Sunday, June 19, 2005
Fortress
Soundtrack: “Kingdom Of Heaven OST” by dint of watching the film on the boat
Sunday 12th June. I checked out at 9am so that I could see a little of Wellington before I had to cross to South Island. On a glorious morning, my first stop was the NZ Houses of Parliament. The library and the original house are fine old buildings, but the 1992 extension is typically hideous. Next stop was a trip to the top of the hill via the cable car. On traveling to the summit, and, indeed on arriving there, I was greatly reminded of HK. The layout of Wellington is similar and there are white-painted blocks of flats everywhere, as if for an oriental hot country. It’s like a mini-HK with a British climate, and to me, it just felt so so right. I walked around the botanic gardens for a couple of hours in the cool, fresh morning, enjoying the views of the city and the native NZ vegetation immensely.
Before I had to go and get the ferry, I decided to try and have a look at the Westpac Stadium. Is Twickenham called Fortress England or something? If so, then the Westpac Stadium should be called… just plain Fortress. I just could not find a way. This was then followed by an infuriating series of events. Whilst riding the shuttle bus to the ferry, I saw a sign directing pedestrians into the stadium hiding behind a pillar. And then I remembered that the Test ground in Wellington isn’t even the Westpac Stadium – it’s the bloody Basin Reserve. The Westpac Ground is the Test ground in Hamilton. Gah!
It was raining by the time I had to go and get the ferry. [It hadn’t rained north of Wellington, and apparently it hadn’t been raining south of the place either. It’s just one big hole in the centre of the country, so it turns out that the midlands suck no matter what country you’re in.] Because I couldn’t really see much, I decided to go and watch “Kingdom Of Heaven.” I got very excited in the first few minutes when I realized that Kevin McKidd was in it, as he is a supremely talented actor, and a far more intriguing proposition than boring boring Orlando Bloom. Much to my annoyance, though, he dies in a shipwreck before he gets to do any decent acting, and things went downhill from there. It wasn’t a bad film, really, but nowhere near as good as “Gladiator.”
Once the film was finished, I spent the last half-hour of the journey on the freezing deck. The sunset behind the mountains echoed in the water below and the low clouds and mist above was spectacular. I really love being around water. I’m clearly going to be one of those evil mothers whose children bed her to take them to Disneyland, but instead get taken to the Lake District, or on a canal holiday.
I stayed the night in Nelson, after a bus journey in the dark from Picton. The place reminded me of Devizes, and though it’s a city, it’s completely dead on a Sunday night.
Here are some statistics about NZ: it has a population of 4 million, and a quarter of those are concentrated in Auckland. It’s been predicted that in the next few years, 80% of the population will be on the North Island. There are 40 million sheep and God knows how many cows, and I have seen a very very very goodly proportion of them on my coach travels.
Sunday 12th June. I checked out at 9am so that I could see a little of Wellington before I had to cross to South Island. On a glorious morning, my first stop was the NZ Houses of Parliament. The library and the original house are fine old buildings, but the 1992 extension is typically hideous. Next stop was a trip to the top of the hill via the cable car. On traveling to the summit, and, indeed on arriving there, I was greatly reminded of HK. The layout of Wellington is similar and there are white-painted blocks of flats everywhere, as if for an oriental hot country. It’s like a mini-HK with a British climate, and to me, it just felt so so right. I walked around the botanic gardens for a couple of hours in the cool, fresh morning, enjoying the views of the city and the native NZ vegetation immensely.
Before I had to go and get the ferry, I decided to try and have a look at the Westpac Stadium. Is Twickenham called Fortress England or something? If so, then the Westpac Stadium should be called… just plain Fortress. I just could not find a way. This was then followed by an infuriating series of events. Whilst riding the shuttle bus to the ferry, I saw a sign directing pedestrians into the stadium hiding behind a pillar. And then I remembered that the Test ground in Wellington isn’t even the Westpac Stadium – it’s the bloody Basin Reserve. The Westpac Ground is the Test ground in Hamilton. Gah!
It was raining by the time I had to go and get the ferry. [It hadn’t rained north of Wellington, and apparently it hadn’t been raining south of the place either. It’s just one big hole in the centre of the country, so it turns out that the midlands suck no matter what country you’re in.] Because I couldn’t really see much, I decided to go and watch “Kingdom Of Heaven.” I got very excited in the first few minutes when I realized that Kevin McKidd was in it, as he is a supremely talented actor, and a far more intriguing proposition than boring boring Orlando Bloom. Much to my annoyance, though, he dies in a shipwreck before he gets to do any decent acting, and things went downhill from there. It wasn’t a bad film, really, but nowhere near as good as “Gladiator.”
Once the film was finished, I spent the last half-hour of the journey on the freezing deck. The sunset behind the mountains echoed in the water below and the low clouds and mist above was spectacular. I really love being around water. I’m clearly going to be one of those evil mothers whose children bed her to take them to Disneyland, but instead get taken to the Lake District, or on a canal holiday.
I stayed the night in Nelson, after a bus journey in the dark from Picton. The place reminded me of Devizes, and though it’s a city, it’s completely dead on a Sunday night.
Here are some statistics about NZ: it has a population of 4 million, and a quarter of those are concentrated in Auckland. It’s been predicted that in the next few years, 80% of the population will be on the North Island. There are 40 million sheep and God knows how many cows, and I have seen a very very very goodly proportion of them on my coach travels.
