We love the Gawker Empire here at Wellingtonista Towers and one of our favourite sites is Gridskipper (home of Wellington's infamous battle with Azerbaijani capital Baku). So when we read Gridskipper's Legends of LA (note: we know that's not a link to Gridskipper) it got us thinking: "what deep dark secrets is Wellington hiding? Or not hiding? And how many of these secrets are real? Or not real?" Then we went back to drinking. After a lengthy hang-over period we sat down and compiled our list. THE WELLINGTONISTA'S FAVOURITE WELLINGTON URBAN LEGENDS 1. Liv Tyler was turned away from Motel. Late one night during the production of the Lord of the Rings trilogy Liv Tyler and bunch of the cast were out on the town and decided to pop in to Motel. Motel, for those who don't know, is "hidden" down an alleyway (Forresters Lane) beside Chow and has a CCTV camera to "vet" patrons. The story goes that upon arrival at the bar Liv Tyler was not allowed entry to the swanky bar and left in a huff. The "legend" or "myth" part of it was more about the bit that said "oh, that bar's so exclusive; they even turned away Liv Tyler for not meeting their standards". Truth of the matter is that Elijah Wood was part of the merry band of travellers and at that time was underage. Mr Wood would go on to create another legend (which we'll get to), but the mana of Motel was raised to such a level that it gained quite a cult. During the filming of King Kong, Motel was the hangout of Adrien Brody who wore a baseball cap to ensure no one would recognise him. Nice work Brody. Motel's CCTV camera is still there and the monitor for it can be seen behind the bar but again the truth is that Motel is more easily accessed through a door at the far end of Chow. Of course none of the Wellingtonistas have ever been turned away. More intrigue after the jump 2. The town belt between Oriental Parade and Palliser Rd is full of marijuana plantations. A big wooded area in town that backs onto a large student flatting suburb, this one is probably true...to a small extent. Don't expect to find large green houses covered in camouflage netting and surrounded by barbwire. Fact of the matter is the town belt is incredibly well trafficked. Mountain-bikers, people walking dogs, mountain runners, film crews, commuters. Besides the wealthy folk of Roseneath probably pay through the nose for their drugs (ho ho). So while there might be the odd plant, carefully tended by a flat of English majors, there aren't any plantations. So stop looking ok! 3. Kenny could easily have got his amp back, but made more money as a "silent busker" than by actually playing. Kenny is one of the many strange buskers in Wellington. His white beard and cowboy hat gives him his nickname. Kenny stands on Courtenay Place with a sign saying "The council took Kenny's amp, help him get it back". Asking various people about it gives the impression that Kenny has been standing there for a long time. And that it may have been a completely different political climate (like Rogernomics) when he had his amp removed, if one existed in the first place. Speaking of buskers, another legend is that the busker outside BNZ on Courtenay Place is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of cover versions of Stevie Wonder's Superstitious performed consecutively. 4. Elijah Wood peed in the bucket fountain Well no real mystery to this one. He owned up to it. During another late night drinking session (of which there were many amongst the Hobbits) Wood clambered up the famous fountain and peed into the top bucket to the giggles of his friends. Peter Jackson was dismayed by Wood's admission saying that the Bucket Fountain is one of his favourite Wellington icons. However, for you LOTR groupies you can now go to the bucket fountain scoop out some water confident that it contains 0.0001% of Elijah Wood's urine or just buy it straight from the Wellingtonista shop. 5. Te Rauparaha used to be a regular at the Thistle Inn. The Thistle Inn is old. So old in fact that it used to be on the waterfront before the land was reclaimed. So the story goes that local Maori chief Te Rauparaha would pull up his waka right outside the pub, wander in and order a whiskey and no one had the balls to charge him. This story is fairly hard to establish as truth or myth. Te Rauparaha died on 27 November 1849 and Thistle was built in 1840 and rebuilt after a fire in 1866, so he had nine years to drink at the pub. Of course he was in jail from 1846 to 1848 but it's still possible. That no one would charge him is very believable. During his lifetime he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of rivals and European settlers. 6. People honk in the Hataitai tunnel to ward off evil spirits People honk the Hataitai (Mt Vic) tunnel for some goddamn reason, but it ain't to ward off spirits. The tunnel's shape and length give it a weird acoustic property meaning car horns sound eerie. Sadly, this effect cannot be heard if you are actually in the car that's honking. So why do people honk their horns in the tunnel? To get someone else to honk theirs. 7. There is a tree in the Botanical Gardens where someone hung himself, and the branch has formed a noose shape. Llew: find out where that is and I'll get a photo Martha: apparently it is somewhere up to the Christopher Moore sculpture, but I remain healthily skeptical. Also, the temperature apparently drops substantially under the tree. Llew: The Henry Moore? I'll see what I can find. Martha: Isn't Christopher Moore the guy who does the piles of rocks? Not the big brass Henry Moore anyway. Hang on. Christopher Moore is an art gallery. Llew: Ah - you could be right - the pile of rocks sounds more likely for a tree like that Martha: I hope everyone realises there may not be a tree shaped like a noose, otherwise it would be an urban fact, rather than a myth. On the other hand, maybe there will be... Oh, and I love the Wellingtonista chats. I believe we should add a forum to our site, so that we can stagger the general public with our wit. Llew: Yeah, I wondered about that - or post a whole thread up Hadyn: You don't think that would destroy the mystique? Llew: What mystique? Hey, I was just thinking - even if I can't find The Hanging Tree, I'll see if I can take some pictures of the area that might be evocative. If I DO find it though, I'll string up an effigy of Alan Bollard. (time passes) Llew: Well I couldn't see the actual tree, but I scoured the area around the pile of stones by Chris BOOTH and took a few photos. 8. A Japanese submarine entered Wellington harbour during WW2 A patrolling Japanese submarine (I-26) was seen off Auckland in the Hauraki Gulf on 13th March 1942. But that's according to the Navy, and if you're a conspiracy theorist, like us in the Wellingtonista Towers, you don't believe that for an instant.