wellington's coast and making castles


                             
                                     and hanging-out at cool playgrounds.

Back at home you can make funny faces with your friend at the park in front of our flat, Kelburn Park.

                                                  And then take your teddy bear to bed!