What’s on in wonderful (wet*) Wellington this weeekend
If they** are correct then it’s gonna be a weekend of indoor activities this weekend and here at Wellingtonista Towers we are great advocates of NOT sitting around and merely watching the goggle-box.
And so, how could you entertain yourselves, little people under your command and those out-of-town visitors you’ve been supplied with? How about these to get the creative juices flowing:
- View John Badcock’s “Passing People” exhibition at Shed 11
- Go and see “IRIS” at Bats Theatre
- Take the littlies to Kids Activities During Sunday Brunch at Southern Cross
And if none of these grab you by the fancy parts then check out the following excellent “what’s on” sites
Let’s all shut up about the weather now.
Dear Wellingtonians,
I’ve become so sick of you whinging all the time that tonight I made this for you:
Sunset at Lyall Bay
Royal Bank of Sheep
Imagine that you are a large Scottish Bank. You want to film a new advert. For no doubt good reasons you already have a short list of ingredients:
- The agreeable voice of Ken Stott; and
- A flock of sheep.
But no location. Yet. Hmmmm. Sheep. Where should you send your advert-wallahs?
New Zealand of course! But you also need an urban setting, and lots of production talent. Oh, and if there’s the occasional Stagecoach liveried bus then all for the cheaper (less sfx, you realise.)
And so your sheep and your advert-wallahs turn up in… Wellington!
They have a fine old time, too. In the airport, at the train station, and on a (digitally manipulated) motorway offramp, the suspiciously tidy sheep act the part of inert bank customers following each other around the place. But one brave ewe models the desired behaviour for all the other sheep to, er, follow: to breakaway and join the Royal Bank of Sheep!
Here at the Wellingtonista we won’t point out the irony inherent in using sheep to promote slightly more individualistic behaviour. Nope. Instead, we’d suggest a nice game of spot the fleeting Wellington locations, while having your day’s concerns soothed away in the Scotch Whisky balm that is Ken Stott’s voice.
Hat tip, and where to go to see this spot: the Best Ads On TV Blog.
Looking UP 2007
Want to know what the New Year holds? Well, come along to What’s UP – 2007 on Thursday the 24th to hear predictions for 2007 from a group of infallible experts: or “bloggers”, as we like to call ourselves.
A group of more-or-less well-known local bloggers (including the (in)famous DPF, Tom “WellUrban” Beard, techno-prophet Hamish McEwan and Mr Geekzone himself, Mauricio Freitas), will make rash forecasts about the Internet, gadgets & games, business and telecommunications, technology and (my particular field) Wellington & NZ.
Bloggies 2007
As both Mike and Wanda have pointed out, nominations for the 2007 Bloggies are now open, but close this Thursday (NZ Time). Feel free to nominate the Wellingtonista in the ‘Australia/NZ’ and ‘Group’ categories, and likewise any of the other worthy Wellington blogs you see listed on this site, particularly those found via our About Page.
Welcome back home Wellington
To all those that left for the Yuletide, welcome back. We at Wellingtonista Towers trust you all had a sparkling time away celebrating Christmas and New Year, are refreshed and ready to take on another fun packed Wellington year.
Oh, and before I continue, just a word about the weather – don’t worry about it. If it’s “too” windy it means the beaches will be free of riff-raff, if it’s raining the cafes will be buzzing and if it’s “generally fine with the odd cloud and a chance of showers” it means the TV weather people have just told you that there’s gonna be “weather!” (it happened last night on TV One).
Anywho, on to 2007 and your Wellingtonista …
The Southward Car Museum
Looking for something to do with all these loooong, sunny days we’re having? Let me recommend a trip to the Southward Car Museum, just north of Paraparaumu.
Driving into the carpark you feel like you’ve spent back in time – to the 1960s. The building is fantastic, a large concrete bunker. The grounds are carefully manicured, with beds of marigolds. Take your old Tupperware picnic set and relive a simpler time.
Walking in, there is a 1960s Ferrari on a rotating plinthe, and a gorgeous Mercedes sports car. You can’t help but play “which car would you take home” – except by the time you leave it is “which dozen cars, planes, and bikes would you take home”.
Entry is $10 for adults, $3 for children (5-15), and pre-schoolers are free.
Wellington’s Christmas tree
We all know and love Wellington’s Pohutukawa trees. Especially at this time of year when they come into their own, their fiery blossom earning them the title of “New Zealand’s Christmas Tree”.
What’s less well known is that they can’t really be considered the “Christmas Tree” of any area of New Zealand outside the top half of the North Island, their native range.
