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Saturday evening we went for a drive and ended up at the entrance to Kaitoke Regional Park, north of Upper Hutt. The plan had been to go for a walk but we left it too late so we had revised to checking out the place in preparation for a visit Sunday morning. The park turned out to be closed anyway and on the other side of the road barrier there was a car with four woman inside, stuck on the wrong side of the barrier and apparently locked in. Keryn got out and established the barrier was locked with a padlock while I parked the car. When I checked the padlock I found it unlocked so it was a simple matter to unhitch the barrier and let the stuck people out. Good deed for the day I guess.

Keryn did some baking Saturday night and the trail slice was iced before we set out Sunday morning. The weather wasn’t the best, a misty rain coming down and cooling the already not warm air. Still, a walk would soon warm us up. We were only heading on a short walk anyway, and hour and half or so.

We started walking the Swingbridge Track but it was only a couple of minutes before we diverted to have a look at the spot where Rivendell was filmed in the Lord of the Rings movies. There were a few signs explaining what was here during filming and a platform set up for people to stand on and recreate the Legolas hero shot (see an example about a third of the way down on this page). The glade looked nice for a picnic but the passing of LOTR tourists was obviously having an effect as parts of the path were fenced off so the ground and plants could recover.

Back on the main path we walked a short way further before taking another diversion down to the river. We took a few photos at the riverside and by the track on the way back to the main path.

Beside the Hutt River

Greenery

We took more photos, well I did and Keryn had to retire her camera as it has started playing up with the screen covered in purple lines that also appear on the shots. The path took us past an old water filtration building, over a tall concrete bridge and then back towards the car park following the river again.

The Hutt River enters a gorge

Fungi beside the path

We finished at the swing bridge, crossing over past a group of woman making very tentative steps as the bridge moved. We’ll definitely be back for longer walks and this will be a good place for picnics as well when the weather improves.

Keryn on the swing bridge

Dragons on the gate

This last week we’ve twice been out to the Weta Cave in Miramar. On Wednesday evening the director Guillermo del Toro was signing his new novel (written with Chuck Hogan) The Strain and we took along our copy of The Devils Backbone to get that signed as well. We queued outside in the cold (thankfully not cold, wet and windy) for an hour or so and the queue slowly moved. While signing our things I asked Guillermo a few questions about The Hobbit and also if there would be another movie in the Devils Backbone/Pan’s Labyrinth sequence. The answer is no, Pan’s Labyrinth took so much out of Guillermo that he doesn’t think he could manage another one any time soon (Guillermo lost a lot of weight and struggled to get the movie made at all). Guillermo was as friendly and open as when I last met him back in London at Forbidden Planet. We got some photos taken but the camera hadn’t been set up correctly by yours truly so the there is quite a bit of shake in evidence. Do not adjust your set and contrary to the obvious you do not need 3D glasses to view this image.

Keryn and I with Guillermo del Toro at the Weta Cave

Today we returned to the Weta Cave for another signing. Alan Lee is an artist and is best known for his work based on books by J R R Tolkien. Guillermo and Alan are in Wellington working on the forthcoming movie The Hobbit. Alan actually remembered me (again it was a Forbidden Planet signing in London that we last met) and I again asked a few questions about the Hobbit and working in New Zealand (“Wouldn’t you rather be back in England where it’s summer?”, “It’s not that bad here really”). We got some photos taken and I was better prepared this time so the photo isn’t quite so shaky this time.

Keryn and I with Alan Lee at the Weta Cave

So, we’ve been in Wellington a while now and we’ve been checking out our new home region. We’ve been up to Otaki for some Icebreaker factory shop loving and along the way took a few back roads. We found a view along the Kapiti coast so took a few photos:

Looking towards Kapiti Island

Keryn’s parents flew down from Whangarei and bought two of our cats down with them. Cadbury, Earl and Penny have been up near Whangarei for 8 years and we’ve pinched back Cadbury and Earl to come live with us in Epuni. They’re taking the relocation cautiously so far, Earl having what seemed to be a few panic attacks yesterday but they’re acting better today.

Cadbury

Earl

My parents were also here for the weekend and on Saturday we went to Catherine’s place for a pancake lunch. Afterwards we went for a drive down past Seatoun (well not really, actually it was more like Lyall Bay, at least I didn’t call Petone Porirua this time) and I got to take some photos. On Sunday I went with Keryn and her parents for a walk and we ended up driving up the hill that leads to Wainuiomata. At the lookout we could see mountains of the South island so I convinced everyone that we needed to get a closer look and we drove again to the south coast of Wellington and I took more photos. The sea was very calm and the sunset muted but still pretty.

Pink light on distant peaks

Interesting underwater landscape

Today I suggested another late afternoon drive and this saw Keryn and I drive past Wainuiomata along the Coast Road to the beach where the Wainuiomata River meets the sea. It was windier today but the sky was almost perfectly clear and the view to the South island was unimpeded. We had a good walk along the beach, giving the leg muscles a good work out traipsing over the stones and sand.

Movement in the sea

The sun sets over the hill

The water rushes back to the sea

Looking towards the mountains near Kaikoura

On the return I also took some photos of the lights of Wellington and Petone.

Wellington and Matiu (Somes) Island

Seaview and Petone