I decided that with my last few days in Auckland I wanted to
spend one in Wellington. I just couldn’t stand knowing that I didn’t get to do
the tour of Weta Workshop and I really wanted to see more of the city. We only
had four hours there and we really only saw the museum. So I booked a bus
ticket and went to Wellington. I was planning on taking a night bus there and
back but all the night buses there were sold out. So I ended up spending an
entire day on the bus and spending the night at a hostel. Then I got up and
spent the day in Wellington. I went up to Weta Workshop and did the tour first
thing. It was so cool! They don’t have actual tour guides, the artists just
take time out of their day to do the tours. They’ve decorated part of the
workshop with a bunch of props and models from the movies they’ve worked on. We
got to see the whole process of making guns and swords for movies. I wish I
could have taken pictures inside but because you are literally just walking
through the workshop, they can’t have people taking pictures of top secret
projects they are working on. So cool! They showed us how they use photoshop to
make all of their story boards and concept art. The program allows you to make
pictures and paintings that look hand drawn and painted with different mediums.
That way if the director decides he wants it to look a little different they
can just go and edit it instead of drawing or painting it all over again. After
the tour I watched a video about the history of Weta which was also really
cool. Then I went into the city to see some of the sights that I didn’t get a
chance to see last time. I think my favorite thing was the theater they
restored for the premier of Return of the King. It is a beautiful theater and I
wanted to see a movie there but I didn’t want to see any of the movies they
were showing. Once I’d seen everything I wanted to see I just went to the
harbor and read my book for a while. I had a little bit of time before I wanted
to eat dinner and catch the bus. It was so peaceful. I love being by the water!
Then I ate at Nando’s for dinner (I also had it for dinner the night before…)
and it was just as delicious as it always is! Then I caught a night bus home.
I’m so glad I decided to go! It was so worth it!
The next day I decided to go see The Host because I loved
the book and just couldn’t wait to see the movie. And I loved it! As far as I
could remember, it followed the book really well! And it also helped that the
main guy was super attractive! Haha, then we took our family to a rugby game! I
love watching rugby but I’m still trying to figure out the rules so I don’t
always understand what is going on but it’s still fun to watch. On Saturday we
got up and went to the Otara Market one last time in search of the harem pants
lady but she was not there again. Sad day :( It was raining so we just ran a
few errands and then just hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Then Melony’s
family took us all out to dinner at a Mongolian barbeque place that was really
yum. We go over to their house for family dinner every Saturday night and since
this was our last Saturday they wanted to take us out. It was so fun but the
whole time all I could think about was how much I was going to miss our host
family! We just love them all so much! Our last Sunday we went to Erika’s after
church to watch a session of conference and eat pancakes and throw Elise a
little bridal shower. We got her a really pretty nativity made from tapa cloth
and flax. She had seen it at Pacifica and really wanted it so we got it for
her! I also put together a really cute little book with pictures and notes from
all of us. It turned out really cute! On Monday we spent one last day at the
beach and on Tuesday we spent one last day in the city. We also ate Hell Pizza
for the last time. That was so sad! Then Wednesday was the most heart breaking
day. We went to visit our school one last time. My students had no idea! So we
got out of the car and were walking up to the school and a couple of my girls
saw me and yelled to everyone else, “Look! Look! It’s Miss Lyons!!!” Then I was
surrounded by at least half of my class in a huge group hug. They all said they
missed me so much and were so happy to see me! It was so cute! Word spread and
pretty soon my whole class was back in the classroom talking to me and telling
me all about what they had been doing in class since I had left. Mrs. Templeman
was sick so I didn’t get to say goodbye to her though! But I spent the morning
with my class and then had to go after morning tea. It was so sad :( I miss
them all so much! Some of them have Facebook which is crazy because they are
only 7 and 8 years old! But it has been nice to keep in touch. One of my boys
was really worried about me after the bombing in Boston. He sent me a message
asking if I had survived the bomb. It was so precious and it just made me think
about how they are all going to worry every time something bad happens in the
states. I really wish I could have brought them all back with me so I could be
their teacher next year. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to go to New Zealand
and learn from the children there. It was such a great experience and I
wouldn’t change it for the world :)
Just walking through where they filmed Lord of the Rings. #NBD
I miss Nando's so much!!
Rugby game with our host family!
Bahahahaha, I miss this so much!
The movie theater where all the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were (and will be) premiered
