Exploring Wellington - Night 59

Trip Start Oct 11, 2007
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Trip End Mar 26, 2008


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Saturday, December 8, 2007

I decided to do the proper tourist thing today and explore downtown Wellington.  The morning air was calm and pleasant, so rather than bus it, I happily hoofed it the 40 minutes to the Central Hutt train station where I caught the 8:33 into the city.  As any guide book will tell you, you should start a tour of Wellington with a walk along the harbor on your way to Te Papa, the New Zealand national museum.  So I did.  Wellington reminds me of a mini-Seattle; a curved waterfront, hilly streets, cruise ships, industrial harbor operations, mountains in the distance, and a subtle aura of cultural refinement.  Te Papa is a massive museum and since entry is free, I wandered only the first three floors on this trip, leaving the remaining exhibits for future visits.  One can only read and contemplate museum type illustrations for so long - my experience has shown this to be about 2.5 hours.

After a delicious Malaysian lunch, I just sort of meandered the streets for a while, exploring used book and clothing stores, taking some photos, and generally trying to get lost Te Papa
Te Papa
 .  Around 2pm I stumbled across a Climate Change Fair occurring in the Civic Centre.  Perusing the exhibits, I found that there would be a special showing of the 11th Hour today at 3pm.  I missed this film in the US and have been trying to locate a showing venue ever since I've been overseas so it was my lucky day.  I purchased a ticket and made my way to the theatre, located on the corner of Taranaki and Ghunzee Streets.    Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, the 11th Hour picked up where The Inconvenient Truth left off.  Rather than showing a young Al Gore and meaningless family photos, the 11th Hour concentrated on the wealth of data, actual expert interviews, and, most importantly, some solutions to anthropogenic climate change.  It is hard not to feel empowered, though with a slight sense of urgency, after seeing this film.  A shame that the DVD will not be out by Christmas.

I returned home and spent much of the evening weeding the garden (my assigned chore for the week).  Exhausted from a long day of walking, my Saturday night turned out quite uneventful, as I lay in bed reading until about 10pm.  Sometimes my actions are entirely unbecoming for my age.

What I Learned Today:  Man's capacity for innovation and genius appears only to be matched by our stubbornness and greed.    
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