Instead, we should consider the Rata, Northern and Southern, for this role. Between them, they grow over all of the North Island and most lowland areas of the South Island.
Once whole forests of Rata blossomed in Wellington at Christmas. But no longer: the settlers’ fires, and latterly, the Possum, have caused an almost total decline in their population. Still, here and there remnants are to be found within the bounds of Wellington itself.
A particularly fine specimen is at this moment flowering in the Otari-Wilton’s Bush. Usually it can’t be distinguished from any other tree at a distance, but right now its splendour decorates the bushy hillside, contrasting strongly with the quiet greens of the surrounding trees.
Planting any more Pohutukawa here is not a good idea, as the Wellington Botanical Society will tell you. (One must presume there were good reasons why the Council chose Pohutukawa over Rata for their Greening the Quays project.)
First Wii Fatality
Some nice viral internet action is going on over at Webweaver, with the ‘First Wii Fatality‘ video she was involved with making, getting close to 70,000 views at time of writing…
Here’s some background…
Last week Ross spent a few hours making a couple of paper Wiimotes, with all the features printed on the paper, which he cut and shaped to match the real thing. He packed the three-dimensional shapes with tissue paper to give them a bit of strength so they wouldn’t collapse when held, and put a coin in the end of the one he was going to use, to weight it. He attached the other one to the back of Brian’s shaven head, and decorated Brian’s skull with tomato sauce (which sadly didn’t end up in shot because it was on the wrong side!).
Bar None
Well, he’s done it. Wellingtonista Tom has completed his mission to visit every bar in the central city, with all these fine establishments hosting our roving martini expert at one time or another…
Arbitrageur, Arizona, Atlanta, B4, Backbencher, Ballroom, Basement, Beaujolais, Big Kumara, Bisque On Bolton, The Black Harp, Blend, Blondini’s, Blue Note, Bodega, Bohdans, Boogie Wonderland, Boulcott St Bistro, Boulot, Breakers, Brewery Bar, The Bristol, Brix, Bull & Bear, Cabaret, Calzone, Cambridge Hotel, Capitol, Caronia, Caucus, The Cavern Club, Chameleon, Chicago, Chow, Club K, Concrete, Confidential, Copita, Courtenay Arms, Coyote, Crazy Horse, Cue Room, Curve, Dockside, The Dog & Bone, Dojo, Downtown Local, The Dubliner, Eclipse, Electric Avenue, Endup, Ernesto, Establishment, The Feathers, Ferrymans, Floriditas, Flying Burrito Brothers, Gibbon’s Bar, GoGo, Good Luck, Green Room, The Grill at Duxton, Happy, Harem, Havana, Hawthorne Lounge, Hope Bros, Hotel Willis Lodge, Hugos, Hummingbird, Imbibe, Imerst, J’aime Bordeaux, Jet, The Jimmy, JJ Murphy’s, Juniper, Kazu Yakitori and Sake Bar, Kitty O’Shea’s, The Lab, The Lab Underground, The Last Supper Club, Latinos, Leuven, The Lido, Liquidate, The Loaded Hog, Logan Brown, Lone Star, Lone Star Lounge, Lovelocks, The Malthouse, Matterhorn, Maya, Medina, Mercure Terrace, Mercure Willis, Mercury Lounge, Mezzaluna, Mighty Mighty, Milk, Mini Bar, Ministry Of Food, Mixjah, Mojo Invincible, Molly Malones, Monsoon Poon, Motel, Museum Hotel, MVP, Occidental, The Old Bank Bar & Café, One Red Dog (Blair St), One Red Dog (Kumutoto), Orchid Lounge, Our Bar, Paradiso, Paramount, Parlour Bar, The Pit, Pod, Ponderosa, Portland Hotel, Pravda, Rain, Red Square, Sandwiches, San Francisco Bathhouse, Scopa, Seam, The Shack, Shed 5, Shooters, Sojourn, Southern Cross, Speight’s Ale House, Spice Island, Sports Cafe, Stadium Bar, Stellar, St Johns, Sweet Mother’s Kitchen, Syn, The Tasting Room, The Thistle Inn, Toast, Trax, Tupelo, Urbane, UU, Valve, Vespa Lounge, Vintage, Vivo, The Wellesley Cafe, Welsh Dragon Bar & Scorpio’s, Whitbys Piano Bar, Zibibbo, Zing
Tom needs a new challenged for 2007, so head over to WellUrban to make a suggestion.